Was ist die Webseite?

Daily Germany, Berlin (2026)

31/03/2026

Germany sees lowest wine production since 2017 as rain hits harvest

German wine production slumped to the lowest level since 2017 last year as heavy rain in September affected the harvest, reported dpa.

Some 7.55 million hectolitres of wine were produced in 2025, a 2.6% drop from the previous year, the Federal Statistical Office said on Monday.

Compared to the average between 2019 and 2024, production was down 10%, the Wiesbaden-based agency said.

Germany has a proud history of viticulture, with its 13 officially recognized wine-growing regions primarily located in the south-west.

However, the increasing variability of the weather in recent years has presented winemakers with major challenges. In 2025, smaller grape harvests in particular were responsible for the lower yields.

"The last time we had a similarly small harvest of 7.5 million hectolitres was in 2017," said Ernst Büscher, spokesman for the German Wine Institute.

The decline was primarily due to the grapes being more susceptible to rot as a result of heavy rain, and consequently a shorter harvest period.

This was particularly problematic in the two largest wine-growing regions in Germany, Rheinhessen and the Palatinate, which produce 48.1% of the country's volume.

The total area under cultivation in Germany shrank by 1.1% or 1,100 hectares.

More than two-thirds of the wines produced in 2025 were white wines (69.6%), while 29.3% were high-quality Prädikat wines.

Germany sees lowest wine production since 2017 as rain hits harvest
A winemaker examines a glass of Mosel Riesling at the Selbach wine shop in Zeltingen-Rachtig. File Photo: Harald Tittel/dpa. News source: Daily Finland

30/03/2026

France withdraws invitation to South Africa for G7 summit

France has withdrawn its invitation to South Africa to attend the upcoming Group of Seven (G7) summit due to continued pressure from the United States, an official of the South African presidency said Thursday, reported Xinhua.

"We've learnt that due to sustained pressure, France has had to withdraw its invitation to South Africa to attend the G7 meeting," Vincent Magwenya, spokesperson for South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, told media.

Magwenya said South Africa had been informed that the United States threatened to boycott the summit if South Africa were invited, adding that South Africa would therefore not attend the meeting.

In response, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said France had "not yielded to any pressure" but had opted for a "streamlined G7."

Since U.S. President Donald Trump began his second term in 2025, relations between Washington and Pretoria have deteriorated sharply.

The next G7 summit is scheduled to take place in June in the French city of Evian.

According to media reports, French President Emmanuel Macron extended an invitation to Ramaphosa to attend the meeting when the two leaders met on the sidelines of the Group of Twenty (G20) summit held in Johannesburg last November.

Ramaphosa says no surprise at SA not attending G7 summit in France

It was "not a surprise" that South Africa would not attend the upcoming Group of Seven (G7) summit in France, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said, downplaying suggestions of a diplomatic snub following reports that an earlier invitation had been withdrawn.

"My information is that there has been no pressure from any country, the United States or any other country," Ramaphosa told local media on Thursday.

South Africa is not a member of the G7 and has not participated in every G7 meeting, he said, adding: "If we don't go to this one, it should never be a surprise to anyone."
Source: Daily Finland

30/03/2026

Germany paves the way for tighter EU asylum rules

The rules for implementing a stricter European Union asylum law in Germany cleared the final hurdle in the upper house of parliament or Bundesrat on Friday, reported dpa.

Key points of the reform, which will apply across the EU starting June 12, are mandatory identity checks for people arriving at the EU's external borders.

For people from countries of origin with a low recognition rate, asylum examinations are to take place as part of the border control procedures. If an application is rejected, asylum seekers may be deported directly from there.

Since Germany is in the middle of Europe, it is affected by the external border procedures only with at its international airports and seaports.

Measures against moving on within the EU

Procedures for people seeking protection who have already filed an asylum application in another member state will be shortened. The transfer of asylum seekers to the state responsible for their procedure will be extended, for example if someone goes into hiding in the meantime.

The states can set up so-called secondary migration centres with a residency requirement. These are to house people who have to leave Germany because another EU country is responsible for their procedure.

Solidarity mechanism to help external border states

Heavily burdened states at the EU's external borders are in future to have some asylum seekers taken off their hands. The fact that Germany does not have to take in anyone this year under this solidarity mechanism is partly due to the fact that many asylum seekers and war refugees from Ukraine have come to the Federal Republic in recent years.

The Greens criticized the new rules as the biggest tightening of asylum law since 1993. While European rules had to be implemented, the centre-left coalition had acted with excessive harshness, it said. In the Bundesrat there were discussions, among other things, about provisions affecting minors.
Source: dailyfinland

30/03/2026

German parliament experts see Iran war as breach of international law

The war on Iran launched by the United States and Israel is in contravention of international law, according to a report released on Sunday by the German parliament's scientific services, reported dpa.

The attacks constitute a violation of the prohibition on the use of force entrenched in the UN Charter, as they are covered neither by the right to self-defence nor have they been authorized by the United Nations Security Council, the report says.

The 12-page report, which was commissioned by members of the Bundestag for The Left party, points to possible consequences for Germany.

The authors investigate whether the possible use of US bases in Germany, including the Ramstein Air Base in south-western Germany, constitutes assistance, for which Germany would have to bear responsibility under international law.

It concludes that "subject to the specific circumstances of the use ... this is certainly not ruled out."

However, it remains unclear to what extent Ramstein has been used for the attacks. The base is the main hub for US air force operations in Europe and further afield.

From the outset of hostilities on February 28, Spain banned the use of two US military bases in the south of the country. Germany has not banned the use of US bases at Ramstein and Spangdahlem.

At the beginning of the month, government spokesman Stefan Kornelius said the use of military bases in Germany was subject to agreements or treaties that had validity under international law, and that no restrictions would be placed on their use.
Source: DailyFinland

25/03/2026

Steinmeier attacks US on Iran war: 'No reason' to align with Trump

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Tuesday sharply criticized the US-Israeli war on Iran as a violation of international law, saying there is "no reason" for Germany to align itself with the administration of US President Donald Trump.

The conflict was "a politically disastrous mistake" and "a truly avoidable, unnecessary war, if its aim was to stop Iran on the path to an atomic bomb," Steinmeier told an audience attending an event in Berlin marking the 75th anniversary of the re-establishment of the Foreign Office after World War II.

The Iran war is "contrary to international law," the German president stressed, adding there was little doubt that Washington's justification of an imminent attack on the United States is not supported.

Iran had never been further away from a nuclear armament than after the 2015 nuclear deal, he said. Steinmeier was involved in that agreement as foreign minister at the time. Trump terminated it during his first term as president.

Sharp words for Trump

The German president criticized the new orientation of the Trump administration, arguing not only that Germany doesn't need to follow along but that even with a new US administration, the trans-Atlantic relationship is irrevocably changed.

"The rupture and the lost trust in American great power politics runs too deep," he said. Even a future US administration "will not simply be able to pick up again the role of the friendly hegemon" and of a guarantor of a liberal international order, he said.

"The current American administration has a different world view from ours, one that takes no account of established rules, partnerships and trust built up over time," Steinmeier said. While this had to be dealt with, "we have no reason whatsoever to align ourselves with this world view," he said.

Instead, the trans-Atlantic relationship must also "free itself from dependencies that make us vulnerable."

This applies first and foremost to security and technology, according to the president.

Dependence in the technological sphere means not only foreign policy power, he said, "but also the power to use digital platforms and social media to influence ... our domestic policy."

German foreign policy is now facing a fundamental reorientation, Steinmeier said.
Source: Daily Finland

17/03/2026

European allies refuse Trump's call for military mission in Hormuz

Multiple European nations and the European Union (EU) on Monday voiced reluctance or outright opposition to U.S. President Donald Trump's call for a military mission to ensure safe shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, reported Xinhua.

Stressing the need for diplomatic solutions and warning against further regional escalation, European leaders underscored that the current conflict should not evolve into a NATO mission or draw the continent into a broader war.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz ruled out any military involvement in protecting oil tankers in the strait, emphasizing that NATO is a "defense alliance" rather than an "intervention alliance."

Merz said Germany will not participate in military measures to ensure freedom of navigation as long as the conflict continues, adding that no viable concept for such an operation has been presented so far.

His remarks were echoed in Brussels by EU Foreign Policy Chief Kaja Kallas. After a meeting of EU foreign ministers, Kallas stated the bloc has no appetite for expanding its existing naval mission "Aspides" to the Strait of Hormuz.

"We are working on the diplomatic solutions for the Strait of Hormuz," she said, adding, "This is not Europe's war."

In Southern Europe, Portuguese Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel said Portugal "is not and will not be involved in this conflict."

15/03/2026

German philosopher Jürgen Habermas dies

Jürgen Habermas, one of Germany's most influential modern philosophers, has died at the age of 96, reported dpa.

Habermas died on Saturday in the Bavarian town of Starnberg, his publisher Suhrkamp Verlag said.

Widely regarded as a towering European public intellectual of the 20th century, his major works were developed in Frankfurt, where his career began in the 1950s at the Institute for Social Research under philosopher Theodor W. Adorno.

Habermas was born in Dusseldorf on June 18, 1929, and studied philosophy, psychology, German literature and economics in Göttingen, Zurich and Bonn.

His political analysis helped shape Germany's post-war intellectual climate beginning with the publication of "The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere" in 1962.

His "The Theory of Communicative Action," published in 1981, is also considered a seminal work of philosophy.

Habermas' studies frequently examined the concept of the public sphere and explored the forms of discourse best suited to organizing democratic societies.

12/03/2026

German firms see drop in industrial orders at start of 2026

German industrial companies received significantly fewer orders in January compared to the previous month, according to official data released on Monday, reported dpa.

Seasonally and calendar-adjusted order intake fell by 11.1% compared to December, the Federal Statistical Office said.

Analysts were surprised by the scale of the decline in orders. On average, experts had expected a decline of only 4.3%.

Order intake in December was also weaker than previously estimated. The statistics office revised the increase to only 6.4%month-on-month, after previously reporting an increase of 7.8%.

Year-on-year, order intake rose by 3.7% in January.

Once again, large orders had a large effect on the figures. Excluding these, order intake in January was only 0.4% lower than in the previous month.

"Following the very high volume of large-scale orders in December 2025, new orders were back to normal in several branches of manufacturing in January 2026," the Wiesbaden-based agency said.

Production in the manufacturing sector also proved unexpectedly weak in January, seeing a 0.5% month-on-month decline despite analysts' forecast of 1% growth.

Year-on-year, production in industrial companies fell by 1.2%, which was also a larger fall than expected.

12/03/2026

Founders of German vaccine maker BioNTech to step down, lead new firm

The founders of German vaccine manufacturer BioNTech, which became famous worldwide for its coronavirus jab, are to step down to start a new business, the company said on Tuesday, reported dpa.

Ugur Sahin and Özlem Türeci will leave by the end of 2026 at the latest, when their employment contracts expire.

Their new biotechnology company will focus on developing the next generation of mRNA-based drugs.

However, the couple intend to remain shareholders in BioNTech, currently holding around 15% of the company's shares, the Mainz-based company said.

Sahin and Türeci founded BioNTech in 2008 with the aim of developing mRNA-based cancer therapies.

During the coronavirus pandemic, the company quickly put all its resources into developing an mRNA vaccine against Covid-19 and proved successful.

BioNTech won the race against a number of competitors and, together with its US partner Pfizer, received the first market approval for a coronavirus vaccine.

The company subsequently earned billions of euros and expanded rapidly, while Sahin and Türeci received numerous prestigious awards, including the Grand Cross with Star of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 2021.

Years after the pandemic, BioNTech's profits and sales have shrunk significantly, and although the coronavirus vaccine business continues, the focus has long since returned to research into mRNA therapies for cancer and other diseases.

Hopes for the future rest on several late-stage clinical trials for cancer drugs. BioNTech is aiming to submit several applications for approval of oncology therapies by 2030.

12/03/2026

Rising fuel prices increase interest in electric cars in Germany

The rise in petrol prices due to the Iran war has increased German customer interest in electric cars, the online platforms Carwow and Meinauto.de confirmed to dpa on Wednesday upon request.

"Rising oil prices are having a direct impact on interest in electric cars. Our data shows: Since February 28, the share of electric car set-ups has increased from 55% to up to 63% over the weekend," said Philipp Sayler von Amende, chief executive of Carwow Germany.

On average over the week, electric cars are at around 59%. He said this shows that many consumers are reacting to rising fuel costs.

Meinauto.de said it has recorded a significantly increased interest in topics related to cheaper driving. Offers and content on alternative fuels such as electric and E20, as well as guides on saving fuel, are currently being accessed more frequently than average, a spokesman said.

No decline in interest in mobility

While electric cars are gaining ground, traditional engines are slightly losing demand, according to Carwow.

"Petrol and diesel models together only account for around 23% of set-ups and are thus below the level of the end of February. Hybrids, on the other hand, remain relatively stable at about 15%," explained Carwow chief executive Sayler von Amende.

According to Meinauto.de, there is no overall decline in interest in mobility. However, when it comes to the specific purchase decision, there is a certain hesitation. "We are currently noticing that some interested parties are postponing their decision for a new car and are initially waiting to see how energy prices and the geopolitical situation develop," the spokesman stressed.

€1,500 to €6,000 subsidy

In January, the German Environment Ministry announced that private customers could again receive a state subsidy when purchasing pure electric cars, plug-in hybrids and electric cars with range extenders.

Depending on the type of vehicle and personal circumstances, it ranges between €1,500 and €6,000.

However, there are income limits up to which it is paid: €80,000 household income per year, or €90,000 with two children.

Carwow and Meinauto.de confirmed that customer interest surged shortly after the announcement of the new subsidy.

06/03/2026

Thousands of school-age children protest new German military service

Thousands of school-age children took to the streets across Germany on Thursday to protest the country's new military service law, reported dpa.

The "school strike against conscription" drew up to 50,000 participants nationwide, organizers said.

After months of deliberations, Chancellor Friedrich Merz's administration passed a law late last year to bring back military service - initially in a voluntary capacity - in an effort to boost troop numbers.

All teenagers are to receive a questionnaire after turning 18 as a first step to assess their suitability and motivation to serve in the military. Men are required to fill out the form, while it is voluntary for women.

In Berlin, young people gathered at Potsdamer Platz and marched to Oranienplatz in Kreuzberg. Police counted around 3,000 participants, while organizers said 6,000 joined.

Banners called on Merz to head to the front, while demonstrators chanted "never, never, never again conscription."

There were also demonstrations in many other cities. According to the police, around 600 young people took to the streets in Munich.

In the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia, larger rallies were planned in Bonn and Dusseldorf, while in Hamburg, schoolchildren were set to demonstrate in the late afternoon.

The new military service law, which took effect on January 1, is a response to the threat posed by Russia, with Germany lagging in its NATO recruitment targets.

The programme is intended to assist in raising troop levels from 180,000 to 260,000, with an additional reserve force due to reach 200,000.

06/03/2026

Lufthansa flight to Riyadh diverted to Cairo due to safety concerns

A Lufthansa flight from Munich to Riyadh was forced to divert to Cairo on Friday due to safety concerns amid the conflict in the Middle East, reported dpa.

The captain decided to divert to Cairo after consulting with headquarters, said Lufthansa chief executive Carsten Spohr in Frankfurt.

"Safety comes first," he added.

According to Lufthansa, the Saudi capital's airport was closed at the time of approach.

The fully booked return flight from Saudi Arabia is still set to take place, albeit with a delay.

The few passengers on the outbound flight disembarked in Cairo and were then rebooked.

The Airbus A350-900 was scheduled to land at the reopened airport in Riyadh on Friday evening to complete the return flight. It is expected to arrive in Munich on Saturday morning.

Spohr said that such situations would be seen more frequently in the coming weeks due to the tense security situation in the region.

Up to 30,000 holidaymakers travelling with German tour operators were left stranded in the Middle East after the outbreak of the war in Iran last week.

The German government is organizing evacuation flights from Oman and Riyadh, while limited commercial services have resumed from the United Arab Emirates.

The affected Lufthansa flight was not an evacuation operation.

Daily Germany

31/03/2026

30/03/2026

30/03/2026

30/03/2026

25/03/2026

17/03/2026

15/03/2026

12/03/2026

12/03/2026

12/03/2026

06/03/2026

06/03/2026

Adresse

Webseite

Benachrichtigungen

Verknüpfungen

Hervorgehoben

Teilen

Kategorie