German

Two people were killed after a car tore into a crowd in central Leipzig, and the 33-year-old man accused of carrying out the attack has now been committed to a psychiatric hospital by court order. A judge said there were "compelling reasons" to believe the suspect was acting "in a state of at least significantly diminished responsibility", prosecutors in Leipzig said in a statement. According to investigators, the German national drove at high speed along a main street in the historic heart of the eastern city yesterday,…

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz delivered an unusually sharp rebuke of Washington this week, accusing America of entering the war with Iran without a clear plan for how to finish it. The US, he said bluntly, appeared to have no strategy for the conflict. "The problem with conflicts like this is always you don't just have to get in," he said during a meeting with German students, "you have to get out again". "We saw that very painfully in Afghanistan for 20 years - we saw it in Iraq," he added. The remarks quickly set off a…

A planned drawdown of 5,000 US troops from Germany has sharpened a warning already echoing across Europe: the continent can no longer afford to leave its security primarily in Washington’s hands. German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said Europeans must assume greater responsibility for their own defence after the Pentagon confirmed it would reduce the American military presence in Germany. "Germany is on the right track" in this regard, Mr Pistorius said, citing the expansion of the Bundeswehr, faster and broader weapons…

MOGADISHU — Somali Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre met Monday with a senior German delegation for talks on Somalia’s deepening humanitarian crisis, security cooperation and political reforms, as drought-driven displacement and hunger surge across the country. The delegation, led by Germany’s Minister of State for Economic Cooperation and Development, Niels Annen, and including Ambassador Sebastian Groth, discussed emergency assistance, stabilization and development priorities, according to Somali officials. The talks also…

HAMBURG, Germany — Two shipyard workers have been arrested on suspicion of sabotaging several German warships in Hamburg harbor, authorities said, in a case that investigators warn could have caused significant damage had it gone unnoticed. The men — a 37-year-old Romanian and a 54-year-old Greek — allegedly tampered with multiple vessels by pouring more than 20 kilograms of steel pellets into an engine block, puncturing freshwater lines, removing fuel tank caps and disabling fuses in onboard electronics, according to the…

France, UK, Germany condemn ‘killing of protesters’ in Iran as internet blackout deepens unrest France, the United Kingdom and Germany condemned what they called the “killing of protesters” in Iran and urged authorities to exercise restraint, as sweeping anti-government demonstrations and a nationwide internet blackout disrupted communications and stoked uncertainty across the country. “We are deeply concerned about reports of violence by Iranian security forces, and strongly condemn the killing of protestors,” French…

Thieves drilled through a parking garage wall into a bank vault in western Germany over the Christmas holiday, smashing open more than 3,000 safe-deposit boxes and fleeing with an estimated 30 million euros in cash, gold and jewelry, authorities and the bank said. The heist at a Sparkasse branch in Gelsenkirchen, in North Rhine-Westphalia state, unfolded while most businesses were shut for the Christmas break. Investigators suspect the burglars may have used the extended closure to spend days inside the underground vault…

Newly elected German mayor found with life‑threatening stab wounds; investigators probe possible family link The newly elected mayor of Herdecke, a small town in Germany’s industrial Ruhr region, was discovered with life‑threatening stab wounds at her home on Tuesday, authorities said, touching off a wave of shock and unanswered questions about whether the attack was personal or political. What happened Iris Stalzer, 57, who won a run‑off election on Sept. 28 to lead the town of roughly 23,000 residents between Hagen and…

Mayor-elect of German town badly wounded in stabbing; motive unclear The newly elected mayor of Herdecke, a small town outside Dortmund in western Germany, was seriously wounded in a stabbing attack that left national leaders demanding answers and local residents reeling. What happened Iris Stalzer, 57, was attacked shortly after noon near her home on Monday, public broadcaster WDR reported. Chancellor Friedrich Merz called the assault a "heinous act" and said on X that "we fear for her life," urging that "the crime and…

Somalia Courts German Investment as Mogadishu Seeks to Turn Stability Gains into Jobs On a sweltering Monday in Mogadishu, Somali Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre sat down with Germany’s ambassador, Sebastian Groth, for a conversation that was part pitch, part signal. Somalia, he said, has “vast investment potential” in fisheries, industry and livestock. Germany, Groth responded, is preparing to send senior officials to explore those opportunities on the ground. It wasn’t a flashy announcement—no ribbon cuttings, no signed…