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☆ Germany far-right trial: Nine accused of plotting to overthrow government go on trial
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-29 | by ( Inke Kappeler | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Nine suspected members of a German far-right group accused of plotting to overthrow the government and install a minor royal as leader went on trial at a high-security courtroom in Stuttgart on Monday. The plot to overthrow the government and install martial law was exposed in 2022. Heinrich XIII Prince Reuss is a descendant of the House of Reuss, the former ruling family of parts of eastern Germany. Two of the defendants are accused of violating the Weapons and War Weapons Control Act. “One of these two defendants is also accused of attempted murder, dangerous bodily harm, resisting and assaulting law enforcement officers,“ according to the court.

Persons: Heinrich XIII Prince Reuss, —, Frank, Walter Steinmeier, of Reuss, “, General Organizations: CNN, Monday, Prosecutors, Bundestag —, Stuttgart Higher, Federal Public, Control Locations: Stuttgart, Germany, Frankfurt, Munich, German

☆ Flights halted at Hamburg airport due to family hostage situation
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-04 | by ( Inke Kappeler | Aj Davis | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —All fights to and from Hamburg Airport have been halted as of early Sunday morning local time, as German police attempt to “relieve” a hostage situation at the center of a “family drama,” according to an official spokesperson for Hamburg Police. A 35-year-old man smashed through security with his car at the airport Saturday and parked underneath an airplane, the spokesperson said. As of midnight Sunday, the driver was still in his car with his 4-year old daughter, the spokesperson added. A “substantial amount of special forces” are on the ground trying to resolve the hostage situation, the spokesperson said. The airport’s official website announced Saturday evening that it has grounded all flights due to a major police operation.

Persons: ” Organizations: CNN, Hamburg Airport, Hamburg Police, Stade police Locations: Hamburg

Berlin CNN —German security services are investigating after two Molotov cocktails were thrown in the direction of a synagogue in Berlin during the early hours of Wednesday. Posting on X, Berlin police said the incident took place around 3.45am local time (9.45pET) at the synagogue on the Brunnenstraße street in Berlin’s central district of Mitte. Police have arrested a 30-year-old man who rode an e-scooter along the street and threw it away before running towards the synagogue. Germany’s state level security agency, the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution, is investigating the incident, according to police. Police stand outside the complex following a pre-dawn attack on October 18, 2023 in Berlin, Germany.

Persons: Markus Schreiber, Olaf Scholz, ” Scholz, Maja Hitij, Élisabeth Borne Organizations: Berlin CNN, Police, State Office, “, London’s Metropolitan Police Locations: Berlin, Berlin’s, Mitte, Israel, Germany, France, London’s, ”, French

CNN —Germany announced Wednesday that it is ramping up its border controls with neighboring Poland and the Czech Republic to “limit human trafficking,” as the country faces fierce debate on its migration policy while asylum applications surge. Police will carry out “additional flexible checks and mobile controls along the smuggling routes at the borders with Poland and the Czech Republic,” Interior Minister Nancy Faeser told the press. The announcement came as the interior minister raised the possibility of implementing fixed controls along the borders with its two eastern neighbors this week. Until now, the southern state of Bavaria on the Austrian border was the only part of Germany with stationary border controls, a legacy of the 2015-2016 migration crisis when Europe’s leading economy took in over a million refugees. “We are fighting to keep internal border controls open within the European Union.

Persons: CNN —, Nancy Faeser, Lisi Niesner, Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s, Faeser, Italy –, Berlin’s, ” Alexander Handschuh, Handschuh, Angela Merkel’s Organizations: CNN, Police, ”, Immigration, Scholz’s Social Democratic Party, European Union, Office, Migration, Refugees, German Federal Police, German Association of Towns Locations: Poland, Czech Republic, Czech, Bavaria, Austrian, Germany, Polish, Forst, Hesse, Italy, Berlin, –, Brussels, “, Ukraine, Municipalities

CNN —A zookeeper in Austria has died and another has been seriously injured after being attacked by a rhino, Salzburg police said on Tuesday. The rhino attacked a 33-year-old female animal keeper while she attended to her early morning work in the animal’s enclosure at Salzburg Hellbrunn Zoo, police said in a press release. According to its website, the zoo is home to 150 species and 1,500 animals – including white rhinos. White rhinos are the second-largest land mammal and they can weigh between 3,080 and 7,920 pounds, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature. With fewer than 16,000 white rhinos left, their status is near-threatened.

Persons: zookeeper, Ulrike Ulmann, “, Ulmann Organizations: CNN, Salzburg Hellbrunn Zoo, Salzburg University Hospital, Fund, Nature Locations: Austria, Salzburg, Tamu, Athos

CNN —A famed Russian conductor allowed climate protesters who disrupted a performance at a classical music festival in Switzerland to address the crowd, despite grumbling from some members of the audience. Following their brief intervention the two activists then left the stage, according to a press release from Renovate Switzerland. Renovate Switzerland later thanked Jurowski for his support in a post on X, and festival director Michael Haefliger also released a statement on social media. “We very much regret that yesterday’s concert was unexpectedly interrupted by two climate activists from Renovate Switzerland. Climate protesters are increasingly targeting high-profile events in order to raise awareness of environmental issues.

Persons: Vladimir Jurowski, “, Jurowski, ” Jurowski, ”, Anthony, I’ll, Michael Haefliger, Coco Gauff, Karolína, Gauff, couldn’t “, I’m Organizations: CNN, Bavarian State Opera, Bavarian, Opera Locations: Russian, Switzerland, Lucerne

☆ Former Audi CEO Rupert Stadler sentenced over VW diesel emissions scandal
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

London CNN —A Munich court has handed former Audi CEO Rupert Stadler a suspended jail sentence of one year and nine months for fraud in the 2015 diesel emissions scandal that rocked Volkswagen Group. Stadler is the first Volkswagen (VLKAF) board member to be sentenced in the affair, some four years after German prosecutors laid fraud charges against the executive. He entered a plea bargain with the court, confessing to his crimes in order to avoid spending time in jail. The affair also led German prosecutors to charge former Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn with fraud in 2019. Stadler, who had worked for Volkswagen since 1990, agreed to pay the company €4.1 million ($4.5 million) following the same investigation.

Persons: London CNN —, Rupert Stadler, Stadler, Audi’s, Wolfgang Hatz, Giovanni Pamio, Hatz, Pamio, Martin Winterkorn, Winterkorn, “, ”, — Organizations: London CNN, Audi, Volkswagen Group, €, Volkswagen, VW, Porsche, “ Audi Locations: Munich, Berlin

CNN —A candidate from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party won a local leadership post for the first time on Sunday in a resounding victory for a group whose anti-migrant, Euroskeptic and anti-Muslim agenda is under surveillance by German authorities. The AfD’s Robert Sesselmann triumphed over incumbent Jürgen Köpper of the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party to become district administrator of Sonneberg, in Thuringia, central Germany, at the weekend. “Unfortunately, it has not been a personal election as state elections have always been, it has become a pure party election,” he said. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party’s chairwoman Saskia Esken called the AfD victory in Sonneberg a “political dam-break” on Monday. Even though the move doesn’t apply to parent party AfD, it revealed a growing segment of young Germans united by extreme views on migration and anti-feminism.

Persons: Robert Sesselmann, Jürgen Köpper, Sesselmann, Köpper, ”, Olaf Scholz’s, Saskia Esken, Ricarda Lang, ” Lang, Mario Czaja, Steffen Hebestreit, ” Hebestreit, ‘, BfV, Martin Schutt, Hans Vorländer, ” Vorländer, Alice Weidel Organizations: CNN, Christian Democratic Union, CDU, Office, Statistics, Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic, Green Party, Getty Locations: Germany, Thuringia, Thuringian, Sonneberg, Ukraine, Dresden, Berlin “, Saxony

☆ German metal band Rammstein’s lead singer Till Lindemann under investigation on allegations of sexual offenses and distribution of narcotics
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( Inke Kappeler | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Till Lindemann, the lead singer of German industrial metal band Rammstein is under investigation on allegations relating to sexual offenses and the distribution of narcotics on the basis of “several criminal complaints,” according to a spokeswoman for the Berlin’s Public Prosecutor’s office. Neither the band nor Lindemann have commented publicly since the investigation was launched on Wednesday, or responded to CNN’s request for comment. Concertgoers have accused Lindemann of coercion and systematic abuse of young women on social media in recent weeks. After Lynn went public with her account, German Youtuber Kayla Shyx, 21, released a video revealing details about her experience at a Rammstein concert in Berlin the previous year. The band is scheduled to perform in Berlin on July, 15, 16 and 18, with all concerts sold out.

Persons: Till Lindemann, Lindemann, Christian Schertz, Simon Bergmann, Concertgoers, Shelby Lynn, Lynn, Lindemann’s, “, ” Lynn, Rammstein, ”, Till, Kayla Shyx, Shyx, ” Shyx, ” KiWi, Iris Spranger Organizations: CNN, German Journalists Association Locations: Lithuanian, Vilnius, Berlin, Europe, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Netherlands, Hungary, Germany, Austria, Poland, Belgium, Minneapolis , Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles, Mexico City

☆ Austria: Hitler speech and Nazi slogans played on train's loudspeakers
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Inke Kappeler | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Nazi slogans such as “Heil Hitler” and “Sieg heil” were also heard via the train’s intercom, according to several passengers on the train. “Someone has illegally opened the intercom with a duplicate key and played a Hitler speech over a loudspeaker,” a spokesperson for the rail operator ÖBB told CNN on Monday. ‘Completely helpless’After hearing the broadcast of Hitler’s speech, David Stögmüller, member of Austria’s upper house of parliament, tweeted a video of himself expressing disbelief. “Could you please enlighten us as to why an entire train” heard Hitler’s speech, she asked. Speaking to CNN, Schmidt said Hitler’s speech was about 20 seconds long, followed by the Nazi slogans, and that the recording was on a loop.

☆ EY banned from auditing public interest companies in Germany over Wirecard
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Olesya Dmitracova | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

London CNN —Big-4 accounting firm EY has been banned from auditing companies of public interest in Germany for two years over its failures as the auditor of Wirecard in the years before the digital payments company’s staggering collapse. Germany’s auditor supervisory authority APAS said Monday that it had imposed sanctions on the auditor of Wirecard over “breaches of professional duty” between 2016 and 2018, without naming EY. EY had audited Wirecard for more than a decade before refusing to sign off on its final results for 2019, precipitating the company’s downfall. The supervisory body also fined the Wirecard auditor €500,000 ($544,000) and issued smaller fines — between €23,000 ($25,000) and €300,000 ($326,000) — to five individual auditors at the firm. In the end, Wirecard admitted that roughly a quarter of its assets — €1.9 billion ($2.1 billion) in cash — probably never existed.

Berlin CNN —Nationwide strikes in Germany — the biggest the country has seen in decades — are causing disruption at the country’s biggest port, airports, and on public transport Monday. The walkouts have been called by two major transport unions in Europe’s biggest economy. Flights at eight major airports, including those in Munich, Frankfurt and Hamburg, have been affected by the strikes. And some hubs such as Munich Airport closed their doors entirely, with 200,000 passengers impacted by the two-day closure that started Sunday. Sina Schuldt/dpa/picture alliance/Getty ImagesIn Munich, the local transport operator MVV has announced the suspension of nearly all trains, underground and tram lines.

☆ Europe's arms spending on Ukraine boosts defense companies
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Anna Cooban | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

London CNN —After months of soaring stock prices, Europe’s defense companies hardly needed another boost. But a tentative €2 billion ($2.1 billion) European Union plan to procure ammunition for war-torn Ukraine may provide just that. Speaking in Stockholm Wednesday, Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said his country needed one million rounds of ammunition “as soon as possible” to deter Russian forces. A final decision is expected on March 20 when EU foreign and defense ministers meet in Brussels. In early February, the bloc announced that it would inject another €545 million ($575 million) into its €3.6 billion ($3.8 billion) military assistance fund for Ukraine.

Berlin/London CNN —Lufthansa has canceled more than 1,300 flights scheduled for Friday after the Verdi labor union called for full-day strikes involving airport workers at seven German airports, including Frankfurt, Munich and Hamburg. Lufthansa, one of Europe’s biggest airlines, was ceasing all flight operations at Frankfurt and Munich for Friday, it said in a statement on its website on Thursday. It expects regular flight operations to be “largely back to normal” on Saturday, February 18. Overall, more than 295,000 passengers were affected across Germany, according to the airport association ADV. The Verdi union is demanding a raise of 10.5% for its members.

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CNN —Qatar FIFA World Cup ambassador and former footballer Khalid Salman has said homosexuality is “damage in the mind,” in an interview with German broadcaster ZDF on Monday. As many people are expected to travel to Qatar for the World Cup, “let’s talk about gays,” Salman said. Qatar will host the FIFA World Cup 2022 from November 20 until December 18. Earlier this month, football’s world governing body FIFA urged nations participating in the 2022 World Cup to focus on football when the tournament kicks off. The countdown clock for the World Cup during the FIFA Arab Cup Qatar on December 15, 2021 in Doha.

Berlin/London CNN Business —Germany is nationalizing Uniper, its biggest importer of natural gas, as part of an €8 billion ($7.9 billion) plan to prevent an energy shortage this winter. The German government will hold around 99% of Uniper after injecting new capital and buying out its Finnish parent company Fortum (FOJCF), German Economy Minister Robert Habeck told journalists in Berlin on Wednesday. Uniper provides 40% of the country’s gas supply and is crucial for large companies and private consumers in Europe’s biggest economy. Under the rescue deal, the government committed to provide €7.7 billion ($7.8 billion) to cover potential future losses, while state-run bank KfW agreed to increase its credit facility by €7 billion ($7.1 billion). UK details subsidies for businessGermany is not alone in paying a very heavy price to overcome gas supply shortages.

Berlin/London (CNN Business) Germany is nationalizing Uniper , its biggest importer of natural gas, as part of an €8 billion ($7.9 billion) plan to prevent an energy shortage this winter. Uniper provides 40% of the country's gas supply and is crucial for large companies and private consumers in Europe's biggest economy. But Habeck said the situation had "worsened dramatically" since Russia cut off gas supplies to Europe through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline indefinitely on September 1, citing an oil leak. Although gas supplies through Nord Stream 1 are suspended, Germany's gas reserves are filled at more than 90% capacity, European Storage provider GIE AGSI+ said on its website. UK details subsidies for businessGermany is not alone in paying a very heavy price to overcome gas supply shortages.

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