Germany updates: Police say extra border checks unustainable – DW – 05/19/2025
GdP chief Andreas Rosskopf said the measures rely on adjusted rosters, canceled leave, and paused training.
Over 1,000 riot police are currently deployed at the borders after Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt recently tightened controls, with turnbacks up by nearly a half.
Meanwhile, an Iraqi couple are on trial in Germany accused of enslaving and abusing two Yazidi girls.
Here's a roundup of top news stories from Germany on Monday, May 19.
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DW
a day ago
- DW
Germany updates: EU ministers talk migration in Denmark – DW – 07/22/2025
Germany's Alexander Dobrindt, a migration hard-liner, is attending a meeting of EU interior ministers on the issue in Denmark. DW has this and more in its blog on German current affairs. EU interior ministers are meeting in the Danish capital, Copenhagen, on Tuesday for talks on how best to combat irregular migration and organized crime. Among them is be German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt, who last week already advocated a harsher European migration policy in talks with several counterparts, including on repatriations of rejected asylum-seekers to countries like Syria and Afghanistan. Meanwhile, a cyber espionage operation targeting Microsoft server software has compromised a large number of organizations, including some in Germany. A German Air Force flight made an emergency landing in Leipzig on Monday night after a warning message went off in the cockpit, a spokesperson said. Speaking with the German press agency DPA, the Airbus A319 was on its way back from Berlin to its base in Cologne. Earlier, the plane had been carrying Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig, who had been on her first official visit to Poland. She had disembarked in Berlin. The spokesperson said that the plane would be inspected today, after which a decision will be made if the aircraft needs repairs. German military equipment has long been the butt of international jokes for being run-down and out of date. Former Chancellor Angela Merkel famously had to break off a journey to a G20 summit when her plane experienced technical issues. The German media group Südwestdeutsche Medienholding (SWMH), which owns daily among other publications, has been the target of a "critical IT security incident," it said on Tuesday. The group said its internal network was briefly accessed by unauthorized individuals in mid-July, affecting all the companies connected by it, including the and dailies. It said the attack had been stopped and that all online reporting and newspaper production had continued without disruption. The attack has been reported to the police cybercrime unit and the incident is being investigated by external IT security experts, it said. SWMH is one of Germany's largest newspaper publishers and employs some 4,500 people. Germany's Constitutional Court has upheld a three-year jail sentence handed to a former doctor convicted of assisting in the suicide of a mentally ill patient. The man had filed a complaint with the court claiming that his basic rights had been violated by his punishment. The court said the man had failed to prove sufficiently that this was the case. The former doctor was sentenced in 2024 by a regional court in Essen for having assisted the patient to commit suicide in 2020, although the latter suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and was considered by the court to be incapable of taking a free decision to take his life. Physician-assisted suicide is legal in Germany under some circumstances, but the patient has to be determined to be mentally sound enough to make the decision. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 videoEuropean countries have massively increased their defense spending amid fears of further Russian territorial aggression. Several startups in Germany are seeking to exploit the trend but face many challenges. DW has this video analysis: To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The German Association of General Practitioners (Hausärztinnen- und Hausärzteverband) has warned that a newly introduced system aimed at allowing health care providers to more easily exchange patient data is in danger of "crash landing." "The number of active users is sobering," association chairman Markus Beier told the daily . "If those in charge keep on as they have been, one of the most important care projects of the past years will fail slowly but surely." He said this would be bad news for patients, as "a well-implemented electronic patient file indubitably would have the potential to tangibly improve and simplify care." He called on health insurance companies to conduct a "big and coordinated information campaign" for their customers. Beier, however, also criticized the system itself as being over-complicated to use, saying that barely a week went by in which doctors' practices didn't have problems accessing patient files. Electronic patient fileswere rolled out nationwide in April of this year. The files contain the entire medical history of a patient, with aim of facilitating treatment coordination between physicians and other health care providers. Internet security experts say there have been dozens of hacking attacks on self-hosted servers using Microsoft's SharePoint software, affecting several organizations, including government bodies, mostly in Germany and the US. The SharePoint servers are widely used by organizations, including government bodies, major industrial firms, banks, auditors and health care companies, for the internal sharing of documents and to facilitate collaboration. Security researchers warn that the hacking operation, reportedly known as "ToolShell," is a serious one and can allow actors to fully access SharePoint file systems, including services connected to SharePoint, such as Teams and OneDrive. The hack allows the perpetrators to potentially drop a so-called backdoor to give them continuous access to victim organizations. Microsoft said it had "provided security updates and encourages customers to install them," a company spokesperson said in an emailed statement. It said the vulnerability affects only on-site SharePoint servers used within businesses or organizations and not Microsoft's cloud-based SharePoint Online service. Eye Security, a Netherlands-based cybersecurity firm that helped uncover the operation, has declined to identify the affected organizations, but said the relevant national authorities had been notified. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Interior ministers from the 27 EU member states are set to meet in the Danish capital,Copenhagen, for talks focusing on migration and European security. Discussions are to center on how best to repatriate people who have had their asylum requests refused and how to combat irregular migration. The fight against organized crime and the drug trade will also be on the agenda. Proposals on the table include the possibility of setting up so-called repatriation centers outside the EU. German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt is expected to be among the attendees. Dobrindt has already implemented controversial pushback measures at Germany's borders that a court has ruled to be illegal. Last Friday, the conservative politician from Bavaria's Christian Social Union (CSU) also pushed for much harsher European migration policies in talks with counterparts from Austria, France, Denmark, Poland and the Czech Republic during a summit hosted in Germany. This included proposals to be more rigorous in sending people back to home countries whose security situation is fragile, such as Syria and Afghanistan. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video from the DW Bonn newsroom on the banks of the Rhine! Riding high after sealing an agreement from a German business alliance to invest €631 billion ($733 billion) in Germany over the next three years, Chancellor Friedrich Merz is turning to foreign diplomacy on Tuesday, hosting Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala in Berlin. Meanwhile, Merz's interior minister, Alexander Dobrindt, is set to attend a meeting in Denmark with his EU counterparts to talk migration. German Development Minister Reem Alabali Radovan is also setting off, headed to South Africa as part of the Just Energy Transition Partnership. He's also planning to take part in the G20 development ministers' summit taking place in Johannesburg. For the latest developments, explainers and analysis from Germany, keep reading.
DW
2 days ago
- DW
Germany updates: EU ministers to talk migration in Denmark – DW – 07/22/2025
Germany's Alexander Dobrindt, a migration hard-liner, is set to attend a meeting of EU interior ministers on the issue in Denmark. DW has this and more in its blog on German current affairs. EU interior ministers will meet in the Danish capital, Copenhagen, on Tuesday for talks on how best to combat irregular migration and organized crime. Among them will be German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt, who last week already advocated a harsher European migration policy in talks with several counterparts, including on repatriations of rejected asylum-seekers to countries like Syria and Afghanistan. Meanwhile, a cyber espionage operation targeting Microsoft server software has compromised a large number of organizations, including some in Germany. from the DW newsroom in the stately city of Bonn on the Rhine! Problems associated with migration, particularly irregular migration, continue to be a political focus in Germany and the EU, with German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt an advocate of restrictive policies. He is thus likely to exhort his European counterparts to implement harsher measures at a meeting in Denmark on Tuesday that is to focus on the issue. We will also be talking about teething pains with Germany's new digital system for sharing patient information between health care providers, and a hacking attack on Microsoft server software that might have led to massive data leaks in Germany, among other countries. Read here to find out what Germany is talking about on Tuesday, July 22.
Int'l Business Times
2 days ago
- Int'l Business Times
A Month After Ceasefire With Israel, Iranians Fear Another War
The ceasefire that ended Iran's 12-day war with Israel has held for nearly a month without incident, but many Iranians remain uneasy, struggling with uncertainty as fears of another confrontation linger. "I don't think this ceasefire will last," said Peyman, a 57-year-old resident of Shiraz in Iran's south, one of numerous cities hit last month as Israel unleashed an unprecedented bombing campaign against its staunch rival. The Israeli offensive targeted key nuclear facilities and military sites, killing top commanders and nuclear scientists and hundreds of other people, while also wreaking havoc in some residential areas. The attacks triggered the fiercest fighting in history between the longtime foes, ending with a ceasefire announced on June 24. But Israel has signalled it could return to fighting if Iran attempts to rebuild nuclear facilities or carry out any actions deemed a threat, such as moving to develop an atomic bomb -- an ambition Tehran has consistently denied it was pursuing. Iran, in turn, has vowed to deliver a harsh response if attacked again. Nuclear diplomacy with the United States -- which briefly joined the war with strikes on key Iranian nuclear sites -- has stalled, deepening a sense of uncertainty about what lies ahead. "I am scared the war would start again," said Hamid, a 54-year-old government employee who gave only his first name. "It will lead to the death of more innocent people and the destruction of the country's infrastructure." During the war, Israel struck major Iranian cities including the capital Tehran, hitting military sites, government buildings and the state television headquarters. More than 1,000 people were killed in Iran, according to authorities. Retaliatory missile and drone attacks killed 29 people in Israel. Many residents fled Tehran, seeking refuge in other parts of the country, even though few regions were untouched by the blasts and smoke-covered skies. Nearly a month later, a series of fires that broke out across Iran in recent days -- including one at a major oil facility -- have triggered speculations which officials were quick to dismiss, denying any acts of sabotage. "This war really frightened me," said 78-year-old housewife Golandam Babaei, from the western Kermanshah province. She lived through the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s, a painful memory for many of her generation. "I kept telling myself, please God, do not let the past repeat itself," Babaei told AFP. The war with Israel, although much shorter and fought mostly with air strikes and missiles rather than by ground forces, revived grim memories of the conflict with Iraq. That war, triggered by an Iraqi invasion in 1980, killed an estimated 500,000 people on both sides. It featured chemical warfare and prolonged front-line bombardments, scarring Iranians in the then-nascent Islamic republic born out of the 1979 revolution. Since then, for decades, Iran had managed to keep conflicts away from its territory. But now after the 12-day war with Israel, some Iranians feel a profound sense of vulnerability. "I kept thinking I don't want to flee again, we have nowhere to go. I cannot run to the mountains like the past," said Babaei. For Ali Khanzadi, a 62-year-old war veteran, the conflict with Israel highlighted a change compared to the 1980s when "we didn't have any advanced military equipment" to fight the Iraqis. Khanzadi, who was wounded in battle in 1983, said that the war with Israel, while much shorter, had a more sinister dimension. Unlike in the past, modern military technology means "they can kill a child in his sleep remotely using a drone," he said. In the face of the Israeli threats and attacks, Iranian authorities have repeatedly invoked national unity. Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said the offensive was aimed at toppling the Islamic republic's clerical system, and urged Iranian diplomats and military officials to proceed with "care and precision" as the country cautiously moves on. Tehran has said it remained open to nuclear diplomacy with the United States which the war had derailed, but officials have expressed concerns over renewed attacks and demanded unspecified US guarantees to resume negotiations. Ordinary Iranians appear to share fears that the conflict could erupt again. "I hope that this will not happen," said Hamid. Babaei said she was praying "for peace, for us to remain safe in our homes".
