Skip next section Philanthropist George Soros receives Sinti and Roma civic prize
10/23/2025October 23, 2025Philanthropist George Soros receives Sinti and Roma civic prize
Hungarian-born Soros is known for his work supporting civil liberties across the worldImage: FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP/Getty Images
Noted human rights advocate and philanthropist George Soros has received the European Civil Rights Prize of the Sinti and Roma for his many years of work supporting Roma communities across Europe.
The prize, awarded at a ceremony in Berlin where former Chancellor Angela Merkel was a speaker, was accepted on his behalf by George Soros’ son, Alex, who is the chair of the board of directors of the Open Society Foundations founded by his father.
The prize comes with an endowment of €15,000 (around $17,400).
Read more about the prize awarded to George Soros in Berlin here.
https://p.dw.com/p/52TrG
Skip next section Economy taking a hit from run-down transport infrastructure — study
10/23/2025October 23, 2025Economy taking a hit from run-down transport infrastructure — study
Roads and railways in a poor state of repair are dragging down the German economy, according to a study by the German Economic Institute (IW).
The study, published on Thursday, said some 84% of the 1,100 companies consulted reported hindrances to their operations caused by inadequate transport infrastructure.
The figure represents a rise of 5 percentage points over 2022.
In 2018, 67% of companies said they were hampered by such deficiencies, while in 2013, just 59% reported problems in this regard.
Smaller businesses were the most impacted, according to the study.
Dilapidated roads were most frequently cited as a problem, with 92% of the companies saying they hindered business activities, while rail transport was also mentioned as a major factor by 71% of firms.
Around 30% of the companies reported problems with air and sea transport.
“Transport infrastructure has become a stumbling block for the German economy,” said IW expert Thomas Puls.
https://p.dw.com/p/52TYj
Skip next section Hundreds of cranes dead in bird flu outbreak near Berlin, conservationists say10/23/2025October 23, 2025Hundreds of cranes dead in bird flu outbreak near Berlin, conservationists say
Saim Dušan Inayatullah
Conservationists are sounding the alarm over a reported crane die-off in the area near the German capitalImage: Matthias Bein/dpa/picture alliance
More than 1,000 cranes are believed to have died in an outbreak of bird flu near the German capital, Berlin, conservationists said on Thursday.
Altogether 839 dead cranes have been counted in Linum, some 30 km (19 miles) northwest of the capital, with the total toll likely to be around 1,500, according to the head of the Rhinluch Species Protection Centre, Norbert Schneeweiss, who is coordinating recovery efforts.
“We are still surrounded by dying animals,” said Schneeweiss, adding that helpers are “fully equipped from head to toe” and must disinfect themselves after dealing with the birds.
The conservationists fear that other species may also be affected, with ravens and birds of prey that feed on carrion active in the area.
Every year, tens of thousands of cranes make a stopover in the state of Brandenburg, which surrounds Berlin, on their way to their southern wintering grounds in France, Spain or North Africa.
The sight of large groups of cranes in formation flying overhead is common in Germany in fallImage: HärtelPRESS/IMAGO
https://p.dw.com/p/52TJ2
Skip next section Why Germany’s Bundesliga games won’t be played abroad (yet)10/23/2025October 23, 2025Why Germany’s Bundesliga games won’t be played abroad (yet)Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund are the only Bundesliga clubs with significant international supportImage: Goldberg/Beautiful Sports/IMAGO
The plan to play European league matches abroad is already starting to unravel, though there are many in power who want to keep it alive. Germany has often stood out in these moments, and looks like it will again.
https://p.dw.com/p/52T3L
Skip next section Germany ups its tax revenue forecast to 2029
10/23/2025October 23, 2025Germany ups its tax revenue forecast to 2029
Germany expects to bring in €33.6 billion ($39.18 billion) more in tax revenues in the
2025-2029 period than previously forecast, according to revised figures from the country’s tax council.
The council projected total tax revenues of €5.17 trillion for the period, a rise of 0.7% over earlier projections in May that cut estimates by €81.2 billion amid the economic downturn and tax relief measures.
The coalition government in March backed a €500 billion spending plan to boost Germany’s economy, which was negatively impacted by the coronavirus pandemic and Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The economy contracted for the second year in a row in 2025, making Germany the only G7 member that did not grow in the past two years.
However, the government, which expects only a 0.2% growth this year, has predicted growth of 1.3% next year and 1.4% in 2027, supported by state spending.
“The more positive economic outlook is reflected in rising tax revenues,” German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil said in a statement on Thursday.
Despite this, he noted that “the German government is bearing by far the bulk of the costs of the growth booster with which we are stimulating the economy. That is why the government benefits little from additional tax revenues.”
He said Germany was facing a gap of more than €140 billion up to 2029 and would need cuts from ministries despite the forecast of more tax revenue.
https://p.dw.com/p/52T2Q
Skip next section Merz slams European Parliament over failure to advance supply chain law reform
10/23/2025October 23, 2025Merz slams European Parliament over failure to advance supply chain law reform
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Wednesday described as “unacceptable” the European Parliament‘s current rejection of a reform designed to simplify due diligence obligations for businesses under the EU’s supply chain law.
A position paper outlining a compromise on the reform failed to receive a majority in the assembly on Wednesday.
The move “is a fatal mistake and must be corrected,” Merz said.
“We now need to talk again with the political groups in the European Parliament about how to do this, but things cannot remain as they are,” he added. “We now need really quick decisions in the European Union to restore the competitiveness of European industry, which we are currently losing dramatically.”
The law, which makes large companies accountable for human rights violations in their production and delivery logistics, was adopted in 2024, but quickly came under criticism from business leaders and politicians as creating an excessive bureaucratic burden for manufacturers.
This led to a decision to delay the implementation of the rules, with the European Commission proposing a revision at the beginning of the year that still needs to be finalized in negotiations between EU lawmakers and member states.
https://p.dw.com/p/52Snl
Skip next section Merz doubles down on ‘cityscape’ remark as vice chancellor warns against division
10/23/2025October 23, 2025 Merz doubles down on ‘cityscape’ remark as vice chancellor warns against division
Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Wednesday doubled down on his seemingly negative comments about urban migration despite his deputy cautioning against fomenting social divisions.
Speaking on the sidelines of a West Balkans summit in London, Merz said that Europeans were restricted in their freedoms by migrants who did not obey the law.
“Many of them also determine the public image in our cities,”he said. “That’s why so many people in Germany and other countries in the European Union — and not just in Germany — are now simply afraid to move around in public spaces,” said the chancellor.
He said those spaces included railway stations, underground trains and parks.
“It affects entire neighborhoods, which also cause major problems for our police,” he added.
His remarks followed on from last week’s remark implying that migrants in some way sullied German “cityscapes,” which provoked much criticism, even from the ranks of his own conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) party and protests outside the CDU’s Berlin headquarters.
Vice Chancellor Lars Klingbeil earlier warned that politicians “have to be very careful what kind of discussion we initiate when we suddenly divide people into us and them, into people with a family history of migration and those without.”
“I want to live in a country where politics builds bridges and brings society together instead of dividing it with words,” said Klingbeil, who leads the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) in Germany’s coalition government and also serves as finance minister.
“I want to live in a country where appearance does not determine whether you fit into the image of the city or not,” he added.
German chancellor under fire for immigration comments
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
https://p.dw.com/p/52SWz
Skip next section Germany to pay local staff at US military bases amid Washington shutdown
10/23/2025October 23, 2025Germany to pay local staff at US military bases amid Washington shutdown
Germany plans to pay some 11,000 local employees at US military bases in the country who might not receive salaries in October because of the government shutdown in Washington, the Finance Ministry said on Wednesday.
“The federal government will initiate an unscheduled expenditure to ensure that October salaries are paid on time,” a ministry spokeswoman said.
Read more about Germany’s response to the US federal shutdown here.
https://p.dw.com/p/52SQ3
Skip next section Welcome to our coverage10/23/2025October 23, 2025Welcome to our coverage
Guten Tag from the DW newsroom in Bonn!
You join our coverage as remarks by Chancellor Merz that seem to many to be denigratory toward migrants living in Germany continue to stir controversy in the country.
Rather than retracting or modifying a comment suggesting that migrants disrupted Germany’s urban landscapes, he has gone even further, while conceding that migrants were “an indispensable part of our labor market.”
Meanwhile, Germany says it plans to step in to ensure that workers at US military bases still get paid despite a government shutdown in Washington.
For these and more stories from and about Europe’s top economy, stay tuned right here on DW’s “Germany news” blog!
https://p.dw.com/p/52Sc8