Taliban report over 400 casualties after Pakistani attack on Kabul
A Pakistani strike on Afghanistan’s capital Kabul has killed roughly 400 people, the Taliban claim, with about 250 others wounded, the Taliban government said on Tuesday. The assault targeted a drug rehabilitation clinic for addicts. Pakistan insists the facility was not the intended target. Instead, it says the attack hit “military facilities” and…
March 17, 2026
European Court of Justice Finds Church Exit Alone Does Not Justify Termination
A Catholic organisation cannot simply terminate an employee because the person has left the Church. The European Court of Justice ruled that a dismissal on those grounds is only justified if the requirement to remain a member is “essential, lawful and justified”. The court also stressed that the type of work and the ethos of the institution must be taken into…
March 17, 2026
AfD Demands Return of German Gold Reserves While SPD Accuses Panic‑Mongering
The AfD is demanding that the German government bring all German gold reserves overseas back to Germany. The AfD parliamentary group plans to submit a motion entitled “Bring German State Gold Fully Back to Germany” to the Bundestag on Wednesday, according to “Tagesspiegel”. The motion argues that gold serves both a psychological and material…
March 17, 2026
Verdi Warns Unicredit Over Commerzbank Merge Employees Face Massive Cuts
Verdi warns that a takeover of Commerzbank by the Italian banking giant Unicredit could have severe repercussions for employees. Jan Duscheck, the federal group leader for banking at Verdi, told “Bild” that in most bank mergers dual structures are cut, and he estimates that more than 10,000 jobs at Commerzbank could be at risk. According to the union, the most…
March 17, 2026
Number of Maternity Clinics in Germany Halved Since Unification
Since German reunification, the number of hospitals that keep maternity wards has been cut in half. In 1991 there were 1,186 hospitals where children were born; by 2024 that figure had dropped to 578, a 51.3 % decline reported by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). The fall in hospitals was accompanied by a steep reduction in specialist obstetrics and gynecology…
March 17, 2026
Germany Twin Births Slip to Lowest Level Since 1997
Births of twins, triplets, or higher‑order multiples are already rare, and in Germany they have become even less common in recent years. In 2024, out of 680,017 newborns, 21,040 were multiples – meaning one in every 32 births was a multiple, a share of 3.1 %. The Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) noted that this figure falls to its lowest level since 1997, after a…
March 17, 2026
Ifo Reveals 95% of 2025 New Government Debt Misused, Not for Infrastructure Projects
According to calculations by the Ifo Institute, the German government used 95 % of the new debt issued in 2025 for purposes other than additional infrastructure investment. This conclusion comes from a recent Ifo analysis of the Special Fund for Climate Neutrality and Infrastructure (SVIK). “Policymakers have essentially funneled the debt‑financed funds into other…
March 17, 2026
Two People Fatally Shot in Raunheim Bistro Night
In the south‑German district of Groß‑Gerau, near Raunheim, two people were shot dead inside a bistro during the night of Tuesday, according to several media reports that relied on police statements. The attack happened at about 3:45 a.m. A suspect entered the shop and opened fire right away. He is currently on the run, and police have cordoned off the area around the scene.…
March 17, 2026
German Gas Storage Operators Safe Through Winter But Alarmed for 2026‑27 Heating Season Focus on Summer Refill
German gas storage operators are confident that there will be no shortage for the remainder of the current winter. They, however, express concern about the next heating season, which begins at the turn of 2026/27. The Initiative Energien Speichern (Ines)-which represents more than 90 % of Germany’s gas storage capacity-reported that the current fill levels are already…
March 17, 2026
Taxpayer Group Demands Gasoline VAT Only on Net Price Excluding CO2 Fees
The Association of Taxpayers (Bund der Steuerzahler, BdSt) is urging the German federal government to change the way value‑added tax is applied to gasoline. They argue that VAT should be charged only on the net price of fuel and not on the CO₂ fee that is added to the final cost. “Tax on top of tax is unacceptable” said BdSt president Reiner Holznagel to the…
March 17, 2026
German Rail Network Repair Backlog Hits 136.5 Billion Euros
The need for repair and renewal across the German railway network continues to expand. According to “Tagesspiegel Background” which cites current internal documents from DB InfraGO, the cumulative backlog of investment-adjusted for inflation-rose by an additional €2.6 billion in 2025, bringing the total to €136.5 billion. These internal records show that the…
March 17, 2026
SPD Threatens to Delay EU Decisions Made With Far‑Right Factions
The SPD warns that it will try to delay and weaken EU Parliament decisions that were adopted together with far‑right factions when they reach the Bundestag. “All parties should be clear that the SPD will use every means to postpone and erode, where possible, the resolutions adopted by a majority of far‑right groups at the European level – even though a general…
