Germany

03 Feb 2019; AFP: Hundreds of people demonstrated Saturday in Stuttgart, the bastion of Germany's car industry, against a recent driving ban on older diesels, wearing yellow vests to match protesters in France whose movement began as a reaction to proposed fuel hikes.

Since January 1, only diesel vehicles meeting the Euro 5 emissions standard are allowed into Stuttgart, home of Mercedes-Benz maker Daimler, Volkswagen subsidiary Porsche and the world's biggest car parts supplier Bosch.

03 Feb 2019; DW: Germany's Foreign Minister, Heiko Maas, said on Sunday that the idea of the UK avoiding Brexit was unlikely. Maas told German media group Funke that he would liked to have seen an "exit from Brexit," but that he held no hopes of it happening.

Brussels and London find themselves at an impasse over the final agreement to the UK's exit from the EU, with the most recent deal having failed in the British Parliament, as the deadline of March 29 looms.

30 Jan 2019; DW: Two of the three suspects reportedly tried to build a homemade bomb and considered carrying out an armed or vehicle attack. Prosecutors accused the suspects of planning an "attack."

Three Iraqi refugees were arrested on Wednesday in northern Germany for preparing a terror attack.

Two 23-year-olds and a 36-year-old were arrested in an early morning raid in the state of Schleswig-Holstein after a months-long investigation, German police said.

28 Jan 2019; DW: Although parts of the intelligence report had already circulated through German media, the full AfD report reveals an exhaustive analysis of the party's rhetoric as well as members' links to extremist groups.

A classified intelligence report on the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) was posted online in its entirety [link in German] on Monday by bloggers with the independent news outlet netzpolitik.org.

29 Jan 2019; DW: Figures seen by DW show how many people were caught by German Federal Police after they entered the country illegally between January and November 2018. The total number of illegal arrivals is probably higher.

More than 38,000 people were caught entering Germany illegally between January and November 2018, German Federal Police have told DW.

Over 28,000 people entered Germany by land, with most — some 10,300 — entering from Austria.

26 Jan 2019; DW: A faction within Germany's Left Party posted a cartoon of a grim reaper holding a bloody scythe painted to resemble the flag of Israel. The group was commenting on the Venezuelan political crisis.

A far-left faction within Germany's socialist Left Party has retracted a cartoon insinuating that Israel was instigating a violent coup in Venezuela after party members accused it of anti-Semitism.

26 Jan 2019; DW:  Germany and Spain say Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro must hold elections. If not, both would consider following the United States in recognizing the head of the opposition as president.

Germany and Spain said on Friday that Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido should be recognized as president if standing President Nicolas Maduro did not agree "immediately" to hold new elections.

23 Jan 2019; DW: Germany will not be sending any more ships to take part in the anti-people smuggling operation Sophia in the Mediterranean Sea, according to a senior military officer.

The decision means frigate Augsburg, currently stationed off the coast of Libya, will not be replaced early next month, Bundeswehr Inspector General Eberhard Zorn told members of the defense and foreign affairs committees in the German parliament.

24 Jan 2019; DW: AfD lawmakers in Bavaria's state parliament were sharply criticized for leaving during a speech by Jewish community leader Charlotte Knobloch. The Holocaust survivor had accused the party for downplaying Nazi atrocities.

Lawmakers with Bavaria's far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) staged a walkout on Wednesday during a memorial service honoring the victims of the Holocaust.

22 Jan 2019; DW: Some 80 police officers stormed the apartment of a 73-year-old German in the eastern city of Görlitz on Tuesday, after he stole 600 meters of train tracks and sold them for scrap. The pensioner made some 16,000 euros ($18,160) selling the disused track to scrap yards.

Police in Görlitz said that the unusually high number of officers taking part in the operation was due to the man's criminal record, which included a violation of Germany's weapons laws.