Germany

31 July 2019; DW: Rupert Stadler, who ran Audi until 2018, was arrested last year for his involvement in the "dieselgate" scandal. He faces three separate charges.

Former Audi Chief Executive Rupert Stadler was indicted on Wednesday over his role in the "dieselgate" emissions-cheating scandal.

Prosecutors in Munich filed charges of "fraud, indirect discrimination and false advertising." 

29 July 2019; DW: Two men exploring Germany's Falkenstein Cave were trapped after heavy rains caused the cave to flood, blocking their exit. Divers have so far been able to extract one of them.

One of the two men trapped in a flooded cave in Germany's mountainous Swabian Alps region has been rescued, the leader of the mountain search and rescue team said on Monday. The fate of the second person is still unclear. 

29 July 2019; DW: "I am Antifa" began trending in Germany after Trump said he might label the group a terror organization. Left-wing politicians hit back at the US president, while far-right politicians expressed support for the proposal.

The hashtag #IchbinAntifa ("I am Antifa") began trending on Twitter in Germany on Sunday after US President Donald Trump said he was considering labeling the group a terrorist organization.

28 July 2019; DW: Police are blaming a faulty combine harvester for a blaze that required 68 people to be treated for smoke inhalation in northwestern Germany. Some 200 firefighters were called to the scene to extinguish the flames.

Around 300 residents of a North Sea coast campsite were evacuated on Saturday after smoke from a massive nearby fire engulfed the holiday resort.

28 July 2019; DW: Pressure is growing on the German government to lend its military weight to a potential European naval mission in the Persian Gulf. The UK government floated the idea of a joint European operation last Monday.

Wolfgang Ischinger, former German ambassador to the US and now head of the Munich Security Conference, on Sunday added his voice to calls for more German military engagement in the Persian Gulf.

27 July 2019; DW: A newly discovered witness account by an ex-Nazi officer has cast fresh doubt on claims a Dutch communist was behind the 1993 Reichstag fire. The blaze was used by the Nazis to crack down on their opponents.

A recently uncovered witness testimony has cast further mystery over Nazi-era claims that a Dutch communist was behind the 1933 Reichstag fire in Berlin.

25 July 2019; DW: Germany's Muslims feel increasingly threatened after a number of recent bomb scares at mosques. Now, the heads of the country's leading Muslim associations want the government to take protective action.

BERLIN (AP) — Europeans cooled off in public fountains Wednesday as a new heat wave spread across parts of the continent and was already breaking records.

Belgium and Germany registered their highest-ever temperatures, while the Netherlands saw its hottest day in 75 years.

And the mercury is expected to rise even further.

Paris and other parts of France could see temperatures exceeding 40 C (104 F) on Thursday along with Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg and Switzerland.

24 July 2019; DW: Prince Georg Friedrich Ferdinand had been threatening legal action over state reparations and royal heirlooms. His ancestor's support for the Nazi party is a considerable hurdle in his aim to reclaim royal possessions.

Prussian royal Prince Georg Friedrich Ferdinand faces pressure to drop his claims to over 1 million euros of damages from a north German state.

24 July 2019; DW: Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer used her inauguration speech to reinforce her committment to increasing military spending. AKK, as she is informally known, remains favorite to succeed Angela Merkel as German chancellor.

Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer was sworn in as Germany's new defense minister on Wednesday morning at a special session of the lower house of the German parliament, the Bundestag.