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Germany’s defence minister has confirmed that “a united EU military is becoming a reality,” after her ally and Chancellor Angela Merkel backed Emmanuel Macron’s call for a “real European army.” “Europe’s army is already taking shape,” Ursula von der Leyen wrote in an opinion piece for Handelsblatt on Thursday. “Germany and France are the driving forces in defense,” Ms von der Leyen boasted, adding that “We’re moving even further ahead with our close partner France” after the two countries agreed to sign a “new Elysèe Treaty” which, amongst other efforts to, in effect, merge aspects of the two countries, includes...

After an evaluation of the country's armed forces showed that the German Army would not be ready for combat operations until 2031 at the earliest, Chancellor Angela Merkel made an impassioned plea to the global community to postpone any planned attacks on Germany until 2032 or later. "We are in worse shape than the bourgeois democracies that were crushed by the blitzkrieg Germany sprung on them in 1939," the Chancellor confessed. "It would be unsporting for others to emulate the underhanded tactics that enabled our army to overrun most of Europe in the early stages of World War II." Merkel...

Parents have expressed outrage over the "racist" design of a limited edition Kinder Egg toy, with one mum saying that she was "sickened". A large number of people took to Facebook to post photos of the "nasty" plastic toy.

His new party Aufbruch der deutschen Patrioten (Awakening of German Patriots) will use a cornflower against the background of a German flag. The small blue flower was used as a secret symbol by the then-banned National Socialists in 1930s Austria before the Anschluss of 1938 brought the Nazis to power in the country.

German police say the AfD party chairman in Bremen was knocked down with a “lightning-quick” blow in a suspected “politically motivated” attack that left Frank Magnitz unconscious and with a “bone-deep laceration” to his forehead. The account of events surrounding the attack on the leader of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in Bremen on Monday night still remains murky, because the victim of the assault was left senseless in the ambush. Magnitz told RT that he has never seen his attackers, who crept up on him from behind just as he passed two construction workers after leaving a New...

Germany’s Armed Forces are most likely to stay underequipped for the next decade or so, the German Defense Chief has admitted. Meanwhile, the units are stuck with sharing gear and vehicles. At least nine brigades in the German Armed Forces, known as Bundeswehr, lack the necessary equipment and arms, the military Inspector General Eberhard Zorn said, adding that they are expected to be “fully equipped” no sooner than in 13 years – by 2031. The lack of spare parts for the military equipment also remains one of the major concerns. At the same time, he was pretty confident that Germany...

Germany is on the verge of entering a recession after suffering a collapse in industrial production, according to reports. Traders were shocked when they saw the German economy plummet sharply than anticipated. Industrial production plunged by -1.9 percent in November - a year-on-year low of -4.6 percent stoking the uncertainty in the world's fourth-largest economy.

Heavy snowfall continued Thursday in parts of Austria and southern Germany, with several places cut off and the bad weather expected to persist. Snow was causing problems in other parts of Europe, even in Norway’s Arctic Svalbard archipelago. Austrian police said that a 16-year-old boy from Australia was killed in an avalanche in St. Anton am Arlberg as he was skiing with his family on Wednesday. In neighboring Slovakia, the mountain rescue service said a 37-year-old Slovak man was killed by an avalanche in the Mala Fatra mountains. That brought to at least 16 the number of weather-related deaths reported...

The European Court of Human Rights on Thursday rejected the appeal of a German couple who have been fighting for years to home school their kids, saying the government was within its rights to temporarily remove their children. Home schooling is illegal in Germany and the Strasbourg, France-based court noted it had already upheld that law in previous decisions. But Dirk and Petra Wunderlich, who are in their early 50s, had argued their rights to privacy of home and family life were violated by Hesse state authorities when their four children were taken from them in 2013. They were returned...

The Nord Stream 2 pipeline is running into some trouble amid withering opposition from the Trump administration. As it stands, Russia still needs to ship large volumes of gas to Europe via Ukraine. Nord Stream 2 would allow Russian gas to bypass Ukraine, giving Russia more leverage to meddle in Ukraine while still reliably delivering gas to Europe. Merkel has been supportive of the project, not least because several major western European companies have stakes in the pipeline, including Royal Dutch Shell, as well as major German companies Wintershall and BASF. Last year, Merkel, under intense pressure from the Trump...

France and Germany are to forge shared defence, foreign and economic policies in an unprecedented “twinning” arrangement regarded as a prototype for the future of the European Union.This month Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron will sign a treaty that paves the way for the two nations to present a united diplomatic front to the world and to mount joint peacekeeping missions in conflict zones. Both countries will lobby for Germany to receive a permanent seat on the UN security council, alongside France, the US, China, Russia and Britain, the leading Allied powers on the winning side at the end of...

The New York Times is quick to the typeset to explain how Brussels is desperately offended because President Trump and Secretary Pompeo have lowered the importance of the EU. Officials from the European Union are apoplectic that U.S. officials have downgraded their status amid the official registry of diplomatic protocols. (snip) -- BRUSSELS — The Trump administration downgraded the diplomatic status of the European Union’s delegation to the United States last year without making a formal announcement or informing the bloc about the change, a European official said on Tuesday.

What happens when the political opposition and the entire media establishment in Germany refers to your party as "fascists"?  This. The Hill: Frank Magnitz, a lawmaker with German far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD), was reportedly attacked by at least three men on Monday night and remained hospitalized on Tuesday, The New York Times reported.  Magnitz is the head of AfD's chapter in the German city of Bremen. Thomas Jürgewitz, the deputy head of the Bremen chapter, told the Times in a phone interview that Magnitz is expected to make a full recovery. The AfD circulated a picture of Magnitz's bloodied face, writing on Facebook, "Today...

President Trump making his case for a barrier on the nation's southern border in a speech Tuesday night, describing a crisis with illegal immigration that includes the deaths of thousands of Americans..... The co-leader of the anti-mass immigration Alternative for Germany party, Alice Weidel, says that the brutal attack on AfD parliament member Frank Magnitz was an attempted assassination. Weidel added that: "the hatred against the AfD and the media coverage against this democratically elected party is bearing fruit" At least three masked men beat Magnitz unconscious using a piece of wood Monday in the city of Bremen. He was...

Monday’s attack on Bremen’s Alternative for Germany (AfD) leader Frank Magnitz is not the first time the far-right populist party has been targeted in the northern German city. In the past, windows have been smashed and a car vandalized. Yet the brutal beating of Magnitz does mark a new level of violence in Bremen. The 66-year-old Magnitz, who remains hospitalized, was reportedly set upon by masked assailants, who struck the parliamentarian in the head with an object. When Magnitz went to the ground, the attackers apparently continued beating him. Passersby ultimately came to his aid. Bremen’s police and state security...

The leader of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party made a video statement on the sickening attack on Frank Magnitz, state chairman of the AfD. Magnitz was almost beaten to death by three masked thugs in the northern German city of Bremen. Police said they are treating the incident as a “politically motivated act.” AfD leader Alice Weidel said “she is completely shocked by this abhorrent act” and partly blames the media for it. According to her the media’s smear campaign against her democratically elected party “finally beared fruit”. Weidel says “this cowardly attack is to be completely condemned” and...

A member of Germany's parliament from the far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD) suffered serious injuries after he was attacked by three people in the northern city of Bremen Monday in what the party described as an "assassination attempt." According to a statement on the AfD Bremen Facebook page, Frank Magnitz was knocked unconscious as he left a New Year's reception at a theater in the city. The party said the attackers continued to beat Magnitz on the head after he was down. The statement credited "the courageous intervention of a builder" with saving Magnitz's life. AfD said police and...

House Budget Chairman John Yarmuth (D-Ky.) has announced that the forthcoming budget blueprint will call for a 33 percent corporate income tax rate by hiking the rate from 21 percent to 28 percent. This would make the U.S. a less competitive place to do business and make the U.S. statutory rate higher than many developed competitors. State corporate taxes average 6 percent across the U.S, so this planned tax hike would give the U.S. an average top corporate rate of 34 percent. The current combined corporate rate across the 36 member Organisation for Economic Development and Cooperation (OECD) is currently...

BREAKING>>>> German Conservative AfD Politician BEATEN NEAR DEATH in Bremen –Political Assassination– 3 Days after AfD Headquarters Bombed! .. (Full title). ... German #AfD-politician Frank Magnitz (member of the German parliament) was badly injured in the German town #Bremen in #Germany, probably by three persons of the Antifa. Evidently a man (passer by) saved his life today at night. ... German police have declared this a political assassination attempt. ... Violent attacks on the conservative AfD Party in Germany are escalating. On Friday the AfD headquarters were bombed in Saxony. Three buildings were damaged in the blast ... Attacks are...

A key point of contention was the collaboration between the mosque and Yad Vashem, a Jewish organisation that focuses on preserving the memory of the holocaust. The exhibition at the London mosque, which was devoted to Muslims who helped save Jewish lives during the Holocaust, has been cancelled without an official explanation, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) reported. The cancellation of the event, held by the Centre for Islamic Understanding in Golders Green, was preceded by Muslim protests that were largely fuelled by statements of Roshan Salih, the editor of a Muslim media outlet called "5 Pillars." The man slammed...