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Germany

Germany
Germany
The latest breaking news and stories on Germany, a country in northern Europe known as a federal republic, and the world’s fourth largest economy. Also covering Germany’s relationship with China and Europe, plus commentary and updates on Germany’s economy, politics, society and social issues.
Capital
Berlin
Head of State
President Frank-Walter Steinmeier
Head of Government
Chancellor Olaf Scholz
Olaf Scholz
US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth speaks as President Donald Trump listens at a meeting in the White House in Washington on December 2. Photo: CNP/Abaca Press/TNS
US-China relations

Editorial | Less hostility towards China in new US security strategy is welcome

The plan’s watering down of America’s antagonism towards China bodes well for both nations and the world.

United States

German engineer becomes first wheelchair user to blast into space

Hong Kong healthcare and hospitals

Editorial | Hong Kong well set to raise the global bar for Chinese medicine

Ukraine war

Rubio says won’t force deal on Ukraine as Europeans join Miami talks

Trump envoys are meeting officials from Kyiv and Moscow, but the question of ceding territory remains a stumbling block in negotiations.

Residents react at the site of a Russian air strike in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, on Friday. Photo: Reuters
Ukraine war

EU agrees US$106 billion loan for Ukraine, but without Russian assets

EU leaders reach a compromise after plans to use frozen Russian assets failed to gain backing.

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US-China relations

US arms deal supports Taiwan’s effort to reassure Trump on defence burden

Weapons package underpins Taipei’s move towards an asymmetric ‘porcupine’ strategy as Washington presses allies to do more.

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China-EU relations

EU facing crunch talks over Ukraine, China and its economic future

EU leaders are set to meet amid growing concern in Brussels that the bloc’s divisions will impede meaningful action across a range of issues.

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EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the bloc had to decide what option it wanted to take to ensure Ukraine received funding. Photo: dpa
Ukraine war

Putin vows victory in Ukraine as US and Russia prepare for Miami talks

Russian leader boasts of battlefield gains in Ukraine while his envoys prepare to meet the Americans this weekend.

European Union

EU drops 2035 combustion engine ban in victory for its carmakers

Europe pivots to bolstering its crisis-hit auto sector in a major green policy retreat.

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Ukraine war

Zelensky demands justice as nations back Ukraine reparations; will Russia pay?

US$232 billion in frozen Russian assets are central to a new Hague-based commission managing Ukraine war damage claims.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during a press conference in The Hague, Netherlands on Tuesday. Photo: EPA-EFE
European Union

As I see it | Russia will end the European Union, not the other way around

The end of history is more history, as Hegel might have said, with the postmodern unified EU potentially reverting back to rival modern states.

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The European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas signs an agreement to transfer to Ukraine a tranche of proceeds from frozen Russian assets during a meeting in Lviv, Ukraine, on May 9. Photo: AP
Ukraine war

US officials say Washington agrees to give Ukraine security guarantees

‘Article 5-like’ security offer emerges at talks in Berlin in a bid to secure an end to the nearly four-year Russia-Ukraine war.

Britain

UK spy and military chiefs give threat assessment in ‘age of uncertainty’

Head of MI6 says ‘we are now operating in a space between peace and war’, as defence chief urges ‘whole nation’ prepare for evolving threats.

Volkswagen

Can Volkswagen regain its China market share with its US$3.5 billion bet?

Volkswagen, which once had 50 per cent of China’s vehicle market, has invested €3 billion in its largest R&D centre outside its home country in Hefei.

Volkswagen’s research and development centre in eastern China’s Anhui provincial capital of Hefei on November 20, 2025. Photo: handout
Japan

Japan’s retreat from global health funding hands China diplomatic opening

Tokyo’s over 52 per cent funding cut to a global body fighting Aids and malaria risks damaging its hard-won reputation as a ‘peace nation’.

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Mothers wait for their babies to receive a malaria vaccine in Malawi in 2019. Japan has slashed funding to a global health agency fighting infectious diseases. Photo: AFP
Australia

World leaders express horror at Bondi Beach attack as vigils held for victims

Israel’s Herzog condemned the ‘cruel attack on Jews’ by ‘terrorists’; Trump branded the shooting that killed 15 people ‘purely antisemitic’.

Ukraine war

Zelensky suggests Ukraine could drop Nato goal for security guarantees

The shift, which includes a call for ‘Article 5-like’ guarantees, comes as Washington presses for an end to the four-year Ukraine war.

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Crime

Germany thwarts Islamist plot to ram vehicle into Christmas market

Authorities arrested five men over the plan to carry out the attack in southern Bavaria state.

Security forces stand guard at the entrance of a Christmas market where a car crashed into a crowd and killed six people last December in Magdeburg, Germany. Photo: AFP
Electric & new energy vehicles

High-end car sales sink in China as cheaper brands trump European marques

Many buyers were swayed by a 20,000 yuan (US$2,830 ) trade-in subsidy offered by the government for purchasing electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles.

Ukraine war

Europe fears hidden Russian threat in Trump-backed Ukraine peace plan

Europe worries a US plan for a demilitarised zone in the Donbas region may help Moscow to reinvade Kyiv.

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The Philippines

Asian Angle | Is the new Philippines-Germany defence pact built to last?

Rising anxieties over Beijing and Moscow have united Berlin and Manila in an axis that must now be institutionalised to ensure it endures.

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius (left) mets his Philippine counterpart Gilberto Teodoro Jnr in Manila last year to discuss defence cooperation. Photo: Reuters
Japan

Opinion | From Singapore to Taiwan, Japan must face its past for Asia’s future

Lasting peace in Asia demands that Tokyo abandons its historical revisionism and refusal to acknowledge past crimes.

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A man displays a Rising Sun Flag, the Japanese naval ensign, at the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on August 15, the 80th anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War II. Photo: Reuters
War and conflict

Opinion | Only true repentance from Japan can resolve East Asia’s ‘memory wars’

It is important that Japan, China and South Korea collectively reckon with the legacy of military aggression and wartime atrocities.

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China-EU relations

EU fears China’s role in Russia’s war on Ukraine is deepening

Multiple sources confirm increase in Beijing backing before China-Russia ties are discussed by ministers from the EU’s 27 members on Monday.

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United States

Outside In | It’s an expensive Christmas for Americans thanks to Trump’s tariffs

It’s been years since the US president extolled the virtues of trade wars: how much longer before he recognises tariffs harm the US economy?

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People walk by shop windows decorated for Christmas in New York on December 5. Photo: dpa
Hong Kong healthcare and hospitals

Why ‘Hong Kong model’ combining Chinese and Western medicine could go global

German facility says it is exploring potential areas of collaboration and possible joint projects with the city’s new hospital.

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The pharmacy at the new Chinese Medicine Hospital of Hong Kong, which opened on Thursday. Photo: Edmond So
Japan

Japan’s English skills crash to record low, behind Laos and Vietnam

Outdated teaching methods and the rise of language translation apps have made most Japanese less inclined to learn English, educators say.

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Ukraine war

Zelensky floats referendum on territory, as US pressure mounts to end war

Ukraine’s president says Russia wants ‘the whole of Donbas’ in return for peace, but Ukrainians must have their say.

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