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Germany
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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
Social media apps displayed on a mobile phone. Germany’s ruling party has called for fines against online platforms that fail to enforce social media curbs for children. Photo: Reuters
Social media

Germany’s ruling party seeks social media ban for children aged below 14

Spain, Greece, France, Britain and other countries are looking at similar social media bans or curbs.

Ukraine war

5 European nations to make drones by tapping Ukraine’s war experience

Austria

Policing the past: Hitler’s childhood home becomes a police station

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Artificial intelligence

Opinion | Who will save the world from a US-China AI arms race?

Unrestrained military AI could doom us all. The window for a global middle-power alliance to rein in the superpowers is closing fast.

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The logo of the US AI company Anthropic. The US and China now face a prisoner’s dilemma in military AI. Photo: AFP
Spain

Spain’s Sagrada Familia reaches full height 144 years after first stone laid

The Sagrada Familia became the world’s tallest church last October, rising over the spire of Germany’s Ulmer Munster.

China-EU relations

Merz the latest European leader to visit China amid tensions with US

Trade deficit is likely to be top priority for German chancellor on his first official visit to China since taking office.

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Turkey

6 Europeans activists held in Turkey while investigating prison conditions

Their arrest came on the same day that police detained a Turkish journalist working for Deutsche Welle for ‘spreading false news’.

A high-security prison is seen in the border city of Edirne, Turkey. Photo: Reuters
Trade

Outside In | Try as it might, the US alone can’t reverse the tide of globalisation

Accounting for a significant share of world trade, Europe and Asia are far more decisive players in the fast-changing globalised economy.

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China-Germany relations

Video | China-Germany ties ahead of Merz’s visit

Roles reversed with China, once reliant on German expertise, now on top.

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Electric & new energy vehicles

Geely’s Zeekr shifts into Italy as China’s European EV push gathers speed

The carmaker is pressing ahead despite tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, betting on demand for high-spec models.

Zeekr is betting on European demand for high-spec models in its foray into Italy. Photo: Getty Images
Law

Legal Tales | Uber robotaxi: uber-sophisticated in tech and uber-complicated in law

Who do you sue if you have a traffic accident sitting inside an autonomous taxi?

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The Uber robotaxi features Level 4 autonomous driving, deploying real-time AI processing of situational data. Photo: AFP
US-China relations

White House deflects as Trump weighs Taiwan arms sale delay amid Beijing pressure

New weapons package said to be in jeopardy ahead of Trump-Xi summit, raising concerns over Beijing’s leverage and US policy on Taiwan.

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Luxury cars

Andrea Zagato on the Capricorn 01, coachbuilder Zagato’s first hypercar

The project blends Italian design flair and German precision thanks to engineering firm Capricorn, known for McLaren, Porsche and Bugatti collabs.

Russia

Russia demands ‘concrete’ proof that it poisoned Navalny with dart frog toxin

Britain, France, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands claim Russia had the ‘means, motive and opportunity’ to kill its opposition leader.

Lyudmila Navalnaya touches the portrait of her son, Alexei Navalny, at his grave in Borisovskoye Cemetery, Moscow, on Monday. Photo: AP
European Union

Opinion | Europe’s selective defence of the global order will sway no one

If Europe genuinely seeks to restore credibility to international law, it must first confront its own record of selective adherence.

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Illustration: Craig Stephens
Science fiction

Open-source sci-fi beloved in China tech circles sends geeks to ‘fix’ late Ming

The Morning Star of Linggao has attracted attention in the US but has remained outside the Chinese mainstream.

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Munich Security Conference

Germany’s Merz says he can’t stand applause for Rubio at Munich conference

The German chancellor described the US secretary of state’s speech at the event as Trump ‘in friendlier packaging’.

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China-Africa relations

How a punt on an unknown Chinese truck manufacturer paid off in South Africa

Chinese commercial truck builder FAW now outsells major Western and Japanese brands including Toyota, Daimler and Isuzu.

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According to data from naamsa, South Africa’s automotive business council, FAW became the country’s leading commercial truck brand in 2024 and maintained this top position through late 2025. Photo: Handout
Greece

Greece will seek to obtain Nazi execution photos offered for sale on eBay

The images that appeared over the weekend allegedly show 200 Greek men being led to their deaths on May 1, 1944, at an Athens shooting range.

SCMP Highlights

Star Cruises apologises, China goes visa-free for UK, Canada: 5 weekend reads

From the Munich Security Conference to Star Cruises’ fiasco, here are five stories you may have missed over the weekend.

Science

Top neuroscientist Arthur Konnerth leaves Germany for full-time role in China

The Brain Prize winner, known for pioneering brain imaging techniques, joins the rapidly expanding Shenzhen Bay Laboratory.

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Arthur Konnerth is a leading figure in neuroscience whose work has helped transform the understanding of how the brain processes information. Photo: Handout
Marco Rubio

Rubio says US not disputing report of Navalny’s fatal poisoning by frog toxin

Five European governments blamed Russia for killing Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny while he was held in an Arctic penal colony.

Alexei Navalny appearing on a screen via video link from the IK-6 penal colony in 2023. Photo: Reuters
My Take

My Take | China and the UN are not the problem in Ukraine and Palestine – the West is

Europe and America’s warmongering and genocide-enabling are at the roots of the world’s most dangerous geopolitical flashpoints.

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Munich Security Conference

As transatlantic divorce plays out in Munich, China enjoys the silence

For long, China was a magnet for America’s rhetorical aggression. Now, it is the Europeans who are under fire.

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Russia

Russia poisoned Alexei Navalny with dart frog toxin, European nations say

Epibatidine, a deadly chemical not found naturally in Russia, was detected in samples taken from the body of the late Putin critic.

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A worker paints over graffiti of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny in St Petersburg in April 2021. The inscription reads: “The hero of the new times.” Photo: AFP
Israel-Gaza war

World artists back Palestine rapporteur Francesca Albanese despite criticism

Albanese faces calls from France and Germany to step down over remarks in which she criticised ‘most of the world’ for enabling Israel’s ‘genocide’ in Gaza.

Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories attends a demonstration during a nationwide strike in Italy, called by the USB union in solidarity with Gaza and against the government and its plan to increase military spending, in Rome, Italy, on November 29 last year. Photo: Reuters
US-China relations

Rubio, Wang Yi manage US-China rivalry in Munich as underlying tensions linger

Back-to-back speeches appear to continue relative thaw in run-up to Trump’s expected China trip but sharp swipes are also traded.

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Banking & finance

Macroscope | How robust domestic financial markets could ease era of AI uncertainty

Attempts to develop financial centres must go beyond luring global capital and talent.

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