Germany megathread
       |           

Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
Did you miss your activation email?
March 28, 2024, 08:25:43 PM
News: Election Simulator 2.0 Released. Senate/Gubernatorial maps, proportional electoral votes, and more - Read more

  Talk Elections
  General Politics
  International General Discussion (Moderators: afleitch, Hash)
  Germany megathread
« previous next »
Pages: 1 2 3 [4] 5 6 7 8 9 ... 37
Author Topic: Germany megathread  (Read 49593 times)
NewYorkExpress
Atlas Star
*****
Posts: 24,823
United States


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #75 on: March 08, 2021, 08:40:12 PM »

Bundestag members Nikolas Lobel and Georg Nusslein have resigned as a result of a mask procurement scandal.

Quote
Two MPs in Germany’s ruling CDU party were forced to resign over the weekend after it emerged that they personally profited from various government deals to secure coronavirus face masks.

It comes ahead of two regional elections on Sunday in the western states of Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate, which are considered vital by many to assess support for Angela Merkel’s successor Armin Laschet who was voted leader of the CDU in January.

Nikolas Löbel announced on Sunday that he was retiring from politics altogether after a company he owned was found to have made €250,000 (£214,305) by brokering procurement deals of face coverings for local authorities in Baden-Württemberg.

He released a statement to say he was leaving the CDU/CSU parliamentary group with “immediate effect”, and that he would not run again for parliament elections.

“To be a member of the German Bundestag and be able to represent my home town Mannheim is a great honour and an especially moral obligation,” he wrote in a statement. “With my actions I have failed to live up to these standards. For that I would like to apologise to everyone in this country.”

“All of us – politicians on the federal, regional and municipal level – are doing all we can at the moment to bring this country through the crisis and protect people,” he told German broadcaster ARD on Sunday.


“And whoever does business with this protection, and who personally enriches himself from that, is no representative of the people. And he must leave parliament at once.”

Another conservative member of parliament, the CSU’s Georg Nuesslein, resigned on Friday from his post as one of the deputy leaders of current chancellor Ms Merkel’s parliamentary group, over similar allegations. The CSU is the CDU’s Bavarian sister party.
Logged
NewYorkExpress
Atlas Star
*****
Posts: 24,823
United States


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #76 on: June 11, 2021, 06:56:26 AM »

The tactical police in Frankfurt are being disbanded, after the discovery of far-right extremist messages in group chats.

Quote
Police from the central German city of Frankfurt am Main have decided to disband the city's Special Task Force (SEK) following the discovery of far-right extremist messages in group chats, a state official said on Thursday.

Interior Minister for the state of Hesse Peter Beuth said that "unacceptable misconduct" by certain members of the SEK made the dissolution of the unit "unavoidable."

A group of experts will organize a restructuring of the SEK, Beuth added. "We are launching a fundamental reboot of the SEK today," he said.

He called for a completely new leadership culture among the middle and lower levels of the police force.

"Of course our special forces will also be vital in the future, but the parameters will be different," the interior minister said.

The move followed an announcement by the Frankfurt Public Prosecutor's Office, as well as the Hessian State Criminal Police Office on Wednesday that they had ongoing investigations into 20 active and former SEK officers suspected of participating in right-wing extremist chat groups.

Seventeen Hesse officers were suspected of spreading hatred-inciting texts and symbols of former Nazi organizations — outlawed under post-war German law, said prosecutors — mainly in 2016 and 2017.

Aged between 29 and 54, all but one officer had been on active duty. Now, none were now allowed to perform duties, Frankfurt police chief Gerhard Bereswill explained on Wednesday. One had already been suspended.

The revelations "make the suspicion of right-wing extremist tendencies of some members of the Frankfurt SEK clear," Beuth said on Thursday.

Logged
President Johnson
Atlas Star
*****
Posts: 28,592
Germany


Political Matrix
E: -3.23, S: -4.70


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #77 on: June 25, 2021, 01:57:28 PM »

Logged
NewYorkExpress
Atlas Star
*****
Posts: 24,823
United States


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #78 on: June 26, 2021, 10:36:23 AM »

Gernany has passed a law that allows for descendants of those stripped of citizenship by the Nazis to reclaim their citizenship.

Quote
German lawmakers have approved changes that will make it easier for descendants of those who fled Nazi persecution to obtain citizenship.

Under German law, people stripped of their citizenship on political, racial or religious grounds can have it restored, and so can their descendants.

But legal loopholes had prevented many people from benefiting.

.....

While Germany's post-war constitution allows citizenship to be restored, the lack of a legal framework meant many people had their applications rejected.

Some were denied because their ancestors had taken another nationality before their citizenship was revoked.

For others it was because they were born to a German mother, but not a German father. Until a change to the law in 1953, German citizenship could only be passed on paternally.
Logged
President Johnson
Atlas Star
*****
Posts: 28,592
Germany


Political Matrix
E: -3.23, S: -4.70


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #79 on: June 27, 2021, 03:40:25 AM »

An update on the Würzburg knife attack, which appears to have an Islamist background.

Logged
NewYorkExpress
Atlas Star
*****
Posts: 24,823
United States


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #80 on: July 06, 2021, 07:13:58 PM »

A former spy for Germany's Secret Service was arrested on charges of spying for China.

Quote
German authorities arrested a former spy for Germany’s secret service on suspicions that he conducted “intelligence agent activities” for China, the federal prosecutor’s office said Tuesday.

According to a press release from the prosecutor’s office, the man — named only as Klaus L. — allegedly supplied the Chinese secret service with information for almost a decade, starting in 2010.

At the same time, however, he was an informant for the German Federal Intelligence Service (BND). German public broadcaster ARD reported that the man, now 75, provided the BND with information for 50 years, leading a “double life.”
Logged
President Johnson
Atlas Star
*****
Posts: 28,592
Germany


Political Matrix
E: -3.23, S: -4.70


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #81 on: July 15, 2021, 01:12:11 PM »

Massive floods in Northrine Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate kills at least 45 and causes massive damage.







Logged
Amanda Huggenkiss
amanda dermichknutscht
Jr. Member
***
Posts: 658


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #82 on: July 15, 2021, 05:20:46 PM »

It's very bad. My mother lives in that region. There is a village nearby the place where I lived which is practically cut off from the outside world. Some streets in the town where I grew up are completely flooded. This is something that doesn't usually happen in Germany. Our infrastructure and buildings are not constructed to withstand something like this.
Logged
President Johnson
Atlas Star
*****
Posts: 28,592
Germany


Political Matrix
E: -3.23, S: -4.70


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #83 on: July 16, 2021, 02:02:12 PM »

Over 100 reported dead now. It's truly a tragedy, but there's also great solidarity, including from our friends in France.

Logged
NewYorkExpress
Atlas Star
*****
Posts: 24,823
United States


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #84 on: August 02, 2021, 07:19:06 PM »

A court in Neuruppin has cleared a 100 year old Nazi concentration camp guard to stand trial.

Quote
A 100-year-old former concentration camp guard will stand trial in Germany in October accused of complicity in 3,518 murders, public prosecutors have announced.

The prosecutor’s office in Neuruppin, which first brought the charges in February, received a medical assessment that confirmed the man was “fit to stand trial” despite his advanced age.

Hearings will be limited to two and a half hours a day, according to prosecutors.

The suspect is accused of “knowingly and willingly” assisting in the murder of prisoners at the Sachsenhausen camp in Oranienburg, north of Berlin, between 1942 and 1945.


He is accused notably of complicity in the “execution by firing squad of Soviet prisoners of war in 1942” and the murder of prisoners “using the poisonous gas Zyklon B”.


Sadly, Germany does not have the Death Penalty.
Logged
CumbrianLefty
CumbrianLeftie
Atlas Icon
*****
Posts: 11,601
United Kingdom


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #85 on: August 03, 2021, 06:16:53 AM »

Happily, Germany does not have the Death Penalty.

There, fixed that for you. As with all other civilised countries in the world.
Logged
NewYorkExpress
Atlas Star
*****
Posts: 24,823
United States


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #86 on: August 03, 2021, 06:35:22 AM »

Happily, Germany does not have the Death Penalty.

There, fixed that for you. As with all other civilised countries in the world.

Whatever your stance on the death penalty, I believe that only good can come from executing Nazis.
Logged
Meclazine for Israel
Meclazine
Atlas Icon
*****
Posts: 13,661
Australia


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #87 on: August 03, 2021, 05:24:22 PM »

I want that tank.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-04/german-court-convicts-pensioner-for-owning-tank/100347980

Funny he got prosecuted with it, and all the court said was sell it to a collector. I love these 84yo's with their WW2 toys.

We had an old guy like this once come to our school when I was young, and he said when he was our age (-14), he would go to Army Cadets with a Lee Enfield Mk3 on public transport.

Imagine sitting on a bus and a young cadet hops on with one of these:

https://www.ima-usa.com/products/british-wwii-lee-enfield-303-smle-new-made-display-rifle

These old guys are from a different planet.
Logged
NewYorkExpress
Atlas Star
*****
Posts: 24,823
United States


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #88 on: August 11, 2021, 04:56:34 PM »

A worker at the British Embassy in Berlin was arrested on charges of spying for Russia

Quote
A British Embassy worker in Berlin suspected of spying for Russia was arrested Tuesday in connection with allegedly handing documents to Moscow.

In a statement released Wednesday, German prosecutors said the British national, identified only as David S., 57, was arrested by police over suspicions he handed documents to the Russian intelligence service in exchange for cash.

"On at least one occasion, he passed on documents he had obtained in the course of his professional activities to a representative of a Russian intelligence service," Germany's chief federal prosecutor's office said in a statement.

The prosecutor's office said the embassy worker, who has not been named in full due to German law, was arrested Tuesday in Potsdam, just outside Berlin.

The Briton's home and workplace were also searched as part of the investigation, it said.

Download the NBC News app for breaking news and politics

His arrest was the product of joint investigations conducted by German and British authorities.
Logged
NewYorkExpress
Atlas Star
*****
Posts: 24,823
United States


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #89 on: August 12, 2021, 04:23:11 PM »

Heiko Maas says Germany will send no foreign aid to Afghanistan if the Taliban tajes control there.

Quote
Germany will not provide any financial support to Afghanistan if the Taliban takes over power in the country and introduces Sharia law, its foreign minister told broadcaster ZDF on Thursday.

"We provide 430 million euros ($505 million) every year, we will not give another cent if the Taliban takes over the country and introduces Sharia law," Heiko Maas said.
Logged
Vaccinated Russian Bear
Russian Bear
Junior Chimp
*****
Posts: 5,108
Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #90 on: August 20, 2021, 02:04:16 PM »

Merkel met Putin in Moscow today.



https://www.dw.com/en/merkel-asks-russia-to-pressure-taliban-on-evacuations/a-58915545
Merkel asks Russia to pressure Taliban on evacuations
In probably her last meeting with Vladimir Putin as German chancellor, Angela Merkel urged Russia to communicate with the Taliban the importance of evacuating civilians from Kabul.

Re:Ukraine
Quote
Putin asked Merkel to work toward a peaceful solution to the conflict in eastern Ukraine, stressing that there was no alternative to the Minsk peace agreement.

Merkel — who is due to hold talks with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday — said there was a stalemate, and people continued to die.She added that she hoped for some progress to be made in the next few weeks.

Besides the armed conflict, Ukraine also opposes the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline from Russia to Germany, fearing that it would affect its status as a gas transit country.

Putin said Russia was ready to send gas via Ukraine even after the end of their current deal, in 2024, but said Moscow needed to evaluate the scale of demand for its fossil fuel first.

"And for this, we need to get an answer from our European partners on how much they are ready to buy," he said.  "We cannot sign a transit contract if we don't have supply contracts with our consumers in Europe."

In Russia, there is a joke, that Merkel will follow Gerhard Schröder's path who "fixed" Nord Stream 1 just before leaving the office, getting job there thereafter. Biden-Merkel deal has very strange timing, indeed.
Logged
President Johnson
Atlas Star
*****
Posts: 28,592
Germany


Political Matrix
E: -3.23, S: -4.70


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #91 on: September 22, 2021, 02:41:13 PM »

Wanted to leave this one here... the entire country is in some state of shock and anger over a 20 year old gas station employee being shot after demanding a (mentally deranged) customer to wear a mask. I hope the guy gets locked up for the rest of his sad life.

Logged
President Punxsutawney Phil
TimTurner
Atlas Politician
Atlas Legend
*****
Posts: 41,136
United States


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #92 on: September 22, 2021, 02:48:21 PM »

Disgusting.
Logged
Silent Hunter
Junior Chimp
*****
Posts: 9,308
United Kingdom


WWW Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #93 on: September 22, 2021, 03:57:48 PM »

Under German law would he be guilty of "Mord" i.e. first degree murder, which carries 15 years to life?
Logged
Anzeigenhauptmeister
Hades
Junior Chimp
*****
Posts: 6,373
Israel


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #94 on: September 22, 2021, 10:32:00 PM »

Under German law would he be guilty of "Mord" i.e. first degree murder, which carries 15 years to life?

plus - theoretically - lifelong preventive detention (which however has to be regularly put to the test)
Logged
Yeahsayyeah
Jr. Member
***
Posts: 787


Political Matrix
E: -9.25, S: -8.15

Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #95 on: September 23, 2021, 01:42:44 AM »

There is also the "particular severity of guilt" clause, which would prevent early discharge. It could be applicable here.
Logged
walleye26
Jr. Member
***
Posts: 1,395


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #96 on: September 25, 2021, 10:03:31 AM »

I didn’t see a particular German election thread, so I had a question here. I have been talking to a few foreign exchange students I met who are German about their thoughts. (They mostly are supporting Schultz/SPD or the Greens). They all mostly said the FDP is the “business party, and they really don’t care much to get involved with social issues.

My question is, would the FDP be similar to the Libertarian party in America? Or, would it be more like “country club/business Republicans?” One of them mentioned the FDP is the “party for the rich.” I figured you guys would know more.
Logged
Continential
The Op
Atlas Politician
Atlas Icon
*****
Posts: 10,543
Political Matrix
E: 1.10, S: -5.30

P P P

Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #97 on: September 25, 2021, 11:09:32 AM »

I didn’t see a particular German election thread, so I had a question here. I have been talking to a few foreign exchange students I met who are German about their thoughts. (They mostly are supporting Schultz/SPD or the Greens). They all mostly said the FDP is the “business party, and they really don’t care much to get involved with social issues.

My question is, would the FDP be similar to the Libertarian party in America? Or, would it be more like “country club/business Republicans?” One of them mentioned the FDP is the “party for the rich.” I figured you guys would know more.
here's the election thread https://talkelections.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=305773.0
Logged
Sirius_
Ninja0428
Junior Chimp
*****
Posts: 7,086
United States


Political Matrix
E: -2.00, S: -7.91


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #98 on: September 26, 2021, 07:08:18 PM »

The result is currently tighter between SPD and the Union than polling had suggested, but SPD is leading. Linke is too small for a left coalition to form. My heart says traffic light coalition but my brain says that Jamaica is more likely than a lot of people think, especially with a Union still almost as large as SPD and no threat of Linke to dissuade FDP. SPD will have to sell the popularity of Scholz to FDP, and we'll have to see how committed the Greens are to a center-left government. GroKo also could be formed, but the dynamics of it in a nearly tied situation might be complicated.
Logged
NewYorkExpress
Atlas Star
*****
Posts: 24,823
United States


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #99 on: September 26, 2021, 07:31:41 PM »

The result is currently tighter between SPD and the Union than polling had suggested, but SPD is leading. Linke is too small for a left coalition to form. My heart says traffic light coalition but my brain says that Jamaica is more likely than a lot of people think, especially with a Union still almost as large as SPD and no threat of Linke to dissuade FDP. SPD will have to sell the popularity of Scholz to FDP, and we'll have to see how committed the Greens are to a center-left government. GroKo also could be formed, but the dynamics of it in a nearly tied situation might be complicated.

Maybe a Grand Coalition with Scholz as the Chancellor?
Logged
Pages: 1 2 3 [4] 5 6 7 8 9 ... 37  
« previous next »
Jump to:  


Login with username, password and session length

Terms of Service - DMCA Agent and Policy - Privacy Policy and Cookies

Powered by SMF 1.1.21 | SMF © 2015, Simple Machines

Page created in 0.067 seconds with 12 queries.