More than 360,000 square metres of housing owned by the German federal government are vacant amidst a severe lack of housing in many German cities, information obtained by dpa showed. The properties amount to around several thousand flats which are supposed to house federal employees, according to the information. The government's property agency BIMA owns more than 18,000 square metres of vacant housing in Berlin alone. BIMA is one of the largest property owners in Germany. The figures were rev
Vladimir Putin could use chemical weapons on German cities if war with Nato breaks out, German MPs have been warned as the government steps up contingency planning for a global conflict.
German cities are expecting further large demonstrations against right-wing extremism over the weekend. Some 30,000 marchers are expected at a demonstration against the Alternative for Germany (AfD) in Dusseldorf at noon (1100 GMT) on Saturday. Larger events are also planned in Aachen, Mannheim and Marburg, as well as in other cities. In Osnabrück, Defence Minister Boris Pistorius plans to join marchers in the streets, while in Wittenberg, Saxony-Anhalt Premier Reiner Haseloff also plans to be a
German farmers are planning further regional protests to keep pressure on Chancellor Olaf Scholz's coalition government to withdraw a planned cut to diesel fuel subsidies for the agricultural sector. Angry farmers have for weeks been protesting over the subsidy cuts, including with mass demonstrations in several German cities in which farmers blocked traffic with tractors and other pieces of farm equipment. A tractor convoy and rally are now planned in the western German city of Mainz on Thursda