A German state broadcaster survey has been condemned as “racist” by players and the coach of the country’s national football team.
The ARD poll asked whether there were enough white players in the German nation team, which is gearing up for the European Champions held in the country this month.
German head coach Julian Nagelsmann said on Sunday the survey was “racist,” adding: “I feel we need to wake up.”
Joshua Kimmich, a Germany midfielder, had the previous day denounced the survey as “racist,” and Nagelsmann agreed, saying: “I see this in exactly the same way. This question is insane. There are people in Europe who’ve had to flee because of war, economic factors, environmental disasters, [and] people who simply want to be taken in.”
According to reports, Kimmich had said it was “madness for a public broadcaster to ask such a question” and added “A football team can be a role model of how to unite different cultures, religious backgrounds and skin color. It is good the way it is now. We play a Euro for everyone in the country and whoever plays top football is invited to be a national team member. I hope I never have to read such crap polls again.”
ARD, which unites Germany’s various regional pubcasters, reportedly held the poll was held to provide measurable data after a reporter making a documentary was repeatedly asked about the racial make-up of the national team. The German Euros squad contains numerous key players with mixed heritage.
The poll of 1,304 randomly selected respondents, commissioned by ARD member WDR, found 21% agreed with the proposition that the national team should have more white players.
Karl Valks, Sports Director at WDR, said in a statement reported by Bild: “In interviews during the filming of the documentary Einigkeit und Recht und Vielfalt (Unity and Justice and Diversity), our reporter Philipp Awounou was confronted with the statement that there are too few ‘real’, white Germans on the football pitch. We deliberately did not want to report this anecdotally, but rather based it on solid data. That is why we commissioned the survey with our colleagues from Infratest Dimap.
“We ourselves are dismayed that the results are what they are, but they are also an expression of the social situation in Germany today. Sport plays an important role in our society, and the national team is a strong example of integration.”
We have reached out to ARD for further comment.
The Euros begin on June 14 with Germany playing Scotland at the Allianz Arena in Munich. The country is considered among the favorites for tournament victory, along with the likes of England, France, Portugal and Spain. Over the weekend, German team Borussia Dortmund was defeated 2-0 by Real Madrid in the final of UEFA Champions League at Wembley Stadium in London.
HE was courted by the doyennes of Germany’s high society but Adolf Hitler’s own dark obsession and warped sexual fantasies revolved around much younger women.
The Fuhrer, hailed as a rockstar politician by wealthy women who sought to refine him, bedded a series of teens including his own 16-year-old niece – who met a tragic death as consequence.
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Hitler, seen with wife Eva Braun, was known for his sexual relationships with much younger womenCredit: Alamy
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Historians believe Hitler’s depraved love life was sparked by his complex relationship with his mother KlaraCredit: Alamy
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Eva’s devotion to the monster would cost her her lifeCredit: Alamy
Behind closed doors, he also indulged extreme sexual fantasies – getting one naked lover to put on his own boots and savagely kick him.
His deadly affairs also led to at least one other mysterious death and the attempted suicide of a 17-year-old, who was 20 years his junior.
Now, a new Sky History documentary, Hitler’s Handmaidens, details the Fuhrer’s secret sex life and relationships with the women he wanted to keep hidden.
Author and historian Jane Thynne says: “What is interesting about many of the women that had relationships with Hitler is that they either attempted or, or committed suicide, and he patently had a very, very potent traumatising and almost desolating effect on women to cause them to try and kill themselves.”
Experts believe that Hitler’s bizarre relationships with women began with the very first one in his life – his mother.
When Hitler was born in Austria in April 1889, he was his mother Klara’s fourth child – but the only one to live – and she was determined that little Adolf would not only survive but thrive.
While he was doted on and spoiled by his devoted mother, he was brutalised by his alcoholic father. Historians have been left wondering if Klara loved her son too much, and this is what warped his future relationships with women.
Psychologist Anna Motz says: “Hitler’s relationship with women appears to have been extremely complicated. So we know from the records that he had this enmeshed, over-involved relationship with a loving, protective mother.
“And he was brutalised by a man who appears to have been sadistic and violent. So, on the one hand, he’s seeking this maternal comfort. On the other hand, he doesn’t seem able to relate to women who are his equals.”
But Klara’s never-questioning love for her son gave him one thing – huge self-belief. He had an unswerving faith in his opinions and thought of himself as devastatingly handsome and intelligent.
World’s biggest gun ‘Gustav’ was built by the Nazis to destroy France – it weighed 1350 tonnes & friends 12ft long bullets
Disturbing fantasies
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Stefanie Rabatsch was Hitler’s first teenage crush – reports say he was sexually obsessed with her
Hitler was convinced he was meant for greater things, and his steadfast ambition would eventually cast a shadow over Europe.
But his first teenage crush didn’t go how he planned. An awkward Hitler became enthralled with 19-year-old Stefanie Isak, a tall, blonde and wealthy music student a couple of years older than him.
Historian Phil Carradice explains: “He worshipped her. She was the ideal Germanic woman, the Aryan woman. And for two years, two years, Adolf Hitler followed her, stalked her, for want of a better word, but never spoke to her.”
Disturbingly, he told his friend he wanted to kidnap her and marry her, followed by fantasies that they would kill themselves by jumping off a bridge together.
Thankfully, he never carried out his twisted plan, and shortly afterwards, his mother died, leaving him devastated.
Every day for the rest of his life, he carried a picture of her in his pocket. But the young Adolf was rejected by the Austrian army and found himself homeless and destitute.
So, he joined the Germans fighting against the Western allies.
One story claims that in the summer of 1917, Hitler was on leave from the war and met a 16-year-old French girl in the countryside. They had a brief sexual encounter, which resulted in the birth of his illegitimate child.
Later analysis showed that the men who could be father and son shared the same unusual handwriting, but experts say the patronage is impossible to prove.
Cruellest Nazi women
Herta Oberheuser
When American soldiers liberated the Ravensbruck concentration camp for women, they saw evidence of unimaginable atrocities.
But one person in particular haunted the survivors. They told of a “beast masquerading as a human”— female doctor Herta Oberheuser.
Historian Wendy Lower explains: “She’s been assigned to experiments to test the effects of wounds on the human body. If they can see how a wound that’s inflicted by shrapnel is going to affect an ordinary German soldier and all the ways that could be treated.
“She’s putting sawdust in there, putting glass shards, putting various chemicals and rubbing that in.
Pauline Kneissler
In late 1939 Hitler turned his attention to euthanasia in the pursuit of racial purity. His sinister secret T4 programme was an opportunity for him to murder anybody who they thought of as disabled.
Pauline Kneissler was one of the nurses hand-picked to make Grafeneck Castle, near Stuttgart, an efficient killing site.
She would travel to different institutions with a list of names and then bus them back to the castle and murder them – with Lower estimating she killed as many as 70 a day.
Irma Grese
There was one woman whose crimes were so brutal and sadistic that the Nuremberg judges had no choice but to order her execution – Irma Grese.
Known as the Hyena of Auschwitz, she had a reputation for stomping on prisoners or setting her attack dogs on them.
She was the lover and accomplice of the camp’s ‘Angel of Death’ Josef Mengele, helping him with the selections where prisoners were chosen for monstrous medical experiments or sent to the gas chambers.
As well as her affair with Mengele, Grese was also believed to have had flings with male guards, and it was alleged she even raped female prisoners.
Hermine Braunsteiner
Despite Irma Grese’s death penalty, most of the female concentration camp guards escaped justice, and many went on to live long and happy lives.
One of these was Hermine Braunsteiner, the woman known as the “Stomping Mare” – a camp guard at Majdanek who liked to stomp on prisoners and was known for her particular sadistic tendencies.
She married an American in her native Austria after the war and moved to the US. However, she was later discovered living in New York and was extradited.
Whether or not he did father that child, it is a fact that throughout his adult life, Hitler sought out maternal figures, perhaps to replace his own mother.
To these older, rich women – many of whom shared his extremist political and anti-Semitic views – Hitler appeared charming and destined for greater things despite being rough around the edges.
Most of these women were married, which also suited Hitler because his vow to be only married to Germany gained him adoration from the millions of young German women who were sending their sons off to war.
To them, he was the rockstar politician who expects have likened to the Elvis figure of his day.
Women like socialites Helene Bechstein from the piano-making dynasty, real-life princess Elsa Bruckmann, and Winifred Wagner, daughter of composer Richard, took Hitler under their wing and taught him how to kiss a lady’s hand and eat lobster in public.
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Hitler struck up friendships with women from aristocratic families, such as Winifred WagnerCredit: Alamy
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He had the adoration of millions of young women in Nazi GermanyCredit: Time Life Pictures – Getty Images
Historian Phil Carradice explains: “Hitler was a rough and tumble country boy. But suddenly, these women took him over and said, we will show you how to carry on, how to live, how to be successful in society.
“Because if you want to make it big, that’s where you need to put your effort. That’s where the money lies. And you need to, uh, to get people on your side. We will teach you how to eat and drink in public.”
Hitler knew he needed these aristocratic families on his side to be taken seriously politically.
And while he would lay his head on these ladies’ bosoms and let them stroke him, their relationships remained purely platonic. His sexual tastes lay with women much younger.
Twisted sexual demands
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Hitler began a relationship with 16-year-old Mitzi, who tried to kill herself when he ended their relationshipCredit: Getty
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Their relationship would set the tone for his future encounters with young womenCredit: Getty
In 1926, Hitler gave a speech in Bavaria, where he met a 16-year-old blonde girl called Mitzi. He was 37. This age gap would become a theme for his future lovers.
Mitzi was just 17 years old when she began a sexual relationship with Hitler, which he abruptly called off to devote his life to his politics. A distraught Mitzi tried to kill herself.
Author and historian Jane Thynne says: “What is interesting about many of the women that had relationships with Hitler is that they either attempted or, or committed suicide, and he patently had a very, very potent traumatising and almost desolating effect on women to cause them to try and kill themselves.”
While Mitzi survived, some of Hitler’s other young secret lovers would not.
Hitler became infatuated with his 16-year-old niece, Geli Raubal. She wanted the bright lights of Munich, so when it was suggested she could live with him in the city, she quickly agreed.
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Hitler became enthralled with his niece Geli Raubal, who went to live with himCredit: Getty
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Their relationship had a deadly consequence for GeliCredit: Alamy
But her move provided the perfect cover for Hitler’s sinister intentions.
Their relationship became intimate, and Hitler became more controlling, jealous of the attention the teenager got from other men. It got to the point where she could barely do anything without his say-so.
But in September 1931 Geli was found dead in Hitler’s apartment – with a bullet in her chest and his gun by her side.
Phil Carradice says: “During the nights, Geli locked herself into her room. She took Hitler’s Mauser pistol with her, and she shot herself and killed herself. Possibly. The body was found the next day by the housekeeper.
“But I have doubts about that one. If you’re going to kill yourself with a gun you normally would aim there, into the, into the head. That’s guaranteed. Geli shot herself in the heart.”
Police quickly ruled her death as suicide, and Geli was quickly buried, while a distraught Hitler considered giving up politics altogether.
Sinister death
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A year later, Hitler moved on with movie star Renate MullerCredit: Alamy
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Renate spoke about Hitler’s bizarre sexual claims and also met an untimely endCredit: Alamy
But a year later, he met another young lover – 26-year-old movie star Renate Muller.
Again, Hitler’s sexual depravity was to be her downfall. She claimed that one night, when they were both naked, he asked her to put her boots on and kick him, which she did.
But Renate did not keep this salacious information to herself, and that brought her to the attention of the Gestapo.
She was put under surveillance, and when she took a Jewish lover, she was blacklisted, and her career was over.
The young woman developed a morphine addiction and was sent to a sanitorium in Berlin for treatment in late October 1937.
A team of SS officers were seen entering the building, and a few minutes later, she was dead. The cause of death was ruled as suicide, but rumours of foul play persisted.
“Ultimately Renate had a terrible end in that she was being treated as, in a clinic for quotes depression and fell out of a window,” says Jane Thynne.
“But falling out of a window was a way that very many enemies of the regime met their end. It wasn’t an unusual way actually to be murdered in the Third Reich.”
Despite these suspicious deaths, women still idolised Hitler. At his rallies, women would be seen in tears, idolising him and wanting to get near him.
Fuhrer’s wife
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Although Eva first resisted a determined Hitler’s advances, she soon fell for himCredit: Alamy
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Eva Braun was more than two decades younger than Hitler and desperately wanted to become the Fuhre’s wifeCredit: Getty Images – Getty
But there was one woman who fell so completely under his spell that, in the end, she gave her life to join him in death – Eva Braun.
Hitler was entranced by the young photography studio assistant, but at first, she spurned his advances, which only spurned him.
But she soon fell for him – despite him being more than two decades older – and longed for their affair to be made public.
When Hitler ignored her or didn’t call, she fell into depression and even tried to take her own life on two occasions.
But this forced Hitler’s hand. Robert Kaplan explains: “Hitler’s relationship with Eva has been much speculated on.
“But there were two suicide attempts, and in a sense, he was then trapped because after Geli, if he had a partner who killed themselves again, his public image would be shot.”
Eva had always wanted to be the wife of the Fuhrer. And as the war in Europe is in its last throes, they marry in his bunker – just 36 hours before they took their own lives.
Jane Thynne says: “They got married on the last day. So it was a kind of death wish, but in a way, her entire relationship with Hitler had been a death wish, but it was the culmination of that.
“I think what Hitler did in marrying Eva, right at the end, is a way of not seeing her as a person yet again. It’s not a way of saying how can I answer your needs, her needs really would be to get in, to escape by any means possible. It’s a way of saying, ‘You have served me loyally and here is your reward.’
Hitler’s Handmaidens is on Sky HISTORY every Tuesday at 9pm
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Eva joined Hitler’s cause and stayed with the dictator for the rest of his lifeCredit: Getty
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The pair took their own lives 36 hours after they tied the knotCredit: Alamy
BRITS have been warned of a plague of “Monster Ticks” invading holiday hotspots this summer.
The blood-sucking parasites which carry a deadly disease are feared to be making their way across Europe.
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The dangerous mites are particularly present in Brit holiday hotspotsCredit: Alamy
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The ‘monsters’ are more aggressive and better hunters than other more common ticksCredit: Alamy
The large and aggressive ticks, known as Hyalomma lusitanicum, is originally found in tropical climates including Africa and southeast Asia.
In Europe, however, the species have kept a low profile for decades.
But in recent years, scientists say the dangerous mites have returned in force, carried by wild animals including rabbits.
According to studies, Hyalomma is particularly present across Spain, the Balearic Islands and southern Italy.
A 2022 investigation found that the ticks, which can transmit the deadly Crimean-Congo fever (CCHFV), were found in almost every part of Barcelona.
But this spring, they were found to have spread out to eight areas of the northeastern region of Catalonia.
However, it has also been found in the UK, Portugal, Sardinia, Malta and more recently spotted in Germany and Sweden as well as the northern parts of Italy.
This has concerned scientists as the tick species appears to be making a home out of colder climates.
This month, Polish health experts warned its citizens that the virus-carrying arachnids could soon reach its borders.
Warsaw scientists have now launched a special programme to try and map the approaching threat.
THE HUNTING TICK
This parasite – unlike other typically known ticks – have been found to actively hunt for its prey.
Carlos Pradera, a specialist in pest control, said: “H. lusitanicum actively seek out their prey, running towards them once they detect their presence.”
He told La Vanguardia that its most distinguished characteristic is high mobility that allows it to wait for an animal or human to pass before leaping onto their skin.
If you do find a tick on yourself, experts recommend using tweezers to grab the tick by the head – never the body – and pull it out immediately.
Switzerland, a holiday hotspot favoured with the outdoorsy types, has reported 27 cases of tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) this year.
Infection rates in the mountainous country increased over the past five years.
The ticks favour warmer weather, which also “encourages more people to spend time outdoors”, where they are more likely to get bitten, the experts said.
Most people who catch the virus will have no or only mild flu-like symptoms.
However, the disease can progress to affect the brain and central nervous system and can sometimes be fatal.
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The ticks are spreading across Catalonia in Spain according to recent studiesCredit: Getty
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Hyalomma are known to hunt and carry the deadly Crimean-Congo feverCredit: Wikimedia Commons/Alan R Walker
Earlier this month, a German court ruled that the country’s nationalist far-right party, Alternative for Germany (AfD), was potentially “extremist” and could warrant surveillance by the country’s intelligence apparatus.
Campaign ads placed by AfD have been allowed to appear on Facebook and Instagram anyway, according to a new report from the nonprofit advocacy organization Ekō shared exclusively with WIRED. Researchers found 23 ads that accrued 472,000 views from the party on Facebook and Instagram that appear to violate Meta’s own policies around hate speech.
The ads push the narrative that immigrants are dangerous and a burden on the German state ahead of the European Union’s elections in June.
One ad placed by AfD politician Gereon Bollman asserts that Germany has seen “an explosion of sexual violence” since 2015, specifically blaming immigrants from Turkey, Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq. The ad was seen by between 10,000 and 15,000 people in just four days, between March 16 and 20, 2024. Another ad, which had over 60,000 views, features a man of color lying in a hammock. Overlaid text reads, “AfD reveals: 686,000 illegal foreigners live at our expense!”
Ekō was also able to identify at least three ads that appear to have used generative AI to manipulate images, though only one was run after Meta put its manipulated media policy into place. One shows a white woman with visible injuries, with accompanying text saying “the connection between migration and crime has been denied for years.”
“Meta, and indeed other companies, have very limited ability to detect third party tools that generate AI imagery,” says Vicky Wyatt, senior campaign director at Ekō. “When extremist parties use those tools with their ads, they can create incredibly emotive imagery that can really move people. So it’s incredibly worrying.”
In its submission to the European Commission’s consultation on election guidelines, obtained by a freedom of information request made by Ekō, Meta says “it is not yet possible for providers to identify all AI-generated content, particularly when actors take steps to seek to avoid detection, including by removing invisible markers.”
Meta’s own policies prohibit ads that “claim people are threats to the safety, health, or survival of others based on their personal characteristics” and ads that “include generalizations that state inferiority, other statements of inferiority, expressions of contempt, expressions of dismissal, expressions of disgust, or cursing based on immigration status.”
“We do not allow hate speech on our platforms and have Community Standards that apply to all content – including ads,” says Meta spokesperson Daniel Roberts. “Our ads review process has several layers of analysis and detection, both before and after an ad goes live, and this system is one of many we have in place to protect European elections.” Roberts told WIRED the company plans to review the ads flagged by Ekō but didn’t respond to questions about whether the German court’s designation of the AfD as potentially extremist would invite further scrutiny from Meta.
Targeted ads, says Wyatt, can be powerful because extremist groups can more effectively target people that might sympathize with their views and “use Meta’s ads library to reach them.” Wyatt also says this allows the group to test which messages are more likely to resonate with voters.
PUTIN has boasted captured British armoured cars and American tanks in a sick new exhibition.
Weapons and tanks seized from Ukrainian forces have been put on display in Moscow as a way to glorify the invasion.
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The exhibition will include 30 tanks which were seized during Ukraine warCredit: AP
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Rows of tanks donated to Ukraine by Nato are showcased in Moscow’s Victory ParkCredit: EPA
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Among them is a British Saxon armoured personnel carrier which was donated in 2015Credit: AP
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Some of the tanks can be seen riddled with still fresh bullet holesCredit: AFP
Pictures from Moscow’s Victory Park, which commemorates Russia’s victory against Nazi Germany, show rows of Western military vehicles “captured by Russian servicemen”.
Putin flaunts his military might at the West by showcasing 30 tanks and other pieces of war equipment captured during the war.
A British Saxon armoured personnel carrier, donated to Ukraine in 2015, can be seen pictured under the red banners that proudly claim “Our victory is inevitable”.
An American Bradley tank, a Swedish CV90 and a French-made AMX-10RC armoured fighting vehicle can all be seen riddled with bullet holes.
The military vehicles also spot the flags of their respective countries, including Turkey, Sweden, Czech Republic, South Africa, Finland, Australia and Austria.
Alongside weapons, the month-long exhibition features Ukrainian combat documents and “ideological literature”.
Russia blows its own trumpet with the showcase aimed to celebrate its success “against Ukrainian militants and their Western supporters”.
Ahead of its May 1st opening, trucks bearing military hardware – donated from Nato to the Armed Forces of Ukraine – were spotted pulling up to the open-air museum.
Putin shows off his trophies in light of the Victory Day parade which is held annually to celebrate the country’s victory in World War 2.
The May 9th celebrations are usually used by the warmonger to showcase the might of the Russian military machine and boost national pride.
But this year, many regional parades have been scrapped over fears of Ukrainian kamikaze drone attacks.
Ukraine is ramping up its military arsenal as the US has now approved £49billion military aid to strengthen the 600-mile frontline.
Among the donations is a “game changing” long-range ballistic missiles which can hit targets anywhere and could leave Russian troops “terrified”.
But experts fear that the fresh ammunition could send Putin into an unpredictable spiral.
A former US ambassador issued a chilling warning that reckless Putin is deadly serious about “confronting the West” and could even resort to the use of nukes.
Frank G. Wisner, who served under President Bill Clinton, lashed out at Putin and described the Russian tyrant as “extraordinarily reckless”.
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The proud banner claims ‘Our victory is inevitable’ with German Leopard tank in the backgroundCredit: EPA
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The showcase is aimed to celebrate Russia’s success against Ukraine and its western alliesCredit: Getty
Deutsche Bank shares were 6% higher on Thursday afternoon after the German lender reported a 10% rise in first-quarter profit, beating expectations amid an ongoing recovery in its investment banking unit.
Net profit attributable to shareholders was 1.275 billion euros ($1.365 billion) for the period, ahead of an aggregate analyst forecast of 1.23 billion euros for the period, according to LSEG data.
Deutsche Bank said this was its highest first-quarter profit since 2013. It also marks the bank’s 15th straight quarterly profit.
Group revenue rose 1% year-on-year to 7.8 billion euros, which the bank attributed to growth in commissions and fee income, along with strength in fixed income and currencies. The revenue print also came in ahead of an analyst forecast of 7.73 billion euros, according to LSEG.
Revenues at its investment bank increased 13% to 3 billion euros, following a 9% slump through full-year 2023 which had dragged down overall profit. The performance restores the division as Deutsche Bank’s highest-earning unit on growth in financing and credit trading revenue.
Other first-quarter highlights included:
Net inflows of 19 billion euros across the Private Bank and Asset Management divisions.
Credit loss provision was 439 million euros, down from 488 million in the fourth quarter of 2023.
Common equity tier one (CET1) capital ratio — a measure of bank solvency — was 13.4%, compared to 13.6% at the same time last year.
“There’s momentum in the businesses, actually across all four businesses, and we do think it’s sustainable,” Deutsche Bank Chief Financial Officer James von Moltke told CNBC’s Annette Weisbach on Thursday.
“We’re delivering on our commitments on costs and capital returns in the quarter.”
Germany’s biggest lender reported net profit of 1.3 billion euros in the prior quarter and of 1.16 billion euros in the first quarter last year.
In 2023, the bank announced it would cut 3,500 jobs over the coming years, as it targets 2.5 billion euros in operational efficiencies to boost profitability and increase shareholder returns.
Surveillance cameras are mounted above the German and Chinese flags in front of Tongji University. Scholz is on a three-day trip to China.
Michael Kappeler/dpa | Picture Alliance | Getty Images
Germany has arrested a national on charges of spying for the Chinese secret service and leaking information from the European Parliament, Germany’s federal prosecutor’s office said on Tuesday.
The man was also accused of spying on members of the Chinese opposition in Germany, according to a CNBC translation.
The alleged spy was named as Jian G. and identified as an employee of a German member of the European Parliament since 2019.
Local media has reported that the MEP in question is Maximilian Krah of the far-right AfD. Their offices are reportedly next to each other in the parliament in Brussels, but the alleged spy has not been seen there, local media was told.
CNBC could not independently verify this information.
A spokesperson for the AfD told CNBC that reports of the arrest of Krah’s employee are “deeply concerning,” according to a CNBC translation, without directly confirming whether such a detainment had taken place. The party would do everything to support the investigation, the spokesperson added.
“In January 2024 the accused repeatedly shared information about negotiations and decisions in the European Parliament with his intelligence service employer,” the German federal prosecutors office said in a statement, according to a CNBC translation.
G. was arrested on Monday, according to the prosecutor’s office, and a judge is set to decide about an arrest warrant and custody arrangements on Tuesday. The allegations follow an investigation by German domestic intelligence services.
“If it is confirmed that there was espionage for Chinese intelligence services from within the European Parliament, then that would be an attack on European democracy from within. Whoever employs such a person carries responsibility,” Nancy Faeser, German interior minister, said in a CNBC-translated post on social media platform X.
Separately on Monday, three other German nationals were arrested on charges of sharing information pertaining to German research about new technologies that have a military use with China’s secret service, the federal prosecutor said.
The Chinese embassy in Germany did not immediately respond to a CNBC request for comment.
The Chinese foreign ministry on Tuesday rejected claims of espionage in Germany, saying the “hype” surrounding such accusations is aimed to discredit and suppress China, Reuters reported. The ministry also said it hoped that Germany would stop using the so-called spy threat to manipulate political narratives, according to Reuters.
Elsewhere, two U.K. citizens were also arrested for allegedly spying for China on Monday.
When my friend and colleague Margot Guralnick and I set out to write The Low-Impact Home, we had many discussions with Remodelista founder Julie Carlson about whether our project would be a beautiful coffee table book or a nuts-and-bolts manual for eco-minded homeowners. What we realized was, we needn’t sacrifice one for the other. Our book would be equal parts inspiration and information.
When I opened up Beyond the Meadows: Portrait of a Natural and Biodiverse Garden by Krautkopf, in bookstores now, I immediately recognized in it the same desire to both inspire and edify. That the book is brimming with gorgeous images isn’t all that surprising given its authors, German homesteaders Susann Probst and Yannic Schon, are professional photographers. What is unexpected, and delightful, is how much they’ve chosen to share about their experience as new homesteaders. The two really get into the weeds, if you will, of how they designed their landscape, cared for their plants, welcomed biodiversity, naturally enriched the soil, and, ultimately, became self-sufficient. Diagrams, before and after shots, and plant lists help tell their gardening journey. And they’re blessedly not shy about revealing their mistakes, either.
Above: Susann and Yannic’s homesteading journey started in 2018, when they moved from Berlin to a small cottage with lots of land in a village in northeastern Germany. It was built as a “settler’s house,” one of many that cropped up post-WWII to encourage people to become more self-sufficient. Their new book, now available in English, documents their experience working the land as new gardeners.
“To be honest, we held back from writing a gardening book for a long time,” Susann tells us. “We felt we were only at the very beginning of the learning process and therefore didn’t feel ready. However, at one point we realized that this gardening journey would never end and that we would constantly be learning new things that would be worth writing about. So there would never be the ‘right’ time to start.” The results are less guidebook and more garden memoir. “We wanted a book full of beauty and inspiration, which would nevertheless contain our knowledge and experiences from the past five years,” she says.
Susann and Yannic’s garden appeared in The Low-Impact Home—Margot and I were enchanted by their property and their commitment to ecology-based gardening—so I read their book with great interest. But even if you don’t know a thing about them and don’t harbor any fantasies about growing your own food, Beyond the Meadows is a must-read. It’s for anyone curious about how to be a better gardener or adopt more planet-friendly approaches—and also for those who simply yearn to slow down and smell the earth.
A recent research by KPMG has revealed that after a turbulent year for the cryptocurrency market, investor sentiment appears to be on the rebound.
The study, which surveyed approximately 2,400 private crypto investors across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, sheds light on changing investment behaviors and attitudes in the DACH region.
Renewed Optimism and Caution
The findings reveal an increase in crypto investments, with 54% of respondents allocating over 20% of their total investments to digital assets. Many investors, particularly those dedicating more than 50% of their assets to crypto, are committed to the industry for the medium to long term, typically a period of between 3 and 5 years.
However, the study also highlights a shift in investor behavior characterized by increased caution and scrutiny.
Market entrants, in particular, are conducting more thorough assessments of investment opportunities, requiring providers to put in greater effort to convert interest into actual customers. This trend is evident in the considerable gap between registration on crypto exchanges and active usage.
Security remains an important concern for investors when selecting preferred crypto exchanges, with 82% emphasizing its importance. Deposit and withdrawal options (65%) and transaction costs (62%) also rank high on the list of criteria.
The study also provides a perspective on risk among investors. While 34% of investors consider their investment in digital assets to be “rather safe,” most express various levels of apprehension, citing concerns such as market manipulation, regulation, and financial crime as key risks.
Asset Preferences and Regulation
Regarding asset preferences, Bitcoin maintains its position as the dominant player in investors’ portfolios, with 91% of respondents holding the cryptocurrency. Ethereum follows closely behind, with 78% of investors opting for the second-largest digital asset.
Interestingly, Solana has witnessed an increase in popularity, recording a 9% increase compared to the previous year, securing its position among the top digital assets favored by investors in the region.
The German government has been working on cryptocurrency regulations to protect investors and ensure financial stability. In 2019, laws were passed allowing banks to handle cryptocurrencies, and talks are ongoing about rules for crypto exchanges and ICOs.
Regulatory bodies like BaFin and the Federal Ministry of Finance oversee compliance, with a focus on Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) rules to prevent fraud on exchanges.
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A Renewed Call for Research: Study on Medical Efficacy of Cannabis for Patients Treated for Depression – Cannabis Business Executive – Cannabis and Marijuana industry news
The GOP’s argument against marijuana took a body blow from Germany
Running against the grain of public sentiment, some members of the GOP are fighting against cannabis rescheduling and trying to be clever. The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) is still having internal discussions about whether to reschedule cannabis from a schedule I to schedule III-controlled substance with some in the GOP wishing to stop the process. But along comes Germany and they are deflating their efforts.
Germany has the biggest economy in the EU and are a leader in the United Nations and NATO. A practical country, they just legalized marijuana. Officials shared legalization would undermine criminal trade in the drug, guard against harmful impurities, and free police to pursue more serious crimes alongside providing medical benefits.
Republican Senators Jim Risch (R-), Mitt Romney (R-UT) and Pete Ricketts (R-NB) are unhappy with the the administration’s plan to reschedule marijuana. To stop or slow the process, these senators question if it violate US treaty obligations. Data shows 89% of citizens believe it should be legal in some form, so they are definitely swimming against the flow of public opinion. Additionally, science, data and the healthcare community have proven it has clear medical benefits.
The United Nations’s (UN) drug control body reaffirmed legalizing marijuana for non-medical or non-scientific purposes a violation of international treaties. But enforcement is non-existent. While Uruguay was technical the first, Canada was the first to fully implement it and the UN has done nothing. Since then Georgia, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, South Africa and Thailand have made the move without any issues.
The Senators move has some support in the house, but Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has made it clear he wants progress on cannabis legalization. Germany’s move severely undercuts the GOPs efforts.
Andrew Cooper, partner at Falcon Rappaport & Berkman LLP, one of the top cannabis law firms believes “Consequently, if anything, the fact that Germany legalized adult-use cannabis despite all the hurdles (including not only the Single Convention, but the Schengen Convention of 1985, the EU Framework Decision 2004/757/JHA of 2004, and the Narcotic Drug Act (BtMG), when the U.S. only really needs to address (and likely ignore) the Single Convention, may provide some impetus to the DEA to follow suit”.
Tom Zuber, Managing Partner of Zuber Lawler whose west coast firm has a robust cannabis division states “It’s exciting to see Germany making history by legalizing cannabis at the recreational level as the largest economy in the European Union. I hope that Germany’s leadership on this front will inspire other countries throughout the world to do the same, including the United States.
Yet another major country has legalized marijuana – hopefully the DEA is paying attention. Here are some expert’s take on where it stands.
Another major country made the commitment, but will Germany’s legalizing marijuana push the DEA to act? Germany joined Malta and Luxembourg in Europe. Officials shared legalization would undermine criminal trade in the drug, guard against harmful impurities, and free police to pursue more serious crimes. In doing so, they have ignored the UN ban and joins other countries including Canada, Uruguay, and South Africa.
In the United States, the cannabis is still awaiting on decision from the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) regarding rescheduling. After a very slow start to his commitment, President Biden is moving now on his campaign promise and give younger voters another reason to support him. But according to Pew Research Center, an overwhelming 88% of U.S. adults say either that marijuana should be legal for medical and recreational use by adults (59%) or that it should be legal for medical use only (30%). Only one-in-ten (10%) say marijuana use should not be legal. It is a popular decision and is widely used in blue and red states and in legal and illicit states. Key experts have weighed in on whether Germany’s move will push for the DEA to act soon.
“We do not see Germany’s progress having much impact on the DEA. Our thesis is we are witnessing a coordinated democratic effort to advance cannabis reform ahead of the election to mobilize and sway younger voters. We continue to believe it is unlikely that the head of the DEA (a Biden appointee) will go against the HHS recommendation in an election year. So, we remain optimistic that we’ll land on Schedule III, but do not see Germany as a major driver of US reform.” says Jesse Redmond, Managing Partner, Water Tower Research.
Andrew Cooper, partner at Falcon Rappaport & Berkman LLP, one of the top cannabis law firms believes “Consequently, if anything, the fact that Germany legalized adult-use cannabis despite all the hurdles (including not only the Single Convention, but the Schengen Convention of 1985, the EU Framework Decision 2004/757/JHA of 2004, and the Narcotic Drug Act (BtMG), when the U.S. only really needs to address (and likely ignore) the Single Convention, may provide some impetus to the DEA to follow suit”.
Tom Zuber, Managing Partner of Zuber Lawler whose west coast firm has a robust cannabis division states “It’s exciting to see Germany making history by legalizing cannabis at the recreational level as the largest economy in the European Union. I hope that Germany’s leadership on this front will inspire other countries throughout the world to do the same, including the United States.
Time will tell if will Germany’s legalizing marijuana push the DEA to act.
The First Lady Jill Biden hit a new low over the weekend when she outrageously compared the Republican-led state of Florida to Nazi Germany as she desperately tries to campaign for her husband amidst his abysmal approval ratings.
Jill’s Insane Nazi Germany Comparison
While speaking to an audience of Democrats in California who had paid $100,000 a ticket to see her, Jill claimed that $100,000 a ticket.
“History teaches us that democracies don’t disappear overnight,” Jill said, according to Daily Mail. “They disappear slowly, subtly silently. A book ban a court decision, a Don’t Say Gay law.”
“Before World War Two, I’m told, Berlin was the center of LGBTQ culture in Europe,” she continued. “One group of people loses their rights and then another, and then another, until one morning you wake up and you no longer live in a democracy.”
“MAGA Republicans are waging battles over our choices, our futures, and trying to drag us back to a dark and dangerous path,” Jill later added.
Unfortunately for Jill, however, social media users made it clear that they weren’t buying what she had to say.
“Enough with the Nazi references,” one user wrote. “Every time these people compare their political opposition to Nazis they diminish the horrors of actual victims of the Third Reich endured. This rhetoric is disgusting.”
“Did she mention Jews at all? I didn’t hear it. Is she trying to equate LGBTQ to the Jews murdered by Nazis?” questioned a second user, with a third adding, “No one is trying to ban books but not all books belong in the elementary school library.”
This came days after Florida settled a lawsuit over what Democrats have falsely described as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, with Governor Ron DeSantis describing this as a “major win” for conservatives. This law, which was made in 2022, banned instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through the third grade, and last year it was expanded to all grades.
Two years ago, DeSantis defended the law during a press conference in which he stood in front of books that had been found in school libraries across Florida. The books disturbingly featured minors engaging in sexual activity as well as directions on how to masturbate, engage in sex acts or download apps that make it easier to have “casual intercourse.”
DeSantis ripped Democrats for pushing the “hoax” that removing these books from school libraries was “book banning.”
“I just think parents, when they’re sending their kids to school, they should not have to worry about this garbage being in the schools,” DeSantis said.
Jill Will Say Anything To Get Joe Reelected
With President Joe Biden more unpopular than ever, Jill has been working overtime to try to make him look competent enough to deserve a second term.
“He can do it,” Jill said back in January when asked if her husband can physically handle a second term, according to The Mail. “I see Joe every day. I see him out, you know, traveling around this country. I see his vigor. I see his energy. I see his passion every single day.”
It’s clear at this point that Jill will say anything to get her husband reelected. While the most devoted Democrats will eat up her “Nazi Germany” comparisons just like they do everything else that she says, the average American is not buying what she’s selling.
In the end, Jill might want to start packing her bags now, because it’s looking like she won’t be living in the White House at this time next year.
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Last summer, the survival of Canopy Growth was in doubt. This week, the Canadian cannabis company watched its stock rise by about 114%.
On Friday, Germany passed a measure decriminalizing possession and home cultivation of cannabis, starting on April 1. The measure won final passage in the Bundesrat, the upper chamber of Germany’s parliament, after some uncertainty.
“The removal of narcotic status for cannabis is expected to accelerate growth of the German medical cannabis market,” the company said in a statement.
Canopy, whose stock rose nearly 36% on Friday upon the news, owns the Germany-based vaporizer firm Storz & Bickel, giving it exposure to Europe’s largest economy. It also offers medical cannabis products through its Canopy Medical unit.
The Friday rally added to an earlier one sparked by U.S. President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address on March 7, in which he mentioned the rescheduling of cannabis. Vice President Kamala Harris followed up by saying marijuana’s “absurd” Schedule I classification—which includes heroin and LSD—should be rescheduled “as soon as possible.”
Other cannabis firms, including Tilray Brands and Cronos, also jumped after the news from Germany.
Low times
Last summer, things looked far bleaker for Canopy. In late June, Benchmark analyst Mike Hickey slashed the price target on the company to zero, saying it “may not be able to continue operations and meet its financial obligations.” At the time, Canopy shares had fallen 78% for the year, and the company had acknowledged a going concern risk in its annual report.
Benchmark wasn’t alone in warning about Canopy’s prospects. CIBC Capital Markets analyst John Zamparo wrote that the company was “burning cash despite multiple cost-cutting programs,” adding that even the U.S. legalizing marijuana, if it happened, would be “no savior.”
In February last year, Canopy cut its workforce by 60%. CEO David Klein cited competition from Canada’s black market, which he estimated accounted for 40% of the nation’s cannabis sales.
“Today, there are two very different cannabis markets in Canada,” he said at the time. “One that’s legal, highly taxed and regulated, and one that’s thriving and illicit.”
Canada legalized the use of recreational marijuana in 2018, the same year that beer-and-wine giant Constellation spent $3.8 billion for a 38% stake in Canopy. That deal sent Canopy’s market valuation soaring, putting it in the same league as plane maker Bombardier Inc.
Disappointment and uncertainty followed, but Canopy appears to be on steadier ground now.
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Researchers who found a giant freshwater turtle fossil discovered in Brazil have named it Peltocephalus maturin after a character in one of Stephen King’s novels.
The fossil was “among the largest freshwater turtles ever found,” researchers said in the release of their findings on Wednesday in the British journal Biology Letters.
First author Dr. Gabriel S. Ferreira (right) taking samples for the geochemical analyses
Senckenberg
“Only a handful of them have crossed the 150 cm threshold in the past,” researchers said.
Bone samples found by gold miners in the Taquaras quarry in Porto Velho, Brazil, were sent to the Center for Applied Isotope Studies at the University of Georgia to be analyzed, the researchers said. The findings were astounding: the shell of the fossil measured about 180 cm in length, an incredibly rare occurrence, and far larger than the 140 and 110 cm recorded for today’s freshwater turtles.
“Today we have no idea how a freshwater turtle with a carapace of almost 2 meters looks like,” Dr. Gabriel S. Ferreira, lead study author and scientist at the Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution Palaeoenvironment at the Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen in Germany.
Visualization of the newly discovered giant turtle Peltocephalus maturin.
Júlia d’Oliveira
“What would our ancestors have thought if they really saw such a giant alive? Would they be afraid of it? Would they hunt it for food or worship it? Or both?” Ferreira wrote in an email to CBS News.
The turtle’s size inspired the etymology, Ferreira said. As researchers were casting around for a name, one of them, Miriam Pacheco, a big fan of King’s novels, suggested Maturin. The giant sea turtle is a recurring character in the author’s novels, a wise grandfather-like figure that serves as a guardian and protector.
“See the TURTLE of enormous girth! On his shell he holds the earth. His thought is slow but always kind; He holds us all within his mind,” King wrote.
Other findings showed a suspected omnivorous diet. Others point to the possibility that the giant turtle “inhabited the Amazon rainforest on the fringe of human occupation of the Americas.”
The holotype of the newly discovered giant tortoise: a massive partial lower jaw.
Senckenberg
Scientists cautioned that “more data from the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene deposits of the Amazon basin are needed to evaluate this hypothesis.”
“We hope this finding triggers further support to continue exploring and collecting more fossils in the region,” said Ferreira. “But also finding other fossils in the area might help us to better constraint their age and to understand the local fauna back then.”
Cara Tabachnick is a news editor and journalist at CBSNews.com. Cara began her career on the crime beat at Newsday. She has written for Marie Claire, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal. She reports on justice and human rights issues. Contact her at cara.tabachnick@cbsinteractive.com
Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., March 5, 2024.
Brendan Mcdermid | Reuters
LONDON — Global dividend payouts to shareholders hit a record $1.66 trillion in 2023, according to a new report by British asset manager Janus Henderson.
The Global Dividend Index report, published Wednesday, said payouts rose by 5% year-on-year on an underlying basis, with the fourth quarter showing a 7.2% rise from the previous three months.
The underlying figure adjusts for the impact of exchange rates, one-off special dividends and technical factors related to dividend calendars, along with changes to the index.
The banking sector contributed almost half of the world’s total dividend growth, delivering record payouts as high interest rates boosted lenders’ margins, the report found.
Last year, major banks including JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Morgan Stanley announced plans to raise their quarterly dividends after clearing the Federal Reserve’s annual stress test, which dictates how much capital banks can return to shareholders.
“In addition, lingering post-pandemic catch-up effects meant payouts were fully restored, most notably at HSBC,” Janus Henderson’s report added.
“Emerging market banks made a particularly strong contribution to the increase, though those in China did not participate in the banking-sector’s dividend boom.”
However, the positive impact from banking dividends was “almost entirely offset by cuts from the mining sector,” according to Janus Henderson.
The report noted that large dividend cuts by some major companies such as BHP, Petrobras, Rio Tinto, Intel and AT&T diluted the global underlying growth rate for the year by two percentage points, masking significant broad-based growth in many parts of the world.
The organization’s charter states that the signing parties will “seek to promote stability and well-being in the North Atlantic area,” and will “unite their efforts for collective defense and for the preservation of peace and security.”
April 4, 1949 – NATO is established.
2014-present – The current secretary general is Jens Stoltenberg, former prime minister of Norway. On March 24, 2022, Stoltenberg’s tenure was extended by one year due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
March 21, 2023 – The secretary general’s annual report is released.
Albania (2009) Belgium (1949) Bulgaria (2004) Canada (1949) Croatia (2009) Czech Republic (1999) Denmark (1949) Estonia (2004) Finland (2023) France (1949) Germany (1955, as West Germany) Greece (1952) Hungary (1999) Iceland (1949) Italy (1949) Latvia (2004) Lithuania (2004) Luxembourg (1949) Montenegro (2017) Netherlands (1949) North Macedonia (2020) Norway (1949) Poland (1999) Portugal (1949) Romania (2004) Slovakia (2004) Slovenia (2004) Spain (1982) Sweden (2024) Turkey (1952) United Kingdom (1949) United States (1949)
April 4, 1949 – The 12 nations of Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom and the United States sign the North Atlantic Treaty in Washington, DC.
July 25, 1950 – First meeting of NATO Council Deputies in London. US Ambassador Charles M. Spofford is elected permanent chairman.
December 19, 1950 – US General Dwight Eisenhower is appointed the first supreme allied commander. The position leads NATO’s military operations.
March 12, 1952 – Lord Ismay is named the first secretary general of NATO and appointed vice chairman of the North Atlantic Council, which oversees NATO’s political decisions.
April 16, 1952 – NATO establishes its provisional headquarters in Paris at the Palais de Chaillot.
April 28, 1952 – First meeting of the North Atlantic Council in permanent session in Paris.
May 6, 1952 – West Germany joins NATO.
May 14, 1955 – The Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc countries form the Warsaw Pact in response to West Germany joining NATO.
July 26, 1956 – Egypt nationalizes the Suez Canal. France and Great Britain use troops to intervene, against the wishes of the United States, causing a rift in NATO.
October 22-23, 1963 – NATO and the United States demonstrate the size and speed of emergency forces when flying 14,500 US troops into West Germany for maneuvers.
March 10, 1966 – France formally announces intentions to withdraw from the military structure of NATO, accusing the United States of having too much influence in the organization.
March 31, 1967 – Opening ceremony of new NATO headquarters in Casteau, near Mons, Belgium.
August 14, 1974 – Greece, angered at NATO’s response to the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, withdraws from the military arm of NATO.
October 20, 1980 – Greece rejoins the NATO military structure.
December 13, 1991 – For the first time, the Soviet Union takes part in meetings at NATO as part of the North Atlantic Cooperation Council.
December 21, 1991 – Eleven of the republics of the former Soviet Union create a new Commonwealth of Independent States. On December 25, theSoviet Union is officially disbanded with the resignation of Mikhail Gorbachev as president and supreme commander-in-chief of Soviet Forces.
February 28, 1994 – NATO forces shoot down four Bosnian Serb planes violating the UN-imposed no-fly zone. It is the first time NATO has used force.
January 13, 1996 – Russian troops are deployed to support IFOR in Bosnia.
May 22, 1997 – NATO and the Russian Federation sign a security and cooperation pact, the “Founding Act” which establishes a NATO-Russia Permanent Joint Council (PJC).
March 24, 1999 – NATO launches air strikes against Yugoslavia to end Serbian aggression in the Kosovo region.
May 28, 2002 – NATO and Russia form the NATO-Russia Council (NRC), which makes Russia an associate member of the organization. The NRC replaces the PJC.
November 21-22, 2002 – During the Prague Summit, NATO invites seven former Eastern Bloc countries, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia, to discuss entry into the organization.
December 4, 2002 – US Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz speaks before NATO in Brussels and requests that member nations contribute forces to a potential campaign in Iraq.
January 22, 2003 – France and Germany block discussion on war preparations submitted by the United States. The US proposal included provisions for Turkey’s defense, the use of NATO equipment, and NATO’s postwar role in Iraq.
February 10, 2003 – France, Germany and Belgium block a US request that NATO provide Patriot missiles, Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft, and other equipment to Turkey. The United States had made the request anticipating that Iraq will retaliate against Turkey in the event of war. Turkey invokes article IV of the NATO charter, which requires the organization as a whole to discuss security threats to any member nation.
February 16, 2003 – NATO produces three defensive plans for Turkey, in the event of a US war with Iraq: – Deployment of NATO AWACS aircraft; – NATO support for the deployment of theatre missile defenses for Turkey; – NATO support for possible deployment of Allied chemical and biological defenses.
March 29, 2004 – NATO is expanded from 19 to 26 members when seven nations, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia, join in an accession ceremony in Washington, DC. All are former communist states in Eastern Europe.
August 10, 2004 – NATO AWACS begin patrolling Greek airspace prior to the Olympic and Paralympic games. NATO’s presence at the Olympics is nicknamed Distinguished Games and includes AWACS and the Multinational Chemical Biological Radiological Nuclear Task Force.
September 14, 2006 – Ukraine announces that it is shelving its aspirations to join NATO, due to opposition by the Ukrainian public and Russia.
April 2-4, 2008 – NATO leaders hold a summit in Bucharest, Romania. Croatia and Albania are invited to join the alliance.
June 17, 2008 –French President Nicolas Sarkozy announces France will soon rejoin NATO’s military command, 40 years after it left.
April 3-4, 2009 – The 23rd NATO summit also marks NATO’s 60th anniversary. During the summit, France rejoins NATO’s military command.
March 24, 2011 – NATO takes command of enforcing a no-fly zone imposed on Libya by the United Nations.
March 29, 2011 – The Council of Europe rules NATO, among others, responsible for the 63 deaths of African immigrants left adrift for two weeks while attempting to reach European shores from Libya.
May 19, 2012 – Demonstrators take to the streets of Chicago prior to the start of the NATO summit. Anti-NATO protests near Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s home focus on the cost of the summit to the city and city budget cuts to mental healthcare.
March 5, 2014 – In regard to the crisis in Ukraine, Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen announces that NATO has decided to “put the entire range of NATO-Russia cooperation under review” to send “a clear message Russia’s actions have consequences.”
February 11, 2016 – Secretary General Stoltenberg announces that NATO is deploying ships to the Aegean Sea to try to deter smugglers from trafficking migrants from Turkey to Greece.
May 15, 2022 – Finland’s government says it intends to join NATO, ditching decades of neutrality and ignoring Russian threats of possible retaliation as the Nordic country attempts to strengthen its security following the onset of the war in Ukraine. Sweden’s ruling party later said it will also support joining the alliance.
Dahomey, a documentary by Franco-Senegalese director Mati Diop probing the thorny issues surrounding Europe’s return of looted antiquities to Africa, has won the Berlin International Film Festival’s top prize.
Kenyan-Mexican Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o announced the seven-member panel’s choice for the Golden Bear award at a gala ceremony in the German capital Saturday.
Diop said the prize “not only honours me but the entire visible and invisible community that the film represents”.
Al Jazeera’s Dominic Kane, reporting from Berlin, said the documentary “confronts an issue that has been the forefront of many people’s minds, not just in the film world but also across Europe.
“DDahomeyconcentrates on the Benin bronzes and the struggle to return those bronzes. The whole principle of restitution, that is what the director Mati Diop referred to in accepting the prize, the Golden Bear at this festival,” Kane said.
South Korean arthouse favourite Hong Sang-soo captured the runner-up Grand Jury Prize for, A Traveller’s Needs, his third collaboration with French screen legend Isabelle Huppert.
Mati Diop celebrates with Berlinale Artistic Director Carlo Chatrian, right, and Head of Programming Mark Peranson backstage during the awards ceremony in Berlin [Nadja Wohlleben/Pool/AFP]
Hong, a frequent guest at the festival, thanked the jury, joking, “I don’t know what you saw in this film.”
French auteur Bruno Dumont accepted the third-place Jury Prize for, The Empire, an intergalactic battle of good and evil set in a French fishing village.
Dominican filmmaker Nelson Carlo de los Santos Arias won best director for, Pepe, his enigmatic docudrama conjuring the ghost of a hippopotamus owned by the late Colombian drug baron Pablo Escobar.
Marvel movie star Sebastian Stan picked up the best performance Silver Bear for his appearance in the US satire, A Different Man.
Stan plays an actor with neurofibromatosis, a genetic disease causing disfiguring tumours, who is cured with a groundbreaking medical treatment.
The Romanian American star called it “a story that’s not only about acceptance, identity and self-truth but about disfigurement and disability – a subject matter that’s been long overlooked by our own bias”.
‘Collusion’
The United Kingdom’s Emily Watson clinched the best supporting performance Silver Bear for her turn as a cruel mother superior in, Small Things Like These.
The film, starring Cillian Murphy, is about one of modern Ireland’s biggest scandals: the Magdalene laundries network of Roman Catholic penitentiary workhouses for “fallen women”.
She paid tribute to the “thousands and thousands of young women whose lives were devastated by the collusion between the Catholic church and the state in Ireland”.
German writer-director Matthias Glasner took the Silver Bear for best screenplay for his semi-autobiographical tragicomedy, Dying. The three-hour tour de force features some of the country’s top actors depicting a dysfunctional family.
The Silver Bear for outstanding artistic contribution went to cinematographer Martin Gschlacht for the chilling Austrian historical horror movie, The Devil’s Bath. It tells the tale of depressed women in the 18th century who murdered in order to be executed.
A separate Berlinale Documentary Award went to a Palestinian-Israeli activist collective for, No Other Land, about Palestinians displaced by Israeli troops and settlers in the occupied West Bank.
“In accepting the prize, the two men most involved in this film – one Israeli, one Palestinian – both spoke about the need for a ceasefire immediately, and that is a thought picked up by many other people – some recipients of awards, [and] some people presenting awards,” Kane said.
Cu Li Never Cries, by Vietnamese filmmaker Pham Ngoc Lan won the best first feature prize. The film tells the story of a woman who returns to Vietnam from Germany with the ashes of her estranged husband.
Best short film went to, An Odd Turn, by Argentina’s Francisco Lezama about a museum security guard who predicts a surge in the dollar’s value with a pendulum.
The Berlinale, as the festival is known, ranks with Cannes and Venice among Europe’s top cinema showcases.
Last year, another documentary took home the Golden Bear, France’s, On the Adamant, about a floating day-care centre for people with psychiatric problems.
Joachim Nagel, president of Deutsche Bundesbank, during the central bank’s “Annual Report 2023” news conference in Frankfurt, Germany, on Friday, Feb. 23, 2024.Â
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Losses incurred by the German central bank rocketed into the tens of billions in 2023 due to higher interest rates, requiring it to draw on the entirety of its provisions to break even.
The Bundesbank on Friday reported an annual distributable profit of zero, after it released 19.2 billion euros ($20.8 billion) in provisions for general risks, and 2.4 billion euros from its reserves. That leaves it with just under 700 million euros in reserves, the central bank said.
Net interest income was negative for the first time in its 67-year history, declining by 17.9 billion euros year on year to -13.9 billion euros.
“We expect the burdens to be considerable again for the current year. They are likely to exceed the remaining reserves,” Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel said at a news conference.
The central bank will report a loss carryforward that will be offset through future profits, he said.
Nagel added: “The Bundesbank’s balance sheet is sound. The Bundesbank can bear the financial burdens, as its assets are significantly in excess of its obligations.”
The German central bank â and many of its peers â have significant securities holdings exposed to interest rate risk, which have been significantly impacted by the European Central Bank’s unprecedented run of rate hikes.
The ECB on Thursday posted its first annual loss since 2004, of 1.3 billion euros, even as it also drew on its own risk provisions of 6.6 billion euros. It follows the euro zone central bank’s near decade of financial stimulus, printing money and buying large amounts of government bonds to boost growth, which are now requiring hefty payouts.
Central banks stress that annual profits and losses do not impact their ability to enact monetary policy and control price stability. However, they are watched as a potential threat to credibility, particularly if a bailout becomes a risk, and they impact central banks’ payouts to other sources.
In the case of the Bundesbank, there have been no payments to the federal budget for several years and, it said Friday, there are unlikely to be for a “longer” period of time. The ECB, meanwhile, will not make profit distributions to euro zone national central banks for 2023.
Nagel further said Friday that raising interest rates had been the right thing to do to curb high inflation, and that the ECB’s Governing Council will only be able to consider rate cuts when it is convinced inflation is back to target based on data.
On the struggling German economy, he said: “Our experts expect the German economy to gradually regain its footing during the course of the year and embark onto a growth path. First, foreign sales markets are expected to provide tail winds. Second, private consumption should benefit from an improvement in households’ purchasing power.”
Correction: The Bundesbank is 67 years old. An earlier version misstated its age.
This year will be one of “recovery and preparation on both sides, like 1916 and 1941-42 in the last world wars,” said Marc Thys, who retired as Belgium’s deputy defense chief last year with the rank of lieutenant general.
Looking ahead
To assess prospects for the year ahead, POLITICO asked analysts, serving officers and military experts to give their view on the course of the war.
Nobody could provide a precise roadmap for 2024, but all agreed that three fundamentals will determine the trajectory of the coming months. First, this spring is about managing expectations as Ukraine won’t have the gear or the personnel to launch a significant counteroffensive; second, Russia, with the help of its allies, has secured artillery superiority and, together with relentless ground attacks, is pounding Ukrainian positions; and third, without Western air defense and long-range missiles as well as artillery shells, Kyiv will struggle to mount a credible, sustained defense.
“The year will be difficult, no one can predict from which direction Russia will go or whether we will advance this year,” said Taras Chmut, a Ukrainian military analyst and sergeant with the Naval Forces Marine Corps Reserve.
It’s clear, however, that Ukraine is on the back foot.
After many weeks of bloody fighting, Russia finally took the fortress city of Avdiivka this month. Without pausing for a breather, its military proceeded to launch attacks on other key Ukrainian strongpoints and logistical hubs: Robotyne in the region of Zaporizhzia, Kupiansk in Kharkiv, and Chasiv Yar in Donetsk region.
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Joshua Posaner, Veronika Melkozerova, Stuart Lau, Paul McLeary and Henry Donovan
