Germany

Woman Gets Life Sentence for Murder of Doppelganger
Europe, Germany, News

Woman Gets Life Sentence for Murder of Doppelganger

A 25-year-old woman has been sentenced to life imprisonment in Germany for killing a 23-year-old woman who looked like her in an attempt to start a new life under the victim's name. The case is known in Germany as the doppelganger murder. Shahraban K. searched for a doppelganger on social media. She arranged a meeting with the victim and killed her with the help of a 26-year-old man. He has also been sentenced to life imprisonment. K. had also ordered the murder of her brother-in-law, but it did not take place. She has been convicted of that attempted murder. K. allegedly faked her death to get away from her family. Her parents were looking for K. in August 2022 when they found a body in a car in Ingolstadt. They thought it was their daughter, but investigation showed it w...
TeamViewer Aims to Expand with US Acquisition
Business, Europe, Germany, News, Technology, US

TeamViewer Aims to Expand with US Acquisition

German TeamViewer is acquiring American 1E for 720 million dollars. In addition to remote support, it also wants to improve the user experience, supplemented with AI. 1E is a 300-person company with $77 million in recurring revenue, 99 percent of which comes from enterprise customers. It is positioned in the market with its digital employee experience (DEX) platform, primarily intended to make the experience more pleasant for end users. TeamViewer sees this as an excellent extension to evolve its remote assistance tool into an end-to-end offering. It will include management of digital workplaces and predictive maintenance, which should reduce irritation for the end user. 1E is an American company (with offices in the UK, India, and Ireland), which gives TeamViewer an extra foo...
German Police Arrest 25 Right-Wing Extremists Who Wanted to Storm Parliament and Commit a Coup
Europe, Germany, News

German Police Arrest 25 Right-Wing Extremists Who Wanted to Storm Parliament and Commit a Coup

Twenty-five right-wing extremists were arrested in Germany on Wednesday morning who allegedly wanted to commit an armed coup. This was announced by a spokesman for the federal prosecutor's office. As part of a significant operation, some three thousand German police officers carried out raids on more than 130 locations on Wednesday morning: in eleven of the sixteen German states and also in Italy and Austria. The group reportedly wanted to storm the Reichstag and stage a coup. "The accused are part of a terrorist organization founded in November 2021, which set itself the goal of overthrowing the existing government in Germany and replacing it with its form of government, which they had already devised," said the Generalbundesanwalt. . For example,,, those responsible for new min...
German Competition Watchdog Starts Investigation into Google Maps
Technology, Europe, Germany, News

German Competition Watchdog Starts Investigation into Google Maps

Limits in the terms of use of the service could be a form of monopoly abuse. The German antitrust watchdog has launched an investigation into Google Maps for possible anti-competitive practices.   The organization wants to know whether the limits Maps places on combining its services with those of third parties could have given Maps a competitive advantage. Specifically, the watchdog wants to find out whether the terms of use for the charting platform may be illegal. These are conditions that make it difficult for app developers to combine the Google Maps API with that of alternative map makers. The cartel watchdog would also start an investigation of Google's Automotive Services. "We're going to see if Google extends its dominance in certain mapping services through this practice...
Schroder Yields to Political Pressure, Leaves Russian Rosneft
Germany, Europe, News, Russia

Schroder Yields to Political Pressure, Leaves Russian Rosneft

Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder has yielded to political pressure. He resigns from the Russian state oil group Rosneft.   He was still chairman of the board of trustees at the largest oil company in the country, despite the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He now says that it is "impossible" to stay there, according to Rosneft. The German parliament decided a day earlier to scrap some privileges for the former head of government. The European Parliament even wants to impose sanctions on Schröder and other Kremlinge-minded ex-politicians. Schröder, 78, is damaging Germany's prestige in the world by not distancing himself from Russian President Vladimir Putin, and criticising the parliament in Berlin. He loses a state-paid office with staff.
Chancellor Scholz Sees Russian Offensive Stall
Germany, News, Russia

Chancellor Scholz Sees Russian Offensive Stall

The Russian offensive in Ukraine has stalled despite permanent attacks by the Russian armed forces, says German government leader Olaf Scholz. He asks the Kremlin to stop the hostilities immediately.   Scholz reiterated in a speech to the Bundestag that Germany continues to help Ukraine but does not want NATO to get involved in the conflict. So there will be no no-fly zone or NATO 'peace troops' in Ukraine. Moscow has already warned that the deployment of 'peacekeeping forces' from NATO countries will immediately lead to a clash with Russia. Scholz wants to avoid the risk of NATO and Russia getting into a possible nuclear conflict. He said the sanctions against Russia are causing a lot of damage to that country and that "more sanctions are constantly being worked on". According t...
Life Sentence for Man Who Deliberately Drove into German Carnival Parade
Germany, Europe, News

Life Sentence for Man Who Deliberately Drove into German Carnival Parade

A man in Germany has been sentenced to life in prison for deliberately driving a car into a carnival parade in the town of Volkmarsen last year.   About 90 people were injured, including dozens of children. According to prosecutors, the 31-year-old German wanted to kill as many people as possible on February 24, 2020. He drove into his victims at a speed of 50 or 60 kilometres per hour. His vehicle came to a stop after 42 meters. Witnesses overpowered the driver. The court in Kassel has found the man guilty of attempted murder, inflicting bodily harm and dangerous behaviour in traffic. Almost two years later, it is still unknown why the man entered the parade. German media report that he remained silent in court and also refused to talk to a psychiatric expert. He concluded that...
Germany Reports Highest Corona Death Toll in Nine Months
Germany, Europe, News

Germany Reports Highest Corona Death Toll in Nine Months

Germany reported 446 new corona-related deaths on Wednesday, the highest daily figure since mid-February. Hospitals are concerned about the many admissions of corona patients to intensive care.   There is a warning that the number of corona patients on ICs is threatening to exceed the peak of last winter. The head of an association for IC care, Gernot Marx, thinks the number of corona patients in intensive care units may rise to 6000 before Christmas, regardless of which corona measures are still taken. There are currently about 4600. In addition, about 1400 new corona patients were admitted to the ICs last week. The resurgence of the coronavirus has pushed the official death toll in Germany to nearly 102,000. The Robert Koch Institute for Disease Control (RKI) reported nearly 67,...
German Court Rules Strict Corona Measures Were Legal
Germany, Europe, News

German Court Rules Strict Corona Measures Were Legal

The strict corona measures in Germany earlier this year were legal, the constitutional court in Karlsruhe has ruled.   In the spring, social contacts were restricted, a curfew was imposed, and schools were closed. The verdict could pave the way for new, stricter measures in the country. The measures were introduced in April during the third wave of contamination. According to the court, measures infringed several fundamental rights but were allowed because of "the extreme danger of the pandemic". Chancellor Angela Merkel and her intended successor Olaf Scholz will talk with the state prime ministers on Tuesday about tightening the corona measures. The consultation, which has been brought forward due to the verdict, comes at a time when the number of infections is rising rapidly, ...
Scholz Goes with Merkel to G20 Summit
Germany, News

Scholz Goes with Merkel to G20 Summit

According to sources, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is taking her likely successor Olaf Scholz to the G20 summit to be held in Rome next weekend. Scholz is Minister of Finance in the current German cabinet.   Merkel and Scholz will go to the top together to demonstrate continuity despite the change of power in Germany. Government sources have told the AFP news agency that it is a "historic signal". It would also be a sign of confidence in Scholz. This weekend, Scholz and Merkel will meet with US President Joe Biden and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, among others. They also participate in a summit on Iran together. Scholz's Social Democrats (SPD) beat Merkel's conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) in the election. Merkel, however, did not participate in the elections; s...