52 h. ago German far right setting agenda as opponents amplify its ideas, study finds

Normalisation of far-right stances likely to affect success of such parties at ballot boxes across Europe, say researchersMainstream parties are increasingly allowing the far right to set the agenda, researchers in Germany have found, describing it as a shortcoming that had unwittingly helped the far right by legitimising their ideas and disseminating them more widely.The findings, published in the European Journal of Political Research, were based on an automated text analysis of 520,408 articles from six German newspapers over the span of more than two decades. Continue reading...

Politics

5 d. ago German retirees who continue working set to earn €2,000 a month tax

Active pension scheme expected to start in January is part of chancellor’s ‘autumn of reforms’ to tackle economic stagnationGermans who continue in the labour market beyond retirement age will be able to earn up to €2,000 (£1,750) a month tax-free on top of their pension under a scheme aimed at boosting economic growth and labour force participation rates.The “Aktivrente”, or active pension scheme, due to come into force in January, was promised on the campaign trail by the chancellor, Friedrich Merz, before he came into office five months ago. Continue reading...

Economics

5 d. ago I chaired the US Federal Election Commission. Now there’s no cop on the beat | Ellen L Weintraub

Democracy is under attack – and the watchdog agency has no quorum. It must be restoredThreats to the US electoral process keep accelerating. Donald Trump is issuing increasingly unhinged demands that his political adversaries and those who fund speech that he views as contrary to his political agenda or supports his political opponents be prosecuted. When a prosecutor balked at this political intervention, Trump simply found one who is more compliant.In what appears to be yet another attempt to concoct support for unproven claims of voter fraud, the Department of Justice has issued exhaustive voting records requests to multiple states. Voting rights lawsuits have been dismissed. A division targeting foreign interference in our elections has been dismembered. Attempts are under way to make voter registration more onerous. Alarmingly, at least one commentator has warned that the extraordinary call-out of the military against US civilians on US soil may be a “dress rehearsal” for takin...

Politics

2 w. ago Max Verstappen set to lose Red Bull ally to Audi in significant F1 raid

Max Verstappen is set to see his number one mechanic leave Red Bull in a huge raid by Audi, with the German manufacturer set to officially enter Formula 1 next year

Politics

2 w. ago Munich Oktoberfest reopens after man’s deadly arson attack and bomb threat

Beer festival had closed after 57-year-old man shot parents, set house on fire, and left note mentioning eventA German man went on a deadly gun, explosives and arson rampage against his family and then killed himself on Wednesday, prompting security fears in Munich that closed the world-famous Oktoberfest for seven hours.Authorities decided to close the event temporarily after finding a note the man had dropped in a nearby letterbox that included a vague threat to the Bavarian city’s beer festival. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago Bomb threat, booby traps and Oktoberfest shut: All we know about ‘family dispute’ that left two dead in Munich

Munich’s Oktoberfest celebrations were put on hold after a man allegedly set fire to his parent’s home in the German city

Events

4 w. ago History teaches us that authoritarians use any excuse to seize power | Judith Levine

Nazis used the 1933 Reichstag blaze to justify snuffing out civil liberties. In the US, the calls for a crackdown have already begunOn the night of 27 February 1933, six days before national elections, the German Reichstag was set on fire. Firefighters and police discovered a Dutch communist named Marinus van der Lubbe at the scene, who confessed to being the arsonist. The Nazi Reichstag president, Hermann Göring, soon arrived, followed by the future propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels and Adolf Hitler, who had been dining together.Two competing, still unresolved, conspiracy theories would circulate about the real culprit: the Nazis, with van der Lubbe as front; or a communist cabal. But the three men had no doubts. Göring pronounced the crime a communist plot. Hitler called it “a God-given signal”, adding: “If this fire, as I believe, is the work of the communists, then we must crush out this murderous pest with an iron fist.”Judith Levine is Brooklyn-based journalist, essayist and...

Culture