Skip next section German cultural figures call to stop weapons exports to Israel
08/06/2025August 6, 2025
German cultural figures call to stop weapons exports to Israel
More than 160 German artists and media figures are now among 367 signatories to an open letter addressed to Chancellor Friedrich Merz that criticizes Israel’s actions in Gaza and calls for an end to German weapons exports to the Middle Eastern country.
The campaign group Avaaz said the new signatories included musician Nina Chuba, director Fatih Akin and the actor Sandra Hüller.
“We, too, condemn the horrific crimes committed by Hamas in the strongest possible terms. But no crime justifies collectively
punishing millions of innocent people in the most brutal manner,” the letter said, referring to the deadly October 7, 2023, Hamas-led raids in southern Israel that triggered Israel’s ongoing Gaza offensive.
The letter also voiced concern at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s reported plans to occupy the entire Gaza Strip and urged the German government to act.
Germany is one of Israel’s main arms suppliers.
https://p.dw.com/p/4yaEH
Skip next section New EU-US tarifff deal seen negatively by most German firms — study
08/06/2025August 6, 2025
New EU-US tarifff deal seen negatively by most German firms — study
German businesses largely view the new tariff agreement between the US and the EU with concern, with the majority foreseeing added burdens to their operations, according to a survey by the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) whose results were released on Wednesday.
More than half (58%) of the 3,355 companies included in the survey said they expected the deal to increase their burden. Just 5% saw the deal as having positive effects.
Altogether 74% of companies that maintain direct business ties with the US foresee negative fallout from the deal, the study showed.
The study indicated that more than half of firms directly involved in US markets plan to reduce trans-Atlantic trade, while 31% have revised the way they handle customs costs, among other things by passing on at least some of the increases to US customers.
“This agreement may have been politically necessary, but for many companies in Germany, it’s still a bitter pill,” said DIHK managing
director Helena Melnikov. “It brings new burdens instead of relief: higher tariffs, more bureaucracy and reduced competitiveness.”
Under the deal struck by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and US President Donald Trump amid a long-running trade dispute, most EU exports to the US will be subjected to a 15% tariff as of August 7.
German SMEs fear tariffs impact
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https://p.dw.com/p/4yaAT
Skip next section WWII bomb find prompts mass Dresden evacuation
08/06/2025August 6, 2025
WWII bomb find prompts mass Dresden evacuation
The bomb was found during work at the Carola BridgeImage: AP
Authorities in the eastern city of Dresden say some 17,000 people will be forced to leave their homes on Wednesday to allow the safe defusal of a bomb left over from the Second World War.
The British 250-kilogram (500-pound) bomb was found on Tuesday amid work to demolish remnants of the Carola Bridge, parts of which collapsed into the Elbe river last September.
The bomb has to be defused at the place where it was found.
The area to be evacuated contains several hotels, as well as the city’s famous Frauenkirche, or Church of Our Lady, which is visited by thousands of people from all over the world each year.
The demolition work at the Carola Bridge already uncovered a WWII bomb in January, prompting the evacuation of 10,000 people.
Dresden was the target of four massive Allied bombing raids between 13 and 15 February, 1945, during which up to 25,000 people were killed and much of the city center destroyed.
https://p.dw.com/p/4ya9Y
Skip next section Welcome to our coverage08/06/2025August 6, 2025
Welcome to our coverage
Guten Tag from the DW newsroom in Bonn on this sunny summer day!
Even 80 years after the end of World War II, ordnance left over from the conflict is regularly found in Germany.
Dresden, which underwent massive bombardment in the last year of the war, is seeing its second mass evacuation of the year following the find of a British bomb on Tuesday.
In other news, a study has shown that many German companies take a negative view of the recent EU-US tariff agreement, which many commentators have denounced as a capitulation by the bloc to the whims of the unpredictable US president, Donald Trump.
In this blog, you will find a rundown on the main issues in focus in Germany on August 6, 2025. DW wishes you good reading!
https://p.dw.com/p/4yaD2
