Skip next section Gamescom opens with record number of exhibitors
08/20/2025August 20, 2025
Gamescom opens with record number of exhibitors
Gamescom is the world’s largest gaming expoImage: Chris Emil Janßen/picture alliance
The world’s largest video game event, Gamescom, opened in Cologne on Wednesday.
This year’s show saw a record number of exhibitors — more than 1,500 — including Nintendo, Xbox, Bethesda, Ubisoft, Capcom, Take-Two Interactive and numerous indie developers.
Many of the games showcased will be released in the coming months or early next year.
Some 5,000 fans attended a pre-convention event on Tuesday night where upcoming blockbusters like “Call of Duty: Black Ops 7” and “World of Warcraft: Midnight” were revealed to the public.
More than 300,000 guests are expected to visit the convention overall, which closes on Sunday.
More than 1,500 exhibitors were present at Gamescom in CologneImage: Oliver Berg/dpa/picture alliance
https://p.dw.com/p/4zH4V
Skip next section German government keeps door open on taxes for wealthy
08/20/2025August 20, 2025
German government keeps door open on taxes for wealthy
Germany’s ruling coalition is refusing to rule out raising taxes for top earners.
On Wednesday, deputy government spokesman Steffen Meyer said the coalition was willing to do anything that would prove beneficial to the goal of economic growth while avoiding anything that works against that goal.
In a major interview this weekend, Vice Chancellor Lars Klingbeil said he would not rule out higher taxes for the wealthy as a tool to plug holes in the budget.
With reporters pressing Meyer to clarify the position of Chancellor Friedrich Merz on this issue, the spokesman only said that “it is important for us that the priorities are clear.”
The government’s priorities include investments in infrastructure and easing the burden on the “hard-working middle class.”
The proposals by Klingbeil, who also serves as finance minister and is the co-leader of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), have been rejected by several politicians from Merz’s conservative bloc.
The coalition government of Merz’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the Bavaria-only Christian Social Union (CSU) and the SPD agreed to reduce income tax on small and medium incomes by at least the middle of the legislative period.
However, tax hikes on the wealthy could prove to be a sticking point between the coalition partners.
https://p.dw.com/p/4zFrK
Skip next section Prosecutors charge Russian national over Israeli Embassy attack plot
08/20/2025August 20, 2025
Prosecutors charge Russian national over Israeli Embassy attack plot
Prosecutors in Berlin announced that they were charging a Russian man for an alleged plan to attack the Israeli Embassy.
Identified only as Akhmad E. due to Germany’s privacy code, the suspect has been in custody since he was arrested on February 20 while trying to board a flight. He has now been officially indicted on charges of supporting a foreign terrorist organization, attempted membership in a terrorist group, and planning a serious act of violence.
Authorities said the attack was planned to take place on German soil, likely at the Israeli mission in Berlin. They accuse the suspect of trying to build a bomb before he struggled to obtain the necessary components. He is also accused of translating “Islamic State” (IS) propaganda into Russian and Chechen.
Prosecutors said he recorded a video pledging loyalty to the “Islamic State” and had been attempting to travel to Pakistan to join and train with the group.
Israeli embassies around the world have increased security in recent months after two staffers in Washington, DC, were killed outside a Jewish Museum event.
Gunman kills 2 Israeli embassy staff in Washington
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
https://p.dw.com/p/4zFQZ
Skip next section Study finds tens of thousands of deaths linked to drug-resistant bacteria
08/20/2025August 20, 2025
Study finds tens of thousands of deaths linked to drug-resistant bacteria
A new study from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), Germany’s public health institute, has found that tens of thousands of people die each year in the country due at least in part to antibiotic-resistant infections.
Published in the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy-Antimicrobial Resistance, the study found that antibiotic-resistant pathogens were connected with the deaths of at least 45,700 people in 2019.
Of those, 9,600 were thought to be entirely related to drug-resistant bacteria.
The RKI called antibiotic resistance “one of the greatest global health challenges of our time.”
The institute called for restraint in the use of antibiotics. Scientists have long noted that the biggest driver of resistance is the overuse of the drugs in the meat and dairy industries.
https://p.dw.com/p/4zE8f
Skip next section Nearly two-thirds of Germans support partial stoppage of arms deliveries to Israel
08/20/2025August 20, 2025
Nearly two-thirds of Germans support partial stoppage of arms deliveries to Israel
According to a new YouGov poll carried out for German dpa news agency, around 65% of Germans support Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s decision to suspend some of its weapons deliveries to Israel.
About 19% opposed the move, and 16% were undecided.
While Merz has maintained that Germany is Israel’s ally, there has been an increasingly loud outcry both at home and abroad against Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
The United Nations and rights groups have accused the Israeli government of war crimes, including forced starvation, mass displacement and genocide.
The YouGov poll found that opinion was slightly more divided on whether the European Union should review its political and economic ties with Israel, with 45% backing Berlin’s stance that dialogue must remain open.
https://p.dw.com/p/4zE8M
Skip next section Ex-transport minister confirms legal charges
08/20/2025August 20, 2025
Ex-transport minister confirms legal charges
Andreas Scheuer, who was federal minister of transportation and digital infrastructure from 2018 to 2021, has confirmed media reports that he has been charged with making a false statement to the Bundestag, Germany’s lower house of parliament.
Scheuer is a member of the Christian Social Union (CSU), the Bavarian sister party to the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). The CDU is the conservative party of current Chancellor Friedrich Merz as well as former longtime Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Indeed, it was under Merkel that Scheuer served as a Cabinet member, handling the final stages of Merkel’s ill-fated attempt to introduce tolls on Germany’s highways.
An extremely unpopular proposal both at home and abroad, Scheuer is accused of lying to the Bundestag about having signed a contract with a company to run the toll operations despite knowing that the European Court of Justice was likely to declare the scheme illegal.
Scheuer has denied the charges.
https://p.dw.com/p/4zE3J
Skip next section Welcome to our coverage08/20/2025August 20, 2025
Welcome to our coverage
A wunderschönen guten Morgen from our newsroom in Bonn.
Today, we will be looking at the court case against Germany’s former transport minister, current Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul’s trip to Indonesia, and a major video game convention kicking off in Cologne.
Stay tuned for our reporting and analysis as we bring you the biggest headlines from around the country.
https://p.dw.com/p/4zE34
