NEWS FROM BERLIN

Gasag passes on gas surcharges to customers as of October

Gasag, the main natural gas supplier and vendor in Berlin, announced on Friday that it would raise its prices by a total of 3.63 cents per kilowatt hour, including 19 per cent VAT. That should be felt by Berlin customers from October onwards. According to the company, as things stand, an average Berlin household with an annual consumption of around 12,000 kilowatt hours will face additional monthly costs of around 36.30 euros. For a single-family home with 20,000 kilowatt-hours, this means an extra 60.50 euros. The company is also passing on three different gas surcharges in full to consumers. Source: Berliner Zeitung

NEWS FROM GERMANY

Higher fares after 9-euro ticket

The 9-Euro-Ticket will soon expire, but those who use buses and trams from September will not just pay the normal fares again in many cases. Passengers must prepare themselves for rising prices in local public transport. In and around Stuttgart, for example, fares will rise by an average of 4.9 per cent at the turn of the year, in the greater Nuremberg area it will be 3 per cent. In the Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund, there was already a 3.9 per cent increase in July. Passengers will be able to use the 9-Euro-Ticket for the last time on local transport throughout Germany in August. Source: tagesschau

Inflation: what’s in store for consumers?

Prices in the eÉuro area are higher than ever – in July they were 8.9 per cent compared to the summer of 2021. In Germany, the momentum is somewhat weaker due to government intervention, with a price increase rate of 7.5 per cent. But fuel discounts and nine-euro tickets will be abolished in September, and wages are likely to rise. Many service providers – hairdressers, for example, – will also have to add the high energy prices to their prices. In addition, there will be hefty additional charges next year when landlords send out the statements for 2022. Source: dw

More people in Germany dying because of heat

As soon as temperatures climb above 30 degrees in Germany, more than usual people die (especially those over 65 years). This is part of a trend: since 2018, there has been an excess mortality of thousands of people in Germany every year due to heat, warned researchers. The climate crisis is a matter of life and death. It is therefore incomprehensible a national heat protection plan has not yet been planned in the country. France could serve as a model: there, the problem was tackled with a four-stage heat action plan with clear guidelines for the authorities, and a heat register for older people. Source: taz

Journalists who attacked police killing are acquitted

On Monday afternoon, the anti-fascist journalists Darius Reinhardt, Leila Robel and the social scientist Philipp Weidemann were acquitted. They were charged with defamation at the Fulda district court. The accusation related to an article by Robel and Reinhardt they published on the Amadeu Antonio Foundation’s portal “Belltower News”, in 2019. They wrote about Matiullah J., who was shot dead by the police in 2018. The judiciary assumed then self-defence for the policemen and dropped the case. The public prosecutor agreed with parts of the defence’s statement and asked for acquittal. He argued it was a matter of free expression of opinion. Source: nd

Frankfurt Hospital workers also demand minimum staffing levels

Encouraged by the successful industrial action for relief in Berlin and North Rhine-Westphalia, workers organised in the ver.di trade union are also demanding a collective agreement on relief for the approximately 4,000 non-medical staff at Frankfurt University Hospital. This should include minimum staffing levels for the wards and departments as well as compensation for the strain in the form of additional days off if the regulations are not adhered to. At Vivantes and Charité in Berlin as well as at the six university hospitals in North Rhine-Westphalia, strike action was necessary to push through such collective agreements. Things have not quite reached that stage yet in Frankfurt. Source: nd

New rules for compulsory masks from October

From October onwards, FFP2 masks will be compulsory for long-distance and air travel, and masks and tests will be compulsory in hospitals and care facilities. In the first stage, there are still exceptions to compulsory masks indoors. The second stage comes on the condition of a strong corona wave, expected by Federal Health Minister Lauterbach. He said the new Infection Protection Act should provide the “tools” to deal with the pandemic. At this point, the mask obligation would apply without exception, and States could also impose minimum distance rules, a mask requirement for outdoor events and a participant cap for indoor events. Source: rbb

Riots in Rostock-Lichtenhagen: the Shadows of Reunification

In August 1992, a mob of neo-Nazis and neighbors hunted down Vietnamese contract workers and Roma refugees in Rostock. On 24 August 1992, on the fourth day of that pogrom, residents of a shelter, called “Sunflower House”, were trapped in it – and it was set fire. “Now you will be barbecued”, the mob shouts to those inside. Only by a miracle does no one lose their lives. The political failure at the time of reunification still has an impact today. Michel Friedman (Deutsche Welle) says: “If society had learned, we would not have the many deaths after the racist attack in Lübeck in 1996, (…) and in Hanau in 2020.” Source: dw

NEWS FROM BERLIN

Audit committee recommends repeat of Bundestag election in Berlin

A repeat of the Bundestag election in numerous Berlin districts is becoming increasingly likely. A first draft of a draft resolution by the Bundestag’s electoral review committee envisages a re-vote in around 440 polling stations. This was announced by the committee on Wednesday. According to the information, the districts of Pankow, Mitte and Reinickendorf are particularly affected, but not only these. However, observers believe it will be several weeks before a decision is made on the final proposal for a repeat election in the capital. No significant impact on the outcome of the election is expected. Source: tagesspiegel

Chancellor’s Office and its pricey extension

The planned extension of the Federal Chancellery in Berlin is getting more and more expensive. According to the Federal Government’s homepage, under the heading “Larger seat of government”, the construction costs are now estimated at up to 640 million euros. The page was last updated at the beginning of this month. At the end of 2020, the costs were still stated at a maximum of 600 million euros. An initial feasibility study in 2018 had assumed 457 million euros. According to the Federal Government, the reasons for that increase are the higher security requirements for the extension. Source: morgenpost

NEWS FROM GERMANY

16 year old refugee shot dead – Police bodycams were switched off

There is no video footage of the police operation in which the 16-year-old Senegalese refugee Mouhamed Lamine Dramé was shot dead in Dortmund on Monday last week. The reason: none of the eleven officers deployed had switched on their body cameras. In an internal report to the North Rhine-Westphalian Ministry of the Interior, first reported by the Kölner Stadtanzeiger on Monday evening, the Dortmund police headquarters attempted to justify the shooting by saying that it was a “dynamic situation” in which the officers have forgotten to switch on the camera in the course of a stressful situation. Source: jW

Gas crisis slows Leipzig’s coal phase-out

The news made national headlines: Leipzig wants to phase out coal 16 years before the federal government. As early as next winter, much of the district heating for 220,000 households is planned to be generated in a new power plant that the municipal utility is currently building in the south of the Saxon city, where no more coal will be burnt. The plant is now on schedule for completion: commissioning is currently underway, and it is scheduled to go online at the end of October. But it is uncertain how long it can run in the next heating period. Source: nd

Mysterious fish death in the Oder: climate change or toxic waste?

About ten tons of fish are said to have died in the Oder. This is an ecological disaster. German and Polish authorities have so far not found the cause. Tests have been carried out for mercury and other substances, but all so far have been negative. Meanwhile, officials report that no fish carcasses have yet been spotted on the Baltic coast. It is also believed the extremely low water level of the River Oder, in combination with possible contamination, may have accelerated the fish deaths. The catastrophe may also indicate a deeper and more widespread problem. Polish fishermen found the first dead animals as early as March. Source: dw

New commisioner urges government to do more to protect minorities

The new federal commissioner for anti-discrimination presents her first annual report. In her report, Ferda Ataman urges the government to extend the legal provisions for protection against discrimination. The number of reported cases of discrimination in Germany remains “at a high level”. With more than 5,600 requests for advice to her institution, it is “alarming”, says Ataman, the new head of the Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency (ADS). “But it also shows that more and more people are not putting up with discrimination and are seeking help.” She also mentioned schools, police and authorities as possible places of discrimination. Source: dw

NEWS FROM BERLIN

Police want to keep search warrant secret

In October 2021, the Berlin police raided the partially occupied house “Rigaer 94” in Berlin-Friedrichshain with more than 300 officers. The officers broke into flats and took the personal details of 26 people who were staying in the building. However, the Berlin police do not want to make public any documents on the high-profile operation. A FragDenStaat user has asked the Berlin police to send him the search warrant for “Rigaer 94”, citing the Berlin Freedom of Information Act (IFG). The Berlin police rejected the IFG application, alleging initially it was not the police who has jurisdiction over the document, but a court. Source: fragdenstaat

Helicopters extinguish fire in Grünewald

Helicopters of the Federal Police were deployed to cool the still hot blasting site in Berlin’s Grunewald with water from the air. The two helicopters requested by the fire brigade were on the move “basically every five minutes” from yesterday evening onwards. The emergency services have high hopes for the operation: “We hope it will have a great effect,” said the fire brigade spokesman. He also said that contrary to an initial assessment, it was found the area south of the blast site was also quite heavily contaminated by ammunition that has been blown around by the explosions: “But aerial firefighting is now possible.” Source: spiegel

NEWS FROM GERMANY

Criminal Profiteers make cash from the outsourcing of deportations

The federal states are legally obliged to maintain capacities for asylum procedures and deportations at larger airports. In Brandenburg, an oversized deportation centre at the Berlin-Brandenburg “Willy Brandt” airport is planned for this purpose, according to critics. Apparently, a capitalist with a criminal record for real estate transactions is to profit from this by hook or crook. The evaluation of hundreds of emails, minutes and contracts revealed in the previous state government of SPD and “die Linke”, the Ministry of the Interior led by hardliner Karl-Heinz Schröter (SPD) relied on outsourcing to a private profiteer to be able to create facts without hindrance. Source: jW

Right-wing Extremists dream of a “German winter of rage”

Brandenburg’s head of constitutional protection, Jörg Müller, warns that extremists could exploit the energy crisis and high inflation for their own purposes. “Extremists dream of a German rage winter,” he said. According to a survey conducted in July, most German citizens support the sanctions against Russia. In Eastern Germany, however, 51 per cent disapprove if the sanctions will result in energy problems and a decline in economic output. Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) mentioned that “Enemies of democracy are just waiting to abuse crises to spread doomsday fantasies, fear and uncertainty.” Source: Islamiq

“Racist” Bild Campaign against Childrens tv Presenter

The Bild newspaper recently published a text criticising KiKa presenter and actor Matondo Castlo (28) for having taken part in an allegedly “anti-Israel” youth festival in the Palestinian town of Farkha. In an accompanying video about Castlo, the German-Palestinian journalist and doctor Nemi El-Hassan, who was killed last year due to a similarly tendentious Springer campaign, was also remembered. Matondo Castlo himself commented in an Instagram post: his trip to the Farkha festival was “not politically motivated”. The difficult situation of the local children and young people has made him very emotional, so that he had spontaneously accepted the invitation to take part in a demonstration against violence. Source: Berliner Zeitung

Killed by police with five shots

Another death in a police operation: on Monday, a 16-year-old refugee from Senegal died in Dortmund’s Nordstadt district after being hit by five shots from a submachine gun. The youth attacked the officers with a knife, a police spokesperson claimed afterwards. According to Carsten Domberg, the senior public prosecutor in charge of the case, the incident occurred in the afternoon in a courtyard between a church and a youth welfare centre where the Senegalese, who had come to Germany as an unaccompanied minor refugee, was being cared for. The young black man is already the fourth fatality because of police action nationwide in just seven days. Source: jW

More child benefit but no 9-euro ticket Federal

Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) wants to prevent a “stealth tax increase” which he thinks would be dangerous for economic development. The “traffic-light-coalition” wants to release new relief measures. According to the media, which have the draft bill, the basic tax-free allowance is to be increased to 10,633 euros next year and to 10,933 the year after next. Lindner also wants to increase child benefit: for the first two children, it is to rise by eight euros to 227 euros next year, for instance. However, the politician considers the 9-Euro-Ticket to be unsustainable. Source: morgenpost

NEWS FROM BERLIN

1,200 cases of Monkeypox in Berlin

The risk of contracting so-called monkeypox is particularly high in Europe and has prompted the World Health Organization to declare a public health emergency of international scope. With more than 1,200 cases, Berlin is the lone frontrunner in Germany – about half of all infections in Germany were registered in the capital. When the first cases became known in the country, the warnings were mainly directed at men who have sexual intercourse with other men. But the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) emphasizes the risk is not limited to this group but refers in general to people whose sexual partners change often. Source: morgenpost

Lederer demands new Corona rules from the federal government

Berlin’s culture senator Klaus Lederer (“die Linke”) calls for new Corona rules for Autumn and Winter. Lederer hopes that cultural institutions will not have to close completely again. He can also imagine an extensive extension of the nine-euro ticket. The politician also commented on the possible energy shortage in Winter. He said that here, too, it was important to hear from the federal government what was being planned. In his opinion, a gas price cap was conceivable. Massive support measures would probably be necessary in all areas. The state of Berlin might have to take out additional loans or pass a supplementary budget. Source: rbb

Square in Kreuzberg to be named after left wing musician

The musician Rio Reiser (“König von Deutschland”, “Alles Lüge”), who died almost 26 years ago, will have a square named after him in the heart of SO 36, as the district is also called by many after the old postal delivery area 1000 Berlin 36. The plans of the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg´s office were published in the official gazette in April last year. The decision was controversial, for example because the notoriously male-heavy list of streets and squares is already short of women’s names. The district also expects Minister of Culture Claudia Roth (Greens) to attend the inauguration ceremony on 21 August. Source: Berlin.de

NEWS FROM GERMANY

Gas shortage and planned protests

In July, the AfD parliamentary group leader in the House of Representatives, Kristin Brinker, already demanded “direct aid for electricity and heating costs for citizens”. It is certainly not an easy time. After two years of COVID-19, other issues such as Ukraine, inflation, among others, could be taken up in protests in autumn at the latest “especially from the right-wing extremist and Reichsbürger scene”. Recent surveys by the Insa polling institute made it clear the energy issue could tempt even more people to protest. The far-right “Free Saxons” are already calling for a “wave of energy protests” in the Free State. Source: Berliner Zeitung

Lower Saxony: coal returning to electricity market?

The first reserve coal-fired power plant in Germany has returned to the electricity market. It is the Mehrum power plant in Hohenhameln (Peine district) in Lower Saxony, between Hanover and Braunschweig, which belongs to the Czech energy company EPH. It is the only “market return” of a power plant that has been reported to the Federal Network Agency so far. According to the operator, the Mehrum power plant has been in reserve since the beginning of December 2021. The power plant has been back on the grid since Sunday noon, and it will now be in operation for at least 14 days to stabilise the grid. Source: jW

Lufthansa pilots ready to strike

A strike by pilots at Germany’s largest airline is moving another step closer. Just recently, ground staff paralysed Lufthansa for a whole day. In a ballot, the voting members of the Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) pilots’ union voted in favour of industrial action with a very clear majority: 97.6 per cent of Lufthansa pilots and 99.3 per cent of Lufthansa Cargo pilots voted in favour of industrial action, as a union spokesman explained. According to the union, the turnout was over 93 per cent in both flight operations. However, no motion for strike action has been filed, so far. Source: DW

Important medicines are missing in Germany

The Arcaden pharmacy in a shopping centre in Berlin is busy as usual, but some of its medicines are not available. This is not an isolated case: the supply bottlenecks affect the whole of Germany. The Federal Association of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers mentions that, beyond this, other explanations are given such as “delivery delays by various active ingredient manufacturers”. Probably the most important reason, however, is a financial one. Some medicines, such as painkillers for children, are not profitable enough. But other drugs, as the breast cancer drug Tamoxifen, were not available at the beginning of the year. According to the industry, this was also because of its costs. Source: DW

Dream of violent overthrow

Marvin E., who is being led in handcuffs into Room II of the court building in Frankfurt am Main on Tuesday, is a linnet. Small, inconspicuous, and looking much younger than the 20-year-old he is. But he is alleged to have been willing to murder to spark a “race and civil war” for “white supremacy” in the world. This is what the indictment says. The man, who was still running on the list of the local CDU in the Hessian local elections in spring 2021, built at least 15 large explosive devices, intended to use them for attacks in line with the DWS ideology. Source: nd

Left wing Internet platform cleared of accusations of criminality

The public prosecutor office in Karlsruhe has dropped preliminary proceedings for the formation of a criminal organisation against alleged operators of the internet platform “Indymedia linksunten”. According to a post by Antifa Freiburg, the decision was made last week due to lack of evidence. To justify the classification of the platform as a criminal organization, the Federal Ministry of the Interior insinuated in 2017 that the independent internet platform was pursuing purposes contrary to criminal law and was therefore anti-constitutional. This was shortly before the federal election and after the protests against the Hamburg G20 summit. Source: jW

NEWS FROM BERLIN

Rising rents in Berlin, 150 years ago

Complaining against rising rents is something well-known in Berlin. In 1872, the city was going through another episode of its more or less permanent housing crisis. Berlin had just become the capital of the German Empire, and the year before, 130,000 people moved to the city. Families lived with up to ten people in a single room, and unhoused Berliners set up shacks outside the city gates. Then came the Blumenstraßenkrawalle (Flower Street Riots), in Friedrichshain, where workers laid barricades across the cobblestone streets to stop police horses. What strikes most in this story is how recent it sounds. Source; ExBerliner

CSD: employee with Nazi tattoo?

Stewards with neo-Nazi tattoos were apparently hired for the Christopher Street Day (CSD) parade last Saturday. A tattoo of the Black Sun, which is considered an alternative for the banned swastika, could be seen on the forearm of a steward. Various Instagram and Twitter posts also show photos of the steward in question wearing the Black Sun on his forearm. He is said to have been on the road for a security company. He is not said to have been the only one. The Gay Advice Berlin and the association Bunte Vielfalt e. V., the operators of the two affected trucks, also expressed shock. Source: Berliner Zeitung

NEWS FROM GERMANY

Charge of “Proximity to BDS”

The journalist Emily Dische-Becker has been accused of being close to anti-Semites. But no-one has explained exactly what her guilt is supposed to consist of. She has been criticised, among other things, for a video in which she prepares documenta guides for discussions on the topic of anti-Semitism; she is criticised for organising the conference “Hijacking Memory”, which had as its theme exactly what is happening now: right-wing propaganda instrumentalizing the accusation of anti-Semitism; she is criticised for a great deal, especially when one considers that she has no institutional role whatsoever – this is someone being singled out, entirely in media troll fashion. Source: taz

The trees of Buchenwald

266,000 people from all European countries were imprisoned in Buchenwald concentration camp, and the death toll is estimated at around 56,000. Recent attacks on the memorial are an international affront. Trees planted on the site of one of the largest and most notorious Nazi camps have been sawed or broken off by neo-Nazi cowards at night, including a tree for the murdered Buchenwald children. It is not “only” trees that have been defaced by the perpetrators. And this just in the days when the construction of the camp had begun 85 years ago. These attacks are not stupid boy pranks. This is political vandalism. Source: nd

Nord Stream: Concern about gas from the East

Gas is flowing again through the most important gas pipeline to Germany. But it is just as little as before the maintenance work: only 40 percent of normal capacity. Whether it will stay that way is unclear. A statement by Russian President Vladimir Putin shows where Nord Stream 1 could be heading: due to “slow progress in maintenance”, the delivery volume could be further reduced, he said during his visit to Tehran. Since private households, social institutions and consumers of district heating are protected by law, it is mainly industry that would be affected by a supply stop. Source: dw

Flat rate should stay

The 9-Euro-Ticket needs to continue until the end of the year, says a broad-based initiative which has launched an appeal to put pressure on the federal government. In addition to extending the flat rate, the initiative “9-Euro-Ticket weiterfahren” demands more investment in the expansion of public transport as well as in more staff and better working conditions. Signatures are to be collected at stops, in regional trains and on the internet. The initiative is also planning a nationwide day of action on 27 August. The 9-Euro project ends on the following Wednesday. The appeal is supported by poverty researcher Christoph Butterwegge, and activist Carola Rackete, among others. Source: taz