NEWS FROM BERLIN
Berlin homeless shelter on Fuggerstraße cleared
The Asog shelter on Fuggerstraße has been cleared, according to a spokesperson for the district office. This is an emergency shelter for homeless people, which is operated based on the General Security and Public Order Act (Asog). On September 18, 2025, the Tempelhof-Schöneberg Social Housing Assistance Office ordered everyone housed there “to vacate the accommodation on Fuggerstraße,” according to the district office. The authorities did not answer why the accommodation was vacated and what happened to the people who lived there. Source: nd-aktuell
More police in Berlin than New York City
The current government in Berlin repeatedly points to the need to save money. But the correct term would be “budgeting.” The 2026/2027 double budget is the largest in Berlin’s history, but the money is distributed differently among the departments. The black-red coalition has recently made cuts primarily in education, as well as culture. However, there is one area where the government has never made cuts in the past 15 years: the police. The capital now has more police officers per capita than New York City: 723 police officers per 100,000 inhabitants in Berlin, compared to only 556 in NYC. This was researched by the Justice Collective group, a group which works on alternatives to criminalization. Source: nd-aktuell
Drones made in Tegel: Berlin wants to become a “defense hub”
One of Berlin’s most important drone manufacturers is located on the ground floor of an old building in Moabit. There is no glossy lobby, no reception area, no futuristic atrium as one might imagine in a state-of-the-art defense tech company – just a sign that reads “Germandrones.” But in the words of Klaus Scho, founder and CEO of Germandrones, there is no hint of modesty. “We want to be one of the leading manufacturers of defense systems.” The timing could hardly be better: Berlin wants to specifically promote and recruit companies from the military and security infrastructure in the future. Source: rbb
NEWS FROM GERMANY
German Christmas markets: five arrested over plot
Five men were arrested in Germany suspected of being involved in a plot to drive a vehicle into people at a Christmas market. Officials in the country have been on high alert after previous attacks at Christmas markets, including in Magdeburg last December that killed six people. Authorities did not say when the planned attack was supposed to take place or which market was the target, though they said they believed it to be one in the Dingolfing-Landau area, northeast of Munich. The five suspects appeared before a magistrate on December 13 and remain in custody. Source: bbc
Germany and Russia: air traffic control cyber-attack
Germany accused Russia of a cyber-attack on air traffic control and attempted electoral interference. A foreign ministry spokesman said Russian military intelligence was behind a “cyber-attack against German air traffic control in August 2024”. The spokesman also accused Russia of seeking to influence and destabilise the country’s federal election in February of 2025. Those accusations come amid heightened concern in Europe over suspected Russian cyber-attacks since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Russia´s embassy in Berlin affirmed that “The accusations of Russian state structures’ involvement in these incidents and in the activities of hacker groups in general are baseless, unfounded and absurd.” Source: bbc
CDU and Green politicians advocate social media ban for young people
According to a report from “Bild”, politicians from the CDU and Green parties have spoken out in favor of a social media ban modeled on Australia’s. Federal Minister for Family Affairs Karin Prien (CDU) spoke out in favor of stronger regulation. However, according to her, “A ban alone will not be the only solution: parents, schools, and politicians have a responsibility here and should already be doing everything they can to better protect their children.” Among other things, she advocated for mandatory age verification. At present in Germany, social media users must be at least 13 years old. The federal chairwoman of the Green Party, Franziska Brantner, also spoke out in favor of an age limit. Source: berliner-Zeitung
AfD member of parliament accused of giving “Hitler salute”
With a kick and a “Hitler salute” – this is how AfD member of parliament Matthias Moosdorf is said to have greeted a party colleague in the Bundestag on June 22, 2023. He is being charged for this. Moosdorf denies the allegations. He has recently been involved in other controversies. For instance, the former foreign policy spokesman for the AfD parliamentary group was ordered in September to pay an internal fine of €2,000 after an unauthorized trip to Russia. In October 2024, it became known that the musician is an honorary professor at a Moscow music academy. Source: tagesschau
