NEWS FROM BERLIN
Letter of confession emerges after suspected arson attack
Following the burning of a total of 35 vans from Amazon and Telekom, a letter of confession has appeared on the internet. The confessional text states that the attack was aimed at the companies. The corporations are accused of being involved in wars: “Both companies profit immensely from global militarization and the spreading wars. That’s why it’s right to sabotage them.” No one was injured in the fires, but there was considerable damage to property. The police state security department responsible for politically motivated crimes is currently investigating the assaults. Source: rbb
CDU remains the strongest force; Die Linke increases to 19%
If elections to the Berlin House of Representatives had been held some days ago, the CDU would have come in at 25%, a loss of 2% compared to the previous poll in November 2024. Die Linke would have been the second strongest force with 19%, meaning a significant improvement of 13%. The Alliance 90/The Greens would have been the third strongest party with a 15% share of the vote despite losing 5%, and the AfD would have reached 13%, down 2% compared to November 2024. More than two thirds (68%) of respondents said they were “not very” or “not at all” satisfied with the current black-red Senate. Source: rbb
Is “From the river to the sea” a Hamas slogan? A Berlin court denies it
A student, Emil T., was accused by the public prosecutor in Berlin of shouting the slogan “From the river to these a, Palestine will be free” at a pro-Palestinian demonstration in May 2024. He was also alleged to have resisted law enforcement officers during the occupation of the Freie Universität’s theater courtyard in the same month. But last Friday he was just acquitted. “For me, it [the slogan] expresses the opinion that there should be a state in the historical mandate territory of Palestine in which everyone can live in freedom, without oppression and occupation,” he said during the trial. Source: nd
“Renate” goes up in flames
Just after 2am last Thursday morning, a fire broke out in the forecourt of Berlin’s iconic “Wilde Renate” (or simply, “Renate”) club in Friedrichshain. Residents heard explosions preceding the blaze: a dramatic video from the Berliner Morgenpost shows the flames engulfing the site. The club was not open at the time, so no one was injured. However, it appears that the venue sustained significant damage to its fenced forecourt, which is mainly used as a beer garden. Flames also reportedly spread to the entrance area. This incident comes during an already difficult time for the club, which is set to close at the end of the year. Source: theberliner
Delivery service manages to obtain victory again
Once again, the Finnish delivery service Wolt, former employees, and interested parties find themselves in the large courtroom of the Berlin Labor Court—with a victory for the delivery company. This time, a bicycle courier had not properly received her wage. As so often before, the question is: Does Wolt have to take responsibility for the misconduct of its subcontractors commissioned as fleet partners? Nicolas Roggel, Wolt’s lawyer, denies that Wolt worked with Mobile World GmbH. Instead, IMOQX GmbH, which was the plaintiff’s employer, was used as a so-called fleet partner. The courier can appeal against the ruling at the regional labor court. Source: nd
Berlin government announces new projects, security area included
At a closed meeting in Nauen (Havelland, the Berlin government coalition of CDU and SPD decided to introduce a series of legislative projects before the summer break. For example, there are plans to tighten Berlin’s police law, as CDU parliamentary group leader Dirk Stettner and SPD parliamentary group leader Raed Saleh explained in the House of Representatives. The police are to be given more powers in areas such as video surveillance at crime-ridden locations and telecommunications surveillance. The decisions received criticism from, among others, the opposition and the “Deutsche Wohnen & Co enteignen” initiative. Source: rbb
Closure of Görlitzer Park: around 900 people protested on Monday
The planned night-time closure of Görlitzer Park has been the subject of controversy for more than two years. Now preparations are starting for the construction of a fence around the park. To begin the construction, no-parking zones were designated. This will be followed by successive measures. There were protests against the project on Monday: around 900 opponents of the controversial construction in Berlin-Kreuzberg demonstrated in the evening against the start of the construction work. The situation remained peaceful, said police spokesman Martin Stralau. The police also announced that they would guard the construction site against possible protests. Source: tagesspiegel
NEWS FROM GERMANY
Regensburg CSD must be rescheduled due to threats
The Christopher Street Day (CSD) in Regensburg will not take place as originally planned. “There was a threatening letter,” said CSD organizer Alexander Irmisch to the German Press Agency. Following a discussion with the police and the city, Irmisch decided to change the plans for the event. The route of the annual parade through the old town will be shortened. There will also be a stationary event on the cathedral square. Irmisch said that it is still unclear from which end of the political spectrum the threatening letter against the Regensburg CSD came: “I can’t assign it to any camp at the moment.” Source: taz
Mask deals: Spahn wants to comment this week
Federal Health Minister Nina Warken (CDU) has announced that she will present the previously secret investigation report on the procurement of coronavirus face masks to the Budget Committee during Jens Spahn’s (CDU) tenure as Health Minister. For data protection reasons, however, passages willbe blacked out, said Warken, referring for example to personal employee data and business secrets of affected companies. Spahn, currently head of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, is expected to give his opinion on the special mask report to the Bundestag’s budget committee on Wednesday. Spahn is said to have offered to do so voluntarily, according to committee circles. Source: BZ
NATO agrees on 5%
A few days before the NATO summit in The Hague, on 25 June, the 32 states in the alliance have reached an agreement on the planned new target for defense spending. A declaration envisages a target of 5% of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2035, according to diplomats. From the 5%, 3.5% of GDP is earmarked for pure defense spending and 1.5% for defense-related spending such as infrastructure measures. Currently, the NATO target for defense spending only provides for annual national spending of at least 2% of GDP. Source: tagesschau
