Germany news: Far-right AfD loses mayoral runoffs in NRW

A German man who donned a jacket stored away since March got the surprise of his life over the weekend.

The family father from Frankfurt had forgotten a lotto ticket in the pocket of the jacket when he put it away for the summer. He didn't discover the ticket again until the weather turned chilly. 

"It wasn't until the weekend that I found the ticket again, folded up in the inside pocket of my jacket," the unidentified man was quoted as saying, adding, "When I checked the numbers on my phone and saw the winning amount, I was completely shocked — luckily I was sitting down, otherwise my knees would have given way."

The winning amount was €15.3 million ($18 million).

Lotto Frankfurt, which initiated a PR campaign searching for the lucky winner earlier this year, said the man had remained oblivious to his good fortune despite having seen and heard the campaign to identify the winner.

"I heard about it on the radio at the time and thought to myself, 'How stupid can you be to not collect it?' It never occurred to me that I could be the person they were looking for," the winner said.

When asked what he planned to do with his winnings, the man said he wanted to buy a new sofa for his living room.

Beyond that, he and his wife — who wish to remain anonymous — said they plan to use the bulk of the money to provide for their children.

Sleeper train service between the French, German and Austrian capitals will cease on December 14. The termination of the highly popular routes is the result of French subsidy cuts. 

The Paris-Vienna and Paris-Berlin routes were relaunched in 2021 and 2023 as part of a broader effort to bring night trains back as a low-emission alternative to short-haul flights inside Europe.

Though they averaged roughly 70% occupancy, according to the French state rail provider SNCF, this format is less lucrative in terms of how much money a seat or cabin can generate along the route. For instance, one seat can be booked several times during daytime travel, with passengers exiting and entering the train for various segments along the way — something that is not possible on sleeper trains.

Higher staffing requirements and locomotive changes at border crossings further weigh upon profits for SCNF and their operating partners at Germany's DB and Austria ÖBB.

SNCF on Monday said service would not be economically viable after the French government announced the end to some €10 million ($11.7 million) in annual subsidies.

Adding to the inherent economic pressure of operating such trains was the fact that service was repeatedly interrupted by construction on French and German rails, frustrating willing customers and dampening rider enthusiasm.

French lawmaker Brigitte Klinkert called the decision "unacceptable," saying that high passenger numbers show the "great interest of passengers in rail connections" between the France and neighboring Germany, adding, "These connections are a climate-friendly and efficient means of transport that attracts many travelers and is also a strong symbol of the cooperation and friendship between France and Germany."

Police in Oldenburg in the northern German state of Lower Saxony said that they had recovered the bodies of four individuals from a family home in the city earlier Monday morning.

Authorities say it appears that a man killed his wife and then their two children before committing suicide.

Police released a statement announcing that they would not be providing further information about the killings at the moment out of respect for the family.

Germany's music rights society Gema is suing OpenAI for damages, accusing the US company of reproducing copyrighted German song lyrics without permission.

The Munich Regional Court on Monday said it was "undisputed" that the company's ChatGPT was trained on the nine song lyrics at issue in the case, noting the chatbot reproduced large parts of them verbatim when prompted.

Gema filed the lawsuit in November 2024 seeking an injunction, disclosure and compensation. It argues that OpenAI systematically used its repertoire to train generative AI systems, calling the memorization and reproduction of lyrics an unlawful reproduction under copyright law.

A verdict is scheduled for November 11.

The German state of Hesse's Office for the Protection of the Constitution may classify and monitor the Alternative for Germany (AfD) state branch as a suspected right-wing extremist organization, the Hesse Higher Administrative Court in Kassel ruled, the court announced.

The state intelligence agency made the designation about three years ago, and the Wiesbaden Administrative Court confirmed in 2023 that the AfD could be observed.

Judges said there are "factual indications" the party pursues goals hostile to Germany’s democratic order, including promoting an "ethnic concept of the people" and statements that violate the dignity of foreigners, particularly asylum seekers.

The Kassel court's decision is final, though a constitutional complaint remains possible.

The AfD said it will continue legal action, stressing that the ruling came in an expedited procedure. "After the decision in the interim proceedings, the main proceedings will now go before the Wiesbaden Administrative Court," a party statement said, adding it does not find the reasoning for the suspected-case classification convincing.

Europe's largest ammunition maker Rheinmetall will produce about €444 million (about $520 million) worth of artillery rounds for an unnamed Eastern European country under a US government contract, the Düsseldorf-based company said Monday.

Rheinmetall is acting as a subcontractor to US firm Global Military Products. Around €170 million of the order is already booked, with the remaining €274 million confirmed. Deliveries are scheduled to start in 2026 and finish by June 2027.

The company, which has previously supplied Ukraine, is expanding capacity to meet surging demand triggered by Russia's war on Ukraine and aims to produce up to 1.5 million 155 mm shells a year by 2027.

Police said a 47-year-old French national tore the leather shorts (Lederhosen) of a 40-year-old German man at Bad Cannstatt station around 12:30 a.m. on Saturday after visitors left the first day of Stuttgart's Cannstatter Volksfest.

The suspect allegedly yanked at the victim's Lederhosen until they ripped. Police officers found the intoxicated man on the platform and began an investigation for property damage.

The Cannstatter Volksfest is widely considered to be the second-largest beer celebration in the world.

A 56-year-old man has died from stab wounds following a violent clash involving up to 30 people in the western German city of Gelsenkirchen, police say. Three others remain in critical condition.

The fight erupted Sunday in the city's Bismarck district, where knives, stun guns and baseball bats were reportedly used in what police described as a "riot situation."

A homicide squad is investigating.

Three men aged 16, 29 and 52 and three women aged 25, 28 and 50 have been detained, while authorities work to determine each person's role and the motive behind the confrontation.

Police cordoned off the area to collect evidence and deployed a helicopter during the evening search for suspects.

Twenty people have been injured, four of them seriously, after two city buses collided in the northern port city of Hamburg, the fire department said.

Four people were seriously injured and 16 sustained minor injuries.

Nine of the injured — including four slightly hurt children and a pregnant woman who was seriously injured — were taken to hospitals, while others were treated at the scene. 

Local media reported that a primary school class was aboard one bus on a field trip to a science research center.

The cause of the incident is under investigation.

Police in the northern German city of Rostock have detained a 19-year-old Ukrainian after a series of knife-related thefts and threats.

Authorities say the man stole kitchen knives from a TK Maxx store Saturday morning, then used one to rob an e-cigarette shop and threaten bystanders. He later demanded a bratwurst at knife point and fled when refused.

Officers arrested him and recovered the stolen goods nearby. They ordered a blood test, citing signs of alcohol and drug use.

Prosecutors charged the man with aggravated robbery, attempted extortion, threats and theft. A court issued a detention order Sunday, and he was taken to a correctional facility.

Lufthansa on Monday confirmed reports that it intends to cut 4,000 administrative positions by 2030.

The airline group said the cuts were part of moves to digitize, automate and consolidate processes.

The measures aim to "position the group for the future" while generating "sustainably attractive returns for shareholders," it said.

The Lufthansa Group, which, alongside its core brand, also operates SWISS, Austrian and Brussels Airlines and holds a minority stake in Italy's ITA, most recently had around 103,000 employees. 

Lufthansa said it also plans to put its various airlines under tighter central control in a bid to boost profitability.

Among other things, it says it will strengthen the low-cost carrier Eurowings and the logistics and maintenance units, with the latter expected to expand into the defense sector.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul is visiting Poland on Monday amid growing tensions surrounding ongoing alleged provocations by Russia, including recent violations of NATO airspace.  

Wadephul was first meeting with his counterparts Radoslaw Sikorski from Poland and Jean-Noel Barrot of France for talks in the so-called Weimar Triangle format.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha is also expected to join the meeting.

Later, Wadephul will give a speech on European security and deterrence capabilities at a security forum.

The visit comes two and a half weeks after Russian drones entered NATO member Poland's airspace during one of Moscow's strikes on neighboring Ukraine.

Some of the drones were shot down by the Polish Air Force and other NATO allies.

Ahead of the trip, Wadephul said that while Poland and Germany were not going to allow themselves to be forced into any escalation, "we are leaving no doubt that we are determined and ready to fend off any threat together."  

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has failed to take town halls in Sunday's three runoff mayoral elections in Germany's most populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia. 

Candidates from the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) beat their AfD opponents in the cities of Gelsenkirchen and Duisburg, while the center-right Christian Democrats (CDU) of Chancellor Friedrich Merz won in Hagen.

According to preliminary state results, however, the AfD almost tripled its share of votes in councils and district councils to 14.5%, which put it in third place behind the SPD on 22.1%.

Almost 150 runoff elections were held on Sunday two weeks after local elections, including several mayoral contests and duels for district administrator offices.

The runoffs elections became necessary in cases where no candidate received more than 50% in the first round, with a simple majority sufficient to win in the second round.

Guten Tag from DW's newsroom on the banks of the Rhine in Bonn!

Runoff elections in Germany's most-populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) have been topmost in many people's minds. The failure of candidates from the far-right AfD to win mayoral contests in three major cities has come as a relief to those who fear that the party represents a danger to democracy.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz is set to travel to Düsseldorf to celebrate his Christian Democratic Union's (CDU) win in the NRW capital city.

In other news, Germany's national carrier Lufthansa is planning to slash 4,000 administrative positions over the next five years.

Meanwhile, Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine continues to dominate the agenda for European countries including Germany. Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul is in Poland to meet with his French and Polish counterparts to discuss measures in face of growing alleged provocations from Moscow.

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