Germany news: Trial begins in Istanbul over tourist deaths

Relatives of a Hamburg family of four who died of poisoning in their Istanbul hotel room last year have called for the maximum possible sentence in the trial of six defendants.

The trial opened on Tuesday in Istanbul. The father, mother and their two children all fell ill and then died during their stay at the hotel last November, with investigations subsequently revealing toxic exposure.

The mother of the deceased father broke down ahead of the proceedings, saying the family would have never stayed at the hotel had they known pesticides were being used.

The six defendants include the hotel owner, a receptionist and pest control staff. They denied responsibility for the family's tragic death. 

Most defendants have been charged with "conscious negligence causing death," which carries a maximum sentence of 22 years and five months. A sixth employee faces up to 15 years on charges of negligent homicide.

Other guests staying at the hotel also fell ill and required medical attention.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has sparked a row within his ruling coalition government with controversial comments suggesting cuts to the country's pension system.

In statements on Monday, Merz told a gathering of German bankers that the statutory pension scheme would in the future "at best merely provide basic cover for old age." He argued that, due to demographic changes, the scheme would no longer be sufficient to safeguard living standards.

It must be "supplemented" by occupational and private pension provisions on a far larger scale, he added.

Senior SPD lawmaker Dagmar Schmidt insisted that citizens "must be able to rely on the state pension" and warned that anyone stoking fears on the issue was "acting irresponsibly."

Anja Piel from the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) said that "belittling the basic entitlement to a state pension is the height of audacity."

The conservative-led government plans to introduce major reform to the national pension system in the coming months. 

German prosecutors have charged a Syrian man over an alleged plot to carry out an attack targeting Jews and so-called "infidels," authorities said.

The 23-year-old allegedly purchased a knife and materials to build explosives online, prosecutors said. They added that he looked up content about "martyrdom" and "jihad" on social media platforms, including Telegram and TikTok.

The unidentified defendant is charged with:

• Preparing a terrorist offense

• Financing terrorism 

• Disseminating propaganda materials of terrorist organizations

The man, who arrived in Germany in December 2023 as an asylum seeker, was arrested on November 1 last year and has been in custody since.

Prosecutors said he allegedly began plotting the attack in March 2025 and discussed his plans with at least one other person.

Germany's National Security Council has assessed that Europe's largest economy is not facing a fuel supply emergency, government sources told the German DPA news agency on Tuesday.

The committee comprises government representatives including Chancellor Friedrich Merz, as well as security officials and state leaders. The security council met on Monday.

Sources told DPA that the council deemed kerosene stocks in Germany sufficient for the "foreseeable future," as Europe has begun to sound the alarm regarding kerosene and other key fuels amid the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

The government has options for a rapid response should any supply gaps emerge, with the council also noting it is aware of the "tense situation" globally.

The German capital on Tuesday saw the 17th Petersberg Climate Dialogue open with calls for a global transition to renewable energy amid a growing fuel crisis instigated by the Iran war.

"Fossil fuels are not just wrecking our planet," United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a short video message to participants. "They're holding economies hostage."

German Environment Minister Carsten Schneider opened the conference with a warning that dependence on oil, gas and coal is an incalculable risk for countries including Germany.

"It is clear that this crisis is a fossil fuel crisis," he stated. In contrast, Schneider argued that renewable energy sources are "security energies" and the greatest lever in the fight against climate change.

The German minister noted the rising pressure against climate policies, as the issue of climate change becomes overshadowed by other crises.

"Just because the opponents are often louder does not mean that they are the majority," the minister stressed.

In Germany, a recent survey found that 70% of people believed it was right to become climate-neutral by 2045.

The Petersberg Climate Dialogue, a complement to the UN climate conferences, has been hosted by Germany since 2010. The first meeting was held in Petersberg near the western city of Bonn, but it now takes place in the German capital.

Cardinal Reinhard Marx, archbishop of Munich and Freising, has said that priests may bless homosexual couples in the diocese.

In a letter to employees seen by German news agency DPA, Marx recommends looking at a guide on the matter put out by the German Bishops' Conference (DBK) and the Central Committee of Catholics (ZdK).

The document reads, in part, that "blessings give strength to love," and that "the Church shows recognition to couples united in love and offers them support." The language is wideley understood to be referring to same-sex couples, as well as divorced people who have remarried.

After centuries of condemning sexual diversity, the Catholic Church began to change its tone significantly under the late Pope Francis. Shortly after being elected in 2013, he gave a statement emphasizing the acceptance of the LGBT+ community and later gave his permission for priests to bless gay couples.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said that a €90 billion loan ($105 billion) for Ukraine had to be unblocked "as soon as possible."

The funds were urgently needed by Kyiv to stop Russian advances, and it "cannot wait until after the change of government in Budapest," he said, referring to the election victory of Peter Magyar's Tisza party in Hungary.

Magyar has made it clear that he intends to be much closer to the EU and less friendly to Russia than his predecessor Viktor Orban, who is expected to leave office in May.

On a trip to Brussels to meet with his EU counterparts, Wadephul also urged the US and Iran to return to the negotiating table. He called on Tehran in particular to send representatives back to talks in Pakistan, and to unblock the critical Strait of Hormuz.

Wadephul was also asked about momentum to reconsider a major EU-Israel trade deal in light of the latter's strikes in Lebanon. The foreign minister dismissed the question, saying it would be "inappropriate" to back out of the deal at this time.

More than 35 years after reunification, workers in western Germany still earn more than their counterparts in the former East, official data released on Tuesday shows.

On average, full-time employees in the West earn around 17% more than people in similar jobs in eastern Germany, according to the Federal Statisical Office, or Destatis.

Lawmaker Sören Pellmann of the Left Party, who requested the data, said the wage gap is a political failure. Politicians in the former East have kept collective bargaining weak and done little to address the region's perception as an area for low-wage work, Pellmann said.

He called for a higher minimum wage and for public contracts to only be awarded to companies that have robust collective agreements with workers.

Bastian Ernst, the new president of Germany's reservists' association, has said that the age limit for joining the Bundeswehr reserves should be increased to 70.

"If we are going to complain about the youth," not being interested enough in joining the military, he told the RedaktionsNetwork Deutschland media group, "then we should also improve things on the other side of the age bracket."

He added that "we shouldn't waste the resources that people with life and work experience bring with them."

The 39-year-old lawmaker's comments came a day ahead of a planned press conference with Defense Minister Boris Pistorius. Pistorius is set to present a new raft of laws meant to bolster membership in the military's reserves.

Krispy Kebab in the city of Bielefeld is suing US fast food giant KFC for copyright infringement.

The shop, which has held a copyright on its name for use in Germany since 2017, says that the fried chicken chain is using the term Krispy Kebab for a new product throughout the country.

The shop's co-owner Sergen Kolcu told the mass circulation Bild newspaper: "Normally KFC spells crispy with a C, but for this new product there is suddenly a K ... we don't have anything against them, but this is not ok. If they wrote Krispy with the C, this would be over, but we have to defend ourselves."

KFC has yet to respond to the suit.

The coalition government of Chancellor Friedrich Merz has announced that it is extending the period in which employers are allowed to give their employees a tax-free €1,000 ($1,175) bonus to deal with the rising cost of living.

Originally set to expire at the end of this year, it is now being extended until June 2027.

Critics of the plan say the government is not doing enough to tackle the cost of living crisis and should be the one to pay the bonus, not employers.

The bonus has also come under fire for being too small a sum of money as the price of fuel and other necessities skyrockets.

The 17th annual Petersberg Climate Dialogue has begun in Berlin in cooperation with the government of Turkey, which will be hosting this year's UN climate change conference, or COP.

While the Petersberg summit does not produce binding agreements, it is seen as extremely influential in setting the agenda for the upcoming COP, the world's largest gathering on climate policy.

Representatives from 40 different countries are attending, as well as representatives from NGOs, scientific institutions, the finance sector and the economy.

After five jars of contaminated baby food were found over the weekend in Slovakia, Austria, and Czechia, German manufacturer HiPP has said the sabotage was part of an extortion attempt.

Austrian supermarket chain Spar issued an urgent recall attempt after investigators determined the five jars of carrot and potato puree had been spiked with rat poison.

Authorities advised consumers to be sure their baby food jars make the characteristic "pop" sound when first opened to know that they had not been tampered with.

Neither HiPP nor the police said what the alleged extortionist was demanding.

You can read DW's full report on the case here.

The first hearing in the case of a family from Hamburg who died in Turkey last November is set to start in Istanbul today.

The Turkish-German Böcek family consisted of father Servet, mother Cigdem, their 6-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter.

They were on vacation in Istanbul when they fell violently ill, later dying in a local hospital. 

Six people, including the owner of the hotel and a pest control company, are on trial for causing death through negligence after an autopsy revealed the four had been poisoned by pesiticide.

Prosecutors say this is the result of an insect extermination being improperly carried out on the first floor of the hotel.

The defendants are facing sentences of up to 22.5 years in prison.

Guten Morgen from the DW newsroom in Bonn.

Today we'll bring you updates on the case of a Germany family that died last year while on vacation in Istanbul, ruled to be caused by pesticide exposure.

Meanwhile, the annual Petersberg Dialogue on climate change will be kicking off in Berlin

Check back here for our latest reports and analyses from across Germany.