Germany news: Trial starts in Istanbul over tourist deaths

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.