Germany updates: Lawmakers call for air defense investment

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at a summit of auto industry leaders in Brussels said the EU would fast-track its planned review of a 2035 internal combustion ban in light of the current difficulties facing the European car industry.

The move comes as carmakers push the Commission to ease timelines and regulations. 

The German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) said the European Commission was "still acting too indecisively and not strategically enough," on the planned phase-out of internal combustion engines.

VDA President Hildegard Muller wrote in a statement that "rigid CO2 regulation jeopardizes competitiveness and thus the transformation of the entire industry. Our companies have made this clear once again today."

"The EU must now deliver, and the solutions and options are all on the table. Further hesitation and procrastination cannot be tolerated," she added.

Read more about how the EU would fast-track its planned review of a 2035 internal combustion ban in light of the current difficulties facing the European car industry.

Germany advanced to the final of European basketball championship on Sunday after beating Finland 98-86 in the semifinal. 

Captain Dennis Schröder came out strong, scoring 26 points, including 4 three-point shots. 

It is the first time Germany's team has made it to the EuroBasket final since 2005. 

The game tips off on Sunday evening in Riga, Latvia.

Germany will face either Turkey or Greece, who are playing in the second semifinal match later this evening. 

Germany are vying for their second European basketball championship title. It was only two years ago that Germany won the world championship title for the first time in Manila.

A suspect in a knife attack last week at a German vocational college acted "out of a radical Islamist conviction," German prosecutors said on Friday.

Last week, a 17-year-old student from Kosovo is said to have stabbed a 45-year-old teacher he knew at the college in the western city of Essen.

The suspect then fled the scene, and stabbed a random stranger in the back, before being shot and severely wounded by police. Both victims survived with serious injuries.

Before being shot and apprehended, prosecutors said the suspect also went to a synagogue "on the search for other victims, but did not come across anyone he thought suitable."

The investigation was transferred from Essen police to federal prosecutors due to the "particular importance of the case."

Prosecutors said the assaults were "capable of affecting the internal security of the Federal Republic of Germany" due to the suspect's Islamist motivation. The man is said to have "developed a plan to enter jihad against supposed unbelievers and to die as a martyr."

Officials at German Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund say they intend to have a conversation with midfielder Felix Nmecha over a social media post relating to Charlie Kirk, the far-right American political activist who was assassinated at an event in Utah, USA, on Wednesday.

German international Nmecha, 24, wrote in an Instagram story post, since deleted, that Kirk was a "man who stands up for his beliefs and values peacefully" that to "celebrate" such an attack was "truly evil."

For context, Kirk's beliefs and values included key MAGA ("Make America Great Again") campaigning points such as opposition to LGBTQ+ rights, abortion and migration, and spreading disinformation and conspiracy theories regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.

He also used his own radio show to promote the so-called "great replacement theory," claiming that "a strategy to replace white rural America with something different" was "well underway," and espoused elements of extreme Christian evangelicalism.

Nmecha, too, has caused controversy in the past with his deeply Christian views, liking and sharing homophobic messages on social media including a post from one fundamentalist Christian Instagram account in which the concept of "Pride" was equated with the devil.

His transfer to Borussia Dortmund in 2023 was met with protests from elements of the club's fanbase, with one group writing: "The image of Felix Nmecha as revealed by his social media activities does not, in our eyes, match the values of Borussia Dortmund."

According to the German tabloid BILD, Nmecha's contract contains a clause which allows the club to fine him for posts which contradict the values of the club, as laid out in a "code of basic values" drawn up by the club's 230,000 members. The SID sports news agency reports, however, that a fine is not being considered.

On Sunday, over 6,000 historical monuments and culturally important sites across Germany will open their doors to visitors as part of the annual Tag des offenen Denkmals — the "day of the open monument."

Since 1993, Germany's Foundation for the Protection of Monuments (Denkmalschutz-Stiftung) has staged its yearly event as a way of bringing the general public closer to iconic moments and locations across the country and informing them about the importance of monument protection.

This year, over 9,000 events — plus in-depth tours of 750 monuments — will be open to the public, including 1,000 events and 350 monuments in Berlin alone.

In Hamburg, the famous Speicherstadt, a sprawling complex of late-19th-century storage warehouses along the harbor which was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2015, will form the center of the festivities, while 150 monuments will open their doors in Cologne — including the iconic gothic cathedral, the Kölner Dom.

Throughout the events, organizers are keen to emphasize the worth of monument protection, pointing out that many landmarks are not only "priceless," but also "irreplaceable."

It's not known exactly how many monuments and landmarks, big or small, Germany actually has, but the Foundation warns in its official program: "Historical objects fall victim to destructive planning and wrecking balls on an almost daily basis. Every year, many objects are irretrievably lost, and every lost monument is a lost piece of memory, identity and culture."

Germany go into Friday's EuroBasket semifinal against Finland on Friday as favorites – but still wary of the threat posed by the underdogs.

"Finland is a team with nothing to lose," said Moritz Wagner, who won the Basketball World Cup with Germany in 2023 and is following the tournament as a TV pundit.

Germany have already beaten Finland once at this tournament: a comfortable 91-61 win in the group stage. But Wagner's young brother Franz, who was also part of that 2023 team, also warned:

"When you look at that result, you think it must have been easy, but that's not how it works in sport," he said. "In these do-or-die matches such as a semifinal, the attitude is a bit different."

After finishing top of Group B, Germany beat Portugal (85-58) and Slovenia (99-91) to reach the semifinal. The other semifinal, also on Friday, sees Greece face Turkey.

The final is on Sunday in Riga, Latvia.

A 12-year-old boy in the southwestern German state of Baden-Württemberg died of his injuries on Thursday evening after being hit by a car driven by an 18-year-old following an argument.

The incident occurred in a car-park in the town of Niedernhall about 100 kilometers (62 miles) north of Stuttgart, and reportedly followed a dispute between the occupants of the car — the driver and a 16-year-old passenger — and two children, the 12-year-old boy and his 13-year-old friend.

When the two children went to leave the scene, the 12-year-old on a bike and the 13-year-old on a scooter, the older teenagers allegedly got into their car, with the 18-year-old driver accelerating towards the children and hitting the 12-year-old.

"The child fell [off his bike] and was so seriously injured that he immediately died in the car-park," said local police after arresting the suspect. The 13-year-old on the scooter was unharmed.

It remains unclear what led to the argument or what it was about.

The Bundesliga returns after the international break this weekend, with 2024 champions Bayer Leverkusen kicking off the action at home to Eintracht Frankfurt on Friday night.

After sacking head coach Erik ten Hag after just two league games, Leverkusen dramatically hit the reset button and are looking to restart their season under former Denmark national team coach Kasper Hjulmand, who has demanded leadership qualities from his players.

"We need more captains and leaders," he said. "We want to have a whole group of captains."

Ten Hag was recruited to succeed Xabi Alonso, who famously led the Werkself to a Bundesliga and German Cup double in 2024  but serious differences emerged between the Dutchman, his players and the club's bosses from the very start.

Now it's up to Hjulmand to get down to work with a squad which has undergone wholesale changes, including the departure of Florian Wirtz and almost the whole 2024 team and the arrival of a dozen new names.

Frankfurt, on the other hand, despite selling striker Hugo Ekitike to Liverpool for €95 million ($111 million), have made a strong start to the season with comfortable victories over Werder Bremen and Hoffenheim. It's very early days, but Dino Toppmöller's team have even been touted as potential challengers to Bayern Munich this season …

Following the incursion of Russian drones into Polish airspace this week, German politicians have called for stronger air defenses and increased drone production for Germany's armed forces, "The Bundeswehr."

"Our air defense capacities still require urgent expansion," said Siemtje Möller, parliamentary group spokesperson for the Social Democrats (SPD), the junior partner in the coalition government.

The warning comes after Lieutenant-General Alfons Mais, the highest-ranking officer in the Bundeswehr, recently called anti-drone defense Germany's biggest weakness.

In addition to new Patriot and Iris-T missile systems, which are already in the process of being restocked following deliveries to Ukraine, Möller stressed the need for more short-range Skyranger air defense turrets produced by German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall , which can be mounted on armored vehicles.

"The 18 which have been ordered so far are nowhere near enough," Möller told the Funke media group.

Boris Rhein, the conservative CDU state premier for Hesse in central Germany, agreed, telling tabloid Bild on Friday:

"We need a German defense guarantee. With the fresh billions [of euros] made available by the state, Germany needs a defense package designed to boost combat capabilities, with commissions for our national arms industry, investment in the production of combat drones and the combat-proofing of our infrastructure."

Guten Tag! Welcome to DW's coverage of what Germany is talking about on Friday, September 12.

As the fallout continues from the incursion of Russian drones into Polish airspace this week, German politicians from both coalition parties, the CDU and SPD, have called for greater investments in Germany's drone and air defense capabilities.

Meanwhile, Germany is looking forward to its annual Monuments Day ("Tag des offenen Denkmals" or "day of open monuments") on Sunday, when iconic monuments and historic locations across the country will open their doors to visitors for free.

And in sport, the Bundesliga returns after the international break this weekend as Bayer Leverkusen host Eintracht Frankfurt on Friday before newly promoted Hamburg travel to Bayern Munich on Saturday.