Rents in several German cities have risen by nearly 50% on average since 2015, despite the so-called rent cap. Meanwhile, China is posing a big threat to the competitiveness of German industry, data show. DW has more.
Here is a roundup of developments inGermanyon Wednesday, June 18.
A 20-year-old German-Iranian man has been arrested in Hamburg for allegedlycoercing childrenwith mental health problems into performing sexual acts on themselves and harming themselves online, with one victim ending up by taking their own life, officials said Wednesday.
He allegedly threatened to distribute recordings of the scenes unless the victims agreed to carry out more extreme acts.
His arrest reportedly came after a tip-off by FBI authorities, with media reports saying the 13-year-old boy who died lived in the US.
The suspect is accused of 120 offenses, including against eight child and adolescent victims, committed between 2021 and 2023.
Germany's national railway operator,Deutsche Bahn, has said it now envisages finishing work on refurbishing more than 40 key lines in the mid-2030s, rather than 2031 as initially planned.
It also said it planned to reduce the number of modernization projects it undertakes to four to five per year.
Themodernization of Germany's railway network, whose neglected state was leading toever more delaysand cancellations, began under the previous center-left government.
The current conservative-led government has saidit will continue with the work.
However, new Transport Minister Patrick Schnieder has told the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland media group that rail passengers should not have to suffer too many consequences from the refurbishing work.
Last year, Deutsche Bahn fully renovated the railway corridor between the southwestern city of Mannheim and the central financial hub of Frankfurt.
This year, work is scheduled to continue this year on the key line between the northern port city of Hamburg and the capital, Berlin.
German PresidentFrank-Walter Steinmeierhas praised the current relations between his country and Japan as "reliable" and called for them to be tightened still further.
During a reception in Tokyo given by the German ambassador to Japan, Petra Sigmund, Steinmeier said there was "still a lot of potential for deepened cooperation."
"Especially at a time when the world seems to be coming apart at the seams, in which force, crude power politics and mistrust are running rampant, this connection between Germany and Japan is more important than ever," he said.
Steinmeier stressed that "security in Europe and security in Asia are very closely connected," saying that Germany would continue tomaintain a military presence in the Indo-Pacific region.
At the start of his three-day visit, his fourth to the country as president, Steinmeier also met with Emperor Naruhito.
He said he had told Naruhito that he was happy that Japan had always been a reliable partner in the 2 1/2 years since his last visit in November 2022, as it had been a "difficult time" in which much had happened and little had changed for the better.
According to Steinmeier, both countries share the same values, are committed to a rules-based international order, and are both interested in free global trade and cooperation on security issues.
On Thursday, the German head of state is to meet with Prime MinisterShigeru Ishibaand his predecessor,Fumio Kishida.
The German ambassador to Ukraine, Martin Jäger, has been chosen by the Cabinet to become the new president of theforeign intelligence service, the BND,deputy government spokesman Steffen Meyer said.
Jäger, 60, will succeed Bruno Kahl, 62, who is set to become the German representative to the Holy See in the Vatican after heading the BND for nearly 10 years.
Jäger is an experienced diplomat who has worked as an ambassador in crisis regions and also has a background in business.
The BND is one of Germany's three intelligence services.
It works alongside theFederal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), which focuses on domestic intelligence, and the Military Counterintelligence Service (MAD), which specializes in the armed forces.
Several German states have said that a loss of tax revenue to municipalities caused by a federal government program toboost the economymust be made good.
The German parliament is to decide next Thursday on the program, which is to put in place various incentives for investment, including options for tax deductions for machines and electrical vehicles, as well as a reduction in corporate tax from 2028.
The plans would mean a considerable reduction in tax revenue for not just the federal government but also the individual states and municipalities, with the draft bill foreseeing that some €48 billion ($55 billion) overall would be lost.
State premiers who met in Berlin on Wednesday morning ahead of talks with ChancellorFriedrich Merzin the afternoon stressed that the foundations of a compromise had to be established before the bill came before parliament.
Lower Saxony's premier, Olaf Lies of the Social Democrats (SPD), said, "Next week we will have the decision by theBundestag. By then, the agreement has to be so concrete that everyone knows where they are at."
The premier ofMecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Manuela Schwesig, also from the SPD, said, "The main aim is for the municipalities to receive complete compensation and that the states also receive consideration."
The premiers have argued that the burden on the municipalities, which are often highly indebted, could be so high that they would be forced to raise trade taxes, which would nullify the planned federal investment incentives.
German exports of iron, steel and related goods to the US fell in the January to April period by 0.4% year-on-year to €1.3 billion ($1.5 billion), according to data from the German Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) released on Wednesday.
Aluminum exports to the US dropped by 1.8% to €218 million over the same period.
The decline is being attributed largely to thesteep tariffs imposed by the Trump administrationon such imports, with additional levies of 25% introduced on March 12that weredoubled to 50% on June 4.
However, Germany's global exports in some metals fell even more strongly in the first four months of 2025, Destatis said, with iron and steel exports plummeting by 4.2% year-on-year to €20.7 billion.
Aluminum exports as a whole rose, however, despite the drop in shipments to the US, with Germany manufacturers exporting 8% more aluminum and related products from January to April 2025 than in the same period in 2024.
That amounts to €6.4 billion worth of exports.
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Renters in large German cities are being forced to pay ever more for places to live, according to an analysis by theHousing Ministry.
Advertised rents in the 14 largest independent cities have almost doubled on average over the past 10 years, figures from the Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR) show.
The data was provided in response to a parliamentary request.
Berlinhas seen the greatest rise in new rental prices at 107%, followed byLeipzig(67.7%) andBremen(57%).
Dresdensaw the smallest increase at 28.4%.
Rents in the southern city ofMunichremained highest overall, with monthly rental prices reaching nearly €22 ($25.30) per square meter, the analysis showed. That was followed by Berlin at €18 per square meter, and Frankfurt at around €16 per square meter.
Germany has laws in place to limit rents in regions with tight housing markets. In such regions, it is generally not allowed for landlords to demand rents for new leases that exceed the local comparative rent by more than 10%. Some exceptions are made, for furnished apartments, for example.
However, the lessors are not subject to government supervision, meaning tenants must reported suspected violations of the rules themselves.
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Chinesecompanies are beginning to catch up or even surpassGerman industryin sectors where the latter has traditionally led world markets, economists and experts say.
German exports fell by 1.7% last year to approximately €1.65 trillion ($1.9 trillion), according to Germany's Federal Statistical Office.
At the same time, Chinese exports rose by 7.1% to over 25.4 trillion yuan (€3.04 billion; $3.5 billion), according to figures from Beijing.
"Chinese competitors have continued to catch up and are increasingly active in product areas and industrial segments where German industry has traditionally been very strong," economist Philipp Böing told Germany's DPA news agency.
He said Chinese companies had "in some cases already surpassed the technological capabilities of German competitors," citing fields such as digitalization and generative artificial intelligence.
Jens Burchardt, an industry expert and partner at the international consultancy BCG, told DPA that high energy costs were the main reason Germany was losing its competitiveness in energy-intensive industries such as basic chemical and the automotive sector.
"German manufacturers will only be able to maintain their current role if they play as significant a role in electric drives as they have traditionally done with combustion engines," he said.
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Guten Tag!Welcome to DW's coverage of news stories and developments inGermanyon Wednesday, June 18.
Among other things, we will look at the rent situation in Germany, where figures presented by the government has shown it is becoming ever more expensive to be a tenant in major German cities despite official rules aimed at keeping rents down.
And German industry is facing a growing threat from Chinese rivals, even in sectors where "Made in Germany" has traditionally been a byword for quality.
You can read here about these topics and more from Europe's biggest economy.