Skip next section What you need to know
What you need to know
- Germany’s football team is gearing up for its first 2026 World Cup match in the US city of Houston on Sunday
- The number of crimes committed against homeless people in Germany rose by almost a fifth in 2025, figures show
- Defense contractor Rheinmetall says a joint German-French tank project is at risk from French budget cuts
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Here is a roundup of the main headlines from and about Germany on Saturday, June 13, 2026:
Skip next section German-French tank project at risk — Rheinmetall06/13/2026June 13, 2026
German-French tank project at risk — Rheinmetall
German defense contractor Rheinmetall has warned that a German tank project is facing possible headwinds amid French plans to cut funding.
“There is always a risk, but nothing has been decided yet,” chief executive Armin Papperger told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper in comments released on Saturday.
The newspaper cited him as saying that France was planning to dramatically reduce funding for the joint Main Ground Combat System (MGCS) tank project.
“If you have less money available, you don’t get any faster, and we are already very slow,” Pappberger was quoted as saying.
The MGCS project would replace the German Leopard 2 and French Leclerc main battle tanks with a cross-platform ground combat system by 2040, earlier statements have said.
Pappberger said the long timeframe made him anyway doubt “whether there will even be an MGCS,” according to the paper.
His comments come after German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron this week announced the end of a planned joint fighter jet project, citing disagreements between the companies Dassault and Airbus during the negotiations.
https://p.dw.com/p/5FKX8Skip next section WATCH: Could Germany’s football team save the government?06/13/2026June 13, 2026
WATCH: Could Germany’s football team save the government?
Germany is set for its first World Cup match on Sunday against Curacao, thus pitting a four-time champion against a team playing in the tournament for the first time.
With Germany in need of some optimism amid a host of gloomy challenges, could a success by the national team bring some relief — and even boost the popularity of its beleaguered government?
This DW video explores the connections between politics and sports:
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https://p.dw.com/p/5FKaZSkip next section Welcome to our coverage06/13/2026June 13, 2026
Welcome to our coverage
Timothy Jones | Roshni Majumdar Editor
Einen schönen guten Tag from the DW newsroom on the bank of the Rhine in Bonn.
You join our coverage as excitement mounts ahead of Germany’s first appearance at this year’s World Cup, despite the fraught run-up to the tournament.
We will also be looking at figures from the government showing an uptick in crime against homeless people.
And French-German defense cooperation seems under threat in the face of financial and administrative challenges.
You can read about these and other stories in this blog from June 13, 2026.
https://p.dw.com/p/5FKeVShow more posts
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