Skip next section What you need to know
What you need to know
- Investigators found an “Islamic State” allegiance video on Abdul B.’s phone
- Germany’s Social Democratic Party wants sexual identity added to Article 3 of the German constitution
- The article already bans discrimination on grounds such as race, religion and sex
- The conservative CSU wants talks on ankle tags for extremist threats after a deadly attack on a Berlin LGBTQ+ event
- The suspect in that attack had been sentenced in May for trying to join “Islamic State,” but was not immediately jailed
- Mercedes-Benz vehicle group profits rose for the first time in three years, despite a slump in China sales
Here is a roundup of some of the top headlines from and about Germany on Tuesday, July 28, 2026:
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Skip next section Merz repeats call for EU budget cuts at talks in Dublin07/28/2026July 28, 2026
Merz repeats call for EU budget cuts at talks in Dublin
Chancellor Friedrich Merz has again called for the EU’s upcoming 2028-2034 budget to be cut by several hundred billion euros.
In a meeting in Dublin with Prime Minister Micheal Martin, with the Republic of Ireland currently holding the rotating EU presidency, Merz said cuts to the European Commission‘s proposed spending plans were necessary in all areas.
“These cuts are essential, regardless of how far we get on new own resources,” Merz said.
The budget is negotiated for seven years at a time among member states, in a process that can be very laborious and drawn out.
As the EU’s largest economy, and also one of the wealthier members by GDP per capita, Germany pays the largest contribution among member states and receives less in EU investment in return. It’s therefore typically reticent to see large increases in spending.
Merz said that the “wide and large expansion” of the budget currently proposed “is not acceptable to us,” saying “the figures are not balanced.” He said he was optimist that Martin would counter with a “realistic proposal” during Ireland’s presidency.
Martin said the bloc needed a budget “that meets its future needs and ambitions” while “reflecting our current economic situation,” adding that Ireland would work towards a “compromise.”
The Commission is proposing a budget of around €1.76 trillion (roughly $2 trillion) in inflation-adjusted terms at 2025 prices for the next seven-year period.
This only represents around 2% of public spending across the EU, with the vast majority spent at the national level.
The EU budget is designed to complement national budgets. Well over half of the funds go to agricultural subsidies — a rare area that operates on a bloc-wide basis and not nation-by-nation — and a large chunk of the remainder is spent on regional development projects.
The budget requires unanimous approval from members to be adopted. Germany is not the only so-called “net contributor” to the EU budget to be seeking adjustments: the Netherlands, Sweden, and Denmark have made similar appeals.
https://p.dw.com/p/5HukTSkip next section Man arrested after injured baby taken from hospital07/28/2026July 28, 2026
Man arrested after injured baby taken from hospital
A man has been arrested in Italy more than a week after an injured baby disappeared from a hospital in south-western Germany.
Police had been searching for him under a European arrest warrant and are investigating him on suspicion of child abuse.
“The child was in the hospital under observation following the alleged assault,” a spokesman told the DPA news agency.
The baby was reported missing from the hospital close to the Black Forest in southwestern Germany on July 16 after being taken away by its mother without authorization.
The Schwarzwälder Bote newspaper reported that the child has since been found, although police initially provided no further details.
https://p.dw.com/p/5HtnFSkip next section Ebola patient discharged from Frankfurt hospital07/28/2026July 28, 2026
Ebola patient discharged from Frankfurt hospital
A patient infected with Ebola has been discharged from Frankfurt University Hospital after making a full recovery.
The US patient had been treated in a specialist isolation unit since mid-July and was able to leave on Tuesday “fully recovered” and “symptom-free,” the hospital said.
It was the second US Ebola patient from the Democratic Republic of Congo to be successfully treated in Germany in recent months. The first patient was brought to Berlin’s Charité hospital in May and discharged in early June after recovering.
https://p.dw.com/p/5HtlrSkip next section IS allegiance video found after Berlin CSD Pride attack07/28/2026July 28, 2026
IS allegiance video found after Berlin CSD Pride attack
German investigators have found a video on the phone of suspected Berlin Christopher Street Day Pride attacker Abdul B. in which he pledged allegiance to the “Islamic State” militant terror group.
The Federal Prosecutor’s Office confirmed a report by the Bild newspaper about the footage. The news magazine “Spiegel” reported that the masked man spoke Arabic in the recording and was believed to be Abdul B.
A woman was killed and 31 people were injured, some seriously, when the suspected attacker drove a car into people near the event on Saturday. He is also suspected of using a machete.
The 21-year-old, who was known as a possible terror threat, died the following day after being shot by police officers who confronted him.
https://p.dw.com/p/5HtebSkip next section Ice cream and water sales surge during German heatwave07/28/2026July 28, 2026
Ice cream and water sales surge during German heatwave
People in Germany bought sharply more ice cream and bottled water during the late-June heatwave, according to supermarket checkout data.
Ice cream sales between June 22 and 28 were 90% higher than in an average summer week from 2023 to 2025, the Federal Statistical Office said.
Sales of still water rose by 77%, while sparkling water increased by 63%. All three products reached their highest sales levels since the data series began in early 2023.
Other drinks also sold more strongly. Beer-mix beverages were up 63%, alcohol-free beer 38%, carbonated fruit drinks 34% and cola 32%.
The figures were based on scanner data collected from branches of several major food retailers across Germany.
The heatwave lasted from June 18 to 28 and peaked during the final weekend, according to the German Weather Service.
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https://p.dw.com/p/5HtRJSkip next section Online vacation bookings hit German record07/28/2026July 28, 2026
Online vacation bookings hit German record
Bookings for tourist accommodation in Germany through major online platforms have reached a record high.
Travel patterns varied considerably between Germany’s states.
Read more about the story here.
https://p.dw.com/p/5Hsr6Skip next section Low Rhine levels could push German economy into stagnation07/28/2026July 28, 2026
Low Rhine levels could push German economy into stagnation
Persistently low water levels on the Rhine River could shave as much as 0.2% off Germany’s economic output in the third quarter, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.
Prolonged dry weather has continued to lower levels on the river, one of the world’s busiest inland waterways.
“The effects could be strong enough to reduce gross domestic product in the third quarter by 0.1% to 0.2%,” Stefan Kooths, director of the institute’s business cycle and growth research group, told the Reuters new agency on Tuesday.
Many economists expect growth of no more than 0.2% during the summer months, meaning the disruption could push Europe’s largest economy into stagnation.
At Kaub, a crucial bottleneck between the cities of Koblenz and Mainz, the gauge fell to 30 centimeters (12 inches) on Tuesday. Germany’s waterways authority expects it to drop to around 25 centimeters by Friday, matching a record low reached in October 2018.
“As water levels are unlikely to rise suddenly above the critical threshold at the beginning of August, transport capacity is likely to remain impaired for some time next month,” Kooths said.
The Rhine carries key commodities including grain, minerals, ores, coal and petroleum products such as petrol.
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https://p.dw.com/p/5HsIGSkip next section Mercedes profit rises, but car business slumps07/28/2026July 28, 2026
Mercedes profit rises, but car business slumps
Mercedes-Benz has reported its first rise in quarterly group profit in three years, although its main car business suffered a sharp fall as sales in China weakened.
The German carmaker‘s overall net profit rose 13.5% to €1.09 billion ($1.24 billion) between April and June, up from €957 million in the same period last year.
The increase was driven by stronger results from Mercedes’ vans and financial services businesses.
But earnings at the company’s core passenger-car division fell 26% to €909 million as intense competition and weak demand continued to hit sales in China.
Mercedes also wrote €704 million off the value of its Chinese investments. The non-cash charge indicates that the company expects the difficult market conditions to persist.
Once that write-down is included, profit at the car division fell by almost 94%.
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https://p.dw.com/p/5HrvzSkip next section Bavarian conservatives seek ankle tags for extremist threats07/28/2026July 28, 2026
Bavarian conservatives seek ankle tags for extremist threats
The conservative Christian Social Union (CSU) has called for talks within Germany’s ruling coalition on using electronic ankle tags to monitor people deemed extremist security threats.
The call follows an attack near Berlin’s Christopher Street Day LGBTQ+ Pride parade on Saturday.
Alexander Hoffmann, the head of the CSU group in parliament, raised the proposal in an interview with broadcaster Deutschlandfunk. Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt, also of the CSU, has previously floated the idea.
The CSU is the Bavarian sister party to Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democrats, who rule with the backing of the center-left Social Democrats.
A woman was killed and 29 people were injured, some seriously, when a vehicle was driven into people near the CSD event.
The 21-year-old suspected attacker, Abdul B., was sentenced in May 2026 to one year and 10 months in juvenile detention for attempting to join the “Islamic State” militant terror group.
However, the sentence was imposed with a provisional form of suspension under juvenile law, so he was not immediately sent to prison. The judgment was also not yet final because prosecutors had appealed
Abdul B. died the day after the attack after being shot by police officers who confronted him.
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https://p.dw.com/p/5Hrw0Skip next section SPD renews push for constitutional protection of LGBTQ+ people07/28/2026July 28, 2026
SPD renews push for constitutional protection of LGBTQ+ people
Germany’s Social Democrats have renewed calls to add sexual identity to the constitution’s anti-discrimination protections following the deadly attack near Berlin’s Christopher Street Day LGBTQ+ Pride celebrations.
Center-left Social Democrat (SPD) co-leaders Bärbel Bas and Lars Klingbeil, as well as the party’s General Secretary Tim Klüssendorf said they would put the proposed amendment “firmly back on the political agenda.”
“We want to further strengthen the political protection of queer people,” they said in a statement seen by the DPA news agency.
The SPD has previously called for sexual identity to be added to Article 3 of Germany’s constitution, known as the Basic Law. The article prohibits discrimination on grounds including sex, ancestry, language, origin, faith and political beliefs.
Left Party leader Luigi Pantisano made a similar demand on Monday, saying his party was ready to help secure the two-thirds majority needed in parliament.
Changes to Germany’s constitution require a two-thirds majority in both the Bundestag and the Bundesrat, the two chambers of the German parliament.
The governing coalition, led by Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s conservative CDU/CSU bloc, would not have enough votes on its own.
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https://p.dw.com/p/5HrvRSkip next section Welcome to our coverage07/28/2026July 28, 2026
Welcome to our coverage
Richard Connor | Dmytro Hubenko Editor
Guten Tag from the DW newsroom in Bonn, where the sun is shining.
You join us as Germany’s Social Democrats revive calls to strengthen constitutional protection for LGBTQ+ people.
Meanwhile, Bavaria’s conservative CSU is pushing for talks on whether electronic ankle tags should be used to monitor people deemed extremist security threats.
Both proposals follow the deadly attack near Berlin’s Christopher Street Day celebrations, in which a woman was killed and 29 people were injured.
Stay with us for these stories and more of the things that Germany is talking about today.
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