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Local Germany
7 days ago
- Business
- Local Germany
'What's the city missing?' Munich residents urged to put forward ideas for vote
The 2025 Munich Budget will include €1 million for schemes suggested and voted on by locals. Proposals can cover anything from greener public spaces and safer bike routes to new benches and bins. The Munich Budget was inspired by similar programmes in Paris and Barcelona. The goal is to give residents – including foreigners – a voice in shaping their city. The scheme will initially run for three years. 'Think about what the city is missing, share your idea, and maybe your project will become reality,' said Mayor Dieter Reiter. How does it work? Anyone aged 14 or older whose primary or secondary residence is in Munich can participate. Registration is required to participate online. Ideas can be submitted online or by post up to June 9th. Projects must cost no more than €100,000 each, benefit the entire city, and be sustainable and socially fair. They cannot affect conservation areas or require ongoing costs, such as permanent staff. In the first round of voting from June 17th to June 30th, residents can vote for their favourite proposals. City officials will then check that ideas are feasible and assign budgets. In the second round of voting from October 15th to 31st, residents will choose which projects are funded. Advertisement What ideas have been proposed? Proposals which organisers say meet the criteria include a bookshelf in Viktoriaplatz, tables at the war memorial at the intersection of Winzererstraße and Georgenstraße, and water fountains in areas without much shade. The installation of more bins and toilets is also very popular. Some suggestions have been rejected for not meeting the criteria, such as the creation of a grand boulevard on Sonnenstraße, which organisers said would cost more than €100,000. A proposal for more public services to be available in English has not yet been approved.
CBS News
15-02-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
A 2-year-old girl and her mother have died after Munich car attack
A 2-year-old girl and her mother have died after they were injured in the car-ramming attack on a labor union demonstration in Munich, police said Saturday. A 24-year-old Afghan man who came to Germany as an asylum-seeker was arrested immediately after the attack on Thursday. Prosecutors said Friday that he appears to have had an Islamic extremist motive, but there was no evidence that he was involved with any radical network. A damaged Mini Cooper and other debris could be seen at the scene. Thirty-nine people were hurt in the attack, and police said on Friday that two of those were very seriously injured. The city's mayor, Dieter Reiter, said on Friday that children had been among those injured in the "deeply shocking" attack. On Saturday, Bavaria's state criminal police office said the young girl and her mother, a 37-year-old woman from Munich, had died of their injuries, the German news agency dpa reported. No other details were shared. Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited the scene of the attack on Saturday and laid a white rose at an improvised memorial. It was the fifth in a series of attacks involving immigrants over the past nine months, including a Christmas market attack that left five dead and hundreds injured. The incidents have pushed migration to the forefront of the campaign for Germany's election on Feb. 23. Friday also marked the beginning of the three-day Munich Security Conference, an annual gathering of international foreign and security policy officials. U.S. Vice President JD Vance was among the attendees and had touched down in the city just hours before the attack. Police said there was no link between Vance's presence and the incident.
Local Germany
14-02-2025
- Politics
- Local Germany
What we know so far about suspected car ramming attack in Munich
A car was driven into a crowd of people in central Munich on Thursday, injuring around 36 people. Bavaria's state premier Markus Söder said the incident is a suspected attack, and an asylum seeker from Afghanistan has been arrested. It comes 10 days before Germans head to the polls in a key election on February 23rd where immigration issues are at the top of the agenda. It also happened one day before the city is due to host the high-profile Munich Security Conference. Who is among the injured? The suspected ramming happened at Stiglmaierplatz in the Maxvorstadt area of the Bavarian capital at around 10.30am. Around 28 people are confirmed to have been injured, including two seriously. One person has life threatening injuries, police said. Munich mayor Dieter Reiter confirmed that children were among the injured. "I am deeply shocked," said Reiter. Gerhard Peschke, spokesman for the Munich fire and rescue service added that it was not possible to give an exact number of casualties as some of the injured had sought shelter in neighbouring buildings. The group of people hit were participants in a strike organised by the Verdi trade union. The car reportedly followed the demonstration, weaved past police vehicles and drove into the back of the group of people. Police who rushed to the scene fired a shot at the battered car and detained the driver, a 24-year-old Afghan asylum seeker who was named by German media as Farhad N. Germany is seeing several public sector strikes at the moment during a period of collective bargaining. The president of the Verdi union Frank Werneke said in a statement: "We are deeply upset and shocked at the awful incident during a peaceful demonstration by our Verdi colleagues." Members of the emergency services work at the scene where a car drove into a crowd in the southern German city of Munich on February 13th, 2025. Photo: Michaela Stache / AFP Ambulances and rescue helicopters rushed to the scene, while officers were on the site as investigations got underway. Eyewitness Alexa Graef said she was "shocked" after seeing the car drive into the crowd "which looked deliberate". "I hope it's the last time I see anything like that," she said. An eyewitness who was among the striking workers told the regional broadcaster BR24 that he "saw a person lying under the car" after it drove into the crowd. Police have set up a witness collection point in the Löwenbräukeller on Stiglmaierplatz. Anyone who can provide information about the events is asked to report there. Was this an attack? It was not entirely clear immediately but Bavarian state premier Söder, of the Christian Social Union (CSU), said it appeared the driver acted intentionally. He said the incident was "just terrible", adding: "I must tell you it looks like this was an attack." The suspect was said to have arrived in Germany in 2016 at the height of the mass migrant influx to Europe. His asylum request was rejected by German authorities but he found work and was able to remain legally in the country, according to officials. Police said there were "indications of an extremist motive" and the investigation has been handed over to the regional prosecutor's office. Tensions high in Germany Germany has seen a number of high profile attacks involving migrants in recent months which have fulled a bitter debate over immigration and internal security. In January two people were killed - including a two-year-old child - in a stabbing that took place in a park in Aschaffenburg. Police arrested a 28-year-old rejected asylum seeker from Afghanistan in connection with the attack, who reportedly slipped through the fingers of authorities. It later emerged that he had a history of mental illness. In December, a car ramming attack on a Magdeburg Christmas market killed six people and injured hundreds of others. A 50-year-old Saudi man who had lived in Germany since 2006 was arrested after that attack. He reportedly held anti-Islam and far-right views. Authorities said he also appeared to be mentally disturbed. In August, three people were killed and eight wounded in a stabbing spree at a street festival in the western city of Solingen that was claimed by the Islamic State group. The revelation that authorities had missed the opportunity to deport the suspect, a Syrian asylum seeker, stirred outrage in Germany. Bavaria's State Premier and leader of the conservative Christian Social Union (CSU) Markus Söder arrives at the scene where a car drove into a crowd in the southern German city of Munich on February 13th, 2025 leaving several people injured. Photo: Michaela Stache / AFP How are these attacks affecting the election campaign? These horrific attacks - among others - have understandably rocked Germany. It has led to politicians calling for tougher measures, particularly concerning immigration. Meanwhile, support for the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) has increased - the party is currently second in election polls with around 21-22 percent, behind the conservative CDU/CSU (29-30 percent). Following the stabbing in Aschaffenburg, CDU leader - and election frontrunner - Friedrich Merz called for "fundamental changes" in asylum policy. At the end of last month, a motion calling to close borders and end illegal immigration passed in the Bundestag - controversially with the support of the far-right AfD. That led to protests across the country over concerns that the 'firewall' of working with the far right was being broken down. However, a recent survey suggested that half of Germans viewed the cooperation with the AfD on migration policy as acceptable. Meanwhile, Chancellor Olaf Scholz, of the Social Democrats, announced this week that temporary border controls would be once again tightened for six months. Following the suspected car attack on Thursday, Scholz said: "What has happened is awful. From my point of view it is quite clear, this attacker cannot count on any mercy, he must be punished and he must leave the country." Bavarian leader Söder said: "This is not the first incident... we must show determination that something will change in Germany. This is further proof that we can't keep going from attack to attack." With reporting from AFP and DPA
Local Germany
14-02-2025
- Politics
- Local Germany
Germany vows further Afghan deportations after Munich car ramming
Nearly 30 people were injured after the car was driven into a crowd in the centre of Munich on Thursday morning. Police arrested the 24-year-old driver at the scene. The carnage came on the eve of an international security conference in the Bavarian city and amid a heated debate in Germany on immigration ahead of February 23rd elections following similar attacks. The Mini Cooper car barrelled into a trade union demonstration, leaving victims and their belongings scattered. Shoes, glasses and an infant stroller were left in the street. Munich mayor Dieter Reiter said a number of people were being treated for severe injuries and were in a "life-threatening condition". Local media reported that children were among the victims. Politicians have been vowing to take action following the suspected attack. Conservative chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz, who is frontrunner in the elections, said: "Everyone must feel safe in our country again. Something has to change in Germany." Chancellor Olaf Scholz, of the SPD, condemned the "awful" attack and promised severe consequences. "From my point of view it is quite clear: this attacker cannot count on any mercy, he must be punished and he must leave the country," Scholz told reporters on Thursday. The CDU/CSU alliance, which polls suggest is on track to win this month's election, has called for tougher curbs on immigration after similar attacks involving migrants. Under pressure even months before the election was called, Chancellor Scholz's government had moved to make asylum rules stricter and speed up deportations, including to Afghanistan. In August the German government sent back the first Afghans to their home country since the Taliban government's return to power in 2021. It had faced pressure then following a deadly knife attack allegedly committed by a Syrian man. No other deportations have been carried out. While visiting Munich on Thursday, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) said: "We have to continue with deportations... even to Afghanistan, a very difficult country. "We will try to do everything to achieve this." 'Indications of extremism' The authorities have "indications of an extremist motive" and the investigation had been handed over to the regional prosecutor's office, police said. News outlet Der Spiegel, citing security sources, reported that the man was believed to have posted Islamist content online before the attack. The suspect was said to have arrived in Germany in 2016 at the height of the mass migrant influx to Europe. His asylum request was rejected by German authorities but he found work and was able to remain legally in the country, according to officials.
Yahoo
13-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
What we know about suspected car attack in Munich
A 24-year-old Afghan asylum seeker drove a car into a crowd in the German city of Munich on Thursday, injuring at least 30 people, police have said. Officers said they were treating the incident as a suspected attack. Here's what we know about the attack so far. Munich police said the car, a Mini Cooper, accelerated and ploughed into the back of a rally by the Verdi trade union during a strike by public sector workers. It happened in Munich's city centre at the junction of Karlstrasse and Seidlstrasse at about 10:30 local time (11:30 GMT). Employees of day-care centres, hospitals, sanitation facilities and public swimming pools had joined the strike, calling for higher pay and longer holidays. At the time of the collision around 1,500 people were on their way to the rally's final location a short distance away. One shot was fired at the vehicle by police before the driver was detained at the scene. Emergency services had been in the area because of the rally allowing the suspect to be quickly arrested and for the injured to be treated, police said. It is unclear whether the suspect was injured. A police spokesman told local broadcaster BR that police are checking whether there was a link between the demonstration and the incident. The crash happened hours before the US vice president and Ukrainian president were due to arrive in the city for the Munich Security Conference - but police say they don't believe it's related. At least 30 people have been injured, including two seriously, German police said on Thursday. The local fire service said some of those hurt were in a "life-threatening condition". Munich's mayor Dieter Reiter said children were among those injured. According to local outlet BR24, injured people are being treated at multiple hospitals around Munich, including a children's hospital and the Munich Red Cross Clinic. Some of the injured include employees of the Munich city administration, Munich's deputy mayor Dominik Krause told the outlet. Several participants at the trade union rally had brought their children with them, "which makes the act even more heinous", Krause said. The suspect, Farhad N, who we are not fully naming due to German privacy law, is a 24-year-old asylum seeker from Afghanistan. He resides in Munich, German police said, adding that his motive was unclear. "It was probably an attack," Bavaria state premier Markus Söder told reporters. Bavarian interior minister Joachim Herrmann said the suspect had his asylum application rejected, but he had not been forced to leave due to security concerns in Afghanistan. Munich Police said the suspect had a valid residence permit at the time of the collision. According to the the German Press Agency, the suspect came to Germany in 2016 as a minor. Police added he was also known to the police as a witness due to his previous work as a store detective. He is yet to appear in court and the criminal investigation is continuing. The BBC's Daniel Wittenberg, reporting from Munich, said there was a pram strewn across the floor at the scene, as well as half a dozen umbrellas and high-vis jackets. A severely damaged white Mini Cooper could be seen at a pedestrian crossing in the middle of three lanes of traffic which had been cordoned off by police. A woman working at an orthopaedic shop on the road where the incident took place told the BBC that half a dozen people came running into the shop. "They looked panicked, and some people were crying," she said. Pedestrians reportedly sprinted for cover in shops and residential buildings that line either side of the thoroughfare. One student, who didn't wanted to give her name, said the driver of the Mini Cooper accelerated before hitting the crowd. "It was fast enough to pull 10 to 15 people to the ground," another witness said. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the suspect "must be punished" and "must leave the country". "This perpetrator cannot hope for any leniency," he told reporters, in a translation from Reuters news agency. "If it was an attack, we must take consistent action against possible perpetrators with all means of justice." Bavaria state premier Markus Söder said authorities were working to "clarify all the details". "This is not the first case and who knows what else will happen," he added. "It is now even more important that, in addition to the processing of individual cases, in addition to the concern that we all feel, in addition to the sympathy and in addition to the great hope that many will recover, we also show the determination that something must change in Germany." Suspected car ram attacker in Munich is Afghan asylum seeker, officials say At least 28 injured after car drives into crowd in Munich
