Germany news: Italy avalanche kills climbers, bodies found

Following the avalanche in South Tyrol, the bodies of two more German mountaineers have been found, bringing the total number of German climbers who lost their lives to five.

Three bodies had already been recovered on Saturday. The last two to be discovered were a father and his 17-year-old daughter, according to the Italian mountain rescue service.

The exact sequence of events is still unclear. However, it is believed that the mountaineers were caught in a snow avalanche on Saturday while ascending 3,500-meter-high (11,482-foot) Vertainspitze, a popular mountaineering destination in the Ortler Alps, shortly before 4:00 p.m.

Two men survived the incident.

According to the mountain rescue service, German climbers were traveling independently in three groups — one group of three and two groups of two.

The survivors were taken to a hospital in Bolzano by helicopter.

Police in Berlin on Saturday arrested a 22-year-old Syrian man suspected of having planned a serious attack that threatened the state, a spokesperson for the Berlin Public Prosecutors' Office said Sunday.

The spokesperson said the case involved the planning of a jihadi-motivated attack.

Germany's mass-market Bild newspaper reported that material to create explosives was found during a police raid in the capital's Neukölln district. 

Read more about the arrest here: Berlin police arrest Syrian man for planning 'jihadi' attack

The German government said it had received positive signals from China in the row over semiconductor supplies, which are crucial for Germany's struggling automotive industry.

"The latest reports from China are positive first signs of easing tensions," the Economy Ministry in Berlin said on Sunday.

The ministry added that "the German government is monitoring the situation very closely" and is in talks with companies, as well as the Netherlands and other EU partners.

Nexperia manufactures its chips in Europe, sends them to China to be finished and re-exports them to European customers.

The Netherlands-based chip manufacturer is facing supply troubles after the Dutch government assumed control of the firm. Previously, the firm was controled by Wingtech, its parent firm in China.

In response to the Dutch takeover, Beijing halted the export of Nexperia products out of China.

Nexperia suspended supplies of wafers to its Chinese assembly plant on Friday, further escalating the dispute.

On Saturday, China's Commerce Ministry said it would review cases and permit exports for firms meeting the relevant requirements, without specifying further details. 

Flight operations at Bremen airport were temporarily suspended after a drone was spotted nearby, police said Sunday evening.

The drone was seen at around 7:30 p.m. local time (6:30 p.m. GMT), with air traffic control immediately suspending takeoffs and landings at the airport in northern Germany.

A police spokesman said that air traffic was resumed at 8:22 p.m. It was not clear who was controlling the drone.

According to a local news outlet, a flight from London had to be diverted to Hamburg due to the disruption, while a London-bound flight was unable to take off on time.

A number of drone sighting across Europe in recent months have caused disruption to air travel, with incidents in Berlin and Munich in October being the latest to hit Germany.

Drones are banned within a 1.5-kilometer (0.9 mile) radius of German airports to prevent interference with take-offs and landings.

Far fewer demonstrators than expected turned out in the Bavarian capital of Munich for a protest against comments on the "cityscape" by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

Just 250 of an expected 5,000 people gathered in pouring rain in Munich to rally against Merz's statements.

The chancellor had said that irregular immigration to Germany had fallen since he took office, adding "we still have this problem in the cityscape," which was understood as a reference to visible diversity in Germany's population. 

Asked later about the comment later, Merz was unapologetic, doubling down on his statement by telling a reporter who asked him to clarify it to "ask your daughter what I might have meant."

This has been called out by critics as racist for implying that immigrant men are more likely to commit sexual harassment or other crimes, a claim not borne out by data.

At least 200 Taylor Swift fans attended a special event at a German museum on Sunday to catch a glimpse of an Art Nouveau painting that possibly inspired "The Fate of Ophelia" — the opening track of the US popstar's latest album.

The Wiesbaden Museum has experienced a surge in Swift fans wanting to view the painting of "Ophelia" exhibited there, after the release of Swift's new album "The Life of a Showgirl" last month,

In the opening scene of the video for "The Fate of Ophelia," Swift takes on the role of Ophelia and becomes a living painting. 

The visitors on Sunday were given a presentation on the history of the painting, dated to around 1900, with a museum employee explaining the links between Shakespeare's character Ophelia in "Hamlet," the artwork and Swift's music video.

The painting depicts a young noblewoman who descends into madness and drowns after being driven to despair after being spurned by Hamlet.

Many of the fans were dressed up as Swift or Ophelia, with the museum having promised free admission to anyone in a costume.

Swifties and museum employees also implored Swift to check out the painting herself, chanting: "Taylor, come to Wiesbaden!"

The Friedrich Loeffler Institute (FLI), the German government agency responsible for monitoring animal pestilence, says it does not expect the current bird flu wave in Germany to decline quickly. Officials warn that it is likely that the infection will spread southward.

"We continue to see steadily rising numbers, and there is no sign of the situation calming down," FLI President Christa Kühn said. "On the map of Europe, looking at the cases among wild birds, you can pretty much track the autumn bird migration toward the southwest."

According to the FLI, the outbreaks are being caused by the highly infectious H5N1 strain of the HPAIV influenza virus — commonly known as bird flu.

More than 500,000 hens, ducks, geese, and turkeys have been preemptively culled and disposed of to contain the spread of the disease in Germany.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has spoken of "nervous optimism" in the Middle East following talks with Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi in Cairo.

Steinmeier said people in the region were optimistic that the peace process in Gaza would continue after October's ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

The president said people were also aware of "the difficulties that still lie ahead, especially in this region."

Steinmeier began his nearly weeklong trip to Africa with his arrival in Egypt on Saturday. Steinmeier held bilateral talks with Salam on Saturday and with el-Sissi on Sunday.

Ahead of his meeting with the Egyptian President, Steinmeier expressed hopes that the world "will help to turn the fragile ceasefire into lasting stability."

He also reaffirmed Germany's commitment to help with the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.

After Egypt, Steinmeier will travel to Ghana and Angola — the first visit by a German head of state to both countries.

The number of asylum applications in Germany continues to decline, a spokesperson for the Interior Ministry told the Evangelical Press Service (epd) on Sunday. 

There were 55% fewer initial asylum applications in October than in the same month of 2024. Moreover, a total of 97,277 initial asylum applications were submitted between January and October 2025. During the same period last year, there were 199,947 initial asylum applications.

"Our migration policy shift is working," Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt told Bild am Sonntag.

"We are consistently continuing on this path of
migration policy change and are also increasing deportations."

Since Germany significantly tightened controls at its borders in May, around 18,600 people have been turned away or sent back at the country's borders. 

Crises, disasters, war: These topics have long been covered in German schools on an abstract, academic level.

But how practically prepared are students for real-life crises? Do they know what to do in case of an attack or an emergency situation?

Read more to find out the German government's plan to prepare schoolchildren for large-scale disasters.

Since Ukraine eased travel restrictions to allow men aged 18 to 22 to go abroad, more and more young Ukrainians are applying for temporary protection in Germany.

At the start of October, the central register of foreign nationals recorded nearly 1.3 million individuals who had been granted temporary protection since Russia's war in Ukraine began.

What are their reasons for coming to Germany?

We continue to follow top stories from Germany on Sunday morning as government critics prepare for new protests against Chancellor Friedrich Merz, triggered by Merz's comment that Germany has a "cityscape" problem due to migrants.

Meanwhile, the government says signals from China indicate that tensions over semiconductor supplies — essential to Germany's struggling car industry — may be easing.

You can read read more about these and other stories from Germany on Sunday, November 2 in this news blog.

We'll be back on Sunday morning to bring you the latest news from and about Germany.

Bis bald!

President Frank-Walter Steinmeier is traveling to Egypt, Ghana and Angola, accompanied by German business leaders.

The goal is to boost economic partnerships through investment in infrastructure and renewable energy.

Read more about what Steinmeier hopes to achieve on his tour of Africa.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said he is is optimistic about the future of the Middle East peace plan following a meeting with his Israeli counterpart Gideon Saar on Saturday.

Wadephul is in Israel at the end of a Middle East tour which also saw him stop in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Bahrain.

The German foreign minister expressed growing confidence in the peace process "to such an extent" that he believed Berlin could revise its travel advice to Israel, which currently advises against all non-essential travel to the country.

Easing the restriction of travel to Israel would help dialogue flow between Israel and Germany once again, Wadephul said.

"This is particularly important to me for the younger generation," he said, expressing disappointment that schoolchildren and students in particular were currently not able to travel to Israel.

On the shaky ceasefire in Gaza under a US-sponsored deal, Wadephul shared his "impression that both sides have the firm will to turn this ceasefire into a lasting process and ultimately conclude peace."

Earlier on Saturday, during an appearance at the IISS Manama Dialogue security conference in the Bahraini capital, Wadephul called on Israelis, Palestinians, Arabs and Europeans to work towards implementing the peace plan for the region.

"The task now is to give the people here in the Middle East hope by ensuring that political action follows the extensive agreements and declarations of intent," the minister said, adding that the region's challenges can only be solved with Europe's cooperation and collaboration.