Skip next section German state set for 40% stake in tank manufacturer KNDS June 18, 2026
German state set for 40% stake in tank manufacturer KNDS
The German government has been given the go-ahead by the European Commission to purchase a 40% stake in the Franco-German arms manufacturer KNDS, which produces Leopard-2 combat tanks , among other weapons systems.
The German Defense Ministry's stake in the company will therefore be equal to that held by the French government, although Berlin reportedly intends to reduce its share to 30% in the coming years.
KNDS emerged from a merger between German tank manufacturer Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) and the state-owned French arms producer Nexter in 2015 — partly due to cuts in German defense spending at the time.
That policy has been reversed since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 with Germany and other European countries ramping up military expenditure. The German government recently stated its intention to build the "strongest conventional army in Europe" by 2039.
KNDS, which is headquartered in Amsterdam in the Netherlands, has 11 of its 34 factories in Germany, including in Hamburg , North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and Thuringia , and ten in France .
The company said earlier this week that it intended to expand its presence in Germany to additional unspecified locations, while also deepening Franco-German cooperation on projects such as the new Capint combat tank.
"This solution brings together technologies from both countries," KNDS Germany chief Florian Hohenwarter told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) newspaper. "The lower part is based on the Leopard-2 from KNDS Germany while the tower is from KNDS France, at the request of the French military."
Hohenwarter predicted that the expansion of KNDS Germany will create "4,000 to 5,000" additional jobs.
However, not all Franco-German military endeavors have been a success. Earlier this month, it was announced that a cooperation between airplane giants Dassault and Airbus's Germany-based defense dvision on the planned new FCAS fighter jet had been scrapped.
German rearmament sparks controversy, again
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Skip next section Heatwave: Child dies after being left in car June 18, 2026
Heatwave: Child dies after being left in car
A 20-month-old child was found dead in a parked car near the southern German city of Stuttgart on Wednesday, having seemingly been left in the vehicle for hours amid a heatwave.
The little girl's mother, 44, is being investigated on suspicion of manslaughter, local prosecutors confirmed.
An autopsy on Friday is expected to provide precise details as to the cause of death, but the German Meteorological Service (DWD) said that temperatures in the region had surpassed 30°C (86°F) on Wednesday.
At such temperatures, the temperature inside a parked car can reach 56°C (132°F) within an hour, according to the German ADAC automobile association, which says that "even a marginally open window cannot prevent the heat build-up in a vehicle."
Babies and small children are particularly vulnerable to such heat because they sweat less, meaning their bodies take longer to cool down, according to Germany's Federal Institute for Public Health (BIÖG), which warns: the younger the child, the greater the risk of overheating.
Concrete figures for heat deaths in cars in Germany are hard to come by but, according to the US platform "No Heat Stroke," more than 37 children on average die from heat stroke after being forgotten and left in cars every year in the United States .
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Skip next section Deutsche Bahn to close Berlin-Hannover line for rail maintenance June 18, 2026
Deutsche Bahn to close Berlin-Hannover line for rail maintenance
German train passengers are going to have to account for extended journey times between Berlin and Hannover this autumn as rail operator Deutsche Bahn carries out planned maintenance work.
From October to December 2026 (and in the same period again in 2027), journeys between the two cities, which normally take around 100 minutes, will be up to 80 minutes longer as high-speed ICE trains are rerouted via Braunschweig and Magdeburg .
The 221-kilometer (137-mile) stretch forms part of one of Germany 's most important and most frequented rail connections between the capital, Berlin, and the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) , the country's most populous region.
The route is used by more than 400 long-distance and regional trains per day as well as around 90 freight trains. During the maintenance work, 260 kilometers of track, 175 points systems and 13 kilometers of noise-protection walls are set to be renovated, while 25 stations are in line for a modernizing revamp.
Earlier this week, another key route between Berlin and the northern city of Hamburg was reopened after ten month…
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