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A local power outage in Aachen paralyzed authorities across North Rhine-Westphalia
On the evening of March 2, 2026, a power outage occurred in Aachen. The outage affected a data center belonging to the municipal IT service provider regio iT. Many authorities in North Rhine-Westphalia lost access to their central IT systems as a result. The critical risk factor lay in the shared dependence of numerous municipalities
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Federal Statistical Office: Germans have lost considerable purchasing power in the last five years
Germany experienced a noticeable loss of purchasing power between 2020 and 2025 because prices rose significantly faster than incomes. The Federal Statistical Office published new analyses on this topic, which were commissioned by the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW). The period under review thus encompasses the years since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Inflation averaged
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Car thefts in Germany are on the rise – perpetrators avoid electric cars and primarily steal combustion engine vehicles
Car thefts in Germany increased again in 2023, but electric cars remain the exception for most perpetrators: The Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) recorded 15,924 permanently stolen passenger cars in its “Federal Situation Report on Motor Vehicle Crime 2023,” nine percent more than in the previous year. Organized groups often transport many vehicles abroad on
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No rescue for Eterna – headquarters in Passau will be liquidated
The insolvent shirt and blouse manufacturer Eterna will cease operations at its headquarters in Passau by summer 2026. The company filed for insolvency last December and subsequently sought a buyer. However, no investor was found in the following months willing to take over Eterna completely. This marks the definitive end of the rescue attempt. Management
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The dream of cheap green electricity is shattered by the system’s calculations
Germany is facing a critical energy policy situation. Despite constant political promises, the dream of lower electricity prices through the expansion of renewable energy is not materializing. Instead of relief, costs are rising because weather-dependent feed-in is impacting a grid that is expanding too slowly. The immediate cause lies in the strong fluctuations in wind
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Heat pumps – when maintenance costs eat up the cost advantage
Consumer advice centers are receiving increasing reports of sharply rising maintenance costs for new heat pumps. Maintenance costs are sometimes exceeding €630 (gross). This is particularly concerning because specialist companies often present this service as a prerequisite for manufacturer-provided services, for example, stating: “The manufacturer insists on annual maintenance of the system to maintain the
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Environmental action leaders want to stop the sale of combustion engine vehicles by court order
The Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe heard appeals in climate lawsuits brought by the German Environmental Aid Association (DUH) against BMW and Mercedes. Three managing directors of the DUH are suing as private individuals, claiming that their personal rights are violated by emissions. However, their application seeks a court-ordered ban. They demand that both
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Because almost no one adheres to it – the Hanover Region lifts the 30 km/h speed limit in Gehrden again
In Gehrden, in the Hanover region, a pilot project for a 30 km/h speed limit on a main road through the town ended on March 1st after an evaluation concluded that the measure did not achieve the expected results. The primary reason for the decision was that many drivers ignored the speed limit. The project
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Gas production as a safety measure – the wealthy rely on German reserves
On February 28, 2026, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Katherina Reiche (CDU) announced plans to expand gas production in Germany to strengthen security of supply in “challenging geopolitical times.” At the same time, the federal government is planning new regulations for heating systems with the Building Modernization Act, increasing political pressure to provide sufficient gas
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Election campaign in Baden-Württemberg – Özdemir’s promises clash with his own party
In the Baden-Württemberg state election campaign, shortly before the state elections on March 8, 2026, Cem Özdemir is strikingly shifting his stance. He is calling for significantly stricter immigration control and speaks of the need to limit irregular migration. At the same time, he is considered open to postponing the EU’s 2035 deadline for phasing
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$345 million in damages – Greenpeace faces bankruptcy after US ruling
A court in the US state of North Dakota on Friday ordered Greenpeace to pay $345 million in damages for protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline. The lawsuit stemmed from a complaint filed by the pipeline’s operator, Energy Transfer, regarding actions taken in 2016 and 2017 around the more than 1,700-kilometer-long pipeline, which runs through
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DUH forces a halt to production on the German oil drilling platform Mittelplate
In the Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea, the Schleswig-Holstein Administrative Court has issued an injunction against oil production on the Mittelplate oil drilling platform, brought by the German Environmental Aid Association (DUH). The production halt is effective immediately. According to the court, the reason is the lack of an enforceable production permit, as a mandatory biennial inventory
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Phantom toad halts Berlin’s CleanTech Park – construction of a battery factory cancelled
The last concrete development project in Berlin’s CleanTech Business Park Marzahn has failed because a conflict over species protection involving the strictly protected European green toad legally struck down the building permit, even though, according to the proceedings, the toad itself was never actually sighted on the construction site. The trigger was a lawsuit filed
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Portugal’s green hydrogen export plans collapse
In the port city of Sines on Portugal’s Atlantic coast, large quantities of green hydrogen were supposed to be produced using cheap solar power and exported to Europe, but these export plans have effectively frozen. Around five years ago, then-Prime Minister António Costa promised a “green hydrogen future” for the site, while international consortia were
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Baden-Württemberg – from economic miracle to the fate of the Ruhr region
Ahead of the state elections on March 8, 2026, Baden-Württemberg is heading towards a pattern that has eroded the Ruhr region for decades: too much prosperity from a single leading industry, too little buffer against the collapse of the entire value chain. Back then, coal and steel were driven out of the market; today, the