By George Hartley
Tragic Shooting
A man has shot dead six members of his family, including his parents, in the south-west German town of Rot am See. The 26-year-old subject then handed himself over to the police. Two other relatives were injured in the attack.
Rot am See is home to 5,000 residents in the Schwäbisch Hall district north-east of Stuttgart. Germany vs the Far Right The neo-Nazi group ‘Combat 18’ were officially banned and apprehended through police raids in six states on Thursday morning. The group was linked to the 2019 assassination of CDU politician Walter Lübcke. More here and here (both English). Three looted art works, once owned by a Jewish-French art collector, were returned to his descendants by the German government. The works were dismissed as ‘degenerate’ art during the Nazi occupation of France. Buchenwald former concentration camp faced unsolicited invasions from neo-Nazis, disrupting tours and leaving racist and anti-Semitic messages in guest books. Merkel in the news The controversial debate over Huawei’s involvement in the rollout of Germany’s 5G network continues; Merkel suggested that a decision should wait until after an EU summit in March, while CDU/CSU lawmakers support a hard stance against the Chinese firm. Merkel spoke at the 2020 World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos on Thursday, alongside Greta Thunberg and Donald Trump. This year’s central theme is the environment. More here (German). Elsewhere The government announced its intention to phase out coal plants by 2038. Read more on the Moment.de website. Volkswagen was fined €136 million by Canadian courts due to the emissions scandal, which was exposed in 2015. The scandal has cost the carmaker over €30 billion in legal fees and fines so far.
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