Tuesday's top story: Light snow possible on Christmas Eve, says German Weather Service
The German Weather Service (DWD) has offered slim hopes for a patchy white Christmas, predicting that an influx of cold air could bring localised snowfalls on December 24th.
Southern Germany will see precipitation during the day, often turning into weak snow or snow flurries, the DWD announced. Light flurries are also expected from the Rhön mountains in central Germany through the Thuringian Forest to the Ore Mountains.
But a proper blanket of snow across the country remains unlikely.
READ ALSO: Will Germany see a white Christmas this year?
Germany logs over 1,000 suspicious drone flights in 2025
Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) has recorded more than 1,000 suspicious drone flights since January, BKA chief Holger MĂĽnch revealed to Bild newspaper, citing a new internal threat assessment on drones as a criminal tool.
Military sites, airports, arms factories and ports faced the most overflights, signalling a "pronounced danger situation."
The report integrates all incident data, including Bundeswehr intelligence. While state actors – possibly sowing unease or gathering intel like scanning smartphones at Ukrainian training bases – are suspected in non-hobby cases, Russian involvement can't be fully confirmed.
A spokesperson for Germany’s interior ministry highlighted countermeasures undertaken by the government, including the creation of a new police drone defence unit and a joint federal-state Drone Defence Centre.
READ ALSO: Researchers are fine tuning drone defence at a secluded German airport
EU condemns China dairy duties as 'unjustified'
The European Union hit out at China on Monday, saying it was "unjustified" for Beijing to impose duties of up to 42.7 percent on some dairy products from the 27-nation bloc.
China's announcement on Monday was the latest in a trade spat with the EU covering a series of goods from food to electric vehicles.
Germany's Dairy Industry Association said Monday that the tariffs represent a "hard blow for the companies concerned... especially given the already strained market situation."Â
In a statement sent to AFP, a spokesman for the association urged "Germany, the EU, and China not to further and inappropriately involve the dairy and food sectors in the trade dispute over unrelated sectors," although he cautioned that "based on our current information, only a few dairy products are affected".
The temporary "duty deposits", which range from 21.9 percent to 42.7 percent, come into effect on Tuesday.
READ ALSO: China jumps US to return as Germany's top trade partner
They hit an array of items including fresh and processed cheese, curd, blue cheese and some milk and cream, the commerce ministry in Beijing said in a statement.
The dairy levies come a week after Beijing said it would impose duties on EU pork imports for five years to counter alleged dumping of products on the Chinese market.
Police investigate car crash in Giessen
On Monday afternoon, a 32-year-old driver had crossed into oncoming traffic on one a busy road in the Hessian city of Giessen and collided with another vehicle near a bus stop.Â
According to a police spokesman, a woman who was nearby was seriously injured. Three other people suffered minor injuries, including the driver himself. How exactly those affected were injured - and whether it was an accident or possibly intentional - is still the subject of the investigation.
Police have reportedly continued the investigation through the night, and have announced an official press statement on the case for Tuesday afternoon. According to police statements, the investigation has been continuing "in all directions".
The driver, a 32-year-old man from Azerbaijan living in Giessen, was provisionally arrested.
 Hesse's Interior Minister Roman Poseck (CDU) had declared late Monday evening that a political or terrorist motive was unlikely according to initial findings.
It seems possible that an illness could have been the cause of the driver's behaviour.Â
Ex-CDU politician Axel Fischer arrested in clinic
Former CDU Bundestag member Axel Fischer was arrested Monday in a Bad Säckingen clinic after repeatedly failing to appear for his bribery trial at Munich's Higher Regional Court.
Presiding Judge Jochen Bösl confirmed Fischer would be escorted 350 kilometres to court under medical supervision for the 3pm session.
"We would have preferred to avoid this escalation – it's self-inflicted," Bösl remarked, as Fischer's lawyers appealed the warrant.
Court-appointed experts deemed him fit to stand trial over the weekend, despite his clinic stay.
Fischer, from Karlsruhe-Land, denies taking tens of thousands in cash for pro-Azerbaijan speeches and leaking documents in the Council of Europe (PACE) from 2010-2018. A key charge faces statute of limitations in mid-January.
With reporting by DPA and AFP.
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