Today's top story: Germany sees thunderstorms, hail and severe winds
After an intense spell of high temperatures and sunshine, Germany has been hit with thunderstorms this week.
On Wednesday, the German Weather Service (DWD) issued level one warnings for parts of Bavaria, Baden-WĂĽrttemberg and Lower Saxony.
Meteorologists say warm Atlantic air is driving the unstable conditions. Heavy rain, hail and wind gusts of up to 70 km/h hit affected areas, while northeastern and eastern regions saw relatively calmer weather.
The situation was expected to worsen on Thursday, particularly in southern and northwestern Germany.
Forecasters expect further thunderstorms and storm-force winds, with some areas facing severe weather conditions throughout the day.
In isolated locations, the DWD has warned of hurricane-force gusts reaching up to 110 km/h and has not ruled out "short-lived tornadoes".
Temperatures are expected to remain cool, ranging from 17C to 22C across most of the country, with warmer conditions in the southeast.
Berlin–Hamburg rail link to reopen with slower speeds after upgrade
Deutsche Bahn will reopen its key Berlin–Hamburg railway line on June 14th after months of renovation, but passengers should expect slightly longer journey times at first.
Although services will resume in full, long‑distance ICE trains will run at reduced speeds for the first two weeks while new signalling systems are certified and tested. As a result, schedules have been adjusted by a few minutes until the end of June.
Even after this period, journeys are set to remain marginally slower than originally planned.
Travel times are expected to be at least 107 minutes, compared with around 105 minutes before the upgrade and well short of the originally envisaged 90-minute target.
READ ALSO: Months of disruption ahead as Berlin-Hamburg railway closes for construction
The delays are partly attributed to a shortage of trained inspectors, meaning some new control systems are not yet in operation. Older signalling must therefore be used on parts of the route, limiting top speeds.
German states mark Fronleichnam with a public holiday
Several German states will see a public holiday on Thursday for Fronleichnam, known in English as Corpus Christi.Â
The holiday's has religious roots, with Catholics celebrating on the second Thursday after Pentecost.
Many workers in these states can expect the day off work. Since it falls on a Thursday, the holiday also presents the opportunity to make a four-day holiday weekend by taking a bridge day.
It's a Feiertag in Baden-WĂĽrttemberg, Bavaria, Hesse, North-Rhine Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland as well as parts of Saxony and Thuringia.
Germany's Rheinmetall sells auto unit to focus on defence
Rheinmetall said this week it will sell its struggling auto division to an investment firm for around €350 million to focus solely on its booming defence business.
The group has seen fast-growing demand for its armaments, from ammunition to air defence systems and military vehicles, as Europe races to rearm faced with a hostile Russia and worries about US security guarantees.
It also has a smaller unit supplying carmakers but this has fared less well as the German auto industry struggles, and the group had been planning to offload the division for some time.
Rheinmetall said it had signed an agreement with the Munich-based investment firm Aequita, which will buy the division for a provisional price of €350 million, with the deal due to close in the fourth quarter of 2026.
Aequita intends to retain all the roughly 6,250 employees of the division, which makes a wide range of components used in cars, from electronics to specialised valves.
"This is a significant milestone in the company's history," said Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger.
German director Wenders pulls 1975 film over Kinski nude scene
Award-winning German director Wim Wenders said Wednesday he was withdrawing his 1975 film "Wrong Move" after a campaign by actress Nastassja Kinski against a scene in which she appeared topless when she was 13 years old.
In a statement on his foundation's website, Wenders apologised to Kinski and said that the non-profit Wim Wenders Foundation, which owns the film, is withdrawing it from all current channels of distribution.
"As the only person responsible at the time for 'Wrong Move' who is still here, I recognize that Nastassja Kinski should have been better protected back then," Wenders, 80, said in the statement.
"For that, I apologise to you, Nastassja, unreservedly, no ifs and buts," said Wenders, one of the most influential German directors of recent decades. His films have won a BAFTA award and a Palme d'Or at Cannes.
Last month Kinski, 65, gave an interview to the Sueddeutsche Zeitung daily in which she said she had for years been trying to get Wenders to change the film, without success.
"That was my first film, he was my first director and he didn't protect me," Kinski told the paper.Â
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With reporting from AFP and Tom Pugh
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