A 19 year-old Austrian man has given a "full and detailed" confession about his plan to blow up himself and others outside - now cancelled - Vienna Taylor Swift concerts this evening or tomorrow. irishtimes.com/world/europe/2… Irish Times World #TaylorSwiftErasTourVienna

Berlin-based student Amira added "from the river to the sea..." - banned since last November in Germany - to her Facebook profile. A concerned citizen reported her. Armed police showed up at her door at 6am. Read what happened next here: irishtimes.com/world/americas…

Post-war (West) Germany anchored freedom of speech/assembly in its constitution in response to Nazi-era abuses. Have those rights been undermined by Berlin's post-October 7 stance towards Israel? Pro-Palestinian marchers here certainly think so irishtimes.com/world/europe/2… Jüdische Stimme für gerechten Frieden in Nahost

Regional elections in eastern states usually don't spark much interest, yet Germany - and Europe - are watching to see if Saxony and Thuringia discard establish parties and embrace populiat rivals irishtimes.com/world/europe/2… Irish Times World

First exit polls indicate a historic win for Austria's far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ), first on 29.1%, three points ahead of outing centre-right People's Party (ÖVP) on 26.2%. Irish Times World

50 years on, an ex-Stasi officer gets a 10-year sentence for shooting dead a Polish man as he left East Berlin, with Stasi "assistance" irishtimes.com/world/europe/2… Irish Times World

Alert Kraftwerk: all aboard the new Paris-Berlin express, the first daytime connection between the two capitals. Airlines: fasten your seatbelts. Paris-Berlin express: New rail link throws down gauntlet to airlines irishtimes.com/world/europe/2… SNCF Voyageurs Deutsche Bahn Personenverkehr

Stop the traffic light: Germany's slow-motion snap election moves one step closer. In 733-seat Bundestag, 394 MPs voted against Chancellor Olaf Scholz, with 207 votes for him and 116 abstentions. His three-way, three year-old coalition is history. Irish Times World

The real zone of interest is even more disturbing than the Jonathan Glazer film: inside the former home of Rudolf Höss, overlooking the #Auschwitz camp, soon to be a counter-extremism centre Irish Times World irishtimes.com/world/europe/2…

As Elon Musk misreads German's postwar lessons for AfD ahead of #auschwitz80, the masterly 1978 miniseries Holocaust (free on YouTube) has never been more timely Tovah Feldshuh Auschwitz Memorial Irish Times World irishtimes.com/world/europe/2…

German Bundestag rejects a CDU·CSU migration motion by 350 to 338 votes, after an emotional debate, robbing the AfD of a second parliamentary victory and casting doubt on the chancellery hopes of Friedrich Merz Irish Times World

False flag agitprop and only modest climate goals in power: how Germany's BÜNDNIS 90/DIE GRÜNEN have held steady in polls, despite everything, ahead of Sunday's federal elections Irish Times World irishtimes.com/world/europe/2…

Auto-suggestion, self-radicalisation and mutual confirmation: strangers on a train in German reveal a secret of Sunday's AfD election success irishtimes.com/world/europe/2… Irish Times World

Death of a Swabian housewife: why Germany is loosening the fiscal apron strings to borrow €1 trillion to fix crumbling infrastructure and deficient defence capabilities. Irish Times World SPD-Fraktion im Bundestag CDU·CSU Jens Spahn irishtimes.com/world/europe/2…

German Deutscher Bundestag backs giant €1-1.5 trillion security/infrastructure/climate spending package by 513 votes to 207. That's 24 votes more than the required two thirds majority with seven rebels inside the CDU/SPD/Green parties

Once more with feeling: Friedrich Merz elected German chancellor on the second attempt in the Berlin Deutscher Bundestag with 325 votes out of 630, 289 opposed and one abstention The Irish Times Irish Times World

Seven hours late, Friedrich Merz is sworn in as chancellor after securing a Bundestag majority on the second attempt

Poland faces a long night as exit polls put pro-EU election candidate Rafał Trzaskowski just 0.6 points ahead of his national conservative rival Karol Nawrocki

German Nobel Prize-winner Thomas Mann’s 150th birthday present to Germany and the world: a warning from history Irish Times World Irish Times Books Thomas Mann House irishtimes.com/culture/books/… Irish Times Books Irish Times World

And just like that, Germany's Rheinmetall solves the problem having enough, accessible public EV chargers to satisfy growing demand -- and ends range anxiety. Ahead through German engineering. You're welcome. Autocar Irish Times Business Dublin City Hall irishtimes.com/business/2025/…