German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said on Monday that upcoming US-mediated talks in Abu Dhabi between Russia and Ukraine will show whether Moscow is genuinely prepared to negotiate a settlement to end the war. Speaking in Paris alongside US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Wadephul urged Moscow to abandon its maximalist demands and warned against any negotiation show.
Wadephul stated that continued Russian attacks against Ukrainian civilian infrastructure show no substantial contribution toward negotiations gaining serious momentum. He added that while everyone would be prepared to engage constructively if Moscow showed willingness, Russia has not demonstrated such a stance thus far.
In other developments, Brussels announced that Germany and eight other EU countries are on track to fall short of their 2030 emissions-cutting targets. The European Commission stated it will request corrective action plans from the nine offending nations within three months following an assessment issued on the sidelines of the COP31 climate summit in Turkey.
Supermarkets Aldi Süd and Lidl announced they will increase their guaranteed minimum wage from 15 euros to 16 euros an hour in December. The legal minimum wage in Germany is currently 13.90 euros an hour and will rise to 14.60 euros in January.
In Dortmund, a cut-price promotion offering kebabs for one euro descended into disorder on Sunday, resulting in a major police operation after arriving officers were attacked with bottles, stones, fireworks, an e-scooter and a chair. Dortmund police chief Tim Frommeyer condemned the violence, and authorities have opened investigations into suspected public disorder, criminal damage and insulting behaviour.
Ilse Aigner, the CDU/CSU candidate to succeed Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, will introduce herself on Tuesday in Berlin to the parliamentary groups of the CDU/CSU, SPD and Greens. Aigner's chief of staff stated that a visit to the AfD parliamentary group is unnecessary following remarks by the group's leader.
Finally, the criminal trial against former rbb director Patricia Schlesinger and three other former executives begins on Tuesday at the Berlin Regional Court. The defendants face charges including embezzlement related to a remuneration system that allegedly circumvented board control, with the trial scheduled to last 56 days until the end of June next year.
Source: The Local. Read the original report ↗