German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Monday that he had invited Syria’s new transitional President Ahmed al-Sharaa to visit Germany. Merz said the trip would be an opportunity to directly discuss Berlin’s plans to return Syrian criminals to their home country.

According to official figures, some 951,400 Syrian nationals were still living in Germany as of August 2025, including 920 who have a deportation order.

“We will, of course, continue to deport criminals to Syria. That is the plan. We will now implement this in a very concrete manner,” Merz told reporters.

Germany also wants to help stabilize the country, he said, adding that he intends to discuss with Sharaa “how we can solve this together.”

The German chancellor also said Syrian refugees could go home, now that the war is over.

“The civil war in Syria is over. There are now no longer any grounds for asylum in Germany, which means we can begin repatriations,” Merz said.

Syria “needs all its strength, and above all Syrians, to rebuild,” Merz said, adding he was confident many would return on their own.

“Without these people, reconstruction is impossible,” the chancellor said, discussing Germany’s pledge to help rebuild Syria.

“And those in Germany who then refuse to return to their country, we can, of course, deport in the near future,” he added.

But the chancellor’s comments directly contradicted remarks made by his foreign minister, Johann Wadephul, during a visit to Damascus last week. Wadephul said that Syrian refugees living in Germany would be unlikely to return “in the near future” due to the destruction of the country.

Germany’s top diplomat was struck by the devastation that was still visible, as he toured the Damascus suburb of Harasta, nearly a year after the fall of long-term ruler Bashar Assad.

“It is barely possible for people to live here with dignity,” Wadephul said.

A car belonging to a politician from the far-right Alternative for Germany party (AfD) was set alight on Monday in Hamburg,

The incident took place outside the home of Bernd Baumann, who the car belonged to. Baumann is the AfD’s parliamentary secretary in the Bundestag, which is the lower house of parliament.

According to the politician’s office, security services woke him up once the fire had been put at, around 03:20 a.m. Video of the incident showed three completely burnt-out car, with a fourth showing further damage.

A police spokesperson said the incident is being treated as suspected arson.

Baumann’s vehicles were not the only ones to set alight, with police reported to have found a number of burning cars in western Hamburg.

More than half of 18- to 24-year-olds voted for the far-right Alternative for Germany party (AfD), the socialist Left Party, or the populist Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) in Germany’s 2025 federal election — and a new study suggests those parties benefited most from social media algorithms during the campaign.

According to the Bertelsmann Foundation, the AfD and the Left Party content appeared disproportionately often in young users’ feeds on TikTok, Instagram, X and YouTube.

While the AfD posts made up 21.5% of all official party videos, it appeared in 37.4% of feeds among users aged 21 to 25. Die Linke increased its share from 9.7% of posted videos to 27.6% of those displayed.

The BSW also gained visibility, with its videos shown in 8.3% of feeds despite accounting for just 3.1% of posts. By contrast, the business-focused Free Democratic Party (FDP) fared worst — its 7.6% of content appeared in only 1.4% of feeds.

AfD videos were also displayed the fastest — on TikTok within about 11 to 12 minutes of a new profile being created — compared with the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) videos, which appeared after around 70 minutes. Hashtags related to the AfD made up more than half of all party-linked tags on TikTok and Instagram.

The study, conducted with the University of Potsdam, analyzed data from 268 user profiles between January 22 and February 23, 2025, reviewing 1,763 official party and politician accounts.

The president of Germany’s central bank, the Bundesbank, has called for a higher retirement age, warning that Germany’s prosperity cannot be maintained without longer working lives.

“We have to be honest with ourselves, even if it’s uncomfortable,” Joachim Nagel told Table.Briefings. “Germany is an aging society, and we must work longer to preserve the wealth that generations have built since World War II.”

Nagel said competitiveness was at stake, adding that failure to reform could cause Germany and Europe to fall behind. He has repeatedly urged faster structural reforms, including a later pension start.

Despite current weakness, Nagel expressed cautious optimism about the outlook. He said the economy could soon return to moderate growth if government spending on future-oriented investments is well targeted. “We will certainly see more growth next year,” he said.

Germany’s economy remains in its deepest crisis in decades, with only minimal growth expected in 2025 after contractions in 2023 and 2024. Stronger expansion is forecast for 2026, driven by large-scale public spending on infrastructure and defense.

Nagel rejected criticism that the planned fiscal stimulus might be inefficient, saying it was too early to judge.

“The government is aware of its responsibility,” he said, adding that the package’s effects would take time to materialize.

Germany’s foreign minister has spoken by phone with his Chinese counterpart after his planned visit to Beijing was canceledat short notice.

A foreign ministry spokesperson in Berlin said Johann Wadephul and China’s Wang Yi agreed the visit should be rescheduled soon. The Chinese side also renewed invitations to Chancellor Friedrich Merz and extended one to the German head of state, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

Wadephul’s trip was postponed in late October after Beijing failed to confirm meetings beyond talks with Wang. The spokesperson said both ministers stressed that stable German-Chinese relations remain in both countries’ interest and agreed to stay in close contact on security, foreign policy, and trade issues.

Women remain markedly underrepresented in executive positions across Germany, with only 29.1% of leadership roles held by women in 2024, according to figures published by the Federal Statistical Office.

About 1.32 million men and 540,000 women occupied management positions in 2024, leaving Germany well below the EU average of 35.2% leadership roles filled by women. Sweden led the bloc with 44.4% female representation, followed by Latvia (43.4%) and Poland (41.8%). 

Germany’s share of female managers has barely changed in a decade, rising only 0.1 percentage points since 2014. Over the same period, the EU average increased by 3.4 points, with the largest gains seen in Sweden, Estonia, Cyprus, and Malta.

That means that Germany ranked sixth from bottom among all EU states, trailed only by the Czech Republic, Denmark, Italy, Croatia and Cyprus. 

The disparity is notable given Germany’s near-equal overall employment rate between women and men. Women accounted for 46.9% of the workforce in 2024 — slightly above the EU average — yet remain underrepresented in leadership.

Management roles in the data include company executives, department heads, and senior public-sector officials.

Investigators in Berlin have been searching for more clues after the arrest of a 22-year-old Syrian man accused of planning a bomb attack.

Prosecutors said electronic storage devices and other materials seized during searches at three locations in the city were being analyzed. “The next step is the evaluation of the electronic data and remaining evidence,” said prosecutor’s office spokesman Michael Petzold.

The suspect was arrested on Saturday and has been in pretrial detention since Sunday evening, accused of preparing a serious act of violence threatening the state. Officials said he had obtained parts for a homemade explosive or incendiary device, though details about a potential target remain unclear.

The man had come to investigators’ attention for sharing Islamic State propaganda on social media, including jihadist songs and hymns. Prosecutors have also charged him with spreading materials of unconstitutional and terrorist organizations.

Speculation that a Berlin Christmas market may have been a target has not been confirmed. Petzold said the investigation is exploring all possibilities.

The case has reignited political debate over deportations to Syria. Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt has said he aims to reach an agreement with Damascus this year to enable the return of offenders and rejected asylum seekers. Conservative Christian Democrat lawmaker Günter Krings called for the swift deportation of convicted terrorists, saying those who plan attacks “forfeit their right to stay.”

Germany’s armed forces chief has rejected the idea of a draft lottery in the ongoing debate over reintroducing military service, saying all young men should undergo assessment to determine eligibility.

General Inspector Carsten Breuer told Germany’s RND media group that, from a military standpoint, it was essential to screen entire age groups. “Only then do we know who is available and whom we could call upon in a defense situation — one we want to prevent,” he said.

Breuer argued that drawing lots after screening would bring in recruits by chance rather than motivation, making training less effective. If not enough volunteers come forward, he said the Bundeswehr should select those who are “especially qualified and motivated,” targeting skills such as IT expertise rather than relying on random selection.

He said a voluntary model would likely attract more recruits, provided that service is seen as meaningful and appealing.

The Bundestag is currently debating a new military service law. Within the ruling coalition, disagreement remains over what steps to take if voluntary enlistment fails to meet the Bundeswehr’s personnel needs.

Guten Tag from DW’s newsroom in Bonn and Danke Schön for joining us as the autumn leaves fall outside.

Adding his voice to an ongoing debate, Germany’s armed forces chief has dismissed the idea of using a lottery to reintroduce military service.

General Inspector Carsten Breuer has said all young men should first be assessed for eligibility.

Breuer said screening full age groups was vital to know who could serve if needed, amid an increasingly perceived threat from Russia.

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