Gabriel accused Merkel's Bavarian ally Horst Seehofer of making "unnecessary" demands and distracting from what he said were the "real challenges" in taking in and helping the refugees.The vast majority of the up to 1-million people expected to arrive in the country this year are crossing the border from Austria into Bavaria.Chancellor Angela Merkel and her coalition partners ended a meeting on Sunday on how to deal with Germany's refugee crisis with agreement in a few areas but the need for more Read more [...]

More Chancellor Angela Merkel calls them “transit zones.” Her Justice Minister Heiko Mass has called them “mass holding camps in no man’s land.” But whatever the political term of art, it won’t be pretty when Germany starts building border facilities to process the thousands of asylum seekers streaming into the country every day. The idea for these places, which would basically function as deportation centers along the southern frontier with Austria, received Merkel’s grudging approval Read more [...]

Elsewhere in Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel and her coalition partners ended a meeting on Sunday without a breakthrough to resolve differences over how to handle the flood of refugees pouring into Germany. “That’s Horst Seehofer’s real goal and that’s what he failed to achieve, and that’s good because there’s no way to pull up a drawbridge around Germany or Europe”, Gabriel told reporters Monday in Berlin. The state premier of Bavaria and chairman of Christian Read more [...]

Chancellor Angela Merkel proved this weekend that her political survival wasn't in question.The challenge had come from Horst Seehofer, leader of the CSU, the Bavarian sister party to Merkel's CDU. He had set a deadline of Halloween for Merkel to decide how she was going to curb the influx of asylum seekers, most of whom were crossing the Austrian border into Bavaria. If she failed to stem the tide,  he had threatened to consider his options. He even reportedly thought about recalling the four Read more [...]

Signs promise the "last bratwurst before the border" and original "Bavarian pizza." One glance at the Western Saloon Oklahoma shows that the place has been out of wurst for days, it's empty and the chairs are stacked on the tables. On the other side of the street, dogs bark in the German Shepherd SV sports club, while outside, white and blue federal police buses wait for the new arrivals. That's what everyday life looks like these days at the Wegscheid border crossing, an idyllic market town in Read more [...]

Signs promise the "last bratwurst before the border" and original "Bavarian pizza." One glance at the Western Saloon Oklahoma shows that the place has been out of wurst for days, it's empty and the chairs are stacked on the tables. On the other side of the street, dogs bark in the German Shepherd SV sports club, while outside, white and blue federal police buses wait for the new arrivals. That's what everyday life looks like these days at the Wegscheid border crossing, an idyllic market town in Read more [...]

Arsenal will hope their positive recent record in Bavaria can stand them in good stead for this week's clash with Bayern Munich.Philipp Lahm has challenged Bayern Munich to show they are a better team than Arsenal on Wednesday after the Premier League side revived their European prospects with victory in the reverse fixture a fortnight ago. Arsenal breathed life into their hopes of progressing from Champions League Group F by picking up their first points of the campaign against the Bundesliga Read more [...]

A COOL ghoul in lederhosen and scarily sexy fräulein in traditional Bavarian dresses took to the streets of Edinburgh in time for Halloween, to mark the opening of the city’s first authentic German Bier Keller. The famous Frankenstein bar on George IV Bridge has creaked open its basement doors to reveal a traditional German beer cellar where party-goers will be able to get into the Oktoberfest spirit, 365 days a year. Open until 1am on weekdays and 3am at weekends, there will be DJ music Read more [...]

Soeren Kern | Gatestone Institute “We are importing Islamic extremism, Arab anti-Semitism, national and ethnic conflicts of other peoples, as well as a different understanding of society and law.” — From a leaked German intelligence document. “We need to be clear that there must be limits and quotas for immigration — we cannot save the whole world.” — Markus Söder, Finance Minister of Bavaria. “The migration crisis has the potential to destabilize governments, countries and the Read more [...]

Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 2 By Khalid Kazimov – Trend: The Bavarian Minister for Economic Affairs in Germany, Ilse Aigner, has called for resuming cooperation with Iran, particularly in the oil and gas industries. “We call for resuming cooperation between Iranian and Germany’s Bavarian companies after lifting sanctions, and we will do our best to resume the cooperation,” reported SHANA, the Iranian oil ministry’s official news agency, quoting the Read more [...]