Train strike to continue until Friday evening
The rail strike by the Train Drivers' Union (GDL) is set to stretch until Friday evening at 6pm.
It is the last day of the current three-day industrial action called by the union in the row over pay and conditions.
While long-distance and regional trains, as well as the S-Bahn, are offering a limited service, only about 20 percent of regularly scheduled trains are set to run Friday. Passengers should continue to check the Deutsche Bahn's website for the latest timetable.
There may still be disruption after the strike ends as many trains will not be in the correct locations.
On Friday morning, the union announced that it would end its strike on trains run by regional operator Transdev at midday, citing the fact that the union was willing to "negotiate seriously on all core demands".
This means that some regional services run by NordWestBahn and the Transdev companies Hanover, Central Germany, Regio Ost and Rhine-Ruhr will resume services six hours earlier than planned.
READ ALSO: Germany could see more train strikes this winter, says union boss
Black ice causes accidents across Germany
Dangerously icy surfaces posed challenges for pedestrians, drivers and cyclists in Germany on Thursday evening and Friday morning.
Traffic accidents occurred in many places across the country, from Berlin to North Rhine-Westphalia.
The fire and rescue service in Berlin tweeted on Thursday to say that slippery roads had led to "a state of emergency" and all available ambulances were in use. They urged people only to call an ambulance in urgent situations.
Straßenglätte führt zu Ausnahmezustand und hoher Auslastung bei der @berliner_fw
— Berliner Feuerwehr (@Berliner_Fw) January 11, 2024
Es kommt zu längeren Anfahrtszeiten.
Alle verfügbaren Rettungswagen sind besetzt und im Einsatz. Alle #FF sind in Dienst gerufen.
Rufen Sie den Rettungsdienst nur in Notfällen!
Meiden Sie die Straße!
There were several traffic accidents in Brandenburg due to the ice. Among the incidents, a 35-year-old driver was seriously injured between Plänitz and Wusterhausen after she lost control of her car on a slippery road and crashed into a tree.
Slippery roads and pavements have also been seriously affecting drivers in Lower Saxony. An official warning of slippery conditions caused by freezing rain was in effect in a strip between Uelzen and Göttingen across the Hanover region to Osnabrück and southern Emsland.
In North Rhine-Westphalia, the Münsterland, the northern Ruhr area and the Lower Rhine were particularly affected. In the city of Hamm alone, there were more than 20 accidents reported due to slippery roads, with three people injured. There were also warnings in the Borken district, in Paderborn and in Münster, where a farmers' demonstration with around 1,900 tractors took place in the evening.
The German Weather Service (DWD) said black ice would continue to be a hazard for the rest of Friday.
CSU leader against banning far-right AfD
Despite the recently publicised meeting between right-wing extremists and AfD officials in Potsdam, Markus Söder, leader of the CSU - the Bavarian sister party of the Christian Democrats or CSU - is sceptical about banning the far-right party.
"I believe that a ban simply has extreme constitutional hurdles. And striving for such a ban will probably lead to a fairly certain failure," said the Bavarian State Premier in an extract from a radio interview published by Deutschlandfunk on Thursday.
This would give the AfD carte blanche and strengthen it to such an extent that it would "probably be virtually unstoppable in democratic elections".
At the meeting in a villa, the leader of the far-right Identitarian movement, Austrian Martin Sellner, presented ideas for "remigration" - the repatriation of immigrants.
READ ALSO: Germany's far-right AfD denies plan to expel 'non-assimilated foreigners'
Chancellor Scholz met with farmers' protests at Deutsche Bahn factory opening
Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) was greeted with loud protests from farmers at the opening of a new railway plant for ICE trains in the eastern German city of Cottbus on Thursday. The police led a convoy of tractors past the factory, leading the railway factory hall to be cordoned off.
The farmers' protests are part of the nationwide week of action in which German farmers are expressing their displeasure at planned cuts to agricultural policy.
The chancellor's visit was actually about mobility and Deutsche Bahn. Scholz, together with Brandenburg's state premier Dietmar Woidke and Deutsche Bahn CEO Richard Lutz, were launching the factory building.
In future, the entire fleet of the ICE 4, or 137 trains according to DB, will be serviced in the railway's largest factory to date. The two-track hall was built within 20 months.
The railway plant is one of the most important projects to support the Lusatian coal region.
Flood victims to continue receiving aid despite budget cuts
FDP parliamentary group leader Christian Dürr believes that suspending the debt brake this year due to aid for victims of the 2021 flood disaster in the Ahr valley is off the table. Dürr told the German Press Agency (DPA) on Thursday.
"According to the final calculation of the Federal Ministry of Finance, an emergency resolution for the Ahr Valley is not necessary. The flood aid can be financed regularly from the federal budget."
A single-digit billion amount is likely to remain in the 2023 federal budget, as DPA learnt from finance ministry circles on Thursday. The German government has not exhausted the budget funds earmarked for 2023. This means that funds will be available for the reconstruction aid fund for the Ahr Valley without further cost-cutting measures, they said.
Tesla's German factory suspends production over Red Sea delays
Electric car manufacturer Tesla has announced it is suspending for two weeks the bulk of production at its factory in Germany, citing a shortage of parts due to shipping delays caused by Huthi rebel attacks in the Red Sea.
The suspension was disclosed just hours before the United States and Britain announced early Friday they had carried out air strikes against the Iran backed rebels over their repeated threats to vessels in the key waterway.
The Red Sea attacks had led to delays that created a "gap in the supply chains", resulting in production at the facility southeast of Berlin being suspended "with the exception of a few sectors", Tesla said in a statement sent to AFP.
"From February 12th, production will resume in full," it added.
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