Tuesday's top story: 16- and 17-year-olds vote for first time as young voters tilt Baden-Württemberg election
For the first time in Baden-Württemberg, 16- and 17-year-olds were eligible to vote in a state election on Sunday, joining a broader group of first-time and young voters whose choices differed noticeably from the overall electorate.
According to data from infratest dimap, younger voters showed a clear preference for the Greens, who secured 28 percent of the vote among first-time voters – just below their overall election result.
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The CDU placed second with 16 percent, a share unchanged from 2021, underlining a growing generational gap. Political scientist Frank Brettschneider described the result as a shift, noting that while younger voters had previously leaned more strongly towards the AfD and the Left Party, this election saw renewed support for the Greens.
Even so, both the AfD and the Left Party made significant gains, reaching 15 and 14 percent respectively, making them the only parties to improve their standing among first-time voters. By contrast, the SPD and FDP fell back, with the FDP losing particularly heavily.
Surveys suggest that economic concerns and climate protection were the decisive issues for young voters, closely followed by social and internal security.
Baden-Württemberg politicians argue over power-sharing
After an extremely close state election result in Baden-Württemberg, members of the CDU proposed that the state's top seat should be shared, an idea which election winner Cem Özdemir has sharply rejected.
In Sunday's election, the Greens had just reached first place with 30.2 percent, just ahead of the CDU with 29.7 percent. In the new state parliament, however, both factions will each have 56 seats.
CDU/CSU group leader Jens Spahn, and other members of the party, therefore suggested that the state's top position, of minister-president, should be shared. The mayor of Stuttgart, Frank Nopper, told Bild that there was "no clear election winner".
Meanwhile state CDU leader Manuel Hagel, who had already conceeded the election to Özdemir, did not rule out a division of the term of office when asked.
On the other side, Minister-President elect, Özdemir, strongly rejected the claims as "nonsense".
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Even if there were only one more vote, it would be clear who would provide the prime minister, he said, adding that such is tradition.
"We are doing adult politics, the situation is simply too serious for nonsense of all kinds," Özdemir said.
In response, CDU State Secretary Tobias Vogt sent a message on Monday evening accusing Özdemir of “condescending arrogance.”
Lufthansa extends suspension of Mideast flights
German aviation giant Lufthansa on Monday extended the suspension of flights to key destinations in the Middle East as the US-Israeli war on Iran continued into a second week.
Flights to and from Dubai and Abu Dhabi, as well as Dammam in Saudi Arabia, are cancelled until March 15th, it said in a statement.
The suspension of services to Tel Aviv in Israel was extended until at least April 2nd, said the group, which also operates Eurowings, Austrian, Swiss and Brussels airlines.
Last week, Lufthansa had already decided to extend the suspension of services to Amman in Jordan and Erbil in Iraq until March 15th, to Beirut until March 28th and to Tehran until April 30th.
Volkswagen profits almost halve in 2025
Volkswagen suffered a sharp profit slump in 2025, underlining the mounting challenges facing Europe’s largest carmaker. The group’s net profit fell by around 44 percent to €6.9 billion, down from €12.4 billion a year earlier, Volkswagen announced at its Wolfsburg headquarters.
Sales also edged lower, slipping 0.8 percent to just under €322 billion.
The year was marked by heavy losses earlier on, particularly in the third quarter, when the group posted a deficit of more than €1 billion. This was largely driven by costs at subsidiary Porsche, linked to a strategic rethink that extended the life of combustion engines, as well as the impact of billions of euros in US tariffs.
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Performance improved in the final quarter, offering some relief after a difficult nine months.
Vehicle deliveries fell slightly to 8.98 million worldwide. While Volkswagen grew its sales in Europe, this was not enough to offset declines in key markets such as China and North America.
Attention is now turning to the company’s outlook for 2026, after Volkswagen revealed it had uncovered an unexpected €6 billion cash buffer. The windfall has sparked debate over financial management, even as broader pressures – from tariffs to geopolitical uncertainty – continue to weigh on the group.
German farmers sign up to help save the partridge
In case you were yet unaware, the partridge is the bird of the year 2026.
But the shy birds with orange-brown heads and gray breasts have disappeared from the landscape in many places they are native to, including in Germany.
The initiative "Save Partridge - Promote Diversity!" estimates there are between 35,000 and 61,000 breeding pairs living in Germany, which represents a population decline of more than 80 percent between 1980 and 2025.
The good news is that a survey by the German Hunting Association found the population has recently increased slightly: Compared to the low in 2019, a third more pairs were reported in 2023.
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Contributing factors to the disappearance of the partridge appear to be an overall decline in insects in Germany, as well as habitat loss due to industrial farming.
Therefore the initiative is focused on creating and improving habitats for partridges, and hundreds of farmers in Germany have signed up to take protective measures.
Farmer Christian Wiese, for example, lives and works not far from Brockum in Stemwede in North Rhine-Westphalia. He has been there for the partridge for five years now, creating "shelter, food and security".
With reporting by AFP, DPA and Paul Krantz.
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