Two Belarusian nationals are in German investigative detention, accused of planning arson attacks near Bavarian railway and high-voltage power lines on Russia's behalf. Der Spiegel reports the men, aged 39 and 50, were detained in early October. Romanian intelligence links the same pair to a September arson at an industrial park in Brasov housing a munitions company, and a third suspect was arrested Monday in Poland. Germany's ZET counter-extremism unit leads the German investigation, adding to a growing pattern of suspected Russian sabotage targeting European infrastructure, including recent Starlink-related incidents in Poland and Bulgaria. BASF has raised its bid for rival Evonik to €24 per share, valuing the target at just over €11 billion. CEO Markus Kamieth frames the deal as a competitiveness play amid European chemical-sector consolidation, but insists BASF won't overpay. CDU labor wing leader Dennis Radtke has publicly warned of thousands of job losses and called for the takeover to be abandoned. The RAG Foundation's ~43% stake in Evonik gives it effective veto power over any deal. Mercedes-Benz cut its annual profit forecast, citing a 31% plunge in China car sales and rising raw-material costs. Third-quarter revenue fell 4.5% to €30.7 billion, though net profit rose 28% — a comparison flattered by prior-year restructuring charges. Fully electric vehicle sales jumped 61%, a bright spot amid an otherwise deteriorating picture. CEO Ola Källenius pointed to European and US sales growth as partial offsets. Chancellor Friedrich Merz, speaking in Tokyo, proposed a global alliance of trade-rule defenders — countries that would commit to rejecting unlawful tariffs, accept WTO dispute rulings as binding, and coordinate responses to economic coercion. The pitch echoes Canadian PM Mark Carney's middle-power alliance concept. Merz's metaphor: stop asking whether you're "on the menu" or "at the table" — jointly own the restaurant. The succession debate for President Frank-Walter Steinmeier is centered on whether Germany will finally choose a woman. Names circulating include CSU's Ilse Aigner (backed by Söder and reportedly by senior SPD and Green figures), Bundestag president Julia Klöckner (CDU), Education Minister Karin Prien (CDU), former CDU leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, Hesse CDU group leader Ines Claus, author and Brandenburg constitutional judge Juli Zeh (SPD), and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. A Berlin court sentenced a 69-year-old man to 12 years plus preventive detention for drugging, raping, and filming 14 women he met through dating platforms between 2016 and 2022. Investigators found a 24/7 camera aimed at his bed and meticulously organized recordings. Investigations continue into suspected offenses involving another 44 women. Separately, an eight-year-old girl was seriously injured in an animal attack at Wildpark Johannismühle near Baruth/Mark in Brandenburg, and a 30-year-old German tourist was found dead in a rocky area on the Seychelles island of La Digue. Taken together, the day's news illustrates Germany managing simultaneous pressures: hybrid warfare from Russia, industrial restructuring under global competitive stress, a stalling China market that punishes export-dependent automakers, a chancellorship actively trying to build new multilateral frameworks, and an overdue reckoning with representation at the highest symbolic level of state.
