United News of Bangladesh

Germany on Thursday said it views Bangladesh as a "strategic partner" in trade, investment, and sustainable development. "All participants were deeply impressed by the business opportunities in various manufacturing sectors beyond the textile industry," said Executive Board Member of OAV-German Asia-Pacific Business Delegation Almut Roessner as the German business stakeholder delegation concluded a five-day visit to Bangladesh. With total bilateral trade valued at USD 9.81 billion in 2024, this visit reaffirmed Germany’s "confidence in Bangladesh’s economic potential" and its commitment to building resilient and future-oriented partnerships, he said. For Bangladeshi firms expanding their production to meet growing local and international demand, Roessner said German suppliers of specialised machinery and automation technology are highly attractive partners. German parties reach a deal to form new government "Our multiple discussions with representatives of the interim government left us with the clear impression of a strong commitment to establishing a lasting reform agenda aimed at attracting more diverse investment to the country." The delegation participated in the Bangladesh Investment Summit 2025 and engaged with a wide range of stakeholders in Dhaka and Chattogram. The delegation included representatives from the German Federal Government, German business associations, and leading German enterprises. Over the course of the visit, delegates met with senior government representatives, attended sectoral discussions at the Bangladesh Investment Summit. They visited key industrial sites such as the German-Bangladeshi Joint Venture Hana System Ltd. in Gazipur, the WALTON Group, and logistics and ship recycling operations in Chattogram. Site visits also included German-affiliated factories and infrastructure projects, offering a first-hand look at Bangladesh’s evolving investment landscape, according to the Embassy of Germany in Dhaka. Germany sees promising efforts to further improve business environment in Bangladesh The delegation was organised in cooperation with OAV – the German Asia-Pacific Business Association, which supports bilateral business cooperation and strengthens Germany’s presence in emerging markets across Asia.

Conservative and centre-left parties reached a deal to form a new German government on Wednesday after weeks of negotiations. The agreement paves the way for new leadership in Europe’s biggest economy after months of political drift. Friedrich Merz, the leader of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union, is expected to become Germany’s next leader under the agreement, replacing outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz. The parties involved sent an invitation to a news conference on the coalition deal at 3pm. (1300 GMT). Merz’s two-party Union bloc emerged as the strongest force from Germany’s election on February 23. Merz turned to the Social Democrats, Scholz’s center-left party, to put together a coalition with a parliamentary majority. It’s still going to be a little while before parliament can elect Merz as chancellor, perhaps in early May. Before that can happen, the coalition deal will need approval in a ballot of the Social Democrats’ membership and by a convention of Merz’s CDU. Details of the agreement weren’t immediately available. But already last month, the two sides pushed plans through parliament to enable higher defense spending by loosening strict rules on incurring debt and to set up a huge infrastructure fund that’s aimed at boosting the stagnant economy. That was an about-turn for Merz, whose party had spoken out against running up new debt before the election without entirely closing the door to future changes to Germany's self-imposed “debt brake.” Iran’s president pledges no nuclear bomb, invites U.S. investment talks The election took place seven months earlier than planned after Scholz’s unpopular coalition collapsed in November, three years into a term that was increasingly marred by infighting and widespread discontent. The market turbulence caused by US President Donald Trump’s announcement of sweeping tariffs added to pressure for Merz’s Union and the Social Democrats to bring their coalition talks to a conclusion. So have polls showing support for the Union slipping from its election showing and that of the far-right Alternative for Germany, which finished a strong second in February, gaining as the political vacuum persisted. The prospective new coalition brings together what have been post-World War II Germany’s traditional big parties, but the Union’s election-winning performance in February was lackluster and the Social Democrats dropped to their worst postwar showing in a national parliamentary election. Together, they have 328 seats in the 630-member lower house of parliament, the Bundestag.

A company that specializes in early wildfire detection has developed a new, AI-based drone it says will help speed up the detection, location and monitoring of fires. The Silvaguard drone by Dryard Networks was presented Thursday in Eberswalde outside of Berlin as wildfires driven by extreme heat and climate change are becoming a more common, often deadly phenomenon around the globe. The drone will deliver infrared images, among other things, and works in combination with a fire detection system that the company developed earlier and that's already being used in several countries. The fire detection system, called Silvanet, is designed to detect wildfires at the smoldering stage using solar-powered gas sensors connected via a wireless network. Each gas sensor can protect an area the size of a football field and be attached to a tree. The plan is that once Silvanet detects a fire, it will trigger a nearby Silvaguard drone to fly to the location and provide detailed images. ChatGPT’s viral Ghibli-Style images raise AI copyright concerns “Today we saw a combination of Silvanet — the solar powered gas sensors that detected the fire within minutes — with Silvaguard, the first prototype of an autonomous, an AI enabled drone that we dispatched in response to a fire," said Carsten Brinkschulte, the CEO and co-founder, Dryad Networks. The drone “flew autonomously to the location of the sensor, detecting the fire, and delivered overhead infrared and optical video from the point of fire,” he said of the newly developed drone. The company is still waiting to get the go-ahead for the commercial use of Silvaguard drone from authorities. The information about the fire, including geographic coordinates, video and infrared images, will then be sent to the firefighters who will then know where the fire is spreading and how big it is, which will help them know how many firefighters need to be deployed. “When it comes to wildfires, time is of the essence, you cannot be fast enough," Brinkschulte said.

Seeking German help to implement the reform agenda of his interim government, Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus has said the government is likely to hold the elections by the end of this year. "We need all your support for the New Bangladesh. We are working hard to make the general election a big success," he said. Bangladesh wants a special relationship with Germany in an effort to deepen trade and investment ties with Europe's largest economy, said Dr Yunus. The Chief Adviser made the comments when Zarah Bruhn, a Commissioner of the German government, met him at the State Guest House Jamuna in Dhaka on Wednesday. During the talks, the Chief Adviser praised the German people and the German economy, saying the country has been the leader in many areas, including heavy industries, in the world. "We have close relations with Germany. But we want to have a different relationship -- a special relationship-- with Germany," he said. Dr Yunus urges Maldives to regularise undocumented Bangladeshi expats Zarah Bruhn, who is visiting Bangladesh to learn more about social businesses and micro credit, lauded the leadership of Professor Yunus, saying Bangladesh would prosper during his tenure. "I am a big enthusiast of your work," she said, adding that she was keen to launch social businesses in Germany. They also discussed the three zero movement launched by Professor Yunus, social businesses, poverty reduction measures, and the future of the welfare state. Lamiya Morshed, senior secretary and the head of the SDGs affairs of the Bangladesh government, also attended the meeting.

Germany's outgoing government on Wednesday extended by six months the border checks it imposed on all its frontiers last fall as it attempts to cut the number of migrants arriving in the country, an issue that has become a top issue in the campaign for the Feb. 23 election. Chancellor Olaf Scholz said his government notified the European Union's executive commission of the extension to Sept. 15. “With the border controls, we are pushing irregular migration down successfully. The figures prove this," he said. Germany turned back 47,000 people back at its borders, seeing one-third fewer asylum requests year-on-year and arresting 1,900 smugglers. The country was already controlling its borders with Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria and Switzerland before it extended the checks last September to its remaining borders, with France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark. Ukraine ‘may be Russian someday’, says Trump The EU has a visa-free travel area known as Schengen that allows citizens of most member states to travel easily across borders for work and pleasure. Switzerland also belongs to Schengen although it is not an EU member. According to the EU, member states are allowed can temporarily reintroduce border controls in cases of a serious threat, like internal security. But it also says border controls should be applied as a last resort in exceptional situations, and must be limited in time. German opposition leader Friedrich Merz, the front-runner in the election, wants to go further than the current government. He has said that if he becomes chancellor, he would order the Interior Ministry on his first day in office to control all of Germany’s borders permanently and “turn back all attempts at illegal entry without exception.” He argued that EU rules are “recognizably dysfunctional” and Germany must exert a right to the primacy of national law. Scholz argues that Merz's proposal is incompatible with German and EU law and would lead to the EU’s most populous member undermining the bloc.

Germany, Europe’s largest economy, saw its economy shrink for the second year in a row in 2024, based on preliminary official data published Wednesday, just weeks ahead of an election where the economy is the central focus, reports AP. The Federal Statistical Office reported a 0.2% decline in gross domestic product last year, following a contraction in 2023. Ruth Brand, the office's head, stated that the economy is estimated to have shrunk by 0.1% in the fourth quarter compared to the preceding three months. However, this is a provisional estimate as complete economic data for December are still pending. Asian stocks mixed ahead of US inflation data Germany's economic struggles have been compounded by external disruptions and domestic challenges, including bureaucratic hurdles and a lack of skilled workers, with politicians divided over solutions. The government led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz collapsed in November after Scholz dismissed his finance minister over disagreements on revitalising the economy, prompting an early election set for Feb. 23. Asian shares mixed as Big Tech drops affect Wall Street Candidates vying to form the next government have presented differing strategies to reinvigorate the economy.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he will again call on allies to boost its air defenses at this week's meeting in Germany, as US President-elect Donald Trump takes over later this month with a vow to end the almost three-year war quickly. Zelenskyy said that dozens of partner countries will participate in the meeting of the Ramstein group at Ramstein Air Base in Germany on Thursday, “including those who can help boost our capabilities not only to defend against missiles but also against guided bombs and Russian aviation.” “We will discuss this with them and continue to persuade them,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly address on Saturday. “The task remains unchanged: strengthening our air defense.” Trump appears with Italian Prime Minister Meloni at his Florida club US Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin will attend the meeting. Biden was originally scheduled to attend the October summit in Ramstein but it was postponed because of response to Hurricane Milton that battered the US. In its last few weeks in office, the Biden administration was pressing to send as much military aid as possible to Ukraine before Trump is sworn in January 20. Trump claimed during his election campaign that he could end the war in one day and his comments have put a question mark over whether the United States will continue to be Ukraine’s biggest — and most important — military backer. Zelenskyy said last week that Trump is "strong and unpredictable,” and those qualities can be a decisive factor in his policy approach to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Russia controls about one-fifth of Ukraine, and capitalized last year on weaknesses in Ukraine’s defenses to slowly advance in eastern areas despite high losses of troops and equipment. The war’s trajectory isn’t in Ukraine’s favor. The country is shorthanded on the front line and needs continued support from its Western partners. Zelenskyy said Saturday that Russian and North Korean troops had suffered heavy losses in the fighting in Russia’s Kursk region. “In battles yesterday and today near just one village, Makhnovka, in the Kursk region, the Russian army lost up to a battalion of North Korean infantry soldiers and Russian paratroopers,” Zelenskyy said. “This is significant.” Trump's strength and unpredictability can help end the war with Russia: Zelenskyy Zelenskyy said last month that 3,000 North Korean troops had been killed and wounded in Kursk, where Ukrainian forces launched an incursion in August, dealing a blow to Russia’s prestige and forcing it to deploy some of its troops from a slow-moving offensive in eastern Ukraine. The incursion didn’t significantly change the dynamic of the war, and military analysts say Ukraine has lost around 40% of the land it initially captured. In other developments, nine people were wounded in a Russian guided bomb attack on the border town of Semenivka in Ukraine’s northern Chernihiv region on Saturday evening, local officials said. Moscow sent 103 drones into Ukraine overnight into Sunday, Ukrainian officials said. According to Ukraine’s air force, 61 drones were destroyed and 42 were lost likely due to electronic jamming. Russia’s Defense Ministry said that 61 Ukrainian drones were shot down overnight into Sunday in five regions of western Russia. No casualties were reported but Rostov regional Gov. Yuri Slyusar said residential buildings and cars had been damaged by falling drone debris.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Friday ordered parliament dissolved and set new elections for Feb. 23 in the wake of the collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz's coalition, saying it was the only way to give the country a stable government capable of tackling its problems. Scholz lost a confidence vote on Dec. 16 and leads a minority government after his unpopular and notoriously rancorous three-party coalition collapsed on Nov. 6 when he fired his finance minister in a dispute over how to revitalize Germany’s stagnant economy. Steinmeier said he made the decision because it was clear after consultation with party leaders that there was no agreement among Germany's political parties on a majority for a new government in the current parliament. “It is precisely in difficult times like these that stability requires a government capable of taking action and a reliable majority in parliament,” he said as he made the announcement in Berlin. "Therefore I am convinced that for the good of our country new elections are the right way.” China sanctions 7 companies over US military assistance to Taiwan Since the post-World War II constitution doesn’t allow the Bundestag to dissolve itself, it was up to Steinmeier to decide whether to dissolve parliament and call an election. He had 21 days to make that decision. Once parliament is dissolved, the election must be held within 60 days. Leaders of several major parties agreed earlier on the election date of Feb. 23, seven months earlier than originally planned. Steinmeier warned about outside interference in the poll, saying it is “a danger to democracy, whether it is covert, as was evidently the case recently in the Romanian elections, or open and blatant, as is currently being practiced particularly intensively on platform X.” A top Romanian court annulled the first round of the country’s presidential election, days after allegations emerged that Russia ran a coordinated online campaign to promote the far-right outsider who won the first round. The campaign is already well underway. Polls show Scholz’s party trailing the conservative opposition Union bloc led by Friedrich Merz. Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck of the environmentalist Greens, the remaining partner in Scholz’s government, is also bidding for the top job — though his party is further back. If recent polls hold up, the likely next government would be led by Merz as chancellor in coalition with at least one other party. Key issues include immigration, how to get the sluggish economy going, and how best to aid Ukraine in its struggle against Russia. The populist, anti-immigration Alternative for Germany, or AfD, which is polling strongly, has nominated Alice Weidel as its candidate for chancellor but has no chance of taking the job because other parties refuse to work with it. Germany’s electoral system traditionally produces coalitions, and polls show no party anywhere near an absolute majority on its own. The election is expected to be followed by weeks of negotiations to form a new government. It’s only the fourth time that the Bundestag has been dissolved ahead of schedule under Germany’s post-World War II constitution. It happened under Chancellor Willy Brandt in 1972, Helmut Kohl in 1982 and Gerhard Schroeder in 2005. Schroeder used the confidence vote to engineer an early election narrowly won by center-right challenger Angela Merkel.

Germany’s foreign minister is warning anyone involved in atrocities for the ousted Syrian government against seeking refuge in her country, saying they would face “the full force of the law.” Germany has been a major destination for Syrian refugees over the past decade, and several hundred thousand Syrian nationals live there. In rulings since 2021, former Syrian secret police officers already have been convicted in Germany for overseeing or facilitating the abuse of detainees. “To any of (former President Bashar) Assad’s torturers who might be considering fleeing to Germany now, I can only say clearly: We will bring all the regime’s henchmen to account for their terrible crimes with the full force of the law,” Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock told Sunday’s edition of the Bild am Sonntag newspaper. South Korea's opposition chief urges swift action from top court on impeachment Baerbock called for international security authorities and intelligence services to work closely together. Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said Germany is “extremely vigilant” and pointed to border checks that the country already has put in place on its frontiers as it tries to reduce irregular migration. She told Bild am Sonntag that “no one who participated in atrocities is safe from prosecution here.” She said the convictions already handed down show that Germany pursues such crimes rigorously and should act as a deterrent against people involved in them going there. More broadly, German officials have stressed that many well-integrated arrivals of recent years will be welcome to stay after the removal of Assad. That was followed by some talk of Syrians going home, which Chancellor Olaf Scholz acknowledged in a video released Friday “deeply unsettled” them. “Anyone who is working here, who is well integrated, is and remains welcome in Germany,” he said. “That goes without saying.” “Some of the refugees hope they can soon return to their homeland. We will support that as soon as the situation allows," he added. But “only the coming days, weeks and months will show what direction Syria takes after Assad.”

Bangladesh and Germany on Thursday signed the financial and technical agreements on development cooperation between the two countries. Following the fruitful negotiations of the two governments on May 13-14 this year, the available amount up to EUR 180.807 million (approx. Tk 2265 crore) has been captured in these agreements with up to EUR 45.8 million for technical cooperation and up to EUR 135 million for financial cooperation. Md Shahriar Kader Siddiky, Secretary, Economic Relations Division (ERD), Ministry of Finance of Bangladesh and Achim Tröster, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Bangladesh, signed the agreement on behalf of the two governments. The signing ceremony was attended by officials from the government of Bangladesh, the German Embassy in Dhaka, the German Development Bank KfW, the German technical cooperation agencies GIZ and BGR. Read: Germany to support Bangladesh reforms; pledges 600 million Euro for renewable enegery  The cooperation under these agreements will take place in the areas of renewable energy and energy efficiency (up to EUR 50.5 million), sustainable urban development (up to eur 95.5 million), technical and vocational education and training (up to EUR 5.0 million), socially and environmentally sound supply chains, trade and infrastructure (EUR 12 million), protection of biodiversity (up to EUR 6.0 million) and for a project on combating domestic violence against women and children (up to EUR 7.0 million). Germany has been providing financial and technical assistance for the development of Bangladesh since 1972, which amounts today to a total of over 3.5 billion EUR.