Life Style

Some items in German grocery stores have seen prices shoot up Image: Annegret Hilse/REUTERSInflation in Germany rose to 2.9% in August, driven largely by sharply higher energy prices, the Federal Statistical Office confirmed on Thursday. The annual rate was the highest since late 2023, up from 2.8% in July and 2.3% in June. Energy prices rose 10.5% compared with August last year, accelerating from an 8.3% increase in July. Motor fuels cost 27.7% more than a year earlier, while heating oil prices jumped 49.6%. "Particularly noticeable was the rise in energy prices, especially for fuels, which was mainly caused by the Iran war," said Federal Statistical Office President Ruth Brand. Other household energy costs fell, however. Electricity prices were down 5.5%, natural gas including opera...

Some items in German grocery stores have seen prices shoot up Image: Annegret Hilse/REUTERSInflation in Germany rose to 2.9% in August, driven largely by sharply higher energy prices, the Federal Statistical Office confirmed on Thursday. The annual rate was the highest since late 2023, up from 2.8% in July and 2.3% in June. Energy prices rose 10.5% compared with August last year, accelerating from an 8.3% increase in July. Motor fuels cost 27.7% more than a year earlier, while heating oil prices jumped 49.6%. "Particularly noticeable was the rise in energy prices, especially for fuels, which was mainly caused by the Iran war," said Federal Statistical Office President Ruth Brand. Other household energy costs fell, however. Electricity prices were down 5.5%, natural gas including opera...

Merz said the far-right AfD remains a 'destructive force' in German politics Image: John Macdougall/AFPGerman Chancellor Friedrich Merz in the German parliament, the Bundestag, gave a barbed response to opening remarks from the far-right Alternative for Germany's (AfD) co-leader Alice Weider, who lambasted Germany's ruling coalition as a "failure."  The Bundestag debate comes days after the AfD's after its strong showing in the Saxony-Anhalt state election, warning the party against assuming it was on course for broader majorities. "Ms Weidel, today you can barely contain yourself," Merz told AfD co-leader Alice Weidel during the Bundestag's general debate on Wednesday. "But you do not have an absolute majority, and you will not achieve one in Germany." "Nowhere in Germany will you win ...

Two thieves have stolen two paintings from the Renoir Museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer on the French Riviera after breaking into the building early on Tuesday, the town's mayor said. The heist follows a series of high-profile art and cultural-property thefts in Europe. What happened at the Renoir Museum? The thieves initially took four artworks, valued together at around €9 million ($10.5 million), but abandoned two as they fled. The thieves broke into the museum shortly before 6 a.m., Mayor Bryan Masson said. They were detected with the help of the town's video surveillance system. Police gave chase, but the pair escaped. Masson said that the sirens and alarms forced them to hurry and take only four paintings, two of which were ultimately "left behind in the gardens of the Renoir Museum." ...