Germany news: Major raids carried out against Hells Angels
What you need to know
- The Bundeswehr has said it is not planning on opening contracts with US AI firm Palantir
- Germany has sent 25 Afghans with criminal records to Afghanistan
- Police have been raiding premises connected with the Hells Angels biker group in the state of NRW
- The German foreign minister is to hold talks with UN chief Antonio Guterres in New York
- Business leaders have little confidence in the German government's ability to boost economic growth, according to a survey
Here is a roundup of the top headlines and human interest stories from Germany on Tuesday, April 28, 2026:
Skip next section Far-right AfD meets vehement counterprotests in Düsseldorf04/28/2026April 28, 2026Far-right AfD meets vehement counterprotests in Düsseldorf
A "walk" through the inner city of Düsseldorf by the local chapter of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party on Monday was forced to change its planned route amid lively counterprotests, local media have reported.
The AfD has said it wants to see homeless people and people addicted to drugs evicted from the center of Düsseldorf to areas at the edge of the city.
It said the "walk" aimed to give its representatives a better picture of the situation in the inner city.
Among other things, the AfD invited Lena Kotre, a party member who is a member of parliament in the eastern state of Brandenburg, to speak at a gathering in the evening
The 38-year-old politician, who also took part in the "walk," is seen as a radical advocate of "remigration" or the mass deportation of people seen by the AfD as undesirable.
Police were tasked with keeping the AfD representatives and the demonstrators opposing them apart, sometimes closing off streets to do so.
Counterprotesters used whistles and loud music to underline their cause.
Some also set up a "cage" containing volunteers from the homeless and drug scene to protest at the AfD's plan.
The AfD has rapidly been gaining popularity across Germany, with one recent survey putting its support at 28% — ahead of the conservative bloc of Chancellor Friedrich Merz that leads the coalition government.
https://p.dw.com/p/5CueLSkip next section Survey: 4 out of 5 German businesses doubt government reform will deliver growth04/28/2026April 28, 2026Survey: 4 out of 5 German businesses doubt government reform will deliver growth
Muna TurkiGerman businesses are skeptical of the government's ability to boost the economy through reform, according to a poll conducted by the Civey Institute for the Economic Forum of the Social Democrats (SPD) and made available to Funke Media Group newspapers.
Among the 1,000 business decision-makers surveyed, only 18.3% were hopeful that the government would significantly increase economic growth through reforms, while 78.4% said it wouldn't.
The uncertainty and skepticism reflect a trend seen in similar surveys last year. In August, 81.7% of business leaders said they did not believe the government would deliver noticeable financial relief in the coming year.
Participants cited a lack of practical economic understanding, an absence of a shared vision, and limited willingness to compromise as reasons for their low trust. More than half of the participants pointed to political maneuvering by coalition partners as a drive for uncertainty.
Companies ranked their top priorities in the survey, putting lower energy prices first (63%), followed closely by reducing bureaucracy (62.4%). Other priorities included social system reform incentives (33.5%) and tax cuts, including income tax cuts (29.4%) and corporate tax cuts (17.4%).
SPD Economic Forum President Ines Zenke called the results a "warning signal," urging a comprehensive reform package rather than isolated measures. She added that pressure on the economy was high and patience was running out, urging implementation of the coalition agreement.
The current German coalition of the conservative Union (CDU/CSU) and the Social Democrats (SPD) took office in May last year, promising massive investment and a defense push, paired with promises to revive growth.
https://p.dw.com/p/5CudESkip next section No contracts with Palantir for now, German military says04/28/2026April 28, 2026No contracts with Palantir for now, German military says
Germany's armed forces do not plan to enter into contracts with US data analytics and defence software company Palantir for now, a leading military officer has told the Handelsblatt newspaper.
"I don't see that happening at all at the moment," Thomas Daum, who is reponsible for the German military's cyber defence, was quoted as saying.
"As much as we are interested in the functionality for our own database, it is simply inconceivable at the moment to grant industry staff access to the national database," Daum said.
Palantir's artificial intelligence system can be used, among other things, to rapidly analyse battlefield data, allowing faster identification of potential targets.
Its technology is already used by several police forces in Germany for scanning publicly available data to help in investigations.
However, the company has come under scrutiny amid fears that its data-collection powers could be misused, among other things for dangerous state surveillance.
Palantir’s AI manifesto sparkes global debate on weapons
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https://p.dw.com/p/5CuoZSkip next section Man clings on to side of high-speed train after taking smoking break04/28/2026April 28, 2026Man clings on to side of high-speed train after taking smoking break
A man who traveled several kilometers while clinging on to an iron bar between two carriages of a high-speed train has lived to tell the tale but faces possible criminal charges.
Police said the 46-year-old man from Munich was on an ICE train to Amsterdam on Sunday that stopped in the northwestern city of Osnabrück en route.
There, the man disembarked to smoke a cigarette and saw too late that the doors of the train had already shut, they said.
According to police, the man said that he jumped onto a running board between two carriages, as he was worried about his baggage on the train.
A railway staff member in Osnabrück saw what had happened, and the train driver was notified and stopped the train some 25 kilometers (15 miles) further on, in Ibbenbüren.
Police said the man was "slightly shocked but physically unharmed" after the incident.
They warned against such actions, saying that trains were allowed to travel at 140 kph (87 mph) on that route, which means that a fall would have likely been fatal.
The man is being investigated for having dangerously intervened in railway traffic. Twelve trains were delayed because of the incident.
https://p.dw.com/p/5CueoSkip next section 25 Afghans with criminal records repatriated overnight — report04/28/2026April 28, 202625 Afghans with criminal records repatriated overnight — report
The German government has returned another group of Afghan criminal offenders to their home country, the news magazine Spiegel reported on Tuesday.
The repatriation flight on a chartered plane departing early on Tuesday from Leipzig was the third since conservative Chancellor Friedrich Merz took office in May last year, the magazine said.
The crimes listed by Spiegel included theft and drug dealing as well as homicide and politically motivated crimes.
Such deportations are a controversial issue in Germany, as they require coordination with Afghanistan's de facto rulers, the Islamist Taliban group, which has been accused of a multitude of human rights abuses.
A previous deportation flight to Afghanistan under former center-left Chancellor Olaf Scholz in the summer of 2024 was mediated by the Qatari government to avoid direct talks between Berlin and the Taliban, Spiegel said.
Current conservative Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt, who advocates a hard-line migration policy, has shown less sensitivity in this regard, with his envoys making deals directly with the Taliban in Kabul.
Dobrindt has allowed two Taliban envoys to come to Germany to issue the required paperwork.
Chancellor Merz has, however, emphasized that there will be no diplomatic recognition of the Taliban despite the deportation deals.
According to Spiegel, the Taliban have promised to treat the returnees humanely, but the German government is unable to monitor whether they keep their word.
Afghan migrants stuck in Pakistan reject German cash offer
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https://p.dw.com/p/5CueNSkip next section Wadephul seeks support for German Security Council bid04/28/2026April 28, 2026Wadephul seeks support for German Security Council bid
Germany is to present its bid for a non-permanent seat in the UN Security Council on Tuesday, with Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul in New York seeking support for the attempt.
Wadephul will be promoting Germany's bid for 2027/2028 to African UN representatives on Tuesday morning local time and will also hold talks with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres .
The vote on non-permanent members is to take place on June 3.
The Security Council is the only UN body to have the authority to approve legally binding resolutions that can lead to sanctions and even military action against countries that do not comply with them.
It has five veto-wielding permanent members — Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States — and 10 non-permanent members elected by the UN General Assembly for two-year terms.
Germany has already been an elected non-permanent member on the council six times and has put in a bid every eight years since reunification in 1990.
It aims at some stage to obtain a permanent seat in the body as part of a reform "that reflects the changed geopolitical environment since 1945," as stated on the Federal Foreign Office website.
https://p.dw.com/p/5CueESkip next section 1,200 police officers deployed in raids on Hells Angels biker gang 04/28/2026April 28, 20261,200 police officers deployed in raids on Hells Angels biker gang
Police in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia on Tuesday launched a large-scale operation targeting the Hells Angels motorcycle gang after authorities banned a local chapter.
Some 1,200 officers, including from special police units, have been deployed across 28 cities, including Leverkusen, Cologne, Dortmund and Duisburg.
The state's Interior Ministry in Düsseldorf said more than 50 properties were searched from early morning in what it called one of the largest operations against biker criminality in the state's history.
The properties included homes and business premises of members and associates.
The ban on the Leverkusen Hells Angel chapter is the latest in a series imposed on the group in the state over the past years.
The investigation into the group is based on the suspicion of forming a criminal organization.
According to recent media reports citing the State Criminal Police Office (LKA), the Hells Angels had 29 chapters in North Rhine-Westphalia, with around 469 members.
That makes it the largest biker group in the state.
https://p.dw.com/p/5CudFSkip next section Welcome to our coverage04/28/2026April 28, 2026Welcome to our coverage
Timothy Jones | Alex Berry EditorGuten Tag from the DW newsroom on the bank of the Rhine in Bonn!
We will be looking at a major police operation targeting crime by biker gangs in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, where Bonn is situated.
The visit by German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul to UN headquarters in New York will also be on the agenda, with Germany set to make a bid for a non-permanent seat in the UN Security Council.
You can read more about these and other events in and connected with Germany in our blog from Tuesday, April 28.
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