• Business confidence in Germany reaches 3-year high
• German defence minister wants to shrink army
• Germany: Second quarter growth surges; fastest growth rate since reunification

• Maharishi's programmes in healthcare and business expanding in Germany
• Maharishi's programmes for health drawing new interest in Germany
• Special offer and new brochures commemorate 50 years of Transcendental Meditation in Germany

• German president quits over military remarks
• Germany: Civilians likely killed in Afghan strike
• German coalition cautiously favourable on GMOs

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Positive Trends
Short Summaries of Top Stories

Business confidence in Germany reaches 3-year high
25 August 2010 - Germany's business confidence rose in August to its highest level in three years, according to a key survey Wednesday, suggesting Europe's biggest economy continues to grow as companies plan to hire more and manufacturers and retailers enjoy improved demand. (more)

German defence minister wants to shrink army
25 August 2010 - Germany's Defence Minister backed proposals that would cut the army by about a third and suspend compulsory national service in a bid to modernize the armed forces and save money, in the biggest post-war reform of Germany's military. Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has said he wants to shave defence spending by 8.3 billion euros. (more)

Germany: Second quarter growth surges; fastest growth rate since reunification
24 August 2010 - Surging exports and a return to growth in consumer spending powered the German economy to record expansion in the second quarter, producing a broad-based recovery that put Europe's largest economy ahead of its peers. The 2.2 per cent increase in gross domestic product was the fastest quarterly growth rate seen in reunified Germany, the Federal Statistics Office said. Germany's economic strength has been reflected in the performance of its leading businesses. (more)

German economy to grow 3 per cent in 2010 - Bundesbank
19 August 2010 - Germany's economy is on course to grow by about 3 per cent this year after a spectacular second-quarter growth spurt, the country's central bank said as it sharply raised its growth estimate. The Bundesbank had previously predicted that the economy would expand by 1.9 per cent this year. (more)

German growth surges in second quarter
13 August 2010 - German gross domestic product grew 2.2 per cent in the second quarter, the biggest gain since reunification, driven by investment and exports, the Federal Statistics Office said on 13 August. The preliminary quarter-on-quarter reading was well above the Reuters consensus forecast for a 1.3-per cent expansion. Year-on-year, the economy grew by 4.1 per cent in the second quarter. (more)

German solars up 2010 view
12 August 2010 - Two of Germany's largest solar equipment companies lifted their 2010 sales outlooks because of a booming global market. (more)

German rise in exports signals strong growth
9 August 2010 - German exports grew by 3.8 per cent on the month in June and reached their highest level since late 2008, official data showed Monday, bolstering expectations that the economy grew strongly in the second quarter. Germany, the world's No. 2 exporter after China, exported goods and services worth euro86.5 billion ($115 billion) in June, the Federal Statistical Office said. That was a 28.5 per cent increase compared with June 2009 and the highest level since October 2008, when exports totalled euro88.7 billion, the office said. (more)

Germany posts record H1 rise in solar capacity
27 July 2010 - Germany added a record of about 3.4 gigawatts (GW) of photovoltaic capacity in the first half of the year (H1), equivalent to three big coal or nuclear power plants, the German Federal Network Agency said on Tuesday. Germany had a total of about 9.8 GW installed photovoltaic capacity at the end of 2010, about half of the world's total. (more)

Germany: Autobahn closed for cultural celebration
18 July 2010 - Germany's autobahns are renowned for average speeds well in excess of 80 miles (130 kilometers) an hour. But the average dropped near zero Sunday as tens of thousands of people sat at a 60-kilometer (37-mile) table for a cultural celebration. A festival spokesman said an estimated 3 million people turned out amid fine weather to celebrate on the highway between Dortmund and Bochum, in western Germany. The event was part of a wider cultural festival celebrating the Ruhr region, which was chosen by the EU this year as a European Capital of Culture 2010. (more)

Study: Germany could kick fossil fuel habit by 2050
7 July 2010 - Germany could derive all of its electricity from renewable energy sources by 2050 and become the world's first major industrial nation to kick the fossil fuel habit, the Federal Environment Agency said on Wednesday. Germany is already a global leader in renewable energy and exports green technology around the world. This is a positive trend provided Germany is not using potentially damaging biofuels to meet its goal. Please see Global Good News comment on this at end of full article. (more)

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Success of Maharishi's Programmes
Short Summaries of Top Stories

Maharishi's programmes in healthcare and business expanding in Germany
26 June 2010 - The media in Germany are featuring the benefits of the Transcendental Meditation Programme, and initiatives are underway to offer Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's programmes in every area of society, including healthcare, education, and business. One such initiative is the Maharishi Corporate Development programme, which offers stress-free success to companies, their managers, and employees. (more)

Maharishi's programmes for health drawing new interest in Germany
25 June 2010 - The benefits of the programmes of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in the field of health were featured at a large fair in Germany this spring, and were also the topic of a recent meeting with a government official. (more)

Special offer and new brochures commemorate 50 years of Transcendental Meditation in Germany
24 June 2010 - Coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the first visit of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi to Germany, leaders of the Global Country of World Peace in Germany are offering a new brochure and flyer featuring information about the Transcendental Meditation Programme, as well as a special reduced rate to learn the technique. (more)

Germany: Young people increasingly seeking information on Transcendental Meditation
23 June 2010 - Information on the Internet as well as events at schools and universities is creating increased interest in Transcendental Meditation among Germany's young people. (more)

European Forum for Integration of Culture and Religion founded: Promoting the practical implementation of world peace
22 June 2010 - A new organization to promote world peace and harmony among all religions and cultures was founded by leaders of the Global Country of World Peace in Germany. The goal of the organization is to foster international peace through understanding among diverse religions, cultures, and nations. (more)

Rising invincibility in Germany celebrated on 50th anniversary of the first visit of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
21 June 2010 - Leaders of the Global Country of World Peace recently celebrated the 50th anniversary of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's first visit to Germany, and presented achievements toward the creation of national invincibility. Interest in the programmes of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi is growing in such areas as education, health, and world peace. (more)

Germany celebrates 50-year anniversary of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's first visit
27 March 2010 - Germany has begun celebrating the 50-year anniversary of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's first visit to the country in 1960. Maharishi's programmes have been blossoming in Germany since that time, and now initiatives are underway to consolidate those programmes through the building of a Maharishi Tower of Invincibility. (more)

Reflections on Germany's great achievements in Vastu architecture
25 March 2010 - The Global Country of World Peace in Germany has made great progress in the field of Maharishi Sthapatya Veda, Vedic architecture, including acquisition of land and progress in building Maharishi Peace Palaces and a Maharishi Tower of Invincibility. (more)

Film screening presents Dr David Lynch's message to students in Germany: 'All the good is there in the field of unity'
4 February 2010 - Award-winning filmmaker Dr David Lynch spoke to film students and answered questions in a one-hour film that was recently screened to a capacity audience, at a cinema in Weimar, Germany. Dr Lynch invited students to learn the Transcendental Meditation Programme and 'watch negativity go away, enjoy life, enjoy making films, get more ideas . . . . Intuition, and the joy of doing, and ability to catch ideas on a deeper level--these things grow [through Transcendental Meditation].' (more)

Germany: David Lynch Foundation film screening draws capacity crowd
2 February 2010 - A cinema in Weimar, Germany recently showed a film featuring award-winning filmmaker Dr David Lynch and renowned quantum physicist Dr John Hagelin during their visit to Berlin in 2006. The cinema was filled to capacity, and after the screening a panel took questions from the audience. The audience's enthusiasm extended the flow of knowledge for two hours, and inspired a university professor to explore offering the Transcendental Meditation Programme at her school. (more)

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Flops
Short Summaries of Top Stories

German president quits over military remarks
31 May 2010 - German President Horst Koehler resigned Monday in a surprise move after being criticized for reportedly linking military deployments abroad with the country's economic interests -- creating a new headache for Chancellor Angela Merkel. The resignation, effective immediately, came only a year into Koehler's second term as the largely ceremonial head of state. Merkel had installed the former International Monetary Fund boss as president in 2004. A new president must be elected within 30 days. German politicians now will have to figure out quickly who should replace Koehler even as they are preoccupied with trying to make budget cuts amid the eurozone debt crisis. The presidency is supposed to be above the political fray and carries little real power, but traditionally functions as the nation's moral voice. (more)

Germany: Civilians likely killed in Afghan strike
6 November 2009 - Germany's Defence Minister said Friday he believes civilians were killed in an airstrike in Afghanistan, but insisted that the German-requested attack was necessary from a military standpoint. Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg said a NATO report concludes there were 'procedural errors' in the 4 September airstrike, but he defended the decision by a German commander to request it as 'appropriate in military terms'. Mr Guttenberg did not elaborate on the procedural errors that were found. However, he said the report made clear that 'contradictory, confusing, and at times outdated rules of engagement' had come into play in the incident. Germany has more than 4,000 troops serving in northern Afghanistan and 36 have been killed so far in the mission. (more)

German coalition cautiously favourable on GMOs
27 October 2009 - Germany's incoming government drew mixed responses on Monday to its cautiously-favourable policy toward genetically-modified organisms (GMOs). The incoming coalition between the conservative and pro-business liberal parties which won Germany's parliamentary elections in September announced its core policies over the weekend which included a statement in overall favour of GMO crops if they are found to be safe. The new government will support both commercial and research cultivation of the GMO potato Amflora developed by Germany's BASF. The previous government approved research trials only on Amflora earlier this year. 'Biotechnology presents an important future sector for research, business, and agriculture which is already established worldwide,' the agreement said. 'So we want to use the potential of biotechnology which can be used responsibly.' (more)

Germany gets mandate to extend nuclear life cycles
28 September 2009 - German Chancellor Angela Merkel's majority for a new center-right government means she can rewrite a national nuclear phaseout deal by allowing reactors to run longer than laid down by her predecessors. Seven nuclear plants totalling 6,200 megawatts of power capacity would have had to close in the coming four years without a change of government, and may now be kept open. The election outcome may be a precursor for more nuclear projects in other European countries, though it is no carte blanche for new reactors on German soil. Shares in nuclear operator E.ON were up 3.7 per cent and those in rival RWE rose 3.1 per cent, making them top gainers in the blue-chip DAX. (more)

Germany: Bayer takes long-term aim at Number 3 spot in GMO market
20 September 2009 - Bayer aims to boost its genetically-modified (GM) seeds business and challenge Syngenta of Switzerland for the No. 3 spot among the world's largest supplier of GM crops, it said. Bayer, also jostling with its Swiss rival for market leadership in conventional pesticides, needs to shore up its plant biotech operations because old and new approaches to crop protection were gradually converging, the head of Bayer's CropScience unit told Reuters. The company aims to triple its annual sales from biotech seeds to 1.4 billion euros ($2.1 billion) by 2018, it said. Market leader Monsanto posted $6.4 billion in sales at its Seeds and Genomics unit last year, out of a total $11.4 billion for the group. (more)

Germany warns of pre-election Islamist attack: report
6 June 2009 - Al Qaeda is planning a major attack on Germans before September's election to wreak revenge for the deployment of troops in Afghanistan, a German magazine cited security officials as saying on Saturday. Der Spiegel said German intelligence officials and the Federal Crime Office believed German firms based in Algeria and German citizens in northern Africa were in particular danger. The officials also warned of attacks in Germany. The new assessment is largely due to a warning from the US government, believed to be based on information from al Qaeda in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region, said the weekly. (more)

Police battle rioters in Berlin
2 May 2009 - Riot police battled 700 stone-throwing left-wing militants in Berlin for more than five hours in May Day clashes that stretched into the early pre-dawn hours on Saturday. The attackers also hurled petrol bombs and poured flammable liquids on police in the city's worst Labour Day violence in four years. Authorities said 237 police were injured -- mostly bruises and contusions -- while 14 suffered serious wounds. A total of 289 demonstrators were taken into detention, where they face arrest on charges of bodily harm and rioting. May Day is traditionally marked by union rallies in many European countries but the global economic downturn led to significantly larger crowds this year. Union leaders estimated 484,000 took part in 400 rallies around Germany. The economic crisis aggravated public anger over a growing disparity in wages and a spreading gentrification in low-rent districts. (more)

Germany gives green light to genetically modified potato trials
29 April 2009 - Germany's Agriculture Minister Ilse Aigner said on Monday she will permit test cultivation of a potato containing genetically-modified organisms (GMOs). Open air trails of the GMO potato Amflora, developed by German chemicals group BASF presented no threat to public health or the environment, she said. Ms Aigner had this month said she would carry out a new review of an application for open-air trial cultivation of Amflora, which was test-cultivated on 150 hectares in 2008. German Chancellor Angela Merkel had said on Friday that many millions of euros had been invested in developing the Amflora potato in the hope that field trials could be made. Monsanto, the world's largest seed company, has also started legal action against the German ban, stressing the EU has approved it as safe for commercial cultivation and sale. (more)

German Chancellor Angela Merkel warns against too much hostility on GMO crops
24 April 2009 - German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday warned against too much immediate hostility to crops containing genetically-modified organisms (GMOs). There must be an open political discussion about the risks and concerns about biotechnology, but the political level should not immediately give way to objections, she said at an event in Berlin. Ms Merkel stressed the ban on the MON 810 GMO maize was an individual decision. She said her own conservative CDU party should remain open to biotechnology which in future could become a key feature of agriculture. (more)

Monsanto sues Germany over GMO maize ban
21 April 2009 - Monsanto Co, the world's biggest seed company, has filed suit against the German government's decision to ban genetically modified (GMO) maize, the company said on Tuesday. The German government banned the cultivation and sale of GMO maize despite European Union rulings that the biotech grain is safe. The ban affects Monsanto's MON 810 maize, which may no longer be sown for this summer's harvest. Monsanto claims that Germany's decision is in conflict with EU rules. (more)