The murder of a local politician by right wing extremists has shocked Germany and set alarm bells ringing about the rise of neo-Nazi violence in the country. Ben Hall discusses the groups behind the upsurge in political violence and how dangerous they are with Guy Chazan in Berlin

Contrbutors: Katie Martin, capital markets editor, Ben Hall, Europe editor, and Guy Chazan, Berlin bureau chief. Producer: Fiona Symon

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Ursula von der Leyen was confirmed this week as the new European Commission president. Katie Martin discusses the challenges she faces, not least the Brexit negotiations, with Ben Hall and Mehreen Khan

Contributors: Katie Martin, capital markets editor, Ben Hall, Europe editor and Mehreen Khan, EU correspondent. Producer: Fiona Symon

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The ECB’s asset purchases are vital to the stability of the eurozone

Strategists expect concerns about eurozone stability to dent the currency

ECB intends to resist court injunction to justify its sovereign bond purchases

Bundesbank told to halt participation unless central bank shows policy is ‘proportionate’

Investment strategies have failed to prepare the country for the technology shock

But statistics that show how many days one country is behind another are humbug

It would be the underlying law and EU treaty that needs changing, not the ruling

Investors seek better-quality government bonds

Germany has U-turned on building a centralized COVID-19 contacts tracing app — and will instead adopt a decentralized architecture, Reuters reported Sunday, citing a joint statement by chancellery minister Helge Braun and health minister Jens Spahn. In Europe in recent weeks, a battle has raged between different groups backing centralized vs decentralized infrastructure for apps […]

In the U.S., Robinhood has led the charge in upending the stock investing model through its mobile-first, minimal-step, commission-free trading platform. Now a startup out of Germany built on a similar premise is announcing a big round of funding from some top investors to continue its growth. Trade Republic — which lets people buy and sell […]

A German research institute that’s involved in developing a COVID-19 contacts tracing app with the backing of the national government has released some new details about the work, which suggests the app is being designed as more of a “one-stop shop” to manage coronavirus impacts at an individual level, rather than having a sole function […]

Germany has U-turned on building a centralized COVID-19 contacts tracing app — and will instead adopt a decentralized architecture, Reuters reported Sunday, citing a joint statement by chancellery minister Helge Braun and health minister Jens Spahn. In Europe in recent weeks, a battle has raged between different groups backing centralized vs decentralized infrastructure for apps […]

Almost two months after it was revealed Ben Ungermann was arrested, MasterChef fans are continuing to speculate about what prompted his run-in with the law, leading to him leaving the show.

The regional government in North Rhine-Westphalia, said there had been a spike in coronavirus cases after 150 of 1,200 employees  tested positive at a slaughterhouse in Coesfeld.

The German head of state, accompanied by Chancellor Angela Merkel, stuck to social distancing guidelines at they laid down their wreaths yesterday at the Neue Wache Memorial in Berlin.

A stunning picture of a hare standing in a field at dusk has won the German Society for Nature Photography's 2020 Nature Photographer of the Year contest.

Germany's latest coronavirus deaths bring the total from 2,107 to 2,373, surpassing the previous record of 254 fatal cases announced on Wednesday.

A sea of blooming tulips have come to life across a field in the town of Grevenbroich, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, marking the arrival of spring.

Germany's increase from 123,016 cases to a new total of 125,098 is a jump of only 1.7 per cent, the smallest since the crisis began.

In Germany, zoos such as Berlin Zoo, pictured with empty seats, are struggling to afford to look after their animals as their doors remain closed to the public during the coronavirus lock down.

Germany will begin to lift its coronavirus restrictions, despite seeing its deadliest day of Covid-19 deaths, with 285 fatalities yesterday. Smaller shops will reopen next week and schools in early May.

Video footage of a Ferrari LaFerrari tearing along the German Autobahn was posted on social media. The £1.7million sports car hit 231mph racing along an unrestricted section of the motorway.

An ancient wooden hunting stick, used by an extinct human sub-species around 300,000 years ago to kill prey, could travel at speeds of nearly 100 feet a second, researchers reveal.

In Berlin (pictured) it will be mandatory to wear face masks on public transport from April 27, with some states also requiring them in shops as the country begins to relax coronavirus restrictions.

Becky Edmunds found 12 diaries on a pile of rubbish in Brighton that uncover the romance story of an Enigma team codebreaker and a German woman torn between her love and her Nazi-loyalist sons.

Germany's infection rate has slowed to a record low this week, with only a 1.6 per cent growth in cases for each of the last three days (new cases are shown on a graph, with 2,337 added today).

KIT HOLDEN: With the Olympics and the Euros suspended and no end in sight to the freeze on other football leagues, there will be millions hoping to get some kind of fix from Germany.

Saturday saw Germany confirm 2,055 new coronavirus cases, bringing to total figure to 152,438, and 179 new deaths, bringing the total fatalities in the country to 5,500 (graph pictured).

The latest figures bring Germany's total number of infections from 154,175 to 155,193, an increase of just 0.7 per cent which is the lowest since the crisis began.

The petition Blanke Bedenken aims to tell Germany's health ministers that their calls over several months for more protective gear weren't heard.

The German economy is on course to suffer its worst year since 1949 after a collapse in demand for exports caused by the coronavirus pandemic and will not recover until late 2021, researchers say.

Laura Nuttall, 30, of Barrowford, Lancashire, told the BBC she made a 'desperate plea' online when her regular flights to Dusseldorf earlier this month 'disappeared' due to lockdown restrictions.

Italian PM Giuseppe Conte bemoaned the 'rashness' of local politicians who opened up bars and pizzerias at a 'delicate stage' of the coronavirus crisis, four days before the lockdown is due to end.

Greece urged unions to delay their protests by a week, but hundreds of students and workers nonetheless gathered outside the country's parliament in Athens today.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW BY MATT BARLOW: Rabbi Matondo was among the wave of fearless young British footballers who set out to forge their futures in Germany.

For decades the German branch of the Church has been accused of staying silent over the crimes of the Nazis and even acting to 'bolster' the Third Reich. The Church has avoided admitting any failings.

The 67-year-old King Maha Vajiralongkorn, also known as Rama X, was snapped at the King's Close Bodyguard regiment in Bangkok with his fourth wife Queen Suthida, aged 41.

Germany will have to wait a bit longer for sport to return to the country, as the government has not given approval for a planned racing meeting on Monday in Dortmund.

World No 354 Benjamin Hassan returned to the tennis court on Friday wearing a face mask as he took part in the Tennis Point Exhibition Series in Germany amid the coronavirus pandemic.  

Ahead of the historic day, colourised archived images of the Allied liberation of Germany from the Nazis in the run-up to the end of World War Two have been released (pictured).

Germany has identified an R rate below 1.0 as the key indicator of whether the epidemic is under control, and therefore whether restrictions can be eased.

KIT HOLDEN: For days on end, the manicured lawns at Bayern Munich's training ground lay empty. Not a ball in sight, not a Qatar Airways-branded tracksuit to be seen.

KIT HOLDEN: With the Olympics and the Euros suspended and no end in sight to the freeze on other football leagues, there will be millions hoping to get some kind of fix from Germany.

Clubs in the German top flight have returned to training in the hope that the rest of the season can be finished off - providing Chancellor Angela Merkel gives the green light for action to resume.

Hansi Flick has signed his new Bayern Munich contract, having agreed the deal back at the start of April. The coronavirus pandemic has delayed him putting pen to paper.

KIT HOLDEN IN GERMANY: On Monday morning, the Bundesliga waited with bated breath for news out of Cologne. When it came, German football breathed a collective sigh of relief.

DOMINIC LAWSON: A lot of us feel a bit grim at this time of year. But we just get on with it. That's not so true of our near neighbours in France and Germany.

German Health Minister Jens Spahn, who is openly gay, announced the passage of a law which makes it illegal to promote a service designed to change or suppress sexuality to young people.