The General Court of the European Union on Wednesday ruled against Adidas in its efforts to trademark its three-stripe logo. "Adidas does not prove that that mark has acquired, throughout the territory of the EU, distinctive character following the use which had been made of it," in a long-standing dispute between the German sportswear manufacturer and the Belgian company Shoe Branding Europe.

A German man faces manslaughter charges for killing his new bride while engaging in marathon BDSM sex on their honeymoon, the Daily Mail reported.  

The German chancellor was filmed trembling as she greeted Ukraine's president in hot weather.

Criticism from within his own party’s ranks, resignations, a loss of foreign policy autonomy and domestic popularity mark the first serious crisis for Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, Germany’s Deutsche Welle news service reports. At the beginning of June, Lopez Obrador agreed to deploy the National Guard for immigration enforcement to avoid tariffs threatened by the United States. "He has given U.S. President Donald Trump a propaganda victory," Max Kaiser, a political scientist and founder of the Center for Business Ethics and Integrity, told DW. "Trump can now justifiably tell his voters that he has knocked down Mexico and turned it into a wall against migrants." – Max Kaiser...

German conservatives harshly criticized the Alternative for Germany (AfD) on Wednesday, saying the far-right party bears some responsibility for the death of Kassel district president Walter Lübcke, Germany’s Deutsche Welle news service reported. Lübcke, a member of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) and a supporter of her refugee policies, was shot dead at his home earlier this month in what prosecutors believe to be a “right-wing extremist” attack. CDU party leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said Lübcke's murder shows how the AfD's use of "hate and incitement" has overturned taboos in language and "lowered inhibitions so much that they result in pure...

Bayern Munich's German players are "very much looking forward" to Leroy Sane joining the club, according to striker Robert Lewandowski. The Manchester City winger has been linked with a move to the Bundesliga champions following the departure of Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery, and Lewandowski added more weight to the rumours during a close-season tour ...]

The U.N. envoy for Afghanistan says all peace efforts including a new initiative by Germany and Qatar for talks among Afghans must be directed at starting formal negotiations between the government and the Taliban.

Heatwaves in Poland led to 33C temperatures while severe floods in China caused landslides
Hailstones the size of golf balls rained down on Bavaria in Germany last week, part of a severe thunderstorm that resulted in damage to cars and property. The storm, linked to the same weather system that brought the first bout of to England and Wales, also had heavy downpours of rain and strong winds, along with the 5cm-wide hailstones.
In neighbouring Poland and the Baltic countries, there was also an early-season heatwave, with temperatures reaching 33C in Warsaw last week – 10 degrees above the seasonal norm. A record demand for electricity on a summer morning in Poland resulted, as residents dramatically increased their air-conditioning use. This level of power demand was just shy of the highest ever recorded, in January this year.

The transfer market continues to move all over Europe and this Wednesday, some shocking news came from the German Bundesliga. Reigning champions Bayern Munich have sold their star centre-back, Mats Hummels... to Borussia Dortmund, his former side and from where they acquired him in 2016. The 30-year-old central defender previously spent eight years with Dortmund ...]

MICHAEL Schumacher’s legendary 2002 Ferrari - in which he won his fifth world title - is going under the hammer in what will surely prove one of Sotheby’s hottest ever auctions, with the German still the subject of intense worldwide interest four years after the skiing tragedy which left him with devastating head injuries.