States of Germany

Negotiators for German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives and the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) reconvened on Monday to hammer out compromises on healthcare and labor policy, the stumbling blocks in the way of another "grand coalition."

The operation of the BMW, Daimler, Audi and Porsche car manufacturing plants has stalled in Germany over a round-the-clock warning strike organized by the IG Metall trade union to pressure employers for a higher salary, local media reported on Friday.

A group of people who smuggled luxury cars from the Audi, BMW and Mercedes brands into Turkey illegally from Bulgaria was captured, the Kurdjali site 24 Rodopi reported, citing the Edirne and Turkish media prosecutors.

The vehicles are mainly from Bulgaria, but there are also Romanian ones. With a lawsuit, 99 cars are seized.

German police said on Wednesday they had raided properties and made arrests across the country in an operation to crack down on human traffickers.

Police tweeted that they had carried out the raids and arrests in Berlin, Bremen, North Rhine-Westphalia and Saxony, reported Reuters. 

Workers at German companies including premium carmakers Audi and BMW were staging further walkouts on Jan. 12 amid labor talks seeking higher pay and shorter working hours which are set to continue next week.

European leaders will be forced to bow to public opposition to migration and concern over terrorism threats in 2018, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said after meeting Angela Merkel's Bavarian allies in the German region Friday afternoon.

An IT failure at Frankfurt airport could disrupt flights and result in cancellations on Tuesday, owner and operator Fraport said on its website, quoted by Reuters. 

Europe must be interested in the improvement of relations between Moscow and Washington - such improvement may even help to resolve the conflict in North Korea, German Foreign Ministry chief Sigmar Gabriel said, according to TASS and other agencies.

Frankfurt Airport, the largest in Germany, canceled 170 flights due to snow, said the Associated Press.

Amateur camera footage has revealed that police recently used dogs to search the belongings of passengers arriving at Germany’s Düsseldorf Airport from Istanbul.