Germany news: Merz to host Azerbaijan President Aliyev Published July 21, 2026last updated July 21, 2026What you need to know - Talks between Chancellor Friedrich Merz and the Azerbaijani leader are expected to focus on energy issues and the peace process with Armenia - A 2025 report on sexual crimes against minors in Germany is to be presented in Berlin - An anti-racism association is also to present an annual report on far-right, racist violence Here is a round-up of the top headlines from and about Germany on Tuesday, July 21, 2026: Tired of missing our real-time updates? Click here to add us as a Preferred Source on Google. Then tap the "Star" or "Preferred" to keep DW News at the top of your feed.

Danish waste triggered 2021 industrial accident — prosecutors Waste from Denmark triggered a deadly 2021 explosion at an hazardous waste incineration plant in western Germany that killed seven people, prosecutors said on Tuesday. Prosecutors said the "technical cause and starting point of the explosion" was the Danish waste, which had been stored in a tank above the so-called self-heating temperature. This caused "an exponential rise in temperature and pressure and ultimately to an explosion followed by a fire," they said.

Ongoing investigation into waste source The prosecutors, from the central unit for the prosecution of environmental crime in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, (ZeUK) said they were looking into culpability on the part of a Danish waste producer and a Hamburg-based broker. They said the plant operators seem not to have received enough information from those companies to recognize that the waste had the "self-decomposing property" that led to the blast. Proceedings against Currenta, the operator of the chemical park in Leverkusen where the accident occurred on July 27, 2021, had been dropped, they said.

Nonetheless, the ZeUK says it has applied to the Dortmund Regional Court for a fine of €1.9 million ($2.2 million) to be imposed on Currenta, which the company has indicated that it is willing to pay. The accident was one of the worst in Germany in recent decades. Charity organization Caritas warns on government aid cuts The Catholic-run aid organization Caritas international received some €39.9 million ($45.6 million) in private donations in 2025, it said on Tuesday.

Caritas head Oliver Müller, who presented the organization's annual report in Freiburg on Tuesday, said the sum was roughly the same as a year before, speaking of "impressive solidarity." However, Müller criticized Germany's recent cuts to humanitarian aid, saying they were not just morally wrong but weakened the country's credibility in the world. "The cuts take away Germany's possibilities for political influence, make the world more uncertain and thus in the end cause damage to ourselves," he said. Caritas called on Germany to set aside at least €3 billion annually for humanitarian aid, saying this sum was an "appropriate and just share" in view of the country's economic power.

Germany's budget for 2026 has earmarked just €1 billion for humanitarian aid. Railway operator DB plans alcohol ban at all stations Germany's national railway operator, Deutsche Bahn (DB), is planning to introduce a ban on drinking alcohol at all train stations in a bid to improve security.