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GFrei.News reported that the planned flooding of the lignite mining areas of Hambach and Garzweiler is deliberately destroying the German economy and ending 100 years of affordable energy security. Plans from 1977 and 1995 had intended to fill exhausted open-pit mines with water from the Rhine and to renature them. Now, the approval for lignite mining is being revoked, although, according to the author, there is still enough coal there to supply Germany for another 100 years. Lignite is almost as cheap as nuclear power and is also used for briquettes, lignite dust, and fluidized bed coal, wrote GFrei.News. A fast-track approval process has been initiated for flooding the mining areas still containing coal, and the construction of a 45-kilometer long pipeline has begun at a high three-digit million amount. By 2030, this will destroy a resource wealth worth around 1 trillion euros, according to the author. A later resumption of mining would take decades and be too expensive. GFrei.News referred to the flooding as the permanent destruction of energy security and fuel worth 1 trillion euros. The excavator 293 will also be decommissioned: the vehicle weighs more than 14,000 tons, is 225 meters tall, and is the largest land vehicle in the world. It has been in operation for 30 years and is a symbol of German engineering and national pride, the author wrote. GFrei.News accused the state of "state terrorism against its own people" and wrote that the consequences would be far worse than the explosion of NordStream. The author hoped that the AfD would come to power in time to prevent the plans. #Energiewende #Braunkohle #Energiesicherheit (translated)

Krzysztof Mazur listed European companies and technologies from various industries, arguing that Europe still has significant industrial achievements. Among the examples he cited were Porsche, BMW, Ferrari, Mercedes, and Rolls-Royce cars, Bosch and Siemens automation, ABB robotics, ASML lithography, Airbus A350 aircraft, Ariane 6 rocket, Rafale and Gripen fighters from SAAB, and TRUMPF industrial lasers. He also mentioned, among others, EDF and Schneider in nuclear energy, STMicroelectronics and Infineon in semiconductor manufacturing, Nokia and Ericsson in telecommunications, Siemens Healthineers, Novo Nordisk, BioNTech, AstraZeneca, and Roche in medicine, as well as the Galileo and Copernicus systems and ICEYE and OHB satellites. The list also included Thales radars, Naval Group submarines, Rheinmetall artillery systems, Leonardo helicopters, Kongsberg missiles, Vestas and Siemens turbines, and trains from Alstom, Siemens, Newag, and Pesa. Among further examples, he mentioned the Mistral AI language models, Pasqal and IQM quantum computers, Wilk Electronics memory cards, and prototypes for fusion reactors from Proxima Fusion. Mazur wrote that Europe should regain its technological pride. He assessed that the continent missed the digital revolution but still has excellent companies and technologies. #technologia #innowacje #przemysł (translated)

Waldemar Hartmann wrote that Hendrik Wüst, whom many had considered a possible replacement or shadow chancellor, has now himself fallen into the shadows. He referred to the latest INSA poll for Bild, according to which the NRW-CDU stood at 26 percent - a decline of 8 percentage points within half a year. The AfD had gained 4 percentage points and reached 21 percent. Hartmann asked whether Wüst's appeal had already waned or whether core CDU voters could not understand his repeated statements about the contribution of Turkish guest workers to the development of the country on the Rhine and Ruhr. He noted that this development would likely attract interest in Munich and Wiesbaden. #CDU #NRW #Politik (translated)

The author criticized that the weakening of already decided climate protection measures is being celebrated. He referred to the hottest summer since records began, which has been attributed to 16,000 deaths in Germany, as well as record low water levels in Lake Constance and the Rhine, devastating fires, and overheated seas. He also wrote that the children will remember this. #Klimaschutz #Klimawandel #Umweltschutz #DE (translated)

Rheinmetall has inaugurated a new ammunition facility in Albacete, Spain, which has cost around 20 million euros and will produce up to 1.2 million projectiles annually, as part of the company's investment to increase its ammunition production by 2030. #Rheinmetall #Ammunition #Försvarssektor (translated)

Emanuel Boeminghaus pointed to a significant rise in heating oil prices in Switzerland and warned of supply shortages. In the Bern region, heating oil now costs around 171 Swiss francs per 100 liters, compared to about 98 francs the previous year. About one in three residential buildings in Switzerland is heated with heating oil, he wrote. As indications of the tense supply situation, Boeminghaus cited the Rhine water level at Kaub, which was at ten centimeters on October 15, as well as nearly 80 percent lower quantities of mineral oil in the Basel ports in August compared to the previous year. The kerosene supply is also strained. The historical low water levels increasingly threaten energy supply and drive up transport costs, he wrote, referring to Handelsblatt. https://t.co/RAFhIoEyOv #Heizöl #Schweiz #Energieversorgung (translated)

Lufthansa has taken measures at Frankfurt Airport against a looming kerosene shortage by instructing planes on certain routes to take on additional fuel before departure to avoid bottlenecks due to pipeline maintenance and low Rhine water levels. #Lufthansa #Kerosin #FrankfurterFlughafen (translated)

Boris Rhein, Hesse's Minister-President, is increasingly positioning himself as a critic of the fire wall within the CDU and could potentially be considered as a successor to Friedrich Merz in the Chancellor's Office or at the top of the CDU due to his conservative orientation and growing self-confidence. #BorisRhein #CDU #Politik (translated)

FrauHodl wrote that the district administration Rhein-Pfalz-Kreis replied to her on October 15, 2026, regarding a request under the State Transparency Act for COVID-19 communication between the health department and the city of Speyer from 2020 to 2023, stating that no documents were available anymore. According to her, the authority cited reasons such as a cyberattack in October 2022, deletion periods for personal infection protection data, and the fact that former Corona scouts were no longer employed. FrauHodl emphasized that she had not requested any personal patient data, but rather official communication, scientific statements, protocols, decision papers, and information on medical consultants. At the same time, the administration stated that the Corona task force of the city of Speyer had worked independently and had its own health consultant. FrauHodl asked who this consultant was, who appointed him, and what recommendations and documents there had been. According to FrauHodl, the authority also stated that contact with virologist Prof. Dr. Isabella Eckerle, who is from Speyer, had "as far as can be traced" not occurred. She demanded information about which files were deleted, when, by whom, and on what legal basis, and which stocks had been searched. The response was not a satisfactory resolution for her and raised further questions about the authority's documentation and accountability. #Speyer #CoronaAufarbeitung #LTranspG #Transparenz #RheinPfalzKreis #CoronaAufarbeitung #Transparenz #RheinPfalzKreis (translated)

Emanuel Boeminghaus wrote that kerosene is in short supply at Frankfurt Airport. He attributed the bottlenecks to the low Rhine water level, which restricts fuel deliveries by tanker ship, as well as limited pipeline capacities. Lufthansa has instructed its pilots to refuel additional kerosene at the departure airport on selected flights. The measure affects numerous short-haul and selected long-haul flights. Lufthansa confirmed the restrictions on October 14, 2026, but currently does not expect flight cancellations. Boeminghaus stated that the precautionary transport of fuel from other airports shows the vulnerability of the supply infrastructure. He cited BILD and 20 min as sources. #Lufthansa #Frankfurt #Luftverkehr (translated)

Some of them were managed by the Ministry of Defense, some are managed by the Ministry of Transport, the sections of the highway, and some are managed by other ministries, such as the Ministry of Administration and Internal Affairs. It is a topic that has been public, and I believe we will need to have a lot of transparency. Asked on Wednesday evening, at Antena 3 CNN, if the first thing he will do at the ministry will be to clarify how the contract with Rheinmetall was awarded, Oprea said that there are several contracts in the European SAFE program, managed by different ministries. #Politic #Transparență #Rheinmetall (translated)

I believe a sugar tax sends the wrong message, especially since it's not about promoting health, but rather asking citizens to pay again for the federal budget deficits. The Hessian Minister-President Boris Rhein (CDU) had previously referred to the planned tax on sugary drinks as a "costly tax." #Zuckersteuer #Getränke #Gesundheit (translated)

Apollo News reported that the federal government has agreed on a sugar tax that is intended to bring in hundreds of millions of euros to the federal budget each year. The CDU Minister-President Boris Rhein sharply criticized the plans, stating that it is not about health, but rather about making citizens finance the federal budget shortfalls. https://t.co/oHcLzA7xUD #Zuckersteuer #Bundesregierung #Gesundheit (translated)

The German railway is facing potential image damage, as it has postponed the planned track renovation on the left bank of the Rhine indefinitely, despite the upcoming Federal Garden Show 2029 in the Middle Rhine Valley, and thus does not reduce the noise pollution for local residents. #Rheintal #Bundesgartenschau #DeutscheBahn (translated)