Germany today (Tue 3 Nov): Your driving licence goes on your phone this month, a fuel price cap draft with high hurdles, Merz warns against relying on others for AI, Bayern and Stuttgart away in the Champions League tonight

Good morning! Here's your German news for Tuesday, 3 November. If you drive, read items two and three together: the licence in your wallet is moving to your phone, and fuel is likely to get more expensive in January.

1. [Politics] Merz: "Germany must not depend completely on others for AI" — Berlin digital summit

• Digital summit in Berlin, 2–3 Nov — a federal government event, this year all about artificial intelligence (AI). The host is Digital Minister Karsten Wildberger (CDU)
• Motto: "Building AI — secure, sovereign, competitive" — more than 1,000 guests came, including digital ministers from Europe and Canada and the EU Commission
• Merz's message — he said the past year had felt like "light years" in digital policy, and that Germany must not end up depending completely on other countries for AI
• Canada as a key partner — the cooperation aims to reduce dependence on US Big Tech. Heidelberg AI company Aleph Alpha and Canada's Cohere plan to build products together
• What it means for you — the government also says it will speed up digital services at public offices. The digital driving licence in item 3 is part of that trend

Source: euronews.com · handelsblatt.com · deutschland.de

2. [Economy] A draft fuel price cap — but the bar is very high

• A draft law on a fuel price cap — Economy Minister Katherina Reiche (CDU) has drawn it up. The ministries are still discussing it; it has not gone to the cabinet yet
• When would it apply? — petrol or diesel prices would have to rise three weeks in a row, each week by more than 5 percentage points above the average of the other EU countries. A cap would last three months at most
• Different by state — the capped price must still let every filling station make a profit, and state governments could set it differently by region or postcode
• A lukewarm response — the SPD called it "a first step" and wants limits on oil companies' margins; Greenpeace said the conditions would "hardly ever be met"
• What it means for you — don't expect the cap to bring prices down. What is certain: the fuel tax cut in place since October ends on 31 December. The head of the independent filling stations association expects prices to rise by at least 17 cents a litre in January

Cents per litre, cumulative: fuel tax cut ends → higher CO₂ quota → if world prices add 10 ct (forecast by the head of the bft filling stations association)

Source: tagesspiegel.de (dpa) · ad-hoc-news.de · t-online.de

3. [Society] Your driving licence goes on your phone in November

• Expected to start in November — the digital driving licence is being added to i-Kfz, the free app of the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA). ADAC expects a November start; according to t-online, the transport ministry is aiming for the end of November. There is no exact date yet
• The app already exists — i-Kfz already holds the digital vehicle registration certificate (Fahrzeugschein) and has been installed more than 2 million times. It works on Android and iOS
• Your plastic card stays — the digital licence does not replace the card, it comes on top. It only counts inside Germany, so always take the card when you travel abroad
• What you need: the online ID function (eID) — the online function of your ID card or residence permit (eAT) must be switched on. According to ADAC you need iOS 17 / Android 12 or newer, and Huawei phones won't work
• What it means for you — if you swapped a foreign licence for a German one and have the German card, this is for you too. Forgot the PIN for your residence permit? Sort it out now

Source: t-online.de · adac.de · techbook.de

4. [Culture] After the German Book Prize, another one — Shida Bazyar receives the Wilhelm Raabe Prize on Saturday

• Sat 7 Nov, 15:30 in Braunschweig — she receives the Wilhelm Raabe Literature Prize for her novel "Die Lücken" (The Gaps). The ceremony is at the Kleines Haus of the Staatstheater Braunschweig
• €30,000 prize money — awarded jointly by the City of Braunschweig and Deutschlandfunk (German public radio), it is one of Germany's top literary prizes
• German Book Prize in early October — the same book won this year's Deutscher Buchpreis (€25,000)
• What is it about? — the author was born in 1988 in Rhineland-Palatinate. In the novel a dead woman returns to a fictional village in the Hunsrück and uncovers the village's Nazi-era past. The jury called it "a novel against indifference"
• What it means for you — it's in German bookshops now. If your German is intermediate or better, this is the German novel everyone is talking about this year

Source: braunschweig.de · zdfheute.de · orf.at

5. [Arts] A week of Eastern European cinema — the 36th Cottbus film festival opens today

• 3–8 Nov in Cottbus, Brandenburg — a festival of films from Eastern Europe, now in its 36th year
• 147 films from 43 countries — 29 films compete in three competitions, with prizes worth about €52,000 in total
• Focus on Latvia and Montenegro — there are 14 Latvian films alone
• Opening film: the Latvian drama "Escape Net" — director Dzintars Dreibergs portrays Riga in Soviet times. It screens tonight at the Staatstheater Cottbus
• What it means for you — tickets cost €7.50 per film. Cottbus is reachable from Berlin by regional train, so a day trip works

Source: b-tu.de · volksstimme.de (dpa)

6. [Entertainment] ARD miniseries "Breitscheidplatz 19/12" — now in the Mediathek

• Six episodes, written and directed by David Nawrath — the drama traces the road to the terror attack on the Christmas market at Berlin's Breitscheidplatz on 19 December 2016, and the mistakes made by the authorities
• All episodes free in the ARD Mediathek since 30 Oct — available for one year. It premiered on TV on Das Erste on Sun 1 Nov and is repeated on Friday night, 6 Nov
• Cast — Albrecht Schuch, Wael Alkhatib, Bayan Layla, Hanno Koffler and others
• What it means for you — just before Christmas market season, it shows how German society remembers the attack. It's heavy viewing, so be prepared

Source: t-online.de · serienjunkies.de

7. [Sports] Champions League tonight — Stuttgart in Istanbul, Bayern in Madrid

• 18:45 Galatasaray v Stuttgart — Stuttgart are unbeaten after three league-phase games, with two wins and a draw (7 points). At the weekend they won 4-2 away in Leverkusen
• 21:00 Atlético Madrid v Bayern — coach Kompany is ill, so assistant Aaron Danks is in charge again
• Bayern have a lot of injuries — Musiala, Luis Díaz, Gnabry and Saibari are out, and Olise is doubtful. Neuer is back in the travelling squad
• Bayern 14th in the league phase (5 points) — the top eight go straight to the last 16, so they badly need points
• Bundesliga: first and second level on 18 points — Bayern lead on goal difference. Tomorrow Dortmund and Leipzig play their Champions League home games

Source: fcbayern.com · t-online.de · hessenschau.de

Weather

City	Wed 4 Nov	Thu 5 Nov	Fri 6 Nov
Berlin	🌤️ 10° / 5° partly cloudy	☀️ 9° / 4° mostly sunny	☁️ 7° / 3° cloudy
Hamburg	☁️ 9° / 5° mostly cloudy	🌤️ 10° / 4° partly cloudy	☁️ 6° / 3° cloudy
Munich	⛅ 7° / 3° quite cloudy	☁️ 6° / 2° cloudy	☁️ 5° / 3° cloudy
Cologne	🌤️ 12° / 3° partly cloudy	☀️ 10° / 4° mostly sunny	☀️ 9° / 3° mostly sunny
Frankfurt	🌤️ 11° / 3° partly cloudy	🌤️ 10° / 4° partly cloudy	☀️ 9° / 2° mostly sunny

Tip: Hardly any rain in all five cities for the next three days, and only light winds. You can leave the umbrella at home, but clear nights make for chilly mornings. In Munich and Frankfurt it will feel like around 0 °C, so watch out for fog and slippery roads early in the morning. (Forecast: wetter.com; Berlin checked with wetter.de)

German from today's news

Word	Meaning	Example from the news
der Führerschein	driving licence	Der Führerschein kommt aufs Handy.
der Spritpreis	fuel price	Die Spritpreise steigen im Januar.
die Künstliche Intelligenz (KI)	artificial intelligence (AI)	Deutschland will bei der KI vorne sein.
der Literaturpreis	literary prize	Sie bekommt einen wichtigen Literaturpreis.
die Mediathek	a broadcaster's streaming library	Die Serie läuft in der ARD Mediathek.
das Auswärtsspiel	away game	Bayern hat heute ein schweres Auswärtsspiel.

Enjoy a bright autumn day. Einen schönen Dienstag! 🇩🇪