Germany news: Nord Stream sabotage suspect's trial opens

A Ukrainian man is going on trial in Hamburg in the case of a 2022 attack on major gas pipelines. At the same time, Chancellor Merz is expected to give a major policy statement. DW has more.

Serhii K. is believed to be one of several people involved in the September 2022 explosion at the Nord Stream gas pipelines

Chancellor Friedrich Merz is scheduled to deliver a major policy statement amid sinking popularity and coalition infighting

Germany's foreign minister will meet his Bulgarian counterpart following drone attacks in the Black Sea

Here is a roundup of all the headlines across Germany on Wednesday, October 14:

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According to German media reports, the ruling coalition of Chancellor Merz's Christian Democrats (CDU) and the Social Democrats (SPD) has found a compromise for a planned tax increase on sugar.

The law would impact sugar drinks in particular, and is set to come into effect on July 1 of next year. There is reportedly going to be an exception for small-scale producers.

CDU state premier of Hesse, Boris Rhein, slammed the plan on Wednesday. Rhein told the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger newspaper that this "expensive tax" (a phrase that rhymes in German) would simply result in companies passing on the extra expense to consumers.

Rhein accused the coalition of pretending the measure was about health when really it was so "the populace can continue to plug up holes in the federal budget at the cash register."

The much anticipated trial of Serhii K., whose last name is withheld due to Germany's privacy laws, will begin in Hamburg today.

K. is accused by investigators of leading a group comprising professional divers, an explosives expert, and a boat skipper who plotted to travel to the remote section of the Nord Stream gas pipelines off the Danish coast and blow them up.