Overview
- Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt announced a €1 million reward for information leading to arrests and said police will promote the appeal with posters and leaflets across Berlin.
- Authorities say the far-left Vulkangruppe is the prime suspect, with domestic intelligence noting the group’s activity since 2011 and ties to past arson and sabotage, including incidents near Tesla’s factory.
- Roughly 45,000 households and about 2,000–2,200 businesses lost power for several days in early January, an outage reported as Berlin’s longest since World War II that prompted army support in freezing conditions.
- Dobrindt vowed more resources against left-wing extremism and said the Bundestag is set to take up a new critical-infrastructure law this week, alongside proposals for automated data analysis, facial recognition and IP address retention.
- Energy and business groups criticize the draft law as overly bureaucratic and warn that mandated disclosures could create new security risks, even as officials argue protections need strengthening.