Economy
Germany seeks to raise retirement age under sweeping reform plan
Germany plans to gradually raise its retirement age beyond 67 and also abolish early retirement, as well as expand compulsory pension contributions under a set of new recommendations backed by Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Tuesday.
Germany, like many industrialized economies, is struggling with an ageing population and last year appointed an expert commission to come up with suggested reforms to its pension system.
Presenting its findings on Tuesday, the commission said the retirement age should be linked to life expectancy and gradually raised beyond 67 now.
It recommended abolishing a scheme that allows people to retire early at 63, and expanding compulsory pension contributions to include civil servants and self-employed workers.
“All elements of this reform package… must now be implemented swiftly,” Merz told a press conference, adding that “we cannot afford to remove or reject individual measures.”
Merz added that the proposals aim to meet “two goals: pensions remain secure, and the burdens are distributed fairly across all segments of society and across all generations.”
Opposition parties and unions have voiced criticism of some of the proposals, which had previously been published in German media.
The left-wing party Die Linke said that under the changes, people would be “working even longer, working even more.”
The trade union Verdi said the proposal to scrap the early retirement scheme showed “a total disregard for the lifetime achievements of the people concerned.”
The proposals must still be debated and voted on in parliament before becoming law.
In office for just over a year, Merz has struggled to deliver on his promises of sweeping reforms and a revival of Germany’s stagnant economy.
Tensions have brewed between Merz’s conservative CDU/CSU bloc, which has pushed for tougher welfare cuts, and their junior coalition partners, the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD).
However, the SPD on Tuesday also said it supported the pension recommendations, with Labor Minister Baerbel Bas declaring that she was “very confident” the reforms would be supported in parliament.
Around 19 million people in Germany were aged 65 or older, or about 23% of the total population in 2024, the latest year for which statistics are available.
In 1991, only 15% of the population was aged over 65.
Turkish engineering and defense tech company Volt Technology is looking to expand its domestically developed aircraft electrical power generation systems to additional national aviation platforms, its top executive said Tuesday.
That plan follows Volt’s successful development of the main power system for Türkiye’s indigenous fifth-generation Kaan fighter jet, with new projects now underway for the Hürjet advanced jet trainer and Gökbey multirole utility helicopter.
The western Izmir-based company, one of a limited number of manufacturers worldwide capable of developing aircraft main power generation systems, has already adapted the technology developed for Kaan to the Hürküş trainer aircraft.
Development work continues for Hürjet and Gökbey, Volt Technology General Manager Ulaş Tutan told Anadolu Agency (AA).
Aircraft main power generation systems, which include generators, alternators and control units, provide continuous electrical power for onboard systems and are considered critical for flight safety and mission performance.
Developed without reverse engineering
Volt said it began work on Kaan’s indigenous power generation system about four years ago, developing the product from scratch without copying or reverse engineering an existing design.
The company said the system’s architecture, control algorithms and electromagnetic design were created entirely through domestic engineering expertise before undergoing design validation, environmental and functional testing, electromagnetic compatibility assessments, integration and certification.
The system was used during Kaan’s taxi tests and maiden flight campaign.
Building on the engineering experience gained through the Kaan program, Volt has completed research and development work to adapt the system for the Hürküş aircraft and has started deliveries.
The company is also developing next-generation electrical power generation systems tailored to the different performance and power requirements of the Hürjet and Gökbey, Tutan said.
‘Only handful of companies can do this’
Tutan said Volt was established to develop advanced technologies, bring them into serial production and support Türkiye’s indigenous defense programs.
“Our most important achievement has been the alternator, generator and control units we developed for the national fighter Kaan,” Tutan said.
“As a result of our R&D activities since 2020, Kaan completed its taxi tests and first flight using our products. We succeeded in developing a product that had never before been produced in Türkiye and that perhaps only five companies worldwide are capable of manufacturing.”
Tutan said the company supplies the generator and control unit that provide electrical power to Kaan’s onboard systems.
“We produce the generator that provides Kaan’s electrical power together with its control unit. We power all the electrical systems, the heart of the aircraft, that require electrical power,” he said.
Tutan said their product has successfully fulfilled the expected functions in the tests. However, he said their in-flight trials are still ongoing.
“The product we have developed is a high-tech product. Only five companies in the world are capable of manufacturing such a product, and providing this product with that level of technology requires significant infrastructure. We are currently able to provide this infrastructure,” he said.
Supporting exports
Tutan said Volt aims to equip Türkiye’s growing fleet of domestically developed aircraft, including unmanned aerial vehicles, helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft, with locally produced electrical power systems to eliminate foreign dependence.
“We have the capability to customize products in different kilowatt ratings and sizes for those platforms,” he said.
“Our main objective is to reduce dependence on foreign suppliers to zero,” he added.
He added that using domestically developed subsystems on aircraft exported abroad would both reduce external dependency and make exports easier by minimizing reliance on imported components.
A U.S. judge dismissed on Monday a case against Indian billionaire industrialist Gautam Adani after the Trump administration decided to drop the fraud and bribery allegations against him brought to light in 2024.
Court filings showed Brooklyn federal judge Nicholas Garaufis formally rubber-stamped a May request by prosecutors to throw out the 2024 allegations that Adani participated in a $265 million scheme to bribe Indian officials for lucrative solar energy supply contracts.
U.S. media had reported that Adani’s attorney Robert Giuffra, who is also Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, told Justice Department (DOJ) officials in April that if charges were dropped, the magnate would be willing to invest $10 billion in the American economy.
The judge in the case had previously asked if the reported investment pledge was a factor in the U.S. government’s decision to drop the case, a rare move in the federal legal system, but ultimately concluded it was not part of prosecutorial decision-making.
Garaufis was, however, scornful of the way in which Trump-appointed Deputy Associate Attorney General Trent McCotter went about having the case dismissed.
“The fact that McCotter came to this decision largely in collaboration with defense counsel, and seemingly without input from the FBI and SEC agents who investigated the alleged misconduct, or (prosecutors) who brought the case, appears to be highly unusual,” he wrote.
The Adani Group is one of India’s largest business empires, operating businesses ranging from ports and power plants to cement factories and media houses.
Adani, one of India’s richest men and a vocal backer of Trump on social media, has been rocked in recent years by corporate fraud allegations and a stock crash.
Adani is a close ally of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and hails from the leader’s home state of Gujarat.
“I welcome the U.S. court’s decision with humility and deep respect for the judicial process,” Adani wrote on social media.
“Throughout this challenging period, our faith in truth, fairness and the rule of law remained unwavering.”
Finalists with AI- and 5G-driven ideas to make roads safer gathered at Istanbul Technical University (ITÜ) for the last stage of Turkcell’s “5G and Artificial Intelligence for Smart Road Safety Competition,” held as part of Teknofest 2026.
The competition, organized in cooperation with the T3 Foundation, attracted 745 teams from more than 150 universities across 11 countries, including Türkiye, Azerbaijan and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).
Twenty teams advanced to the final round after qualifying through preliminary stages involving 163 shortlisted teams.
Finalists tested their solutions using Türkiye’s domestically produced Togg electric vehicle, developing systems designed to detect road hazards and driver errors by combining artificial intelligence with 5G connectivity.
Turkcell CEO Ali Taha Koç said technology gains value when it addresses real needs.
“At Turkcell, we have been supporting the dreams and goals of our young people for 32 years. The Smart Road Safety Competition, featuring 5G and Artificial Intelligence, is a reflection of this vision. It is also a highly valuable initiative that showcases our young people’s potential to create technology,” Koç said.
He recalled the launch of 5G in Türkiye this April.
“5G now transmits data at high speed, artificial intelligence gives meaning to that data, and human intelligence directs technology,” said Koç.
“Our young finalists have combined these capabilities to create safer roads. Every project they have presented also makes a concrete contribution to Türkiye’s National Technology Initiative,” he noted.
“Developing smart road safety systems using domestic technologies is of strategic importance for Türkiye’s digital future.”
The competition focused on demonstrating how 5G’s low-latency connectivity and artificial intelligence can be integrated into intelligent transportation systems.
Teams developed applications capable of analyzing data in real time while dynamically managing network resources. Participants also utilized GSMA Open Gateway standards, including Number Verification services that enable password-free user authentication, and Quality on Demand technology to ensure low-latency, high-quality connectivity for mission-critical applications.
Three special awards were presented during the final round. The Polaris team from Çukurova University won the Best Application Architecture Award, while the university’s Eureka team received the Best Presentation Award. The Turkcell Special Award went to the Mimik team from Karadeniz Technical University.
The winners of the overall competition will be announced during this year’s edition of Teknofest, the country’s largest aerospace and technology festival, which will be held in southeastern Şanlıurfa province from Sept. 30 to Oct. 4.
Goods tied to illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories are still reaching European markets, prompting questions about how they are exported, labeled and distributed, and whether current European rules are doing enough to stop settlement-linked trade.
A June 2026 report by the Global Echo Litigation Center, Importing Occupation, has drawn fresh attention to these supply chains.
It says that goods made in Israeli illegal settlements have entered European markets through systems that hide their actual place of origin.
Here is how the system works.
How widespread is the trade?
The report focuses on agricultural exports, including dates, citrus fruits, herbs, fruit and vegetables, which have been recorded as among the most common settlement products reaching Europe by previous research.
To illustrate how the trade operates, Global Echo examined the supply chains of three major Israeli exporters: Hadiklaim, Mehadrin Ltd. and Yonatan Packing and Marketing.
It traced products from illegal settlement farms through packing facilities and Israeli ports before they entered European markets.
The actual scale of these trades has been unknown, as neither Israel nor the European Union releases comprehensive data on settlement exports.
The report says it analyzed more than 30,000 export documents covering more than 6,800 agricultural shipments between October 2017 and February 2026. Of the 5,900 shipments bound for Europe, 17.2% contained settlement products. For the EU specifically, the figure was 19.2%
The report says that farm products from Israeli settlements are not unusual or occasional, but are regularly part of Israel’s agricultural exports to Europe.
How do settlement products enter Europe?
According to the report, exporters use what it calls a “supply chain of obfuscation,” a system designed to hide the fact that products come from Israeli settlements and make their actual origin harder to identify.
The report describes three main methods.
The first is what it calls “hiding in plain sight.” In this method, exporters may include the actual settlement location, including its postal code, but still list Israel as the country of origin, excluding the fact that the goods were produced in a settlement.
The report says the responsibility falls on the European customs authorities, rather than Israeli exporters, for checking whether a postal code belongs to a settlement. It argues that this allows loopholes that allow settlement produce to enter European markets without being identified as such.
The second method involves what the report calls “sham addresses.” Exporters use addresses inside Israel instead of the actual production site, making settlement produce appear to have originated in Israel.
The third method is “mingling.”
Illegal settlement produce is mixed with goods grown inside Israel at shared packing or storage facilities before export. Once combined, the shipment carries Israeli origin documents, making it difficult for importers and customs officials to identify which products came from settlements.
What steps have European countries taken?
European countries have taken multiple approaches toward products originating from Israeli settlements, ranging from national import bans to calls for stronger EU-wide restrictions.
At the European Union level, there is still no bloc-wide ban on imports from Israeli settlements. But the issue has moved closer to EU-level action. In July, the European Commission presented member states with options including a full or partial import ban, prohibitive tariffs and an import-licensing system. EU foreign ministers discussed the proposals on July 13, with a full ban receiving the most support, but no agreement was reached and further work was ordered.
The Netherlands has adopted a national ban on the import, purchase and sale of goods from Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. The measure also prohibits circumvention and is due to take effect on Sept. 22, 2026.
Ireland has also advanced legislation to prohibit imports of goods originating in Israeli settlements. The government approved the Israeli Settlements (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2026 in May, and the bill subsequently passed through the Irish parliament in July. Once enacted and commenced, importing settlement goods will be an offence.
Spain has already banned the import of products originating in Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory. Belgium has also approved a ban on imports from Israeli settlements, while supporting stronger EU-wide action.
France and Sweden have pushed for a common European approach rather than separate national measures. In an April 2026 letter to the European Commission, France and Sweden called for additional measures targeting settlement products, including tariffs and restrictions through export-licensing schemes.
Why does the system continue to function?
Global Echo argues that responsibility is divided between Israeli exporters and European authorities.
Researchers say they identified hundreds of origin certificates that appeared to relate to settlement products while claiming preferential treatment available under the EU-Israel Association Agreement.
The report also questions the validity of plant health certificates and organic certifications issued for products originating in occupied territory, arguing they may not comply with EU legal requirements.
According to the report, the current system places the burden of identifying settlement postal codes on European authorities rather than Israeli exporters, creating opportunities for settlement products to go undetected.
The number of household air conditioners in Türkiye and the electricity they consume are expected to double over the next decade as rising temperatures and more frequent heatwaves boost cooling demand, projections showed Monday.
The Energy and Natural Resources Ministry said household air conditioner stock was estimated at around 11 million units as of the end of 2025, with projections indicating that figure will increase by 100% over the next 10 years.
As ownership rises, electricity consumption from residential air conditioners used for both heating and cooling is expected to climb from about 6,000 gigawatt-hours (GWh) in 2025 to more than 12,000 GWh by 2035, according to ministry experts.
The ministry said increasingly hot summers and more frequent heatwaves linked to climate change have led to a steady increase in air conditioner use in recent years.
Growing cooling demand has become an increasingly important driver of electricity consumption during the summer months, with heavy air conditioner use contributing to record daily power demand during periods of extreme heat.
Officials expect this trend to become more pronounced over the coming years as climate change intensifies and household air conditioner ownership becomes more widespread.
The ministry said one of the simplest ways to limit the impact of rising air conditioner use on electricity consumption is to set cooling systems at an appropriate temperature.
It recommends maintaining indoor temperatures at no lower than 24 degrees Celsius during the summer, saying the setting strikes a balance between comfort and energy efficiency.
According to the ministry’s analysis, raising an air conditioner’s temperature setting by 2 degrees Celsius can reduce electricity consumption and energy bills by up to 15%.
The ministry warned that setting air conditioners to unnecessarily low temperatures significantly increases electricity use, adding that efficient operation will become increasingly important as cooling demand continues to grow.
Opel is moving production of its light commercial vehicle model Combo to Türkiye from the third quarter of this year, the German automaker said Monday.
The announcement comes just two weeks after another Stellantis-owned carmaker, Peugeot, said it would begin producing its Rifter light commercial vehicle in Türkiye.
The Combo will be manufactured at a Turkish carmaker Tofaş’s plant in the northwestern Bursa province. Peugeot’s Rifter will also be produced at the same factory.
The Bursa plant will add the Combo to Opel’s locally produced commercial vehicle lineup, following the start of production of the Zafira, Vivaro and Vivaro Van models at the facility.
Opel Türkiye Brand Director Yiğit Yantaç said restarting production in Türkiye carried both strategic and emotional significance for the brand.
“Bringing the Combo to life in Bursa with Turkish engineering and Tofaş’s manufacturing strength brings together two different engineering cultures,” Yantaç said.
Local production is expected to improve efficiency across Opel’s supply, logistics and operational processes.
Combo leads Opel’s commercial vehicle sales
The Combo accounts for a significant share of Opel’s light commercial vehicle sales in Türkiye.
Opel sold 27,471 light commercial vehicles in the country in 2025, making it the third-best-selling brand in the segment. Combo sales accounted for 15,722 of those vehicles.
The latest Combo features Opel’s signature Vizor front design, a digital cockpit and advanced driver-assistance systems. It is also equipped with Intelli-Lux LED Matrix headlights.
The model is offered in Essential, Edition and Ultimate trim levels and is powered by a 1.5-liter diesel engine producing 130 horsepower, paired with either a six-speed manual or eight-speed automatic transmission.
Combo maintained its sales momentum in the first seven months of 2026, with 7,779 units sold and an approximately 15% share of the C-Combivan segment.
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