Vocabulary in the News
English-to-German News Terms
World News and Events in German and English
A collection of words and phrases found in German magazines or newspapers—in the fields of crime, disasters, war, politics, sports, weather and other news.
> German-English Version of this glossary
> Political Parties Glossary (CDU, FDP, SPD, etc.)
> Terrorism Glossary (English-German)
Noun genders are indicated by: r (der, masc.), e (die, fem.), s (das, neu.)
Abbreviations: adj. (adjective), n. (noun), v. (verb), pl. (plural)
NEWS/NACHRICHTEN - Links
NACHRICHTEN auf Deutsch
A-L | M-Z
A
abdication (of king), resignation (from office) r Rücktritt
accident, crash (n.) r Unfall, s Unglück
auto/car accident, car crash r Autounfall
train crash s Bahn-, Zugunglück
according to (the police) nach Angaben (der Polizei)
according to official sources nach offiziellen Angaben
ambassador r Botschafter
anti-foreigner sentiment, xenophobia e Ausländerfeindlichkeit
army e Armee
German armed forces e Bundeswehr
German army s Bundesheer
soldier r Soldat, e Soldatin
arrest v. festnehmen, verhaften
artificial feeding/nourishment künstliche Ernährung
atomic/nuclear power plant s Atomkraftwerk (s AKW)
atomic/nuclear energy e Kernenergie
enriched uranium angereichertes Uran
avalanche e Lawine
avian flu, bird flu e Vogelgrippe
the axis of evil die Achse des Bösen
On January 29, 2002 in his State of the Union address, President George W. Bush labeled Iran (der Iran), Iraq (der Irak), and North Korea (Nordkorea) an "axis of evil." Also see: Land und Leute (countries) glossary.
B
bank robbery r Banküberfall
“Becker versus Becker” Becker gegen Becker
divorce n. e Scheidung
Germany's most famous divorce case: In 2001 former German tennis champ Boris Becker was in a very messy divorce case with his German-American wife Barbara Becker.
bird flu, avian flu e Vogelgrippe
bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) die Bovine Spongiforme Enzephalopathie, die BSE, r Rinderwahn
brain(s) s Gehirn
brain-damaged hirngeschädigt (med.); hirnamputiert (hum.)
brain-dead gehirntot, hirntot
brain death r Gehirntod, Hirntod
BSE, “mad cow” disease e BSE, r Rinderwahn
the BSE crisis e BSE-Krise
Bundesrat, German parliament (upper house) r Bundesrat
Bundestag, German parliament (lower house) r Bundestag
business, economy e Wirtschaft
C
capital punishment, death penalty e Todesstrafe
caricature controversy r Karikaturen-Streit
cartoon controversy r Karikaturen-Streit
In early 2006, five months after it was first published in a Danish newspaper, a political cartoon caricature of Mohammed as a terrorist caused violent protests and controversy around the globe.
case (legal) r Fall
case of murder r Mordfall
a case of murder, murder case ein Mordfall
CDU e CDU, the Christian Democratic Union (German political party)
chancellor r Kanzler
federal (German) chancellor r Bundeskanzler
The current federal chancellor of Germany is Angela Merkel (CDU, Christian Democratic Union). The previous chancellor was Gerhard Schröder (SPD, Social Democratic Party). See: "Tax Song" Lampoons Schröder
civil servant, government worker, official r Beamte/e Beamtin
climb, go up v. steigen
gas/petrol prices are climbing die Benzinpreise steigen
clone n. r Klon (-e)
clone v. klonen
cloning n. s Klonen
collect, receive (taxes) kassieren
condemn, sentence, pass judgment v. verurteilen
He was condemned to death. Er wurde zum Tode verurteilt.
confrontation e Konfrontation
to head for a confrontation, go on the offensive auf Konfrontationskurs gehen
consent, agreement e Zustimmung (-en)
with the consent of the SPD mit der Zustimmung der SPD
crash, disaster n. r Absturz, s Unglück
plane crash r Flugzeugabsturz
train crash s Bahn-, Zugunglück
crash, fall v. abstürzen
crashed abgestürzt
currency e Währung (euro, dollar, etc.)
See: Der Euro kommt
custody, arrest, detention e Haft
arrest, take into custody in Haft nehmen
What's today's German word of the day?
D
death penalty, capital punishment e Todesstrafe
execution e Hinrichtung
The Todesstrafe is banned in all EU countries, including Germany and Austria.
decision e Entscheidung
make a decision eine Entscheidung treffen
defence/defense e Verteidigung
defense minister/secretary r Verteidigungsminister
depleted uranium abgereichertes Uran
depleted-uranium arms/munitions e Uran-Munition
die v. sterben, ums Leben kommen
he died of cancer er starb an Krebs
she died of heart failure sie ist an Herzversagen gestorben
many people died/lost their lives viele Menschen kamen ums Leben
divorce n. e Scheidung
to get a divorce sich scheiden lassen
Facts about government and geography:
Austria Today
Germany Today
E
earthquake s Erdbeben
on the Richter scale an der Richterskala
seismograph r Erdbebenmesser
ecology tax die Ökosteuer
See gasoline below for details.
economy, business e Wirtschaft
education e Bildung, s Schulwesen
election e Wahl
election victory r Wahlsieg
embassy e Botschaft
emergency (situation) e Notlage
enriched uranium angereichertes Uran
depleted uranium abgereichertes Uran
to enrich anreichern >
Aber wer darf Uran anreichern und wer nicht?
But who's allowed to enrich uranium and who's not?
environment e Umwelt
espionage e Spionage
EU (see "European Union" below)
in the EU in der EU
euro r Euro (common currency of 11 EU nations)
See euro article for more.
European Union (EU) Europäische Union (die EU)
Germany and Austria are both members of the 15-nation EU. Switzerland is not.
euthanasia e Euthanasie
execution (killing) e Hinrichtung
explosive adj. explosiv explosive(s) n. r Sprengstoff
explosion e Explosion
F
FDP e FDP, e Freie Demokratische Partei (Free Democratic Party, e Freidemokraten)
See the Political Parties Glossary
feeding tube e Magensonde, e künstliche Ernährung
From the media: "Terri Schiavos Ehemann Michael hatte in einem langjährigen Rechtsstreit durchgesetzt, dass die Magensonde entfernt wird."
(After years of legal battles, Terri Schiavo's husband Michael had been able to have the feeding tube removed.)
forced laborer, slave laborer r Zwangsarbeiter (-)
Nazi-era forced laborers die NS-Zwangsarbeiter pl.
foreign secretary/minister, secretary of state r Außenminister, e Außenministerin
foreigner r Ausländer, e Ausländerin
they are foreigners sie sind Ausländer
flood n. e Überflutung, e Überschwemmung, s Hochwasser
heavy floods/flooding schwere Überschwemmungen
floods die Fluten pl.
Germany experienced die Jahrhundertflut an der Elbe in August 2002, when massive flooding caused devastation all along the Elbe river, particularly in Dresden.
foreign policy e Außenpolitik
German foreign policy deutsche Außenpolitik
forest fire r Waldbrand
forest fires in Spain Waldbrände in Spanien
freezing rain n. gefrierender Regen
English-German Terrorism Glossary
Political Parties Glossary
G
gasoline, petrol (n.) s Benzin
gas prices die Benzinpreise (pl.)
A German ecology tax (die Ökosteuer) on the price of gasoline was introduced on Jan. 1, 2001. The tax was scheduled to raise incrementally over the following years.
GDR e DDR (East Germany)
Land und Leute
glossary of nations and languages.
global warming e Erderwärmung
government e Regierung
federal government e Bundesregierung
Green Party, the Greens die Grünen (pl.)
H
headline(s) e Schlagzeile(n)
hypocrisy e Heuchelei
I
immigrant r Einwanderer (-)
immigration e Einwanderung
immigration authorities, INS e Einwanderungsbehörde
insurance e Versicherung (-en)
J
jobs (number of) e Arbeitsplätze (pl.)
Following the News in German
Tips and strategies for following the
news, sports and weather in German.
K
king r König
kingdom s Königreich
L
landslide(s) r Erdrutsch(e)
mudslide e Schlammlawine
law(s) s Gesetz (-e), s Recht (-e)
new laws neue Gesetze
life s Leben
to lose your life, to die ums Leben kommen
many people died/lost their lives viele Menschen kamen ums Leben
life-support system s Lebenserhaltungssystem
limit, restrict (v.) einschränken
limitation(s), restriction(s) e Einschränkung (-en)
NEXT > M-Z
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Related Pages
German-to-English Version of this Glossary
News-related terms from German to English.
English-German Terrorism Glossary
Vocabulary related to terrorism in the news.
Political Parties Glossary
A German-English glossary of political parties in the German-speaking countries.
Nachrichten auf Deutsch
Links to online news sites and newspapers with news in German.
News/Nachrichten
Links to online media with news in German and English.
A Beginner's Guide to Following the News in German
Tips and strategies that make it possible for even beginners to use the Web to follow news, sports and weather in German.
Der Euro kommt
An article on the new European currency - with vocabulary and bilingual references.
Techniques for Using Authentic Language Sources
Tips and suggestions for using the Web to your advantage. Even beginners can do it!
Text Translation
Our special text translation page (just don't expect too much!).
Date and Time Glossary
An annotated English-German glossary related to the calendar and the clock.
Land und Leute
An annotated glossary of nations and languages.
More English-German Glossaries
Annotated glossaries on many topics.
Online Dictionaries
Links for dictionaries and glossaries, including news terms.
Wort des Tages
What's today's German word of the day?
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