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June 2, 2026 Germany news roundup: Poverty hits record high, AfD surveillance upheld, top developments

This June 2, 2026 DW news roundup covers key Germany-related stories, including a Parity Welfare Association report that 16.1% of Germany's population (13.34 million people) lived in poverty in 2025, the highest level since 2020, a Hanover court ruling upholding expanded state surveillance of the Lower Saxony branch of the far-right AfD party, Cologne Cathedral introducing a €12 tourist entry fee starting July 1, tensions with the Netherlands over extended German border controls, the German national soccer team traveling on a commercial Lufthansa flight to the US ahead of the 2026 World Cup, local incidents including a Berlin tram crash and fatal Hamburg stabbing, and new data showing rising overweight rates among German adults.