French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel discussed issues ranging from climate change to human rights in video talks with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Monday, France said. The talks were meant to calibrate positions ahead of several global meetings in the autumn, including the COP26 summit on global warming in the UK […]
Germany
Germany completes troop pull-out from Afghanistan: minister
Germany has completed its troop pull-out from Afghanistan started in May, the defence ministry announced Tuesday, as the US aims to complete its withdrawal by September 11. “After nearly 20 years of deployment, the last soldiers of our Bundeswehr have left Afghanistan this evening,” said German Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer in a statement. “They are […]
Germany bans most travel from Portugal, Russia over variant
Germany on Friday classed Portugal and Russia as so-called coronavirus variant countries, banning most arrivals from both nations. From Tuesday, only citizens and residents of Germany will be allowed in from the two countries, with air, rail and bus companies prohibited from transporting other passengers. Those allowed to enter from Russia and Portugal will be […]
Germany eases citizenship for Nazi victims’ descendants
Germany on Friday passed legislation to naturalise some Nazi victims’ descendants who had previously been denied citizenship in what it called a symbolic step toward redressing past injustice. The so-called “reparation citizenship” measure passed the Bundestag lower house of parliament with a large majority in a marathon session before the summer recess. Lawmakers also updated […]
Medical expert warns Germany Euro 2020 fans not to travel to England
German football fans have been warned not to attempt to travel to Wembley for Tuesday’s Euro 2020 last 16 tie against England by a senior official of the World Medical Association, because of the highly infectious Delta variant of the Covid-19 virus. Germany’s nail-biting 2-2 draw with Hungary put them into the knockout stages where […]
UEFA sending ‘wrong signal’ with rainbow stadium refusal: Germany
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas on Wednesday criticised UEFA’s decision to block plans to light Munich’s Allianz Arena stadium in rainbow colours for Germany’s Euro 2020 match against Hungary. “It’s true, the football pitch is not about politics,” Maas wrote on Twitter, after the European football body blamed the “political context” for its decision. “It’s […]
World powers in new push for Libya peace
World powers are gathering Wednesday in Berlin to seek lasting peace in Libya by ensuring the conflict-wracked North African country stays firmly on the path towards general elections on December 24. Representatives of Libya’s interim government will join US Secretary of State Antony Blinken as well as the foreign ministers of France and Egypt at […]
After Biden, Blinken back to Europe to shore up Western unity
Days after Joe Biden’s first presidential trip abroad, Secretary of State Antony Blinken headed back to Europe Tuesday to keep up the work of building Western unity against a rising China. Blinken left Washington late Tuesday afternoon for Berlin, and will continue on to Paris and Rome, meeting the European Union’s two key powerbrokers, German […]
Germany opens antitrust probe against Apple
Germany on Monday opened an investigation against Apple over anti-competition practices, as the iPhone maker became the fourth US tech giant to be hit by such probes. The antitrust authority had in recent weeks opened similar investigations against Amazon, Google and Facebook under a new law that came into force in January giving regulators more […]
Germany arrests Russian scientist for ‘spying’ for Moscow
German federal prosecutors said Monday they had arrested a Russian scientist accused of passing sensitive information from a German university to Moscow in return for cash. They said in a statement the suspect, identified only as Ilnur N., had been taken into custody on Friday on suspicion of “working for a Russian secret service since […]