Germany

BERLIN, May 7. /TASS/: Berlin’s administrative court has partially lifted a ban by the city police to display Russian flags and symbols during the May 9 rally, the RBB radio station reported on Sunday citing a source in law enforcement.

The court allowed to display Russian flags and symbols during an Immortal Regiment event. The police have already appealed this decision.

On Friday, the Berlin police announced a ban on using Russian and Ukrainian flags near Soviet memorials on May 8 and 9. The ban does not affect diplomats and World War Two veterans.

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s energy minister announced plans Friday to ease bureaucratic hurdles for solar power as the country set a new record for photovoltaic installations during the first quarter.

Europe’s biggest economy added 2.7 gigawatts of solar power capacity during the first three months of 2023, putting it on course to beat the target of 9 GW this year, compared with 7 GW in 2022.

FRANKFURT, May 4 (Xinhua) -- The European Central Bank (ECB) decided on Thursday to raise its main interest rates by 25 basis points (bps) in a bid to quell inflation.

As of May 10, the interest rates on the main refinancing operations, the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility will be increased to 3.75 percent, 4.00 percent and 3.25 percent, respectively, the bank said in a statement.

The interest rate on the deposit facility has been brought up to a level last seen in October 2008, it said.

BERLIN (AP) — Two people were killed and several experienced a psychologically damaging shock in a train accident near the western German city of Cologne on Thursday, German news agency dpa reported.

The train apparently crashed into a group of people who were working on the tracks close to the town of Huerth. Emergency personnel, police and psychologists were at the scene and the route was closed to further train traffic.

Five people experienced psychological trauma, because they witnessed two of their colleagues being hit and killed, dpa reported.

DUESSELDORF, May 2 (Reuters) - German arms makers Rheinmetall (RHMG.DE) and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann have settled a legal dispute over the intellectual property rights to the Leopard 2, one of the world's most advanced battle tanks, a court said on Tuesday.

A boom in defence orders due to the war in Ukraine, and in particular demand for Leopard tanks from Kyiv to help in the fight against Russian forces, has boosted both companies.

Duesseldorf-based Rheinmetall makes the cannon of the Leopard 2 and Munich-based KMW makes its chassis.

BERLIN (AP) — Environmental campaigners urged climate envoys from dozens of nations gathering Tuesday in Berlin to discuss a global deadline for phasing out fossil fuels and ways of increasing aid to poor countries hit by global warming.

About 40 countries, including the United States, China, India and Brazil, are attending the Petersberg Climate Dialogue being held in the German capital. The two-day meeting is a key negotiating step in the run-up to this year’s international climate conference in Dubai, known as COP28.

BERLIN, May 1. /TASS/: Part of German diplomatic missions’ employees left Russia on Monday, the German Foreign Ministry reported without specifying their number.

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on the Zvezda TV channel in late April that more than 20 German diplomats would be expelled from Russia as a tit-for-tat measure in response to the expulsion of Russian diplomats from Germany.

BERLIN (AP) — Public transit companies in Germany say more than 3 million people have already snapped up a new ticket being launched Monday that allows them to use all local and regional trains, buses and metros across the country for 49 euros ($53.90) a month.

The new Germany Ticket is intended to encourage people to ditch their cars in favor of more environmentally friendly forms of transportation. It follows on from an experimental 9-euro ‘all you can ride’ ticket that proved to be success last year, but which officials said wasn’t financially viable.

30 Apr 2023; MEMO: German authorities have been facing heavy criticism since a viral video showed a Muslim immigrant child forcefully being removed from his family in the city of Bremerhaven.

The video, widely shared on social media, showed police and child protection agency officers entering a house, and forcefully taking a little boy from his family, while the frightened child was crying for help and trying to resist the officers.

BERLIN (AP) — Some 3.4 million Turkish citizens living abroad began voting Thursday in national elections that will decide whether President Recep Tayyip Erdogan can continue governing Turkey after two decades in power.

The overseas balloting began amid concerns over Erdogan’s health after he was forced to cancel election rallies on Wednesday and Thursday. However, the 69-year-old leader was scheduled to attend a Thursday ceremony via video link to mark the inauguration of Turkey’s first nuclear power plant.