Germany

21 Jan 2019; DW: For months now, European countries have called for concrete action against entities linked to Iranian intelligence. Mahan Air reportedly maintains close ties to an elite group of Iran's security services.

The German government has prepared sanctions against Iranian airline Mahan Air in connection to Iran's illegal activities in Europe, including the discovery of a spy working as a translator for the country's armed forces , German media reported on Monday.

21 Jan 2019; DW: Most of the asylum-seekers that were deported were sent to Italy. The deportations follow the EU's Dublin III rule, which states that applications must be processed in the first country of arrival.

In 2018, more refugees were transferred from Germany to other EU member states than ever before, according to an Interior Ministry report obtained by German daily Süddeutsche Zeitung. The report was a response to a parliamentary inquiry by the Left Party.

20 Jan 2019; DW: German Chancellor Angela Merkel stressed the importance and significance of German-French ties in a video message posted on Saturday.

After centuries of war between the two countries, the friendship that now exists between Berlin and Paris was "anything but self-evident," she said.

Her remarks come just days before she and French President Emmanuel Macron are due to sign a new friendship treaty in the city of Aachen.

18 Jan 2019; DW: Beijing and Berlin have signed agreements to boost cooperation in the banking and insurance sectors. A trade spat with the US has left China looking for other trade partners.

China and Germany vowed closed financial cooperation on Friday, affirming initiatives to open their respective markets further to each other's banks and insurers. Berlin stopped short of choosing a side in the US-China trade war, however.

17 Jan 2019; DW: Police conducted raids on several properties throughout Germany thought to be connected to an extremist group that associates itself with the Ku Klux Klan. A total of 17 people are at the center of the investigation.

German police on Wednesday raided 12 apartments in eight different German states belonging to suspected members of an extreme-right group calling itself the National Socialist Knights of the Ku Klux Klan Deutschland.

LONDON (AP) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel says there’s still time for negotiations between the European Union and Britain over its departure from the bloc.

Merkel says that she regretted the decision by British lawmakers to oppose the agreement negotiated by British Prime Minister Theresa May and the EU.

Merkel told reporters in Berlin that “we will of course do everything to find an orderly solution, but we are also prepared if there is no orderly solution.”

16 Jan 2019; DW: More Germans are applying for basic weapons licenses according to the country's Interior Ministry. As of December 31, 2018, some 610,937 citizens had been issued licenses.

The jump of 53,377 gun permits over 2017 represents a 9.6 percent increase in the number of Germans now licensed to carry gas pistols, flare guns, pepper spray and other weapons not intended for deadly use.

Berlin, Jan 15 (AFP) Germany on Tuesday detained a German-Afghan man on suspicion he was spying for Iran while working for the German army as a linguistic and cultural adviser.

The 50-year-old identified as Abdul Hamid S. was arrested in western Germany, federal prosecutors said in a statement.

"The accused was a language evaluator and cultural issues adviser of the German armed forces. In this capacity, he is believed to have passed on information to an Iranian intelligence service," they added.

15 Jan 2019; AFP: Hundreds of flights will be cancelled at eight German airports Tuesday, including at the nation's busiest travel hub Frankfurt, as security staff walk off the job in a deepening row over pay.

Germany's powerful Verdi union said the strike would last from 02:00 am until 8:00 pm (0100-1900 GMT) at the airports of Frankfurt, Munich, Hanover, Bremen, Hamburg, Leipzig, Dresden and Erfurt.

15 Jan 2019; DW: Staff responsible for checking passengers and cargo have started an 18-hour warning strike at Germany's biggest airports. An estimated 220,000 passengers are affected.

German airport association ADV warned that the strike action would "paralyze" the German flight network all day Tuesday. Frankfurt Airport operator Fraport canceled half of its 1,200 flights.