Germany

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s refusal to join other NATO members in providing weapons to Ukraine has annoyed some allies and raised questions about Berlin’s resolve in standing up to Russia.

The issue rose to the fore over the weekend following a report that Berlin had gone so far as to block Estonia from supplying old German howitzers to Kyiv to help defend itself against Russian troops massing near the Ukrainian the border.

BERLIN (AP) — A lone gunman opened fire during a lecture at Heidelberg University in southwestern Germany on Monday and wounded four people, some of them seriously, before killing himself, police said.

The man opened fire with a long-barreled firearm in a lecture hall and then fled outside, police said. They stressed that they believe he was acting alone and there was no longer any danger.

There was no immediate word on a possible motive. Officers at the scene could be seen examining two firearms and a bag.

BERLIN (AP) — Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Germany’s 16 state governors decided Monday to keep existing coronavirus restrictions in place and examine how best to use increasingly strained PCR test capacities as the highly contagious omicron variant fuels a steep rise in infections.

Germany has hit a series of daily infection records over the past two weeks as omicron has spread. On Monday, the national disease control center said 840.3 new cases per 100,000 residents have been recorded over the past week. The health minister has said he expects the numbers to peak in mid-February.

BERLIN, Jan 23 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Germany’s navy chief stepped down on Saturday after drawing criticism for saying Russian President Vladimir Putin deserved respect and that Kyiv would never win back annexed Crimea from Moscow.

“I have asked Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht to relieve me from my duties with immediate effect,” Vice Admiral Kay-Achim Schoenbach said in a statement.

“The minister has accepted my request.”

BERLIN, Jan 22 (Reuters) - The German government on Saturday distanced itself from comments made by its navy chief after video footage emerged in which the vice-admiral said Russian President Vladimir Putin deserved respect and that Kyiv would never win back annexed Crimea from Moscow.

German Navy Chief Kay-Achim Schoenbach apologized for his "rash" comments, published on YouTube and widely circulated on German media, and called them a mistake.

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Delegates from the party of former German Chancellor Angela Merkel endorsed prominent conservative Friedrich Merz as the Christian Democratic Union’s new leader Saturday as the center-right party seeks to redefine itself.

Merz received 94.6% of the vote from 983 delegates who cast ballots during an online party convention. The vote was mostly a formality since he won 62.1% in balloting among the party membership in December, defeating two centrist contenders.

BERLIN, Jan 21 (Reuters) - German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock expressed scepticism about cutting Russian banks off from the Swift global payments system in an interview with the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper.

"Decoupling all payment transactions would perhaps be the biggest stick, but not necessarily the sharpest sword," she told the paper.

She said Western countries were looking very closely at which economic and financial sanctions would actually affect the Russian economy and leadership without a bounceback effect.

BERLIN, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his Social Democrats are pushing ahead with one of their key election promises by increasing the national minimum wage to 12 euros ($13.62) per hour from October onwards, a draft law seen by Reuters showed on Friday.

Currently, Germany's minimum wage is 9.82 euros per hour. It will increase to 10.45 euros per hour from July.

BERLIN/KYIV, Jan 20 (Reuters) - The United States and Western countries sought to project unity and a tough stance over Ukraine on Thursday, after U.S. President Joe Biden suggested allies were split over how to react to any potential "minor incursion" from Russia.

Biden rowed back on his comments, made during a Wednesday news conference, saying on Thursday that "I have been absolutely clear with President (Vladimir) Putin, he has no misunderstanding. If any, any assembled Russian units move across the Ukrainian border that is an invasion".

BERLIN (AP) — Top American and European diplomats sought to project a united front to Russia on Thursday over concerns that it may be planning an invasion of Ukraine.

Russia has massed an estimated 100,000 troops near Ukraine, and U.S. President Joe Biden said Wednesday he thinks Moscow will invade. He warned Russian President Vladimir Putin that his country would pay a “dear price” in lives lost and a possible cutoff from the global banking system if it does.