Germany

BERLIN, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Berlin does not accept a Belarus proposal for Germany to take in 2,000 migrants who are currently on Belarusian territory, a government spokesperson said on Monday.

"The idea of having a humanitarian corridor to Germany for 2,000 migrants is not a solution that is acceptable to Germany or the EU," the spokesperson said.

21 Nov 2021; MEMO: Unidentified people attacked Iran's Consulate General in Hamburg, Germany, local police said on Saturday, Anadolu Agency reported.

Police in Hamburg said unidentified persons threw flammable materials at the iron gate of the consulate.

Smoke rose in the area where the consulate is located, while the fire was immediately extinguished, the statement said, noting that no one was injured in the incident.

Two people who fled the scene are being sought, it added.

BERLIN, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Germany's next cabinet is taking shape as coalition negotiations near a deal, with chancellor-in-waiting Olaf Scholz determined to deliver on his campaign pledge to have as many women as men in his team, sources said on Saturday.

Scholz's centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), who narrowly won the federal election in September by beating Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives, are trying to form a three-way ruling coalition with the pro-spending Greens and the fiscally conservative Free Democrats (FDP).

FRANKFURT, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- The European Central Bank (ECB) must not rush to tighten its monetary policy since the elevated inflation rates look transitory, the bank's President, Christine Lagarde, told the Frankfurt European Banking Congress on Friday.

Speaking via video link, Lagarde stressed that the ECB's monetary policy should be kept consistent to facilitate the return of inflation to the two percent target over the medium term when interest rates remain low.

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The head of the European Central Bank warned that high oil and gas prices are hitting consumers in the 19 countries that use the euro harder than in other major economies and underlined that the bank won’t add to the squeeze by raising interest rates anytime soon.

BERLIN (AP) — Austria took what its leader called the “dramatic” step Monday of implementing a nationwide lockdown for unvaccinated people who haven’t recently had COVID-19, perhaps the most drastic of a string of measures being taken by European governments to get a massive regional resurgence of the coronavirus under control.

13 Nov 2021; MEMO: A number of German MPs have rejected the UAE's candidate to head international police body INTERPOL, Arabi21 reported on Friday.

The London-based news website disclosed that the German MPs signed a petition expressing their "deep concern" regarding the nomination of the UAE's Major General Ahmed Nasser Al-Raisi for the post of INTERPOL director.

BERLIN (AP) — Lufthansa said Friday that it has repaid all the aid it received from the German government last year to help the airline through the coronavirus pandemic.

Germany’s biggest airline, which also owns carriers including Austrian Airlines and Swiss, received a 9 billion euro ($10.3 billion) government rescue package in mid-2020. The German government took a 20% stake in the company, which has long made clear that it wanted to pay back the aid quickly.

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s disease control center is calling for people to cancel or avoid large events and to reduce their contacts as the country’s coronavirus infection rate hits the latest in a string of new highs.

The center, the Robert Koch Institute, said Friday that Germany’s infection rate climbed to 263.7 new cases per 100,000 residents over seven days, up from 249.1 the previous day. Another 48,640 new cases were reported after the daily total topped 50,000 for the first time on Thursday. A further 191 deaths brought Germany’s total so far to 97,389.

09 Nov 2021; MEMO: Germany today urged the European Union to help Poland protect its borders as thousands of irregular migrants seek to enter the country from Belarus.

German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer accused Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko of engaging in a form of "hybrid" warfare and using migrants as a weapon to destabilise European countries.