Germany

BERLIN, July 13 (Xinhua) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday rejected the idea of mandatory vaccination and would instead rely on promoting the benefits of immunization to counter the COVID-19 pandemic.

During a visit to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), Merkel said the government could "gain trust by advertising vaccination." The goal was to educate citizens and turn them into "advertisers, ambassadors of vaccination, " she added.

BERLIN (AP) — Police said they were searching locations in the central German state of Hesse on Wednesday in connection with suspected Islamic extremists.

Hesse police said on Twitter that the raids were taking place “at numerous premises” across the state.

German news agency dpa reported that the suspects are alleged supporters of the Islamic State group. It quoted a police spokesman saying there was no immediate threat of an attack.

BERLIN (AP) — Neck rubs, pricy dinners, allegations of phone tapping, awkward handshake moments.

Angela Merkel has just about seen it all when it comes to U.S. presidents.

The German chancellor is making her 19th and likely final official visit to the U.S. on Thursday for a meeting with President Joe Biden — her fourth American president — as she nears the end of her 16-year tenure.

Merkel, who turns 67 on Saturday, will be heading into political retirement soon after deciding long ago not to seek a fifth term in Germany’s Sept. 26 election.

BERLIN, July 12. /TASS/: All the construction permits for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in Germany were issued, spokesperson of the German Economy Ministry Beate Baron said at a briefing on Monday.

"All the construction permits have been issued — and already a long time ago. As far as operations are concerned, the Federal Network Agency [the German regulator — TASS] can probably help in this regard," she said.

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Some 130 countries have agreed on a global minimum tax backed by President Joe Biden as part of a worldwide effort to keep multinational firms from dodging taxes by shifting their profits to countries with low rates.

The agreement announced Thursday is an attempt to address challenges presented by a globalized and increasingly digital world economy in which profits can be relocated across borders and companies can earn online profits in places where they have no taxable headquarters.

BERLIN, July 2 (Reuters) - Twitter has suspended the accounts of a group of exile opposition groups that call themselves the "Belarusian People's Embassies" after they were accused of identity theft by Belarusian authorities.

The people's embassy movement sprang up after last year's presidential election, in which long-serving strongman Alexander Lukashenko claimed a resounding victory despite a widespread belief that the vote was fraudulent.

BERLIN (AP) — German investigators said Tuesday that an Islamic extremist motivation for last week’s fatal knife attack in Wuerzburg appears likely, but they haven’t so far found any propaganda or other extremist material. They also plan more checks on the suspect’s mental health.

Friday’s assault in and outside a store in the center of the Bavarian city left three women dead and another six people seriously injured. The suspect, a 24-year-old Somali man, was shot in the leg by police and arrested after people surrounded him and tried to hold him at bay with chairs and sticks.

WUERZBURG, Germany (AP) — Investigators were looking Saturday for a motive behind an attack in the German city of Wuerzburg in which a man armed with a long knife killed three people and wounded at least five others.

The suspect, a 24-year-old Somali, was shot in the leg by police and arrested after the Friday afternoon attack in the southern city’s downtown area. Police said his life was not in danger and he was being questioned in a hospital.

BERLIN (AP) — The United Nations said 12 German troops and a Belgian soldier serving in the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Mali were wounded Friday in an attack in the country’s restive north.

The U.N. mission in the country, MINUSMA, had earlier said that 15 peacekeepers were wounded when a temporary operational base in the Gao region was targeted with a vehicle bomb. Later, it corrected the numbers.

BERLIN, June 25 (Reuters) - Germany's parliament approved changes on Friday that will make it easier for descendants of people who fled Nazi persecution to obtain citizenship, a move Jewish groups described as an important signal in the country responsible for the Holocaust.

The amendments approved by the Bundestag lower house of parliament ensrhine in law decrees from 2019 already in force, which followed a campaign by relatives of Nazi-era refugees.