Germany

23 June 2021; MEMO: The CEO of Axel Springer, a Berlin-based agency, told the company's 16,000 employees to find another job if they have a problem with an Israeli flag being posted outside the largest digital publishing house of Europe.

24 June 2021; MEMO: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday that Russia should not use energy as a weapon, Anadolu reports.

On the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project, which is set to increase Russian gas supply to Europe, especially Germany, Blinken told reporters he sees the project as a threat to European energy security.

BERLIN, June 24 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken called for the withdrawal of foreign forces from Libya as part of the Berlin summit on the pacification of the country.

“The October 23 ceasefire agreement must be fully implemented, including the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Libya,” Blinken said during a Wednesday joint press conference with German counterpart Heiko Maas.

BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday that Europe is “on thin ice” in its battle against the coronavirus, as the highly contagious delta variant threatens to undo progress made in reducing infections.

In what may be her last government declaration to the German parliament, Merkel said the further response to the pandemic would be a main topic of discussion among European Union leaders at a meeting in Brussels on Thursday.

She noted that the number of COVID-19 cases in the 27-nation bloc continue to decline, while vaccination rates climb.

BERLIN (AP) — Germany and the United Nations are bringing together representatives of Libya with powers that have interests in the country at a conference Wednesday which aims for progress toward securing elections in the North African nation and the removal of foreign fighters.

BERLIN, June 22 (Reuters) - Germany must discuss its concerns about China's record on human rights with Beijing but that does not mean it needs to reverse its policy towards China, the leader of Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) said on Tuesday.

"I support the government's China strategy.. We must talk about our concerns (on human rights) but there is no need to turn our China policy on its head," Armin Laschet told a conference organised by the BDI industry association.

Starting a new Cold War with China was not the right approach, Laschet said.

21 June 2021; MEMO: Germany has agreed to ban the flag of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, citing a sharp rise in anti-Semitic incidents following Israel's recent assault on the Gaza Strip.

21 June 2021; MEMO: German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas called on the European Union to update its migrant deal with Turkey, as he highlighted the importance of further funding, Die Welt reports.

"We need an update to our migration cooperation with Turkey," Maas told the paper in comments published today.

The EU is very interested in the migration deal with Ankara being further developed and updated, Maas added.

BERLIN, June 18 (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron called on Friday for European Union countries to coordinate their COVID-19 border reopening policies and guard against new variants of the virus.

Macron said EU countries must be careful not to allow new variants to spread, adding that the EU was watching developments in Britain, which has seen a steep rise in the weekly reported cases of the Delta variant. 

BERLIN, June 18 (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel's ruling conservatives will promise "a decade of modernisation" on Monday in an election programme intended to see off the fading challenge of their Green Party rivals.

The manifesto will counter the Greens' offer of a "new start" and show the conservatives closing ranks after a divisive battle over who should be their candidate to replace Merkel, who will step down as chancellor after a Sept. 26 federal election.