Germany

9 November 2019; AFP: Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday urged Europe to defend democracy and freedom as Germany marked 30 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall, warning that such gains must not be taken for granted.

At a solemn ceremony in a church standing on the former "death strip" that divided East and West, Merkel said the Berlin Wall reminds "us that we have to do our part for freedom and democracy".

8 November 2019; AFP: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo issued a stark warning against China and Russia on the eve of the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, urging Western allies to defend hard-won freedoms.

"Western, free nations have a responsibility to deter threats to our people" from governments like China, Russia and Iran, Pompeo said, speaking just a few metres (yards) away from where the Wall ran past the German capital's world-famous Brandenburg Gate.

Frankfurt, Nov 7 (AFP) Tens of thousands of Lufthansa passengers faced disruptions Thursday as cabin crew in Germany kicked off a "massive" 48-hour walkout in the biggest escalation yet of a bitter row over pay and conditions.

The strike called by Germany's UFO flight attendants' union was scheduled to start at 2300 GMT on Wednesday and last until 2300 GMT on Friday.

Lufthansa said it was forced to scrap 700 flights on Thursday and some 600 the following day, warning that "around 180,000 passengers will be affected".

BERLIN (AP) — Germany says the U.S. government’s decision to pull out of the Paris climate agreement is “regrettable” but no surprise.

Environment Minister Svenja Schulze said Tuesday that the U.S. had announced its plan to withdraw from the pact two years ago and “luckily it has remained alone in doing so.”

BERLIN (AP) — NATO’s secretary general says the death of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is a “milestone” in the fight against the extremist group but is cautioning that the struggle is far from over.

NATO Jens Stoltenberg told Germany’s Bild newspaper on Sunday that IS once controlled a vast area in Syria and Iraq and the international anti-IS coalition, of which NATO is a part, needs to “ensure that it doesn’t return.”

BERLIN, Oct 23 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Thousands of farmers drove their tractors into German cities on Tuesday, in protest at the government’s new agricultural policies which they say will hurt their livelihoods and make them scapegoats for climate change.

Long convoys of tractors held up traffic at the main protest sites in Berlin and Bonn, both home to federal government offices, while thousands more honked their horns and blocked roads in cities including Munich, Hanover and Stuttgart.

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s defense minister proposed Tuesday the establishment of an internationally controlled security zone in Syria, hours before a five-day cease-fire between Turkish troops and Syrian Kurdish fighters was set to expire in the war-torn country.

The proposal comes as Turkish troops and allied Syrian fighters invaded northern Syria earlier this month, after President Donald Trump pulled back American troops who had partnered with Syrian Kurdish forces in the years-long war against the Islamic State group.

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany’s foreign minister said he hoped British lawmakers would vote on Monday to proceed with an orderly Brexit, adding that he could imagine a short extension to Britain’s departure from the European Union if London needed the time to pass legislation.

“I hope that the British lower house, showing the necessary responsibility, can take a decision on this today and that on the basis of this decision we will be in a position to achieve an orderly Brexit,” Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said in Berlin.

MUNICH, October 20. /TASS/: A meeting of experts from Russia and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) on the reported inconsistencies in data from the Moscow Anti-Doping Laboratory has been postponed, Chair of the WADA Compliance Review Committee Jonathan Taylor told TASS on Sunday.

The meeting was expected to take place in Lausanne on October 23 to discuss Russia’s explanations to WADA on the inconsistencies in the data retrieved from the Moscow Anti-Doping Lab.

17 October 2019; AFP: A 93-year-old former SS guard goes on trial in Germany on Thursday for complicity in the murder of more than 5,000 people at a Nazi concentration camp during World War II, in what could be one of the last such cases.

The man, identified by German media as Bruno Dey, stands accused of involvement in the murder of 5,230 people when he worked at the Stutthof camp near what was then Danzig, now Gdansk in Poland.