Germany

BERLIN, Dec 23 (NNN-AGENCIES) — German cabin crew union UFO said arbitration talks with Lufthansa had failed and its members could stage strikes any time from now on, though they would spare passengers industrial action on Dec 24, 25 and 26.

In addition to a dispute over pay and pensions, UFO has been at odds with Lufthansa for months over the union’s legal status. Lufthansa has said the union’s leadership team that took office earlier this year was not elected in a way that met legal requirements.

BERLIN, December 19. /TASS/: Talks on Russian gas transit between Russia, Ukraine and the European Commission (EC) will be held once more until the end of 2019, executive director of Naftogaz Yury Vitrenko told TASS on Thursday after trilateral consultations in Berlin.

"Yes, there will be [another meeting]. It will be held soon, by the end of the year," Vitrenko said in response to a corresponding question. He added that the meeting will be most likely held in the trilateral format. "Let's see, we have three parties — the European Union, Ukraine and Russia," Vitrenko noted.

BERLIN, December 19. /TASS/: Russia and Ukraine with the mediation from the European Commission have reached at consultations in Berlin a principla agreement on gas transit, former vice president for Energy Union Maros Sefcovic said on Thursday.

"Talks were very intensive," Sefcovic said. "We have a principal agreement today, details will be discussed tomorrow in the capitals," he added.

This represents "good news for Europe, Russia, Ukraine and the gas market," Sefcovic noted.

BERLIN (Reuters) - One person was killed and dozens were injured in an explosion in an apartment block in Germany on Friday, police said, according to local media.

The blast, whose cause police said was not yet known, occurred in the eastern city of Blankenburg.

Residents, including children at a nearby kindergarten, were evacuated, and the area where the explosion occurred was sealed off, police said. None of the children were hurt, police tweeted.

BERLIN (Reuters) - The incoming leader of Germany’s Social Democrats (SPD) said on Friday she was skeptical that their ruling coalition with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives would survive but she was ready to give it a chance.

SPD members last Saturday chose two critics of the coalition with Merkel to co-head their party after months of turmoil and dismal performances in regional and European elections. Many party members want to quit government and rebuild in opposition.

BERLIN, Dec 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) —Months after a man was shot dead in a Berlin park, Germany is throwing out two Russian diplomats because it suspects the murder was ordered by Russia or Russia’s Chechen republic.

The expulsions come shortly after Germany’s chief prosecutor decided to take over the case.

Germany has accused Russia of failing to assist in the investigation.

Russia has rejected accusations of its involvement as “absolutely groundless” and says it will retaliate.

BERLIN, December 5. /TASS/: A deputy chairman of the Free Democratic Party of Germany’s parliamentary faction, Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, believes that his country’s authorities have made a hasty decision when they expelled two Russian diplomats from the country.

"It’s hard to understand without any clear information why the government expels two Russian diplomats when the investigation is still ongoing," the lawmaker, whose party is part of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, told AFP. "Evidence that justifies this step must be presented."

BERLIN (Reuters) - German public broadcaster ARD reported on Tuesday that federal prosecutors want to take over a probe into the killing in August of a Georgian citizen in Berlin and that they believe Russian intelligence was involved.

Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, who had previously fought alongside anti-Moscow separatists in the province of Chechnya, was shot dead in Berlin in August.

BERLIN (Reuters) - The coalition deal forming the basis of Germany’s ruling alliance is not up for renegotiation and the new leaders of the Social Democrats (SDP) must decide whether or not they want to stay in government, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s protegee said on Monday.

The coalition’s future looks shaky after the election of new SDP leaders who are demanding a shift in policies that their conservative senior partners are resisting.

Berlin, Nov 30 (AFP/PTI) Tens of thousands of protesters, primarily in Europe and Asia, hit the streets on Friday to make a fresh call for action against global warming, hoping to raise pressure on world leaders days before a UN climate summit.

Carrying signs that read "One planet, one fight" and "The sea is rising, so must we", thousands flocked to Berlin's Brandenburg Gate for the latest "Fridays for Future" protest inspired by 16-year-old activist Greta Thunberg.