Germany

17 August 2019; DW: Berlin has reportedly banned Sigmar Gabriel from taking a position on the supervisory board at a Polish investment firm. But an alleged attempt by the US ambassador to keep him from another job seems to have failed.

A Luxembourg-based financial concern, Kulczyk Holding, was interested in hiring German politician Sigmar Gabriel on its supervisory board, but the move was blocked by the German government, German officials said.

16 August 2019; DW: Several months after the EU's migrant rescue mission in the Mediterranean was suspended, Angela Merkel has called for the operation to be resumed once more. The EU rescues were halted following pushback from Italy.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday called for the resumption of European naval missions to rescue migrants in the Mediterranean.

15 August 2019; DW: Visiting Canada's melting Arctic, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas has said Europe has an "extraordinary" task to slash fossil fuel emissions. If it didn't, climate warming would rob polar regions of more ice cover.

14 August 2019; AFP: Germany's economy contracted in the second quarter, figures showed Wednesday, highlighting its vulnerability to trade tensions and stoking debate on higher government spending.

As the US-China trade conflict intensifies, some economists have urged Berlin to fork out cash to avoid a recession.

However, Chancellor Angela Merkel and her ministers have said things were not yet bad enough to warrant loosening the purse strings.

14 August 2019; DW: Dozens of climate protesters tied themselves to a train track in front of a freight train to protest the German government's 'failed climate policy.'

A group of environmental activists stopped a train loaded with 200 brand new Volkswagen (VW) cars in the northern city of Wolfsburg for several hours on Tuesday, in protest of the automotive industry's contribution to climate change.

07 August 2019; DW: A man has reportedly been arrested in Turkey for posts he shared on Facebook. A series of arrests of German citizens in recent years has strained relations between the two countries.

Another German citizen was arrested in Turkey on charges of spreading propaganda, several news outlets reported on Tuesday.

04 August 2019; DW: Germany's federal police force has said 71 of its officers were injured last year while carrying out deportations, according to a media report. The injuries, for the most part, were not severe.

Germany's federal police have said "of the 284 officers attacked during repatriations, 71 were injured" in 2018, according to a report Sunday in the Welt am Sonntag newspaper.

03 August 2019; DW: The deputy leader of the conservative Christian Democrats has joined other CDU members in calling for a burqa ban in Germany. The calls come after the Netherlands imposed its own ban on face-covering clothing.

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — European governments have decided to put forward World Bank official Kristalina Georgieva from Bulgaria as their candidate to replace Christine Lagarde as head of the Washington-based International Monetary Fund.

Georgieva prevailed in a vote Friday among EU governments over former Netherlands finance minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem, according to tweets from French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.

01 August 2019; DW: Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said Germany will not be taking part in a US-led mission to secure oil tanker ships sailing near Iran. The US ambassador in Berlin slammed the decision, saying Germany has responsibilities.

Germany will not participate in a naval mission in the Strait of Hormuz that is led by the United States, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Wednesday.