Germany

10 July 2019; DW: Cologne has become the first German city with a population of more than a million people to join the declaration movement. More than 700 cities around the world have recognized the urgency of the climate crisis.

It is official. Cologne called a climate emergency on Tuesday, after resounding pressure from the Fridays for Future group.

10 July 2019; DW: A German court sentenced 22-year-old Iraqi national Ali B. to life in prison for raping and killing a 14-year-old girl in Mainz. The man had admitted to murder but insisted that he and the girl had consensual sex.

The Iraqi man who killed a teenage girl in Germany was sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday, after a court heard that he had a serious personality disorder.

9 July 2019; DW: Germany has rejected a US request for German ground troops to move into Syria.

German government spokesperson Steffen Seibert said on Monday that Germany would not increase its military presence in the country.

On Friday, the US had called for Germany to send ground troops into Syria.

"When I say that the government intends to continue with its ongoing measures in the framework of the anti-IS coalition, then that means no ground troops," Seibert said.

7 July 2019; DW: In light of the recent record-breaking heat wave in Europe, the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) has said it will press for workplaces in Germany to offer employees a "siesta"-style midday break, as is common in Mediterranean countries.

"Southern countries already do it — during heat waves, we also need a siesta in Germany," said DGB spokeswoman Annelie Buntenbach on Saturday.

7 July 2019; DW: A huge World War II bomb discovered in Germany's financial capital Frankfurt during construction work is set to be defused on Sunday.

Efforts to make the 500-kilogram (1,100 pounds) American-origin bomb safe are expected to create widespread disruption in the city, officials said.

5 July 2019; DW: Chinese army medics and German Bundeswehr soldiers began a practice UN mission this week in southern Germany. The aim is to prepare the teams so they can respond to large-scale outbreaks of epidemics.

Called "Combined Aid 2019," the joint operation will see groups tackle a staged cholera outbreak in multiple refugee camps. The drill includes 92 Chinese medics, 129 German soldiers and 120 support officers. It began on Wednesday and continues until July 17.

5 July 2019; DW: Motorcyclists must wear a helmet and cannot be exempted from the rule on religious grounds, one of Germany's top five courts has ruled.

The Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig rejected a Sikh man's appeal, who had argued that the helmet would not fit over his turban.

4 July 2019; DW: Lawmakers from across Germany's political spectrum on Wednesday slammed a proposal to make German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen the next European Commission president.

Von der Leyen's candidacy was endorsed by all EU leaders apart from German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a European Council vote on Tuesday. Merkel abstained because her domestic coalition partners, the Social Democrats (SPD), refused to give their approval.

BREMERHAVEN, Germany (AP) — Cranes hoist cargo onto the deck, power tools scream out and workers bustle through the maze of passageways inside the German icebreaker RV Polarstern, preparations for a yearlong voyage that organizers say is unprecedented in scale and ambition.

1 July 2019; DW: A crowdfunding effort for detained sea captain Carola Rackete – backed by two of Germany's top television celebrities – raised €500,000 ($569,000) within hours of its launch.

German-born Rackete was arrested on Saturday after ramming her vessel past a police boat  that was blocking its entry to the harbor on the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa.