Germany

WASHINGTON, March 13. /TASS/. Berlin rejects the idea of imposing economic sanctions on Russia over its alleged violation of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, the German Government’s Commissioner for Disarmament and Arms Control Susanne Baumann said on Tuesday.

"I do not think that economic sanctions would lead to a change in behavior in this special case," she said, commenting on the possibility of slapping Russia with economic sanctions over its alleged non-compliance.

BERLIN, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Following a warning letter by the U.S. ambassador in Berlin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday that it "goes without saying" that the German government would define its own security standards in its 5G expansion.

Merkel added that security in the expansion of Germany's 5G mobile network was a "precious asset" for the German government, and security standards would be discussed with Germany's partners in Europe and the United States.

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — German automaker Volkswagen said Tuesday it plans to ramp up its production of electric vehicles over the next ten years to 22 million and reduce its carbon footprint over vehicle life cycles by 30 percent.

Previously, the company said it would aim for 15 million. That was ambitious in itself given that it made fewer than 50,000 battery-only vehicles last year.

The company is pivoting to electric vehicles as it seeks to comply with new limits on carbon dioxide emissions in Europe, and a push by China for more low-emission vehicles.

12 Mar 2019; DW: German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday endorsed some of the key European reform ideas put forward by her successor to the Christian Democratic Union leadership Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, including a joint EU aircraft carrier.

Kramp-Karrenbauer, who succeeded Merkel as leader of the CDU in December, etched out her vision in a weekend response to French President Emmanuel Macron's proposals for European Union reform.

12 Mar 2019; DW: The United States on Monday warned Germany that sensitive communications could be compromised if "untrusted vendors" were used within its 5G telecom infrastructure, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

11 Mar 2019; DW: Nina Mayer was nearing her 25th birthday on March 11, 2009. She was a teacher at the Albertville school in Winnenden, a town near Stuttgart. In her free time, Mayer played the piano and helped disabled children.

"She had an unshakable belief in the goodness in this world, which would eventually make everything right," said her mother, Gisela.

08 Mar 2019; DW: Germany will not declare Lebanon's Hezbollah movement a terrorist organization, a top official said Friday.

Niels Annen, deputy minister in the Foreign Ministry, told newsmagazine Der Spiegel that the Iran-backed Shiite Islamist movement is a relevant factor in Lebanese society and part of the complex political landscape in the country.

09 Mar 2019; DW: In Saudi Arabia, more than 2,600 of the country's citizens are in jail for political reasons. In Egypt, that number is more than 60,000 — mainly activists and opposition figures.

08 Mar 2019; DW: It was in 1910 at the Conference of Socialist Women — held that year in Copenhagen — that German women's rights activist Clara Zetkin first suggested the idea for International Women's Day.

A year later, along with Austria, Switzerland and Denmark, Germany celebrated Women's Day for the first time on March 19. Demonstrations demanding women's suffrage — a right that was finally handed to German women in 1918 — dominated the day.

07 Mar 2019; DW: German police have warned anyone who quarreled with now-deceased landscape gardener Bernhard Graumann to be on alert after it emerged that he may have planted bombs to harm those he perceived as enemies.

The 59-year-old was found dead at his home in the town of Mehlingen last week.

Authorities said they believe that the gardener, before his death, installed a booby-trapped device that killed a doctor in a nearby town on Friday.