Germany

BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is traveling to the Middle East on Saturday for a two-day, three-country visit aimed at striking new energy deals and forging fresh alliances amid the economic and geopolitical turmoil resulting from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The German government has scrambled to wean Europe’s biggest economy off Russian oil, coal and gas since coming to office last December.

20 Sep 2022; MEMO: German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, on Tuesday said he was "very irritated" about Turkiye's attempts to join a Central Asian security body dominated by Russia and China, Reuters reports.

Turkish President, Tayyip Erdogan, said on Saturday he was targeting membership of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation for Turkiye, which is also a member of the NATO defence alliance.

21 Sep 2022; MEMO: German utilities RWE (RWEG.DE) and Uniper (UN01.DE) are close to striking long-term deals to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Qatar's North Field Expansion project to help replace Russian gas, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

BERLIN, Sept 20 (Reuters) - German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Tuesday said he was "very irritated" about Turkey's attempts to join a Central Asian security body dominated by Russia and China.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday he was targeting membership of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation for Turkey, which is also a member of the NATO defense alliance.

"This is not an organization that is delivering an important contribution to a good global coexistence," Scholz said at the U.N. General Assembly in New York after meeting with Erdogan.

BERLIN, Sept 19 (Reuters) - E.ON (EONGn.DE) has informed the German government of a leak at the Isar 2 nuclear power plant which has not compromised security but could complicate the government's winter energy plan, the environment ministry said on Monday.

Isar 2, in the southern state of Bavaria, had been scheduled to go offline at the end of the year under Germany's plan to phase out nuclear power.

BERLIN/LISBON, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Germany was pressing on Monday to secure liquefied natural gas contracts with Gulf producers and other European states outlined measures to conserve energy, with Russian flows running at severely reduced levels as winter approaches.

Berlin said it aimed to sign LNG contracts in the United Arab Emirates to supply terminals it is building, now that the vital Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline from Russia is shut, while Spain, France others outlined contingency planning to try to avoid power cuts. 

MUNICH, GERMANY, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- Germany's Oktoberfest, the largest folk festival in Germany, started Saturday here in Munich, Bavaria, after a two-year COVID-induced break.

Covering an area of 34.5 hectares, the festival is expected to receive millions of visitors from all over the world with special Oktoberfest beers and hearty specialties like fried sausages and pork knuckles.

At noon, the Mayor of Munich Dieter Reiter tapped the first Oktoberfest beer barrel, marking the opening of the Munich Oktoberfest, which will last until Oct. 3.

Berlin, Sep 15 (PTI) Even a single exposure to alcohol may permanently change the shape of nerve cells and lead to addiction, according to a study conducted in animals.

Neurons or nerve cells are the fundamental units of the brain and nervous system responsible for receiving sensory input from the external world.

The researchers found that, in particular, alcohol affects the structure of the synapses as well as the dynamics of the mitochondria, the cell's powerhouses.

16 Sep 2022; MEMO: Directors and artists have condemned the decision to suppress the viewing of pro-Palestine films during Documenta 15, a contemporary art exhibition held in Kassel, Germany. The festival, which runs through the summer and is expected to close at the end of this month, has been engulfed by a row over the censorship of pro-Palestine movies.

BERLIN, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Russia has suffered significant troop and equipment losses in Ukraine and the impact of Kyiv's latest counter-offensive may reveal Moscow's military reserves to be smaller than assumed, Germany's defence minister told Reuters.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has yet to comment publicly on the setback suffered by his forces this month. Ukrainian officials say 9,000 sq km (3,400 sq miles) have been retaken, territory about the size of the island of Cyprus.