Germany

BERLIN, March 18 (Xinhua) -- The German government said on Friday that the Bundestag (lower house of Parliament) has approved to double a planned one-time heating allowance for low-income groups to offset the effect of rising energy prices.

Entitled single households are now to receive 270 euros (299 U.S. dollars) instead of 135 euros. Two-person households are to get 350 euros, while students are to receive 230 euros, according to a government statement.

Munich, Mar 17 (AP) Athletes from Russia and Belarus were formally banned from the multi-sport European Championships in August.

Organizers of the Aug. 11-21 championships in Munich, Germany, said they supported decisions by officials from the nine individual sports not to invite Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials. They have followed guidance from the International Olympic Committee.

We are united in our condemnation of Russia's war on Ukraine, organizing committee chairman Libor Varhan k said.

16 March 2022; MEMO: The Turkish German couple who developed the first coronavirus vaccine are the latest recipients of Germany's most prestigious medical prize, DPA reports.

According to the report, the two scientists, Özlem Türeci, and her husband, Ugur Sahin, were awarded the prize named Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter.

BERLIN (AP) — Air travel was disrupted across Germany on Tuesday as security personnel at several airports in the country staged walkouts to demand higher wages.

BERLIN (AP) — More than 1,000 security personnel walked off their jobs Monday at airports across Germany, leading to dozens of flight cancellations and delays.

Security staffers at airports in Berlin, Dusseldorf, Hannover and elsewhere began their one-day strike at midnight to press for higher wages, German news agency dpa reported.

The walkouts are part of a wage dispute between Verdi union and the Federal Association of Aviation Security Companies. The union is negotiating with the employers’ association for a new agreement for about 25,000 security staff nationwide.

BERLIN, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Germany stands united against terrorism and propaganda that encourages violence, Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann said on Friday, on the occasion of the National Remembrance Day for the Victims of Terrorist Violence, which the country marked for the first time.

"Today, we remember the victims of terrorist violence, the victims worldwide, the victims in Europe, the victims in Germany," Buschmann said in a statement.

BERLIN, March 9 (Reuters) - Germany will certainly not send warplanes to Ukraine, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Wednesday after the United States rejected an offer by Poland to transfer its Russian-made MiG-29 jets to a U.S. base in Germany.

"We have provided all kinds of defence materials and .. have sent weapons that we have told you about but it is also true that we have to consider very carefully what we do concretely, and definitely warplanes are not part of that," said Scholz at a news conference with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

BERLIN (AP) — Austria’s government said Wednesday it is suspending the country’s coronavirus vaccination mandate for most adults, arguing that there’s no need to implement it at present only a week before its enforcement was due to begin.

The mandate for people age 18 and over became law in early February, 2½ months after the plan was first announced amid a surge of cases that sent the country into a since-lifted lockdown. By the time the legislation was in place, though, much of the sense of urgency had disappeared.

BERLIN (AP) — Emmanuel Oyedele’s dream of getting a business degree in Ukraine lies shattered in the rubble of Russia’s sudden fierce military assault, but right now the 28-year-old Nigerian says he feels blessed.

After hastily escaping Kyiv as Russian forces advanced, Oyedele, his brother and two young female friends spent days trying to flee Ukraine by train and on foot before eventually making it to Berlin, where they were welcomed into a stranger’s home.

DUSSELDORF, Germany (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday intensified a crackdown on media outlets and individuals who fail to hew to the Kremlin line on Russia’s war in Ukraine, blocking Facebook and Twitter and signing into law a bill that criminalizes the intentional spreading of what Moscow deems to be “fake” reports.