Germany

BERLIN, December 15. /TASS/: A German court has sentenced a Russian national to life imprisonment over the high-profile murder of Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, a Georgian citizen, the presiding judge reported on Wednesday.

The case has been pending since October 2020 under heightened security conditions. The court found the Russian guilty of the murder and noted the particular severity of this crime. That said, the judge noted that "undoubtedly Khangoshvili was responsible for people’s deaths" when he collaborated with Chechen militants.

BERLIN, Dec 14 (Reuters) - New German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Tuesday Russia would face "massive consequences" if it invades Ukraine, after a phone call with her Russian counterpart in which she said Kyiv's territory integrity must not be violated.

Baerbock called for "open and honest" dialogue with Russia over the Ukraine crisis during her exchange with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, the German Foreign Ministry said.

BERLIN, Dec 15 (Reuters) - German police have foiled a plot by anti-vaccination activists to murder the state premier of Saxony in eastern Germany, they said on Wednesday, as concerns grow over an increasingly violent pushback against COVID-19 vaccination plans.

The plot to kill Michael Kretschmer is the latest in a series of incidents that underscore the anger of some Germans over restrictions on the unvaccinated and plans to make vaccinations compulsory for the general population.

BERLIN, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Fighting the coronavirus pandemic is the biggest challenge for Germany's new government and Berlin must create fiscal reserves now to be prepared for the next crisis, Chancellor Olaf Scholz from the centre-left Social Democrats said on Thursday.

BERLIN (AP) — The German-born father of Chilean presidential frontrunner José Antonio Kast was a member of Adolf Hitler’s Nazi party, according to a recently unearthed document obtained by The Associated Press, revelations that appear at odds with the far-right candidate’s own statements about his father’s military service during World War II.

BERLIN (AP) — Center-left leader Olaf Scholz became Germany’s ninth post-World War II chancellor Wednesday, opening a new era for the European Union’s most populous nation and largest economy after Angela Merkel’s 16-year tenure.

Scholz’s government takes office with high hopes of modernizing Germany and combating climate change but faces the immediate challenge of handling the country’s toughest phase yet of the coronavirus pandemic.

BERLIN, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- Germany's Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Greens and the Free Democratic Party (FDP) signed the coalition agreement of the country's next government on Tuesday.

"This should be a morning for a new start," Chancellor-designate Olaf Scholz told a press conference.

"We have a heavy task to accomplish, namely to fight the coronavirus crisis, and that will demand all our strength and energy," he said.

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s pro-business Free Democrats on Sunday approved a deal to form a new government with two center-left parties, moving Chancellor-designate Olaf Scholz a step closer to taking office as the country’s new leader this week.

The Free Democrats reached an agreement last month to form a coalition with Scholz’s Social Democrats and the environmentalist Greens, effectively crossing the aisle to ally with the two parties.

(AP) --- German Chancellor-designate Olaf Scholz’s center-left party gave its overwhelming approval Saturday to forming a new government with environmentalist and pro-business parties — the first of three such decisions needed for Scholz to take office next week.

Scholz’s Social Democrats narrowly won Germany’s Sept. 26 election and launched negotiations with the Greens and the business-friendly Free Democrats to form a governing coalition that hasn’t been tried before at the federal level. They emerged with a deal on Nov. 24 after relatively quick negotiations.

BERLIN (AP) — Outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday made what is likely her final appeal before leaving office next week for Germans to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

Merkel gave what is expected to be her last weekly video message two days after federal and state leaders decided on a series of measures meant to break a wave of coronavirus infections.