Germany

BERLIN, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- The liberal FDP party has followed in the footsteps of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and the Greens by agreeing to enter into official coalition negotiations to form a new government, German media reported on Monday.

On Friday, the SPD was the first of the three parties to speak out in favor of negotiations. The Greens followed suit on Sunday, agreeing to negotiate the formation of a so-called traffic light coalition.

BERLIN, Oct 18 (Reuters) - Germany's business-friendly Free Democrats (FDP) joined the Social Democrats (SPD) and Greens on Monday in approving a decision by party leaders to proceed with three-way coalition talks to form what they called "a government of the middle".

The FDP leadership and members of parliament voted in favour of the start to negotiations after initial exploratory talks that saw the three parties agree a roadmap. The Greens and centre-left SPD had already given their approval.

BERLIN, Oct 15 (Reuters) - The leader of Germany's centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), Olaf Scholz, took a major step towards succeeding Angela Merkel as chancellor on Friday, announcing that he and the leaders of two smaller parties aimed to move into formal coalition talks.

The leaders of the SPD, who came first in last month's election, the Greens and the business-friendly Free Democrats (FDP) said exploratory talks had been constructive and allowed them to establish a road map for more formal negotiations.

FRANKFURT, Oct 12 (NNN-AGENCIES) — German rail operator Deutsche Bahn and industrial group Siemens on Monday unveiled the world’s first automated, driverless train in the city of Hamburg, billing it as more punctual and energy efficient than traditional trains.

Four such trains will join the northern city’s S-Bahn rapid urban rail network and start carrying passengers from December, using the existing rail infrastructure.

BERLIN (AP) — Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said Saturday that he will step down in a bid to defuse a government crisis triggered by prosecutors’ announcement that he is a target of a corruption investigation.

Kurz, 35, said he has proposed to Austria’s president that Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg become chancellor. But Kurz himself will remain in a key political position: he said he will become the head of his conservative Austrian People’s Party’s parliamentary group.

BERLIN, Oct 8 (Reuters) - German police said on Friday they are investigating several cases of so-called Havana syndrome at the U.S. Embassy in Berlin, a mysterious ailment believed to have affected 200 U.S. diplomats, officials and family members worldwide.

The syndrome - with symptoms including migraines, nausea, memory lapses and dizziness - came to public attention in 2016 after dozens of diplomats at the U.S. Embassy in Havana, Cuba, complained of the sickness.

BERLIN (AP) — German police carried out large-scale raids in 25 cities Wednesday in connection with a suspected money-laundering network alleged to have funneled millions in ill-gotten gains abroad.

Duesseldorf police said the raids, which began in the early hours, involved more than 1,000 officers and took place in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Lower Saxony and Bremen.

Eleven people were arrested, including a 39-year-old Syrian man who is accused of membership in Syria’s Nusra Front extremist group, police said.

BERLIN, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Germany's would-be "kingmakers", the Greens and Free Democrats, will take the next two days to decide how they will proceed with talks to form a new coalition government, Greens co-leader Robert Habeck said on Tuesday.

A close result in a Sept. 26 election, when no party won an overall majority, has kicked off a round of coalition talks that could last months, with the conservatives and Social Democrats (SPD) courting the two smaller parties to try to secure power.

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — With oil prices near three-year highs, OPEC and allied countries are deciding whether to stay with their plans to gradually restoring production that was cut back during the pandemic recession — or to pump more oil to a recovering global economy that’s increasingly thirsty for it.

Analyst say OPEC and its allies, known as OPEC+, will likely stick with their existing road map at an online meeting Monday. That would mean agreeing to add 400,000 barrels per day to output next month.

WERLTE, Germany (AP) — German officials on Monday unveiled what they said is the world’s first commercial plant for making synthetic kerosene, touted as a climate-friendly fuel of the future.

Aviation currently accounts for about 2.5% of worldwide emissions of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming. While other forms of transportation are increasingly being electrified, the challenge to making large, battery-powered planes is formidable.