Germany

BERLIN (AP) — Austria is embarking on an ambitious drive to inoculate residents of a district that has been particularly hard-hit by the virus variant first found in South Africa, a move that is part of a research project into vaccinations.

Some 48,500 of the 64,000 people eligible for vaccinations in Tyrol province’s Schwaz district have signed up to be vaccinated in the drive that starts Thursday, according to the Austrian news agency APA.

Health Minister Rudolf Anschober said the rollout will offer vaccine jabs to all people 16 and over.

BERLIN, March 10. /TASS/: Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine has a chance to be registered in the EU, Thomas Mertens, head of Germany's Standing Committee on Vaccination, said in an interview with the Rheinische Post newspaper published on Wednesday.

"It is a good vaccine that will probably be authorized in the EU at some point. Russian researchers have a lot of experience with vaccinations," he said.

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates, a magnet for the globe’s ultra-rich, has also emerged as one of the fastest-growing corporate tax havens, according to a study released on Tuesday that highlighted a $200 billion-plus money flow to the country.

The index by the Tax Justice Network, which highlights countries that attract companies to shrink their tax bills, added the United Arab Emirates to its top-10 ranking that includes Switzerland and Bermuda.

BERLIN (AP) — Swiss voters decide Sunday on a proposal to ban face coverings, both the niqabs and burqas worn by a few Muslim women in the country and the ski masks and bandannas used by protesters. Polls are pointing to a close outcome.

DUSSELDORF (Germany), March 5 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Two Syrian men went on trial in the German city of Dusseldorf on Thursday for an alleged war crime.

The defendants, aged 35 and 43, allegedly took part in the execution of a lieutenant colonel of Syrian government forces in 2012, according to federal prosecutors in Germany.

According to German investigators, the two took the chained and badly abused prisoner to his execution.

One of them then took on a role as guard while the other one filmed and commented on the shooting for propaganda purposes.

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany’s vaccine authority will recommend AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine for over-65s, the Frankfurter Allgemeine reported, news that promises an easing of the supply constraints that have slowed the country’s vaccine roll-out.

The newspaper reported on Thursday that the Permanent Vaccine Commission’s (STIKO) recommendation had already been written, but was still being discussed internally before being made public.

STIKO could not immediately be reached for comment.

03 Mar 2021; Democracy Now: Reporters Without Borders has filed a criminal case against Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the persecution and murder of Washington Post journalist and Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi.

The case was filed in a German court, days after the Biden administration declined to directly sanction the crown prince, even after releasing an intelligence report reaffirming bin Salman approved the killing.

(AP) --- German unemployment held more or less steady in February despite the impact of lockdown measures, according to official data released Tuesday. Extensive use of a short-term salary support program is still keeping the figures in check.

The unadjusted jobless rate, the headline figure in Germany, was unchanged from January at 6.3%. Just over 2.9 million people were registered as unemployed in the nation of 83 million — 4,000 more than the previous month and 509,000 more than a year earlier.

BERLIN, February 26. /TASS/: The years of Vladimir Zelensky’s presidency will be just as lost for Ukraine, as the reign of his predecessor Pyotr Poroshenko - mainly due to his unwillingness to carry out reforms, according to an article published in Germany’s Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper Friday.

According to the author, Florian Hassel, "it is not often that a president loses the support of his voters as rapidly as Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky does."

HANOVER (Germany), Feb 27 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Abu Walaa, an Iraqi preacher accused of being the head of Daesh in Germany, was sentenced to 10 and a half years in prison.