Germany

TUTTLINGEN, Germany (AP) — Hulking gray boxes are rolling off the production line at a factory in the southern town of Tuttlingen, ready to be shipped to the front in the next phase of Germany’s battle against the coronavirus as it became the latest country to hit the milestone of 1 million confirmed cases Friday.

Man-sized freezers such as those manufactured by family-owned firm Binder GmbH could become a key part of the vast immunization program the German government is preparing to roll out when the first vaccines become available next month.

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany will probably have to stick with measures to dampen the coronavirus pandemic into January, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday, while her chief of staff suggested that restrictions might be needed until March.

“Given the high number of infections, we assume that the restrictions which are in place before Christmas will continue to be valid until the start of January, certainly for most parts of Germany,” Merkel told parliament.

DUESSELDORF/BERLIN (Reuters) - A German court on Thursday referred a patent licensing dispute between Finnish telecoms equipment maker Nokia and German carmaker Daimler to the European Court of Justice to clarify the law as it applies to supply chains.

The Duesseldorf Regional Court said it would suspend proceedings in Nokia’s fight against Daimler over royalties for technology used in navigation systems, vehicle communications and self-driving cars.

BERLIN (AP) — A car crashed into the front gate of the building housing German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s offices on Wednesday morning, but the incident appeared to have caused little damage, Berlin police said.

Officers were on the scene investigating the crash at the German chancellery. Police tweeted that the 54-year-old driver was arrested, but didn’t give any further details on the man.

Rescue crews on the scene confirmed the man driving the car was being treated in an ambulance that remained in front of the chancellery.

BERLIN/ANKARA, Nov 24 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Turkey forced German soldiers to abandon an operation aimed at enforcing the Libya arms embargo in the Mediterranean, the Bundeswehr Military said.

According to the Joint Military Command, German marines boarded a suspicious Turkish cargo ship on Sunday to check its cargo. But shortly afterwards, Turkey as the flag state vetoed the search and the German soldiers then had to abort the mission.

23 Nov 2020; MEMO: Germany sees a chance to return to a joint transatlantic approach in tackling Iran's nuclear programme once the new US administration under President-elect Joe Biden takes office, a German official said on Monday.

BERLIN (Reuters) - Turkey prevented German forces belonging to a European Union military mission carrying out a full search of a Turkish cargo ship that they suspected of taking weapons to Libya, both countries confirmed on Monday.

Soldiers from the frigate Hamburg boarded the Turkish freighter, the Rosaline A, overnight, but had to abandon checks and withdraw after Turkey protested to the EU mission, the German defence ministry said.

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The European Central Bank could “neither go bankrupt nor run out of money” even if it were to suffer losses on the multi-trillion-euro pile of bonds it has bought under its stimulus programmes, ECB President Christine Lagarde said on Thursday.

“As the sole issuer of euro-denominated central bank money, the Eurosystem will always be able to generate additional liquidity as needed,” Lagarde said in response to a question by an Italian member of the European Parliament.

BERLIN (Reuters) - The German EU presidency is still seeking a solution to the row in the European Union over a budget and recovery fund that aim to unlock billions of euros to help economies hit by the pandemic, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Thursday.

“Many countries in Europe are waiting for the money to be released,” Maas said on Thursday ahead of a meeting with his EU counterparts. “There’s a lot of pressure on all sides to find a solution quickly.”

BERLIN (Reuters) - German police unleashed water cannon on Wednesday in an effort to scatter thousands of protesters angry over plans to empower Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government to enforce restrictions to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

Protesters near Berlin’s landmark Brandenburg Gate threw bottles at police and set off smoke bombs, witnesses reported. Riot police detained some protesters while firing volleys of water and urging crowds by loudspeaker to disperse.