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German president asks country to confront its colonial past
Germanyโs president has called on the country to face its cruel colonial past as he opened a new museum in the capitalโs center that will be home to two of Berlinโs state museums which include looted artifacts from countries in Africa and elsewhere.
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German candidate sorry for laughing scene in flood visit
The front-runner to succeed Chancellor Angela Merkel in Germanyโs September election has apologized for a scene in which he was seen laughing in the background as the countryโs president delivered a statement on the devastating floods in western Germany.
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Merkel: 'A quiet Easter' needed to counter rising infections
โThere needs to be a quiet Easter festival,โ Merkel said in a video address. AdIn contrast, Britain has given one vaccine shot to 46% of its people. Health Minister Jens Spahn said routine vaccinations will begin in doctors' practices on Tuesday, with 35,000 GPs scheduled to receive 940,000 vaccine doses next week. Germany expects to receive about 40 million vaccine doses during the second quarter. AdMerkel, who is 66, says she would be prepared to take the AstraZeneca vaccine.
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Scientist behind coronavirus shot says next target is cancer
Ozlem Tureci founder of the BioNTech company speaks during an interview with the Associated Press in Berlin, Germany, Thursday, March 18, 2021. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)BERLIN โ The scientist who won the race to deliver the first widely used coronavirus vaccine says people can rest assured the shots are safe, and the technology behind it will soon be used to fight another global scourge โ cancer. โThere is a very rigid process in place and the process does not stop after a vaccine has been approved,โ she said. โWe have several different cancer vaccines based on mRNA," said Tureci, who is BioNTech's chief medical officer. โYou began with a drug to treat cancer in a single individual,โ Steinmeier told the couple.
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UN to rich nations: Don't undermine COVAX vaccine program
(AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)BERLIN โ The head of the World Health Organization pleaded with rich countries on Monday to check before ordering additional COVID-19 vaccine shots for themselves whether that undermines efforts to get vaccine shots to poorer nations. Wealthy nations have snapped up several billion vaccine doses while some countries in the developing world have little or none. Tedros added that rich countries need to โcooperate in respecting the deals that COVAX didโ and make sure before they seek more vaccines that their requests donโt undermine those deals. WHO also said Monday it had reached an agreement with Chubb Limited on behalf of COVAX for a global vaccine injury compensation program. The initiative will allow people in poorer countries to get compensation for rare but serious side effects linked to COVID-19 vaccines distributed through COVAX until next June.
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Germany commemorates victims of racist shooting, 1 year on
The names of the nine victims of the Hanau shooting are painted on a building in Hanau, Germany, Thursday, Feb.18, 2021. One year ago a far right man shot nine people before he shot himself. The rampage in Hanau, near Frankfurt, caused widespread shock in Germany and beyond. Mehmet Daimagueler, a prominent lawyer who has represented victims of other racist crimes in Germany, said the attack in Hanau should prompt politicians to reflect on the stereotypes about migrants they repeat, including portraying shisha bars as crime dens. โThe state needs to start fighting racism in its own house," Daimagueler told news portal Watson, calling for racist officials to lose their jobs and victims of hate crimes to be taken more seriously.
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Auschwitz survivors mark anniversary online amid pandemic
Most observances were held online, due to the coronavirus pandemic, and only few people attended the ceremony at the monument. In Israel, some 900 Holocaust survivors died from COVID-19 out of 5,300 who were infected last year. Israel, which counts 197,000 Holocaust survivors, officially marks its Holocaust remembrance day in the spring. Meanwhile, Luxembourg signed a deal agreeing to pay reparations and to restitute dormant bank accounts, insurance policies and looted art to Holocaust survivors. Of the 6 million Jewish victims, some 1.5 million were children, and this year's commemorations included a special focus on them.
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German virus death toll tops 50,000 even as infections sink
More than 50,000 people have died after contracting COVID-19 in Germany, a number that has risen swiftly over recent weeks as the country has struggled to bring down infection figures. (AP Photo/Michael Probst, File)BERLIN โ The death toll from the coronavirus in Germany has passed 50,000, a number that has risen swiftly over recent weeks even as infection figures are finally declining. Germany had a comparatively small number of deaths in the pandemicโs first phase and was able to lift many restrictions quickly. Hundreds of deaths, sometimes more than 1,000, have been reported daily in the country of 83 million people over recent weeks. There are currently 4,787 COVID-19 patients in intensive care, said Gernot Marx, the head of Germany's intensive care association, DIVI.
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World hopes for renewed cooperation with US under Biden
Many expressed hope Biden would right U.S. democracy two weeks after rioters stormed the Capitol, shaking the faith of those fighting for democracy in their own countries. Biden โunderstands the importance of cooperation among nations,โ said former Colombian president and Nobel Peace Prize winner Juan Manuel Santos, who left office in 2018. โPresident Bidenโs message of unity as he takes office is one that resonates with New Zealanders,โ Ardern said. World leaders also acknowledged the history of Vice President Kamala Harris taking office. โThat is an historic moment and one that, I think as a father of daughters, you can only celebrate," Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said.
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EU sighs with relief as Biden readies to enter White House
European Council President Charles Michel, who chairs summits between the EUโs 27 heads of state and government, said that trans-Atlantic relations have โgreatly suffered in the last four years. In these years, the world has grown more complex, less stable and less predictable.โโWe have our differences and they will not magically disappear. Michel said the EUโs priority is to tackle the coronavirus pandemic and climate change, rebuild the global economy and boost security ties with Washington. โI am greatly relieved that, today, Joe Biden is being sworn in as president and will be moving into the White House. โDespite all the joy we feel today, we must not forget that even the most powerful democracy in the world has been seduced by populism.
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World reaction to the storming of the US Capitol
From left, French President Emmanuel Macron, Norway's Prime Minister Erna Solberg, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Poland's President Andrzej Duda and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. World leaders including Macron, Merkel, Solberg and Stoltenberg, are condemning the storming of the U.S. Capitol by supporters of President Donald Trump. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco, File)Reaction from around the world to the storming of the U.S. Capitol by supporters of President Donald Trump:___โA fundamental rule of democracy is that, after elections, there are winners and losers. โโโThe rampage at the Capitol yesterday was a disgraceful act and it must be vigorously condemned.โ โ Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Democracy presupposes peaceful protest, but violence and death threats โfrom Left or Rightโ are ALWAYS wrong.โ โ Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa.
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Germany sets date for election determining Merkel successor
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, center in red dress, delivers her speech during the debate about Germany's budget 2021, at the parliament Bundestag in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)BERLIN โ Germany's next parliamentary election, which will determine the country's new leader after Chancellor Angela Merkel's long rule, will be held on Sept. 26, 2021. President Frank-Walter Steinmeier's office said Wednesday that the head of state set the date in line with a recommendation from the government. That may not happen until well after the election, because the process of putting together a governing coalition can be lengthy. After the 2017 election, it was nearly six months before Merkel was sworn in for her fourth term โ a record.
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Germany marks 75th anniversary of landmark Nuremberg trials
FILE - In this Nov. 21, 1945 file photo, Reichsmarshal Hermann Goering stands in the prisoner's dock at the Nuremberg War Crimes Trial in Germany. Germany marks the 75th anniversary of the landmark Nuremberg trials of several Nazi leaders and in what is now seen as the birthplace of a new era of international law on Friday, Nov. 20, 2020. The proceedings broke new ground in holding government leaders individually responsible for their aggression and slaughter of millions of innocents. Nuremberg was the city where Adolf Hitler reviewed torchlight Nazi party rallies and promulgated the race laws of 1935 that paved the way for the Holocaust. The city of Nuremberg is marking the anniversary in Courtroom 600 with a ceremony Friday that will include German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier as the guest of honor.
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Bound despite Brexit: Prince Charles hails UK-Germany ties
Britain's Prince Charles arrives for a meeting with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier at Bellevue Palace in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, Nov. 15, 2020. Prince Charles attends Germany's national memorial day and will held a speech at the parliament building. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)BERLIN โ Prince Charles called Sunday for Britain and Germany to remember their long and close ties, reaffirmed by the nations' reconciliation after two world wars, as the U.K. tries to find its place outside โ but also alongside โ the European Union. The palace was built in the late 18th century by Prince Augustus Ferdinand of Prussia, to whom Charles is distantly related through his family's German line. Charles, 72, was exempt due to the diplomatic nature of his trip from Germany's rules requiring him to go into quarantine on arrival from Britain.
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New virus restrictions in Europe; Merkel warns of hard days
Medical staff takes a COVID-19 test at a coronavirus test center in Cologne, Germany, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020. The city exceeded the important warning level of 50 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants in seven days. All pubs and restaurants must close except for takeaway services, and schools will close for two weeks for an extended half-term holiday. Germany, which was widely lauded for rapidly slowing the spread of the virus when the pandemic first broke out, has seen rapidly climbing numbers in recent days. Italyโs other hardest hit region, southern Campania, has taken similarly strict measures, including a shutdown of schools for two weeks.
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'Best Germany yet' marks 30th anniversary of reunification
BERLIN โ Germany marked the 30th anniversary of its reunification on Saturday, drawing a generally positive picture of the progress made in knitting together east and west. The country's president declared that today's is โthe best Germany there has ever beenโ and proposed a new memorial to the โpeaceful revolutionariesโ who helped end communist rule. Germany is โrightly proudโ on the anniversary of reunification, "and no pandemic can get in the way of that,โ Steinmeier said. โLet's thank all those who worked for it.โHe advocated creating a memorial to the โpeaceful revolutionariesโ of East Germany whose efforts brought the communist dictatorship to an end. Germany could use โa place that reminds us that East Germans took their fate in their own hands and liberated themselves," Steinmeier said.
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Germany pays tribute to victims of 1980 Oktoberfest bombing
BERLIN โ Senior officials and survivors paid tribute Saturday to the victims of a deadly neo-Nazi attack on Munichโs Oktoberfest 40 years ago, as Germanyโs president warned that far-right extremism remains a persistent problem in the country. The bombing on the evening of Sept. 26, 1980, claimed 13 lives, including that of three children and the attacker, student Gundolf Koehler, a supporter of a banned far-right group. โRight-wing extremism has deep roots in our society,โ President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said at a memorial event in the Bavarian capital. Steinmeier said the perpetrators weren't โdisturbed people,โ but rather part of โnetworks that we need to investigate.โAn initial investigation of the Oktoberfest attack concluded that Koehler acted alone, out of personal frustration. Bavaria's governor, Markus Soeder, apologized to survivors and the victims' families for mistakes made during the initial investigation.
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Italian virus survivor tells German leader: Germany saved me
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, is flanked by Italian President Sergio Mattarella after visiting the Duomo gothic cathedral, in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)MILAN โ An Italian coronavirus survivor from Bergamo warmly thanked Germanyโs visiting president on Thursday for lifesaving treatment he received in the eastern Germany city of Leipzig. Frank-Walter Steinmeier met medical personnel who treated coronavirus patients during his visit to Milan, the capital of hard-hit Lombardy. โโIf I hadnโt gone to Germany, I would have died,โโ Perani told Steinmeier, as Italyโs president, Sergio Mattarella looked on. Perani said though they didnโt have a common language, the medical personnel in Germany โโspoke with their eyes.
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German leaders condemn far-right attempt to storm Reichstag
BERLIN Senior German officials on Sunday condemned attempts by far-right protesters and others to storm the parliament building following a protest against the countrys pandemic restrictions. Hundreds of people, some waving the flag of the German Reich of 1871-1918 and other far-right banners, breached a security barrier outside the Reichstag late Saturday but were intercepted by police and forcibly removed. About 300 people were arrested in front of the Reichstag and following an incident at the Russian embassy, according to police. Berlin's top security official, Andreas Geisel, praised three officers who had stood alone against the protesters outside the Reichstag until reinforcements arrived. The fact that Nazis with imperial war flags try to storm the Bundestag recalls the darkest period in German history, he told the Funke media group.
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German far-right party wins court case against minister
BERLIN Germany's top security official violated the rights of a far-right party by posting remarks criticizing it on his ministry's website, the country's highest court ruled Tuesday. The Alternative for Germany party, known as AfD, whose anti-migration and anti-establishment stance helped it get into the German parliament in 2017, is currently the largest of several opposition parties. Its case against Interior Minister Horst Seehofer stems from an interview that his ministry posted on its website in 2018, in which he decried a broadside by AfD against President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Seehofer described AfD's behavior as undermining the state and asserted that they stand against this state. The interview was taken down from his ministry's website a little over two weeks after it was posted there.
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Grief, anger and calls for action after shooting in Germany
Thousands listen to German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier during a vigil on the market place for the victims of the shooting in Hanau, Germany, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020. โThe threat posed by far-right extremism, anti-Semitism and racism is very high in Germany,โ Seehofer said in Berlin. In Hanau, German and Turkish flags flew at half-staff outside the Turkish-speaking DITIB mosque, where more than 300 people attended the regular Friday prayers. โOne person carried out the shooting in Hanau. The party has rejected all responsibility for far-right attacks, including a deadly anti-Semitic shooting outside a synagogue and the killing of a regional politician last year.