The three parties on track to form Germany’s next coalition government are in favour of lowering the voting age to 16.

The Social Democrats (SPD), Greens and pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) have signed up to reduce the age at which Germans can vote. This comes in as an acknowledgement that an increasingly politicised generation of young people must have a future say in running the country.

A poll ahead of the German elections last month showed that the young people were frustrated at not being able to vote in an election that was dominated by people over 50s. They also made up the majority, which is &nbsp;60 per cent, of voters.&nbsp;

Only 14 per cent of voters were under 30, compared with 19 per cent in 1961.

The Greens and FDP, who secured the most votes among younger people, have been highlighting the importance of capturing their political enthusiasm.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-hypersonic-weapons-test-suffers-setback-due-to-rocket-failure-422943">Also read |&nbsp;US hypersonic weapons test suffers setback due to rocket failure</a>

A poll carried out by the environmental NGO Nabu revealed that 59 per cent of voters over 65 said before the September 26 vote they would not be considering younger voters’ climate protection interests when they cast their ballots.

Also, in a mock election of more than 200,000 young people across Germany, which was held just over a week before the real election, 21 per cent of participants voted for the Greens.&nbsp;

This was seen as an indication the party might have received considerably more than the 15 per cent it secured in the official election had the voting age been lower.

Thorsten Frei, the deputy leader of the CDU parliamentary group, said that he was “very sceptical” about lowering the age.&nbsp;

“Without a doubt, there are many young people with a strong political interest,” he told the newspaper Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung. “But rights and obligations have to be in alignment, and the question is whether it makes sense, on the one hand, to be able to partake in decision-making about the future of our country, but on the other, to not be able to sign a mobile phone contract or watch certain films at the cinema without parental consent? I have my doubts.”

The three parties on track to form Germany’s next coalition government are in favour of lowering the voting age to 16. The Social Democrats (SPD), Greens and pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) have signed up to reduce the age at which Germans can vote.

The three parties on track to form Germany’s next coalition government are in favour of lowering the voting age to 16. The Social Democrats (SPD), Greens and pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) have signed up to reduce the age at which Germans can vote. This comes in as an acknowledgement that an increasingly politicised generation of young people must have a future say in running the country. A poll ahead of the German elections last month showed that the young people were frustrated at not being able to vote in an election that was dominated by people over 50s. They also made up the majority, which is 60 per cent, of voters. Only 14 per cent of voters were under 30, compared with 19 per cent in 1961. The Greens and FDP, who secured the most votes among younger people, have been highlighting the importance of capturing their political enthusiasm. Also read | US hypersonic weapons test suffers setback due to rocket failure A poll carried out by the environmental NGO Nabu revealed that 59 per cent of voters over 65 said before the September 26 vote they would not be considering younger voters’ climate protection interests when they cast their ballots. Also, in a mock election of more than 200,000 young people across Germany, which was held just over a week before the real election, 21 per cent of participants voted for the Greens. This was seen as an indication the party might have received considerably more than the 15 per cent it secured in the official election had the voting age been lower. Thorsten Frei, the deputy leader of the CDU parliamentary group, said that he was “very sceptical” about lowering the age. “Without a doubt, there are many young people with a strong political interest,” he told the newspaper Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung. “But rights and obligations have to be in alignment, and the question is whether it makes sense, on the one hand, to be able to partake in decision-making about the future of our country, but on the other, to not be able to sign a mobile phone contract or watch certain films at the cinema without parental consent? I have my doubts.”

German coalition in favour of lowering voting age to 16

Pledging Germany would preserve its commitment to the security of Israel, outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel honoured the Jews killed in Nazi concentration camps in Jerusalem on Sunday. &nbsp;

During her final visit to Israel, Merkel held talks with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. &nbsp;

The German leader’s 16-year term is coming to an end. Merkel said the coming weeks would be decisive for the future of a nuke deal with Iran. Israel sees it as a crucial issue to its security. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/czech-president-zeman-taken-to-hospital-at-key-post-election-time-419663" hreflang="en">Czech President Zeman taken to hospital at key post-election time</a>

Though Merkel has differed with Israel over Palestinians and Iran, the leader has sought to cultivate close ties as Germany has been a leading ally of Israel. &nbsp; &nbsp;

According to a transcript issued by the Israeli PM’s office, Merkel told Bennett during a private meeting, "I want to use this opportunity to emphasise that the topic of Israel's security will always be of central importance and a central topic of every German government." &nbsp;&nbsp;

Attending a session of the Israeli PM’s cabinet, Merkel said, "The history of the Shoah (Holocaust) is a singular event for which we continue to bear responsibility in every phase of history, including in the future". &nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/iraqis-head-to-early-vote-with-little-hope-for-change-419564" hreflang="en">Iraqis head to early vote with little hope for change</a>

Merkel rekindled an eternal flame in Hall of Remembrance at Yad Vashem. It is Israel's memorial to the millions of Jews killed by the Nazis. &nbsp;

The leader also placed a wreath on a slab under which ashes from extermination camps, death camps and other killing fields are buried and stood in silence with her head bowed. &nbsp;&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

Pledging Germany would preserve its commitment to the security of Israel, outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel honoured the Jews killed in Nazi concentration camps in Jerusalem on Sunday.

Pledging Germany would preserve its commitment to the security of Israel, outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel honoured the Jews killed in Nazi concentration camps in Jerusalem on Sunday. During her final visit to Israel, Merkel held talks with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. The German leader’s 16-year term is coming to an end. Merkel said the coming weeks would be decisive for the future of a nuke deal with Iran. Israel sees it as a crucial issue to its security. Also Read: Czech President Zeman taken to hospital at key post-election time Though Merkel has differed with Israel over Palestinians and Iran, the leader has sought to cultivate close ties as Germany has been a leading ally of Israel. According to a transcript issued by the Israeli PM’s office, Merkel told Bennett during a private meeting, "I want to use this opportunity to emphasise that the topic of Israel's security will always be of central importance and a central topic of every German government." Attending a session of the Israeli PM’s cabinet, Merkel said, "The history of the Shoah (Holocaust) is a singular event for which we continue to bear responsibility in every phase of history, including in the future". Also Read: Iraqis head to early vote with little hope for change Merkel rekindled an eternal flame in Hall of Remembrance at Yad Vashem. It is Israel's memorial to the millions of Jews killed by the Nazis. The leader also placed a wreath on a slab under which ashes from extermination camps, death camps and other killing fields are buried and stood in silence with her head bowed. (With inputs from agencies)

Honouring genocide victims, Merkel vows German support to Israel's security

German political parties will hold exploratory talks from Sunday as they jostle to form the next government after a close election, with the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) battling Angela Merkel's conservatives for the chancellery.

The SPD and its candidate Olaf Scholz narrowly won last week's vote on 25.7 percent, with Merkel's CDU-CSU alliance plunging to an all-time low of 24.1 percent as she prepares to leave the stage after 16 years in power.

The result leaves the SPD in pole position to form a government, but conservative leader Armin Laschet has also vowed to begin coalition talks in a last-ditch effort to keep the ailing CDU-CSU in power.

In the complex calculations for a coalition, the makeup of the next German government essentially hinges on which of the two parties can persuade the Greens and the liberal FDP to sign up for a partnership.

First up in what Der Spiegel magazine has described as the "poker game for power" is the SPD, which will huddle with the FDP on Sunday afternoon and the Greens in the evening.

Their rivals, the CDU-CSU, will meet with the FDP on Sunday evening and the Greens on Tuesday.

'Historic defeat'

In a poll for the ZDF broadcaster on Friday, 59 percent of respondents said they were in favour of an SPD-Greens-FDP coalition, also known as the "traffic-light" combination after the parties' colours.

Only 24 percent said they would prefer the combination led by the CDU, a coalition known as "Jamaica" after the colours of that country's flag.

Some 76 percent said they thought Scholz should be the next German chancellor, with just 13 percent backing Laschet.

In an interview with Der Spiegel magazine Friday, Scholz said it was "clear from every poll that people don't want the (CDU-CSU) to be part of the next government".

"The election result is clear. The CDU and CSU have suffered a historic defeat and have been voted out," he said.

But the conservatives are not giving up, with Markus Blume, general secretary of the CSU, insisting on Friday that "Jamaica has a chance".

The CSU, the smaller Bavarian partner in the conservative alliance, had provoked consternation earlier in the week by conceding that Scholz had won the election and should be first in the queue to form a government.

- Secret selfie -

The stance broke ranks with Laschet, who at that point had not publicly congratulated Scholz and had claimed "no party" -- not even the SPD -- could claim a mandate to govern from the vote outcome.

Laschet has faced a barrage of criticism over his election performance and his refusal to admit defeat, including calls to resign from within his own party -- but has so far given no indication that he plans to do so.

With the SPD and the conservatives scrambling for the affections of the Greens and the FDP, the smaller parties find themselves in an outsize position of power as potential kingmakers.

"For now, Greens and FDP are in the driver's seat," said Holger Schmieding, an analyst for the Berenberg bank.

The two parties have aready held two sounding-out sessions, with their leaders posting a much-shared selfie on social media in a show of unity after a secret gathering on Tuesday.

But it remains to be seen "whether they can really choose between traffic light and Jamaica, and the extent to which they can shape the agenda", Schmieding said.

The two smaller parties are not natural bedfellows, diverging on issues like tax hikes and public investment in climate protection.

After Germany's last election in 2017, the FDP dramatically walked out of negotiations with the CDU-CSU and the Greens, with leader Christian Lindner declaring it was "better not to govern at all than to govern badly".

German political parties will hold exploratory talks from Sunday as they jostle to form the next government after a close election, with the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) battling Angela Merkel's conservatives for the chancellery.

German political parties will hold exploratory talks from Sunday as they jostle to form the next government after a close election, with the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) battling Angela Merkel's conservatives for the chancellery. The SPD and its candidate Olaf Scholz narrowly won last week's vote on 25.7 percent, with Merkel's CDU-CSU alliance plunging to an all-time low of 24.1 percent as she prepares to leave the stage after 16 years in power. The result leaves the SPD in pole position to form a government, but conservative leader Armin Laschet has also vowed to begin coalition talks in a last-ditch effort to keep the ailing CDU-CSU in power. In the complex calculations for a coalition, the makeup of the next German government essentially hinges on which of the two parties can persuade the Greens and the liberal FDP to sign up for a partnership. First up in what Der Spiegel magazine has described as the "poker game for power" is the SPD, which will huddle with the FDP on Sunday afternoon and the Greens in the evening. Their rivals, the CDU-CSU, will meet with the FDP on Sunday evening and the Greens on Tuesday. 'Historic defeat' In a poll for the ZDF broadcaster on Friday, 59 percent of respondents said they were in favour of an SPD-Greens-FDP coalition, also known as the "traffic-light" combination after the parties' colours. Only 24 percent said they would prefer the combination led by the CDU, a coalition known as "Jamaica" after the colours of that country's flag. Some 76 percent said they thought Scholz should be the next German chancellor, with just 13 percent backing Laschet. In an interview with Der Spiegel magazine Friday, Scholz said it was "clear from every poll that people don't want the (CDU-CSU) to be part of the next government". "The election result is clear. The CDU and CSU have suffered a historic defeat and have been voted out," he said. But the conservatives are not giving up, with Markus Blume, general secretary of the CSU, insisting on Friday that "Jamaica has a chance". The CSU, the smaller Bavarian partner in the conservative alliance, had provoked consternation earlier in the week by conceding that Scholz had won the election and should be first in the queue to form a government. - Secret selfie - The stance broke ranks with Laschet, who at that point had not publicly congratulated Scholz and had claimed "no party" -- not even the SPD -- could claim a mandate to govern from the vote outcome. Laschet has faced a barrage of criticism over his election performance and his refusal to admit defeat, including calls to resign from within his own party -- but has so far given no indication that he plans to do so. With the SPD and the conservatives scrambling for the affections of the Greens and the FDP, the smaller parties find themselves in an outsize position of power as potential kingmakers. "For now, Greens and FDP are in the driver's seat," said Holger Schmieding, an analyst for the Berenberg bank. The two parties have aready held two sounding-out sessions, with their leaders posting a much-shared selfie on social media in a show of unity after a secret gathering on Tuesday. But it remains to be seen "whether they can really choose between traffic light and Jamaica, and the extent to which they can shape the agenda", Schmieding said. The two smaller parties are not natural bedfellows, diverging on issues like tax hikes and public investment in climate protection. After Germany's last election in 2017, the FDP dramatically walked out of negotiations with the CDU-CSU and the Greens, with leader Christian Lindner declaring it was "better not to govern at all than to govern badly".

German parties meet as coalition haggling begins

&nbsp;India is becoming an important country for Germany in the Indo-Pacific region and the next coalition government in Berlin is expected to continue strong ties with New Delhi, German Ambassador Walter J Lindner said on Monday.

He said relations between India and Germany saw a significant upswing including in areas of trade and investment in the last over one decade and that the upward trajectory in ties is likely to continue.

"None of the global issues can be solved without India, be it climate change, global warming, trade issues, COVID-19 vaccination and terrorism...India is important for us," he told reporters.

His comments came as a new coalition government is expected to take the reins in Berlin following the parliamentary elections.

According to reports, Social Democrats (SPD) was ahead of the ruling conservative bloc of Angela Merkel in the federal elections.

Also read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/not-over-till-its-over-gruelling-coalition-talks-await-post-merkel-germany-after-polls-416326">Not over till it's over: Gruelling coalition talks await post-Merkel Germany after polls</a>

The federal elections marked the end of Merkel's 16-year tenure as the German Chancellor, a period that saw significant expansion of India-Germany ties. Merkel has already announced that she will not seek a fresh term at the helm of the country.

"The Indo-Pacific is becoming more and more important and India has emerged as a major player in the region," the German envoy said.

On Afghanistan, he said there was a need to address the need for humanitarian assistance in the country.

Referring to the Taliban's takeover of Kabul, he said the world community failed to properly predict the speed with which the group took over the country.

India is becoming an important country for Germany in the Indo-Pacific region and the next coalition government in Berlin is expected to continue strong ties with New Delhi, German Ambassador Walter J Lindner said on Monday.

India is becoming an important country for Germany in the Indo-Pacific region and the next coalition government in Berlin is expected to continue strong ties with New Delhi, German Ambassador Walter J Lindner said on Monday. He said relations between India and Germany saw a significant upswing including in areas of trade and investment in the last over one decade and that the upward trajectory in ties is likely to continue. "None of the global issues can be solved without India, be it climate change, global warming, trade issues, COVID-19 vaccination and terrorism...India is important for us," he told reporters. His comments came as a new coalition government is expected to take the reins in Berlin following the parliamentary elections. According to reports, Social Democrats (SPD) was ahead of the ruling conservative bloc of Angela Merkel in the federal elections. Also read | Not over till it's over: Gruelling coalition talks await post-Merkel Germany after polls The federal elections marked the end of Merkel's 16-year tenure as the German Chancellor, a period that saw significant expansion of India-Germany ties. Merkel has already announced that she will not seek a fresh term at the helm of the country. "The Indo-Pacific is becoming more and more important and India has emerged as a major player in the region," the German envoy said. On Afghanistan, he said there was a need to address the need for humanitarian assistance in the country. Referring to the Taliban's takeover of Kabul, he said the world community failed to properly predict the speed with which the group took over the country.

New German govt expected to continue strong ties with India: German envoy

Hundreds of thousands of young people around the world returned to the streets Friday in the first global climate protest since the coronavirus pandemic forced them into lockdowns.

Protesters gathered in Bangladesh, Kenya, the Netherlands and many other countries. But nowhere was the call to action more urgent than in Germany, where an estimated several hundred thousand people turned out in more than 400 cities, putting pressure on whoever wins a national election Sunday to put climate protection at the top of their agenda.

Greta Thunberg, the 18-year-old climate activist who started the Fridays for Future protests in Stockholm in 2018 by skipping school as a way of shaming the world into addressing climate change, made a guest appearance at a protest in Berlin.

“Yes, we must vote and you must vote, but remember that voting will not be enough,” she told the crowd, urging them to stay motivated and keep up the pressure on politicians.

“We can still turn this around. People are ready for change,” she said. “We demand the change, and we are the change.”

People of all ages marched through the center of Berlin, then rallied on the lawn before the Reichstag, where Germany’s parliament meets. Thousands turned out for similar protests in other cities across the country.

Germans will elect new representatives to parliament Sunday, and never before has the issue of climate change played such a role in a German election. Despite entering office with ambitions to reduce carbon emissions in 2005, four successive governments under Chancellor Angela Merkel failed to significantly reduce Germany’s carbon footprint. It remains in the top 10 of the world’s most polluting countries, according to the World Bank.

It has been young climate activists, inspired by Thunberg, who have succeeded in bringing the climate debate to the forefront of Germany’s political discussion. This year, they successfully took the government to court, forcing a 2019 law aimed at bringing the country’s carbon emissions down to nearly zero by 2050 to be reworked with more ambitious and detailed goals to reduce emissions through 2030.

Recent polls have shown the next German government could include left-leaning environmentalists who many hope will bring real change. The Social Democratic Party has been in the lead for several weeks, ahead of the conservative Christian Democrats, with the Greens firmly in third place, raising hopes that whichever party wins will include them in the next government.

But some young Germans are concerned that even the environmentally focused Greens may not enact policy aggressively enough to speed up Germany’s exit from coal, currently set for 2038. They are also demanding that Germany speed up its plan to reach climate neutrality, when net carbon emissions hit zero, 10 years earlier than planned, to help limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, the lower boundary defined in the Paris Agreement.

“The last few months have shown how dishonestly the parties have been campaigning on the climate crisis, without even beginning to advocate sufficient measures to combat it,” said Maia Stimming, a spokesperson for Fridays for Future Germany.

“As one of the main polluters, Germany must finally stop the destruction,” she said. “Without massive pressure from us on the streets, no coalition will keep the 1.5-degree limit after the election.”

Alexandra Petrikat, an entrepreneur and mother of two young children who attended the demonstration in Berlin, said she was impressed by how peaceful and respectful the protesters were. At the same time, she said their message was loud and clear.

“I think that we sent a signal that whoever forms the next government can’t close their eyes to our demands,” Petrikat said. “We will not give up. We will keep growing and we will keep up the pressure.”

Hundreds of thousands of young people around the world returned to the streets Friday in the first global climate protest since the coronavirus pandemic forced them into lockdowns.

Hundreds of thousands of young people around the world returned to the streets Friday in the first global climate protest since the coronavirus pandemic forced them into lockdowns. Protesters gathered in Bangladesh, Kenya, the Netherlands and many other countries. But nowhere was the call to action more urgent than in Germany, where an estimated several hundred thousand people turned out in more than 400 cities, putting pressure on whoever wins a national election Sunday to put climate protection at the top of their agenda. Greta Thunberg, the 18-year-old climate activist who started the Fridays for Future protests in Stockholm in 2018 by skipping school as a way of shaming the world into addressing climate change, made a guest appearance at a protest in Berlin. “Yes, we must vote and you must vote, but remember that voting will not be enough,” she told the crowd, urging them to stay motivated and keep up the pressure on politicians. “We can still turn this around. People are ready for change,” she said. “We demand the change, and we are the change.” People of all ages marched through the center of Berlin, then rallied on the lawn before the Reichstag, where Germany’s parliament meets. Thousands turned out for similar protests in other cities across the country. Germans will elect new representatives to parliament Sunday, and never before has the issue of climate change played such a role in a German election. Despite entering office with ambitions to reduce carbon emissions in 2005, four successive governments under Chancellor Angela Merkel failed to significantly reduce Germany’s carbon footprint. It remains in the top 10 of the world’s most polluting countries, according to the World Bank. It has been young climate activists, inspired by Thunberg, who have succeeded in bringing the climate debate to the forefront of Germany’s political discussion. This year, they successfully took the government to court, forcing a 2019 law aimed at bringing the country’s carbon emissions down to nearly zero by 2050 to be reworked with more ambitious and detailed goals to reduce emissions through 2030. Recent polls have shown the next German government could include left-leaning environmentalists who many hope will bring real change. The Social Democratic Party has been in the lead for several weeks, ahead of the conservative Christian Democrats, with the Greens firmly in third place, raising hopes that whichever party wins will include them in the next government. But some young Germans are concerned that even the environmentally focused Greens may not enact policy aggressively enough to speed up Germany’s exit from coal, currently set for 2038. They are also demanding that Germany speed up its plan to reach climate neutrality, when net carbon emissions hit zero, 10 years earlier than planned, to help limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, the lower boundary defined in the Paris Agreement. “The last few months have shown how dishonestly the parties have been campaigning on the climate crisis, without even beginning to advocate sufficient measures to combat it,” said Maia Stimming, a spokesperson for Fridays for Future Germany. “As one of the main polluters, Germany must finally stop the destruction,” she said. “Without massive pressure from us on the streets, no coalition will keep the 1.5-degree limit after the election.” Alexandra Petrikat, an entrepreneur and mother of two young children who attended the demonstration in Berlin, said she was impressed by how peaceful and respectful the protesters were. At the same time, she said their message was loud and clear. “I think that we sent a signal that whoever forms the next government can’t close their eyes to our demands,” Petrikat said. “We will not give up. We will keep growing and we will keep up the pressure.”

Before German election, hundreds of thousands demand climate action

China&nbsp;has denied a&nbsp;German&nbsp;warship&nbsp;on a mission to the contested South&nbsp;China&nbsp;Sea&nbsp;entry&nbsp;into a&nbsp;harbour, a&nbsp;German&nbsp;foreign ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday.

The ship involved is the frigate Bayern, the spokesperson told a news briefing, but did not identify the Chinese&nbsp;harbour. The vessel set sail from&nbsp;Germany last month for a six-month mission to the South&nbsp;China&nbsp;Sea.

"China&nbsp;has decided that it does not want a&nbsp;harbour&nbsp;visit, and we took notice of that," the spokesperson said.

China's foreign ministry spokesman, Zhao Lijian, when asked about the incident, said that&nbsp;China&nbsp;hoped countries outside the region would play a "constructive role" and respect regional countries efforts' to maintain peace and stability.

"China&nbsp;attaches great importance to the development of an all-round strategic partnership between&nbsp;China&nbsp;and&nbsp;Germany, including cooperation between the two militaries," he said, speaking at a briefing in Beijing on Thursday.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/chinese-defector-tried-to-warn-trump-about-covid-19-five-months-before-pandemic-413617">Also read |&nbsp;Chinese defector tried to warn Trump about COVID-19 five months before pandemic&nbsp;</a>

China's defence ministry has not responded to requests for comment.

China&nbsp;claims almost all of the South&nbsp;China&nbsp;Sea and has established military outposts on artificial islands in the waters that contain gas fields and rich fishing.

China's claims are contested in part by some of its neighbours including the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei.

The United States and some other countries have also said they do not accept the extent of&nbsp;China's claims in the South&nbsp;China&nbsp;Sea.

Berlin&nbsp;has made it clear that the Bayern mission serves to stress the fact&nbsp;Germany does not accept&nbsp;China's claims though officials have said the&nbsp;German&nbsp;navy would stick to common trade routes

China has denied a German warship on a mission to the contested South China Sea entry into a harbour, a German foreign ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday. The ship involved is the frigate Bayern, the spokesperson told a news briefing, but did not identify the Chinese harbour.

China has denied a German warship on a mission to the contested South China Sea entry into a harbour, a German foreign ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday. The ship involved is the frigate Bayern, the spokesperson told a news briefing, but did not identify the Chinese harbour. The vessel set sail from Germany last month for a six-month mission to the South China Sea. "China has decided that it does not want a harbour visit, and we took notice of that," the spokesperson said. China's foreign ministry spokesman, Zhao Lijian, when asked about the incident, said that China hoped countries outside the region would play a "constructive role" and respect regional countries efforts' to maintain peace and stability. "China attaches great importance to the development of an all-round strategic partnership between China and Germany, including cooperation between the two militaries," he said, speaking at a briefing in Beijing on Thursday. Also read | Chinese defector tried to warn Trump about COVID-19 five months before pandemic China's defence ministry has not responded to requests for comment. China claims almost all of the South China Sea and has established military outposts on artificial islands in the waters that contain gas fields and rich fishing. China's claims are contested in part by some of its neighbours including the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei. The United States and some other countries have also said they do not accept the extent of China's claims in the South China Sea. Berlin has made it clear that the Bayern mission serves to stress the fact Germany does not accept China's claims though officials have said the German navy would stick to common trade routes

China denies German warship entry into harbour, Berlin says

Six men have been charged with breaking in and stealing 18th century jewels from a Dresden Museum&nbsp;in Germany.<o:p></o:p>

All suspects have German origin and are aged between 22 and 27. The six men have been accused of stealing from the Green Vault museum in the Dresden city. <o:p></o:p>

Suspects were successful in stealing nearly 21 pieces of jewellery consisting 4,300 diamonds which have been valued at nearly €113.8m (£97.6m).

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/no-more-laughing-gas-uk-set-to-ban-nitrous-oxide-soon-410390">No more laughing gas: UK set to ban Nitrous Oxide soon</a>

<o:p></o:p>

The suspects started a fire in the museum to ensure the power supply for street lights and other security equipment was cut. They also set a car on fire in a nearby garage to ensure their safe passage to Berlin, as they assumed emergency services would be busy dealing with the fire.<o:p></o:p>

While the suspects have been charged with the crime, the stolen items are still missing. The six men have refused to acknowledge the accusations made against them.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/merkel-partys-heir-apparent-to-make-risky-flood-zone-tour-410350" hreflang="en">Merkel, party's heir apparent to make risky flood zone tour</a>

<o:p></o:p>

Whether or not the case will be brought to trial is yet to be decided. The state court of Dresden will take the final decision about this soon.<o:p></o:p>

Dresden’s famous the Green Vault museum was established in 1723 and is known to be one of the oldest museums of the world. This museum houses the treasury of Augustus the Strong of Saxony, which is reportedly made up of more than 4,000 pieces of gold, precious stones and other valuable material.<o:p></o:p>

Six men have been charged with breaking in and stealing 18th century jewels from a Dresden Museum in Germany. All suspects have German origin and are aged between 22 and 27.

Six men have been charged with breaking in and stealing 18th century jewels from a Dresden Museum in Germany. All suspects have German origin and are aged between 22 and 27. The six men have been accused of stealing from the Green Vault museum in the Dresden city. Suspects were successful in stealing nearly 21 pieces of jewellery consisting 4,300 diamonds which have been valued at nearly €113.8m (£97.6m). Also read | No more laughing gas: UK set to ban Nitrous Oxide soon The suspects started a fire in the museum to ensure the power supply for street lights and other security equipment was cut. They also set a car on fire in a nearby garage to ensure their safe passage to Berlin, as they assumed emergency services would be busy dealing with the fire. While the suspects have been charged with the crime, the stolen items are still missing. The six men have refused to acknowledge the accusations made against them. Also read | Merkel, party's heir apparent to make risky flood zone tour Whether or not the case will be brought to trial is yet to be decided. The state court of Dresden will take the final decision about this soon. Dresden’s famous the Green Vault museum was established in 1723 and is known to be one of the oldest museums of the world. This museum houses the treasury of Augustus the Strong of Saxony, which is reportedly made up of more than 4,000 pieces of gold, precious stones and other valuable material.

Germany: 6 men charged for stealing 18th century jewels from Green Vault museum

German&nbsp;exports&nbsp;soared&nbsp;past&nbsp;pre-pandemic&nbsp;levels&nbsp;in&nbsp;June&nbsp;for the first time since the coronavirus crisis wreaked havoc on trade, official data showed Monday, as the industry shrugged off supply chain shortages.

The pandemic has severely disrupted global supply chains, leading to shortage in raw materials or components including timber, plastics and steel.

Germany's crucial car industry has also been hit by a global computer chip crunch caused by a surge in demand for home electronics as employees are asked to work from home to cut infection risks.

But Europe's biggest economy exported 118.7 billion euros ($140 billion) of goods in&nbsp;June, 1.1 percent more than in February 2020, before the health emergency snared Germany.

The indicator rose for the 14th month in a row, and was 1.3 percent higher compared to May, after seasonal variations and calendar effects were taken into account.

"Today's strong data illustrates that supply chain frictions have not yet affected&nbsp;German&nbsp;exports," said analyst Carsten Brzeski of ING.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/not-too-late-to-prevent-runaway-climate-change-eu-404216">Also read |&nbsp;'Not too late' to prevent 'runaway climate change': EU</a>

But he warned that this could change in coming months.

"While order books are still richly filled, supply chain frictions, particularly the lack of microchips, could lead to more delivery problems in key sectors like the automotive industry and therefore to some distortions of&nbsp;export&nbsp;data in the coming months," he said.

Imports also saw a slight gain of 0.6 percent compared to a month ago to 102.4 billion euros.

Demand from the European Union for&nbsp;German&nbsp;goods was up 26.1 percent compared to a year ago, while that from other countries rose 20.7 percent.

China, a key market for Germany, imported 16 percent more than a year ago.

German exports soared past pre-pandemic levels in June for the first time since the coronavirus crisis wreaked havoc on trade, official data showed Monday, as the industry shrugged off supply chain shortages.

German exports soared past pre-pandemic levels in June for the first time since the coronavirus crisis wreaked havoc on trade, official data showed Monday, as the industry shrugged off supply chain shortages. The pandemic has severely disrupted global supply chains, leading to shortage in raw materials or components including timber, plastics and steel. Germany's crucial car industry has also been hit by a global computer chip crunch caused by a surge in demand for home electronics as employees are asked to work from home to cut infection risks. But Europe's biggest economy exported 118.7 billion euros ($140 billion) of goods in June, 1.1 percent more than in February 2020, before the health emergency snared Germany. The indicator rose for the 14th month in a row, and was 1.3 percent higher compared to May, after seasonal variations and calendar effects were taken into account. "Today's strong data illustrates that supply chain frictions have not yet affected German exports," said analyst Carsten Brzeski of ING. Also read | 'Not too late' to prevent 'runaway climate change': EU But he warned that this could change in coming months. "While order books are still richly filled, supply chain frictions, particularly the lack of microchips, could lead to more delivery problems in key sectors like the automotive industry and therefore to some distortions of export data in the coming months," he said. Imports also saw a slight gain of 0.6 percent compared to a month ago to 102.4 billion euros. Demand from the European Union for German goods was up 26.1 percent compared to a year ago, while that from other countries rose 20.7 percent. China, a key market for Germany, imported 16 percent more than a year ago.

German exports rise past pre-pandemic levels in June

Germany on Monday sent a&nbsp;warship&nbsp;to the&nbsp;South&nbsp;China&nbsp;Sea&nbsp;for the first time in almost two decades, joining other Western nations in expanding its military presence in the region&nbsp;amid&nbsp;growing alarm over&nbsp;China's territorial ambitions.

China&nbsp;claims swathes of the&nbsp;South&nbsp;China&nbsp;Sea&nbsp;and has established military outposts on artificial islands in the waters that contain gas fields and rich fishing.

The US Navy, in a show of force against the Chinese territorial claims, regularly conducts so-called "freedom of navigation" operations in which their vessels pass close by some of the contested islands.&nbsp;China&nbsp;in turn objects to the US missions, saying they do not help promote peace or stability.

Washington has put countering&nbsp;China&nbsp;at the heart of its national security policy and seeks to rally partners against what it says are&nbsp;Beijing's increasingly coercive economic and foreign policies.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/five-years-after-south-china-sea-ruling-chinas-presence-around-philippines-only-growing-397029">Also read |&nbsp;Five years after South China Sea ruling, China's presence around Philippines only growing</a>

Officials in Berlin have said the&nbsp;German&nbsp;navy will stick to common trade routes. The frigate is not expected to sail through the Taiwan Strait either, another regular US&nbsp;activity condemned by&nbsp;Beijing.

Nevertheless, Berlin has made it clear the mission serves to stress the fact&nbsp;Germany does not accept&nbsp;China's territorial claims.

Germany is walking a tightrope between its security and economic interests as&nbsp;China&nbsp;has become Berlin's most important trading partner.&nbsp;German&nbsp;exports there have helped mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Europe’s biggest economy.

German&nbsp;Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer travelled to the port of Wilhelmshaven to see the frigate Bayern off on its seven-month voyage that will take it to Australia, Japan,&nbsp;South&nbsp;Korea and Vietnam.

The vessel is expected to cross the&nbsp;South&nbsp;China&nbsp;Sea&nbsp;in mid-December, making it the first&nbsp;German&nbsp;warship&nbsp;to pass through the region since 2002.

"We want existing law to be respected,&nbsp;sea&nbsp;routes to be freely navigable, open societies to be protected and trade to follow fair rules," Kramp-Karrenbauer said.

Countries including Britain, France, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, have also been expanding their activity in the Pacific to counter&nbsp;China's influence.

Germany on Monday sent a warship to the South China Sea for the first time in almost two decades, joining other Western nations in expanding its military presence in the region amid growing alarm over China's territorial ambitions.

Germany on Monday sent a warship to the South China Sea for the first time in almost two decades, joining other Western nations in expanding its military presence in the region amid growing alarm over China's territorial ambitions. China claims swathes of the South China Sea and has established military outposts on artificial islands in the waters that contain gas fields and rich fishing. The US Navy, in a show of force against the Chinese territorial claims, regularly conducts so-called "freedom of navigation" operations in which their vessels pass close by some of the contested islands. China in turn objects to the US missions, saying they do not help promote peace or stability. Washington has put countering China at the heart of its national security policy and seeks to rally partners against what it says are Beijing's increasingly coercive economic and foreign policies. Also read | Five years after South China Sea ruling, China's presence around Philippines only growing Officials in Berlin have said the German navy will stick to common trade routes. The frigate is not expected to sail through the Taiwan Strait either, another regular US activity condemned by Beijing. Nevertheless, Berlin has made it clear the mission serves to stress the fact Germany does not accept China's territorial claims. Germany is walking a tightrope between its security and economic interests as China has become Berlin's most important trading partner. German exports there have helped mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Europe’s biggest economy. German Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer travelled to the port of Wilhelmshaven to see the frigate Bayern off on its seven-month voyage that will take it to Australia, Japan, South Korea and Vietnam. The vessel is expected to cross the South China Sea in mid-December, making it the first German warship to pass through the region since 2002. "We want existing law to be respected, sea routes to be freely navigable, open societies to be protected and trade to follow fair rules," Kramp-Karrenbauer said. Countries including Britain, France, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, have also been expanding their activity in the Pacific to counter China's influence.

German warship heads for South China Sea amid tension with Beijing

German NGO Sea-Watch said on Friday it had rescued nearly 100 migrants in the Mediterranean overnight, many of whom were injured, some with severe "fuel burns" - chemical burns caused by exposure to gasoline mixed with seawater. 
 
Migrant boat departures from Libya and Tunisia to Italy and other parts of Europe have increased in recent months with better weather. 
 
According to the UN's International Organization for Migration (IOM), more than 1,100 people fleeing conflict and poverty in Africa and the Middle East have perished this year in the Mediterranean. 
 
Late on Thursday, the vessel Sea-Watch 3 rescued 33 migrants from two boats which had been intercepted by the Libyan coast guard in the search and rescue zone of the Mediterranean assigned to Malta, the NGO said. 
 
Among them were nine unaccompanied minors, of which three were very small children, and a woman who was seven months pregnant. The rescued came from South Sudan, Tunisia, Morocco, Ivory Coast and Mali, according to a Reuters witness aboard the Sea-Watch 3. 
 
Many migrants were already on a coast guard ship but jumped into the sea when they saw the NGO vessel approach, according to the witness. All were brought onboard the Sea-Watch 3 by its crew. 
 
In a second operation at dawn on Friday, Sea-Watch 3 rescued over 60 people from an overcrowded wooden boat within the Libyan search and rescue zone. Most of the rescued were Libyans, the Reuters witness said. 
 
Among the migrants being treated for their injuries on board the Sea-Watch 3 on Friday were a father and son who suffered burns after a fire broke out on their boat, while others suffered fuel burns. 
 
"As it is often the case with such boats, many of the people suffered fuel burns, some of them severe," Sea-Watch said in a statement.

German NGO Sea-Watch said on Friday it had rescued nearly 100 migrants in the Mediterranean overnight, many of whom were injured, some with severe "fuel burns" - chemical burns caused by exposure to gasoline mixed with seawater.

German NGO Sea-Watch said on Friday it had rescued nearly 100 migrants in the Mediterranean overnight, many of whom were injured, some with severe "fuel burns" - chemical burns caused by exposure to gasoline mixed with seawater. Migrant boat departures from Libya and Tunisia to Italy and other parts of Europe have increased in recent months with better weather. According to the UN's International Organization for Migration (IOM), more than 1,100 people fleeing conflict and poverty in Africa and the Middle East have perished this year in the Mediterranean. Late on Thursday, the vessel Sea-Watch 3 rescued 33 migrants from two boats which had been intercepted by the Libyan coast guard in the search and rescue zone of the Mediterranean assigned to Malta, the NGO said. Among them were nine unaccompanied minors, of which three were very small children, and a woman who was seven months pregnant. The rescued came from South Sudan, Tunisia, Morocco, Ivory Coast and Mali, according to a Reuters witness aboard the Sea-Watch 3. Many migrants were already on a coast guard ship but jumped into the sea when they saw the NGO vessel approach, according to the witness. All were brought onboard the Sea-Watch 3 by its crew. In a second operation at dawn on Friday, Sea-Watch 3 rescued over 60 people from an overcrowded wooden boat within the Libyan search and rescue zone. Most of the rescued were Libyans, the Reuters witness said. Among the migrants being treated for their injuries on board the Sea-Watch 3 on Friday were a father and son who suffered burns after a fire broke out on their boat, while others suffered fuel burns. "As it is often the case with such boats, many of the people suffered fuel burns, some of them severe," Sea-Watch said in a statement.

German NGO Sea-Watch rescues nearly 100 migrants overnight in Mediterranean

The sporting director of the German cycling federation has been told to return home from the Tokyo&nbsp;Olympics&nbsp;after making racist remarks during Wednesday's men's Olympic road time trial, the German team said on Thursday.

"The team leadership at the Olympic Games in Tokyo has decided that Patrick Moster cannot continue his work as national team leader Cycling and will return to Germany," the team said in a statement.

Moster had made the remarks during the road time trial event as he tried to urge on one of Germany's cyclists.

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"Get the camel drivers, get the camel drivers, come on," he was heard shouting at Nikias Arndt, who was chasing opponents Algeria's Azzedine Lagab and Eritrea's Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier.

Moster apologized later, blaming his remarks on 'the heat of the moment', and said he was not a racist.

It took the German Olympic Committee (DOSB) about 24 hours to issue a statement on the incident, raising questions about the delay in handling the case when the International Cycling Federation (UCI) had condemned his comments as early as Wednesday.

The DOSB eventually said it was no longer possible to keep Moster in Tokyo after his comments caused a major furore at the Games as well as back home.

"We continue to be convinced that his public apology yesterday following his racist remarks was genuine," DOSB President Alfons Hoermann said. "But with his lapse Mr Moster went against the Olympic values. Fair play, respect and tolerance are non-negotiable for Team D."

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The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said it welcomed the decision, after contacting the DOSB on Thursday.

"The IOC contacted the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) this morning and inquired about the issue around the Sports Director of the German Cycling Federation," the IOC said in a statement.

"We welcome the swift reaction of DOSB not to let him continue in his role and asking him to leave Tokyo to return back to Germany. Comments such as these have no place at the Olympic Games."

When asked by Reuters, IOC officials said the Olympic body had told the DOSB it would need to see a decision on the matter by Thursday afternoon and would reserve the right for potential disciplinary proceedings depending on the outcome, piling pressure on Germany's Olympic Committee.

Arndt, who finished the time trial in 19th place, said he had been appalled by his sports director's "unacceptable" comments.

The sporting director of the German cycling federation has been told to return home from the Tokyo Olympics after making racist remarks during Wednesday's men's Olympic road time trial, the German team said on Thursday.

The sporting director of the German cycling federation has been told to return home from the Tokyo Olympics after making racist remarks during Wednesday's men's Olympic road time trial, the German team said on Thursday. "The team leadership at the Olympic Games in Tokyo has decided that Patrick Moster cannot continue his work as national team leader Cycling and will return to Germany," the team said in a statement. Moster had made the remarks during the road time trial event as he tried to urge on one of Germany's cyclists. ALSO READ: Tokyo Olympics, Table Tennis: China's Sun eyes gold as she sweeps past Japan's Ito "Get the camel drivers, get the camel drivers, come on," he was heard shouting at Nikias Arndt, who was chasing opponents Algeria's Azzedine Lagab and Eritrea's Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier. Moster apologized later, blaming his remarks on 'the heat of the moment', and said he was not a racist. It took the German Olympic Committee (DOSB) about 24 hours to issue a statement on the incident, raising questions about the delay in handling the case when the International Cycling Federation (UCI) had condemned his comments as early as Wednesday. The DOSB eventually said it was no longer possible to keep Moster in Tokyo after his comments caused a major furore at the Games as well as back home. "We continue to be convinced that his public apology yesterday following his racist remarks was genuine," DOSB President Alfons Hoermann said. "But with his lapse Mr Moster went against the Olympic values. Fair play, respect and tolerance are non-negotiable for Team D." ALSO READ: Tokyo Olympics: American star pole-vaulter Sam Kendricks tests positive for COVID-19 The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said it welcomed the decision, after contacting the DOSB on Thursday. "The IOC contacted the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) this morning and inquired about the issue around the Sports Director of the German Cycling Federation," the IOC said in a statement. "We welcome the swift reaction of DOSB not to let him continue in his role and asking him to leave Tokyo to return back to Germany. Comments such as these have no place at the Olympic Games." When asked by Reuters, IOC officials said the Olympic body had told the DOSB it would need to see a decision on the matter by Thursday afternoon and would reserve the right for potential disciplinary proceedings depending on the outcome, piling pressure on Germany's Olympic Committee. Arndt, who finished the time trial in 19th place, said he had been appalled by his sports director's "unacceptable" comments.

Tokyo Olympics: German cycling sports director sent home after racist remarks

Colombian immigration authorities said Tuesday they had expelled a&nbsp;German&nbsp;woman&nbsp;who&nbsp;took&nbsp;part&nbsp;in demonstrations against the government of President Ivan Duque.&nbsp;

Rebecca Sproesser "was carrying out activities that had nothing to do with her status as a tourist, and which could affect the civil order and peace," said the immigration authorities in a statement justifying "the decision to expel her."&nbsp;

Sproesser regularly uploaded photos and video of demonstrations to her social media networks, in which she met with members on what she called the "front line" of&nbsp;protests&nbsp;in the southwestern city of Cali.&nbsp;

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On Friday, she said on Facebook she had been the victim of an attack in the city, which has been the epicenter of anti-government&nbsp;protests&nbsp;that left more than 60 dead in three months.

Sproesser said the assailant "did not stop shooting until his gun ran out of bullets" and said a friend&nbsp;who&nbsp;protected her suffered 13 bullet wounds, "three of them in the head and several in the chest," while she herself suffered "grazes from the projectiles."&nbsp;

No officials have so far confirmed the attack, but the&nbsp;German&nbsp;ambassador, Peter Ptassek, said on Twitter he was following the news "with concern."

The government sparked popular discontent on April 28 over its proposal to raise taxes in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. Although the project was shelved,&nbsp;protests&nbsp;continued and the crackdown on protesters fueled further unrest.

Colombian immigration authorities said Tuesday they had expelled a German woman who took part in demonstrations against the government of President Ivan Duque. Rebecca Sproesser "was carrying out activities that had nothing to do with her status as a tourist, and which could affect the civil order and peace," said the immigration authorities in a statement justifying "the decision to expel her.

Colombian immigration authorities said Tuesday they had expelled a German woman who took part in demonstrations against the government of President Ivan Duque. Rebecca Sproesser "was carrying out activities that had nothing to do with her status as a tourist, and which could affect the civil order and peace," said the immigration authorities in a statement justifying "the decision to expel her." Sproesser regularly uploaded photos and video of demonstrations to her social media networks, in which she met with members on what she called the "front line" of protests in the southwestern city of Cali. Also read | Colombia authorises export of dried cannabis flowers On Friday, she said on Facebook she had been the victim of an attack in the city, which has been the epicenter of anti-government protests that left more than 60 dead in three months. Sproesser said the assailant "did not stop shooting until his gun ran out of bullets" and said a friend who protected her suffered 13 bullet wounds, "three of them in the head and several in the chest," while she herself suffered "grazes from the projectiles." No officials have so far confirmed the attack, but the German ambassador, Peter Ptassek, said on Twitter he was following the news "with concern." The government sparked popular discontent on April 28 over its proposal to raise taxes in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. Although the project was shelved, protests continued and the crackdown on protesters fueled further unrest.

Colombia expels German who took part in anti-govt protests

Germany could stop gas flowing through the almost-complete Nord Stream 2 pipeline from Russia if Moscow breaks the terms of the arrangement or uses it to put pressure on Ukraine, conservative chancellor candidate Armin Laschet said on Saturday. 
 
The pipeline is a source of tension with the US&nbsp;administration, which argues that it gives too much leverage to Russian President Vladimir Putin by increasing Europe's energy dependence on Russia. 
 
Gazprom and its Western partners have completed 95% of the pipeline to send natural gas under the Baltic Sea, bypassing Ukraine and depriving it of lucrative transit fees. 
 
Armin Laschet, who is favourite to succeed his CDU party colleague Angela Merkel when she steps down as chancellor after September's election, said in a televised foreign policy debate that the 95%-complete pipeline should be finished. 
 
But if Russia failed to stick to the rules, or used the pipeline against Ukraine, he said, "We can always discontinue this project, even after the pipeline is finished". 
 
Finance Minister Olaf Scholz, chancellor candidate for the centre-left SPD, took the same line, saying: "Anything that impinges on gas transit and Ukraine's security has consequences for potential transit through the completed pipeline." 
 
But Annalena Baerbock, the candidate for the environmentalist Greens, who are running second in opinion polls and could replace the SPD as the conservatives' junior coalition partner, repeated her opposition to the pipeline. 
 
"Imagine a winter in Europe," she said. "We won't be able to say 'Now we don't have any more gas'. Mr Putin wants to destabilise not only Ukraine but us as Europeans." 
 
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy made a recorded appeal to the candidates to guarantee his country's security and provide it with a path to membership of the European Union. 
 
Both Laschet and Scholz said Ukraine was not the next priority for EU enlargement.

(With inputs from agencies)

Germany could stop gas flowing through the almost-complete Nord Stream 2 pipeline from Russia if Moscow breaks the terms of the arrangement or uses it to put pressure on Ukraine, conservative chancellor candidate Armin Laschet said on Saturday.

Germany could stop gas flowing through the almost-complete Nord Stream 2 pipeline from Russia if Moscow breaks the terms of the arrangement or uses it to put pressure on Ukraine, conservative chancellor candidate Armin Laschet said on Saturday. The pipeline is a source of tension with the US administration, which argues that it gives too much leverage to Russian President Vladimir Putin by increasing Europe's energy dependence on Russia. Gazprom and its Western partners have completed 95% of the pipeline to send natural gas under the Baltic Sea, bypassing Ukraine and depriving it of lucrative transit fees. Armin Laschet, who is favourite to succeed his CDU party colleague Angela Merkel when she steps down as chancellor after September's election, said in a televised foreign policy debate that the 95%-complete pipeline should be finished. But if Russia failed to stick to the rules, or used the pipeline against Ukraine, he said, "We can always discontinue this project, even after the pipeline is finished". Finance Minister Olaf Scholz, chancellor candidate for the centre-left SPD, took the same line, saying: "Anything that impinges on gas transit and Ukraine's security has consequences for potential transit through the completed pipeline." But Annalena Baerbock, the candidate for the environmentalist Greens, who are running second in opinion polls and could replace the SPD as the conservatives' junior coalition partner, repeated her opposition to the pipeline. "Imagine a winter in Europe," she said. "We won't be able to say 'Now we don't have any more gas'. Mr Putin wants to destabilise not only Ukraine but us as Europeans." Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy made a recorded appeal to the candidates to guarantee his country's security and provide it with a path to membership of the European Union. Both Laschet and Scholz said Ukraine was not the next priority for EU enlargement. (With inputs from agencies)

Nord Stream pipeline could be halted if Russia abuses it: German CDU chancellor candidate

A German trade union called on workers at seven Amazon warehouses to go on strike on Monday for several days to coincide with the global Prime Day promotion. 
 
Verdi said it was organising the three-day strike as part of a long-running battle with the US&nbsp;tech giant in Germany over better pay and working conditions. 
 
"The workers in the mail order centres have to cope with the rush of customers and don't get a cent more for the additionally intensified workload," said Verdi representative Orhan Akman in a statement. 
 
Germany is Amazon's biggest market after the United States, and the Verdi union has been organising strikes at Amazon in the country since 2013 to protest low pay and poor conditions. 
 
An Amazon spokesperson said the company offers excellent pay and benefits. It has said during past calls for strikes over 90% of employees in the logistic centres worked as normal. 
 
Earlier this month, Amazon said it will guarantee an entry-level wage at its German warehouses of 12 euros ($14.25) an hour from July, which will rise to at least 12.50 euros per hour from autumn 2022. 
 
Amazon holds Prime Day to boost summer sales. The member-only discounts are an important way Amazon markets Prime, a fast-shipping and media-streaming service that incentivises subscribers to do more shopping on Amazon. 
 
(With inputs from agencies)

A German trade union called on workers at seven Amazon warehouses to go on strike on Monday for several days to coincide with the global Prime Day promotion. Verdi said it was organising the three-day strike as part of a long-running battle with the US tech giant in Germany over better pay and working conditions.

A German trade union called on workers at seven Amazon warehouses to go on strike on Monday for several days to coincide with the global Prime Day promotion. Verdi said it was organising the three-day strike as part of a long-running battle with the US tech giant in Germany over better pay and working conditions. "The workers in the mail order centres have to cope with the rush of customers and don't get a cent more for the additionally intensified workload," said Verdi representative Orhan Akman in a statement. Germany is Amazon's biggest market after the United States, and the Verdi union has been organising strikes at Amazon in the country since 2013 to protest low pay and poor conditions. An Amazon spokesperson said the company offers excellent pay and benefits. It has said during past calls for strikes over 90% of employees in the logistic centres worked as normal. Earlier this month, Amazon said it will guarantee an entry-level wage at its German warehouses of 12 euros ($14.25) an hour from July, which will rise to at least 12.50 euros per hour from autumn 2022. Amazon holds Prime Day to boost summer sales. The member-only discounts are an important way Amazon markets Prime, a fast-shipping and media-streaming service that incentivises subscribers to do more shopping on Amazon. (With inputs from agencies)

German union calls for Amazon workers to strike on 'Prime Day'

Germany's antitrust watchdog said on Monday it had launched an investigation into whether Apple was exploiting its market dominance, following similar proceedings into US&nbsp;tech rivals Facebook, Amazon and Google. 
 
Based on new competition law rules specifically intended for large digital companies, Germany's Federal Cartel Office (FCO) said it would assess whether Apple has a 'paramount significance across markets' in a first step. 
 
"Based on this first proceeding, the (FCO) intends to assess in more detail specific practices of Apple in a possible further proceeding. In this regard, the authority has received various complaints relating to potentially anti-competitive practices." 
 
The FCO said one complaint came from an association in the advertising and media industry and was aimed at Apple restricting user tracking with the introduction of its iOS 14.5 operating system. 
 
An Apple spokesperson said: "We look forward to discussing our approach with the FCO and having an open dialogue about any of their concerns."

Germany's antitrust watchdog said on Monday it had launched an investigation into whether Apple was exploiting its market dominance, following similar proceedings into US tech rivals Facebook, Amazon and Google.

Germany's antitrust watchdog said on Monday it had launched an investigation into whether Apple was exploiting its market dominance, following similar proceedings into US tech rivals Facebook, Amazon and Google. Based on new competition law rules specifically intended for large digital companies, Germany's Federal Cartel Office (FCO) said it would assess whether Apple has a 'paramount significance across markets' in a first step. "Based on this first proceeding, the (FCO) intends to assess in more detail specific practices of Apple in a possible further proceeding. In this regard, the authority has received various complaints relating to potentially anti-competitive practices." The FCO said one complaint came from an association in the advertising and media industry and was aimed at Apple restricting user tracking with the introduction of its iOS 14.5 operating system. An Apple spokesperson said: "We look forward to discussing our approach with the FCO and having an open dialogue about any of their concerns."

German antitrust watchdog launches investigation into Apple

Germany's liberal Free Democrats (FDP) will not join a coalition led by the ecologist Greens after an election in September, mass-selling Bild daily reported on Monday, citing party sources. 
 
The decision would make it more difficult for the Greens, who are expected to come second in the election behind Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives, to try to form a government after the vote. 
 
The Greens are running about 8 points behind the conservatives and polling at about 20%. 
 
The conservatives and Greens could seek to form a coalition after the election but may find it difficult to bridge differences on whether to raise taxes to fund a transition to a carbon-neutral economy and ramp up investments in digital infrastructure and schools. 
 
The conservatives argue that tax hikes would harm the economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. 
 
Opinion polls show the Greens would have a majority in parliament with the FDP and centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), who are polling on about 13% and 16%, respectively. 
 
The FDP are the conservatives' preferred ruling partners but the two parties are unlikely to win enough votes for a parliamentary majority given that the conservative bloc is on 28%. 
 
(With inputs from agencies)

Germany's liberal Free Democrats (FDP) will not join a coalition led by the ecologist Greens after an election in September, mass-selling Bild daily reported on Monday, citing party sources.

Germany's liberal Free Democrats (FDP) will not join a coalition led by the ecologist Greens after an election in September, mass-selling Bild daily reported on Monday, citing party sources. The decision would make it more difficult for the Greens, who are expected to come second in the election behind Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives, to try to form a government after the vote. The Greens are running about 8 points behind the conservatives and polling at about 20%. The conservatives and Greens could seek to form a coalition after the election but may find it difficult to bridge differences on whether to raise taxes to fund a transition to a carbon-neutral economy and ramp up investments in digital infrastructure and schools. The conservatives argue that tax hikes would harm the economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. Opinion polls show the Greens would have a majority in parliament with the FDP and centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), who are polling on about 13% and 16%, respectively. The FDP are the conservatives' preferred ruling partners but the two parties are unlikely to win enough votes for a parliamentary majority given that the conservative bloc is on 28%. (With inputs from agencies)

German liberal FDP rules out coalition with Greens after election: Report

New museum gingerly explores German wartime suffering

The eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt voted on Sunday in the last test of public opinion before September's national election, one which could deal a blow to conservative Armin Laschet's hopes of succeeding Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Surveys in the state show a small lead for the Christian Democrats (CDU) of Laschet and Merkel, but the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) was running just one percentage point behind in the final poll published on Friday.

Casting his vote, conservative state premier Reiner Haseloff said he had done all he could to persuade voters in the relatively poor region not to turn to the far right.

"I've done everything necessary and possible to persuade people that we need stability and a democratic centre," he told reporters in his home town of Wittenberg, where in 1517 Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses critical of the Pope to a church door, igniting the Protestant Reformation.

Turnout, down 8 percentage points on five years ago by 2 p.m., suggested that voters may have chosen not to heed his message. Low turnout has often favoured parties at the political margins.

Though most polls give the CDU a more comfortable lead, a loss or a tight margin of victory could deal a crippling blow to the centrist Laschet's electoral hopes, emboldening those on his party's right who want a decisive break from the Merkel years.

Merkel, in power since 2005, is stepping down after the federal election, and senior CDU officials concede that it will be tough to retain their party's appeal to voters after 16 years in charge.

National polls show the surging Greens almost tied with the CDU, with both holding around a quarter of the vote, lending the poll in Saxony-Anhalt, a sparsely populated state of just 2.2 million, an outsized significance.

The AfD typically performs better in the former communist east, where the economy is weaker than in the west. Its strength in Saxony-Anhalt has already focused debate on the CDU's relations with the political right.

The eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt voted on Sunday in the last test of public opinion before September's national election, one which could deal a blow to conservative Armin Laschet's hopes of succeeding Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt voted on Sunday in the last test of public opinion before September's national election, one which could deal a blow to conservative Armin Laschet's hopes of succeeding Chancellor Angela Merkel. Surveys in the state show a small lead for the Christian Democrats (CDU) of Laschet and Merkel, but the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) was running just one percentage point behind in the final poll published on Friday. Casting his vote, conservative state premier Reiner Haseloff said he had done all he could to persuade voters in the relatively poor region not to turn to the far right. "I've done everything necessary and possible to persuade people that we need stability and a democratic centre," he told reporters in his home town of Wittenberg, where in 1517 Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses critical of the Pope to a church door, igniting the Protestant Reformation. Turnout, down 8 percentage points on five years ago by 2 p.m., suggested that voters may have chosen not to heed his message. Low turnout has often favoured parties at the political margins. Though most polls give the CDU a more comfortable lead, a loss or a tight margin of victory could deal a crippling blow to the centrist Laschet's electoral hopes, emboldening those on his party's right who want a decisive break from the Merkel years. Merkel, in power since 2005, is stepping down after the federal election, and senior CDU officials concede that it will be tough to retain their party's appeal to voters after 16 years in charge. National polls show the surging Greens almost tied with the CDU, with both holding around a quarter of the vote, lending the poll in Saxony-Anhalt, a sparsely populated state of just 2.2 million, an outsized significance. The AfD typically performs better in the former communist east, where the economy is weaker than in the west. Its strength in Saxony-Anhalt has already focused debate on the CDU's relations with the political right.

Eastern German state votes in final test before national election

Residents of a small town in Switzerland voted in a referendum to decide whether they will be citizens of Germany or France.

Located in northwestern Switzerland, the town of Moutier has a population of 7,500. The issue of whether the town should remain a part of the German-speaking canton or join the French-speaking one has been an underlying issue for decades.

In 1978, when Switzerland established a French-speaking canton of Jura, a handful of districts opted to stay with the German-speaking Bern. Moutier was one such town.

However, separatist administrations have been hoping to break away from Bern for a long now, and they believe the town would progress more as a part of the French-speaking canton of Jura.

Before this, a referendum was put to vote in 2017 but was immediately overturned because of electoral irregularities. In the 2017 referendum, only a small amount of people had voted to join the Jura.

This time, the security forces took the charge of assuring that there are no irregularities in this year's vote.

However, a local media house, RTS, reported that the television channel had received a letter from the canton of Bern to the federal authorities claiming that a suspicious and unexpected influx of residents in Moutier has been observed in recent days.

These residents were "people... for whom it is difficult to understand their connections with Moutier," RTS claims the letter reported.

Residents of a small town in Switzerland voted in a referendum to decide whether they will be citizens of Germany or France. Located in northwestern Switzerland, the town of Moutier has a population of 7,500.

Residents of a small town in Switzerland voted in a referendum to decide whether they will be citizens of Germany or France. Located in northwestern Switzerland, the town of Moutier has a population of 7,500. The issue of whether the town should remain a part of the German-speaking canton or join the French-speaking one has been an underlying issue for decades. In 1978, when Switzerland established a French-speaking canton of Jura, a handful of districts opted to stay with the German-speaking Bern. Moutier was one such town. However, separatist administrations have been hoping to break away from Bern for a long now, and they believe the town would progress more as a part of the French-speaking canton of Jura. Before this, a referendum was put to vote in 2017 but was immediately overturned because of electoral irregularities. In the 2017 referendum, only a small amount of people had voted to join the Jura. This time, the security forces took the charge of assuring that there are no irregularities in this year's vote. However, a local media house, RTS, reported that the television channel had received a letter from the canton of Bern to the federal authorities claiming that a suspicious and unexpected influx of residents in Moutier has been observed in recent days. These residents were "people... for whom it is difficult to understand their connections with Moutier," RTS claims the letter reported.

German or French? Switzerland's town votes to decide its fate of nationality

Danish toymaker Lego on Wednesday won the backing of Europe's second-highest court in its fight to secure design rights for its colourful snap-together plastic building bricks familiar to millions of children worldwide.&nbsp;

The Luxembourg-based General Court threw out a 2019 decision by the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) that sided with German toy and hardware maker Delta Sport Handelskontor, which had sought to declare Lego's design invalid.&nbsp;

Lego challenged that ruling at the court, which on Wednesday disagreed with the trademark agency's assessment.&nbsp;

"EUIPO erroneously declared invalid a design of a brick of a LEGO toy building set," judges said.&nbsp;

"EUIPO failed to examine the relevance of the application of the exception relied on by Lego and failed to take into consideration all the features of appearance of the brick," they said.&nbsp;

The trademark agency in its decision two years ago said the design of Lego bricks were solely dictated by their technical function, which is to allow assembly with, and disassembly from, the rest of the bricks of the set.&nbsp;

The court's decision can be appealed to the EU Court of Justice, Europe's highest. The case is T-515/19 Lego A/S v EUIPO and Delta Sport Handelskontor GmbH.&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

Danish toymaker Lego on Wednesday won the backing of Europe's second-highest court in its fight to secure design rights for its colourful snap-together plastic building bricks familiar to millions of children worldwide.

Danish toymaker Lego on Wednesday won the backing of Europe's second-highest court in its fight to secure design rights for its colourful snap-together plastic building bricks familiar to millions of children worldwide. The Luxembourg-based General Court threw out a 2019 decision by the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) that sided with German toy and hardware maker Delta Sport Handelskontor, which had sought to declare Lego's design invalid. Lego challenged that ruling at the court, which on Wednesday disagreed with the trademark agency's assessment. "EUIPO erroneously declared invalid a design of a brick of a LEGO toy building set," judges said. "EUIPO failed to examine the relevance of the application of the exception relied on by Lego and failed to take into consideration all the features of appearance of the brick," they said. The trademark agency in its decision two years ago said the design of Lego bricks were solely dictated by their technical function, which is to allow assembly with, and disassembly from, the rest of the bricks of the set. The court's decision can be appealed to the EU Court of Justice, Europe's highest. The case is T-515/19 Lego A/S v EUIPO and Delta Sport Handelskontor GmbH. (With inputs from agencies)

EU court backs Lego in German design rights case 

A German court sentenced a former member of President Bashar al-Assad's security services to 4-1/2 years in prison on Wednesday for abetting the torture of civilians, the first such verdict for crimes against humanity in the 10-year-old Syrian civil war.&nbsp;

The higher regional court in the western city of Koblenz said Eyad A had arrested at least 30 anti-government protesters at the start of the conflict in 2011 and sent them to an intelligence facility where he knew detainees were tortured.&nbsp;

The verdict gives hope to the 800,000 Syrians in Germany, who say they were tortured in government facilities after attempts to establish an international tribunal for Syria failed.&nbsp;

"This is an important step forward in the process of securing accountability for the Syrian government's systematic use of torture against civilians," said Steve Kostas, a lawyer with the Open Society Foundation's Justice Initiative, which is representing Syrian plaintiffs.&nbsp;

The Assad government denies it tortures prisoners.&nbsp;

Eyad A's lawyers asked for an acquittal, saying he had carried out the arrests in and around Damascus under duress by his superiors. He asked the court to consider him a witness in broader legal efforts against the Syrian government.&nbsp;

Handcuffed and wearing a burgundy track suit, Eyad A, who arrived in Germany in 2018 and was granted asylum, covered his face with a paper document as policemen walked him to a glass cubicle to await the verdict.&nbsp;

He remained stoic and did not appear surprised as the verdict was read out, said two Syrian lawyers at the court.&nbsp;

The case against him was mainly based on evidence of his work for the intelligence service that he had given to German immigration authorities and police when he applied for asylum.&nbsp;

A German court sentenced a former member of President Bashar al-Assad's security services to 4-1/2 years in prison on Wednesday for abetting the torture of civilians, the first such verdict for crimes against humanity in the 10-year-old Syrian civil war.

A German court sentenced a former member of President Bashar al-Assad's security services to 4-1/2 years in prison on Wednesday for abetting the torture of civilians, the first such verdict for crimes against humanity in the 10-year-old Syrian civil war. The higher regional court in the western city of Koblenz said Eyad A had arrested at least 30 anti-government protesters at the start of the conflict in 2011 and sent them to an intelligence facility where he knew detainees were tortured. The verdict gives hope to the 800,000 Syrians in Germany, who say they were tortured in government facilities after attempts to establish an international tribunal for Syria failed. "This is an important step forward in the process of securing accountability for the Syrian government's systematic use of torture against civilians," said Steve Kostas, a lawyer with the Open Society Foundation's Justice Initiative, which is representing Syrian plaintiffs. The Assad government denies it tortures prisoners. Eyad A's lawyers asked for an acquittal, saying he had carried out the arrests in and around Damascus under duress by his superiors. He asked the court to consider him a witness in broader legal efforts against the Syrian government. Handcuffed and wearing a burgundy track suit, Eyad A, who arrived in Germany in 2018 and was granted asylum, covered his face with a paper document as policemen walked him to a glass cubicle to await the verdict. He remained stoic and did not appear surprised as the verdict was read out, said two Syrian lawyers at the court. The case against him was mainly based on evidence of his work for the intelligence service that he had given to German immigration authorities and police when he applied for asylum.

German court issues guilty verdict in first Syria torture trial

Months after a monster port blast, a German firm has treated 52 containers of hazardous material at Beirut port and will ship them out of Lebanon, the German ambassador said on Saturday.&nbsp;

On Twitter, Andreas Kindl said the heavy lift transport company Combi Lift 'has treated 52 containers of hazardous and dangerous chemical material that had been accumulated over decades and were a threat to the people in Beirut'.&nbsp;

They stand ready to be shipped to Germany, he added. &nbsp;&nbsp;

The August 4 explosion of a stockpile of ammonium nitrate fertiliser that had been left to languish haphazardly at the Beirut port for years killed more than 200 people, wounded at least 6,500 others and ravaged swaths of the capital.&nbsp;

Lebanon's worst peace-time disaster sparked concerns over remaining shipments of hazardous chemicals still stored at the blast site.&nbsp;

In November, Lebanon signed a contract with Combi Lift, which was already working at the port, to clear containers carrying hazardous chemicals.&nbsp;

The containers, which include corrosive acids, had been stored in an open-air cargo zone for over a decade under the supervision of Lebanon’s customs authority, officials said at the time.&nbsp;

If they catch fire 'Beirut will be wiped out', interim port chief Bassem al-Kaisi said in November.&nbsp;

Kindl on Saturday published pictures on Twitter showing fraying containers at the port and what appears to be chemicals leaking from some of them.&nbsp;

Lebanese authorities have said Combi Lift will ship the chemicals in special containers as part of a $3.6 million deal, with the port authority reportedly to pay $2 million of that.&nbsp;

Lebanon's army and port authority have said they do not have the expertise to handle such a process.&nbsp;

Lebanon has launched an investigation into the August blast amid public anger against a political class widely blamed for the tragedy.&nbsp;

At least 25 people have been arrested, including the port chief and the head of the customs authority, but no politician has been held to account.&nbsp;

Months after a monster port blast, a German firm has treated 52 containers of hazardous material at Beirut port and will ship them out of Lebanon, the German ambassador said on Saturday.

Months after a monster port blast, a German firm has treated 52 containers of hazardous material at Beirut port and will ship them out of Lebanon, the German ambassador said on Saturday. On Twitter, Andreas Kindl said the heavy lift transport company Combi Lift 'has treated 52 containers of hazardous and dangerous chemical material that had been accumulated over decades and were a threat to the people in Beirut'. They stand ready to be shipped to Germany, he added. The August 4 explosion of a stockpile of ammonium nitrate fertiliser that had been left to languish haphazardly at the Beirut port for years killed more than 200 people, wounded at least 6,500 others and ravaged swaths of the capital. Lebanon's worst peace-time disaster sparked concerns over remaining shipments of hazardous chemicals still stored at the blast site. In November, Lebanon signed a contract with Combi Lift, which was already working at the port, to clear containers carrying hazardous chemicals. The containers, which include corrosive acids, had been stored in an open-air cargo zone for over a decade under the supervision of Lebanon’s customs authority, officials said at the time. If they catch fire 'Beirut will be wiped out', interim port chief Bassem al-Kaisi said in November. Kindl on Saturday published pictures on Twitter showing fraying containers at the port and what appears to be chemicals leaking from some of them. Lebanese authorities have said Combi Lift will ship the chemicals in special containers as part of a $3.6 million deal, with the port authority reportedly to pay $2 million of that. Lebanon's army and port authority have said they do not have the expertise to handle such a process. Lebanon has launched an investigation into the August blast amid public anger against a political class widely blamed for the tragedy. At least 25 people have been arrested, including the port chief and the head of the customs authority, but no politician has been held to account.

German firm to clear Beirut port of 52 hazardous containers

Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel on Wednesday said that Mourinho's Spurs are not as big a threat when striker Harry Kane is absent. However, the German coach added that the Blues will be prepared with a plan for all contingencies in case the Englishman does play in Thursday's London derby.&nbsp;

ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/real-madrid-skipper-sergio-ramos-returns-to-full-training-361147" hreflang="en">Real Madrid skipper Sergio Ramos returns to full training</a>

"It's always easier when Harry Kane is not playing," Tuchel told reporters ahead of Thursday's trip.

"He's one of the best number nines in the world and when he's in shape, he is maybe the role model number nine that every coach wishes for - in terms of work rate and ability.

"His goalscoring is outstanding. We assume he will not play but we'll prepare for all cases."

Kane is sidelined after picking up two separate ankle injuries in a 3-1 defeat by Liverpool last week. The Englishman has 12 goals and 11 assists in the league this season.&nbsp;

According to Mourinho, Harry Kane could return to action was next week.

Chelsea forward Timo Werner has not scored in the league since November, for which Tuchel said that he is hopeful to to bring his fellow German's form back.&nbsp;

"It's our responsibility to create moments where he can bring out his best, which means attacking the space in behind to use his speed," Tuchel added.

"We create situations with the whole team to use his strengths. You can talk in training but nothing matters if they don't score in the game. He has good memories at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium... He is not looking for excuses."

Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel on Wednesday said that Mourinho's Spurs are not as big a threat when striker Harry Kane is absent. However, the German coach added that the Blues will be prepared with a plan for all contingencies in case the Englishman does play in Thursday's London derby.

Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel on Wednesday said that Mourinho's Spurs are not as big a threat when striker Harry Kane is absent. However, the German coach added that the Blues will be prepared with a plan for all contingencies in case the Englishman does play in Thursday's London derby. ALSO READ: Real Madrid skipper Sergio Ramos returns to full training "It's always easier when Harry Kane is not playing," Tuchel told reporters ahead of Thursday's trip. "He's one of the best number nines in the world and when he's in shape, he is maybe the role model number nine that every coach wishes for - in terms of work rate and ability. "His goalscoring is outstanding. We assume he will not play but we'll prepare for all cases." Kane is sidelined after picking up two separate ankle injuries in a 3-1 defeat by Liverpool last week. The Englishman has 12 goals and 11 assists in the league this season. According to Mourinho, Harry Kane could return to action was next week. Chelsea forward Timo Werner has not scored in the league since November, for which Tuchel said that he is hopeful to to bring his fellow German's form back. "It's our responsibility to create moments where he can bring out his best, which means attacking the space in behind to use his speed," Tuchel added. "We create situations with the whole team to use his strengths. You can talk in training but nothing matters if they don't score in the game. He has good memories at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium... He is not looking for excuses."

'It's always easier when Harry Kane is not playing': Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel on London derby

Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has laid down the law to Leroy Sane, telling the former Manchester City winger that he needs to start delivering for the European champions.

A string of disappointing performances by Sane since he joined in a 50-million-euro ($61 million) move in the summer was capped on Saturday when he was removed just half an hour after entering the field as a substitute in Bayern's 2-1 win against Bayer Leverkusen.

"We put everything possible in play" to acquire the German international, Rummenigge&nbsp;told Sport 1 TV, "and now he has to justify it".

"He hasn't yet really got into the DNA of Bayern. His task now has got to be to make his talent bear fruit," the former Bayern forward said.

Rummenigge added: "I think he has got a good future ahead of him. We're prepared to support any player but we have demands too. He must now take the next step."

Sane, 24, admitted he had been surprised to be yanked off before the final whistle, telling Bild newspaper: "That is not something that has happened to me before."

Veteran midfielder Thomas Mueller acknowledged that coach Hansi Flick's decision to remove Sane before the end of the game had been "a bitter pill to swallow" for the winger.

Flick is believed to be unimpressed by Sane's work rate and&nbsp;willingness to work for the team and with France forward Kingsley Coman in fine form since he scored the winning goal in the Champions League final, Sane has mainly been used as a substitute.

With the Bundesliga now entering its winter break, Sane will have to wait until January to make an impression.

Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has laid down the law to Leroy Sane, telling the former Manchester City winger that he needs to start delivering for the European champions.

Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has laid down the law to Leroy Sane, telling the former Manchester City winger that he needs to start delivering for the European champions. A string of disappointing performances by Sane since he joined in a 50-million-euro ($61 million) move in the summer was capped on Saturday when he was removed just half an hour after entering the field as a substitute in Bayern's 2-1 win against Bayer Leverkusen. "We put everything possible in play" to acquire the German international, Rummenigge told Sport 1 TV, "and now he has to justify it". "He hasn't yet really got into the DNA of Bayern. His task now has got to be to make his talent bear fruit," the former Bayern forward said. Rummenigge added: "I think he has got a good future ahead of him. We're prepared to support any player but we have demands too. He must now take the next step." Sane, 24, admitted he had been surprised to be yanked off before the final whistle, telling Bild newspaper: "That is not something that has happened to me before." Veteran midfielder Thomas Mueller acknowledged that coach Hansi Flick's decision to remove Sane before the end of the game had been "a bitter pill to swallow" for the winger. Flick is believed to be unimpressed by Sane's work rate and willingness to work for the team and with France forward Kingsley Coman in fine form since he scored the winning goal in the Champions League final, Sane has mainly been used as a substitute. With the Bundesliga now entering its winter break, Sane will have to wait until January to make an impression.

Sane warned by Rummenigge to shape up fast at Bayern

One of the top executives at a fashion retailer recently announced his impending resignation in order to prioritise the professional ambitions of his wife.

Rubin Ritter, the co-chief executive of Zalando said that he would resign before the company’s annual meeting in May next year “to devote time” to his “growing” family. "My wife and I have agreed that for the coming years, her professional ambitions should take priority," he said on Sunday.&nbsp;

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Also read:&nbsp;<a href="http://13.235.153.162/world/coronavirus-pushes-up-german-unemployment-short-time-work-302923" hreflang="en">Coronavirus pushes up German unemployment, short-time work</a>

Ritter, who headed the strategy and communications operations at Zalando had said that he was “eager to explore new interests”. His contract was set to expire in November 2023.

The gender pay gap in Germany is very high, remaining one of the highest in Europe. On average, woman earned 20 per cent less than men in 2019, based on stats revelled by Destatis. Many women in Germany work part time, and the COVID-19 pandemic has hit women more intensely than men.

It is unclear yet what Ritter’s wife is set to pursue. But one thing is clear: Women do this for their husbands all the time, but rarely any such stories get picked up.&nbsp;

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="http://13.235.153.162/world/us-watchdog-finds-flaws-in-key-unemployment-data-346604" hreflang="en">US watchdog finds flaws in key unemployment data</a>

Even in India, due to the lockdown and slowdown triggered by COVID-19, women have suffered more than men, according to a survey conducted by ActionAid Association. According to the survey, 79 per cent women were left unemployed.&nbsp;

According to McKinsey, global loss of jobs for women is 1.8 times greater than men. In the US, personal care and food service operations have been hit the hardest - which are predominantly run by women. Another McKinsey survey among women in North America revealed that many women were contemplating leaving work due to inflexibility during the pandemic, and stress.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;

One of the top executives at a fashion retailer recently announced his impending resignation in order to prioritise the professional ambitions of his wife. Rubin Ritter, the co-chief executive of Zalando said that he would resign before the company’s annual meeting in May next year “to devote time” to his “growing” family.

One of the top executives at a fashion retailer recently announced his impending resignation in order to prioritise the professional ambitions of his wife. Rubin Ritter, the co-chief executive of Zalando said that he would resign before the company’s annual meeting in May next year “to devote time” to his “growing” family. "My wife and I have agreed that for the coming years, her professional ambitions should take priority," he said on Sunday. Also read: Coronavirus pushes up German unemployment, short-time work Ritter, who headed the strategy and communications operations at Zalando had said that he was “eager to explore new interests”. His contract was set to expire in November 2023. The gender pay gap in Germany is very high, remaining one of the highest in Europe. On average, woman earned 20 per cent less than men in 2019, based on stats revelled by Destatis. Many women in Germany work part time, and the COVID-19 pandemic has hit women more intensely than men. It is unclear yet what Ritter’s wife is set to pursue. But one thing is clear: Women do this for their husbands all the time, but rarely any such stories get picked up. Also read: US watchdog finds flaws in key unemployment data Even in India, due to the lockdown and slowdown triggered by COVID-19, women have suffered more than men, according to a survey conducted by ActionAid Association. According to the survey, 79 per cent women were left unemployed. According to McKinsey, global loss of jobs for women is 1.8 times greater than men. In the US, personal care and food service operations have been hit the hardest - which are predominantly run by women. Another McKinsey survey among women in North America revealed that many women were contemplating leaving work due to inflexibility during the pandemic, and stress.

Top European fashion retailer co-chief quits to prioritise wife's work ambitions

Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel on Wednesday said that the government will be extending its virus restrictions till January 10 in order to contain the virus spread.

German Chancellor says, "Govt to extend its COVID -19 virus restriction" | DW-WION Partnership

German lawmakers on Wednesday called on the government to consider banning a Turkish ultra-nationalist group known as the Grey Wolves, shortly after France said it would outlaw the group.

MPs in the lower house accused the Grey Wolves, seen as a wing of a party allied to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, of harbouring a "nationalist and racist ideology".

The MPs backed a motion asking the government to "monitor closely the activities of the movement in Germany and to counter them resolutely by means of our rule of law".

There are around 11,000 Turkish right-wing extremists in Germany, the motion said.&nbsp;

Also read|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/france-sparks-turkish-fury-with-plans-to-ban-grey-wolves-nationalist-group-340017">France sparks Turkish fury with plans to ban ‘Grey Wolves’ nationalist group</a>

France announced in early November that it would ban the Grey Wolves after a memorial centre to mass killings of Armenians during World War I was defaced with graffiti including the name of the group.

The incident came against a background of sharp tension in France between its Armenian and Turkish communities over the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh.

In Turkey, the Grey Wolves are closely linked to the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), which has a political alliance with Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP).

The Grey Wolves are regarded as the militant wing of the MHP and caused havoc on the streets in Turkey during the 1970s and 1980s when its members frequently clashed with leftist activists.

German lawmakers on Wednesday called on the government to consider banning a Turkish ultra-nationalist group known as the Grey Wolves, shortly after France said it would outlaw the group.

German lawmakers on Wednesday called on the government to consider banning a Turkish ultra-nationalist group known as the Grey Wolves, shortly after France said it would outlaw the group. MPs in the lower house accused the Grey Wolves, seen as a wing of a party allied to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, of harbouring a "nationalist and racist ideology". The MPs backed a motion asking the government to "monitor closely the activities of the movement in Germany and to counter them resolutely by means of our rule of law". There are around 11,000 Turkish right-wing extremists in Germany, the motion said. Also read| France sparks Turkish fury with plans to ban ‘Grey Wolves’ nationalist group France announced in early November that it would ban the Grey Wolves after a memorial centre to mass killings of Armenians during World War I was defaced with graffiti including the name of the group. The incident came against a background of sharp tension in France between its Armenian and Turkish communities over the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. In Turkey, the Grey Wolves are closely linked to the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), which has a political alliance with Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP). The Grey Wolves are regarded as the militant wing of the MHP and caused havoc on the streets in Turkey during the 1970s and 1980s when its members frequently clashed with leftist activists.

German MPs urge review of Turkish ultra-nationalist Grey Wolves

Germany head coach Joachim Loew has told his stars to knuckle down and take control of their Nations League group, starting against Ukraine on Saturday, after three draws and just one win in their mediocre campaign so far.

The three-time European champions host Ukraine in Leipzig on Saturday, then face Spain in Seville on Tuesday.

Victories in both of their final two Nations League games would see Germany win the group.

"We must definitely use both games, and our matches in March, to find our game and establish ourselves," said Loew, with one eye on next June's Euro 2020 finals.

Germany squeezed past a determined Ukraine side with a 2-1 win in Kiev last month.

Both Germany and Ukraine are level on six points, one behind group leaders Spain, who face bottom side Switzerland in Basel on Saturday.

Loew is wary of a dogged Ukrainian side coached by former Chelsea striker Andriy Shevchenko, who have already beaten Spain and Switzerland in the group.

"We will have to overcome a lot of resistance and have extremely good solutions ready if we want to hold our own against Ukraine," Loew said on Friday.

Germany are unbeaten in their last 11 games, but the statistic masks defensive problems, exposed by last month's 3-3 draws against both Switzerland and in a friendly with Turkey.

In their Nations League games so far, Germany surrendered the lead three times to draw with Spain and twice against the Swiss.&nbsp;

Bayern Munich wingers Serge Gnarby and Leroy Sane are set to play either side of Chelsea striker Timo Werner.

Manuel Neuer captains the side and will equal Sepp Maier's Germany record of 95 appearances for a goalkeeper.

With Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos suspended, Leon Goretzka is set to partner Ilkay Gundogan in the defensive midfield.

Burly Bayern defender Niklas Suele is also set to play despite training on Tuesday for the first time since testing positive for the coronavirus ten days ago.

"He made a good impression in training and you can assume that he will play," Loew added.

Despite this season's congested fixture list due to the coronavirus pandemic, Loew says he sees the value of the Nations League and is demanding two final performances.

"The competition has a certain importance and if we beat Ukraine, we would be in a good position" before the final match against Spain, added Loew.&nbsp;

Germany head coach Joachim Loew has told his stars to knuckle down and take control of their Nations League group, starting against Ukraine on Saturday, after three draws and just one win in their mediocre campaign so far.

Germany head coach Joachim Loew has told his stars to knuckle down and take control of their Nations League group, starting against Ukraine on Saturday, after three draws and just one win in their mediocre campaign so far. The three-time European champions host Ukraine in Leipzig on Saturday, then face Spain in Seville on Tuesday. Victories in both of their final two Nations League games would see Germany win the group. "We must definitely use both games, and our matches in March, to find our game and establish ourselves," said Loew, with one eye on next June's Euro 2020 finals. Germany squeezed past a determined Ukraine side with a 2-1 win in Kiev last month. Both Germany and Ukraine are level on six points, one behind group leaders Spain, who face bottom side Switzerland in Basel on Saturday. Loew is wary of a dogged Ukrainian side coached by former Chelsea striker Andriy Shevchenko, who have already beaten Spain and Switzerland in the group. "We will have to overcome a lot of resistance and have extremely good solutions ready if we want to hold our own against Ukraine," Loew said on Friday. Germany are unbeaten in their last 11 games, but the statistic masks defensive problems, exposed by last month's 3-3 draws against both Switzerland and in a friendly with Turkey. In their Nations League games so far, Germany surrendered the lead three times to draw with Spain and twice against the Swiss. Bayern Munich wingers Serge Gnarby and Leroy Sane are set to play either side of Chelsea striker Timo Werner. Manuel Neuer captains the side and will equal Sepp Maier's Germany record of 95 appearances for a goalkeeper. With Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos suspended, Leon Goretzka is set to partner Ilkay Gundogan in the defensive midfield. Burly Bayern defender Niklas Suele is also set to play despite training on Tuesday for the first time since testing positive for the coronavirus ten days ago. "He made a good impression in training and you can assume that he will play," Loew added. Despite this season's congested fixture list due to the coronavirus pandemic, Loew says he sees the value of the Nations League and is demanding two final performances. "The competition has a certain importance and if we beat Ukraine, we would be in a good position" before the final match against Spain, added Loew.

Loew tells Germany stars to knuckle down to win Nations League group

BERLIN — In June, when Jelisa Delfeld joined a Telegram channel to help organize a silent demonstration against racism in Stuttgart, Germany, she was one of fewer than two dozen members. The next day, that number grew to 100, and the following, about 1,000 people had joined the channel where the protest was being planned.

“When the video of George Floyd being killed came out, it was also shocking in Germany,” said Delfeld, 24. “Even though it happened in the U.S., it’s a Black man, and we’re Black. If there’s pain in our community, you can feel that pain everywhere.”

Over five days of Zoom meetings, calls and texts, this group of young strangers, most of whom had little experience in activism, organized a demonstration that brought between 7,000 and 10,000 people into the streets of Stuttgart, a city of roughly 620,000, on June 6.

The same day, thousands more people across Germany protested against racism and in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States, with police estimates of crowds reaching as high as 15,000 in Berlin, 25,000 in Munich and 14,000 in Hamburg. The numbers reflected an international galvanizing of protesters after the death of George Floyd.

Despite the overwhelming public show of solidarity in June and July, many activists in Germany said that Germans seemed more eager to support Americans than to look inward.

In recent years, Germany has been criticized by the United Nations and the European Union for racial profiling and police violence. While the country is known for its “culture of remembrance” around the Holocaust, German textbooks and mainstream history narratives largely ignore its colonial history. Many Black people in Germany say that they do not feel a sense of belonging, and that their presence here has been rendered practically invisible.

“The assumption is that if you’re Black, you are not, nor will you ever be, German,” said Angelo Camufingo, 28, an organizer of the group Black Lives Matter Berlin.

Part of it, many Black Germans say, has to do with a culture of denial around racial discrimination. “There was solidarity with the protesters,” said Julia Wissert, 36, the artistic director of the Dortmund Theater in western Germany, who, with a lawyer, developed an anti-racism clause for theater contracts in 2018. “At the same time, there is the imagined idea of racism being an American problem because America always had issues with racism due to slavery.”

Wissert described racism in Germany as a mist. “You can’t really see it if you stand in it, but you experience it if you stand in it because it makes you hyper-visible and invisible at the same time,” she said.

&lt;strong&gt;‘We Are Here’&lt;/strong&gt;

Though Germany doesn’t maintain data on racial demographics because of the atrocities of the Nazi era, it does document where migrants arrive from. By that count, about 1 million of the country’s residents have roots in Africa, though the actual number is likely higher. Organizations that research Germany’s colonial history have traced the presence of people from the African continent as far back as the early 1700s.

“Black communities in Germany are so diverse,” said Siraad Wiedenroth, 33, who sits on the board of the Initiative for Black People in Germany, in a phone interview. “There are Black people here in the second, third and fourth generations. There are people who arrived 10 years ago via guest worker visas or to study, Black people here who sought refuge.”

Artists have worked to bring visibility to Germany’s nonwhite populations. Last year, working together with local youth, Wissert created a play in Bochum called “2069: The End of Others.” Experiences with racism came up repeatedly through stories her teenage collaborators told about their lives. “They know something is wrong, that they’re being treated differently,” she said.

Rhea Ramjohn, 36, one of the founders of Black Brown Berlin, a digital platform that connects Black and brown people, said: “The history of Black people in Europe and Germany is often a narrative that they were never here. We were never here. We just arrived here. We are all refugees.”

The platform showcases Black-owned businesses and produces anti-discrimination events. One of its projects is a series of portraits of Black and brown people along with their interpretation of the phrase “We Are Here.”

(BEGIN OPTIONAL TRIM.)

This summer, cultural institutions reached out to Black artists to commission work in response to the global unrest. Black Brown Berlin was approached in July by Haus der Kulturen der Welt, a prominent museum in the capital, to produce a piece for a digital series on racism during the pandemic.

The result was a short film that pairs a spoken-word poem with visuals of dancers performing spontaneous movement in the Grunewald forest in Berlin, where Audre Lorde would walk with mentees and friends, including activist May Ayim, during the years Lorde lived in Berlin. The poem includes references to the “mothers of the movement,” those whose Black children were killed by police, and “I can’t breathe,” a phrase that has taken on sharper significance during the coronavirus pandemic, which has disproportionately affected people of color.

Femi Oyewole, 31, one of Black Brown Berlin’s founders, said that many of Germany’s demonstrations suggested that racism was “an American issue. Like, ‘Germany’s fine, we don’t have this issue.’ But people here were tired. What about people here in Germany who suffered at the hands of the police?”

(END OPTIONAL TRIM.)

&lt;strong&gt;Policing, Profiling and Far-Right Violence&lt;/strong&gt;

“When I was growing up and thinking about being Black, it was so shaped by the U.S.,” said Ciani-Sophia Hoeder, 30, a founder of RosaMag, an online lifestyle magazine for Black women in Germany, Switzerland and Austria.

“Anti-Black racism was always something people thought the U.S. or U.K. or France have, but not Germany,” Hoeder said. “We don’t talk about police brutality.”

Some monitoring bodies have been trying to change that. In 2017, the United Nations’ Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent reported that while the German constitution guarantees equality and prohibits race-based discrimination, “it is not being enforced.” The report also said that the lives of people of African descent “are marked by racism, negative stereotypes and structural racism” as well as “racist violence and hate crimes.”

The report lists examples of racial discrimination and violence that were not properly investigated, including the death of Oury Jalloh, an asylum-seeker from Sierra Leone who burned to death while tied to a bed in police custody in Dessau in 2005.

(BEGIN OPTIONAL TRIM.)

Since 2005, a group of friends and family has uncovered various inconsistencies in the police version of events surrounding his death. For example, Jalloh did not have a lighter with him when he was admitted, but one was found later in the fire rubble bag. An independent examination of Jalloh noted that he had fractures all over his body. The mattress he was tied to was fire resistant.

In 2018, the state parliament in Saxony-Anhalt tasked two investigators with re-examining the details of Jalloh’s death. This summer, Der Spiegel reported on the resistance the investigators have run into.

(END OPTIONAL TRIM.)

The report from the U.N. also described racial profiling in Germany as “endemic.” A report from the European Commission Against Racism and Intolerance last year emphasized that in Germany, “though there is strong evidence for extensive racial profiling, numerous police services and representatives are unaware of or do not admit its existence.”

“We have no racism problem in the police here,” Thomas Blenke, the interior minister for the state of Baden-Württemberg said in a news release. Some politicians say that racial profiling does not exist in Germany because discrimination is banned by the constitution. But rules of police conduct allow police officers to stop and search people without suspicion in trains or train stations or in “criminal hot spots.”

According to Die Zeit, Horst Seehofer, the interior minister, canceled a planned study on racial profiling because there is “no need” for it. (A spokesperson for the minister said that he commissioned a study on “right-wing extremism in security authorities” that will be completed this month.)

Seehofer recently criticized a new law in Berlin that allows people who have been discriminated against by representatives of “the state,” such as police officers, teachers and judges, to seek damages and compensation, calling it “basically madness,” in an interview with German newspaper Der Tagesspiegel. He added that “there is no justification for questioning the integrity of our police officers in such a structural way.”

This summer, Seehofer, who is on a new government committee against right-wing extremism and racism, threatened to file a criminal complaint against Hengameh Yaghoobifarah, 28, a journalist who had written a satirical column that criticized the police after the peak of the Black Lives Matter protests in the United States and abroad. Two German police unions filed lawsuits against Yaghoobifarah.

After pushback from various sources, including a petition signed by more than 1,000 people, Seehofer backtracked. Yaghoobifarah found out last week that 150 lawsuits that had been filed because of the column were being dropped.

Yaghoobifarah and Fatma Aydemir, 33, the editors of a recent book of essays on racism, spoke about the reluctance in Germany to address the root of the violence against Black people.

“On all the talk shows in which Black Lives Matter was discussed, there was a hesitation to talk about the German police,” Aydemir said. “And whenever a person did that on a popular or mainstream platform, they always invited someone from the police or a politician very close to the police, or three of them even, to destroy this argument.”

Yaghoobifarah said: “They would, for example, say the police training in Germany is way longer than in the U.S., so people are more skilled here, or they would say the history of the prison industrial complex and anti-Black racism in the U.S. is different than in Germany. And of course, it is different, but it doesn’t mean that Germany is doing well.”

(STORY CAN END HERE. OPTIONAL MATERIAL FOLLOWS.)

The country has seen rising incidents of far-right violence; in 2019, more than half of politically motivated crimes in Germany were committed with right-wing motivation, according to the Federal Criminal Police Office.

“White German people can’t keep turning up only when someone dies in America,” said Diana Arce, 38, an organizer of Black Lives Matter Berlin. “They’re saying Black Lives Matter, but they still refuse to really fully investigate what happened to Oury Jalloh. There already is a history of violence here. There has always been a history of violence.”

&lt;strong&gt;Historical Revisionism&lt;/strong&gt;

In 1884, leaders of various European powers, including Germany, gathered in Berlin to carve the African continent into colonies. The German state of Brandenburg had held a slave-trading outpost in Ghana in the late 1600s and early 1700s.

While Germany maintained colonies in Africa, from 1884 to 1918, it committed what historians refer to as the first genocide of the 20th century against the Nama and Herero people of present-day Namibia.

German colonizers and troops created concentration camps, where they used forced labor, sexual violence and starvation to kill their prisoners in an early form of the horrific methods the National Socialists used during the Holocaust. During the Maji-Maji War, a large-scale rebellion against German colonial rule in present-day Tanzania, at least 100,000 resistance fighters were killed, historians estimate.

Since 2015, Namibia and Germany have been involved in negotiations over reparations. Germany has yet to formally apologize for its crimes. The country has returned some of the skulls of the victims of the genocide to Namibia, which were taken by scientists studying “racial purity,” but many still remain in museums and in hospitals. And for the most part, this history is glossed over in school.

“Young kids growing up in Germany don’t realize or remember that Germany had colonies, and there were, for example, predecessors to concentration camps prior to World War II in Namibia,” said Camufingo, of Black Lives Matter Berlin. “They don’t know about Germany’s participation in the slave trade. None of that is taught.”

Dekoloniale, a new organization that seeks to bring colonial history into the mainstream, will open its headquarters on Nov. 15, on top of the site where the 1884 Berlin conference took place. Anna Yeboah, 30, Dekoloniale’s project leader, and Christian Kopp, 52, a historian in charge of the group’s exhibitions, both recalled first learning about German colonialism in Africa on trips to the continent. “It wasn’t a known subject,” Kopp said. “It felt like a secret.”

“It’s weird that we as German people have to go to Ghana to learn about this,” Yeboah said, recalling a visit in her teenage years to a German fort in Ghana from which hundreds of thousands of enslaved people were transported across the Atlantic Ocean.

On a walking tour, Kopp pointed out a sign across the street from Dekoloniale’s office explaining how in 1919, a group of men from East and West Africa who lived in Germany submitted a document calling for “equal rights and independence.” Kopp said that one of the aims of Dekoloniale is to shed a light on the personal histories and resistance efforts of Black people in Germany over the centuries.

“Many people in Germany have not thought about anti-Black racism or could afford not to think about it,” Kopp said. “There has been a long history of oppression and repression here, and a struggle for equal rights.”

BERLIN — In June, when Jelisa Delfeld joined a Telegram channel to help organize a silent demonstration against racism in Stuttgart, Germany, she was one of fewer than two dozen members.

BERLIN — In June, when Jelisa Delfeld joined a Telegram channel to help organize a silent demonstration against racism in Stuttgart, Germany, she was one of fewer than two dozen members. The next day, that number grew to 100, and the following, about 1,000 people had joined the channel where the protest was being planned. “When the video of George Floyd being killed came out, it was also shocking in Germany,” said Delfeld, 24. “Even though it happened in the U.S., it’s a Black man, and we’re Black. If there’s pain in our community, you can feel that pain everywhere.” Over five days of Zoom meetings, calls and texts, this group of young strangers, most of whom had little experience in activism, organized a demonstration that brought between 7,000 and 10,000 people into the streets of Stuttgart, a city of roughly 620,000, on June 6. The same day, thousands more people across Germany protested against racism and in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States, with police estimates of crowds reaching as high as 15,000 in Berlin, 25,000 in Munich and 14,000 in Hamburg. The numbers reflected an international galvanizing of protesters after the death of George Floyd. Despite the overwhelming public show of solidarity in June and July, many activists in Germany said that Germans seemed more eager to support Americans than to look inward. In recent years, Germany has been criticized by the United Nations and the European Union for racial profiling and police violence. While the country is known for its “culture of remembrance” around the Holocaust, German textbooks and mainstream history narratives largely ignore its colonial history. Many Black people in Germany say that they do not feel a sense of belonging, and that their presence here has been rendered practically invisible. “The assumption is that if you’re Black, you are not, nor will you ever be, German,” said Angelo Camufingo, 28, an organizer of the group Black Lives Matter Berlin. Part of it, many Black Germans say, has to do with a culture of denial around racial discrimination. “There was solidarity with the protesters,” said Julia Wissert, 36, the artistic director of the Dortmund Theater in western Germany, who, with a lawyer, developed an anti-racism clause for theater contracts in 2018. “At the same time, there is the imagined idea of racism being an American problem because America always had issues with racism due to slavery.” Wissert described racism in Germany as a mist. “You can’t really see it if you stand in it, but you experience it if you stand in it because it makes you hyper-visible and invisible at the same time,” she said. ‘We Are Here’ Though Germany doesn’t maintain data on racial demographics because of the atrocities of the Nazi era, it does document where migrants arrive from. By that count, about 1 million of the country’s residents have roots in Africa, though the actual number is likely higher. Organizations that research Germany’s colonial history have traced the presence of people from the African continent as far back as the early 1700s. “Black communities in Germany are so diverse,” said Siraad Wiedenroth, 33, who sits on the board of the Initiative for Black People in Germany, in a phone interview. “There are Black people here in the second, third and fourth generations. There are people who arrived 10 years ago via guest worker visas or to study, Black people here who sought refuge.” Artists have worked to bring visibility to Germany’s nonwhite populations. Last year, working together with local youth, Wissert created a play in Bochum called “2069: The End of Others.” Experiences with racism came up repeatedly through stories her teenage collaborators told about their lives. “They know something is wrong, that they’re being treated differently,” she said. Rhea Ramjohn, 36, one of the founders of Black Brown Berlin, a digital platform that connects Black and brown people, said: “The history of Black people in Europe and Germany is often a narrative that they were never here. We were never here. We just arrived here. We are all refugees.” The platform showcases Black-owned businesses and produces anti-discrimination events. One of its projects is a series of portraits of Black and brown people along with their interpretation of the phrase “We Are Here.” (BEGIN OPTIONAL TRIM.) This summer, cultural institutions reached out to Black artists to commission work in response to the global unrest. Black Brown Berlin was approached in July by Haus der Kulturen der Welt, a prominent museum in the capital, to produce a piece for a digital series on racism during the pandemic. The result was a short film that pairs a spoken-word poem with visuals of dancers performing spontaneous movement in the Grunewald forest in Berlin, where Audre Lorde would walk with mentees and friends, including activist May Ayim, during the years Lorde lived in Berlin. The poem includes references to the “mothers of the movement,” those whose Black children were killed by police, and “I can’t breathe,” a phrase that has taken on sharper significance during the coronavirus pandemic, which has disproportionately affected people of color. Femi Oyewole, 31, one of Black Brown Berlin’s founders, said that many of Germany’s demonstrations suggested that racism was “an American issue. Like, ‘Germany’s fine, we don’t have this issue.’ But people here were tired. What about people here in Germany who suffered at the hands of the police?” (END OPTIONAL TRIM.) Policing, Profiling and Far-Right Violence “When I was growing up and thinking about being Black, it was so shaped by the U.S.,” said Ciani-Sophia Hoeder, 30, a founder of RosaMag, an online lifestyle magazine for Black women in Germany, Switzerland and Austria. “Anti-Black racism was always something people thought the U.S. or U.K. or France have, but not Germany,” Hoeder said. “We don’t talk about police brutality.” Some monitoring bodies have been trying to change that. In 2017, the United Nations’ Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent reported that while the German constitution guarantees equality and prohibits race-based discrimination, “it is not being enforced.” The report also said that the lives of people of African descent “are marked by racism, negative stereotypes and structural racism” as well as “racist violence and hate crimes.” The report lists examples of racial discrimination and violence that were not properly investigated, including the death of Oury Jalloh, an asylum-seeker from Sierra Leone who burned to death while tied to a bed in police custody in Dessau in 2005. (BEGIN OPTIONAL TRIM.) Since 2005, a group of friends and family has uncovered various inconsistencies in the police version of events surrounding his death. For example, Jalloh did not have a lighter with him when he was admitted, but one was found later in the fire rubble bag. An independent examination of Jalloh noted that he had fractures all over his body. The mattress he was tied to was fire resistant. In 2018, the state parliament in Saxony-Anhalt tasked two investigators with re-examining the details of Jalloh’s death. This summer, Der Spiegel reported on the resistance the investigators have run into. (END OPTIONAL TRIM.) The report from the U.N. also described racial profiling in Germany as “endemic.” A report from the European Commission Against Racism and Intolerance last year emphasized that in Germany, “though there is strong evidence for extensive racial profiling, numerous police services and representatives are unaware of or do not admit its existence.” “We have no racism problem in the police here,” Thomas Blenke, the interior minister for the state of Baden-Württemberg said in a news release. Some politicians say that racial profiling does not exist in Germany because discrimination is banned by the constitution. But rules of police conduct allow police officers to stop and search people without suspicion in trains or train stations or in “criminal hot spots.” According to Die Zeit, Horst Seehofer, the interior minister, canceled a planned study on racial profiling because there is “no need” for it. (A spokesperson for the minister said that he commissioned a study on “right-wing extremism in security authorities” that will be completed this month.) Seehofer recently criticized a new law in Berlin that allows people who have been discriminated against by representatives of “the state,” such as police officers, teachers and judges, to seek damages and compensation, calling it “basically madness,” in an interview with German newspaper Der Tagesspiegel. He added that “there is no justification for questioning the integrity of our police officers in such a structural way.” This summer, Seehofer, who is on a new government committee against right-wing extremism and racism, threatened to file a criminal complaint against Hengameh Yaghoobifarah, 28, a journalist who had written a satirical column that criticized the police after the peak of the Black Lives Matter protests in the United States and abroad. Two German police unions filed lawsuits against Yaghoobifarah. After pushback from various sources, including a petition signed by more than 1,000 people, Seehofer backtracked. Yaghoobifarah found out last week that 150 lawsuits that had been filed because of the column were being dropped. Yaghoobifarah and Fatma Aydemir, 33, the editors of a recent book of essays on racism, spoke about the reluctance in Germany to address the root of the violence against Black people. “On all the talk shows in which Black Lives Matter was discussed, there was a hesitation to talk about the German police,” Aydemir said. “And whenever a person did that on a popular or mainstream platform, they always invited someone from the police or a politician very close to the police, or three of them even, to destroy this argument.” Yaghoobifarah said: “They would, for example, say the police training in Germany is way longer than in the U.S., so people are more skilled here, or they would say the history of the prison industrial complex and anti-Black racism in the U.S. is different than in Germany. And of course, it is different, but it doesn’t mean that Germany is doing well.” (STORY CAN END HERE. OPTIONAL MATERIAL FOLLOWS.) The country has seen rising incidents of far-right violence; in 2019, more than half of politically motivated crimes in Germany were committed with right-wing motivation, according to the Federal Criminal Police Office. “White German people can’t keep turning up only when someone dies in America,” said Diana Arce, 38, an organizer of Black Lives Matter Berlin. “They’re saying Black Lives Matter, but they still refuse to really fully investigate what happened to Oury Jalloh. There already is a history of violence here. There has always been a history of violence.” Historical Revisionism In 1884, leaders of various European powers, including Germany, gathered in Berlin to carve the African continent into colonies. The German state of Brandenburg had held a slave-trading outpost in Ghana in the late 1600s and early 1700s. While Germany maintained colonies in Africa, from 1884 to 1918, it committed what historians refer to as the first genocide of the 20th century against the Nama and Herero people of present-day Namibia. German colonizers and troops created concentration camps, where they used forced labor, sexual violence and starvation to kill their prisoners in an early form of the horrific methods the National Socialists used during the Holocaust. During the Maji-Maji War, a large-scale rebellion against German colonial rule in present-day Tanzania, at least 100,000 resistance fighters were killed, historians estimate. Since 2015, Namibia and Germany have been involved in negotiations over reparations. Germany has yet to formally apologize for its crimes. The country has returned some of the skulls of the victims of the genocide to Namibia, which were taken by scientists studying “racial purity,” but many still remain in museums and in hospitals. And for the most part, this history is glossed over in school. “Young kids growing up in Germany don’t realize or remember that Germany had colonies, and there were, for example, predecessors to concentration camps prior to World War II in Namibia,” said Camufingo, of Black Lives Matter Berlin. “They don’t know about Germany’s participation in the slave trade. None of that is taught.” Dekoloniale, a new organization that seeks to bring colonial history into the mainstream, will open its headquarters on Nov. 15, on top of the site where the 1884 Berlin conference took place. Anna Yeboah, 30, Dekoloniale’s project leader, and Christian Kopp, 52, a historian in charge of the group’s exhibitions, both recalled first learning about German colonialism in Africa on trips to the continent. “It wasn’t a known subject,” Kopp said. “It felt like a secret.” “It’s weird that we as German people have to go to Ghana to learn about this,” Yeboah said, recalling a visit in her teenage years to a German fort in Ghana from which hundreds of thousands of enslaved people were transported across the Atlantic Ocean. On a walking tour, Kopp pointed out a sign across the street from Dekoloniale’s office explaining how in 1919, a group of men from East and West Africa who lived in Germany submitted a document calling for “equal rights and independence.” Kopp said that one of the aims of Dekoloniale is to shed a light on the personal histories and resistance efforts of Black people in Germany over the centuries. “Many people in Germany have not thought about anti-Black racism or could afford not to think about it,” Kopp said. “There has been a long history of oppression and repression here, and a struggle for equal rights.”

Black Germans say it’s time to look inward

The German city of Munich will limit its sale of alcohol and ban late-night public consumption if the cases of coronavirus reach a certain threshold, authorities announced Tuesday.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/second-wave-of-covid-19-re-infections-in-belgium-and-the-netherlands-make-experts-wary-322996" hreflang="en">Second wave of Covid-19? Re-infections in Belgium and the Netherlands make experts wary</a>

According to authorities, if the number of confirmed infections per 100,000 residents rise above 35 over seven days, alcohol sales would be prohibited after 9:00 p.m. and its consumption in public would be prohibited after 11:00 p.m.

Munich on Monday had reported 30.92 new coronavirus cases per 100,000 people over the last week.&nbsp;

The city, that annually hosts Oktoberfest beer festival, had to call off the event due to coronavirus pandemic.&nbsp;

"The decision was difficult for us all," said Munich Mayor Dieter Reiter, a Social Democrat. "But in times of a pandemic, it is first and foremost a matter of protecting the population and avoiding, as far as possible, even more burdensome measures."

Germany has legalised drinking in public spaces. This culture is common across the country during the warmer weather.&nbsp;

Over the weekend, several neighbourhoods in the northern city of Hamburg issued bans on alcohol sales, and the Bavarian city of Bamberg has implemented similar measures.

The German city of Munich will limit its sale of alcohol and ban late-night public consumption if the cases of coronavirus reach a certain threshold, authorities announced Tuesday.

The German city of Munich will limit its sale of alcohol and ban late-night public consumption if the cases of coronavirus reach a certain threshold, authorities announced Tuesday. Also read: Second wave of Covid-19? Re-infections in Belgium and the Netherlands make experts wary According to authorities, if the number of confirmed infections per 100,000 residents rise above 35 over seven days, alcohol sales would be prohibited after 9:00 p.m. and its consumption in public would be prohibited after 11:00 p.m. Munich on Monday had reported 30.92 new coronavirus cases per 100,000 people over the last week. The city, that annually hosts Oktoberfest beer festival, had to call off the event due to coronavirus pandemic. "The decision was difficult for us all," said Munich Mayor Dieter Reiter, a Social Democrat. "But in times of a pandemic, it is first and foremost a matter of protecting the population and avoiding, as far as possible, even more burdensome measures." Germany has legalised drinking in public spaces. This culture is common across the country during the warmer weather. Over the weekend, several neighbourhoods in the northern city of Hamburg issued bans on alcohol sales, and the Bavarian city of Bamberg has implemented similar measures.

German city Munich could limit sale of alcohol if coronavirus cases rise

German prosecutors said on Monday they were investigating a retired police officer suspected of sending threatening emails, signed with the name of a gang of neo-Nazi killers, to prominent figures of immigrant background.

Concern is growing in Germany that potentially violent anti-immigrant nationalists may be gaining footholds in the uniformed services - a matter of huge sensitivity in a country still acutely aware of the World War Two genocide of millions of Jews and others by Hitler`s Nazis.

The man and his wife were detained on Friday but then released while police searched seized computer storage devices.

The emails, including some sent to legislators of Turkish background, were signed "NSU 2.0", a reference to the "National Socialist Underground" neo-Nazi gang, which murdered 10 people, mainly immigrants, between 2000 and 2007.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/juvenile-in-1944-ex-nazi-camp-guard-93-gets-suspended-sentence-315410">Also read:&nbsp;Juvenile in 1944, ex-Nazi camp guard, 93, gets suspended sentence</a>

"The suspects, a former Bavarian police officer, 63, and his wife, 55, had previously come to the attention of police in connection with racially motivated crimes," prosecutors in the city of Frankfurt said. "They are suspected of having sent emails with offensive, inflammatory and threatening contents to legislators and others."

Last week, the interior minister of the state of Hesse said he was aware of 69 such emails. One of the recipients was Aiman Mazyek, chair of the Central Council of Muslims, who published the text on Twitter: "Heil Hitler. Yours, NSU 2.0".

There have been reports that some emails contained restricted information about public figures, implying that the perpetrators may have had access to police databases.

Last month, the government announced it was disbanding a company of an elite commando unit in a effort to purge it of persistent far-right extremism.

German prosecutors said on Monday they were investigating a retired police officer suspected of sending threatening emails, signed with the name of a gang of neo-Nazi killers, to prominent figures of immigrant background.

German prosecutors said on Monday they were investigating a retired police officer suspected of sending threatening emails, signed with the name of a gang of neo-Nazi killers, to prominent figures of immigrant background. Concern is growing in Germany that potentially violent anti-immigrant nationalists may be gaining footholds in the uniformed services - a matter of huge sensitivity in a country still acutely aware of the World War Two genocide of millions of Jews and others by Hitler`s Nazis. The man and his wife were detained on Friday but then released while police searched seized computer storage devices. The emails, including some sent to legislators of Turkish background, were signed "NSU 2.0", a reference to the "National Socialist Underground" neo-Nazi gang, which murdered 10 people, mainly immigrants, between 2000 and 2007. Also read: Juvenile in 1944, ex-Nazi camp guard, 93, gets suspended sentence "The suspects, a former Bavarian police officer, 63, and his wife, 55, had previously come to the attention of police in connection with racially motivated crimes," prosecutors in the city of Frankfurt said. "They are suspected of having sent emails with offensive, inflammatory and threatening contents to legislators and others." Last week, the interior minister of the state of Hesse said he was aware of 69 such emails. One of the recipients was Aiman Mazyek, chair of the Central Council of Muslims, who published the text on Twitter: "Heil Hitler. Yours, NSU 2.0". There have been reports that some emails contained restricted information about public figures, implying that the perpetrators may have had access to police databases. Last month, the government announced it was disbanding a company of an elite commando unit in a effort to purge it of persistent far-right extremism.

Retired German policeman investigated over far-right threats

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