Category Archives: Germany

Alexei Navalny novichok finding prompts calls for answers from Moscow

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Angela Merkel says poisoning was attempted murder and White House calls it ‘reprehensible’

World leaders are demanding answers from the Kremlin after toxicological examinations indicated that the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was poisoned with a nerve agent from the novichok family.

The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, revealed that tests carried out at a military laboratory had “identified unequivocally” the Soviet era nerve agent. She referred to the case as an “attempted murder” and said the findings raised “very difficult questions that only the Russian government can answer, and has to answer.”

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Using novichok against Navalny is a Russian message of menace

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World leaders can be in little doubt: the evidence leads directly to Moscow and Putin

The debate over what precisely happened to Alexei Navalny has raged for almost two weeks. Some facts are agreed. The Russian opposition leader drank a cup of tea at Tomsk airport and then collapsed on a flight back to Moscow. After cursory treatment in a Russian hospital, he was flown to Berlin. Since then German doctors have been treating him in the Charité hospital, where he remains in a medically induced coma.

Far murkier is the question of who poisoned Navalny and why. On Wednesday the German government provided a pretty big clue when it revealed Navalny was poisoned with novichok. This is the substance used in 2018 against Sergei and Yulia Skripal. It was smeared on the front door of Skripal’s Salisbury home. Novichok also killed Dawn Sturgess, a Wiltshire woman who unknowingly sprayed it on her wrists.

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Angela Merkel: ‘unequivocal proof’ Alexei Navalny was poisoned with novichok – video

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The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, said in a personal statement that testing by a special military laboratory had shown proof that the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was poisoned with a novichok nerve agent. 'It is now clear: Alexei Navalny is the victim of a crime,' Merkel said. 'He was meant to be silenced. This raises very difficult questions that only the Russian government can answer, and has to answer'

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European tour tests Chinese foreign minister’s pulling power

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The reassessment of China highlighted by Wang Yi’s trip has political, economic and security implications

The Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi did not exactly end his week-long European tour with his tail between his legs but he may have been chastened if he ever believed Beijing could simply win over Europe by pointing to the extremist cold war rhetoric of Europe’s natural ally America.

The five-nation tour surely marked the end of an era where China can any longer get away with simple homilies on win-win solutions, multilateralism and non-interference in another’s internal affairs. Pointing to Donald Trump is also no longer enough to win European friends.

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Global report: schools across Europe reopen as Covid cases grow

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Parents and teachers fear face masks and other measures not enough to prevent second wave

Tens of millions of pupils, most wearing face masks, have headed back to class in France, Belgium, Poland and Russia, as schools across Europe cautiously reopened amid spiralling numbers of new coronavirus cases in several countries.

Parents and teachers around the continent have expressed fears that strict physical distancing and hygiene measures such as hand cleansing stations will not be able to prevent a second Covid-19 wave, maybe coinciding with the autumn flu season.

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German minister spat at and verbally abused at Covid protest

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Jens Spahn subjected to shouts of ‘shame’ and ‘gay pig’ as he confronts crowd

Germany’s health minister was jeered, spat at and targeted by homophobic abuse as the countrywide protests of a vocal minority of people against coronavirus restrictions has taken on an increasingly aggressive tone.

The Conservative politician Jens Spahn, a key figure in Germany’s handling of the pandemic, on Saturday tried to confront a crowd of protesters outside an event ahead of local elections in North-Rhine Westphalia.

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Berlin minister ‘deeply regretful’ over far-right Reichstag standoff

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Andreas Geisel condemns ‘shameful’ scenes at rally against Covid restrictions

Berlin’s interior minister has expressed regret over a standoff outside the Reichstag building on Saturday during a rally against coronavirus restrictions.

Speaking to a committee of the city state’s interior ministry on Monday, Andreas Geisel said he was “deeply regretful” about the images from the protest, which were seen around the world.

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German coronavirus protesters attempt to storm Reichstag – video

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Demonstrators against Covid-19 restrictions in Germany have been denounced by politicians after an attempt to storm the country’s parliament building. Some of the protestors carried the former imperial flag, which was used up until the end of the first world war, during the rally on Saturday.

Police said about 38,000 people, double the number expected, had gathered in Berlin to protest against restrictions to curb the spread of coronavirus, such as the wearing of masks and social distancing. About 300 were arrested after scuffles with police in front of the building.

‘Flags from the Reich and far-right profanity in front of the German parliament are an unacceptable attack on the heart of our democracy,’ the German president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, said. ‘We will never accept this’

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Hundreds of people evacuated from Banksy-funded rescue ship after overcrowding – video

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German charity Sea-Watch and the Italian coastguard sent vessels to a rescue boat funded by the British street artist after it issued urgent calls for assistance, saying it was stranded in the Mediterranean and overloaded with people.

Hundreds of people on board the MV Louise Michel were transferred to safety on to the Sea-Watch 4, while an Italian coastguard patrol boat took 49 of those considered most vulnerable on board, transferring them to the southern Italian island of Lampedusa

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German leaders hit out at protesters’ attempt to storm Reichstag

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President condemns ‘attack on heart of our democracy’ during protest against Covid restrictions

German leaders have condemned the “unacceptable” attempt by protesters to storm the Reichstag building during a mass rally against coronavirus restrictions.

Some of the protesters on Saturday carried the former imperial flag, which was used up until the end of the first world war.

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Coronavirus live news: Queensland steps up alert; protesters try to storm Reichstag

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Demonstrations in Germany and UK against coronavirus restrictions; Australian opposition calls for wider care home inquiry; Turkey sees two-month high in cases. Follow all the developments live

AFP is reporting from Rome:

Three Nigerian migrants attacked staff in a military hospital in Rome after testing positive for Covid-19, the defence ministry said Saturday.

And in Victoria, Australia’s worst-affected state.

#COVID19VicData for 30 August, 2020. There were 114 new cases detected in Victoria yesterday. Sadly we report 11 lives lost - condolences to all affected. More information will be available later today via our media release. pic.twitter.com/4voh37S3oM

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Coronavirus live news: India reports record rise in infections; global cases pass 25m

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India records world’s highest single day rise; Latest Johns Hopkins figures show 842,702 people have died; Jacinda Ardern thanks Aucklanders

The coronavirus pandemic has shut down art exhibitions around the globe, but organisers of the RIBOCA2 biennial in Latvia have pushed ahead, reimagining the event to reflect challenging times.

To ensure social distancing, installations by nearly 70 international artists are showcased at the sprawling 20-hectare (50-acre) Soviet-era Andrejsala industrial port in Riga, long abandoned and given up to nature.

Hello, I’m taking over from Amy for the next few hours, as ever please don’t hesitate to share relevant tips and pointers with us, you can get me on Twitter @JedySays or via email.

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‘Anti-corona’ extremists try to storm German parliament

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Police prevent hundreds from entering Reichstag and disband march protesting against Covid protection measures

Far-right extremists tried to storm the German parliament building on Saturday following a protest against the country’s pandemic restrictions, but were intercepted by police and forcibly removed.

The incident occurred after a daylong demonstration by tens of thousands of people opposed to the wearing of masks and other government measures intended to stop the spread of the new coronavirus. Police ordered the protesters to disband halfway through their march around Berlin after participants refused to observe physical distancing rules, but a rally near the capital’s iconic Brandenburg Gate took place as planned.

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Reopening schools: how different countries are tackling Covid dilemma

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As schools in England prepare to reopen, we examine the situation around the world

As schools in England and Wales get set to reopen amid continued controversy over safe conditions, attention has focused on potential evidence of coronavirus transmission in the classroom and on the experiences of other countries.

Research on the ability of children of different ages to catch and transmit the virus is contradictory, and differences in education systems and social conventions make comparisons difficult.

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Tests indicate Alexei Navalny was poisoned, says German clinic

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Kremlin critic being treated with same antidote used after 2018 nerve agent attack in Salisbury

Tests indicate that Alexei Navalny was the victim of a poisoning and he is being treated with atropine, the same antidote used after the 2018 nerve agent attack in Salisbury, the German clinic where the Kremlin critic is a patient said on Monday.

While Berlin’s Charité hospital did not identify the specific poison responsible for Navalny’s sudden illness on an internal Russian flight last Thursday, the substance was part of a group that affects the central nervous system, and includes nerve agents and pesticides, as well as some drugs.

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Berlin reports rise in fatalities as new bike lanes fail to keep cyclists safe

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Campaigners demand more rules for lorries after initial hope pandemic would mean less traffic

A coronavirus-related drop in traffic and new protected bike lanes have failed to make Berlin’s roads safer for cyclists, as the German capital reports a four-year record in fatalities.

A woman run over by a right-turning articulated lorry in the district of Reinickendorf on Friday became Berlin’s 14th official cycling fatality of 2020 – more than twice as many as the six recorded in 2019.

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Holocaust denial graffitied at site of Nazi massacre in France

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Justice minister vows to ‘find and judge’ vandals who defaced Oradour-sur-Glane

Vandals have scrawled graffiti denying the Holocaust on a wall in the village that was the site of the Nazis’ biggest massacre of civilians in France during the second world war.

The justice minister vowed on Saturday to bring those responsible to justice.

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Global report: WHO says world could rein in pandemic in less than two years

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South Korea records most cases since early March; South Africa infections pass 600,000; Brazil on ‘downward trend’

The world should be able to rein in the coronavirus pandemic in less than two years, the World Health Organization has said, as South Korea reported the most daily infections since early March and expanded social distancing measures across the country.

The WHO’s chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, struck a partly optimistic note when he drew comparisons between the Covid-19 pandemic and the with the 1918 flu pandemic, saying technology could help end the spread.

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Alexei Navalny arrives in Germany for treatment for suspected poisoning

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Russian opposition leader flown to Berlin after doctors allow discharge from Siberian hospital

Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny has been evacuated to a hospital in Berlin to be treated for suspected poisoning, after his wife and supporters begged Vladimir Putin to let him leave a Siberian hospital.

Doctors in the city of Omsk had initially refused to allow him to leave their care, but he was finally allowed to fly out on an air ambulance sent by a German charity in the early hours of Saturday morning.

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Coronavirus in Europe: dozens of schools report infections in Berlin

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Cases on rise across Europe with Spain alone registering nearly 70,000 in past fortnight

Coronavirus cases have been reported by at least 41 schools in Berlin, barely two weeks after the German capital’s 825 schools reopened.

Cases are rising across Europe, including in Spain, which registered 66,905 in the past two weeks, resulting in the continent’s highest 14-day infection rate and warnings over the risk of a new wave of deaths.

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