Joshua Wong called for Germany to stop the export of riot control weapons and equipment to Hong Kong police, as he embarked on a global tour to promote his pro-democracy message. He said Hong Kong police were using water cannon manufactured in Germany to suppress protests. Wong urged Germany to suspend trade negotiations with China until Beijing puts on the agenda human rights laws ‘that respect European standards’
Continue reading...Category Archives: Germany
Hong Kong activist’s visit to Berlin draws anger from China
Beijing criticises German foreign minister over meeting with Joshua Wong
The Chinese government has expressed its anger with Germany’s foreign minister over his meeting with the Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong, saying the encounter was “disrespectful” of Beijing’s sovereignty.
Wong tweeted a picture of himself and Heiko Maas following his arrival in Berlin, saying the two had discussed the “protest situation and our cause”.
Continue reading...German recession fears rise as industrial output tumbles – business live
Rolling coverage of business, economics and markets as factories in Europe’s largest economy stutter
- German industrial production fell 0.6% in July, below expectations of a rise of 0.4%
- Sterling retreats slightly from no-deal avoidance
- US non-farm payrolls in focus later amid Fed conundrum
Eurozone growth came in unchanged on its third estimate: 0.2% growth in the second quarter of the year.
A minor beat on the headline year-on-year growth rate, remaining at 1.2% against 1.1% expectations, but otherwise no shocks.
Labour has confirmed that it will not vote for an election on Monday even if a bill intended to stop a no-deal Brexit passes before then.
If we vote to have a general election, then no matter what it is that Boris Johnson promises, it is up to him to advise the Queen when the general election should be. And given that he has shown himself to be a manifest liar, and someone who has said that he will die in a ditch rather than stop no deal, and indeed his adviser, [Dominic] Cummings, has been swearing and shouting at MPs saying they are leaving on 31 [October] no matter what, our first priority has to be that we must stop no deal and we must make sure that that is going to happen.
Related: Brexit: Labour confirms it will not vote on Monday for early election - live news
Continue reading...German tourist sued for complaints about hotel’s Nazi portraits
Visitor posted on Booking.com and Tripadvisor about disgust at pictures in Austria
A German man is being sued by the owners of a four-star hotel in Austria after posting online reviews in which he criticised them for decorating their lobby with a portrait of a “Nazi grandpa” in a uniform adorned with a swastika.
The man, named in court documents as Thomas K, and his wife visited the hotel in the village of Gerlos in the Tyrolean Alps last August. After check-in, they noticed two framed pictures on a wall near the hotel’s entrance, hung above a flower arrangement. One showed a young man wearing a uniform with an eagle and swastika badge, the other an older man.
Continue reading...Hong and Kong? Berlin’s panda cubs at centre of Chinese human rights row
Competition to name Meng Meng’s twins intensifies pressure on German government
They may have captured the public’s imagination, but the tiny, pink panda cubs born at Berlin zoo a few days ago have also spurred a national debate about whether panda diplomacy is blinding Germany to the Chinese government’s human rights record.
As visitors and journalists queue around the block to catch a glimpse of Meng Meng’s cubs, a competition to name them has increased pressure on the government of Angela Merkel, who kicked off a trip to Beijing with a large economic delegation on Thursday.
Continue reading...British bankers on trial in Germany charged with €447m fraud
UK pair accused of defrauding German state through ‘cum-ex’ share trading scheme
Two British investment bankers have gone on trial in Bonn in what German media have called “the biggest financial fraud trial” in the country’s postwar history.
The two British citizens, Martin Shields, 41, and Nicholas Diable, 38, are accused of having defrauded the German state of €447.5m (£405m) from London’s banking district with so-called cum-ex trading schemes, a complex shell game of share transactions.
Continue reading...German Millionaire quizshow fan wins €1m – after 15 years trying
Jan Stroh built replica studio in his cellar, complete with palm trees and sound effects
A German lawyer who spent 15 years re-enacting episodes of the TV quizshow Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? in his cellar, said his hobby had paid off as he walked away with the top prize this week.
Jan Stroh, 35, even crudely reconstructed the studio of the German version of the programme in the basement of his Hamburg home, complete with palm trees and exotic seascape backdrop, victory glitter and sound effects.
Continue reading...Judo star left fearing for safety after defying orders from Iran
Saeid Mollaei was told to pull out of world championships to avoid possible fight with Israeli
An Iranian judo athlete could seek asylum in Germany after he ignored orders from his national federation to pull out of the world championships to avoid a potential final against an Israeli.
The International Judo Federation (IJF) said that Saeid Mollaei, the defending champion, was pressurised by Iranian authorities to drop out before his quarter-final at the world judo championships in Tokyo last week to avoid the prospect of fighting Israel’s Sagi Muki in the final.
Continue reading...Berlin zoo celebrates rare birth of panda twins
Meng Meng delivered two cubs, which must eventually be returned to China
Berlin zoo has said its resident panda Meng Meng has delivered twins, the first time one of the endangered animals has given birth in the country.
“Meng Meng became a mom – twice! We are so happy, we are speechless,” the zoo tweeted on Monday, posting a video of Meng Meng guiding one of her pink cubs to feed.
Continue reading...Far-right AfD makes big gains but fails to topple mainstream parties
Exit polls put party second in German state elections in Saxony and Brandenburg
The anti-immigration Alternative für Deutschland party made strong gains in two crucial state elections in Germany on Sunday, increasing its support significantly but failing to oust the mainstream parties.
But the sharp shift to the right in Saxony and Brandenburg – AfD came second in both states – is a blow to the ruling coalition of Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) and the Social Democrats (SPD), both parties having lost thousands of voters to AfD.
Continue reading...German president asks Poland for forgiveness at WW2 ceremony
Frank-Walter Steinmeier makes speech at Warsaw event to mark 80 years since start of war
The German president vowed his country would never forget the atrocities of the Nazi period on Sunday as he asked forgiveness from Poland during a series of commemorative events to mark the 80th anniversary of the outbreak of the second world war.
“In no other square in Europe do I find it more difficult to speak, and to address you in my native language of German ... I ask for forgiveness for Germany’s historical guilt and I recognise our enduring responsibility,” Frank-Walter Steinmeier said at a ceremony in Piłsudski Square in Warsaw.
Continue reading...From a picnic to the Berlin Wall: my 1989 summer of revolution
An award-winning foreign correspondent looks back on the human stories that helped bring down the Berlin Wall and East Germany’s regime
It should have been a normal family chat in late midsummer in Berlin. Kerstin Falkner, 22, and her new partner, Andreas, eight years her elder, were sitting in the back of Metzer Eck, the corner bar run by her mother, Bärbel, discussing where they might go for their holidays.
Only one thing was out of key: instead of joining in, Bärbel was sitting in the corner next to me, trying to keep back her tears. She simultaneously feared and hoped for the same thing: that they might not be coming home.
Continue reading...Murder of Chechen dissident: suspect linked to Russian security services
Research by Der Spiegel, Bellingcat and The Insider found suspect’s passport could be linked to Russian military
A suspect arrested last week over the killing of a Chechen dissident in Berlin was carrying a passport whose number linked him to Russian security services, news magazine Der Spiegel and others reported on Friday.
Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, who fought against Russia during the second Chechen war in the early 2000s, was shot twice in the head at close range in the Kleiner Tiergarten park in central Berlin just before midday last Friday.
Continue reading...AfD candidate was at 2007 Greek neo-Nazi rally, says leaked report
Andreas Kalbitz is vying to become rightwing German party’s first state premier
A German olitician vying to become the first state premier for the rightwing populist Alternative für Deutschland in elections this Sunday took part in a neo-Nazi rally in Athens in 2007, documents leaked to the media show.
Andreas Kalbitz, 46, is the AfD’s lead candidate for Brandenburg, where polls suggest the party is competing with the centre-left Social Democratic party (SPD) in the race to become the state’s strongest political force.
Continue reading...Germany citizenship rules for descendants of Nazi victims eased
Move could help some Britons seeking EU passports who were rejected after the referendum
The German government has said it will ease the process for descendants of people persecuted by the Nazis to regain citizenship, after a campaign by a British-based group.
The interior minister, Horst Seehofer, said on Thursday he had issued a decree that would overturn the rejections of those previously considered ineligible. These are most commonly descendants of women who fled Nazi Germany and who lost their citizenship after marrying non-German men.
Continue reading...Macron tells Johnson Brexit backstop is indispensable
French president tells Boris Johnson he must present concrete proposals for UK exit
Emmanuel Macron has described the Irish backstop as “indispensable” to a Brexit deal and urged Boris Johnson to set out his proposed alternatives as soon as possible, as he met the British prime minister in Paris.
The French president told Johnson on Thursday that the EU would like “visibility” on London’s concrete proposals for the UK’s withdrawal from the EU within a month, echoing language used by the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, on Wednesday.
Continue reading...Syrian man jailed for killing that sparked far-right riots in Germany
Asylum seeker Alaa Sheikhi guilty of manslaughter of Daniel Hillig in Chemnitz
A Syrian asylum seeker accused of a killing that sparked a week of far-right street violence in the eastern German city of Chemnitz in 2018 has been found guilty of manslaughter.
Alaa Sheikhi, 24, was sentenced to nine and a half years in prison by the Chemnitz higher regional court on Thursday.
Continue reading...‘Just wanted to drive a little’: eight-year-old German boy takes car for 87mph spin
Child reaches high speeds during night-time motorway adventure before pulling over and putting his hazard lights on
An eight-year-old boy has been found safe after taking his parents’ car for an 87mph (140km/h) night-time spin down a motorway in Germany.
He tearfully told police he “just wanted to drive a little bit”.
Continue reading...‘Unelected PM … gambling with peace’ – Irish EU commissioner launches attack on Boris Johnson – live news
Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen
From Bloomberg’s Jess Shankleman
The pound slipped to the day's low after we reported France now sees a no-deal Brexit as the most likely outcome #gbp https://t.co/Xmvg4Lpvkf pic.twitter.com/AQcwazbBaf
This is from Jenny Hill, the BBC’s Berlin correspondent.
Sat outside German Chancellery. Slovakian president’s motorcade has just whisked her away following her first meeting with Angela Merkel. Next on the guest list, Boris Johnson in just over an hour.....
Continue reading...Germany likely to head into recession, central bank warns
Bundesbank says summer’s slump in exports is expected to continue into the autumn
Germany’s economy is heading into recession after the country’s central bank warned that a slump in exports during the summer was likely to continue into the autumn.
The Bundesbank said a downturn in orders for cars and industrial equipment in the second quarter of the year was likely to continue in the third quarter, leaving the economy on the brink of a technical recession, defined as two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth.
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