Germany

BERLIN (Reuters) - The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 1,251 to 168,551, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Saturday.

The reported death toll rose by 147 to 7,369, the tally showed.

BERLIN (Reuters) - German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said in a newspaper interview on Saturday there was a growing risk of a hard Brexit in the midst of the coronavirus crisis as negotiations between Britain and the European Union so far on the future trade relationship had yielded hardly any progress.

Britain left the EU in January, and talks with the bloc are now focused on setting new trading terms from 2021, when London’s status-quo transition period ends. However the talks quickly hit an impasse when negotiations resumed last month, according to diplomats and officials.

BERLIN, May 7 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Chancellor Angela Merkel announced steps to ease the coronavirus lockdown, saying the first phase of the pandemic had passed but there was still a long way to go.

Germany went into lockdown in March to slow the spread of the virus. Its reproduction rate has been falling for several days, and Merkel said it was now consistently below 1 – meaning a person with the virus infects fewer than one other on average.

BERLIN (Reuters) - The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 793 to 162,496, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Sunday.

The reported death toll rose by 74 to 6,649, the tally showed.

(Reuters) - The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany rose by 945 to 161,703, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Saturday.

The death toll rose by 94 to 6,575.

30 April 2020; AFP: Germany on Thursday completely banned Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah movement from carrying out activities on its soil, as police raided mosques and venues linked to the group.

Like the European Union, Germany had until now only outlawed Hezbollah's military wing while tolerating its political wing.

But in a shift immediately welcomed by the United States and Israel, the German interior ministry said it now considered the entire movement a "Shiite terrorist organisation".

BERLIN (Reuters) - Some 29.2% of German companies think they would survive for a maximum of three months if the coronavirus-related restrictions remain in place for a longer period while 52.7% said they would survive for a maximum of six months, the Ifo institute said.

“These are worrying figures that point to a wave of bankruptcies ahead,” Klaus Wohlrabe, an economist at Ifo, said of the survey.

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany is preparing a change to its foreign trade regulations that would require the government to be informed of purchases by countries outside the European Union of stakes in key healthcare companies, the Economy Ministry said on Tuesday.

The draft, which the ministry has submitted to other government departments and business associations for review and which must still be approved by the cabinet, would apply to acquisitions from non-EU states, or so-called ‘third countries’, of company stakes of 10% of more.

BERLIN, April 27 (Xinhua) -- Germany reported 1,018 cases of COVID-19 on Monday, bringing the country's case tally to 155,193, according to data from disease control agency Robert Koch Institute.

A total of 5,750 deaths have been recorded, up 110 over the past 24 hours; around 114,500 people have recovered, up 2,500 from the previous day, statistics showed.

The southern state of Bavaria remains the hardest-hit area, followed by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the state of Baden-Wurttemberg. 

MUNICH (Reuters) - The German government should support Lufthansa (LHAG.DE) as it tackles the coronavirus crisis but the flagship carrier should not be nationalised, Bavarian State Premier Markus Soeder said on Monday.

“Lufthansa should not be nationalised,” said Soeder - head of the Christian Social Union (CSU), sister party to Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU).

Soeder added that the government should be a silent partner in the airline rather than a shareholder and should exit soon after the crisis.