Germany

Berlin's Germania airline files for bankruptcy, halts flights

05 Feb 2019; DW: Germania had "no other option" but to file for bankruptcy following financial trouble, the airline's CEO Karsten Balke said on Tuesday.

The Berlin-based company cancelled all flights and advised passengers to contact their travel agents about alternative arrangements.

People who bought their tickets directly from the company "unfortunately have no claim to alternative trips," the company said.

Germany opposes new nuclear missiles in Europe

BERLIN; 03 Feb 2019; AA: Germany said on Saturday that it would oppose stationing new medium-range nuclear missiles in Europe after the U.S. and Russia announced that they are pulling out of a landmark arms treaty.

“Stationing medium-range nuclear missiles in Europe now would be the wrong answer. We can’t fight a fire by adding fuel to the fire,” Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said in an interview with Funke Media Group.

'Yellow vests' hit German streets in pro-diesel protest

03 Feb 2019; AFP: Hundreds of people demonstrated Saturday in Stuttgart, the bastion of Germany's car industry, against a recent driving ban on older diesels, wearing yellow vests to match protesters in France whose movement began as a reaction to proposed fuel hikes.

Since January 1, only diesel vehicles meeting the Euro 5 emissions standard are allowed into Stuttgart, home of Mercedes-Benz maker Daimler, Volkswagen subsidiary Porsche and the world's biggest car parts supplier Bosch.

UK avoiding Brexit was unlikely

03 Feb 2019; DW: Germany's Foreign Minister, Heiko Maas, said on Sunday that the idea of the UK avoiding Brexit was unlikely. Maas told German media group Funke that he would liked to have seen an "exit from Brexit," but that he held no hopes of it happening.

Brussels and London find themselves at an impasse over the final agreement to the UK's exit from the EU, with the most recent deal having failed in the British Parliament, as the deadline of March 29 looms.

German police arrest 3 Iraqi refugees suspected of planning attack

30 Jan 2019; DW: Two of the three suspects reportedly tried to build a homemade bomb and considered carrying out an armed or vehicle attack. Prosecutors accused the suspects of planning an "attack."

Three Iraqi refugees were arrested on Wednesday in northern Germany for preparing a terror attack.

Two 23-year-olds and a 36-year-old were arrested in an early morning raid in the state of Schleswig-Holstein after a months-long investigation, German police said.

German bloggers release classified intelligence report on far-right AfD

28 Jan 2019; DW: Although parts of the intelligence report had already circulated through German media, the full AfD report reveals an exhaustive analysis of the party's rhetoric as well as members' links to extremist groups.

A classified intelligence report on the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) was posted online in its entirety [link in German] on Monday by bloggers with the independent news outlet netzpolitik.org.

Germany: 38,000 illegal immigrants caught by Federal Police

29 Jan 2019; DW: Figures seen by DW show how many people were caught by German Federal Police after they entered the country illegally between January and November 2018. The total number of illegal arrivals is probably higher.

More than 38,000 people were caught entering Germany illegally between January and November 2018, German Federal Police have told DW.

Over 28,000 people entered Germany by land, with most — some 10,300 — entering from Austria.

Left Party group slammed over 'anti-Semitic' Venezuela cartoon

26 Jan 2019; DW: A faction within Germany's Left Party posted a cartoon of a grim reaper holding a bloody scythe painted to resemble the flag of Israel. The group was commenting on the Venezuelan political crisis.

A far-left faction within Germany's socialist Left Party has retracted a cartoon insinuating that Israel was instigating a violent coup in Venezuela after party members accused it of anti-Semitism.

Hold elections or we recognize Guaido: Germany, Spain

26 Jan 2019; DW:  Germany and Spain say Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro must hold elections. If not, both would consider following the United States in recognizing the head of the opposition as president.

Germany and Spain said on Friday that Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido should be recognized as president if standing President Nicolas Maduro did not agree "immediately" to hold new elections.

Germany pulls out of Mediterranean migrant mission Sophia

23 Jan 2019; DW: Germany will not be sending any more ships to take part in the anti-people smuggling operation Sophia in the Mediterranean Sea, according to a senior military officer.

The decision means frigate Augsburg, currently stationed off the coast of Libya, will not be replaced early next month, Bundeswehr Inspector General Eberhard Zorn told members of the defense and foreign affairs committees in the German parliament.

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