Germany

BERLIN (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday aired deep differences over the war between Israel and Hamas as the Turkish leader made a brief and tensely anticipated visit to Berlin.

Erdogan was invited to visit Germany months ago after his reelection, but recent weeks have been marked by discomfort in Berlin over his increasingly strident stance against Israel.

BERLIN (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan set off for Germany Friday on a short visit overshadowed by the two countries’ very different stances on the war between Israel and Hamas.

Erdogan is due to meet Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Germany’s largely ceremonial president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in Berlin. Scholz invited Erdogan to visit in May following his re-election.

BERLIN, Nov 15 (Reuters) - The German government froze major spending pledges focused on green initiatives and industry support on Wednesday after a constitutional court ruling on unused pandemic emergency funds blew a 60 billion euro ($65 billion) hole in its finances.

The decision threw into disarray budget negotiations taking place this week within Chancellor Olaf Scholz's three-way ruling coalition, whose popularity has slumped as Europe's biggest economy teeters close to another recession.

12 November 2023; MEMO: German police temporarily detained a Jewish Israeli woman who held up a sign condemning Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, amid an increased crackdown on pro-Palestinian voices in the country.

BERLIN (AP) — Five U.S. servicepeople were killed when a military helicopter crashed over the eastern Mediterranean Sea during a training mission, U.S. officials said Sunday.

The military’s European Command said all five crew members on board were killed when the aircraft went down “during a routine air refueling mission as part of military training.”

BERLIN, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Germany will strengthen its military to make it the backbone of deterrence and collective defence in Europe, its defence minister pledged on Thursday as Berlin issued new defence policy guidelines for the first time in over a decade.

The 19-page document details what the "Zeitenwende" - the major shift of policy German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 - means for the workings of the Bundeswehr.

BERLIN (AP) — German police said Thursday evening that a student with a handgun is suspected of having killed another student at a high school in the country’s southwest, German news agency dpa reported.

The suspect, a teenager, was detained as part of a large-scale police operation earlier in the day in the town of Offenburg.

He had allegedly entered a classroom at the high school for children with special needs, and fired at least one shot from a handgun at a classmate, police said.

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The European Central Bank and other policymakers across Europe need to keep interest rates at current elevated levels until they’re sure inflation is under control despite sluggish growth, the International Monetary Fund said Wednesday, warning against “premature celebration” as inflation declines from its peak.

The Washington-based IMF said that cost of underestimating inflation’s persistence could be painfully high and result in another painful round of rate hikes that could rob the economy of a large chunk of growth.

BERLIN (AP) — Chancellor Olaf Scholz is to meet Germany’s 16 state governors on Monday to address ways to deal with large numbers of migrants, an issue that has become a huge political problem for the government.

Shelters for migrants and refugees are filling up and Scholz, who faces enormous pressure from the opposition and elsewhere to halt that trend, has said that “too many are coming.” The country also has seen more than 1 million Ukrainians arrive since the start of Russia’s war in their homeland.

BERLIN (AP) — The hostage situation at Hamburg Airport ended Sunday afternoon, around 18 hours after a man drove his vehicle through the gates of the airport with his 4-year-old daughter inside, authorities said. The man was arrested and the girl appears to be unharmed.

Hamburg police posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, that “the hostage situation is over. The suspect has left the car with his daughter. ... The child appears to be unharmed.”

Police also said that “the man was arrested by the emergency services without resistance.”