Germany

ELMAU, GERMANY (Xinhua) -- Leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) kicked off their three-day annual summit on Sunday in Schloss Elmau in south Germany's Bavarian Alps amid lower expectations and protests.

The summit will focus on the Russia-Ukraine conflict, climate and others, while the host dampened expectations.

ELMAU, Germany (AP) — President Joe Biden said Sunday that the United States and other Group of Seven leading economies will ban imports of gold from Russia, the latest in a series of sanctions that the club of democracies hopes will further isolate Russia economically over its invasion of Ukraine.

A formal announcement was expected Tuesday as the leaders hold their annual summit.

BERLIN, June 24 (Reuters) - Germany is heading for a gas shortage if Russian gas supplies remain as low as they are now, and certain industries would have to be shut down if there is not enough come winter, Economy Minister Robert Habeck told Der Spiegel magazine.

"Companies would have to stop production, lay off their workers, supply chains would collapse, people would go into debt to pay their heating bills, that people would become poorer," Habeck told Der Spiegel on Friday, saying it was part of Russian President Vladimir Putin's strategy to divide the country.

BERLIN (AP) — Germany will start charging for rapid COVID-19 tests that were previously free, though vulnerable groups will be exempt from the fee.

Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said Friday that starting July 1 the rapid tests widely available at centers across Germany will cost citizens 3 euros ($3.16) each, with the rest subsidized by the government.

The tests will remain free for people who can prove they belong to vulnerable groups, for visitors of care homes and hospitals, and for small children.

BERLIN (AP) — The head of the United Nations warned Friday that the world faces “catastrophe” because of the growing shortage of food around the globe.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the war in Ukraine has added to the disruptions caused by climate change, the coronavirus pandemic and inequality to produce an “unprecedented global hunger crisis” already affecting hundreds of millions of people.

BERLIN, June 23 (Reuters) - Germany triggered the "alarm stage" of its emergency gas plan on Thursday in response to falling Russian supplies but stopped short of allowing utilities to pass on soaring energy costs to customers in Europe's largest economy.

The measure is the latest escalation in a standoff between Europe and Moscow since the Russian invasion of Ukraine that has exposed the bloc's dependence on Russian gas supplies and sparked a frantic search for alternative energy sources.

FRANKFURT, June 20 (Xinhua) -- The influx of Ukrainians fleeing the Russia-Ukraine conflict could slightly ease the tightness observed in the euro area labor market., according to a monthly report published by the European Central Bank (ECB) on Monday.

Around 7 million people, mostly women and children, have left Ukraine, said the ECB in the report quoting the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), adding that a significant proportion of them is expected to reach the euro zone.

COLOGNE, Germany (AP) — At a gas station near the Cologne, Germany, airport, Bernd Mueller watches the digits quickly climb on the pump: 22 euros ($23), 23 euros, 24 euros. The numbers showing how much gasoline he’s getting rise, too. But much more slowly. Painfully slowly.

“I’m getting rid of my car this October, November,” said Mueller, 80. “I’m retired, and then there’s gas and all that. At some point, you’ve got to scale back.”

Berlin, Jun 19 (AP-PTI) Germany's economy minister said on Sunday that the country will limit the use of gas for electricity production amid concerns about possible shortages caused by a reduction in supplies from Russia.

Germany has been trying to fill its gas storage facilities to capacity ahead of the winter months, when gas is more urgently needed as a heating fuel.

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s health minister urged residents and visitors to wear face masks indoors to protect themselves and others from the coronavirus, but he acknowledged that current data doesn’t justify making mask use a legal requirement.

An indoor mask mandate largely lapsed across Germany this spring, with the requirement remaining for places such as hospitals and care homes. The libertarian Free Democratic Party, which is part of the country’s governing coalition, has been particularly vocal in pressing for an end to COVID-19 measures.