Timeline Germany (G) 2017-Present
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2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 5,
Namibian plaintiffs, including some from New York, sued Germany over
a genocide carried out by German colonial troops in the early 1900s,
in which more than 100,000 people were killed. They sued under the
Alien Tort Statute, a 1789 US law often invoked in human rights
cases.
   (AP, 1/6/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 8, The US military
vowed to increase the scope and complexity of its European training
exercises to deter Russian aggression, as more US tanks, trucks and
other equipment arrived in Germany for a big buildup on NATO's
eastern flank.
   (Reuters, 1/8/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 10, Former German
President Roman Herzog (82) died. He served as chief justice of
Germany's highest court before winning the presidency in 1994.
   (AP, 1/24/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 11, In Germany the
spectacular new Elbphilharmonie concert hall in Hamburg, begun in
2007, hosted its first concert, several years behind schedule and
far over the original budget. The cost to taxpayers climbed from an
initially planned 77 million euros to 789 million euros ($835
million).
   (AP, 1/11/17)
2017      Jan 11, Volkswagen
agreed to pay a criminal fine of $4.3 billion for selling around
500,000 cars in America fitted with so-called “defeat devices”
designed to reduce NOx emissions under test conditions.
   (Econ, 1/21/17, p.52)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 19, German lawmakers
legalized cannabis use for medical purposes for people with serious
diseases such as certain cancers and multiple sclerosis.
   (AFP, 1/19/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 20, Germany said its
diplomats have helped broker a ceasefire between the Syrian
government and rebel forces in a mountainous valley near Damascus, a
deal designed to restore water supplies to the capital.
   (Reuters, 1/20/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 22, In Germany the
agriculture ministers of the G20 leading economies said greater
global efforts should be taken to safeguard precious world water
supplies to secure food production.
   (Reuters, 1/22/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 25, German police
carried out dawn raids against far-right suspects accused of
plotting attacks on refugees, Jews and police officers, and detained
two suspects.
   (AFP, 1/25/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 26, Germany's
Parliament extended the country's training mission in northern Iraq
for another year.
   (AP, 1/26/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 26, In Germany more
than 15,000 turkeys were being culled after the new bird flu subtype
H5N5 was confirmed on a north German farm.
   (Reuters, 1/26/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 28, Germany confirmed
that high-ranking Turkish soldiers, who worked at NATO facilities in
Germany but were suspended after the failed coup in Turkey in July,
have requested asylum. Der Spiegel and broadcaster ARD reported that
about 40, mostly high-ranking Turkish soldiers, have requested
asylum.
   (Reuters, 1/28/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 28, France and Germany
expressed mounting alarm at key decisions by US Pres. Donald Trump
in his first week in office, saying they raised many issues of
concern.
   (AFP, 1/28/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 29, In Germany the
bodies of six teenagers were found dead in a garden house following
a Saturday night party near the southern city of Wuerzburg.
Investigators later said they all died of carbon monoxide poisoning.
   (AP, 1/29/17)(AP, 1/31/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 31, Germany began
sending tanks and other equipment to Lithuania as part of a NATO
mission to beef up the defense of eastern Europe and send a signal
of resolve to Russia, which has denounced the build-up as an act of
aggression.
   (Reuters, 1/31/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Germany's
government approved the use of ankle bracelets to monitor extremists
considered potentially dangerous as it moves to get tough on
suspected jihadists after the Berlin truck attack.
   (AFP, 2/1/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Germany arrested
Tunisian asylum-seeker Haikel S. (36) on suspicion of planning an
Islamist attack. He was also wanted in his homeland over a deadly
2015 assault on a Tunis museum favored by Western tourists.
   (Reuters, 2/1/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, A German court
ordered German-Turkish author Akif Pirincci to pay a fine of 11,700
euros ($12,490) for incitement over a speech he gave at an
anti-Islam rally. Pirincci was a speaker at a rally staged in
Dresden in October 2015 by a group called the Patriotic Europeans
against the Islamization of the West, or PEGIDA. He described
asylum-seekers as "invaders" and lamented that the Nazi's
concentration camps had been closed.
   (AP, 2/7/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, It was reported
that Volkswagen has agreed to pay at least $1.22 billion to fix or
buy back nearly 80,000 polluting diesel cars in the United States,
the latest move in its attempt to draw a line under its diesel
emissions scandal.
   (Reuters, 2/1/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 2, In Turkey German
Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Turkey to uphold democracy as the
country heads toward a critical referendum on boosting the powers of
the presidency, while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan took
offense at her reference to "Islamist terror," saying the words
cannot be placed together.
   (AP, 2/2/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 4, German weekly
magazine Der Spiegel sparked controversy at home and abroad with a
front cover illustration of US President Donald Trump beheading the
Statue of Liberty.
   (Reuters, 2/4/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 8, Ljubisa Beara (77),
a Bosnian Serb commander convicted of war crimes over the 1995
Srebrenica massacre, died in a German prison.
   (AP, 2/10/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 9, Germany reported
the world’s largest current-account surplus of about €270 billion
($300 billion).
   (Econ, 2/11/17, p.40)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 9, Some 450 German
special commandos made 12 coordinated raids and arrested two men
suspected of planning an imminent Islamist attack in Goettingen.
   (Reuters, 2/9/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 9, German neo-Nazi
Maik Schneider (29) was sentenced to eight years jail for the August
2015 arson in the high school sports hall in Nauen that had been
designated to house refugees. He received an additional term of one
year and six months for other xenophobic crimes.
   (AFP, 2/9/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 12, Germany’s
parliamentary assembly elected former foreign minister Frank-Walter
Steinmeier (61) as the new head of state. He vowed to stand up to
simplistic populist rhetoric.
   (AFP, 2/12/17)(SSFC, 2/12/17, p.A4)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 15, German airline
Lufthansa said it has struck a deal to solve a bitter labor dispute
with pilots that over five years has cost it an estimated half a
billion dollars and more than a dozen strikes.
   (AP, 2/15/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 16, In Germany foreign
ministers from 20 of the world's leading nations (G20) met in Bonn
to discuss current conflicts and ways to prevent future crises
against a backdrop of uncertainty among allies and adversaries over
the direction of US foreign policy.
   (AP, 2/16/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 16, In Germany a union
representing ground staff has called on its members to go on strike
at Berlin's two airports, leading to the cancelation of some 210
flights.
   (AP, 2/16/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 21, Authorities in
southwest Germany authorized a ban on older diesel cars from driving
in the city of Stuttgart starting next year.
   (AP, 2/21/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 22, France and Germany
won backing from the European Union's executive for proposals to
tighten security across Europe, which include giving more powers to
governments to monitor frontiers with other EU states.
   (Reuters, 2/22/17)
2017      Feb 25, In Germany a
student (35) rammed his car into a group of pedestrians, killing one
person and injuring two others in Heidelberg. The accused was shot
and wounded by police after fleeing the scene on foot while wielding
a knife.
   (AFP, 2/26/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 26, In Germany the
bodies of a woman (76) and a man (81) were discovered dead at a
house in Koenigsdorf, about 30 km (19 miles) south of Munich. On
March 120 police said they have arrested a Polish national woman
(49) and were seeking her brother, Robert Pludowsk (43), in
connection with the killing.
   (AP, 3/10/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 27, Germany's Interior
Ministry said a new report showing more than 3,500 attacks in 2016
on migrants and their homes is "alarmingly high and cause for
concern." Interior Ministry spokesman Johannes Dimroth said
authorities are prosecuting the crimes aggressively and the numbers
are now falling.
   (AP, 2/27/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 27, A German court
convicted two illegal street racers who caused a deadly high-speed
car crash of murder and handed them life prison terms in a landmark
ruling. Hamdi H. and Marvin N. were each sentenced to maximum jail
terms for the Feb 1 tragedy near Berlin's landmark KaDeWe shopping
center.
   (AFP, 2/27/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 28, In Germany a man
(24) killed his grandmother in Muellrose, then ran over and killed
two police officers as he fled from them in Brandenburg state. The
man was arrested short time later.
   (AP, 2/28/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb, Turkish authorities
arrested Deniz Yucel, a journalist for Germany’s Die Welt newspaper,
on charges of propaganda in support of a terrorist organization and
inciting the public to violence. Yucel, a dual Turkish and German
national, was initially detained after he reported on emails that a
leftist hacker collective had purportedly obtained from the private
account of Berat Albayrak, Turkey's energy minister and Erdogan's
son-in-law.
   (Reuters, 3/19/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 2, Germany arrested
two Syrians suspected of being members of the Al-Nusra Front.
Federal prosecutors said Abdalfatah H.A. (35) is suspected of war
crimes over the killing of 36 Syrian government employees by his
unit in 2013. Abdulrahman A.A. (26) belong to the same combat unit.
   (SFC, 3/3/17, p.A2)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 2, In Egypt German
Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi held
talks on ways of slowing migration to Europe, including tightening
control over borders.
   (AP, 3/2/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 3, Chancellor Angela
Merkel said Tunisia had agreed to take back 1,500 rejected Tunisian
migrants from Germany, after an attack by a Tunisian on a Christmas
market in Berlin which killed 12 people.
   (Reuters, 3/3/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 3, German carmaker
Mercedes said it is recalling about 1 million cars and SUVs
worldwide because a starter part can overheat and cause fires.
   (AP, 3/3/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 3, Turkey accused
Germany of scandalous behavior in cancelling rallies of Turkish
citizens in two German towns due to be addressed by Turkish
ministers and said Berlin provided a "shelter" for people committing
crimes against his country.
   (Reuters, 3/3/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 8, Bavaria's state
office of criminal investigation said Germany’s police have raided
over 120 apartments and business premises across the country in an
investigation into a suspected online crime ring.
   (Reuters, 3/8/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 9, In Germany an
axe-wielding attacker, Fatmir H. (37), wounded nine people in a
bloody rampage at a railway station. The Kosovan national had been
diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic with a history of high anxiety
and self-harm. In September he was committed to a psychiatric ward.
   (AFP, 3/10/17)(AFP, 9/22/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 9, In Germany Marcel
Hesse (19) gave himself up to police late today in Herne. He
admitted to killing a child (9) and a 22-year-old acquaintance,
citing frustration over a rejected bid to join the German army and
the recent loss of his internet connection. Hesse had stabbed the
boy 52 times with a folding knife and allegedly boasted about the
murder in a video clip he published on the darknet.
   (AP, 3/10/17)(AP, 9/8/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 10, In Detroit, Mi.,
Volkswagen pleaded guilty in federal court to criminal felony
charges over the diesel emissions scandal. The plea was part of a
settlement for VW to pay $4.3 billion in fines and penalties.
   (SFC, 3/11/17, p.D1)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 14, The small western
German state of Saarland said it is banning political campaigning by
foreign politicians saying internal Turkish conflicts have no place
in Germany.
   (Reuters, 3/14/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 14, German authorities
banned the German-speaking Islam Group Hildesheim, known by its
German acronym DIK. It had long been on authorities' radar as a
magnet for radicals.
   (AP, 3/14/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 14, Berlin's airports
remained paralyzed after ground staff extended a strike, stepping up
pressure in a dispute over pay that has already caused the
cancellation of more than 1,000 flights since March 10.
   (Reuters, 3/14/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 14, Hundreds of
Twitter accounts were hijacked amid the ongoing diplomatic feud
between Turkey and two European nations, Germany and the
Netherlands. Most if not all high-profile accounts soon returned to
normal.
   (AP, 3/15/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 15, In Germany three
men and a woman were sentenced to prison terms between three and
five years for forming the so-called Oldschool Society in August
2014, a far-right terrorist group with a plan to bomb refugee homes
as a tactic to scare migrants into leaving the country.
   (AP, 3/15/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 16, The militant Greek
group Conspiracy of Fire Cells claimed responsibility for a parcel
bomb mailed to German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble. The
parcel had been intercepted by the German finance ministry's mail
department. On March 20 Greek counterterrorism officers uncovered
eight more similar parcel bombs.
   (Reuters, 3/16/17)(SFC, 3/22/17, p.A2)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 17, In Germany a G20
official said opposition from the United States, Saudi Arabia and
others has forced Germany to drop a reference to financing programs
to combat climate change from the draft communique at a G20 finance
and central bankers meeting.
   (AP, 3/17/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 18, In Germany finance
chiefs of the world's top 20 economies (G20) pledged to finalize new
banking regulations, easing concerns that the new US administration
would pull out of a long-delayed global accord known as Basel III.
The G20 dropped a pledge to fully oppose trade protectionism, amid
pushback from the government of US President Donald Trump.
   (Reuters, 3/18/17)(AP, 3/18/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 18, In Germany around
9,000 Kurdish supporters demonstrated in Frankfurt against Turkish
President Tayyip Erdogan and an April referendum that would give him
sweeping new powers.
   (Reuters, 3/18/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 21, A German court
convicted three 17-year-olds of participating last April 16 in a
bomb attack on a Sikh temple that was motivated by hatred of other
religions. They were given prison sentences ranging between six and
seven years.
   (AP, 3/21/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 21, In Germany the
G20's outreach organizations for business (B20), think tanks (T20)
and civil society groups (C20) urged the Group of 20 leading
economies in a joint statement to take fast and fundamental action
to counter rising temperatures.
   (Reuters, 3/21/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 22, In Germany
thousands of gay men prosecuted and jailed under an arcane 19th
century law were due to get compensation after the government passed
a draft bill to quash their convictions. Germany decriminalized
homosexuality in 1969.
   (Reuters, 3/22/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 23, German authorities
detained Afghan migrant Abdullah P. in the southern state of
Bavaria. He was believed to have taken part in an attack on a
military convoy about a decade ago in which at least 16 US and
Afghan soldiers were killed.
   (Reuters, 3/28/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 27, In Germany thieves
broke into Berlin’s Bode Museum before dawn and made off with a
massive 100-kilogram (221-pound) gold coin worth millions of
dollars. In 2018 prosecutors indicted four young men for the theft
of the "Big Maple Leaf" coin.
   (AP, 3/27/17)(SFC, 10/18/18, p.A2)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 27, Lufthansa
announced a code-sharing deal with Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific
under which the German airline and its Swiss and Austrian Airlines
units will offer new connections to Australia and New Zealand.
   (AP, 3/27/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 28, German prosecutors
announced an investigation into claims that Turkish agents are
spying on alleged followers of exiled preacher Fethullah Gulen in
Germany.
   (AFP, 3/28/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 30, Volkswagen AG said
it has agreed to pay $157.45 million to settle environmental claims
from 10 US states over its excess diesel emissions, as the world's
largest automaker looks to move past the scandal.
   (Reuters, 3/30/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 31, A German court
convicted a Moroccan-born man, identified only as Souhayl M. (19),
of raping a 90-year-old woman and sentenced him to 5 ½ years in
prison. The victim was attacked last October just after she visited
a church.
   (AP, 3/31/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 2, In Germany a
Ghanaian man (31) reportedly raped a camper at knife-point in front
of her boyfriend days after being denied asylum, while the couple
was camping near Bonn. He was arrested five days later after DNA
evidence linked him to the crime.
   (AP, 9/25/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 3, A German court
handed lengthy prison sentences to four Islamic extremists over
plots to bomb a train station in December 2012 and kill a far-right
politician in March 2013.
   (AP, 4/3/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 5, German conglomerate
JAB, owner of Krispy Cream and other food brands, announced that it
was taking over the St. Louis-based Panera Bread bakery chain for
$7.5 billion.
   (Econ, 4/15/17, p.26)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 7, The German
government announced steps to choke off state campaign finance for
the far-right NPD party, after a failed court bid to outlaw the
xenophobic fringe group. The group numbered around 6,000 members.
   (AFP, 4/7/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 8, In Germany police
found 384 kg (847 pounds) of cocaine in hundreds of one-kilogram
packages hidden in 26 cases of bananas shipped from Ecuador.
   (AP, 4/9/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 8, In Germany police
officers found human remains believed to be those of the 58-year-old
woman at her home in the eastern village of Borkheide, southwest of
Berlin. Her son (17) was detained at the scene.
   (AP, 4/9/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 8, In Greece Documenta
14, one of the world's premier art events opened in Athens, bringing
a much-needed spotlight, artistic inspiration and visitor boost to
crisis-hit Greece's run-down capital. The contemporary art
exhibition is held every five years in Kassel, Germany.
   (AFP, 4/8/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 11, German prosecutors
said an unidentified suspect had been emptying parking machines in
Hildesheim for more than two years. The 48-year-old was caught last
week loading 1,000 euros ($1,060) in ill-gotten coins into his car.
Damage to the city in this year's first three months alone totaled
21,000 euros.
   (AP, 4/11/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 11, In Germany
roadside blasts left Dortmund's Spanish international Marc Bartra
and a policeman injured. The bombs "containing metal pieces"
detonated minutes after the team bus set off to a planned Champions
League game against Monaco.
   (AFP, 4/12/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 12, German
investigators detained an Islamist suspect over three explosions
that rocked Borussia Dortmund's team bus a day earlier, confirming
the probe was examining a possible "terrorist link".
   (AFP, 4/12/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 19, German utility
E.ON said it has launched a combined solar panel and battery storage
product for British customers which could cut rising electricity
bills by 50 percent.
   (Reuters, 4/19/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 20, Lilium, a German
startup, completed a successful test over Bavaria of a small
electric plane capable of flying up to 300 km per hr.
   (Econ, 4/29/17, p.51)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 21, German police
arrested a man suspected of detonating three bombs that targeted the
Borussia Dortmund soccer team bus on April 11. The dual German and
Russian national identified as Sergei V., had bought options on
Borussia Dortmund's stock before the attack.
   (Reuters, 4/21/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 21, A federal judge in
Detroit sentenced Volkswagen AG to three years' probation over the
German automaker's diesel emissions scandal as part of a $4.3
billion settlement announced in January. US District Judge Sean Cox
ordered Volkswagen to pay a $2.8 billion criminal penalty for
cheating on diesel emissions tests.
   (Reuters, 4/21/17)(SFC, 4/22/17, p.D1)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 22, In Germany two
police officers were injured and a police car was set ablaze during
protests in Cologne, as some 600 delegates of the deeply divided
anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party met to discuss
policy for September's national elections.
   (Reuters, 4/22/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 27, Former German
Chancellor Helmut Kohl was awarded 1 million euros ($1.1 million) in
damages after the Cologne state court found his one-time ghostwriter
had violated his privacy rights.
   (AP, 4/27/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 28, German authorities
arrested a 54-year-old Swiss citizen on suspicion of spying.
Prosecutors said Daniel M. is "suspected of working for the
intelligence agency of a foreign power since the start of 2012.” The
next day the Welt newspaper reported that man had been sent to
Germany by Switzerland's NDB intelligence agency to identify German
tax investigators involved in the purchase of confidential Swiss
bank client data.
   (AP, 4/28/17)(AP, 4/30/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 29, In Germany a
gold-and-platinum tiara adorned with 367 diamonds was discovered
missing from the Badisches Landesmuesum in Karlsruhe. It was valued
at $1.31 million and once belonged to Grand Duchess Hilda von Baden
(1864-1952).
   (AP, 5/8/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 30, German Chancellor
Angela Merkel arrived in Saudi Arabia to press royals on a number of
sensitive issues, including taking in refugees, while also boosting
important business ties in her first visit to the country in seven
years.
   (AP, 4/30/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â May 1, Germany’s
Chancellor Angela Merkel offered diplomatic help to try to end the
war in Yemen, as she ended a two-nation Gulf tour taking in the Arab
world's largest economies with a stop in the United Arab Emirates.
   (AP, 5/1/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â May 2, Heinz Kessler (97),
former East German defense minister, died in Berlin. As the
country's last defense minister (1985 to 1989) he was responsible
for a shoot-to-kill policy aimed at stopping people escaping to the
West. He was sentenced to prison in 1991 for his role in the killing
of people trying to flee the Communist state.
   (Reuters, 5/4/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â May 3, In Germany the
state legislature of Baden-Wuerttemberg approved plans to introduce
tuition fees for students from outside the European Union, starting
with this year's winter semester.
   (AP, 5/3/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â May 4, The head of
Germany's domestic intelligence agency accused Russian rivals of
gathering large amounts of political data in cyber-attacks and said
it was up to the Kremlin to decide whether it wanted to put it to
use ahead of Germany's September elections.
   (Reuters, 5/4/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â May 11, German industrial
conglomerate Siemens AG said it is cutting or outsourcing 2,700 jobs
as part of efforts to modernize its IT operations and increase
efficiency elsewhere.
   (AP, 5/11/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â May 15, Hungarian police
arrested Horst Mahler, a notorious German neo-Nazi, in the
northwestern city of Sopron. He had been seeking asylum after
fleeing to avoid serving a prison sentence for Holocaust denial and
anti-Semitic incitement.
   (AP, 5/15/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â May 16, Germany’s dpa news
agency said a German court has convicted an Iraqi man (32) of raping
two Chinese college students in the western city of Bochum. He was
sentenced to 11 years in prison.
   (AP, 5/16/17)  Â
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â May 19, In Germany the
Munich state court convicted Gabriele P. (32) of killing her
boyfriend and severing his head with a circular saw in December
2008. In 2016 police found the body, which she and two friends had
allegedly buried several years earlier, in the garden of her Munich
home.
   (AP, 5/19/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â May 19, German authorities
arrested an Afghan man, identified as Omaid N. (20). He was accused
of being a member of the Taliban and participating in the killing of
an Afghan police officer in 2013.
   (AP, 5/23/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â May 19, In Germany a man
(54) died after setting fire to himself in a central square in
Munich. The man had scrawled slogans on his car along the lines of
"Never again war on German soil" and "Amri is only the tip of the
iceberg" — a reference to Anis Amri, the Tunisian who attacked a
Christmas market in Berlin.
   (AP, 5/19/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â May 24, US-based Praxair
and Germany-based Linde, two industrial gas firms, agreed to terms
of a merger of equals worth $70 billion.
   (Econ 5/27/17, p.61)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â May 25, US President
Donald Trump told fellow NATO leaders in Brussels that the United
States would never stop fighting terrorism, calling the May 22
Manchester attacks "savage" and "barbaric," but made no explicit
mention of NATO's mutual defense pact. Trump vowed to crack down on
leaks that prompted Manchester police to withhold information from
the United States about the investigation into this week's bombing.
He also chastised NATO leaders for not paying their fair share to
protect the long-standing alliance. Trump also criticized Germany as
"very bad" on trade at a meeting with EU officials.
   (Reuters, 5/25/17)(AP, 5/25/17)(Reuters, 5/26/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â May 25, An Italian court
opened the way for a class action lawsuit against automaker
Volkswagen over its emissions scandal.
   (AP, 5/25/17)  Â
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â May 26, Germany-based BMW
said it is recalling more than 45,000 older 7-Series cars in the US
because the doors can open unexpectedly while they're being driven.
   (AP, 5/26/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â May 31, In Germany
Nurettin B. (39), whose last name was not released in line with
privacy laws, was sentenced in Hannover state court to 14 years in
prison for tying up his ex-partner and dragging her behind his car
last November.
   (AP, 5/31/17)  Â
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 1, Germany and China
vowed to expand their partnership and pledged to continue fighting
climate change as Chinese Premier Li Keqiang visited Berlin, sending
a signal to Washington hours before US President Donald Trump
announces if he will quit a global climate deal.
   (Reuters, 6/1/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 2, German police
arrested a Romanian truck driver (40) suspected of raping and
killing a woman in southwestern Germany last year and another woman
in Austria in 2014. Both women were killed with an iron bar.
   (AP, 6/3/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 7, Chancellor Angela
Merkel's Cabinet decided to pull German troops and reconnaissance
aircraft out of Turkey's Incirlik air base after Turkish officials
refused to let lawmakers visit them. The 270 troops and 7 planes
participating in the international coalition against the Islamic
State group will redeploy to Jordan.
   (AP, 6/7/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 7, Germany's highest
court said an extra tax on nuclear fuel is unconstitutional, paving
the way for power companies to claim back more than 6 billion euros
($6.75 billion) paid between 2011 through 2016.
   (AP, 6/7/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 7, In Germany a Syrian
man stabbed a Red Cross psychologist (30) to death at a counseling
center for refugees in the western state of Saarland. The suspect
(27) was arrested shortly after the attack.
   (AP, 6/7/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 8, In Germany the
Hannover state court sentenced a German citizen, identified only as
Saleh S. (18) in line with privacy rules, to eight years in prison
for throwing homemade firebombs into the mall in Hannover in
February 2016. He is the brother of a 16-year-old girl, Safia S.,
who was convicted in January of stabbing and wounding a police
officer at the behest of the Islamic State group.
   (AP, 6/8/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 9, In Germany Felix R.
(21) was arrested over the killing of two foreign women in
Nuremberg. A woman (22) with Romanian and Hungarian citizenship was
killed in Nuremberg on May 24. The second victim, a Chinese woman
(44), was killed in the city June 5. DNA from the crime scene also
corresponded to that of the suspect.
   (AP, 6/12/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 13, A German court
convicted six young Syrian and Libyan refugees who tried to set fire
to a sleeping homeless man last Christmas in a crime that sparked
public outrage.
   (AFP, 6/13/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 13, In Germany a man
(37) shot a police officer in the head and wounded two bystanders at
the Unterfoehring subway station in Munich. The suspect was
apprehended after being wounded in an exchange of fire with police.
   (SFC, 6/14/17, p.A2)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 15, Austria and
Germany voiced sharp criticism of the latest US sanctions against
Moscow, saying they could affect European businesses involved in
piping in Russian natural gas.
   (AP, 6/15/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 15, In Germany a man
stabbed two of his children to death and seriously injured another
in the eastern state of Thuringia. The suspect (27) was arrested and
hospitalized for treatment of self-inflicted wounds.
   (AP, 6/15/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 15, Lidl, a German
discount chain, opened nine stores in Virginia, South Carolina
and North Carolina. It planned up to 90 more stores US within a
year.
   (Econ 6/17/17, p.59)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 16, Former German
chancellor Helmut Kohl (87) died at his home in Ludwigshafen. The
physically imposing chancellor (1982-1998), whose reunification of a
nation divided by the Cold War, put Germany at the heart of a united
Europe.
   (AP, 6/17/17)(Econ 6/24/17, p.82)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 19, The European Union
approved 377 million euros ($420 million) in state aid from France
and Germany for the development of a new Airbus helicopter.
   (AP, 6/19/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 22, Germany's
parliament voted 502-57 to cut off parties with anti-constitutional
aims from public funding, a move aimed at a far-right party that
authorities tried unsuccessfully to ban.
   (AP, 6/22/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 25, In Belgium
thousands of protesters demanded that Belgium immediately shut down
two nuclear reactors because of safety concerns. People from
Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands formed a human chain across the
border triangle of the three countries over the safety of the
pressure vessels at the Tihange 2 and Doel 3 reactors in Belgium.
   (AP, 6/25/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 27, A major ransomware
attack hit computers at Russia's biggest oil company, the country's
banks, Ukraine's international airport as well as Danish global
shipping firm A.P. Moller-Maersk. Germany's Metro said its wholesale
stores in the Ukraine have been hit by a cyber-attack and the
retailer was assessing the impact.
   (Reuters, 6/27/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 30, Germany's
parliament backed the legalization of same-sex marriage in a
historic vote hailed by gay activists and leftist parties but
criticized by some in Chancellor Angela Merkel's ruling conservative
bloc and by the Catholic Church.
   (Reuters, 6/30/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun, Germany's Network
Enforcement Act of 2017 threatened platforms with fines up to €50m
if they fail to take down illegal content within 24 hours of
notification.
  Â
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_Enforcement_Act)(Econ.,
10/24/20, p.20)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 1, In Germany the
104th edition of the Tour de France got underway in rainy conditions
in Duesseldorf. The three-week Tour concludes in Paris on July 23.
   (AP, 7/1/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 2, In Germany some
4,000 people took part in the first major protest in Hamburg before
the July 7-8 Group of 20 meeting.
   (AP, 7/2/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 3, In Germany
Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives promised more police, more
homes and full employment within eight years when they presented
their program for an election in which she will seek a fourth term
in office.
   (Reuters, 7/3/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 3, In Germany eighteen
people were killed when a tour bus carrying mostly pensioners
smashed into a trailer truck and burst into flames on the A9
motorway near the small Bavarian town of Stammbach.
   (AFP, 7/3/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 3, France, Germany and
the European Union pledged more money for Libya's coast guard and
more support for Italy to cope with a surge of migrant arrivals from
Africa.
   (AP, 7/3/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 4, German car giant
Volkswagen said it was returning to the Iranian market for the first
time in 17 years due to the lifting of economic sanctions.
   (AFP, 7/4/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 5, In Germany China’s
President Xi Jinping and Chancellor Angela Merkel pledged to work
together more closely on a range of issues, two days ahead of the
G20 summit in Hamburg.
   (Reuters, 7/5/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 5, Airbus said it has
won a major order from China of 140 planes for $22.8 billion, during
a visit by President Xi Jinping to Berlin.
   (AP, 7/5/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 6, In Germany
thousands of protesters from around Europe poured into the port city
of Hamburg to join anti-capitalist demonstrations for the July 7-8
G20 summit. Hamburg reminded residents and visitors over Twitter
that during the Group of 20 summit all recreational aircraft will be
banned from flying.
   (Reuters, 7/6/17)(AP, 7/6/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 6, US authorities
accused Giovanni Pamio (60), a former Audi executive, of giving the
orders to program diesel engines to cheat on emissions tests. He
became the eighth former Volkswagen employee charged in the case
that is being investigated by the FBI and the Environmental
Protection Agency's criminal unit.
   (AP, 7/7/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 7, In Germany far-left
protesters wrought chaos in Hamburg ahead of US President Donald
Trump's first face-to-face talks with Russian leader Vladimir Putin
at a G20 summit facing divisions among Western nations and tensions
over North Korea.
   (AFP, 7/7/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 7, German prosecutors
said they have arrested a former employee of the Volkswagen unit
Audi in connection with the company's diesel scandal.
   (AP, 7/7/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 7, President Donald
Trump, on the sidelines of the G20 meeting in Hamburg, said the
United States is making very good progress on trade issues with
Mexico, after a meeting with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto,
but he also repeated a pledge to make the southern neighbor pay for
a border wall.
   (Reuters, 7/7/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 7, Russian President
Vladimir Putin told US President Donald Trump that Moscow had not
meddled in the US elections, and Trump accepted it, according to
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Trump and Putin engaged in a
conversation during a G20 dinner.
   (Reuters, 7/8/17)(SFC, 7/19/17, p.A4)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 8, In Germany a final
statement agreed by the leaders of the Group of 20 economic powers
exposed a divide between the United States and other G20 members on
the Paris climate accord aimed at combating climate change. The
leaders of the other G20 members stated that the Paris Agreement is
irreversible.
   (Reuters, 7/8/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 8, In Germany
anti-globalization activists rioted violently for a second night as
Hamburg hosted G20 leaders, setting up street barricades, looting
supermarkets and attacking police with slingshots and firebombs.
   (AP, 7/8/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 9, In Germany
anti-globalization activists rioted for a third consecutive night in
Hamburg early today even after Group of 20 leaders had already left
the city. Germans expressed anger over violence that hit the G20
world leaders' July 7-8 summit, raising awkward questions for
Chancellor Angela Merkel less than three months before an election.
Police said they had arrested 186 people and took 225 into custody.
   (AP, 7/9/17)(Reuters, 7/9/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 9, Germany began to
pull its troops out of Turkey’s Incirlik air base where they have
supported international operations against Islamic State following a
row with Ankara over access.
   (Reuters, 7/9/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 9, The United Nations'
cultural agency added to its list of World Heritage sites six caves
in west Germany with art dating back to the Ice Age and old silver
ore mines in southern Poland.
   (AP, 7/9/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 11, Germany’s dpa news
agency reported that a Bavarian court has convicted Hans D. (62), a
Buddhist monk, of more than 25 counts of sexually abusing children
and sentenced him to seven years and nine months in prison.
   (AP, 7/11/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 12, German police
arrested four suspects they linked to an Arabic criminal clan over
the spectacular theft of a giant 100-kilogram (220-pound) gold coin
from a Berlin museum early this year, but found no sign of the loot.
   (AFP, 7/12/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 13, French President
Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have opened the
19th annual summit between the two European countries, centered on
security, defense and boosting the European project in a time of
doubt.
   (AP, 7/13/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 13, France and Germany
agreed to develop a European fighter jet to replace their existing
fleets, part of a raft of measures to tighten defense and security
cooperation, according to a document issued after a Franco-German
cabinet meeting in Paris.
   (Reuters, 7/13/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 18, In Germany a
report released today said at least 547 members of the Domspatzen
boys’ choir in Regensburg choir were physically or sexually abused
between 1945 and 1992. It counted 500 cases of physical violence and
67 of sexual violence, committed by a total of 49 perpetrators. The
choir was led from 1964 to 1994 by Benedict's brother, the Rev.
Georg Ratzinger.
   (AP, 7/18/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, German customs
authorities said they've seized over 3.8 tons of cocaine that
arrived in Hamburg in shipping containers from South America in
three operations between March and May.
   (AP, 7/20/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Germany's
president signed legislation legalizing gay marriage, paving the way
for it to take effect this fall.
   (AP, 7/21/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 23, In Germany former
Vietnamese oil executive Trinh Xuan Thanh was taken from the
Tiergarten, a large forested park in central Berlin, by armed men.
   (Reuters, 8/2/17)   Â
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 26, One of Germany's
most notorious Islamist preachers, Sven Lau (36), was sentenced to
five and a half years in jail for helping to recruit for Jaish
al-Muhajiroun wal-Ansar (JMA) or Army of Emigrants and Supporters.
   (AFP, 7/26/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 27, Germany's
transport minister announced plans for a fund to help cities
modernize their transport systems and reduce pollution, but said it
was too soon to bury the internal combustion engine.
   (Reuters, 7/27/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 28, In Germany a
Palestinian man (26) stabbed one person to death and wounded six
others in Hamburg. He was known to authorities as a suspected
Islamic radical but also was psychologically unstable.
   (AP, 7/29/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 30, In Germany a
shooting in a discotheque claimed two lives in Konstanz, including
that of the gunman, and wounded four people, three of them
seriously. Police identified the gunman as an Iraqi citizen (37).
   (AP, 7/30/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 1, German sources said
the government will not force the car industry to make costly
changes to engines to cut diesel emissions but will settle for
software updates for around 2 million vehicles.
   (Reuters, 8/1/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 2, German automakers
offered to help cut inner-city pollution by updating the software of
5 million diesel cars in an attempt to avert vehicle bans and repair
their reputation.
   (Reuters, 8/2/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 2, Germany accused
Vietnam of kidnapping a former Vietnamese oil executive who was
seeking asylum in Berlin and taking him home to face accusations of
corruption. Trinh Xuan Thanh was accused of causing around $150
million in losses at a Vietnamese state firm.
   (AP, 8/2/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 2, German prosecutors
said Oskar Groening (96), a former Auschwitz death camp guard,
is fit to go to prison. He was convicted in 2015 as an accessory to
murder. His lawyer said he will contest their decision.
   (AP, 8/2/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 2, Al-Qaida leader
Ayman al-Zawahri posted an audio message online in which he said a
man he identifies as Zuhair al-Maghribi (aka Said Bahaji) who worked
for As-Sahab, the terror network's media arm, is a "martyr." The
German man is believed to have provided logistical support to the
Hamburg-based Sept. 11 hijackers.
   (AP, 8/8/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 2, Italian authorities
impounded a German NGO's migrant rescue boat on suspicion of
facilitating illegal immigration. The Iuventa was operated by the
Jugend Rettet organization.
   (AFP, 8/2/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Germany some
2,600 pigs and piglets died in a fire at a farm southwest of Berlin
that caused an estimated 800,000 euros ($950,000) in damage in the
area of Frankenfoerde.
   (AP, 8/8/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 8, Germany’s wind
power group Siemens Gamesa said it has installed Asia's tallest wind
turbines, with a total height of 210 meters (230 yards), in
Thailand.
   (Reuters, 8/8/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 10, Scientists in
Germany said they have identified a new type of pox virus that's
sickening young red squirrels in Berlin.
   (AP, 8/10/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 11, A German court
sentenced three Syrian men for running a smuggling ring from Turkey
to Europe over the deaths of 13 migrants in the Mediterranean in
September 2015. The main suspect was sentenced to four years in
prison and the man who piloted the dinghy two and a half years in
prison. A third man, who liaised with the refugees' family members
in Germany, was given two years on probation.
   (Reuters, 8/11/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 11, In Germany a
26-ton garbage truck tipped over on a road, crushing a car and
killing five people, including at least four members of the same
family in the Baden-Wuerttemberg town of Nagold.
   (AP, 8/11/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 14, In Germany the
court in the town of Krefeld said Hartmut Hopp (73) must serve in
Germany the five-year sentence given to him by a Chilean court in
2011 for 16 counts of aiding in the sexual abuse of children.
   (AP, 8/14/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 15, In Germany new
licenses were awarded that will increase onshore wind energy
capacity by more than 1 gigawatt, equal to that of a nuclear plant.
   (Reuters, 8/15/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 15, German efforts to
overcome a diesel scandal were dealt a blow after prosecutors
widened a Volkswagen probe and a key environmental group said steps
proposed by automakers to cut pollution remained inadequate.
   (Reuters, 8/15/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 15, Germany's second
largest airline, Air Berlin, filed for bankruptcy protection after
its main shareholder, Abu Dhabi-based Etihad, said it would make no
more financing available following years of unsuccessful turnaround
attempts.
   (AP, 8/15/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 16, Deutsche Post DHL
Group and US automaker Ford unveiled a jointly manufactured electric
delivery van amid growing demand for emission-free utility vehicles.
   (AP, 8/16/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 16, Fiat-Chrysler said
it will cooperate with BMW to develop self-driving cars.
   (SFC, 8/17/17, p.C2)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 19, In Germany
anti-fascist activists gathered in the Berlin suburb of Spandau to
protest against a vigil by some 500 neo-Nazis commemorating the 30th
anniversary of the death of Nazi convict Rudolf Hess. Berlin police
detained 39 people in connection with the march. 35 of those
detained belonged to the far-right march, while four were taking
part in the counter-protest.
   (Reuters, 8/19/17)(AP, 8/20/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 19, Spanish police in
Granada arrested German-Turkish author Dogan Akhanli after Turkey
issued an Interpol warrant for the writer, a critic of the
government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Akhanli was
conditionally released the next day following a court hearing, but
ordered to stay in Madrid while Turkey's extradition request is
considered.
   (Reuters, 8/19/17)(AP, 8/20/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 20, It was reported
that a Moscow court has rejected a request by Siemens to seize its
gas turbines, which have turned up in Crimea contrary to EU
sanctions, and to ban their installation ahead of preliminary
hearings next month.
   (Reuters, 8/20/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 28, Germany said it
had reached a deal with Egypt to stem the flow of migrants from the
Arab country, part of a broader push by Berlin to head off waves of
migrants that have stoked domestic political tensions.
   (Reuters, 8/28/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 28, German authorities
raided the homes and workplaces of a police officer and another
suspect on allegations they opposed the country's policy on migrants
and were drawing up a "kill list" of left-wingers in the
northeastern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
   (AP, 8/28/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 28, German police said
a nurse, identified only as Niels H., convicted in 2015 of two
charges of attempted murder and two counts of murder by an Oldenburg
court, is suspected of killing at least 84 other people.
   (Reuters, 8/28/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 28, The leaders of
France, Germany, Italy and Spain met in Paris with counterparts from
Libya, Niger and Chad to discuss ways to curb illegal migration
across the Mediterranean Sea to European shores.
   (AP, 8/28/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 29, The World
Organization for Animal Health (OIE) said Germany has reported an
outbreak of the highly pathogenic H5N8 bird flu virus in three swans
in the central state of Saxony-Anhalt.
   (Reuters, 8/29/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 30, German officials
said a Syrian man identified only as Abdullah K. (40), held on
suspicion of fighting for an extremist group in his homeland, has
hanged himself in a Hamburg jail cell.
   (AP, 8/30/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 1, In Germany the
world's largest X-ray laser wen t online and will help them capture
images of structures and processes at an atomic level. Scientists
hoped the European XFEL project will open up new areas of research.
   (AP, 9/1/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 1, German’s Cologne
Zoo said German-born Elizabeth Reichert (93), an American widow of a
Holocaust survivor, is leaving it $22 million (18.5 million euros)
in her will. Reichert has already started transferring $6,000 per
month to the zoo. The entire sum is to be donated upon her death.
   (AP, 9/1/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 3, In Germany a
political website of Julia Kloeckner, vice chairman of Merkel's
Christian Democratic Union (CDU), saw some 3,000 attacks before a
debate between Merkel and Social Democratic leader Martin Schulz.
   (Reuters, 9/4/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 3, German explosives
experts started to defuse a massive WW II bomb in Frankfurt after
tens of thousands of people evacuated their homes.
   (Reuters, 9/3/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 4, German Chancellor
Angela Merkel announced plans to double to 1 billion euros ($1.19
billion) a fund aimed at cleaning up urban transport, in an effort
to avert bans of diesel vehicles in some cities.
   (Reuters, 9/4/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 5, Authorities in
Germany said they've recovered 15 stolen paintings and drawings by
German artist Georg Baselitz worth around 2.5 million euros ($2.9
million). A man (51) was arrested last month for selling the art
after returning from a trip abroad.
   (AP, 9/5/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 8, Germany dismissed
Poland's threat to demand new talks over World War II reparations
from Berlin, saying the issue had already been settled in 1953.
   (AFP, 9/8/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 11, German Foreign
Minister Sigmar Gabriel said Berlin had suspended major arms exports
due to deteriorating human rights in Turkey and increasingly
strained ties between the NATO allies.
   (Reuters, 9/12/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 11, A group of German
women's organizations wrote to Chancellor Angela Merkel demanding
more support for their goals of equal participation, equal pay and
better monitoring of gender policies after the Sept. 24 election.
   (Reuters, 9/11/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 12, In Germany
carmakers at the Frankfurt auto show unveiled low-emissions vehicles
and technology strategies that they hope will let them profit from
the sweeping changes expected to hit the auto industry in the next
few years.
   (AP, 9/12/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 12, Bankrupt German
airline Air Berlin said its existence is threatened by an apparent
wildcat strike, after 200 pilots called in sick at short notice.
   (AP, 9/12/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 13, Eight Afghans with
criminal records arrived in Kabul after their applications for
asylum were rejected in Germany.
   (Reuters, 9/13/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 16, In Germany the
184th Oktoberfest opened in Munich.
   (SSFC, 9/17/17 p.A3)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 20, Germany’s
Chancellor Angela Merkel and her ministers expressed their support
for a definition of anti-Semitism that includes attacks against
religious institutions, the state of Israel and non-Jews who are
attacked for anti-Semitic reasons.
   (AP, 9/20/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 20, Germany's
Thyssenkrupp and Tata Steel of India signed a preliminary deal to
merge their European steel operations, a combination that could lead
to up to 4,000 job cuts.
   (AP, 9/20/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 22, Germany said it
had ordered a second Vietnamese embassy official to leave the
country, after the alleged July 23 kidnapping of Trinh Xuan Thanh, a
Vietnamese businessman, who had applied for asylum and was facing
corruption allegations back home. A day earlier Germany informed the
Vietnamese ambassador it was temporarily suspending the strategic
relationship between the two countries.
   (Reuters, 9/22/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 24, Germany’s
Chancellor Angela Merkel won a fourth term in office but faced the
prospect of forming a coalition with two disparate new partners. The
rightwing populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) poached one million
votes from Merkel's conservatives, leaving her without an obvious
coalition.
   (AP, 9/24/17)(AFP, 9/25/17)(SFC, 9/25/17 p.A3)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 26, In Germany
Frankfurt customs found cocaine when an X-ray scan of packets
containing two Spanish-language fairy-tale books posted from Uruguay
showed "unusual shadows." The drugs had an estimated street value of
about 30,000 euros ($34,950).
   (AP, 11/3/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 27, Finnish energy
group Fortum offered to buy all the shares in German utility Uniper
in an 8.05 billion-euro ($9.5 billion) deal that aims to boost
Fortum's gas, hydroelectric and nuclear assets. Fortum offered to
buy the 46.65 percent stake that Germany's E.ON holds and the rest
of the shares for 22 euros each. E.ON has until early 2018 to decide
whether to sell its stake
   (AP, 9/27/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 28, German’s police
said a man has slipped a potentially lethal poison into food,
including baby food, on sale in some supermarkets in an extortion
scheme aimed at raising millions of euros. No cases of poisoning had
been reported so far.
   (Reuters, 9/28/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 28, Munich prosecutors
said they have arrested a second suspect in connection with an
emissions scandal at carmaker Audi and have widened the number of
suspects in their investigation.
   (Reuters, 9/28/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 29, German police
arrested a suspect (55) in the case of an alleged extortionist who
attempted to force supermarkets into coughing up tens of millions of
euros by slipping a potentially lethal poison into baby food.
   (Reuters, 9/30/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 29, Shareholders in
Rosneft, a Russia energy giant, appointed Germany’s ex-chancellor
Gerhard Schroder as a board director.
   (http://tinyurl.com/y7srpcpj)(Econ, 9/16/17,
p.64)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 1, In Germany same-sex
couples married for the first time, with several dozen couples tying
the knot at civil registry offices that opened specially to mark the
coming into force of a law passed by parliament in June.
   (Reuters, 10/1/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 3, In Germany
specialists defused a 250-kg (550-pound) bomb successfully in the
Tempelhof-Schoeneberg district of Berlin after some 10,000 people
were evacuated from their homes. It had been found during
construction work near a freight depot and was described by police
as a German bomb with a Russian detonator.
   (AP, 10/3/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 5, German prosecutors
said they have closed an investigation into suspected mass phone
tapping of German citizens by British and US spies after finding no
concrete indication of any criminal activity.
   (Reuters, 10/5/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 9, In Germany burglars
broke into Berlin’s immigration office and stole blank
identification documents, stamps and seals.
   (AP, 10/10/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 12, In Germany
Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr said that the airline will sign an
agreement to buy large parts of the bankrupt carrier Air Berlin.
   (AP, 10/12/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 16, A Berlin court
sentenced Ursula Haverbeck (88) to six months in prison for denying
the Holocaust and for inciting hatred. A court in North
Rhine-Westphalia last summer gave her a 10-month prison sentence for
the same charges. She avoided going to jail by appealing the
verdict.
   (AP, 10/17/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 18, German researchers
published a paper that showed a 76 percent decline in bug numbers
over a 27-year period. The midsummer loss was up to 82 percent. They
speculated that intensive agriculture and pesticide use may be to
blame.
   (AP, 10/19/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 18, German brothers
Maxim and Raphael Nitsche sold Cogeon, maker of the app Math 42, to
California-based education publisher Chegg Inc. in a deal worth at
least 12.5 million euros ($15 million). The Math 42 app was first
launched five years ago.
   (AP, 10/19/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 20, German magazine
Der Spiegel reported that Germany will wait for Israeli prosecutors
to conclude all investigations in a corruption scandal involving PM
Benjamin Netanyahu before delivering three submarines in a $2
billion defense deal.
   (Reuters, 10/20/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 22, In Germany several
thousand people marched past Berlin's Reichstag building to protest
"hate and racism in parliament" as newly elected lawmakers from the
nationalist, anti-migration Alternative for Germany party prepared
to take their seats.
   (AP, 10/22/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 23, The German
government said it approved the sale of three Thyssenkrupp
submarines to Israel and will provide financial support for the
purchase.
   (Reuters, 10/23/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 23, In Germany a
right-wing extremist member of a group that claims allegiance to
Adolf Hitler's World War Two-era German Reich was convicted of
murder for shooting and killing a police officer last October and
sentenced to life in prison.
   (Reuters, 10/23/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 24, German Broadcaster
ZDF reported that employees of a security company that runs several
refugee camps in Berlin were luring asylum seekers, some of them
minors, into prostitution.
   (Reuters, 10/26/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 26, Germany’s dpa news
reported that a Swiss man has confessed to a Frankfurt court that he
spied for his country on German tax investigators between July 2011
and February 2015, in a case that has sparked tension between the
two nations.
   (AP, 10/26/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 27, Air Berlin,
Germany's second-biggest airline, ended operations after 38 years
with an evening Munich-to-Berlin flight.
   (AP, 10/28/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 28, British budget
airline easyJet said it has reached an agreement with Air Berlin to
buy parts of the bankrupt German airline as part of a 40-million
euro ($46 million) deal.
   (AP, 10/28/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 29, In Germany the
"Green Belt" project, first conceived in the 1970s, was awarded the
German Environmental Prize at a ceremony in the northern city of
Braunschweig. The 1,400-km long swatch of land marked the former
border between East and West Germany is now a refuge for a broad
variety of flora and fauna.
   (Reuters, 10/29/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 29, High winds knocked
down trees and caused widespread travel chaos across much of Central
Europe, leaving five people dead and several injured in the Czech
Republic, Austria, Germany and Poland.
   (AP, 10/29/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 31, German police
arrested a Syrian (19) suspected of planning an Islamist-motivated
bomb attack in Germany with the aim of killing as many people as
possible. Yamen A. was arrested in the early hours in the
northeastern town of Schwerin.
   (Reuters, 10/31/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 2, Volkswagen’s
premium carmaker Audi said it would recall 4,997 of its A8 model
vehicles with V8 diesel engines in Europe to update software after
it found they emitted too much nitrogen oxide.
   (Reuters, 11/2/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 3, Britain, Canada,
Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands issued a statement late today
critical of Egypt’s detention of Ibrahim Metwaly, who was helping
investigate the 2016 murder of Italian student Giulio Regeni.
Metwaly was taken by airport security in September while heading to
Geneva to attend a UN conference on enforced disappearances.
   (Reuters, 11/5/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 4, In Germany some 25
thousand demonstrators marched through Bonn to protest the use of
fossil fuels ahead of a global climate conference being held in the
western German city next week.
   (AP, 11/4/17)(SSFC, 11/5/17, p.A4)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 5, In Germany more
than 2,500 anti-coal demonstrators protested in the western town of
Kerpen and at a nearby surface-mining site before an upcoming global
climate conference in Bonn.
   (AP, 11/5/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 6, The UN said this
year will be among the three hottest on record, as almost 200
countries began talks in Germany to bolster a global climate accord
that the United States plans to quit.
   (Reuters, 11/6/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 7, Syria said at UN
climate talks in Bonn that it would join the Paris Agreement,
leaving the United States as the only nation to say it will remain
outside the landmark treaty.
   (AFP, 11/7/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 8, Germany's highest
court decided that people must be allowed to be entered in official
records as neither male nor female, saying in a published ruling
that authorities should create a third identity or scrap gender
entries altogether.
   (AP, 11/8/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 9, In Germany a Swiss
man (Daniel M.) was given a 22-month suspended prison sentence for
spying on German tax officials between July 2011 and February 2015.
   (AP, 11/9/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 9, German police
detained a 29-year-old man suspected of trading narcotic drugs
internationally over the internet through anonymous websites and
sending them by mail to customers in Germany. A day earlier, in
Ingolstadt in Bavaria, police had arrested a man who had ordered
marijuana and amphetamines. In cooperation with Dutch authorities,
police soon seized 400,000 euros ($470,840) and 75 kg (165 lb) of
ecstasy, marijuana, cocaine, amphetamine and heroin at the
apartments of the suspect and at his mother in the Netherlands.
   (Reuters, 11/22/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 9, A coalition of US
cities, companies and other groups said that many in the United
States remained committed to the 2015 Paris climate agreement
despite plans by US President Donald Trump to pull out. The
coalition opened a 2,500-square meter tent pavilion outside the
COP23 UN Climate Change Conference in Bonn.
   (AP, 11/9/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 13, German police
published videos showing three former members of the Red Army
Faction (RAF) militant group taking part in a 2016 armed robbery in
northern Germany, and called for public help to track them down.
   (Reuters, 11/13/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 14, Brazil’s
government said Germany and Britain will provide a combined $153
million to expand programs to fight climate change and deforestation
in the Amazon rainforest.
   (Reuters, 11/14/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 16, German police said
they have arrested a Dutch man earlier this week accused of running
an international narcotics business from his apartment, after
seizing drugs with an estimated street value of 3 million euros
($3.5 million).
   (AP, 11/16/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 16, In Germany
delegates at UN climate talks in Bonn said at least 15 countries
have joined an international alliance to phase out coal from power
generation before 2030. China and 18 other nations representing half
the world's population said they planned to increase the use of wood
and other plant matter from sustainable sources to generate energy
as part of efforts to limit climate change.
   (Reuters, 11/16/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 17, In Germany global
talks on curbing climate change wrapped up, with delegates and
observers claiming progress on several key details of the 2015 Paris
accord.
   (AP, 11/17/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 18, In Germany
hundreds of people formed a human chain between the United States
and North Korean embassies in downtown Berlin during a protest of
the rising tensions and harsh words between the two nations.
   (AP, 11/18/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 19, In Germany
coalition talks to form a new government failed late today.
   (Reuters, 11/20/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 21, German police
displayed around 100 recovered items that belonged to late Beatles
star John Lennon that were stolen in 2006 from his widow in New
York. Police a day earlier arrested a suspect and raided his Berlin
home and cars. A second suspect, who is living in Turkey, was
currently not available.
   (AP, 11/21/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 28, Airbus, Siemens
and Rolls-Royce said they are teaming up to develop a hybrid
passenger plane that would use a single electric turbofan along with
three conventional jet engines running on aviation fuel.
   (AP, 11/28/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 3, In western Germany
a fire in a multi-story apartment building killed at least four
people and left 23 others injured so far in the city of
Saarbruecken.
   (AP, 12/3/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 4, Ragia Omran, a
prominent Egyptian human rights lawyer, was among 15 rights
defenders from around the world to receive the Franco-German Prize
for Human Rights and the Rule of Law, for her work representing
political prisoners and torture victims as well as advocating for
women's rights.
   (http://tinyurl.com/y9acyam7)(AP, 12/7/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 8, In Germany French
President Emmanuel Macron was awarded Aachen’s prestigious
International Charlemagne Prize for contributions to European unity
in recognition of his "vision of a new Europe."
   (AP, 12/7/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 8, Britain, France,
Germany, Sweden and Italy called on the United States to put forward
detailed proposals for peace between Israel and the Palestinians and
described as "unhelpful" a decision by President Donald Trump to
recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
   (Reuters, 12/8/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 9, In Germany the
Swedish comedy "The Square" swept this year's European Film Awards
in Berlin, winning six prizes, including for best film, director and
screenwriter. This year's best actress award went to Alexandra
Borbely of Slovakia for her role in "On Body and Soul."
   (AP, 12/10/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 10, The head of
Germany's domestic intelligence agency said the number of Islamic
radicals is growing and becoming increasingly difficult to keep
under surveillance as recruiting efforts move underground. He also
warned that China is allegedly using social networks to try to
cultivate lawmakers and other officials as sources.
   (AP, 12/10/17)(AP, 12/11/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 12, German lawmakers
extended the military's participation in missions against the
Islamic State group and in Afghanistan, Mali and Iraq until the
spring of 2018.
   (AP, 12/12/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 12, Germany's KBA
automotive watchdog announced a recall of Volkswagen's flagship
European sport-utility vehicles (SUV) with 3-litre diesel engines
after detecting two illicit emissions control devices in the models.
   (Reuters, 12/12/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 13, The Dutch
government said it is joining Austria's lawsuit against Germany at
the European Court of Justice over plans for a road toll for foreign
drivers.
   (Reuters, 12/13/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 18, German government
officials said Turkey has released German journalist Mesale Tolu
after nearly eight months in prison on the condition that she does
not leave the country.
   (AP, 12/18/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 19, German authorities
arrested an Afghan man (21) accused of being a member of the
Taliban. Jabar N. told investigators he left Afghanistan via Iran,
Turkey and Greece in the summer of 2015.
   (AP, 12/20/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 20, The European
Union's top court ruled that the bloc's divorce regulations don't
cover private agreements, throwing a case back to a Munich court to
decide whether to recognize a divorce granted under religious Sharia
law to a couple who are both Syrian-German.
   (AP, 12/20/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 21, The EU approved a
deal that will see Lufthansa take over part of defunct Air Berlin,
formerly the second-largest carrier in Germany.
   (AP, 12/21/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 22, In Germany a
Romanian truck driver was convicted of murder and rape in the
killing last year of a woman (27) who was out jogging in a forest in
Endingen. Austria sought the man's extradition for a further trial
there over the killing in 2014 of a French female student in
Kufstein.
   (AP, 12/22/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 25, German billionaire
Erich Kellerhals (78), co-founder of electronics retail giant Media
Markt and a major shareholder in its current owner Ceconomy, died.
   (Reuters, 12/28/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 27, In Germany an
Afghan asylum-seeker (15) fatally stabbed his ex-girlfriend, a
German of the same age, in a drugstore in Kandel. The suspect was
taken into custody on suspicion of manslaughter.
   (AP, 12/28/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 28, In Germany four
men used a hammer to break down part of a concrete wall at the
Ploetzensee prison before climbing over a barbed-wire fence. On Jan.
2 one of the escapees turned himself in.
   (AP, 12/28/17)(AP, 1/2/18)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 29, Germany's
constitutional court ruled that Oskar Groening (96) must go to jail
over his role in mass murders committed at the Nazi death camp at
Auschwitz during World War Two, refusing to overturn a lower court
ruling.
   (Reuters, 12/29/17)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 1, German police said
that a man (35) died after igniting fireworks, and a 19-year-old
suffered fatal head injuries after he set off a homemade device in
the Brandenburg region outside Berlin. Police in Cologne said there
were seven cases of sexual harassment, while Berlin police reported
13.
   (AP, 1/1/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In Germany a
government study said violent crime rose by about 10 percent in 2015
and 2016. It attributed more than 90 percent of that to young male
refugees.
   (Reuters, 1/3/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 4, Germany's highest
civil and criminal court ruled that a transsexual woman, who used
sperm she had banked prior to her sex change to have a baby with her
female partner, cannot be legally registered as the child's mother.
   (Reuters, 1/4/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 4, South Korea’s
Hyundai Motor Co. said it will begin selling its first self-driving
vehicles by 2021 in partnership with US based self-driving
technology startup Aurora Innovation Inc. Hyundai and Volkswagen
each said they're partnering with Aurora Innovation, a US autonomous
vehicle tech firm led by former executives from Google, Tesla and
Uber.
   (AP, 1/4/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 6, Germany and
Turkey's foreign ministers agreed to pull out all the stops to
improve ties that have soured due to disputes over Ankara's
post-coup crackdown and the arrests of German citizens in Turkey,
but they stressed differences remain.
   (Reuters, 1/6/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 8, Germany's powerful
metalworkers' union launched mass strikes over pay and working hours
that could impact a key industry and the shape of labor nationwide.
IG Metall demanded that all workers have the option to temporarily
switch to a 28-hour week in the pursuit of better work-life balance.
   (AFP, 1/8/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 8, A bid by
International Airlines Group, the parent of British Airways and
Iberia, to acquire much of bankrupt Air Berlin's Niki division hit a
legal stumbling block with an appeals court ruling. The Berlin state
court decided that a Berlin administrative court did not have the
jurisdiction to handle the insolvency of Austria-based Niki and that
it's up to an Austrian court to decide.
   (AP, 1/8/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 9, German prosecutors
said they had arrested Milorad Obradovic (51), a Bosnian Serb man.
He was suspected of taking part in the illegal detention of around
120 Bosnian Muslim civilians in the village of Miska Glava, near the
northwestern town of Prijedor, in July 1992, and their summary
execution in nearby Ljubija.
   (AP, 1/9/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 9, In Germany and
Italy 169 people, including mayors, businessmen and local
administrators, were arrested in a large anti-mafia blitz against
clan members who controlled restaurants, garbage collection and
funeral services.
   (Reuters, 1/9/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 10, Germany's Central
Council of Jews said new migrants to Germany must visit Nazi
concentration camp memorials to help tackle a perceived rise in
anti-Semitism, supporting a proposal by a Palestinian-German
politician.
   (Reuters, 1/10/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 11, German authorities
said they have arrested eight suspected members of an online
pedophile network in what they describe as one of the most serious
child sexual abuse cases they ever investigated. All the arrests
occurred last fall.
   (AP, 1/11/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 11, A German federal
court overturned the acquittal of seven men who posed as a
self-styled "Sharia police" in Wuppertal, ordering a retrial on
charges that they violated rules on wearing uniforms.
   (AP, 1/11/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 12, In Germany
Chancellor Angela Merkel and Social Democrat (SPD) reached a deal
that paves the way for a coalition government, saying its
provisional terms were good for Europe.
   (Reuters, 1/12/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 13, Left-wing German
Social Democrats lobbied party members against joining Chancellor
Angela Merkel's conservatives in a re-run of their 2013-2017
alliance, a week before delegates are asked to back a coalition
blueprint.
   (Reuters, 1/13/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 14, Germany's defense
minister says her country is delivering millions of dollars' worth
of equipment to Jordan's military to improve the kingdom's border
surveillance.
   (AP, 1/14/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 15, It was reported
that Japan's Softbank is investing 460 million euros ($558 million)
in German used car trading platform AUTO1. The Berlin-based company
was launched in 2012 and operates in over 30 countries, selling more
than 40,000 cars a month on its associated sites.
   (AP, 1/15/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 17, Germany and Poland
said they would consider setting up a commission to explore Polish
calls for reparations for German actions during World War Two.
   (Reuters, 1/17/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 17, A copy of
Lithuania's 1918 Independence Act found in German archives was
returned to the Baltic country, but only on loan, to be returned in
2023.
   (AP, 1/17/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 18, German railway
operator Deutsche Bahn suspended all long-distance rail service
across Germany due to a powerful storm blowing across Germany and
the Netherlands.
   (Reuters, 1/18/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 18, In the Netherlands
at least 260 flights were scrapped and falling roof tiles led to the
closure of airport terminals as powerful winds toppled trees and
blew trucks off the road. Three people were killed in the
Netherlands, three in Germany and one person in Belgium.
   (Reuters, 1/18/18)(AFP, 1/18/18)(SFC,
1/19/18, p.A5)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 19, In Germany a man
identified only as Philipp K. (33), who sold the pistol used by a
teenager in a deadly 2016 shooting rampage in Munich, was convicted
of involuntary manslaughter and other offenses and was sentenced to
seven years in prison.
   (AP, 1/19/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 21, Germany's Social
Democrats (SPD) voted to begin formal coalition talks with
Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives, moving Europe's economic
powerhouse one step closer to a stable government after months of
political deadlock.
   (Reuters, 1/21/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 21, French President
Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel pledged to agree
on a new French-German treaty this year to deepen cooperation
between the two countries.
   (AP, 1/21/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 22, German and French
lawmakers stressed the need for closer cooperation between the two
nations as they mark the 55th anniversary of the 1963 signing of the
Elysee friendship treaty.
   (AP, 1/22/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 22, German public
prosecutors said they had brought new charges against former nurse
Niels Hoegel, already serving a life sentence for murdering two
patients, accusing him of killing another 97 people with lethal
injections.
   (Reuters, 1/22/18)(SFC, 1/23/18, p.A2)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 23, In Germany a small
aircraft crashed midair with a helicopter northwest of Stuttgart,
killing four people.
   (AP, 1/23/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 24, In Germany named
as Amaechi Fred O. (27), a Nigerian man suspected of being a member
of Boko Haram and killing people in Nigeria during attacks on
schools and a village, was arrested in Bavaria.
   (Reuters, 1/26/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 25, It was reported
that Germany's caretaker government has decided to put on hold any
decision on upgrading German-made tanks in Turkey as requested by
its NATO ally Ankara.
   (Reuters, 1/25/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 27, German police shut
down a tense demonstration in Cologne, after around 15,000 Kurds
took to the streets to protest Turkey's offensive in northern Syria.
   (AFP, 1/27/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 29, The German
government dismissed as unjustifiable any auto emissions testing on
monkeys or people. German daily Stuttgarter Zeitung reported at the
weekend that a research organization funded by German carmakers
sponsored scientific experiments testing nitrogen dioxide, a gas
found in exhaust fumes, on people.
   (Reuters, 1/29/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 30, In Lebanon German
Pres. Frank-Walter Steinmeier met with Lebanese PM Saad Hariri in
Beirut, where they discussed Berlin's participation in upcoming
international conferences aimed at shoring up Lebanon's security
forces and boosting its economy. Steinmeier also met with local
Christian and Muslim spiritual leaders on the second day of his
visit.
   (AP, 1/30/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 31, In Germany Marcel
Hesse (20) was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison
for killing a child and a 22-year-old acquaintance last March.
   (AP, 1/31/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan, Two amateur
archeologists found a silver coin on the German island of Ruegen.
The state's archeology office became involved and soon uncovered
hundreds of silver coins linked to the 10th century reign of Danish
King Harald Gormsson.
   (SFC, 4/17/18, p.A2)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, German lawmakers
approved a measure extending rules limiting migrants' rights to
bring close relatives to the country, paving the way for a new
migrant plan this summer.
   (AP, 2/1/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, German police
arrested six members of the far right National Democratic Party
(NDP), who were handing out tear gas bottles and flyers in the
eastern city of Cottbus and said they were stepping up security
ahead of an anti-refugee protest there on February 3.
   (Reuters, 2/1/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Industrial workers
in Germany began a second day of 24-hour strikes over pay and
working hours, affecting companies including carmakers VW and Ford .
   (Reuters, 2/1/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 2, Weekly magazine Der
Spiegel reported that Germany has granted asylum to four Turkish
soldiers, including one Ankara accuses of playing a leading role in
the failed military coup of July 2016, in a new setback for
relations between the two countries.
   (Reuters, 2/2/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 2, In northwest
Germany a mosque in the town of Oer-Erkenschwick may no longer
broadcast its Friday midday call to prayer by loudspeaker for now
after a local court upheld a challenge by a couple who live nearly 1
km (1,000 yards) away.
   (Reuters, 2/2/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 2, Car factories
across Germany were at a standstill as industrial workers staged a
third day of 24-hour strikes, focusing on plants owned by
Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Audi and BMW.
   (Reuters, 2/2/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 3, The head of
Germany's domestic intelligence agency said North Korea has used its
embassy in Berlin to acquire equipment apparently intended for its
missile or nuclear programs.
   (AP, 2/3/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 3, Arab refugees and
Germans carrying pro-immigrant and anti-fascism placards marched in
Cottbus to denounce what they say are attempts by far-right groups
to stoke tension in the eastern city after two knife attacks by
Syrian teenagers.
   (Reuters, 2/3/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 4, In Germany US
soldier 1st Sgt. Nicholas S. Amsberry (34), who was deployed to
Europe as part of a mission to reassure eastern European allies, was
found dead near a train station in the town of Parsberg.
   (AP, 2/6/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 5, In southwestern
Germany a family of four was found dead in Esslingen. Police said
their house had elevated carbon monoxide levels.
   (AP, 2/5/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 5, Software maker
NVIDIA and German auto parts supplier Continental said they are
teaming to build a self-driving vehicle system that will hit the
market in 2021.
   (AP, 2/5/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 6, Germany's biggest
industrial union and employers reached a wage deal that gives
workers the equivalent of 3.5 percent annual raises over 27 months
and the chance to work a 28-hour week for up to two years.
   (AP, 2/6/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 7, German Chancellor
Angela Merkel's conservatives made major concessions to the
center-left Social Democrats (SPD) to agree a coalition deal that
should give Europe's powerhouse a new government after four months
of uncertainty. Merkel handed her Social Democrat (SPD) coalition
partners control of the finance ministry, giving them license to
spend a record budget surplus, and embracing their demands for
European reform.
   (Reuters, 2/7/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 8, The Christian
Social Union (CSU), the smallest partner in Germany's prospective
new government, signed off on the coalition deal giving Chancellor
Angela Merkel a stable government for her fourth term.
   (AP, 2/8/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 12, In Germany
millions of dressed-up revelers and schoolchildren took to the
streets across the country to celebrate Carnival with elaborate
costumes and fervor.
   (AP, 2/12/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 12, Germany’s dpa news
agency reported that a local court has ruled that Facebook's
insistence that users provide their real names violates the
country's data protection laws.
   (AP, 2/12/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 12, In Germany several
people died after a truck struck two cars on the A5 Autobahn,
pushing the smaller vehicles under another tractor-trailer near
Walldorf.
   (AP, 2/12/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 16, In southern
Germany dozens of world leaders, top defense officials and diplomats
gathered for the Munich Security Conference amid growing strains
between the US and other NATO nations and Russia over the conflicts
in Syria and Ukraine.
   (AP, 2/16/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 16, At the Munich
Security Conference the defense ministers of Germany and France
pledged to redouble their military and foreign policy cooperation
efforts, inviting other European countries to participate if they
felt ready to do so.
   (Reuters, 2/16/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 21, In Germany John
Ausonius (64), one of Sweden's most notorious criminals, was
sentenced to life in prison by a Frankfurt court for a murder he was
convicted of having committed in Frankfurt more than 25 years ago.
   (Reuters, 2/21/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 21, Scientists in
Germany who developed a new way to make a key malaria drug several
years ago said they have come up with a technique to make the
process even more efficient, which should increase global access and
reduce the cost.
   (AP, 2/21/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 22, Germany said it is
withdrawing a system of special visa treatment for Cambodian
officials, including PM Hun Sen and his family, citing the southeast
Asian country's crackdown on the opposition.
   (AP, 2/22/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 22, A court in
southeastern Germany has sentenced a former Catholic priest to 8½
years in prison for child sex abuse. The court found the defendant
guilty of abusing five boys on more than 100 occasions since the
mid-1990s. The man was previously imprisoned for sexual offenses
from 2003 to 2009. A church court expelled him from the priesthood
in 2008.
   (AP, 2/22/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 23, In western Germany
a food bank in Essen drew widespread criticism for its decision to
stop giving access cards to foreigners, who it says make up a
growing percentage of its users. The move was hailed by some
far-right groups.
   (AP, 2/23/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 23, Germany said
another of its citizens has been released from jail in Turkey, a
week after German-Turkish journalist Deniz Yucel was freed from
detention in a move that helped to ease tensions between the two
NATO allies.
   (Reuters, 2/23/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 26, German Chancellor
Angela Merkel's conservatives approved a coalition deal with the
Social Democrats (SPD), bringing closer a fourth term for her as
well as an end to political limbo in Europe's preeminent power.
   (Reuters, 2/26/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 27, A top German court
ruled that cities can impose diesel driving bans to combat air
pollution, a landmark decision that plunges millions of drivers into
uncertainty.
   (AFP, 2/27/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 28, Germany said
security officials were investigating an isolated attack on its
government computer networks, but the incident had been brought
under control.
   (Reuters, 3/1/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 1, In Germany a top
interior ministry official said security officials allowed hackers
"controlled" access to government networks in order to track
possible culprits and their methods, as outraged lawmakers
complained about being kept in the dark.
   (Reuters, 3/1/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 1, In Germany police
arrested Russian businessman Andrei Kovalchuk (49), accused of
smuggling nearly 400 kg of cocaine from Argentina into Russia.
   (AP, 3/2/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 2, Police in western
Germany arrested a leading member of the Italian mafia who is wanted
in his home country since 2013.
   (AP, 3/2/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 2, Turkey requested
that German authorities detain and extradite wanted Syrian Kurdish
politician Salih Muslim, the former co-chair of the Democratic Union
Party, or PYD.
   (AP, 3/5/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 4, Germany's Social
Democrats (SPD) decisively backed another coalition with Chancellor
Angela Merkel's conservatives, clearing the way for a new government
in Europe's largest economy after months of political uncertainty.
   (Reuters, 3/4/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 7, A German court
sentenced seven men and one woman to four to 10 years in jail for
founding the far-right terrorist “Freital Group” responsible for
attempted murder and bomb attacks on refugee shelters and
politicians in the former Communist East.
   (Reuters, 3/7/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 7, German prosecutors
said they have indicted a Vietnamese man (47) on suspicion of
espionage and involvement in the kidnap former Vietnamese oil
executive Trinh Xuan Thanh and a woman accompanying him in Berlin
last year.
   (AP, 3/7/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 7, German and Romanian
officials raided homes and hotels in both countries to smash an
illegal migrant trafficking ring they said was one of the biggest of
its kind in Europe.
   (AP, 3/7/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 7, Germany’s Cabinet
agreed to extend six overseas military missions, including its
long-running operation in Afghanistan. It will increase the maximum
number of troops deployed as part of the international "Resolute
Support" mission by 320 to 1,300.
   (AP, 3/7/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 7, Germany deported a
group of Egyptians to Cairo over violations of residency
requirements, including those whose asylum requests were rejected.
   (AP, 3/8/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 7, European police
said they have smashed an international weapons-smuggling ring
operating in at least four countries. Police said the group traded
firearms in Austria, Germany, Switzerland and France.
   (AP, 3/7/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 8, Germany’s the
Federal Environmental Agency said some 6,000 early deaths linked to
nitrogen oxides (NOx) are recorded each year in the country.
   (AP, 3/8/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 11, In Germany a
mosque in the Reinickendorf district of Berlin was set ablaze early
today, likely by three teenagers. Firebombs were also thrown at a
Turkish immigrants' association in the western town of Meschede.
   (AP, 3/11/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 11, Cardinal Karl
Lehmann (81), the former head of Germany's Catholic Bishops
Conference, died at his home in Mainz.
   (AP, 3/11/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 14, German lawmakers
voted to re-elect Angela Merkel as chancellor for a fourth term,
that may prove her most challenging yet as she takes charge of a
fragile coalition with her personal standing diminished.
   (Reuters, 3/14/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 14, German industrial
group Siemens announced plans to invest a billion euros in Brazil
over the next five years.
   (AFP, 3/14/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 15, The leaders of the
United States, France and Germany joined Britain in blaming Russia
for poisoning a former spy with a powerful nerve agent.
   (AP, 3/15/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 21, German authorities
confirmed outbreak of the highly pathogenic H5N6 bird flu type at a
farm off the German North Sea coast. The virus was found on a farm
of with 57 chickens, turkeys, ducks and geese on the island of
Hallig Suederoog. All the birds on the farm have been culled.
   (Reuters, 3/21/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 21, The European Union
approved Bayer's $57 billion buyout of Monsanto in a massive
agriculture business deal, but said they will have to shed over $7.4
billion in firms and other remedies to ensure fair competition in
the market.
   (AP, 3/21/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 22, A German court
sentenced Afghan migrant Hussein K. to life in prison for raping and
murdering a university student in Freiburg in 2016.
   (Reuters, 3/22/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 23, In Germany the
decapitated body of Gerd Michael Straten (59), a homeless former
picture framer, was discovered at main cemetery on Koblenz, where he
regularly spent the night. Police later offered a 10,000 euro
($12,400) reward for information about the killing.
   (AP, 3/28/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 25, Carles Puigdemont,
the fugitive ex-leader of Catalonia and ardent separatist, was
arrested by German police on an international warrant as he tried to
enter the country from Denmark. Puigdemont faces charges in Spain
including rebellion that could put him in prison for up to 30 years.
   (AP, 3/25/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 28, German police
searched the homes of 10 people suspected of providing support to
the far-right extremist "Freital Group" in the states of Saxony,
Lower Saxony and Bavaria.
   (AP, 3/28/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 28, German Automakers
Daimler and BMW said they agreed to merge their transportation
services businesses, so they can expand offerings in ride-hailing
apps, car-sharing, parking, and charging electric cars.
   (AP, 3/28/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 29, German police
seized 16 kilos (35.3 pounds) of cocaine with a street value of
678,000 euros ($833,000) during a check on a highway near the Dutch
border. They found the drugs hidden in an Italian-registered Volvo
being driven along the A61 highway near Moenchengladbach by a
28-year-old Albanian man.
   (AP, 4/4/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 29, It was reported
that Volkswagen AG has paid more than $7.4 billion to buy back about
350,000 US diesel vehicles through mid-February. The German
automaker has been storing hundreds of thousands of vehicles around
the US for months.
   (Reuters, 3/28/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 30, Russia ordered new
cuts to the number of British envoys in the country, escalating a
dispute with the West over the poisoning of an ex-spy in Britain.
Scores of foreign ambassadors streamed into the Russian Foreign
Ministry in Moscow to receive the notices given to 23 nations:
Albania, Australia, Canada, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark,
Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Latvia,
Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland,
Romania, Spain, Sweden and Ukraine.
   (AP, 3/30/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 31, In Germany a bus
driver was killed and 18 other people were injured when the bus
drove into a truck on a Bavarian highway early today.
   (AP, 3/31/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 1, In Germany hundreds
of Catalan independence supporters marched in Berlin to demand the
release of ex-regional president Carles Puigdemont, who was arrested
in Germany last week and faces extradition to Spain on rebellion
charges.
   (AFP, 4/1/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 2, Israel announced it
had reached a deal with the UN refugee agency to cancel a
controversial plan to deport African migrants and replace it with a
new one that will see thousands sent to Western countries. PM
Benjamin Netanyahu said that Canada, Italy and Germany will take in
some of Israel's African migrants under an agreement Israel reached
with the UN refugee agency.
   (AfP, 4/2/18)(Reuters, 4/2/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 3, The Essen food bank
in western Germany reversed a three-month old decision to prevent
more foreigners from accessing its services, a move that drew
criticism from aid groups and politicians.
   (AP, 4/3/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 4, A Berlin court
convicted two Romanian men (29) of killing an Angora goat at the
Hasenheide petting zoo in February, following a trial in which the
defendants testified that they had been hungry.
   (AP, 4/4/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 5, In Antarctica
German scientists said they have harvested their first crop of
vegetables grown without earth, daylight or pesticides as part of a
project designed to help astronauts cultivate fresh food on other
planets.
   (AP, 4/5/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 6, In Germany former
Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont walked out of a prison after
posting 75,000 euros ($92,000) bail, demanding that Spanish
authorities release fellow Catalan separatists and open a dialogue
on his region's future.
   (AP, 4/6/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 7, In Germany Jens
Ruether (48) drove a camper van into a group of people sitting
outside a restaurant in Muenster, killing two people. He then shot
himself dead. Authorities later said Ruether acted alone and appears
to have had mental health problems. A third person died three weeks
later from injuries sustained in the crash.
   (Reuters, 4/8/18)(AP, 4/26/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 7, In Switzerland
Karl-Erivan Haub (58), heir to the German Tengelmann retail empire,
disappeared in Zermatt while training for a ski mountaineering race
on the famous Matterhorn peak. A search for him was officially
called off after six months.
   (AP, 4/11/18)(AP, 10/11/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 8, German police
raided the homes of suspected members of a far-right group in Berlin
and in the states of Brandenburg and Thueringia, searching for
weapons. The investigators believed the suspects are members of the
Reichsbuerger (Citizens of the Reich) group, who do not recognize
modern-day Germany as a legitimate state.
   (Reuters, 4/8/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 9, In Germany six men
detained over concerns about a possible attack on Berlin's
half-marathon were released after investigators found no concrete
evidence to back their initial suspicions.
   (AP, 4/9/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 9, In southern Germany
an employee at an airfield died after being hit by flying debris
when the rotor blades of a military helicopter collided with the
facility's control tower at the Hassfurt-Schweinfurt airfield.
   (AP, 4/10/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 10, In Germany tens of
thousands of air passengers were stranded as workers at airlines
Lufthansa staged strikes that crippled traffic.
   (AFP, 4/10/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 11, In Germany trade
unions piled more pressure on public sector employers with a second
day of nationwide wage strikes, as more than 25,000 workers staged
walkouts at hospitals, childcare centers and waste depots.
   (Reuters, 4/11/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 12, In Germany a woman
(34) and her 1-year-old daughter died after being stabbed at a busy
subway station in central Hamburg. The suspected assailant (33), the
woman's ex-husband from Niger, was arrested.
   (AP, 4/12/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 12, In Germany Herbert
Diess (59) was named as the new boss of VW, replacing longtime
insider Matthias Mueller.
   (AP, 4/13/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 13, In Germany police
in the central city of Fulda shot dead a young Afghan refugee (19)
who went on a violent rampage in a bakery.
   (AFP, 4/13/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 20, In eastern Germany
several hundred neo-Nazis gathered for a far-right rock festival in
Ostritz on Adolf Hitler's birthday. Many local residents took a
stance against them by attending a festival for peace.
   (Reuters, 4/21/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 21, It was reported
that Ireland-based Smyths Toys has reached a deal to take over more
than 90 Toys R Us stores in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
   (AP, 4/21/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 22, Germany's Social
Democrats (SPD) elected Andrea Nahles (47) as their first ever
female leader, hoping she can reinvigorate the country's oldest
party after it suffered heavy losses in September's election.
   (Reuters, 4/22/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 24, Germany-based Audi
said it is recalling about 1.2 million cars and SUVs worldwide
because the electric coolant pumps can overeat and possibly cause a
fire.
   (AP, 4/24/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 25, Germans of various
faiths donned kippas, Jewish skullcaps, and took to the streets in
several cities to protest an anti-Semitic attack in Berlin and
express fears about growing hatred of Jews in the country.
   (AP, 4/25/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 26, German and French
officials signed four documents in Berlin that they said underscored
their determination to work together to jointly develop new weapons
systems, including a maritime airborne warfare aircraft and a new
fighter jet.
   (Reuters, 4/26/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 27, The German
government said a Syrian presidential decree on real estate
registration is a "cynical plan" designed to confiscate refugees'
property. The decree, which ran in state-run media this month, gives
property owners in certain parts of Syria one month to provide
ownership deeds or face having their property confiscated.
   (AP, 4/27/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 27, US Pres. Donald
Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel aired differences over
trade and NATO at a White House meeting where they tried to put on a
show of warmth and friendship. Merkel faced an uphill struggle to
save the Iran nuclear deal, avoid a trade war and make her
relationship with the US president functional again.
   (AFP, 4/27/18)(Reuters, 4/28/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 29, Sprint and
T-Mobile announced that they had reached a deal to merge. Deutsche
Telekom would own roughly 43 percent of the combined businesses.
   (SFC, 4/30/18, p.A7)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 30, A leading German
nationalist politician won a court injunction forcing Facebook to
ensure a user's slur against her can't be seen in Germany.
   (AP, 4/30/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â May 1, Tens of thousands
of workers marched across Germany and Austria rallying for their
rights in the face of globalization.
   (AP, 5/1/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â May 3, Hundreds of German
police officers raided a refugee shelter in the southern town of
Ellwangen, days after an angry mob of migrants prevented authorities
from deporting a 23-year-old man from Togo.
   (AP, 5/3/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â May 4, Munich-based
Allianz said it will stop insuring coal-fired power plants and coal
mines as part of its contribution to combating climate change.
   (AP, 5/4/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â May 4, Albanian police
said Arber Cekaj, owner of the Arbi Garden company, has been
arrested near Duesseldorf. His company owned a container with 613 kg
(1,350 pounds) of cocaine that was discovered in February.
   (AP, 5/4/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â May 5, In Germany a larger
than life statue of Communist philosopher Karl Marx was unveiled on
the 200th anniversary of his birth in the western town of Trier. The
4.4-meter (14-foot) bronze statue of Marx was donated by China.
   (AP, 5/5/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â May 7, In Germany a crash
between a freight train and a passenger train killed two people in
Bavaria. A controller (24) was soon detained over the death of a
train driver and a female passenger (73).
   (Reuters, 5/8/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â May 8, In northern Germany
about 800 police officers raided properties overnight and into the
morning arresting three men suspected of belonging to a gang of
human traffickers with links to a right-wing radical movement.
   (Reuters, 5/8/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â May 8, German luxury
carmaker Audi said it had detected "irregularities" in the emissions
controls of recent A6/A7 models, prompting it to halt deliveries in
the latest twist in the "dieselgate" scandal dogging parent company
Volkswagen.
   (AFP, 5/8/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â May 9, Chancellor Angela
Merkel's cabinet agreed on rules to allow a limited number of family
members to join migrants in Germany, ending a long-standing dispute
between the parties in her two-month old right-left coalition.
   (Reuters, 5/9/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â May 9, Germany's foreign
minister vowed to work to preserve the Iran nuclear deal and prevent
an "uncontrolled escalation" of tensions in the Middle East. The
Federation of German Industries, or BDI, said it rejects "the
extraterritorial application of sanctions" and called upon the EU to
find a solution to protect European companies from the "unlawful and
unilateral" application of US sanctions.
   (AP, 5/9/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â May 10, In Germany a
gathering of almost 180 nations made slow progress on a "rule book"
for a global climate accord at talks ending today and agreed to a
new round of negotiations to break a diplomatic logjam before a
year-end deadline for a deal.
   (Reuters, 5/10/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â May 15, Germany's police
raided 20 flats in Berlin and Brandenburg and arrested three men
suspected of being members of a gang smuggling Vietnamese people
into the country.
   (Reuters, 5/15/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â May 15, The Open Society
Foundations of billionaire philanthropist, George Soros, said it is
relocating its headquarters to Berlin from Budapest in the wake of
an "increasingly repressive" environment in Hungary.
   (AP, 5/15/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â May 17, German media
reported that the country's foreign intelligence service secured a
sample of the Soviet-developed nerve agent Novichok in the 1990s and
passed on its knowledge to partners including Britain and the US.
   (AP, 5/17/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â May 18, Germany's top
administrative court confirmed that local cities are entitled to ban
older diesel vehicles from streets with immediate effect to bring
air pollution levels in line with European Union rules.
   (Reuters, 5/18/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â May 19, In Germany two
people were reported killed in a shooting near the southwestern city
of Saarbruecken. Police said it was a domestic incident.
   (AP, 5/19/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â May 22, In Germany Susanna
Feldman (14), a member of the Jewish community in Mainz, went
missing. Her body was found June 6 on the outskirts of Wiesbaden.
Police sought Ali Bashar, a fugitive Iraqi asylum-seeker, and on
June 6 arrested a Turkish man. Bashar and his family abruptly left a
home for asylum applicants in Germany after the killing. He was
later extradited from Iraq. In 2019 Bashar (22) admitted to killing
the girl following consensual sex as he went on trial.
   (AP, 6/7/18)(AP, 3/12/19)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â May 23, Germany's interior
minister banned a local branch of the Federal Office for Migration
and Refugees from making asylum decisions amid a widening scandal
over the allegedly improper granting of more than a thousand
requests for asylum.
   (AP, 5/23/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â May 24, Germany's largest
lender Deutsche Bank said it will slash over 7,000 jobs globally and
dramatically scale back its investment banking activities as it
seeks to turn the page on years of losses.
   (AFP, 5/24/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â May 24, Germany-based
car-sharing service car2go said it is indefinitely suspending its
operations in Toronto, Canada, because parking regulations make its
business inoperable. It will suspend operations of the flexible,
short-term rental system on May 31.
   (AP, 5/24/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â May 25, German magazine
Der Spiegel reported that Daimler faces a recall order for more than
600,000 diesel-engine vehicles including C-Class and G-Class models
because of suspected emissions manipulation.
   (Reuters, 5/25/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â May 27, In Germany
thousands of demonstrators for and against the far-right faced off
in mass rival rallies in Berlin, where calls of "We are the people"
were met with chants of "Go away, Nazis" and techno music.
   (AFP, 5/27/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â May 27, In Germany Melanie
Rehberger (30) was found dead in a park next to a railway line in
the north of Berlin, two days after going missing during a work
break. On July 3 Spanish police arrested a 38-year-old suspect and
his extradition to Germany was sought.
   (AP, 7/4/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â May 31, Hamburg became the
first German city to implement a ban on older diesel-powered trucks
and drivers of such vehicles are now prohibited from using two road
sections in the city. Hamburg will uphold the ban until air quality
improves or Chancellor Angela Merkel's government enforces vehicle
retrofits.
   (AP, 5/31/18)(Reuters, 5/31/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 1, In Germany a
controversial decree requiring Christian crucifixes to be put up at
entrances of most public buildings in Bavaria came into force,
sparking accusations of identity politics ahead of elections in the
state.
   (AFP, 6/1/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 3, Germany's Pres.
Frank-Walter Steinmeier asked gays for forgiveness for decades of
suffering and injustice they endured as a result of repressive laws
in Germany in the Nazi era and after World War II.
   (AP, 6/3/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 3, In Germany the
international airport in Hamburg suspended all flights because of a
power outage, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded.
   (AP, 6/3/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 6, Germany's Transport
Ministry said the motor authority KBA has ordered a recall of Audi
A6 and A7 models with 3.0 liter Euro 6 diesel engines after finding
illegal emissions software in them.
   (Reuters, 6/6/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 6, German authorities
arrested four Iraqis suspected of membership in the Islamic State
group, including one who is alleged to have carried out attacks
(2006-2008) that killed and wounded US troops.
   (AP, 6/7/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 7, German
pharmaceutical company Bayer AG said it has completed its purchase
of US seed and weed-killer maker Monsanto Co.
   (AP, 6/7/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 8, German media
reported that local prosecutors have issued an international arrest
warrant for Jamil Hassan, a top Syrian intelligence officer, accused
of overseeing the torture and murder of hundreds of detainees.
   (AFP, 6/8/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 8, Kurdish authorities
in northern Iraq detained Ali Bashar (20) on suspicion of raping and
murdering Susanna Feldman (14), a Jewish girl who went missing May
22 in Germany.
   (Reuters, 6/8/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 8, The United Nations
General Assembly voted to elect Germany, Belgium, South Africa, the
Dominican Republic and Indonesia for a two-year term in the Security
Council starting on Jan. 1, 2019.
   (Reuters, 6/8/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 8, Vietnamese
authorities released from prison and expelled prominent human rights
lawyer Nguyen Van Dai (49) and dissident Le Thu Ha (36), both of
whom were sent to Germany.
   (AP, 6/8/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 10, Germany and France
sharply criticized US President Donald Trump's decision to abruptly
withdraw his support for a Group of Seven communique, accusing him
of destroying trust and acting inconsistently.
   (Reuters, 6/10/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 11, In Germany a young
woman was fatally stabbed in the Casinogarten park in the city of
Viersen and a massive search for the assailant was underway. The
following day a new suspect (17) in the fatal stabbing of a
15-year-old Romanian girl in Viersen turned himself in to police.
   (AP, 6/11/18)(AP, 6/12/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 11, It was reported
that German building materials maker Knauf is buying American
building products maker USG in an approximately $7 billion deal. USG
will keep its headquarters in Chicago.
   (AP, 6/11/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 12, German police
arrested a Tunisian man after discovering "toxic substances" at his
flat in Cologne. Der Spiegel soon named the suspect as Sief Allah H.
(29) and said he had been trying to build a bomb containing the
deadly poison ricin using ingredients he bought online.
   (AFP, 6/13/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 13, In Germany the
regional court in Duesseldorf sentenced a man, identified only as
Saleh A., to seven years in prison after finding him guilty of
membership in foreign terrorist groups, manslaughter and other
charges.
   (AP, 6/13/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 13, More than 150
German and Danish police officers searched a dozen apartments and
offices in a joint cross-border raid on an illegal human trafficking
network that focused on arranging hundreds of sham marriages.
   (AP, 6/13/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 13, Germany extradited
Milorad Obradovic (49), a Bosnian Serb, to Bosnia. He was accused of
taking part in the 1992 detention and torture of about 120 Muslim
Bosniaks in the Bosnian war, and personally killing three others.
   (Reuters, 6/13/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 15, A German court
ruled that investors pushing for damages over a sharp fall in
Volkswagen shares after the carmaker disclosed emissions cheating in
2015 can also seek redress from majority shareholder Porsche SE .
   (Reuters, 6/15/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 18, Germany's
environment minister said the country will likely miss its goal of
cutting emissions by 40 percent by 2020, an embarrassing admission
for a government that wants to lead the charge on limiting climate
change.
   (AP, 6/18/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 19, French President
Emmanuel Macron and Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel said they
have agreed to set up a common budget for the eurozone.
   (AFP, 6/19/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 19, Germany-based
reinsurance group Hannover Re said will no longer invest in
companies that earn 25 percent or more of revenue from mining or
burning coal. It said the policy began "some months ago," but
details of the policy are new.
   (Reuters, 6/19/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 21, German Chancellor
Angela Merkel promised a $100 million loan to troubled Jordan, where
mass protests over austerity measures forced the prime minister to
resign earlier this month.
   (AP, 6/21/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 23, In western Germany
25 people were injured, four of them severely, when an explosion
destroyed an apartment building late today in the city of Wuppertal.
   (AP, 6/24/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 24, In Germany
hundreds of protesters marched through Berlin to demand an end to
burning coal to produce electricity.
   (AP, 6/24/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 24, A majority of 16
of 28 EU national leaders gathered in Brussels for emergency talks
on migration. German Chancellor Angela Merkel asked EU leaders to
stop asylum seekers moving freely around the bloc, an issue that is
threatening her ruling coalition.
   (Reuters, 6/24/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 25, German officials
said a Tunisian man who allegedly served as a bodyguard to Osama bin
Laden has been detained and is to be deported. Sami A. (41) had
previously successfully argued against his deportation, saying he
risked being tortured in his homeland.
   (AFP, 6/25/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 26, In southern
Germany a woman and three children were found dead at an apartment
in Gunzenhausen, and the woman's husband was being treated as a
suspect. The children's father (31), was found lying outside the
building with injuries caused by a fall from a great height.
   (AP, 6/26/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 27, Authorities in
northwestern Germany opened an investigation into 21 deaths at a
company, after a male employee was caught on camera poisoning a
colleague's lunch. Police said they had arrested a suspect (56) in
the town of Schloss Holte-Stukenbroc.
   (Reuters, 6/27/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 27, The first
Rwandan-made Volkswagen car rolled off the assembly line on at the
country's first auto factory in Kigali. The cars will be mostly for
export to other African nations and will remain unaffordable to the
average Rwandan.
   (AFP, 6/27/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 30, It was reported
that German Chancellor Angela Merkel has secured agreements with 14
European Union countries to rapidly return some asylum seekers as
she seeks to end a schism in her government over migration policy.
   (AP, 6/30/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 1, In Germany a
Vienna-based Iranian diplomat, identified later as Assadollah Assadi
(46), was arrested over a suspected plot to carry out a bomb attack
on an exiled Iranian opposition group. French police also detained a
man of Iranian origin in France.
   (Reuters, 7/4/18)(AP, 7/4/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 2, SpaceX's Dragon
capsule delivered nearly 6,000 pounds of supplies to the Int'l.
Space Station. The supplies included the round AI robot Cimon,
slightly bigger than a basketball, from the German Space Agency
intended to assist German astronaut Alexander Gerst with science
experiments.
   (SFC, 7/3/18, p.A7)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 3, In Germany
Wiesbaden prosecutors said that Ali Bashar (20), who's in custody
for the May slaying of Susanna Feldman, is believed to have raped a
11-year-old German girl in a refugee home in March in the western
city. Prosecutors said Bashar and a 14-year-old Afghan boy also
raped the 11-year-old together in May. The Afghan boy is accused of
also raping her another time and was arrested a day earlier.
   (AP, 7/3/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 4, German authorities
deported 69 Afghans whose asylum requests were rejected back to
their home country.
   (AP, 7/4/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 6, Germany's top court
ruling that files of unpublished documents about Volkswagen's
emission scandal seized from a US law firm may be reviewed. VW had
hired law firm Jones Day and advisory firm Deloitte to investigate
the issue and look at who was responsible shortly after the
dieselgate scandal broke in September 2015.
   (Reuters, 7/6/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 6, Meeting in Vienna
top diplomats from Germany, Britain, France, Russia and China
reaffirmed their commitment to the 2015 deal with Iran, known as the
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
   (AP, 7/6/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 7, In Germany
demonstrators marched in Berlin and several other cities in support
of the private aid ships that rescue migrants in the Mediterranean
Sea.
   (AP, 7/7/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 9, German Chancellor
Angela Merkel and Chinese PM Li Keqiang stressed their commitment to
a multilateral trade system. German companies signed a raft of
agreements with Chinese partners at their meeting in Berlin.
   (AP, 7/9/18)(Reuters, 7/9/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 10, Germany-based BMW
Group and the biggest Chinese SUV brand, Great Wall Motor, announced
a partnership to produce electric MINI vehicles in China as global
automakers ramp up development under pressure from Beijing.
   (AP, 7/10/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 11, In Germany Iranian
diplomat Assadollah Assadi, suspected of involvement in a bomb plot
against an Iranian opposition rally in France, was charged with
activity as a foreign agent and conspiracy to commit murder.
   (AP, 7/11/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 11, In Germany Beate
Zschaepe (43), a member of a neo-Nazi gang, was jailed for life for
her part in the murders of 10 people during a seven-year campaign of
racially-motivated violence.
   (Reuters, 7/11/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 11, President Donald
Trump barreled into a NATO summit in Brussels with claims that a
pipeline deal has left Germany "totally controlled" and "captive to
Russia" as he lobbed fresh complaints about allies' "delinquent"
defense spending at the opening of what was expected to be a fraught
two-day meeting.
   (AP, 7/11/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 13, Germany deported a
Tunisian man who allegedly worked as a bodyguard for Osama bin
Laden, more than a decade after his asylum bid was first rejected.
He was identified by German authorities only as Sami A. and by Tunis
as Sami Idoudi, and had lived in Germany for more than two decades.
   (AP, 7/13/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 15, Germany said it
had agreed with Italy to take in 50 of the 450 migrants aboard two
EU border agency vessels, matching similar pledges by France and
Malta.
   (AFP, 7/15/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 17, Amazon workers in
Germany and Spain called for strikes over salary and working
conditions to coincide with the online retailer's global sales
event, Prime Day.
   (AP, 7/17/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 18, In Germany a
Vietnamese man admitted in court that he helped his country's secret
services to kidnap a former oil executive in broad daylight from a
Berlin street and smuggle him back to Vietnam last year, where
businessman Trinh Xuan Thanh has been jailed for life for
corruption.
   (Reuters, 7/18/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 19, In western Germany
Ahmed Massoud (32) was arrested in Duesseldorf after a standoff with
police, who were alerted by the suspect's wife. The woman told
officers that she had received a video call from Massoud in which he
was seen holding their crying daughter (7) and threatening to hurt
the girl. By the time police entered the apartment, the girl was
dead.
   (AP, 7/21/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Germany a man
armed with a knife attacked people on a bus in the northern city of
Luebeck, wounding at least 14 people, two seriously, before being
arrested by police.
   (Reuters, 7/20/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, German astronaut
Alexander Gerst played a duet of Kraftwerk's 1978 song "Spacelab"
with the band to cheers from an audience in Stuttgart.
   (AP, 7/21/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Germany-based
Bayer, the maker of a permanent contraceptive implant subject to
thousands of injury reports and repeated safety restrictions by
regulators, said that it will stop selling Essure in the US, the
only country where it remains available.
   (AP, 7/21/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 22, In Germany
thousands of people protested in the southern city of Munich against
what they say is the "politics of fear" that is pushing public
debate in the country to the right.
   (AP, 7/22/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 22, German soccer star
Mesut Ozil announced his decision to quit the national team due to
the "racism and disrespect" he faced over his Turkish roots. This
triggered a bad-tempered public debate about the country's relations
with its largest immigrant community.
   (Reuters, 7/23/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 24, Germany's domestic
intelligence agency said the number of Germans who reject the
legitimacy of the government has increased sharply over the past 18
months. the Reichsbuerger movement increased to about 16,500 people
last year from about 10,000 in 2016. By July of this year officials
estimated the movement had grown further to about 18,000 people.
   (AP, 7/24/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 24, German authorities
arrested Yasmin H., the wife of a Tunisian man detained last month,
over a plot to use the toxin ricin to carry out an attack, alleging
that she was an accomplice. Her husband, Sief Allah H., was arrested
on June 12.
   (AP, 7/24/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 25, A German court
sentenced Long N.H. (47), a Czech-Vietnamese national, to nearly
four years in jail for taking part in a brazen Cold War-style
kidnapping ordered by Hanoi of an oil executive from a Berlin park.
   (AFP, 7/25/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 27, The German
government said it took a minority stake in electricity transmission
firm 50Hertz for "national security" reasons, thwarting Chinese
investors from buying into the strategic company. 50Hertz is one of
four transmission system operators in Germany and ensures that 18
million people are supplied with electricity.
   (AFP, 7/27/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 31, In Germany Ralf
Spies (52) was cleared of 12 counts of attempted murder with a
"racist" motive and with causing an explosion in the attack at a
commuter rail station in the western city of Duesseldorf on July 27,
2000.
   (AFP, 7/31/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 31, German farmers
intensified calls for around 1 billion euros ($1.17 billion) in
special aid after crop damage from a drought and heatwave, but
Berlin said it would wait for an August harvest report before making
a decision.
   (Reuters, 7/31/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul, In Germany a woman
(36) was stabbed to death on a street in Duesseldorf. Ali S. had
stalked the woman and stabbed her 27 times. He was later arrested in
Spain. In 2019 he was sentenced to life in prison.
   (AP, 4/4/19)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 1, German lawmakers
approved the payment of a final bailout loan instalment to Greece
worth 15 billion euros ($17.6 billion). Greece's third successive
international bailout ends in late August.
   (AP, 8/1/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 4, In Germany Sahra
Wagenknecht one of the country's most prominent left-wing
politicians, launched a website for the "Aufstehen" ("Stand Up")
movement, with a full official launch to follow next month.
Wagenknecht is a divisive figure even within her own party, in part
for taking a skeptical position on migration.
   (AP, 8/4/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In southwestern
Germany a mother (48) and her partner were convicted and jailed for
repeatedly raping the woman's young son, now 10, and selling him to
pedophiles on the internet, abusing him for more than two years.
   (AP, 8/7/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, A pharmaceutical
company filed a lawsuit to prevent Nebraska from using lethal
injection drugs next week in what would be the state's first
execution in more than two decades. The federal lawsuit could delay
the Aug. 14 execution of Carey Dean Moore, who was sentenced to
death for killing two Omaha cab drivers in 1979. Germany-based
Fresenius Kabi opposes the use of its drugs in executions.
   (AP, 8/8/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 8, Germany said it has
reached an agreement with Spain for that country to take back
previously registered migrants who show up at the German border, a
first step toward implementing a deal to defuse a domestic political
dispute over migration.
   (AP, 8/8/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 10, German police
detained former cyclist and Tour de France champion (1997) Jan
Ullrich (44) for attacking and injuring a prostitute in a Frankfurt
luxury hotel.
   (Reuters, 8/10/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 10, Ryanair pilots in
several European countries staged a strike over work conditions that
prompted the budget carrier to cancel 400 flights. Walkouts called
by German and Belgian unions accounted for many of the cancelations,
with strikes also called in Sweden and Ireland.
   (AP, 8/10/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 15, Germany's Cabinet
approved a third gender option for official records that will allow
people to be registered as "diverse," complying with a ruling from
the country's highest court.
   (AP, 8/15/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 15, German authorities
deported 46 Afghans whose asylum requests were rejected to their
homeland. German authorities have sent 349 people back to
Afghanistan since December 2016.
   (AP, 8/15/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 17, The German
government said Greece has agreed to take back migrants who apply
for asylum there and later turn up at Germany's border with Austria.
   (AP, 8/17/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 21, Germany, citing
its "moral duty", took in Jakiw Palij, a 95-year-old former guard at
the Trawniki Nazi labor camp where more than 6,000 people were
killed in 1943, after he was stripped of his US citizenship.
   (AFP, 8/21/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 22, The German
government said it will compensate thousands of farmers whose
harvests have suffered as a result of this year's extreme drought,
which many experts have linked to climate change.
   (AP, 8/22/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 22, A man (26) in
Germany died after a AA battery-charging device exploded, firing an
object into the man's chest.
   (AP, 8/23/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 23, In Germany a
wildfire southwest of Berlin forced the evacuation of residents in
three villages.
   (SFC, 8/25/18, p.A2)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 25, In Germany
searchers found the body of a Canadian man who went missing in the
Bavarian Alps on August 2. The remains were found by a fellow
Canadian, a police climber and friend of the man's family who had
joined the search.
   (AP, 8/26/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 26, A German man was
stabbed after a street festival early today in Chemnitz, Saxony
state. Police soon arrested a Syrian (22) and an Iraqi (21) on
suspicion of manslaughter. Prosecutors later said the killing was
preceded by a verbal confrontation that escalated.
   (AP, 8/28/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 26, German journalist
Mesale Tolu, who was on trial in Turkey on terror-related charges,
returned to Germany after a Turkish court ruled that she could leave
the country.
   (AP, 8/26/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 27, In Germany at
least 20 people were injured as pyrotechnics and other objects were
hurled by both far-right demonstrators as well as anti-fascist
counter-protesters in the eastern city of Chemnitz. This 2nd day of
protests followed the fatal stabbing of a German man (35) allegedly
by a Syrian and an Iraqi.
   (AFP, 8/28/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 29, Germany announced
a new agency to fund cutting-edge research on cyber security and to
end its reliance on digital technologies from the United States,
China and other countries.
   (Reuters, 8/29/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 29, In Germany a
golden statue of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that was
installed at an art festival whose motto is "Bad news" was taken
down after authorities in the city of Wiesbaden said it was becoming
a security issue.
   (AP, 8/29/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 29, A Namibian
delegation in Berlin took possession of the remains of 27 countrymen
whose bones were taken by German colonial forces more than a century
ago for pseudo-scientific racial experiments.
   (AP, 8/29/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 30, German Chancellor
Angela Merkel arrived in Ghana during a three-nation West Africa
visit aimed at boosting investment in a region that is a major
source of migrants heading toward Europe. Merkel first stopped in
Senegal, another of Africa's fastest-growing economies, and will
continue on to Nigeria.
   (AP, 8/30/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 31, In Nigeria German
Chancellor Angela Merkel met with Nigerian President Muhammadu
Buhari wrapping up a three-day Africa visit with a meeting that
focused on migration.
   (AP, 8/31/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 1, In Germany 18
people were injured as the anti-migrant far-right and
counter-protesters held opposing rallies in the city of Chemnitz,
which was hit by xenophobic demonstrations last week. Police brought
an early close Saturday to the anti-migrant march that far-right
activists hoped would launch a nationwide movement to challenge the
political establishment.
   (AFP, 9/1/18)(AP, 9/2/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 1, In Germany Hesse
state police arrested a 17-year-old on suspicion of preparing a
serious act of violence. The suspect was reportedly planning to
attack a gay nightclub in Frankfurt and a Catholic church in the
city.
   (AP, 9/13/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 3, In Germany a
migrant was convicted of murdering his 15-year-old German
ex-girlfriend in Kandel in December 2017 and was sentenced to 8.5
years in prison.
   (AP, 9/3/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 4, In Germany lawmaker
Sahra Wagenknecht, whose Left Party grew out of the former East
Germany's communist party, and two members of the Greens and the
Social Democrats said more than 100,000 people have pledged online
to support a new movement called "Aufstehen" (Stand Up) with the aim
of reviving the fortunes of the country's ailing left by attracting
like-minded people across party lines.
   (AP, 9/4/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 6, South African
President Cyril Ramaphosa ramped up an anti-corruption drive,
authorizing an investigation of alleged wrongdoing in the national
water department's dealings with German software firm SAP.
   (AP, 9/6/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 7, The US Army Europe
said it's expanding its troop presence by adding 1,500 solders to
its forces in Germany.
   (AP, 9/7/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 7, Speaking in Germany
Qatar's emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani said in Berlin his
country would invest some 10 billion euros ($11.6 billion) in
Germany, as he battled a policy of isolation by neighboring states.
   (AFP, 9/7/18)  Â
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 9, In Germany a
22-year-old German man died overnight in the eastern town of Koethen
and two Afghans were detained on suspicion of killing him.
   (Reuters, 9/9/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 9, German pop singer
Daniel Kueblboeck (33) went missing at sea after going overboard
from the cruise ship AIDAluna off the coast of Canada.
   (AP, 9/9/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 12, Germany's Catholic
Church said it was "dismayed and ashamed" by decades of child sex
abuse by priests, after a report was leaked showing that thousands
of minors were assaulted. The report said 3,677 people were abused
by clergy between 1946 and 2014.
   (AFP, 9/13/18)(SFC, 9/13/18, p.A2)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 12, Irish budget
carrier Ryanair was defiant as dozens of flights were disrupted in a
walkout by German pilots and cabin crew, the latest flare-up in a
bitter Europe-wide battle for better pay and conditions.
   (AFP, 9/13/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 13, German activists,
living in treehouses to protect the ancient Hambach Forest from
being razed for a nearby coal mine, vowed to resist as police began
evicting them, in a major escalation of the long-running
environmental battle.
   (AFP, 9/13/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 13, Volkswagen
announced it would end production of its iconic "Beetle" cars in
2019 after adding a pair of final editions of the bug-shaped
vehicles.
   (AFP, 9/14/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 15, California Gov.
Jerry Brown announced a sister-state relationship with the German
state of Baden-Württemberg that furthers strengthens climate and
economic ties between the two entities.
   (AP, 9/16/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 15, Pyotr Verzilov,
publisher of a Russian online news outlet and affiliated with the
anti-Kremlin punk band Pussy Riot, arrived in Berlin from Moscow
late today on a medical transport plane. The anti-Kremlin activist
lost his sight, hearing and his ability to walk in a suspected
poisoning last week.
   (Reuters, 9/16/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 16, In western Germany
some four thousand people protested against the expansion of a coal
strip mine that would entail the chopping down of the ancient
Hambach forest.
   (AP, 9/16/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 16, In northern
Germany a Polish man (20) received a fatal stab wound after an
altercation with an unknown man who then fled the scene in
Neumuenster.
   (AP, 9/17/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 17, German Chancellor
Angela Merkel visited Algeria to promote bilateral ties and discuss
migration and the situation in neighboring Libya.
   (AP, 9/17/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 18, In Germany
Hans-Georg Maassen, the head of the BfV intelligence agency, was
ousted from his post but then made deputy minister — with a hefty
pay rise. He had been criticized for appearing to downplay
anti-migrant violence and for his contacts with a far-right party.
   (AP, 9/21/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 20, In Germany a man
(23) killed his baby son by throwing the infant from the 7th floor
of a high-rise building before jumping to his death in Berlin.
   (AP, 9/21/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 22, In Germany the
185th Oktoberfest got under way in Munich.
   (SSFC, 9/23/18, p.A4)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 23, Sports car maker
Porsche said it would become the first German auto giant to abandon
the diesel engine, reacting to parent company Volkswagen's emissions
cheating scandal and urban driving bans.
   (AFP, 9/23/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 25, A German court
said it could not enforce a Chilean prison sentence for Hartmut Hopp
(74), a German former member of a Nazi pedophile sect, for
complicity in child sex abuse because the evidence the Chilean court
had provided against him fell short of that required under German
judicial standards. Dr. Hopp was the right-hand man of convicted
pedophile Paul Schaefer, a former Wehrmacht soldier and lay preacher
who in 1961 founded the "Colonia Dignidad" commune that
indoctrinated residents and kept them as virtual slaves.
   (AP, 9/25/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 25, The head of the
Catholic Church in Germany apologized "for all the failure and
pain", after a report spanning a 70-year period ending in 2014,
found indications of sexual abuse by 1,670 clerics, with more than
3,700 possible victims.
   (Reuters, 9/25/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 27, German steel
company and industrial equipment maker Thyssenkrupp said it plans to
split into two separate entities that will be run as independent,
listed companies.
   (AP, 9/27/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 27, Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived in Germany for a controversial
three-day state visit that both sides hope will help rebuild
relations that have been battered in recent years.
   (AFP, 9/27/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 28, In Germany
Chancellor Angela Merkel and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
vowed to rebuild strained relations after a two-year crisis despite
remaining differences on civil rights and other issues. President
Tayyip Erdogan called on Berlin to extradite what he said were the
hundreds of supporters of the cleric Fethullah Gulen residing in
Germany.
   (AFP, 9/28/18)(Reuters, 9/28/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 28, Germany's
financial capital of Frankfurt unveiled its new "Old City" — 35
buildings reproduced in part an area that was destroyed during World
War II bombings. The 7-hectare (17-acre) site was previously
occupied by a 1970s concrete building that housed part of the
Frankfurt city administration and was demolished in 2010.
   (AP, 9/28/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 29, In Germany Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan opened one of Europe's largest
mosques in Cologne as he wrapped up a controversial 3-day visit,
with police deploying in force to manage rival rallies.
   (AFP, 9/29/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 1, German police
arrested six more men on suspicion of forming a "far-right terrorist
organization" in the eastern city of Chemnitz and planning to carry
out attacks against foreigners and political enemies. A seventh
suspect was arrested in a separate case last month.
   (AP, 10/1/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 2, German ministers
said the government will ease immigration rules to attract foreign
jobseekers, including giving well-integrated, irregular migrants who
are employed a shot at staying in the country to combat a
fast-ageing worker shortage.
   (AFP, 10/2/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 2, German car giant
Volkswagen said it was removing Rupert Stadler, the chief executive
of subsidiary Audi who has been jailed in an emissions fraud probe
since June, from his post and the parent group's board.
   (AFP, 10/2/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 3, The Japan Space
Exploration Agency said the Mobile Asteroid Surface Scout (MASCOT),
a German-French observation device, was released from the unmanned
spacecraft Hayabusa2 and successfully landed on the asteroid Ryugu.
   (AP, 10/3/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 4, German Chancellor
Angela Merkel paid homage in Jerusalem to the six million Jews
killed by the Nazis and said Germany had a responsibility to
confront anti-Semitism and never to forget the Holocaust. At a news
conference Merkel reaffirmed her support for a two-state solution in
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and concern about Israeli
settlement expansion in occupied territory where Palestinians seek
for a country of their own. Germany and Israel agree that Iran
should never be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons but they differ
on how to achieve this goal.
   (Reuters, 10/4/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 5, In Germany the
Muenster administrative court issued a temporary halt after an
environmental group argued that the Hambacher Forest near Cologne
deserves protected status because of the bats that live there.
   (AP, 10/6/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 6, In western Germany
thousands of environmentalists protested the expansion of a coal
mine a day after a court blocked the felling of endangered Hambacher
Forest near the site.
   (AP, 10/6/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 9, A Berlin court
ordered the city to ban older diesel vehicles from several downtown
streets to reduce nitrogen dioxide levels in the German capital.
   (AP, 10/9/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 9, German police
arrested a suspect in the rape and killing of a television
journalist from Bulgaria whose work highlighted corruption in the
East European country. Severin Krassimirov (21), a Bulgarian
citizen, was arrested outside the city of Hamburg.
   (AP, 10/10/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 12, Germany said it
will extend temporary controls at its border with Austria for six
months due to concerns the EU's external frontiers are not
sufficiently protected. The Danish government made a similar
announcement, citing the threat of terrorism.
   (Reuters, 10/12/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 13, In Germany tens of
thousands of people protested racism and discrimination in Berlin, a
demonstration that came amid rising concerns about Germany's
increasingly confident far right.
   (AP, 10/13/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 14, In Germany the
Christian Social Union (CSU), the sister party of Merkel's own
Christian Democrats (CDU), slumped to its worst result in almost 70
years in the election in Bavaria.
   (Reuters, 10/15/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 14, In western Germany
three people died when a Cessna plane crashed into a crowd near
Fulda, Hesse state.
   (Reuters, 10/14/18)(SFC, 10/15/18, p.A2)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 14, Britain, France
and Germany insisted that "light must be shed" on the whereabouts of
journalist Jamal Khashoggi as they called for a credible
investigation into his disappearance at the Saudi consulate in
Istanbul.
   (AFP, 10/14/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 15, Germany deported
Mounir el Motassadeq (44) to Morocco. He was convicted in 2003 of
membership in a terrorist organization and accessory to the murder
of the 246 passengers and crew on the four jetliners used in the
2001 al-Qaida attacks on New York and Washington.
   (AP, 10/15/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 15, In Germany a
Syrian refugee, identified only as Mohammad A.R. (55), sparked panic
at the busy station in Cologne after he started a fire in a
McDonald's restaurant that left a 14-year-old girl with burns. He
then took a female employee hostage in a nearby pharmacy. Police
opened fire on the suspect, who underwent emergency surgery and
remained in a coma.
   (AFP, 10/17/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 18, A group of media
outlets led by Germany's non-profit Correctiv reported that traders
have manipulated transactions in multiple European countries over
years, draining tax coffers of some 55.2 billion euros ($63.5
billion).
   (AP, 10/18/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 20, In Germany a
19-year-old man died after blowing up a ticket machine at a railway
station in the eastern city of Halle. Two alleged accomplices, aged
15 and 20. were soon arrested. Six other ticket machines and an ATM
were destroyed in Halle earlier this month.
   (AP, 10/21/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 20, The German group
Sea-Watch said that the vessel, Sea-Watch 3, has been cleared to
leave Malta for repairs. It had been "blocked" from leaving Malta
since July 2 amid an investigation into Dutch-registered rescue
ships.
   (AP, 10/20/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 21, Multinational
giants Siemens and General Electric say they have signed memorandums
of understanding with Iraq to rebuild the country's electricity
infrastructure.
   (AP, 10/21/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 22, A German man (54)
was convicted of attempted murder for poisoning baby food and
putting it on store shelves in a failed attempt to extort money from
supermarkets. He was sentenced in Ravensburg state court to 12 years
in prison.
   (AP, 10/23/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 23, German automaker
BMW said it is expanding a recall to cover 1.6 million vehicles
worldwide due to possible fluid leaks that could result in a fire.
   (AP, 10/23/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 24, A court in Germany
ruled that Volkswagen's parent company must pay 47 million euros
($54 million) in damages to investors for not making a timely
disclosure of its scandal over cars rigged to cheat on diesel
emissions tests.
   (AP, 10/24/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 27, In western Germany
protesters blocked a railway line leading to a large strip coal mine
near Cologne that has become a cause celebre for environmentalists
amid plans to clear part of a neighboring forest to expand the
facility.
   (AP, 10/27/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 27, The leaders of
Turkey, Russia, France and Germany met to try to find a political
solution to Syria's devastating civil war, provide access to
humanitarian aid and salvage a fragile ceasefire in the country's
last major rebel-held bastion.
   (AFP, 10/27/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 29, Angela Merkel
announced she will quit as German chancellor when her mandate ends
in 2021, as she sought to draw a line under a series of political
crises that have rocked her fragile coalition.
   (AP, 10/29/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 30, In Germany
Chancellor Angela Merkel opened the G20 Compact with Africa meeting
saying it's critical "not only to talk about Africa but to talk with
Africa" about development needs and goals. So far 11 countries have
joined the program: Benin, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana,
Guinea, Morocco, Rwanda, Senegal, Togo and Tunisia.
   (AP, 10/30/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 30, A German court
ordered the release of former Audi CEO Rupert Stadler, on condition
that he refrain from contact with people relevant to the
investigation, more than four months after he was arrested in an
investigation into the manipulation of diesel emissions controls.
   (AP, 10/30/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 30, German police
arrested a Russian man (43) suspected of smuggling some 12 million
cigarettes into the country from 2009-2011.
   (AP, 11/1/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 13, German Chancellor
Angela Merkel called for an integrated EU military, recalling the
lessons of the First World War and the divisions that led to the
conflict.
   (Reuters, 11/13/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 13, German authorities
said they suspect a male nurse of killing six elderly patients, and
attempting to kill at least three more, after he admitted to
injecting them with diabetes medication. Suspect Grzegorz Stanislaw
Wolsztajn (36), arrested last February, denied intending to kill
them.
   (AP, 11/13/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 19, Germany banned
Saudi citizens suspected of involvement in the killing of journalist
Jamal Khashoggi from much of Europe and moved to halt all arms sales
to the kingdom in a firming of its stance towards Riyadh.
   (Reuters, 11/19/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 22, A German teenager
(15) was convicted of murder for killing a 14-year-old girl in a
case that was seized upon by far-right groups, who falsely claimed
that the perpetrator was a migrant. The German-born boy had
reportedly planned the March 3 murder of schoolmate Keira G. (14) in
advance.
   (AP, 11/22/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 23, Berlin prosecutors
said Hans Werner H. (95) has been charged with more than 36,000
counts of being an accessory to murder on allegations that he served
as a guard at the Nazis' Mauthausen concentration camp from 1944 to
1945.
   (AP, 11/23/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 23, Unions in Britain
said they would stage protests at five sites to complain about
safety conditions. In Germany, workers walked off the job at Amazon
distribution centers in Rheinberg and Bad Hersfeld as part of a
years-long push for higher pay. In Spain Labor groups representing
workers at Amazon said that around 90 percent of workers at a
logistics depot near Madrid joined a walkout.
   (AP, 11/23/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 27, In Germany Sergej
Wenergold (29), who launched a shrapnel bomb attack on the team bus
of football club Borussia Dortmund in April 2017 to make money on
the club's shares diving, was sentenced to 14 years in jail.
   (AFP, 11/27/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 29, In Germany some
170 police officers, investigators and prosecutors raided the
offices of Deutsche Bank on the suspicion bank employees helped
clients set up offshore companies in tax havens to launder hundreds
of millions of euros.
   (AP, 11/29/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 1, In Germany
thousands of people marched in Berlin to demand that Germany make a
quick exit from using coal-fired energy. This and a simultaneous
event in the western city of Cologne were organized by environmental
groups.
   (AP, 12/1/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 1, Ukraine's President
Petro Poroshenko said Russia is building up its land forces and
weapons along the border as German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned
Russia not to block Ukrainian ports in the Sea of Azov.
   (AP, 12/1/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 2, Germany's
Development Minister Gerd Mueller said his country will unveil an
initiative at UN talks on climate change this week to attract more
private investment in projects in Africa and elsewhere.
   (Reuters, 12/2/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 3, German police said
the body of a missing 17-year-old girl has been found at a shelter
for homeless people and others in western Germany and a resident has
been detained. The girl's parents had reported her missing on Nov.
30 from her home in a neighboring region.
   (AP, 12/3/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 4, Germany's top human
rights official said she has been denied entry to China's Xinjiang
region, where the UN estimates that up to one million Muslims are
being held in detention camps.
   (AFP, 12/5/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 5, Police arrested
dozens of suspected mobsters in Europe and South America in dubbed
"Operation Pollina," a huge international swoop targeting Italy's
notorious 'Ndrangheta mafia clan. Police seized four tons of
cocaine, 120 kilos of ecstasy and two million euros (dollars) in
cash across Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and
Suriname.
   (AFP, 12/5/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 7, Germany's Christian
Democrats elected Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (56) to replace Angela
Merkel as party leader, a decision that moves her into pole position
to succeed Europe's most influential leader as chancellor.
   (Reuters, 12/7/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 10, In Germany Thomas
K. (37) was sentenced in Duesseldorf state court to six years in
prison. He had fought for the Taliban in Afghanistan from 2013-2018
and was convicted of membership in a terrorist organization.
   (AP, 12/10/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 10, In Germany a
four-hour strike affected more than 1,400 trains nationwide, hitting
long-distance traffic and also metro rail systems in Berlin, Munich,
Hannover and Frankfurt. The EVG labor union called the so-called
"warning strike" to put pressure on Deutsche Bahn after wage
negotiations broke off on Dec. 8 without an agreement.
   (AP, 12/10/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 12, Eight European
Union nations (Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Poland,
Sweden and the United Kingdom) underlined their commitment to the
Iran nuclear deal while urging Tehran to stop its "destabilizing
regional activities" especially the launch of ballistic missiles.
   (AP, 12/12/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 13, In Germany three
women were stabbed and wounded in Nuremberg. Police investigated
whether the incidents were connected. A German man (38) was arrested
on Dec. 15 in connection with the stabbing.
   (AP, 12/14/18)(AP, 12/16/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 14, A Berlin court
said the insolvency administrator for bankrupt airline Air Berlin
has sued its former largest shareholder, UAE-based airline Etihad,
for 2 billion euros ($2.26 billion) in damages.
   (AP, 12/14/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 17, German authorities
said five Frankfurt police officers are under investigation over
allegations they shared far-right images, videos and texts in a chat
group with one another.
   (AP, 12/17/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 18, A German court
convicted a man of unauthorized dealing in firearms over the sale in
2016 of weapons that he advertised as being usable to "shoot down
asylum-seekers." Mario R. (35) was sentenced to two years and 10
months in prison and was confiscated 99,100 euros ($112,287) in
proceeds.
   (AP, 12/18/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 18, The
Washington-based Fulbright Association said its 2018 prize for
international understanding will go to German Chancellor Angela
Merkel.
   (AP, 12/18/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 19, Chancellor Angela
Merkel's cabinet passed new immigration laws to make it easier for
lower-skilled foreigners to seek work in Germany and offer rejected
asylum seekers who can't be deported a path to residency.
   (Reuters, 12/19/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 19, German weekly Der
Spiegel said Claas Relotius (33), one of its star reporters, has
left the publication after committing journalistic fraud "on a grand
scale" over a number of years. He resigned after admitting to
inventing interviews.
   (AP, 12/19/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 20, Germany's top
appeal court partially overturned the conviction of former Rwandan
rebel group leader Ignace Murwanashyaka for abetting war crimes in
CongoDRC, citing a lack of evidence and referring it to a different
court.
   (Reuters, 12/20/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 20, Britain, Germany
and France, three of the United States' main allies in the war
against the Islamic State group, reacted with alarm to President
Donald Trump's decision to pull US troops out of Syria. Analysts
said the US decision to pull troops out of eastern Syria will leave
the Kurds exposed to Turkish military threats and forced to
cooperate with Damascus.
   (AFP, 12/20/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 24, South Korea said
it will fine BMW 11.2 billion won ($9.9 million) and file a criminal
complaint against the company with state prosecutors over an
allegedly botched response to dozens of engine fires reported in the
country. BMW has apologized and recalled some 172,000 vehicles of 65
different models in July and October over the fires.
   (AP, 12/24/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 26, Sea-Watch 3, a
private rescue boat operated by a German humanitarian group,
continued its appeal for a safe port. It has tweeted that 33
migrants were rescued from waters off Libya on Dec. 22.
   (AP, 12/26/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 27, German authorities
said customs officials in the Hamburg area destroyed nine tons of
drugs last week with an estimated total street value of about 520
million euros ($592 million).
   (AP, 12/27/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 30, In Germany an
18-year-old driver trying to evade a highway patrol crashed into a
stationary vehicle near Heppenheim, killing a woman (39) and
injuring her son (10).
   (AP, 12/31/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 30, In western Germany
Edgar Hilsenrath (92), a German-Jewish writer whose fictional
account of the Holocaust from the perspective of a Nazi perpetrator
became a best-seller, died. His first novel, "Night," recounting the
horrors of trying to survive in a Jewish ghetto, was published in
1954. His 1971 novel "The Nazi and the Barber," a grotesque story
about an SS member who pretends to be Jewish after the war to escape
prosecution, sold millions of copies worldwide.
   (AP, 1/1/19)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Germany granted asylum to
Hong Kong activists Ray Wong Toi Yeung fellow pro-democracy
protester Alan Li Tung Sing. This was only made public in 2019 in a
sign of growing concern over how dissent is dealt with in the
territory.
   (AP, 5/22/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 1, In western Germany
a man (50) ploughed his car into a crowd of people in early today,
injuring at least four in Bottrop and Essen before being arrested by
police on suspicion of attempted homicide. This appeared to have
been an intentional attack against foreigners.
   (AP, 1/1/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 4, In Germany an
Interior Ministry spokesman said personal data and documents from
hundreds of German politicians and public figures have been
published online, in what appears one of the most far-reaching
cyber-attacks in a country that has become a target of choice for
hackers.
   (Reuters, 1/4/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 4, Twitter suspended
an account that posted links to sensitive personal data and
documents stolen by hackers from hundreds of German public figures
and politicians — from every political party but the far-right
Alternative for Germany. The breach, discovered by journalists a day
earlier, affected politicians at all levels.
   (AP, 1/4/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 5, Heavy snow caused
travel chaos in parts of Austria and Germany as authorities closed
roads and train routes because of avalanche danger and airports
reported weather-related cancelations. A 20-year-old skier died in
an avalanche on Mount Teisen, near the Austrian border.
   (AP, 1/5/19)(AP, 1/6/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 7, In Germany lawmaker
Frank Magnitz (66), a local leader of the far-right Alternative for
Germany (AfD) party, was attacked and seriously wounded by several
men in the northwestern city of Bremen.
   (AP, 1/8/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 8, German authorities
said a local student (20) in Hesse state has admitted obtaining and
publishing the personal data of hundreds of politicians and
celebrities and told investigators he acted alone.
   (AP, 1/8/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 9, It was reported
that France and Germany have agreed to deepen a 1963 treaty of
post-war reconciliation in a bid to show that the European Union's
main axis remains strong and counter growing eurosceptic nationalism
among some other members. The extension to the Elysee Treaty will be
signed on Jan. 22.
   (Reuters, 1/9/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 10, In Germany almost
640 flights were cancelled as security staff went on strike at three
airports, meaning disruption for around 100,000 passengers.
   (AFP, 1/10/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 10, Heavy snowfall
continued in parts of Austria and southern Germany, with several
places cut off and the bad weather expected to persist. Snow was
causing problems in other parts of Europe, even in Norway's Arctic
Svalbard archipelago. At least 17 weather-related deaths have been
reported in Europe over the past week.
   (AP, 1/10/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 11, In Germany
airlines canceled around 120 flights at Frankfurt Airport and 90 at
Munich Airport because of concerns about snow.
   (AP, 1/11/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 11, German automaker
Volkswagen posted another annual sales record in 2018 as new SUV
models boosted deliveries and the company managed to increase its
share in China even as the car market there shrank for the first
time in years.
   (AP, 1/11/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 11, Egypt deported a
German citizen early today whom it detained in Cairo airport on Dec.
27 on suspicion of plotting terrorism.
   (AP, 1/11/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 12, In Germany a small
plane crashed east of Berlin, killing two people.
   (AP, 1/12/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 11, Greece told German
Chancellor Angela Merkel it had grounds to pursue a legal claim for
billions of euros in reparations for the Nazi occupation of the
country in World War Two.
   (Reuters, 1/14/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 15, In Germany
Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess and Ford CEO Jim Hackett said they are
forming a global alliance to develop commercial vans and
medium-sized pickups together while exploring broader cooperation on
future battery-powered and autonomous vehicles and services.
   (AP, 1/15/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 17, German authorities
said they have arrested Navanithan G. (39), a suspected member of
the Tamil Tigers. He is alleged to have been involved in the August
2005 assassination of Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister Lakshman
Kathirkamar and the attempted killing of Eelam People*s Democratic
Party leader Douglas Devananda.
   (AP, 1/17/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 18, Germany-based
Volkswagen Group said that it will pay a fine of 1 billion rupees
($14.2 million) imposed by India for installing software on vehicles
that allegedly cheated pollution testing devices, though it is still
appealing the order.
   (AP, 1/18/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 18, Russia said it has
agreed for France and Germany to monitor shipping traffic in the
Kerch Strait following a naval confrontation between Moscow and Kiev
last year.
   (AFP, 1/18/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 20, Spiegel Online
reported that German weapons maker Rheinmetall plans to sue the
government over its decision to stop all arms exports to Saudi
Arabia after the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
   (Reuters, 1/20/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 20, Sea-Watch 3, run
by a German NGO, said it has contacted Italy, Malta, Libya as well
as the Netherlands, since the boat is Dutch-flagged, asking where it
can bring the 47 migrants it had taken aboard. Another vessel
crowded with panicking migrants and taking on water, meanwhile, put
out an urgent, separate appeal for help in the southern
Mediterranean.
   (AP, 1/20/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 21, Germany said it
has banned Iran's Mahan Air from landing in the country with
immediate effect, citing security concerns and the airline's
involvement in Syria. The airline had several weekly flights between
Tehran and German cities.
   (AP, 1/21/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 22, In Germany
Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron signed
a new treaty in Aachen to update their 1963 post-war reconciliation
accord (Elysee Treaty), aiming to reinvigorate the European Union's
main axis as growing eurosceptic nationalism tests the bloc's
cohesion.
   (Reuters, 1/22/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 23, The German
government approved the export to Qatar of four RAM naval missile
systems developed by Germany and the United States. The sale also
included 85 dual-mode radar and infrared seekers that guide the
missile into its target.
   (Reuters, 1/24/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 24, Germany extradited
to Sweden John Ausonius (65), the convicted killer known as the "the
laser man" for using a precision-scope rifle to target immigrants.
   (AFP, 1/25/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 27, Berlin and Moscow
announced that Germany had provided 12 million euros to help Russian
World War II veterans and siege survivors but Moscow said it was not
enough.
   (AFP, 1/27/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 28, In western Germany
three Polish men were killed when their car collided with a truck
transporting pigs.
   (AP, 1/28/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 28, Denmark began
erecting a 70-km (43.4-mile) fence along the German border to keep
out wild boars in an attempt to prevent the spread of African swine
fever, which could jeopardize the country's valuable pork industry.
   (AP, 1/28/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 29, It was reported
that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has been chosen as the
winner of Germany's prestigious International Charlemagne Prize for
contributions to European unity.
   (AP, 1/29/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 30, German authorities
arrested three Iraqi refugees on allegations they were planning an
Islamic extremist bombing attack, and searched properties in three
states in connection with their investigation.
   (AP, 1/30/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 30, A German appeals
court in Koblenz rejected the complaint of a Jewish man against a
decision by the town of Herxheim am Berg to allow a bell dedicated
to Adolf Hitler to continue to hang in a church tower.
   (AP, 1/30/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 31, Britain, France
and Germany launched a special payment mechanism that the EU hopes
will help save a nuclear deal with Iran by bypassing US sanctions.
   (AFP, 1/31/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, German police
caught a suspect over the theft of watches worth some 125,000 euros
($143,000) from an Amsterdam jeweler. The 34-year-old Estonian man
was arrested this evening as he crossed the border hours after the
robbery.
   (AP, 2/4/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 4, Japanese PM Shinzo
Abe said that he and visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel share
a responsibility to work towards global peace and prosperity, with
both hoping for a prompt, democratic solution to Venezuela's
leadership crisis.
   (Reuters, 2/4/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 6, A German court
scaled back a marathon trial over the 2010 deaths of 21 young people
in a stampede at a techno music festival in Duisburg, sparking anger
from bereaved relatives. The negligent homicide case was terminated
for seven of the 10 defendants.
   (AFP, 2/6/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 6, France and Germany
announced a 65 million euro ($74 million) contract financed equally
by both countries over two years as the first act of the joint
program to design a next-generation combat jet.
   (Reuters, 2/6/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 7, German authorities
ruled that Facebook should not be allowed to use customer data from
other apps and websites to help target advertisements shown on their
Facebook pages without their explicit consent, saying it was
exploiting its dominant position in social media. Facebook said it
rejected the decision, and would appeal within the one-month frame
before it becomes final.
   (AP, 2/7/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 7, The United States
sharply rebuked Germany for deporting Adem Yilmaz, a wanted Islamic
militant, to Turkey instead of extraditing him to New York to stand
trial on terror-related charges. He has been charged by a US federal
grand jury with conspiring to carry out a March 3, 2008, suicide
bombing in Afghanistan, which left two US soldiers dead and 11
others injured.
   (AFP, 2/7/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 8, Germany's
Chancellor Angela Merkel inaugurated the new, fortress-like Berlin
headquarters of the scandal-plagued BND foreign intelligence
service.
   (AFP, 2/8/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 8, European Union
member states adopted a Franco-German compromise allowing Berlin to
remain the lead negotiator with Russia on the Nord Stream 2 gas
pipeline to Europe.
   (AFP, 2/8/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 11, Kim Phuc (55),
known as the 'Napalm Girl' in an iconic 1972 Vietnam War photo,
received a 10,000 euro ($11,350) award in Germany for her work for
peace. Phuc, who now lives in Canada, was honored for her support of
UNESCO and children wounded in war, and for speaking out publicly
against violence and hatred.
   (AP, 2/11/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 12, Germany's top
security official banned two publishers for allegedly belonging to a
banned Kurdish organization. Publishers Mezopotamien Verlag und
Vertrieb GmbH and the MIR Multimedia GmbH were banned because they
support the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
   (AP, 2/12/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 13, In Germany new
crime statistics showed that anti-Semitic offences rose almost 10
percent last year, and that violent attacks were up more than 60
percent, sparking alarm in the Jewish community.
   (AFP, 2/13/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 15, A top Airbus
official said Germany's halt in exports to Saudi Arabia is
preventing Britain from completing the sale of 48 Eurofighter
Typhoon warplanes to Riyadh, and has delayed potential sales of
other weapons such as the A400M military transport. The Eurofighter
is built by a consortium of four founding countries: Germany,
Britain, Italy and Spain.
   (Reuters, 2/15/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 16, German Chancellor
Angela Merkel robustly defended European nations' decision to stand
by the Iran nuclear deal in comments at the Munich Security
Conference, an annual gathering of top global defense and foreign
policy officials.
   (AP, 2/16/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 16, In Germany Serbian
President Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovo President Hashim Thaci
appeared together at the Munich Security Conference, both expressing
interest in reaching an agreement but neither appearing to give
ground.
   (AP, 2/16/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 18, Lithuanian startup
Trafi said Berlin will be the first major European capital to get a
transport app that handles billing for all services centrally and
requires only a single login. Similar services are already available
in Vilnius, Rio de Janeiro and Jakarta.
   (AP, 2/18/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 19, France and Germany
launched a drive in Berlin to overhaul the European Union's
competition rules to facilitate the creation of world-leading
companies. They pushed forward a project to create a car battery
consortium aimed at catching up with Asian rivals.
   (AP, 2/19/19)  Â
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 19, Karl Lagerfeld
(85), German-born French fashion designer, died in Paris. Lagerfeld
was one of the most hardworking figures in the fashion world,
holding down the top design jobs at LVMH-owned luxury label Fendi
from 1977, and Paris' family-owned power-house Chanel in 1983.
   (AP, 2/19/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 20, Microsoft Corp
said it had discovered hacking targeting democratic institutions,
think tanks and non-profit organizations in Europe and plans to
offer a cyber security service to several countries to close
security gaps. The hacks occurred between September and December
2018, targeting employees of the German Council on Foreign Relations
and European offices of The Aspen Institute and The German Marshall
Fund.
   (Reuters, 2/20/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 22, German automakers
Daimler and BMW say that trustworthy handling of personal data will
be a key competitive advantage in their new joint venture that
offers app-based services like free-floating car-sharing in big
cities.
   (AP, 2/22/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 25, In Germany
prosecutors fined automaker BMW 8.5 million euros ($9.66 million)
for lax oversight in installing defective engine software that led
to excessive diesel emissions in 7,965 cars.
   (AP, 2/25/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 26, In Germany a court
ruled that the domestic BfV intelligence agency is not allowed to
classify the Alternative for Germany (AfD) as a "case to
investigate", handing a victory to the far-right party which had
brought the case.
   (Reuters, 2/26/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb, Anwar Raslan
(b.1963), a former Syrian policeman, was arrested in Germany. He was
charged with torturing more than 4,000 people and murdering at least
58 between 2011 and 2012 under dictator Bashar al-Assad. His trial
opened in Koblenz in April, 2020.
  Â
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anwar_Raslan)(Econ., 1/2/21, p.44)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 1, In Germany
thousands of students in the port city of Hamburg marched out of
school led by teenage Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg
to call for more action on climate change.
   (Reuters, 3/1/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 1, In Germany gardener
Bernhard Graumann (59) was found dead in his bed in the southwestern
town of Mehlingen. He had been in conflict with both a doctor and a
family, and is thought to have planted explosives before he died.
The 64-year-old doctor in the nearby town of Enkenbach-Alsenborn was
killed this morning. Two days later a woman (37) and her 4-year-old
daughter were injured by glass splinters when the woman put a log
that had been rigged with explosives into her stove and it blew the
door out.
   (AP, 3/6/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 2, In Germany union
and government negotiators reached a new wage agreement late today
that will give more than a million public servants a nearly 8
percent pay increase over 33 months.
   (AP, 3/3/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 5, The Berlin district
court jailed 48-year-old Aleksandr T., a German-Russian dual citizen
whose full name wasn't released in line with German privacy rules.
He was sentenced to eight years in prison over the July 22 attack on
two homeless men at Schoeneweide station. One of the victims later
died of his injuries.
   (AP, 3/5/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 6, A manhunt was
underway in western Germany for at least two masked suspects who
attacked a money transport truck at the Cologne-Bonn airport and
shot a guard.
   (AP, 3/6/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 6, In Germany the body
of a 21-year-old woman was found with several stab wounds at her
parents' home. A 22-year-old Tunisian man she had been in a
relationship with was arrested the next day on suspicion of
homicide.
   (AP, 3/9/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 6, Venezuela's
government said it will expel the German ambassador, Daniel Martin
Kriener, for interfering in the country's internal affairs and gave
him 48 hours to leave.
   (Reuters, 3/6/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 7, In Germany a
regional court judge gave Klaus O. (57) a life sentence after
convicting him of attempted murder. He was found guilty of poisoning
his co-workers' sandwiches with mercury and other substances between
2015 and 2018.
   (AP, 3/7/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 7, A German court
sentenced four men for their involvement in running an online child
pornography platform to prison sentences from three years and ten
months to almost 10 years.
   (AP, 3/7/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 12, Chancellor Angela
Merkel said Germany will define its own security standards for a new
5G mobile network, after Washington said it would scale back
data-sharing with Berlin if China's Huawei was allowed to
participate.
   (Reuters, 3/12/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 12, Britain, Germany
and France joined a wave of suspensions of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft
as US President Donald Trump fretted over modern airplane design
following the March 10 crash in Ethiopia that killed 157 people.
   (Reuters, 3/12/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 13, German authorities
extended compensation payments to more gay men who were investigated
under a law criminalizing homosexuality that was enthusiastically
enforced in West Germany after World War II.
   (AP, 3/13/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 21, Wikipedia's
German-language page was blacked out in protest of a proposal to
change European Union copyright rules.
   (AP, 3/21/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 21, Berlin police made
nine arrests late today after a fight broke out on the
Alexanderplatz in the city center among some 400 backers of two
rival stars of YouTube.
   (AFP, 3/22/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 22, In Germany police
arrested 11 people in raids around Frankfurt on a group suspected of
planning an Islamic extremist attack using a vehicle and firearms.
   (SSFC, 3/24/19, p.A4)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 25, Austria arrested
an Iraqi man "under suspicion to have carried out terrorist attacks
on railways in Germany in October and December 2018".
   (AFP, 3/27/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 26, A German court
upheld the murder convictions of two men whose midnight drag race in
downtown Berlin in 2016 ended with a crash that killed another
driver.
   (AP, 3/26/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 26, Germany's
meteorological agency DWD says 2018 was the warmest in the country
since records began in 1881.
   (AP, 3/26/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 28, German automaker
Daimler and China's Geely, its largest single shareholder, said that
they are setting up a joint venture to develop and operate Daimler's
Smart compact car brand worldwide as an all-electric car.
   (AP, 3/28/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 29, In Germany
thousands of students skipped school in Berlin as part of a growing
worldwide youth movement demanding faster action against climate
change. Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg, who inspired the protests
in Germany and elsewhere by staging weekly "school strikes,"
headlined the demonstration.
   (AP, 3/29/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 31, In Germany Russian
airline S7 Group co-owner Natalia Fileva was aboard a single-engine,
six-seat Epic LT aircraft that crashed and burned in a field as it
approached the small airport at the town of Egelsbach near
Frankfurt. Three bodies were recovered in the crash.
   (AP, 4/1/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 2, Czech police
extradited to Austria two suspects who allegedly formed a terror
cell with a man detained by Austrian authorities over unsuccessful
attacks on trains in Germany.
   (AP, 4/3/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 5, European Union
authorities said that German automakers BMW, Daimler and VW colluded
to limit the development of emissions-cleaning technology in cars.
   (AP, 4/5/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 6, Thousands of Berlin
residents took to the streets to vent anger over surging rents and
demanded the expropriation of more than 200,000 apartments sold off
to big private landlords, which they blame for changing the
character of the city.
   (Reuters, 4/6/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 9, German prosecutors
searched over a dozen offices and homes across the country as part
of their investigation into a massive tax fraud going back more than
a decade. About 170 officers raided 19 premises in four German
states.
   (AP, 4/11/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 11, A German court
found a 26-year-old man and his 23-year-old wife guilty of murder
for killing his parents and then bricking the bodies behind a wall
in Dec. 2017. Both were sentenced to life in prison.
   (AP, 4/11/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 13, Malta announced a
deal to distribute 64 migrants rescued at sea off Libya 10 days ago
among four European Union nations: Germany, France, Portugal and
Luxembourg. The German-flagged aid ship carrying them, the Alan
Kurdi, will still not be allowed to enter its ports and none of the
migrants will remain in Malta.
   (AP, 4/13/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 14, In Germany
Stuttgart-based Daimler confirmed it was facing a regulatory probe
after a report said authorities have uncovered a previously unknown
type of pollution trickery software allegedly installed by the car
giant in some of its vehicles.
   (AFP, 4/14/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 15, German prosecutors
charged former Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn (71) and four others
with fraud and other offenses in connection with the company's
massive, multi-year effort to cheat on diesel emissions testing.
   (AP, 4/15/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 16, Germany officially
switched on the biggest offshore wind park in the Baltic Sea, which
will supply some 400,000 households with electricity. Last year more
than 40% of Germany's electricity was generated using renewable
sources.
   (AP, 4/16/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 16, In Germany
pro-euthanasia doctors and patients petitioned the Constitutional
Court to overturn 2015 legislation that outlaws commercial assisted
suicide. Germany does allow assisted dying - but not when money is
involved.
   (Reuters, 4/16/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 25, Weather experts
warned of drought in Europe over its summer as firefighters tackled
forest fires in Germany, Norway and Sweden. In Austria the first
signs of drought have already appeared in the east and north,
raising fears of another bleak harvest. In the Czech Republic 99
percent of the country has already been hit by drought over the last
five weeks.
   (AFP, 4/25/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 26, German energy
company RWE says it won't invest in new coal-fired power stations
and is scrapping plans for a lignite-fired plant in western Germany.
RWE, which operates several of Europe's most-polluting power plants,
said in a statement that it will now focus on generating electricity
from renewable sources.
   (AP, 4/26/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 30, German industrial
conglomerate Siemens secured contracts worth 700 million euros ($785
million) to build one power plant, upgrade 40 gas turbines and
install substations and transformers "across Iraq".
   (AFP, 4/30/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â May 1, In Burkina Faso
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, on a three-nation tour in West
Africa, pledged 46 million euros ($51 million) to help Burkina Faso
fight Islamic extremism.
   (AP, 5/2/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â May 2, A city in southern
Germany became the first in the country to declare a "climate
emergency," following similar moves in Canada, Britain and
Switzerland. Aldermen in Konstanz voted unanimously to back a
resolution promoting measures to curb greenhouse gas emissions from
buildings and transport.
   (AP, 5/3/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â May 2, France and Germany
unveiled details of a plan to create a leading electric battery
industry in Europe, from the extraction of raw materials to
recycling.
   (AP, 5/2/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â May 3, German prosecutors
said police have shut down one of the world's largest illegal online
markets in the so-called darkweb and arrested the three men
allegedly running it. German police had on April 23 and 24 arrested
the three German suspects aged 22 to 31 in the states of Hesse,
Baden-Wuerttemberg and North Rhine-Westphalia. The illicit "Wall
Street Market" site enabled trade in cocaine, heroin, cannabis and
amphetamines as well as stolen data, fake documents and malicious
software.
   (AFP, 5/3/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â May 11, In Germany the
bodies of a man and two women were found with crossbow bolts in them
in a hotel room in Passau, Bavaria. On May 13 two more dead women
were found in the town of Wittingen. The bodies had been dead for
several days, no crossbows or arrows were found, and there were no
signs of a struggle. Media later reported that Torsten W. (53)
appeared to have controlled the four women like a harsh sect leader
who used physical force and psychological manipulation.
   (AP, 5/12/19)(AFP, 5/15/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â May 13, A jury in Oakland,
Ca., ordered Bayer-owned Monsanto to pay more than $2 billion in
damages to a Livermore couple that sued on grounds the product
caused their cancer in a third major legal blow to the chemical
giant and its weedkiller Roundup. The couple had used Roundup on
their property for more than 30 years. The punitive damages
were later cut to $69 mil.
   (AFP, 5/14/19)(SFC, 5/14/19, p.A1)(SFC, 8/10/21,
p.C1)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â May 16, In northern
Germany activists occupied a building site to protest against the
ongoing Nord Stream 2 pipeline project with Russia.
   (AP, 5/16/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â May 17, Germany said it
would pay compensation of up to 10,000 euros ($11,000) each to
victims of the former Nazi pedophile sect "Colonia Dignidad" in
Chile. The sect was founded in 1961 by Paul Schaefer, a former
Wehrmacht soldier, lay preacher and convicted pedophile, who abused,
drugged and indoctrinated residents and kept them as virtual slaves.
Schaefer was arrested in Argentina in 2005 and then jailed in Chile
for child sexual and other abuses. Schaefer (88) died behind bars in
2010. Victims said compensation offered by Germany was not enough to
make up for decades of slavery and abuse.
   (AFP, 5/17/19)(AFP, 5/18/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â May 17, In Germany two
Afghan teenagers were convicted over a dispute with a German man
(22), who then died of a heart attack in September 2019. The
Dessau-Rosslau state court gave the younger man 17 months and the
elder 20 months.
   (AP, 5/17/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â May 19, In Europe tens of
thousands of demonstrators opposed to right-wing populism and
nationalism took to the streets in a number of cities before May
23-26 elections to the European Parliament. In Germany organizers
reported 20,000 protesters in Berlin; police estimated 10,000 in
Munich, 14,000 in Frankfurt, and 10,000 in Hamburg.
   (AP, 5/19/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â May 20, Heavy rainfall in
Germany caused widespread flooding, particularly in the south,
leaving one person dead.
   (AP, 5/21/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â May 21, German authorities
handed over to Israel some 5,000 documents kept by a confidant of
Franz Kafka, a trove whose plight could have been plucked from one
of the author's surreal stories.
   (AP, 5/21/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â May 21, The International
Tracing Service in Germany said it has uploaded more than 13 million
documents from Nazi concentration camps, including prisoner cards
and death notices, to help Holocaust researchers and others
investigate the fate of victims. The ITS also announced it was
changing its name to "Arolsen Archives - International Center on
Nazi Persecution."
   (AP, 5/21/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â May 22, Germany deported
an 18-year-old Afghan asylum-seeker who was recently convicted over
a string of assaults that prompted a public outcry. the teenager was
flown to Kabul together with 23 countrymen whose asylum bids had
also been rejected.
   (AP, 5/22/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â May 22, Police in western
Germany raided 49 homes and businesses linked to an Iraqi gang
suspected of involvement in human trafficking, drug dealing, illegal
arms trade and forging identity papers. Authorities targeted the
premises of 34 suspects belonging to the Al-Salam-313 gang.
   (AP, 5/22/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â May 22, Daimler CEO Dieter
Zetsche (66) handed off leadership to successor Ola Kallenius (49)
after 13 years at the helm warning that the company will need to cut
costs to invest in new technologies that are transforming the
industry.
   (AP, 5/22/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â May 23, German prosecutors
fined auto parts and technology company Bosch 90 million euros ($100
million) over its role in the diesel emissions scandal that erupted
at Volkswagen in 2015.
   (AP, 5/23/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â May 25, Germany's
government commissioner on anti-Semitism warned Jews about the
potential dangers of wearing the traditional kippah cap in the face
of rising anti-Jewish attacks.
   (AFP, 5/25/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 1, In Germany Walter
Luebcke (65), a politician from Chancellor Angela Merkel's party,
was shot dead with a gunshot wound to the head. He was in charge of
the Kassel area regional administration. Stephan Ernst (45), a
suspected right-wing radical, was arrested two weeks later after
police found his DNA at the scene. In 2020 Ernst was charged with
murder and a 2nd man was charged as an accessory.
   (AP, 6/3/19)(Reuters, 6/18/19)(SFC, 4/30/20,
p.A2)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 6, A German court
handed a life sentence to Niels Hoegel (42), a nurse believed to be
the most prolific serial killer in the country's post-war history,
for the "unfathomable" crime of murdering 85 patients in his care.
   (AFP, 6/6/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 13, Germany's top
administrative court ruled that the slaughtering of male chicks may
continue in the poultry industry until a method is found to
determine the sex of an embryo in the egg.
   (AFP, 6/13/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 14, A German court
fined two gynecologists for offering information publicly on how
they carry out abortion services, despite the recent easing of a
Nazi-era law banning practitioners from advertising of pregnancy
terminations.
   (AFP, 6/14/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 17, France, Germany
and Spain unveiled a next-generation combat jet for European air
forces, an ambitious project aimed at bringing together the
continent's disparate military forces while offering an alternative
to American planes. The stealth jet is part of the Future Combat Air
System (FCAS).
   (AFP, 6/17/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 18, Berlin's
government moved to freeze rents for five years from 2020 in their
latest bid to halt runaway gentrification. Only social housing and
private property that has not been let out would be exempt.
   (AFP, 6/18/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 18, The EU's highest
court (ECJ) ruled that a planned German highway toll for cars
discriminates against foreign drivers and breaches European Union
law, forcing Berlin to rethink how to charge road users.
   (Reuters, 6/18/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 19, A Transport
Ministry spokesman said Germany has canceled its contracts with the
companies charged with setting up a highway toll system for cars.
   (Reuters, 6/19/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 20, German federal
police office, on a European arrest warrant issued by the Belgian
authorities, picked up a suspect (39) overnight in connection with
the 2015 Paris attacks.
   (AFP, 6/27/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 21, In Germany tens of
thousands of climate activists noisily rallied to demand action
against global warming, now one of the hottest issues on the
European political agenda.
   (AFP, 6/21/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 21, Der Spiegel
reported that the companies that were set to operate the German
motorway vignette scheme scuppered by a European Court ruling
earlier this week plan to demand 300 million euros ($339.21 million)
compensation from Berlin.
   (Reuters, 6/21/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 22, In western Germany
hundreds of environmental activists broke through a police cordon to
enter the open-pit Garzweiler mine, one of the country's biggest
lignite coal mines.
   (SSFC, 6/23/19, p.A4)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 24, German automaker
Daimler AG said its Mercedes-Benz luxury brand plans to assemble
cars in Egypt in cooperation with a local partner.
   (AP, 6/24/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 26, German police
cautioned a man riding naked on a moped while topless sunbathers
sparked a row in Munich, as temperatures were to soar to record
highs in several European countries.
   (AFP, 6/26/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 26, A German
humanitarian group says its ship Sea-Watch 3 carrying 42 migrants
rescued at sea two weeks ago has entered Italian waters under
emergency provisions, calling the situation on board desperate.
   (AP, 6/26/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 27, In Germany two of
three men charged with hundreds of counts of child sexual abuse over
decades at a German campsite pleaded guilty as their trial opened.
   (AFP, 6/27/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 27, German federal
prosecutors said police have made two more arrests related to the
killing of a pro-migrant politician, allegedly by a far-right
sympathizer.
   (AFP, 6/27/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 28, Authorities in
Germany said they have shut down Chemical Revolution, the country's
largest online wholesaler of illegal drugs, and arrested 11 people
as part of an international investigation into a drugs ring they
said spanned five European countries and sold narcotics worldwide.
   (Reuters, 6/28/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 2, German Defense
Minister Ursula von der Leyen emerged as the surprise candidate to
lead the European Union's executive Commission. David-Maria Sassoli,
an Italian member of the Socialists & Democrats bloc, was
elected as the next president of the European parliament after two
rounds of voting in the Strasbourg-based legislature.
   (AP, 7/3/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 7, Germany's
struggling Deutsche Bank announced that it will cut 18,000 jobs by
2022 in a sweeping restructuring aimed at restoring consistent
profitability and improving returns to its shareholders.
   (SFC, 7/8/19, p.A2)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 7, The US urged
Germany to send ground troops to Syria as Washington looked to
withdraw from the region. This led to discord in Chancellor Angela
Merkel's ruling coalition.
   (AFP, 7/7/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 8, A government
spokesman says Germany isn't considering sending ground troops to
Syria as part of its contribution to fighting the Islamic State
group.
   (AP, 7/8/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 10, In Germany Ali
Bashar (22), an Iraqi man, was sentenced to life in jail for the
2018 rape and murder of Susanna Maria Feldman (14) that fuelled
far-right protests against a mass influx of mostly Muslim migrants.
   (AFP, 7/10/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 11, The German
domestic intelligence agency (BfV) said that it is stepping up
observation of the far-right Identitarian Movement in Germany, a
group that campaigns against immigrants and Islam.
   (AP, 7/11/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 15, German Defense
Minister Ursula von der Leyen (60) said she is resigning from
Chancellor Angela Merkel's Cabinet to focus on becoming the next
head of the European Commission, the top job in the European Union.
   (AP, 7/15/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 15, Bayer AG said US
regulators approved Gadavist, its contrast agent for use in magnetic
resonance imaging (MRI), to assess patients with known or suspected
coronary artery disease.
   (Reuters, 7/15/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 15, German authorities
shut down a busy stretch of highway A14 after a truck carrying 17
tons of cocoa caught fire.
   (AP, 7/15/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 17, In Germany
Chancellor Angela Merkel's Cabinet approved a plan to make measles
vaccinations mandatory for children and employees of kindergartens
and schools.
   (AP, 7/17/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 17, Chancellor Angela
Merkel's protegee, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, took over as defence
minister, entering the cabinet in a move likely to make or break her
chances of succeeding her mentor as Germany's leader by 2021.
   (Reuters, 7/17/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 19, German Chancellor
Angela Merkel criticized US President Donald Trump's comments about
Democratic lawmakers of color, saying they run counter to what she
considers "the strength of America" and expressing solidarity with
the women.
   (AP, 7/19/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, British Airways
said it was suspending flights to Cairo for seven days for
unspecified reasons related to safety and security. Lufthansa also
suspended flights to Cairo but resumed service the next day.
   (AP, 7/20/19)(SFC, 7/22/19, p.A2)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 25, Soaring
temperatures broke records in Germany, France, Britain and the
Netherlands as a heatwave gripped Europe for the second time in a
month. The Paris area recorded 108.7 degrees F; 105.3 F in the
Netherlands; 105.3 F in Belgium; 108.7 F in Germany and 98.4 F at
Heathrow Airport.
   (Reuters, 7/25/19)(SFC, 7/26/19, p.A2)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 29, In Germany a boy
(8) was run over by a train and killed at Frankfurt's main station
after a man pushed him and his mother onto the tracks. The suspect
(40), an Eritrean citizen, fled the scene with passers-by in pursuit
and was arrested near the station.
   (AP, 7/29/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 30, In Germany the
former head of Volkswagen's luxury division Audi was charged along
with three others with fraud over the sale of cars with software
that enabled cheating on emissions tests.
   (AP, 7/31/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 31, Olaf Scholz, the
German vice-chancellor, publicly confirmed that his country would
not take part in a US-led naval taskforce to protect shipping in the
Persian Gulf.
   (The Telegraph, 7/31/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 31, Finland's Orion
and Germany's Bayer said the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
had approved prostate cancer drug daroluramide, which the two
companies have been developing together.
   (Reuters, 7/31/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 3, In Germany dozens
of environmentalists began blocking the entrance to a coal-fired
power plant in the city of Mannheim in protest over the burning of
fossil fuels.
   (AP, 8/3/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 10, Brazilian
newspaper Folha de S.Paulo reported that Germany will partially
suspend funds sent to Brazil to finance projects aimed at preserving
the Amazon forest due to increasing deforestation.
   (Reuters, 8/10/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 21, German Chancellor
Angela Merkel's government agreed to exempt most taxpayers from the
solidarity tax that was introduced after the county's reunification.
   (Reuters, 8/21/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 22, In Germany the
state court in Dresden convicted Syrian asylum-seeker Alaa S. (24)
of manslaughter and dangerous bodily harm in the killing last August
26 of Daniel Hillig. An Iraqi suspect in the case was still being
sought on an international arrest warrant.
   (AP, 8/22/19)(SFC, 8/23/19, p.A2)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 22, The US Securities
and Exchange Commission (SEC) said Deutsche Bank has agreed to pay
more than $16 million to settle charges that it violated US
corruption laws by hiring relatives of foreign government officials
in order to win or retain business.
   (Reuters, 8/22/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 23, In Germany
40-year-old victim from Georgia was shot by a cyclist, who was
captured shortly afterward and identified as a 48-year-old Russian
man. Russia later denied any involvement. In 2020 prosecutors filed
murder charges against suspect Vadim Krasikov for the murder of
Zelimkhan Khangoshvili.
   (AP, 8/28/19)(SFC, 6/19/20, p.A2)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 23, Germany-based
Volkswagen AG said it is recalling 679,000 US vehicles sold since
2011 that could roll away because of an electrical issue.
   (Reuters, 8/23/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 24, In Germany
thousands of people attended a protest against racism in Dresden,
the capital of Saxony state, two weeks ahead of state elections.
   (SSFC, 8/25/19, p.A6)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 25, Ferdinand Karl
Piech, Volkswagen AG's former chairman and chief executive, died. He
had transformed the German company from a struggling midsized
carmaker into a global automotive powerhouse.
   (Reuters, 8/26/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 27, Deutsche Bank AG
confirmed it has tax returnes requsted by US lawmakers seeking
financial information for Pres. Trump and his family.
   (SFC, 8/28/19, p.A6)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 28, Germany's Cabinet
approved a plan to spend up to 40 billion euros ($44.4 billion) by
2038 to cushion the impact of abandoning coal on mining regions.
   (AP, 8/28/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 28, A German court
fined former cyclist and Tour de France champion Jan Ullrich (45)
7,200 euros for attacking and injuring an African sex worker (31) in
a room in a luxury Frankfurt hotel in the early hours of Aug. 10,
2018.
   (Reuters, 8/28/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 1, In eastern Germany
Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives and her Social Democrat
(SPD) coalition partners bled support to the far right in two state
elections, dealing a double blow to her already unstable ruling
alliance.
   (Reuters, 9/1/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 1, German President
Frank-Walter Steinmeier, visiting the town of Wielun, Poland, where
Nazi bombers caused the first large-scale civilian casualties of the
conflict in an air raid on Sept. 1, 1939, said his country won’t
forget the past and takes responsibility for the war’s terror and
atrocities.
   (Bloomberg, 9/1/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 3, German fashion
photographer Peter Lindbergh (74), credited with inventing the
concept of the supermodel in the 1980s, died.
   (Reuters, 9/4/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 9, Germany said it
will resume training border police in Saudi Arabia, after suspending
the practice following the killing last year of journalist Jamal
Khashoggi.
   (AP, 9/9/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 9, The Volkswagen
ID.3, a compact (C-segment) electric car produced by Volkswagen, was
unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show, after being first shown as the
I.D. concept car at the 2016 Paris Motor Show. It is based on the
MEB platform and the first model of the I.D. Series.
   (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_ID.3)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 10, It was reported
that IBM is joining forces with a German research institute to
explore the potential of quantum computing in a project that the
government in Berlin will back to the tune of 650 million euros
($717 million) over two years.
   (Reuters, 9/10/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 11, The Kiel Institute
for the World Economy (IfW) said the German economy will slide into
a recession in the current quarter, as it slashed its growth
forecasts for Europe's biggest economy due to trade disputes and
Brexit uncertainty.
   (Reuters, 9/11/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 11, Ryan Air and its
pilot's union said pilots in Germany have reached a wage agreement
with Ryanair for the first time, a boost to the budget carrier which
is facing industrial unrest elsewhere in Europe.
   (Reuters, 9/11/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 16, A German
government source said Chancellor Angela Merkel's government will
extend a halt on arms exports to Saudi Arabia pointing to the war in
neighboring Yemen and the Social Democrats' refusal to drop
opposition to lifting the moratorium.
   (Reuters, 9/16/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 18, Chancellor Angela
Merkel's Cabinet approved extending Germany's military participation
in an international coalition against the Islamic State group. The
Cabinet extended the Bundeswehr's training of local Iraqi forces
until Oct. 31, 2020.
   (AP, 9/18/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 20, Germany pledged a
54 billion euros ($60 billion) program to put its climate target
back on track without abandoning its long-standing policy of zero
deficit spending.
   (Bloomberg, 9/20/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 20, Germany's
Commerzbank AG says it's planning to cut 4,300 jobs and close 200
branches as part of a restructuring that will also see it sell its
stake in Poland's mBank.
   (AP, 9/20/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 21, In Germany beer
started flowing as the 186th Oktoberfest got underway in the
southern city of Munich.
   (AP, 9/21/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 25, Germany's
Chancellor Angela Merkel's government convened a "national forest
summit" as a beetle infestation has turned climate-stressed
woodlands into brown ecological graveyards.
   (AFP, 9/25/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 3, Chancellor Angela
Merkel made a veiled attack on the far-right Alternative for Germany
(AfD) party on the 29th anniversary of German reunification, saying
economic grievances in the east were no excuse for racism.
   (AP, 10/3/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 7, German Chancellor
Angela Merkel defended climate protection measures condemned by
critics as unambitious, while activists blocked traffic in Berlin to
demand drastic action to cut carbon emissions responsible for global
warming.
   (Reuters, 10/7/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 9, The German cabinet
approved climate protection measures designed to drastically cut
greenhouse gas emissions, keeping on track plans by Chancellor
Angela Merkel to pass the landmark package this year.
   (AP, 10/9/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 9, In eastern Germany
two people were killed in shooting attacks on a synagogue and a
kebab bistro in the city of Halle on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of
the calendar in Judaism. Suspect Stephan Balliet (27) was arrested.
  Â
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halle_synagogue_shooting)(Econ.,
2/29/20, p.40)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 12, Germany said it
has banned arms exports to Turkey over its assault against Kurdish
YPG militia in Syria.
   (Reuters, 10/12/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 17, Germany slashed
its growth outlook for next year, saying it expects trade conflicts,
Brexit and other sources of uncertainty abroad to continue weighing
on an economy that remains buttressed by domestic strength.
   (AFP, 10/17/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 19, Thousands of
people in the German city of Cologne and in the French capital
demonstrated against Turkey's offensive in northern Syria.
   (AP, 10/19/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 27, Germans in the
eastern state of Thuringia voted in an election in which the
far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) sought to build on successes
in two other regional votes last month and to beat Chancellor Angela
Merkel's conservatives. Bjoern Hoecke led the anti-immigrant,
anti-Muslim Alternative for Germany (AfD) party to double its score
from the previous election in 2014 to 23.4 percent in the
ex-communist Thuringia state, knocking Chancellor Angela Merkel's
CDU party off second spot. The ex-Communist Left Party of Gov. Bodo
Ramelow won 30.1% of the vote.
   (Reuters, 10/27/19)(AFP, 10/28/19)(SFC, 10/28/19,
p.A2)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 29, Bruno Kahl, the
president of Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service (BND), said
Huawei Technologies Co. “can’t fully be trusted,” signaling security
hardliners in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government want to keep the
Chinese technology giant out of the country’s fifth-generation
networks.
   (Bloomberg, 10/29/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 29, German prosecutors
said they have charged two suspected former members of Syria's
secret police with crimes against humanity in a case that human
rights campaigners say marks a major step in the fight to hold to
account Syrian officials responsible for atrocities in the country's
long-running civil war.
   (AP, 10/29/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 30, Chancellor Angela
Merkel's Cabinet passed new measures aimed at helping fight
far-right extremism and anti-Semitism following an attack on a
synagogue earlier this month.
   (AP, 10/30/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 1, German Chancellor
Angela Merkel got a toxic welcome to India as PM Narendra Modi
welcomed her in air so polluted that authorities declared a public
health emergency. The two sides signed a series of agreements in
agriculture, maritime technology, "green urban mobility" and even
yoga.
   (AFP, 11/1/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 4, It was reported
that Germany plans to increase by half the grants available to
buyers of electric cars over the five years from 2020, the latest in
a series of measures to speed the adoption of low-emissions
vehicles.
   (Reuters, 11/4/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 4, Thyssenkrupp, a
German industrial conglomerate, said it plans to invest 250 million
euros ($279 million) at its unit that builds submarines and
warships.
   (Reuters, 11/4/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 7, Germany's Lufthansa
airline announced plans for more cost cuts and delivered
better-than-expected results, sending shares higher even as a cabin
crew strike posed a further challenge to its efforts to revive
profits.
   (Reuters, 11/7/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 10, German Chancellor
Angela Merkel's conservatives and the center-left Social Democrats
(SPD) broke a deadlock over a higher basic pension that had
threatened the future of their governing coalition.
   (Reuters, 11/10/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 11, Germany-based
Adidas said it plans to close high-tech "robot" factories in Germany
and the United States it launched to bring production closer to
customers. Adidas said deploying some of the technology in Asia
would be "more economic and flexible".
   (Reuters, 11/11/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 11, It was reported
that Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela
Merkel agreed that Ukraine should give its separatist-led Donbass
region a special status set out in Ukrainian law.
   (Reuters, 11/11/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 12, Authorities in
Germany detained three alleged supporters of the Islamic State group
in Offenbach on suspicion of preparing a deadly attack against
non-Muslims.
   (AP, 11/12/19)  Â
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 12, The Berlin-based
European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights said it has
asked Norwegian prosecutors to open a criminal investigation against
senior Syrian officials over allegations of torture and crimes
against humanity.
   (AP, 11/12/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 12, Tesla Chief
Executive Elon Musk said the US electric vehicle pioneer will build
its first European factory and design center near Berlin.
   (Reuters, 11/13/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 13, The German
parliament’s legal affairs committee ousted Stephan Brandner, its
chairman and a member of the far-right Alternative for Germany
party, amid anger over a string of inflammatory comments he had
made.
   (AP, 11/13/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 15, The German lower
house of parliament approved a major climate protection package
which aims to ensure Germany will meet its 2030 target for reducing
greenhouse gas emissions.
   (Reuters, 11/15/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 15, Volkswagen
installed former BMW executive Markus Duesmann to reinvent Audi
after the German premium brand lost key engineering know-how and
influence in the wake of the 2015 diesel-cheating scandal.
   (Reuters, 11/15/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 18, German biotech
company Morphosys said more patients would be recruited for a study
testing its most advanced drug against a common type of blood
cancer, following an encouraging interim data readout.
   (Reuters, 11/18/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 19, German special
police forces arrested a Syrian man (26) in a raid on his apartment
after receiving intelligence from American officials that he was
planning an extremist attack.
   (AP, 11/19/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 23, Germany’s ruling
Christian Democrats approved a motion that calls on the government
to restrict Chinese equipment supplier Huawei Technologies Co. from
participating in the country’s planned 5G network.
   (AP, 11/23/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 23, In northern
Germany more than 5,000 people followed the call by the governor of
Lower Saxony to join rallies against a far-right protest in
Hannover. Only about 100 far-right protesters showed up for their
march.
   (AP, 11/23/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 25, Thieves in Germany
looted the historic Green Vault Museum in Dresden of potentially
millions of dollars worth of valuables in a brazen heist early this
morning. Police later said at least seven people were involved in
the theft of the 18th-century jewels.
   (SFC, 1/26/19, p.A2)(AP, 3/5/20)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 26, In Germany
thousands of farmers drove their tractors to Berlin's famed
Brandenburg Gate in a mass protest against new environmental
regulations they say threaten their livelihoods.
   (AFP, 11/26/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 26, Germany-based Audi
announced a major restructuring scheme, slashing around 9,500 jobs
until 2025 in an effort to adopt production to the e-mobility era
and achieve billion-euro cost savings.
   (Reuters, 11/26/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 3, German public
prosecutors raided the Wolfsburg headquarters of Volkswagen in the
latest investigation into the carmaker's diesel emissions scandal.
   (Reuters, 12/3/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 4, Germany expelled
two Russian diplomats as it opened a formal investigation into
suspicions the Kremlin was behind the killing of a man in central
Berlin. Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, a Georgian national, was shot dead
in a Berlin park in August.
   (The Telegraph, 12/4/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 4, Deutsche Telekom
said it has put all deals to buy 5G network equipment on hold, as it
awaits the resolution of a debate in Germany over whether to bar
Chinese vendor Huawei on security grounds.
   (Reuters, 12/4/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 6, In Germany an
off-duty firefighter (49) was killed in an altercation between two
couples and a group of youths in the southern city of Augsburg. Two
teenagers were soon arrested after surveillance cameras enabled
investigators to identify the suspects.
   (AP, 12/8/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 7, German farmers set
up “warning bonfires” this evening at hundreds of sites across the
country in a continuation of protests against new environmental
controls that have caught Berlin on the back foot.
   (The Telegraph, 12/8/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 9, In France the
leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France met in Paris to
discuss a peace settlement for Ukraine’s war-ravaged east for the
first time in more than three years. Ukraine's Pres. Volodymyr
Zelenskiy made clear at the talks that Ukraine must regain control
of its eastern border before elections can take place in the
disputed region as part of a peace accord. Russia's Pres. Putin said
the elections must come first. Participating leaders agreed to
implement a comprehensive ceasefire and hold a major prisoner
exchange between the Ukrainian government and the separatists.
   (The Telegraph, 12/9/19)(Bloomberg, 12/10/19)(The
Telegraph, 12/10/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 11, The German
government said it was unaware that Russia had made an extradition
request for a Georgian man murdered in Berlin in August after
Russian President Vladimir Putin said requests from Moscow had not
been heeded.
   (Reuters, 12/11/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 12, Germany pushed
back on President Donald Trump’s moves to impose sanctions on the
controversial Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline, with Angela
Merkel’s top diplomat rejecting outside meddling.
   (Bloomberg, 12/12/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 12, Russia expelled
two German diplomats in what it called a standard diplomatic
response to a similar move by Germany last week and said it hoped a
dispute over the killing of a Georgian citizen in Berlin would not
damage ties further.
   (Reuters, 12/12/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 13, In eastern Germany
one person died and 11 were injured in an explosion at an apartment
building in the town of Blankenburg.
   (AP, 12/13/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 16, Lawmakers in
Germany reached a hard-fought compromise on carbon pricing early,
breaking a parliamentary deadlock on the government's much-disputed
climate policy reforms.
   (AFP, 12/16/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 19, Germany's
parliament passed a resolution calling for a national ban on the
activities of Hezbollah and for the Lebanese militant group to be
put on the European Union's terrorist list.
   (AP, 12/19/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 20, President Trump
signed off on sanctions against companies building a Russian natural
gas pipeline to Germany that Congress fears will give the Kremlin
dangerous leverage over America's European allies.
   (The Telegraph, 12/20/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 20, The US
Environmental Protection Agency and the Justice Department said in a
friend of the court brief a federal appeals court should reverse a
lower court verdict finding the Bayer company liable in the case of
a man who blamed the weed killer by Bayer's US unit Monsanto for his
cancer.
   (Reuters, 12/23/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 21, Berlin accused
Washington of interfering in German internal affairs, after Donald
Trump signed off on US sanctions against companies building a
Russian natural gas pipeline to Germany. Switzerland-based Allseas,
which operates ships laying sections of the undersea pipeline, said
it was suspending work on the £8.5 billion project, which is well
advanced.
   (The Telegraph, 12/21/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 24, Germany rejected
calls from the European Commission asking the country to take in
more unaccompanied migrant children from overcrowded refugee camps
in Greece. Horst Seehofer, the interior minister, said while he was
concerned about the plight of the migrants, doing so without a
concerted European strategy would only encourage people smugglers.
   (The Telegraph, 12/24/19)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 1, In western Germany
a fire at the Krefeld zoo in the first minutes of 2020 killed more
than 30 animals, including apes, monkeys, bats and birds. Police
said the fire may have been caused by sky lanterns launched to
celebrate the new year.
   (AP, 1/1/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 8, Researchers in
Germany said a review of fatal encephalitis cases in the state of
Bavaria has found that more than twice as many as previously known
were tied to a rare animal-borne virus. Borna disease virus 1, or
BoDV-1, is normally found in horses, sheep and other mammals. It was
first identified as the cause of severe human encephalitis in 2018.
   (AP, 1/8/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 11, German Chancellor
Angela Merkel arrived in Moscow for talks with Russian President
Vladimir Putin amid growing tensions in the Middle East and
elsewhere.
   (AP, 1/11/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 14, Germany launched
an 86 billion euro ($95 billion) plan to modernize and expand its
creaky railway system, a move billed as an effort to make
transportation greener.
   (Bloomberg, 1/14/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 14, Britain, France
and Germany triggered a dispute resolution mechanism under the
already tattered 2015 nuclear deal, prompting Iran to warn them of
unspecified "consequences".
   (AFP, 1/14/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 15, Deutsche Telekom
said it was founding a fiber-optic networks joint venture with
regional utility EWE that aims to connect more than 1.5 million
German households after winning antitrust approval for the deal to
go ahead.
   (Reuters, 1/15/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 16, Germany's foreign
minister said Libyan strongman General Khalifa Haftar has agreed to
abide by a ceasefire and said he was ready to participate in an
international conference in Berlin on Jan. 19.
   (The Telegraph, 1/16/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 19, Participants at a
Berlin summit agreed to respect a much-violated arms embargo in
Libya, halt military support to the warring parties and push them to
reach a full cease-fire. The summit was quickly overshadowed by a
fresh crisis over oil. There were reports of ongoing fighting on the
frontlines south of Tripoli and Western leaders appeared downbeat on
the prospects of putting the ceasefire agreement into force. It was
later revealed that at least five cargo planes filled with weapons
from the UAE and Russia were bound for Libya as global leaders posed
for a group picture.
   (AP, 1/20/20)(The Telegraph, 1/20/20)(SFC,
9/4/20, p.A4)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 22, In Germany a
Berlin court convicted two German men of murder in the fatal
shooting of a 25-year-old Polish woman. The woman was found fatally
injured in a Berlin driveway in December 2018. The two men were
sentenced to life imprisonment.
   (AP, 1/22/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 23, In central Germany
a school bus crashed early today, killing two children and leaving
five others seriously injured near the village of Berka, Thuringia
state.
   (AP, 1/23/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 24, In Germany six
people were killed and several were injured in a shooting in the
southwestern town of Rot am See. Police arrested a German national
(26) and believed the shooting was a result of a family dispute.
   (AP, 1/24/20)(SFC, 1/25/20, p.A2)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 25, Fashion retailer
H&M said that data security breaches found at its German unit
were unacceptable and it was cooperating with the local data
protection supervisory authority in its investigation into the
matter.
   (Reuters, 1/25/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 26, The German
military resumed training Iraqi troops in the country's Kurdish
north, about three weeks after it was suspended following the US
killing of a top Iranian general in Baghdad. The Bundeswehr has
about 90 soldiers in Irbil. Germany's training mission in central
Iraq is still suspended.
   (AP, 1/26/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 28, A German court
ruled that a hostel situated on the grounds of the North Korean
embassy in Berlin must close as its operation breaches sanctions
aimed at stopping the flow of hard currency to Pyongyang.
   (Reuters, 1/28/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 28, Germany-based
Adidas said it will launch new fabrics made from recycled polyester
and marine plastic waste and expand the product lines that use them
after the success of shoes made with the Parley for the Oceans
initiative.
   (Reuters, 1/28/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 29, Germany-based
Lufthansa said it is suspending its own, Swiss and Austrian Airlines
flights to and from China until Feb. 9.
   (Reuters, 1/29/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 30, Amnesty
International criticized Greece's plans to deploy a floating barrier
as a way to prevent migrants from reaching the Greek islands from
nearby Turkey.
   (AP, 1/30/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 30, Berlin’s
legislature backed measures including a five-year rent freeze, more
than six months after they were proposed by the left-leaning
administration. A property boom has caused rents to double over the
past decade.
   (Bloomberg, 1/30/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Austria, Germany,
and Slovenia confirmed they would not extradite their nationals to
the UK during the 11-month transition period which starts tomorrow.
   (Business Insider, 2/1/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 2, In western Germany
more than 100 environmentalist activists occupied the site of the
yet-to-be commissioned Datteln 4 coal fired power plant to protest
against carbon emissions from coal burning.
   (Reuters, 2/2/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 4, A German appeals
court rejected a Jewish man's bid to force the removal of a
700-year-old anti-Semitic statue from Town Church in Wittenberg
where Martin Luther once preached. The sculpture depicts people
identifiable as Jews suckling on the teats of a sow, while a rabbi
lifts the animal’s tail.
   (AP, 2/4/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 5, In Germany
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party lined up with the far right
Alternative for Germany (AfD) for the first time ever to elect a
state leader in Thuringia, throwing the country’s political
establishment into disarray.
   (AP, 2/5/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 5, German Chancellor
Angela Merkel arrived in South Africa to discuss trade, investment
and energy issues with Berlin's largest trading partner in Africa.
   (AP, 2/5/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 5, German sportswear
company Adidas said it was temporarily shutting a "considerable"
number of its stores in China due to the coronavirus outbreak.
   (Reuters, 2/5/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 6, Thomas Kemmerich,
the premier of Germany's Thuringia state, stepped down and called
for snap elections, barely 24 hours after he was elected with the
help of far-right AfD lawmakers in a vote Angela Merkel called
"unforgivable".
   (AFP, 2/6/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 8, Germany's ruling
coalition called for fresh elections in the eastern state of
Thuringia, whose pro-business premier stepped down only two days
after being helped into the job with votes from the far right.
   (Reuters, 2/8/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 10, Chancellor Angela
Merkel said she regretted today's decision of her protegee Annegret
Kramp-Karrenbauer not to stand as their party's candidate for the
chancellorship in Germany's next federal election.
   (Reuters, 2/10/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 11, German and Swiss
media reported that US and German intelligence services raked in the
top secret communications of governments around the world for
decades through their hidden control of a top encryption company
Crypto AG, US. The Swiss company was secretly owned by the US
Central Intelligence Agency together with Germany's BND Federal
Intelligence Service, who rigged Crypto's equipment to be able to
easily break the codes and read the government’s messages.
   (AFP, 2/11/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 14, German officials
said police have detained 12 men on suspicion of involvement in a
far-right group that allegedly planned attacks against politicians
and minorities.
   (SFC, 2/15/20, p.A2)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 15, In Germany several
thousand people demonstrated in Erfurt, capital of Thuringia state,
where far-right lawmakers last week helped install a new state
premier.
   (AP, 2/15/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 16, Germany and the
UN, which co-hosted a Jan. 19 Berlin summit, gathered foreign
ministers and other officials from a dozen countries on the
sidelines of the Munich Security Conference to try to bolster a
drive to cut off outside military support for Libya's warring
parties.
   (AP, 2/16/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 19, In Germany a
massacre in the Frankfurt suburb of Hanau erupted late today at two
hookah bars. The shooting left 11 people dead, including Tobias
Rathjen, the suspected gunman. Investigators said a video the
suspect posted online allegedly expressed right-wing conspiracy
theories.
   (ABC News, 2/20/20)(Econ., 2/29/20, p.40)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 23, Berlin began
freezing the rents of 1.5 million apartments for the next five years
in a controversial move to control the exploding costs that have
forced many to move outside Germany's capital city.
   (AP, 2/23/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 24, In Germany at
least 52 people were hurt when the driver of a silver Mercedes
station wagon drove into a carnival procession in Volkmarsen. A
German man (29) was soon arrested in connection with the attack.
   (Business Insider, 2/25/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 26, Germany's highest
court overturned a ban on medically assisted suicide.
   (SFC, 2/27/20, p.A2)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 26, In Germany two
people tested positive for coronavirus, taking the total to 18.
Officials said a German couple who contracted the coronavirus had
taken part in local carnival celebrations and also visited the
Netherlands in the 10 days before they were diagnosed.
   (Reuters, 2/26/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 27, In Germany, the
Berlin state government struck down the honorary citizen title of
former German Pres. Paul von Hindenburg (1925-1934) citing his act
of appointing Adolf Hitler as chancellor in 1933.
   (SFC, 2/28/20, p.A2)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 1, Germany's Robert
Koch Institute for disease control said the number of confirmed
coronavirus cases in Germany has jumped to 117 from 66.
   (Reuters, 3/1/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 2, In Germany the
number of novel coronavirus cases rose to 150, up from 129 the
previous day, with Berlin reporting its first infection.
   (AP, 3/2/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 2, Britain's Foreign
Office said Germany, France and the UK have offered a 5 million-euro
($5.6 million) package to Iran to help fight coronavirus in the
country.
   (Reuters, 3/2/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 3, Germany said the
number of confirmed cases has risen to 188. The virus has spread to
13 of the country’s 16 federal states.
   (AP, 3/3/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 4, Germany ordered the
closure of all schools and universities until March 15.
   (Econ., 3/7/20, p.48)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 4, Germany-based
Lufthansa said it has cut its flight capacity in a move equivalent
to grounding almost a fifth of its fleet, response to the
coronavirus epidemic.
   (AP, 3/4/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 5, Germany's new
coronavirus cases jumped by 109 in a day, to 349.
   (AP, 3/5/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 7, Germany’s confirmed
coronavirus infections rose to 684 from 534 a day earlier.
   (AP, 3/7/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 9, Germany reported
its first two deaths due to the coronavirus. The number of cases in
Germany more than doubled to over 1,100 in the last few days,
putting pressure on the government to act.
   (Bloomberg, 3/9/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 10, German Chancellor
Angela Merkel met Libyan military commander Khalifa Hifter in Berlin
in a bid to advance efforts to secure a lasting cease-fire in Libya.
   (AP, 3/10/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 11, Germany reported
1,622 confirmed cases of coronavirus, making it the seventh-highest
national total in the global outbreak. Chancellor Angela Merkel
warned that up to 70 percent of the country's population, roughly 58
million people, could contract the virus.
   (Good Morning America, 3/11/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 12, Germany's domestic
intelligence agency formally classified a radical faction within the
Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, know as "The Wing," as a
right-wing extremist movement.
   (SFC, 3/13/20, p.A3)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 13, Germany recorded
3,062 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, with five deaths. The
German government unleashed the biggest economic aid package in the
country's post-war history, offering companies "unlimited" credit to
keep them afloat during the coronavirus crisis.
   (Reuters, 3/14/20)(AFP, 3/13/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 13, Finland, France,
Germany, Luxembourg and Portugal agreed to take in at least 1,600
migrant children in Greece traveling without their parents.
   (SSFC, 3/15/20, p.A3)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 15, Germany's Health
Ministry confirmed a report in newspaper Welt am Sonntag, which said
President Donald Trump had offered funds to lure the company CureVac
to the United States, and the German government was making
counter-offers to tempt it to stay.
   (Reuters, 3/15/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 16, Germany's federal
and state governments agreed sweeping rules shutting everything from
non-essential shops to bars, clubs, theatres, museums, brothels and
churches in order to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
   (Reuters, 3/16/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 18, Mitterteich,
Bavaria, became the first German town to impose a curfew to slow the
spread of the coronavirus. The curfew will last until April 2.
Citizens there were still allowed to buy groceries, go to work and
visit the doctor.
   (Reuters, 3/18/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 19, Authorities in
Germany conducted raids in 10 states at premises linked to a group
accused of pursuing a mix of anti-government and racist ideology.
around 400 police officers had seized firearms, propaganda material
and small amounts of drugs during the raids on the homes of 21
leading members of the United German Peoples and Tribes group.
   (AP, 3/19/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 19, Germany said it
has lifted export bans on medical equipment which were issued
earlier this month to avoid shortages of masks, goggles and gloves
in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.
   (Reuters, 3/19/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 22, Germany received
the green light from EU regulators for subsidized loans to companies
hit by the coronavirus pandemic. Germany tightened curbs on social
interaction, including a ban on public meetings of more than two
people for at least the next two weeks, to slow the spread of the
coronavirus.
   (Bloomberg, 3/22/20)(Reuters, 3/22/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 22, The South African
Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) said around 1,240 German
passengers stranded in Cape Town after their MV AidAmira cruise ship
was quarantined for almost a week due to a coronavirus scare had
either begun their journey home or would do so in the next day.
   (Reuters, 3/22/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 23, Germany barred
public gatherings of more than two people, except for families, and
Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was going into isolation because
her doctor had tested positive for the virus. Germany signed off on
taking on billions in new debt as part of an unprecedented package
totaling more than 750 billion euros ($800 billion) to cushion the
fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
   (NY Times, 3/23/20)(Bloomberg, 3/23/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 24, In Germany Bjoern
Hoecke and Andreas Kalbitz, the leading figures of the radical Wing
faction of the far-right Alternative for Germany party, agreed to
disband. The head of the domestic intelligence agency in Thuringia
called the agreement a smoke screen.
   (SFC, 3/26/20, p.A2)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 24, German hospitals
with spare capacity welcomed their first coronavirus patients from
Italy. Germany had 27,000 confirmed coronavirus cases but only 114
deaths.
   (Reuters, 3/24/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 25, Germany's
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government secured emergency spending,
unlocking a historic rescue package designed to cushion the blow of
the coronavirus pandemic. The Bundesrat, or upper house of
parliament, will vote on March 27.
   (Bloomberg, 3/25/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 25, In Germany some
32,705 patients have been confirmed with the coronavirus, up from
28,942 a day earlier. So far 154 have died, compared with 118 a day
earlier.
   (Bloomberg, 3/25/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 26, Germany has
reported coronavirus infections in more than 39,000 people, but just
222 deaths. The country now has the ability to test 500,000 people a
week, perhaps the greatest capacity in the world.
   (AP, 3/26/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 26, A German court
convicted Tunisian man Sief Allah H. (31) of planning to carry out a
ricin attack in the name of the Islamic State.
   (SFC, 3/27/20, p.A2)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 27, In Germany cases
of coronavirus rose to 43,039 from 37,179, while the death toll
jumped to 262 deaths from 203.
   (Bloomberg, 3/27/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 28, In Germany the
number of confirmed coronavirus cases rose to 48,582 and 325 people
have died of the disease.
   (Reuters, 3/28/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 1, Germany's confirmed
cases of coronavirus passed 71,000. The death toll was 775. The
country was now capable of conducting up to 500,000 tests a week.
   (AP, 4/1/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 2, Deaths from
coronavirus in Germany climbed to 1,074, a day after the government
extended a nationwide lockdown beyond Easter.
   (Bloomberg, 4/2/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 4, Deaths in Germany
due to the coronavirus rose by 168 to 1,275. Some 91,159 people were
infected and 6,365 more than a day earlier.
   (Bloomberg, 4/4/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 5, Germany's confirmed
coronavirus infections rose by 5,936 in the past 24 hours to 91,714,
the third straight drop in the daily rate of new cases.
   (Reuters, 4/5/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 6, Germany reported
lower numbers of new coronavirus cases. Chancellor Angela Merkel’s
government announced a new “limitless” aid program for small- and
medium-sized companies.
   (Bloomberg, 4/6/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 7, In Germany a man
(29) in Celle fatally stabbed a teenage refugee (15) from Iraq. The
man later claimed to have been under the influence of drugs.
   (SFC, 4/27/20, p.A2)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 8, It was reported
that the German foreign ministry has restricted use of the video
conferencing service Zoom, saying in an internal memo to employees
that security and data protection weaknesses made it too risky to
use.
   (Reuters, 4/8/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 9, New coronavirus
cases in Germany climbed the most in five days.
   (Bloomberg, 4/9/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 11, Germany's number
of confirmed infections rose by 4,133 to 117,658. The reported death
toll rose by 171 to 2,544.
   (Reuters, 4/11/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 12, Germany's number
of confirmed coronavirus infections rose by 2,821 to 120,479. The
reported death toll rose by 129 to 2,673.
   (Reuters, 4/12/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 14, Germany's public
health chief said number of people infected with coronavirus in
Germany has "stabilized." 125,098 people in the country had tested
positive for the virus. New coronavirus cases in Germany fell for a
sixth day. There were 2,138 new infections, the lowest increase this
month, bringing the total to 132,210. Germany was set to agree on an
extension of nationwide lockdown measures until at least May 3.
   (AFP, 4/14/20)(Bloomberg, 4/15/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 15, German authorities
announced that police in the country had arrested four suspected
Islamic State members, all from Tajikistan, for allegedly plotting
to attack US military bases.
   (SFC, 4/16/20, p.A2)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 15, Germany’s new
coronavirus cases climbed for the first time in a week. There were
2,543 new infections, taking the total to 134,753. The number of
fatalities rose by 309 to 3,804. Chancellor Angela Merkel announced
tentative steps to begin returning the country to normal.
   (Bloomberg, 4/15/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 17, Germany’s
coronavirus cases increased at a faster rate for a second day. The
number of fatalities rose by 248, the smallest gain in three days,
to more than 4,000.
   (Bloomberg, 4/17/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 18, Germany reported
3,699 new coronavirus infections over the last 24 hours, increasing
at a quicker rate for a third day and taking the total to 141,397.
The number of fatalities rose by 300 to 4,352.
   (Bloomberg, 4/18/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 18, A German-operated
cruise ship left Western Australia after three weeks. Three people
died on board of the virus during that time. About 79 crew and
passengers aboard the Artania had tested positive.
   (Bloomberg, 4/18/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 19, In Germany there
were 2,327 new coronavirus infections in the 24 hours, taking the
total to 143,724. fatalities rose by 186, the fewest in five days,
to 4,538.
   (Bloomberg, 4/19/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 20, Students in
Germany went back to class to take their final exams as schools that
had been shut last month to stem the spread of the coronavirus
epidemic began to reopen.
   (Reuters, 4/20/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 21, Deutsche Bank in a
letter declined a request by prominent US senators to provide
information about the German lender's recent business dealings with
President Donald Trump and his family. Deutsche's counsel rejected
the senators' request on privacy grounds.
   (Reuters, 4/25/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 21, Florian Schneider
(b.1947), co-founder of the German electronic music group Kraftwork,
died in Dusseldorf. The avant-garde music group emerged from
Dusseldorf in 1970.
   (Econ., 5/16/20, p.43)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 22, In Germany there
were 1,388 new cases in the 24 hours through this morning, bringing
the total to 148,453. Fatalities rose by 224, the most in four days,
to 5,086.
   (Bloomberg, 4/22/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 22, BioNTech SE and
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) announced that the German regulatory authority,
the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut, has approved the Phase 1/2 clinical trial
for BioNTech’s BNT162 vaccine program to prevent COVID-19 infection.
   (https://tinyurl.com/yclugzvt)(Reuters, 4/22/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 23, Germany’s ruling
coalition agreed on a 10 billion-euro ($10.8 billion) package of
further measures to dampen the economic impact of the coronavirus
crisis.
   (Bloomberg, 4/23/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 24, Germany’s new
coronavirus cases and deaths rose the most in nearly a week. There
were 2,481 new infections in the 24 hours through this morning,
bringing the total to 153,129. Fatalities rose to 5,575.
   (Bloomberg, 4/24/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 25, In Germany deaths
due to the coronavirus dropped to the lowest in five days. Deaths in
Germany rose by 148 to 5,723 in the last 24 hours.
   (Bloomberg, 4/25/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 26, In Germany there
were 1,968 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total to 156,513, the
fourth-highest in Europe.
   (Bloomberg, 4/26/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 27, In Germany a total
of 157,770 people have been infected with the coronavirus, an
increase of 1,257 in the 24 hours through this morning. Deaths rose
by 99 to 5,976.
   (Bloomberg, 4/27/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 29, Austria and
Switzerland pledged to help Lufthansa with state-backed loans as the
German airline pursues talks with Berlin over a 9 billion euro ($9.8
billion) rescue package.
   (Reuters, 4/29/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 30, Germany said it
has banned Iran-backed Hezbollah on its soil and designated it a
terrorist organization. Security officials believed that up to 1,050
people in Germany are part of Hezbollah's extremist wing. Police
have raided five sites linked to the Lebanese militant group.
   (Reuters, 4/30/20)(SFC, 5/1/20, p.A2)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 30, Pfizer said it
aims to make 10-20 million doses of a coronavirus vaccine it is
developing with Germany's BioNtech by the end of 2020 for emergency
use depending on trial results.
   (AP, 4/30/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â May 4, Chancellor Angela
Merkel said that Germany would contribute 525 million euros ($573.51
million) to a global fund-raising push to search for vaccines and
for a treatment for the novel coronavirus. World leaders in a video
conference launched a pledging "marathon" - without the United
States - to raise at least $8.2 billion for research into a possible
vaccine and treatments for the coronavirus, but warned that it is
just the start of an effort that must be sustained over time to beat
the disease.
   (AP, 5/4/20)(Reuters, 5/4/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â May 6, The German
government and the 16 federal states agreed at a meeting to extend
until June 5 social distancing measures designed to help fight the
spread of the novel coronavirus. Germany's confirmed coronavirus
cases increased by 947 to 164,807.
   (Reuters, 5/6/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â May 8, In Germany local
governments activated emergency measures in three districts that
have seen flare-ups of the coronavirus. All the spikes were
associated with local meatpacking centers in the states of North
Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein.
   (Business Insider, 5/17/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â May 10, It was reported
that new coronavirus infections are accelerating again in Germany
just days after its leaders loosened social restrictions, raising
concerns that the pandemic could once again slip out of control. The
number of confirmed coronavirus cases increased by 667 to 169,218.
The reported death toll rose by 13 to 7,395.
   (Reuters, 5/10/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â May 13, Germany
prosecutors said they have charged an Indian man (Balvir S.) with
spying on the Sikh community and Kashmir activists for his country's
intelligence service for more than two years.
   (SFC, 5/14/20, p.A2)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â May 14, Germany's unlisted
CureVac said its experimental coronavirus vaccine was shown to
trigger an immune response in animals when given a low dose and the
biotech firm was looking at carrying out its first human trials in
June.
   (Reuters, 5/14/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â May 15, In Germany draft
government proposal said Germany will order meatpacking plants to
stop using subcontractors and to improve hygiene standards in the
workplace and accommodations, after more than 600 cases of
coronavirus among workers in the industry.
   (Reuters, 5/15/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â May 16, Thousands of
Germans across the country took to the streets to protest against
restrictions imposed by the government to contain the coronavirus
pandemic. The number of confirmed coronavirus cases increased by 583
to 174,355. The reported death toll rose by 33 to 7,914.
   (Reuters, 5/16/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â May 18, The leaders of
France and Germany unveiled a post-covid EU recovery plan.
   (Econ., 5/23/20, p.40)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â May 25, Germany-based
Bayer said it had made progress seeking a settlement over claims its
glyphosate-based Roundup weedkiller causes cancer, after Bloomberg
reported the company reached a verbal agreement on about 50,000 to
85,000 cases.
   (Reuters, 5/25/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â May 25, Germany-based
Siemens Healthineers said it stands ready to ramp up production of
its antibody test to more than 50 million per month from June as
governments across the world are keen to identify those who may have
developed immunity to the coronavirus.
   (Reuters, 5/26/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â May 26, Germany extended
social distancing rules aimed at containing the spread of the
coronavirus to June 29. Germany's virus caseload now tops 179,000
with just over 8,300 deaths.
   (AFP, 5/27/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â May 29, A Berlin official
said a hostel on the grounds of the North Korean embassy has been
closed. It was accused of helping finance the East Asian country in
violation of international sanctions.
   (AP, 5/29/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â May 29, A German court
convicted Cheryl von U. (61), an American-born dentist, of
strangling her British husband (69) in Nov. 2018. The body of Peter
von U. was found in a Czech wood with its teeth removed to hinder
identification.
   (AP, 5/29/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 3, Germany's ruling
coalition agreed to a new, 130 billion stimulus plan to help the
economy recover from a pandemic-induced recession this year.
   (Reuters, 6/4/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 5, The Wall Street
Journal reported that President Donald Trump has ordered the
Pentagon to reduce the number of US troops in Germany by 9,500.
Currently there are 34,500 American service members permanently
assigned in Germany as part of a long-standing arrangement with
America's NATO ally.
   (AP, 6/6/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 6, In Germany 93
people were detained in Berlin in connection with a Black Lives
Matter demonstration, most of them after the main rally of 15,000
had ended. At least 15,000 people demonstrated in Berlin and 25,000
protested in Munich. There were protests in other German cities as
part of the global demonstrations against racism and police
brutality that have followed the May 25 death of American George
Floyd.
   (AP, 6/7/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 10, Germany said that
it will from next week relax entry restrictions for seasonal workers
introduced to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
   (Reuters, 6/10/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 14, In Germany
thousands of people formed a human chain through Berlin in a message
against racism, discrimination and social inequality among other
causes.
   (AP, 6/14/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 15, Spain put its
tourism industry to the test by allowing thousands of Germans to fly
to its Balearic Islands without a 14-day quarantine.
   (AP, 6/15/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 15, Pres. Donald Trump
said he is cutting the number of American troops in Germany by half
because Berlin is "delinquent" in its contributions to NATO and
treats the US "badly" on trade.
   (The Telegraph, 6/15/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 18, The auditor of
Wirecard, a German payments company, said it could not find $2.1
billion, nearly a quarter of the firm's balance sheet, that was
meant to be held in escrow accounts in the Philippines.
   (Econ., 6/27/20, p.60)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 19, A prominent
regional leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany won a court
injunction against his expulsion from the party. The national
leadership of Alternative for Germany, or AfD, last month voted to
void the membership of Andreas Kalbitz, its chief in the eastern
state of Brandenburg, for failing to disclose his ties to extremist
groups. Kalbitz can continue to exercise his rights as a party
member and a member of its national leadership until an AfD
arbitration committee rules on the matter.
   (AP, 6/19/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 19, Wirecard CEO
Markus Brown, head of the German payments company, quit the firm. He
was soon arrested on suspicion of false accounting and market
manipulation.
   (Econ., 6/27/20, p.9)  Â
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 20, Germany reported
that some 800 workers at one of the country’s largest
slaughterhouses were confirmed positive for the coronavirus.
Authorities reported 601 new cases over the last 24 hours, following
on from 770 the previous day. Earlier in June the number of new
cases was as low as 300. The R number, which estimates how many
people the average carrier infects, rose to 1.7.
   (AP, 6/20/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 22, Wirecard
acknowledged that €1.9 billion ($2.1 billion) in cash included in
financial statements, roughly a quarter of its assets, probably
never existed in the first place. The company withdrew its
preliminary results for 2019, the first quarter of 2020 and its
profit forecast for 2020. A day later prosecutors announced that
Wirecard CEO Markus Brown has been arrested.
   (https://tinyurl.com/ycuu9s9a)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 23, Germany banned a
neo-Nazi group and ordered police raids against its members.
Nordadler, or Northern Eagles, is the third far-Right organization
to be banned this year under a crackdown by Horst Seehofer, the
interior minister.
   (The Telegraph, 6/23/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 23, In Germany
Guetersloh becoming the first area in the country to be ordered back
into lockdown. More than 1,500 workers at the Guetersloh meatpacking
plant have tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19.
Meat-processing plants around the world have proven to be
coronavirus infection hotspots.
   (AP, 6/23/20)
 2020      Jun 25, Wirecard, a
German payments company, filed for insolvency, shortly after the
arrest of its former CEO Markus Brown on suspicion of market
manipulation and false accounting practices. The firm claimed that
more than $2 billion had disappeared from its balance sheet and
falsely claimed that the missing cash was in the Philippines.
   (Business Insider, 6/27/20)(Econ., 6/27/20, p.9)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 29, The Philippines'
anti-money laundering agency said it would conduct a "swift and
thorough" investigation into scandal-hit German payments firm
Wirecard AG and that it has drawn up an initial list of people and
entities of interest.
   (Reuters, 6/29/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 30, The state of
Bavaria approved plans for universal testing for COVID-19, prompting
debate elsewhere in Germany about whether to follow suit or stick
with the current targeted approach to prevent a possible second wave
of infections.
   (Reuters, 6/30/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 1, Germany took the
helm of the EU's rotating presidency. Chancellor Angela Merkel
warned that the European Union must prepare for the possibility that
talks with Britain on their post-Brexit relationship could fail.
   (AFP, 7/1/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 1, German biotech firm
BioNTech and US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer said a jointly developed
COVID-19 vaccine has shown potential and was found to be well
tolerated in early-stage human trials.
   (AP, 7/1/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 3, German scientists
began a nationwide study to gain a better overview of the actual
prevalence of the new coronavirus in the country's population and
test how well measures to prevent its spread are working.
   (Reuters, 7/3/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 7, German prosecutors
in the town of Zwickau seized servers that hosted thousands of
sensitive police documents published as part of the BlueLeaks data
dump. The publisher was not given an explanation. Prosecutors behind
the seizure were acting at the request of the US government. The
takedown came after DDoSecrets, the publisher that hosted the
BlueLeaks files after they were obtained by an anonymous hacker, was
permanently banned from Twitter.
   (AFP, 7/9/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 7, The New York
Department of Financial Services said Deutsche Bank has agreed to
pay $150 million in penalties over its relationship with Jeffrey
Epstein as part of a consent order with regulators in New York.
   (Good Morning America, 7/7/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 21, German biotech
company CureVac said Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) has taken an
undisclosed stake in the firm as part of a $126 million financing
round, the latest high-profile investor to come onboard ahead of a
potential stock market listing.
   (Reuters, 7/21/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 23, A German court
found Bruno Day (93), a former Nazi SS camp guard, guilty of 5,232
counts of accessory to murder and one case of accessory to attempted
murder — equal to the number of people believed to have been killed
at Stutthof concentration camp during his service there. Dey was 17,
and later 18, at the time of his alleged crimes which were
consequently heard in juvenile court in Hamburg. He was given a
two-year juvenile sentence, which has been suspended.
   (NBC News, 7/23/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 23, In Germany 11 men
were convicted of rape at the end of a year-long trial over a gang
assault on an 18-year-old woman in October 2018. The case, in which
most of the defendants were Syrian, added to tensions in Germany
over migration.
   (AP, 7/23/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 24, The German cruise
ship “Mein Schiff 2” set sail in the North Sea for the first time
since the industry was shut down months ago, using strict
precautions to keep passengers and crew as safe as possible. The
ship sailed off with 1,200 passengers on board compared to its
normal 2,900 capacity.
   (AP, 7/25/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 24, German authorities
arrested a German woman (Nurten J.), who allegedly joined the
Islamic State group in Syria, upon her return to the country. She is
accused of membership in a foreign terrorist group, war crimes
against property and other crimes. The fate of her children was not
known.
   (AP, 7/27/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 28, In Germany the
number of daily new coronavirus cases almost doubled to 633. The
Robert Koch Institute (RKI) linked the increase to increased social
contact at parties and in the workplace and urged people not to
flout social distancing rules.
   (Reuters, 7/28/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 29, Berlin's Tegel
airport began large scale coronavirus testing, as airports across
Germany prepared for the advent of free, compulsory testing for many
passengers from next week.
   (Reuters, 7/29/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 29, Spurred on by
President Donald Trump's demand to pull troops out of Germany,
defense leaders said the US will bring about 6,400 forces home and
shift about 5,600 to other countries in Europe. The Pentagon plan
will cost billions of dollars and take years to complete. About
24,000 US troops will remain in Germany.
   (AP, 7/29/20)(SFC, 8/1/20, p.A2)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 1, In Germany an
estimated 17 thousand protested coronavirus restrictions in a Berlin
demonstration that insisted “the end of the pandemic” has arrived —
a declaration that comes just as authorities are voicing increasing
concerns about an uptick in new infections. The country’s death toll
was just over 9,150 people out of more than 210,670 confirmed virus
cases.
   (AP, 8/1/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 1, Police in Erfurt
said three Guineans were assaulted by a group of 10 to 12 Germans
shortly after 3 a.m. near a meeting point for the far-right scene in
a housing estate. Twelve suspected perpetrators were detained.
   (AP, 8/1/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 6, Germany's health
minister announced that Germany will require people arriving from
countries deemed high risk, such as the United States, to take
coronavirus tests starting this weekend, as the country recorded its
highest daily tally of new infections in three months.
   (AP, 8/6/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 11, German biotech
firm BioNTech, which is working with US pharma giant Pfizer on a
novel vaccine, reiterated it aimed to file for emergency
authorization or approval as early as October, if ongoing trials
succeed.
   (Reuters, 8/12/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 12, Germany's leading
infectious disease institute said a first vaccine against the
coronavirus could be available as early as autumn but warned that it
may take longer to control the pandemic.
   (Reuters, 8/12/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 12, Germany recorded
the biggest daily increase in new coronavirus cases in more than
three months, with the health minister warning of outbreaks in
nearly all parts of the country due to holiday returnees and
party-goers. The number of confirmed coronavirus cases rose by 1,226
to 218,519. Deaths remained relatively low, edging up by six to a
total of 9,207.
   (Reuters, 8/12/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 13, German biotech
firm CureVac BV raised $213.3 million in its initial public offering
in New York, setting the stage for the first stock market debut of a
company developing a potential vaccine to combat the coronavirus.
   (Reuters, 8/13/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 15, US Secretary of
State Mike Pompeo sealed a defense cooperation deal with Polish
officials that will pave the way to redeploy American troops from
Germany to Poland.
   (AP, 8/15/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 18, Chancellor Angela
Merkel warned there could be no further relaxation of coronavirus
restrictions while the country grapples with a surge in new
infections. Germany has recorded a total of 225,404 coronavirus
cases and 9,236 fatalities.
   (AFP, 8/18/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 18, German authorities
arrested a Syrian national (Khaled A.) on suspicion he was a member
of two militant groups that fought against the government of
President Bashar Assad during the early stages of the conflict in
Syria.
   (AP, 8/18/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 18, In Germany Sarmad
D., an Iraqi man (30), drove his car into motorcycles along a
stretch of Berlin highway. Six people were injured, three of them
severely in what officials soon called a terror attack.
   (AP, 8/19/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 19, Germany's public
health institute reported that there were 1,510 new cases in the
past 24 hours, making the national total 226,914.
   (Good Morning America, 8/20/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 22, Russia’s most
prominent Kremlin critic, Alexei Navalny, was in a critical
condition and undergoing full tests at a German hospital after an
emergency medical flight from Russia with suspected poisoning.
   (Washington Post, 8/22/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 22, Germany reported
2,034 new cases of the coronavirus, the first time the daily
national increase has topped 2,000 since the end of April.
   (SSFC, 8/23/20, p.A10)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 24, In Germany the
Charite hospital said a medical examination of Russian opposition
leader Alexei Navalny has found indications of poisoning. The
clinical findings indicated poisoning by a substance from the group
of active substances called cholinesterase inhibitors.
   (Reuters, 8/24/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 27, Chancellor Angela
Merkel said most of Germany will impose a minimum fine of 50 euros
($59) for breaching mask-wearing rules as coronavirus infections
rise again.
   (AP, 8/27/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 29, Berlin police
broke up a mass protest against coronavirus curbs and arrested 300
after demonstrators failed to keep their distance and wear masks as
instructed.
   (Reuters, 8/30/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 1, A thousand police
officers in Germany raided the homes of 50 people as part of a
nationwide crackdown on the online sharing and distribution of child
pornography. Investigators seized around 2,000 phones, computers and
other devices upon which images were stored.
   (AP, 9/2/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 1, Britain, China,
France, Germany, and Russia, dubbed the "4+1," defeated US efforts
to restore international sanctions on Iran.
   (AFP, 9/2/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 2, The German
government said Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was
poisoned with the same type of Soviet-era nerve agent that British
authorities identified in a 2018 attack on a former Russian spy.
   (AP, 9/2/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 3, In western Germany
five children were found dead in an apartment in Solingen, with
local media reporting they were murdered by their mother who later
tried to kill herself.
   (The Telegraph, 9/3/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 4, German biotech firm
Curevac said it had won nearly $300 million in government funding to
speed up work on its prototype COVID-19 vaccine and build capacity
to produce it at scale. Curevac's technology uses mRNA as a data
carrier to instruct the human body to produce proteins that can
fight against diseases.
   (Reuters, 9/4/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 7, Berlin's Charite
hospital said Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny has been removed from a
medically induced coma and is responding to speech.
   (Reuters, 9/7/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 10, The east German
state of Brandenburg, where a case of African swine fever (ASF) was
confirmed in a wild boar, said it will impose a 15-km quarantine
zone around the area where the case was discovered. The German
farmers' association DBV called for a corridor free of wild boar to
be created along Germany's border with Poland.
   (Reuters, 9/10/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 11, Japan suspended
imports of pork and live pigs from Germany after a case of African
swine fever (ASF) was confirmed in a wild boar in eastern Germany.
   (Reuters, 9/13/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 14, It was reported
that German carmaker Daimler AG will pay $2.2 billion to resolve a
US government diesel emissions cheating investigation and claims
from 250,000 US vehicle owners.
   (Reuters, 9/14/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 15, Germany agreed to
take in 1,553 people from 408 families now living in Greece. Germany
had already agreed to take in around 1,200 other asylumn seekers
housed in Greece.
   (SFC, 9/16/20, p.A2)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 15, Germany's Defense
Ministry said that the government has chosen arms manufacturer
Haenel, which is owned by a company in Abu Dhabi, to make assault
rifles for the military, sidelining long-time supplier Heckler &
Koch. The contract still requires approval by Parliament.
   (AP, 9/15/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 15, Germany awarded
$745 million in funding to biotech firms BioNTech and CureVac to
speed up work on COVID-19 vaccines and expand German production
capacity.
   (Reuters, 9/15/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 15, Authorities in
southern Germany said they have recorded three more cases of
COVID-19 in people who frequented bars visited by a 26-year-old
American woman suspected of flouting quarantine rules in the Alpine
resort town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen. The latest cases take the
total number of recent infections there to 59, including 25 staff at
a hotel resort that caters to US military personnel and at which the
woman worked.
   (AP, 9/15/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 15, Russian opposition
politician Alexei Navalny shared a photograph from a Berlin
hospital, sitting up in bed and surrounded by his family, and said
he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning
last month.
   (Reuters, 9/15/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 16, A top German
security official said authorities in western Germany have suspended
29 police officers suspected of sharing far-right propaganda in
WhatsApp groups, at least two of which were active for several
years.
   (AP, 9/16/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 17, Germany’s federal
agriculture ministry said one more case of African swine fever (ASF)
has been confirmed in a wild boar in the eastern German state of
Brandenburg.
   (Reuters, 9/17/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 17, It was reported
that BioNTech is buying a production site in Germany for the
COVID-19 vaccine it is developing with Pfizer, aiming to boost
output by several hundred million doses next year, and hopes to have
the shot ready to file for approval in October.
   (Reuters, 9/17/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 18, Germany's federal
agriculture ministry confirmed another six cases of African swine
fever (ASF) in wild boars in the eastern state of Brandenburg.
   (Reuters, 9/18/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 20, In Germany
thousands of people marched in Berlin demanding that the government
do more to help migrants stuck in Greece, many of whom have been
made homeless since fires ravaged the country's largest refugee
camp.
   (AP, 9/20/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 20, The German
humanitarian group Sea-Watch condemned as politically motivated the
blockade of its ship in the Sicilian port of Palermo by Italian
authorities after an 11-hour inspection. This was the fifth rescue
ship blocked by Italian authorities in as many months.
   (AP, 9/20/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 23, In Germany Russian
opposition leader Alexei Navalny was discharged from a hospital
after more than a month of treatment for poisoning with a Soviet-era
nerve agent.
   (CBS News, 9/23/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 24, Europe's top court
(ECJ) issued a ruling that should ensure Germany can keep in prison
Christian Brueckner, a new suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine
McCann, the British toddler who vanished from a Portuguese resort 13
years ago.
   (AP, 9/24/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 25, The eastern German
state of Brandenburg confirmed another two cases of African swine
fever (ASF) in wild boars. The new discoveries bring total confirmed
cases to 34 since the first one on Sept. 10, all in wild animals,
with no farm pigs affected.
   (Reuters, 9/25/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 26, In western Germany
hundreds of anti-coal activists staged protests against the
continued extraction and use of fossil fuels at the Garzweiler strip
mine, west of Cologne.
   (SSFC, 9/27/20, p.A6)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 28, Germany confirmed
one more case of African swine fever (ASF) in a wild boar in the
eastern state of Brandenburg. There have been 36 confirmed cases
since the first one on Sept. 10.
   (Reuters, 9/28/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep, In China the new BMW
ix3 electric car rolled off the production line in Shenyang, where
it is wholly developed by BMW and its Chinese state-run partner,
Brilliance Auto.
   (Econ., 1/9/21, p.54)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 1, In Germany two more
cases of African swine fever (ASF) have been confirmed in wild boars
in the eastern state of Brandenburg. The new discoveries bring the
total number of confirmed cases to 40 since the first one on Sept.
10.
   (Reuters, 10/1/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 1, Britain, France,
Germany, Estonia and Belgium wrote in a letter to the United Nations
Security Council that the poisoning of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny
"constitutes a threat to international peace and security."
   (Reuters, 10/1/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 2, It was reported
that unlisted biotech firm IDT Biologika has won approval from
Germany's vaccine regulator to become the third German company after
BioNTech and CureVac to launch human trials of an experimental
coronavirus vaccine in the country.
   (AP, 10/2/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 3, Thousands of
demonstrators in southern Germany protested against coronavirus
restrictions, although organizers failed to mobilize enough people
for a planned human chain around Lake Constance.
   (Reuters, 10/4/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 4, The two visitors
from western Germany were attacked and wounded in downtown Dresden.
One of them died later at a hospital. On Oct. 20 a young Syrian (20)
was arrested over the attack.
   (AP, 10/21/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 5, Germany's federal
agriculture ministry confirmed three more cases of African swine
fever (ASF) in wild boars in the eastern state of Brandenburg.
   (Reuters, 10/5/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 6, Germany's
government released a report saying its security services recorded
mote than 1,400 cases of suspected far-right extremism among
soldiers, police officers and intelligence agents in the three years
ending in March.
   (SFC, 10/7/20, p.A2)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 6, Berlin officials
issued a nightly business curfew to clamp down on rising coronavirus
infections starting this weekend.
   (Econ., 9/5/20, p.A8)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 7, Germany's coalition
government agreed a package of reforms to financial and accounting
rules aimed at avoiding another Wirecard scandal, but opposition
lawmakers said it lacked detail on scope and timing.
   (AP, 10/7/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 8, Germany reported
three more cases of African swine fever (ASF) in wild boar the
eastern state of Brandenburg. The new discoveries bring the total
number of confirmed cases to 53 since the first one on Sept. 10.
   (Reuters, 10/8/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 8, Germany reported
4,058 new coronavirus infection and 16 deaths over the last 24
hours. Total confirmed cases rose to 310,1544 with 9,578 deaths.
   (SFC, 10/9/20, p.A8)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 9, German Chancellor
Angela Merkel announced that the federal government will offer
German cities the help of soldiers and public health experts to
battle a sharp rise in coronavirus cases.
   (AP, 10/9/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 9, It was reported
that Angela Merkel’s government has warned Thailand's King Maha
Vajiralongkorn not to try to rule his country remotely from Germany.
   (The Telegraph, 10/9/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 9, In Germany police
in heavy riot gear began clearing out a notorious Berlin leftist
Liebig 34 squat in the capital's Friedrichshain neighborhood,
encountering only passive resistance from residents as they carried
them individually down a firetruck ladder.
   (AP, 10/9/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 12, The RV Polarstern
icebreaker, carrying scientists on a year-long international effort
to study the high Arctic, returned to its home port in Germany
carrying a wealth of data that will help researchers better predict
climate change in the decades to come.
   (AP, 10/12/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 14, It was reported
that Germany has agreed to provide more than a half billion euros to
aid Holocaust survivors struggling under the burdens of the
coronavirus pandemic. The payments will be going to approximately
240,000 survivors around the world over the next two years.
   (AP, 10/14/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 14, Germany confirmed
four more cases of African swine fever (ASF) in wild boar in the
eastern state of Brandenburg. The new discoveries bring the total
number of confirmed cases to 69 since the first on Sept. 10.
   (AP, 10/14/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 16, Germany said one
more case of African swine fever (ASF) has been found in the wild
boar population in Brandenburg. That brings the number of confirmed
cases to 70 since the first on Sept. 10.
   (Reuters, 10/16/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 17, Chancellor Angela
Merkel urged Germans to come together like they did in the spring to
slow the spread of the coronavirus. The country's disease control
center, the Robert Koch Institute, reported 7,830 cases overnight, a
new record.
   (AP, 10/17/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 19, German biotech
company Evotec said it had received a grant from the Bill &
Melinda Gates Foundation to help identify and develop potential
monoclonal antibody drugs for the prevention of severe COVID-19.
   (Reuters, 10/19/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 20, Germany’s federal
agriculture ministry said one more case of African swine fever (ASF)
has been confirmed in a wild boar in the eastern region of
Brandenburg. This brings the total number of confirmed cases to 71
since the first one on Sept. 10.
   (AP, 10/20/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 20, Berlin's municipal
government made it compulsory to wear masks at markets, in queues
and on 10 busy shopping streets, but stopped short of imposing
another lockdown to curb a new wave of coronavirus infections in the
German capital.
   (Reuters, 10/20/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 20, Denmark in
partnership with Germany, the European Union and the UN hosted a
conference on the Sahel in a bid to instill a more acute sense of
urgency. International donors agreed to give $1.7 billion in
humanitarian aid to the central Sahel (Burkina Faso, Mali and
Niger), after the United Nations said the northern African region
plagued by violence and climate change was at "breaking point".
   (AFP, 10/20/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 21, Germany’s
agriculture ministry said nine more cases of African swine fever
(ASF) have been confirmed in wild boars in the eastern region of
Brandenburg.
   (Reuters, 10/21/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 22, In Germany the
number of confirmed coronavirus cases rose by more than 10,000 in a
single day for the first time. The reported death toll rose by 30 to
9,905.
   (Reuters, 10/22/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 23, Germany’s federal
agriculture ministry said five more cases of African swine fever
have been confirmed in wild boars in the eastern region of
Brandenburg. The new discoveries bring the total number of confirmed
cases to 91 since the first one on Sept. 10.
   (Reuters, 10/23/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 23, German biotech
company CureVac said its potential vaccine against the coronavirus
triggered an immune response in pre-clinical animal studies. CureVac
is using the so-called messenger RNA approach, the same as rivals
BioNTech and its partner Pfizer as well as Moderna, which have
started testing on humans.
   (Reuters, 10/23/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 26, In Germany, the
rising coronavirus numbers prompted Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party
to delay for the second time a decision on who will become its new
leader.
   (AP, 10/26/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 26, Thailand's
Parliament began a special two-day session to address political
tensions resulting from the near-daily pro-democracy protests
demanding the prime minister’s resignation, constitutional changes
and reforms to the monarchy. Pro-democracy demonstrators in Thailand
expanded their protests internationally, marching to the German
Embassy to appeal to Angela Merkel’s government to investigate
whether Thailand’s king has exercised political power during his
extended stays in Bavaria.
   (AP, 10/26/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 28, With coronavirus
infections on the rise, German officials announced new restrictions
and a partial lockdown for the month of November to try and bring
COVID-19's spread back under control. Germany reported a new daily
record of almost 15,000 new coronavirus infections. Cases rose by
14,964 to 464,239 in the last 24 hours. The number of infections was
currently doubling in seven days.
   (Reuters, 10/28/20)(CBS News, 10/29/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 31, In Germany a first
case of African swine fever (ASF) was reported found in a wild boar
in the eastern region of Saxony. This brought the total number of
confirmed cases to 117 since the first one on Sept. 10.
   (AP, 10/31/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 31, In Germany the new
Berlin Brandenburg Airport Willy Brandt opened, nine years late and
far above its original budget. Ground was broken for BER in 2006.
   (SSFC, 11/1/20, p.A6)(Econ., 10/17/20, p.45)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 2, German biotech firm
CureVac said its experimental COVID-19 vaccine triggered an immune
response in humans, putting it on track to start mass testing this
year as the race to end the pandemic heats up.
   (Reuters, 11/2/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 5, Germany's daily new
coronavirus infections hit a record high as data showed shoppers had
stocked up on toilet paper, hand sanitizer and baking ingredients
ahead of new lockdown measures that took effect this week.
   (Reuters, 11/5/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 5, It was reported
that bird flu of the type H5N8 has been found on a poultry farm in
Germany's northern state of Schleswig-Holstein, after it has already
spread among the wild bird population in the region.
   (Reuters, 11/5/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 7, Germany followed
several European countries by reporting a record number of daily
coronavirus cases, as a second wave of infections sweeps through the
continent as winter approaches. The Robert Koch Institute, reported
23,399 new cases in the last 24 hours.
   (NBC News, 11/7/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 9, German authorities
said type H5N8 bird flu has been confirmed in another poultry farm
in north Germany.
   (Reuters, 11/9/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 12, Germany reported
21,866 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total to 727,553 and
jumping back above 20,000 after four days below that figure.
   (Reuters, 11/12/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 13, The German
government criticized an announcement by Russia's foreign minister
that Moscow is imposing sanctions against German and French
officials in response to EU measures taken over the poisoning of
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
   (AP, 11/13/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 16, Germany ordered
around 16,100 turkeys to be slaughtered after the H5N8 bird flu was
found on another poultry farm.
   (Reuters, 11/16/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 17, German authorities
seized 10.2 metric tons (11.2 tons) of water pipe tobacco they say
was being smuggled into Berlin from the Mideast to avoid import
taxes. A 35-year-old accused of being the ringleader is an alleged
member of a known Berlin crime family.
   (AP, 11/19/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 17, German police said
that they had three suspects in custody almost a year after what may
have been the biggest jewel heist in history. Two more people were
still being hunted in connection with the brazen theft of an
estimated $1 billion worth of treasure from the Green Vault of
Dresden Castle.
   (CBS News, 11/17/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 17, Authorities said
bird flu has been found on another chicken farm in Germany and a
program to slaughter up to 70,000 poultry is being prepared.
   (Reuters, 11/17/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 18, In Germany several
thousand people banging saucepans and blowing whistles gathered in
central Berlin to protest against Angela Merkel's plans to give her
government powers to enforce restrictions aimed at curbing the
spread of the coronavirus. Police fired water cannons as the crowd
refused to war masks and maintain social distancing.
   (Reuters, 11/18/20)(SFC, 11/19/20, p.A8)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 20, It was reported
that Germany will make it compulsory for most listed and cooperative
companies to have at least one woman on their boards after
representatives of the ruling conservative and Social Democrat (SPD)
parties reached agreement on the long-sought measure.
   (Reuters, 11/20/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 20, Germany reported a
record number of new coronavirus cases, upping the pressure on
leaders of the country's 16 federal states to implement stricter
restrictions favored by Chancellor Angela Merkel to tame a second
wave before Christmas.
   (Reuters, 11/20/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 20, German prosecutors
said there is evidence of "cannibalism" in the killing of a
44-year-old man whose remains were found on the northern edge of
Berlin earlier this month. A day earlier a 41-year-old high school
teacher was arrested on suspicion of murder with sexual motives at
his home close to the site where the victim's bones were found.
   (The Telegraph, 11/20/20)(Insider, 11/21/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 25, Germany's Cabinet
approved legislation that would provide compensation to gay
servicepeople who experienced discrimination in the military before
a change of policy 20 years ago.
   (AP, 11/25/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 25, Germany reported a
record 410 COVID-19 deaths in the last 24 hours. The number of
confirmed coronavirus cases increased by 18,633 to 961,320. The
reported death toll rose by a record 410 to 14,771.
   (Reuters, 11/25/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 26, Chancellor Angela
Merkel said Germans will face restrictions on public life for the
foreseeable future as the country tries to suppress the spread of
the coronavirus and prevent the health system becoming overburdened.
   (Reuters, 11/26/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 27, In Germany the
number of confirmed coronavirus cases increased by 22,806 to
1,006,394. The reported death toll rose by 426 to 15,586.
   (AP, 11/27/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 1, In Germany more
than 180 police officers raided homes in three states early today
after the government banned a far-right group. The homes of 11
members of the far-right group Wolfsbrigade 44, founded in 2016,
were searched in Hesse, Mecklenburg West-Pomerania and North
Rhine-Westphalia to confiscate the group's funds and far-right
propaganda material. The 44 in their name stands for the fourth
letter in the alphabet, DD, and is an abbreviation for Division
Dirlewanger. Oskar Dirlewanger was a known Nazi war criminal and
commander of a Nazi SS special unit.
   (AP, 12/1/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 1, In Germany a car
drove at high speed into a pedestrian zone in the city of Trier,
killing five people and seriously more than a dozen others before
being stopped by police. The driver (51) was arrested at the scene
and the vehicle was impounded.
   (AP, 12/1/20)(AP, 12/2/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 1, AstraZeneca said it
would sell rights to its erstwhile blockbuster cholesterol drug,
Crestor, to German pharmaceutical company Gruenenthal GmbH for an
upfront payment of $320 million as the British drugmaker focuses on
its cancer treatments portfolio.
   (Reuters, 12/1/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 3, Authorities in
Germany said about 29,000 chickens will be slaughtered after H5N8
bird flu was found on another poultry farm in the eastern area of
Mecklenburgische Seenplatte.
   (AP, 12/3/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 3, Germany's Merck
KGaA said it has agreed a three-year strategic research deal worth
up to $6.8 billion with Artios Pharma Limited to develop up to eight
potential drugs for cancer by targeting DNA repair mechanisms inside
cells.
   (Reuters, 12/3/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 4, Veteran German
diplomat Helga Schmid, a key behind-the-scenes negotiator of the
2015 nuclear accord with Iran, was named as the new administrative
head of the Vienna-based Organization for Security and Co-operation
in Europe (OSCE).
   (AP, 12/4/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 6, It was reported
that Bayer AG has struck a deal with Atara Biotherapeutics to
jointly work on Atara's CAR-T cell anti-tumor treatments, as the
German group firms up its commitment to build a specialist cell and
gene therapy development platform.
   (Reuters, 12/6/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 8, German prosecutors
said there is compelling evidence the German prime suspect in the
disappearance of Madeleine McCann killed her but it cannot be shared
with the public. Christian Brückner (43), a convicted pedophile and
rapist, was named as a suspect in the toddler’s disappearance in
June.
   (The Telegraph, 12/8/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 8, In Germany an
official said authorities, churches and Jewish communities in the
southern state of Bavaria have agreed that anti-Semitic statues and
carvings dating back to the Middle Ages shouldn't be removed from
churches.
   (AP, 12/8/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 9, Chancellor Angela
Merkel demanded tougher curbs to halt coronavirus infections, as the
German death toll reached a daily record of nearly 600 people.
   (AFP, 12/9/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 10, It was reported
that a German court has ruled that automaker Tesla Inc. has to stop
clearing trees on the site where it's building its first electric
car factory in Europe. The ban would last until a decision was made
on the appeal by the environmentalist groups NABU and Gruene Liga.
   (AP, 12/10/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 11, Construction of
Nord Stream 2, a German-Russian pipeline that the United States has
vehemently opposed, resumed after nearly a year.
   (AP, 12/11/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 13, Chancellor Angela
Merkel said Germany will enact a nationwide lockdown over Christmas,
closing most stores and schools and strictly limiting gatherings.
Starting on December 16, most stores, schools and hairdressers will
be required to close, and gatherings over the holidays will be
restricted.
   (NY Times, 12/14/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 14, German biotech
firm CureVac said it has started a large Phase 2b/3 clinical trial
of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate, banking on the same technology
that has allowed rivals BioNTech and Moderna to lead the development
race.
   (Reuters, 12/14/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 16, Germany entered a
strict lockdown in an effort to get soaring coronavirus cases under
control as the number of registered deaths from COVID-19 jumped by
952, the highest daily increase yet.
   (Reuters, 12/16/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 16, Chancellor Angela
Merkel's cabinet passed new legislation to introduce all-electronic
securities as part of its wider blockchain strategy.
   (Reuters, 12/16/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 17, A plane carrying
88 asylum-seekers, including 19 sick children, arrived in Germany as
part of the country's pledge to take in migrants from camps in
Greece.
   (AP, 12/17/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 17, German firm
BioNTech's chief medical officer said Pfizer and BioNTech's COVID-19
vaccine has been given to 140,000 people in Britain, and the
feedback on side effects and tolerability has been reassuring.
   (Reuters, 12/17/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 18, A German court
ruled Tesla could partially proceed with clearing a forest to build
a manufacturing site near Berlin.
   (AP, 12/18/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 19, A German court
ruled that automaker Tesla has to stop clearing trees on some parts
of the site outside Berlin where it is building the company's first
electric car factory in Europe.
   (AP, 12/19/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 19, Germany's daily
Rheinische Post reported that authorities have broken up an
international crime ring that duped elderly people into handing over
their money and valuables to criminals posing as police officers.
German police busted a call center in the southwestern Turkish city
of Izmir where suspects allegedly phoned retirees in Germany and
talked them into handing over their valuables to fake officers. 38
people were arrested earlier this month and 48 locations were
searched in addition to the call center.
   (AP, 12/19/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 19, Germany organized
the return of three women and 12 children from camps in northeastern
Syria for humanitarian reasons.
   (AP, 12/20/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 21, A German court
sentenced Stephan Balliet (28), a far-right terrorist, to life in
prison on a double murder charge after he attempted to storm a small
town synagogue in a gun rampage on Yom Kippur last year.
   (AP, 12/21/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 21, It was reported
that death threats linked to police computers and the discovery of
far-right chat groups in police departments across Germany have fed
concerns about far-right infiltration.
   (NY Times, 12/21/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 22, In Germany
cyberattack began on the Funke media group, affecting numerous
computer systems at editorial offices and printing plants across the
country.
   (AP, 12/23/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 22, German media
reported that Benedikt Schwaderlapp decided to commercialize a
coronavirus game, invented by his four daughters, by hiring an
artist to design cards, board and box. So far he's sold 2,000
copies, and signed up a toy store as a secondary distributor.
   (r, 12/22/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 22, Drug makers
including BioNTech and Moderna scrambled to test their COVID-19
vaccines against the new fast-spreading variant of the virus that is
raging in Britain, the latest challenge in the breakneck race to
curb the pandemic. Ugur Sahin, chief executive of Germany's
BioNTech, which with partner Pfizer took less than a year to get a
vaccine approved, said he needs another two weeks to know if his
shot can stop the mutant variant of the virus. Moderna expects
immunity from its vaccine to protect against the variant and is
performing more tests in coming weeks to confirm.
   (Reuters, 12/22/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 24, Germany's state of
Baden-Wuerttemberg said that the new variant of the pandemic
SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus that has been spreading rapidly in Britain
has been found in Germany for the first time.
   (Reuters, 12/24/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 27, It was reported
that BMW wants roughly every fifth car it sells to be powered by an
electric engine by 2023. Chief Executive Oliver Zipse said 15,000
private and about 1,300 public charging points would have to be put
into operation every week as of today.
   (AP, 12/27/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 28, Germany's
confirmed death toll in the coronavirus pandemic rose by 348Â
bringing the country's total to 30,126.
   (SFC, 12/29/20, p.A4)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 29, Biotech firm GNA
Biosolutions said it has received emergency use approval from
German's health authority for its quick COVID-19 test that it says
is as reliable as widely-used PCR tests but delivers results almost
as quickly as an antigen one.
   (Reuters, 12/29/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 30, German officials
made clear that they won't be able to relax lockdown restrictions in
early January as the country recorded more than 1,000 deaths in one
day for the first time.
   (The Telegraph, 12/30/20)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 5, Germany's disease
control center reported 944 more COVID-19 deaths. Chancellor Angela
Merkel said she has agreed with state governors to extend the
country's current lockdown by three weeks until Jan. 31.
   (AP, 1/5/21)(SFC, 1/6/21, p.A5)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 6, Germany's cabinet
approved legislation to force larger listed companies to have at
least one woman on their boards, following years of debate over the
issue.
   (Reuters, 1/6/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 6, Britain, France and
Germany pressed Iran to reverse a decision to start enriching
uranium to levels beyond the limits of a 2015 nuclear agreement, a
move which they said “risks compromising” chances of diplomacy with
the incoming US administration.
   (AP, 1/6/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 7, German company
CureVac, that is in the advanced stages of producing a vaccine
against COVID-19, said it is linking up with pharmaceutical giant
Bayer to help develop and distribute the product. CureVac said last
month that it expects first results by the end of March from its
phase 3 clinical study of the mRNA-based vaccine candidate called
CVnCoV.
   (AP, 1/7/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 7, Daimler AG's
unveiled a new display screen that will cover almost the entire
dashboard of its luxury Mercedes-Benz models, in a bid to outdo
Tesla Inc's hallmark touchscreen infotainment system.
   (Reuters, 1/7/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 8, Germany reported a
record 1,188 daily COVID-19 deaths. Trial organizers at university
hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE) said coronavirus vaccine developed
by the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) and vaccine maker
IDT Biologika did not prompt the hoped-for immune reaction in
early-stage testing on humans.
   (Reuters, 1/8/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 11, German prosecutors
took down what they believe was the biggest illegal marketplace on
the darknet and arrested its suspected operator, an Australian man
(34). The darknet is a part of the web accessible only with
specialized identity-cloaking tools.
   (AP, 1/12/20)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 11, Egypt hosted the
foreign ministers of Germany, France and Jordan to discuss ways to
revive peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, a week
before President-elect Joe Biden takes office.
   (AP, 1/11/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 12, Germany-based
Volkswagen said its namesake brand sold 134,000 battery-powered cars
last year, up from 45,000 in 2019.
   (AP, 1/12/20)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 12, A new US tariff of
25% took effect on French and German wines designed to penalize the
EU as part of an ongoing dispute over aircraft subsidies that has
dragged on for more than 16 years.
   (SFC, 1/13/21, p.C1)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 13, Authorities in
Germany said about 37,000 chickens will be slaughtered after bird
flu was found on a farm in the east of the country.
   (Reuters, 1/13/20)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 14, DB Schenker, owned
by national rail firm Deutsche Bahn, said that for the time being,
it was not accepting new UK-bound consignments. The German company
said "enormous bureaucratic regulations" linked to post-Brexit
trading arrangements were to blame.
   (BBC, 1/14/20)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 14, In Germany figures
published today showed the highest number of daily deaths since the
start of the pandemic. The Robert Koch Institute said 1,244 deaths
from COVID-19 were confirmed in one day up to today, taking the
total number to 43,881. There were also 25,164 newly confirmed
cases, putting Germany’s total known infections close to 2 million.
   (AP, 1/14/20)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 15, German authorities
gave permission for work to resume on a subsea pipeline bringing
natural gas from Russia that's been the target of US sanctions
threats.
   (AP, 1/15/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 16, Germany's
center-right Christian Democratic Union, the party of Chancellor
Angela Merkel, elected Armin Laschet, the premier of North
Rhine-Westphalia, as its new leader. Laschet won a narrow runoff
over Friedrich Merz by 53% to 47%.
   (Reuters, 1/16/21)(Econ., 1/23/21, p.40)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 16, Germany recorded
18,678 confirmed cases in the previous 24 hours and another 980
deaths. Germany has carried out more than a million vaccinations as
new infections and deaths remain high.
   (AP, 1/16/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 16, Britain, France
and Germany pressed Iran to back off the latest planned violation of
its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, saying that Tehran has “no
credible civilian use” for uranium metal.
   (AP, 1/16/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 17, German
pharmaceutical giant Bayer said it is examining whether it can help
CureVac to produce its experimental COVID-19 vaccine.
   (Reuters, 1/17/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 19, German Chancellor
Angela Merkel and state premiers agreed to extend a lockdown for
most shops and schools until Feb. 14 as part of a package of steps
to try to rein in the coronavirus.
   (Reuters, 1/19/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 20, Germany's Cabinet
approved legislation that will prohibit the killing male chicks
after they hatch from Jan. 1 next year. In a second step, the
killing of chick embryos in the egg will be prohibited after the
sixth day of incubation starting on Jan. 1, 2024.
   (AP, 1/20/21)  Â
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 20, Authorities in
Germany said another 30 cases of African swine fever (ASF) have been
found in wild boars in Brandenburg state, in a continuing outbreak
among wild animals which has halted German pork exports to Asia.
This brought Germany's total reported cases to 544.
   (Reuters, 1/20/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 20, Germany-based
Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz unveiled the EQA, a new electric compact
SUV as part of plans to take on rival Tesla Inc and offer more
emission-free vehicles to consumers to meet targets in Europe and
China.
   (Reuters, 1/20/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 21, It was reported
that German researchers have enabled mice paralyzed after spinal
cord injuries to walk again, re-establishing a neural link hitherto
considered irreparable in mammals by using a designer protein
injected into the brain.
   (Reuters, 1/21/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 22, Chancellor Angela
Merkel’s center-right party said that Armin Laschet (59), the
governor of Germany’s most populous state, has been confirmed as its
new leader.
   (AP, 1/22/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 22, In Germany 859
coronavirus deaths were reported over the past 24 hours, taking the
total so far to 50,642.
   (AP, 1/22/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 24, It was reported
that Germany has asked Taiwan to persuade Taiwanese manufacturers to
help ease a shortage of semiconductor chips in the auto sector which
is hampering its fledgling economic recovery from the COVID-19
pandemic.
   (Reuters, 1/24/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 28, A court in
Frankfurt convicted Stephan Ernst (47), a German neo-Nazi, of
murdering local politician Walter Lübcke in 2019 and sentenced him
to life in prison for what the prosecutor called the country’s first
political assassination by far-right extremists since the end of
World War II.
   (NY Times, 1/28/21)(SFC, 1/29/21, p.A4)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 28, Germany's vaccine
committee recommended that AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine should
only be given to people aged between 18 and 64.
   (Reuters, 1/28/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 28, Paul Crutzen (87),
Nobel Prize winning Dutch scientist (1995), died in Mainz, Germany.
His work warned the world about the threat of chemicals to the
Earth's ozone layer.
   (SSFC, 2/7/21, p.E11)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 29, Authorities in
Germany said about 20,000 turkeys will be slaughtered after bird flu
was found on another poultry farm in the eastern state of
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
   (Reuters, 1/29/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 5, Germany ducked an
appeal by Taiwan for its help to supply COVID-19 vaccines, as the
Asian tech powerhouse's request for assistance following Berlin's
plea to ease a semiconductor supply crunch in the auto industry
risked provoking China's ire.
   (Reuters, 2/5/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 5, Britain said it had
agreed on a deal with German biotech firm CureVac to work to develop
vaccines against coronavirus variants, placing an initial order for
50 million doses in case they are needed.
   (AP, 2/5/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 5, Foreign ministers
of the Britain, France, Germany and the US secretary of state held
virtual talks on topics that included Iran, China, Russia, Myanmar,
climate change and the coronavirus pandemic.
   (AP, 2/5/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 6, Work on the
disputed Nord Stream 2 pipeline, a Russian-German underwater gas
pipeline that’s been the target of US sanction threats, was resumed.
   (AP, 2/7/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 8, Germany, Poland and
Sweden each declared a Russian diplomat in their country “persona
non grata,” retaliating in kind to last week’s decision by Moscow to
expel diplomats from the three European Union countries over the
case of opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
   (AP, 2/8/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 9, German authorities
said prosecutors have charged a 100-year-old man with 3,518 counts
of being an accessory to murder on allegations he served during
World War II as a Nazi SS guard at the Sachsenhausen concentration
camp on the outskirts of Berlin.
   (AP, 2/9/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 9, Volkswagen said it
is conducting a feasibility study in China about flying cars,
joining a growing number of companies looking into the potential
technology.
   (Reuters, 2/9/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 12, It was reported
that 14 people have been arrested in joint police operations in
Denmark and Germany on suspicion of planning an Islamist terror
attack.
   (The Telegraph, 2/12/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 14, Germany closed its
borders with the Czech Republic and the Austrian region of Tyrol in
a bid to prevent the spread of coronavirus mutations.
   (AP, 2/15/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 19, Germany said it
will contribute an additional 1.5 billion euros to support global
COVID-19 vaccination efforts and other programs to fight the
pandemic, increasing its overall pledge to 2.1 billion euros.
   (Reuters, 2/19/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 20, Friedrich Karl
Berger (95), a former Nazi concentration camp guard, arrived in his
native Germany and was held by police for questioning after being
deported from the US. Berger had lived in the US since 1959.
   (AP, 2/20/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 21, It was reported
that Denmark has closed some border crossing points with Germany and
stepped up checks at others due to a spike in COVID-19 cases and a
rise in virus variants in the northern German town of Flensburg.
   (SSFC, 2/21/21, p.A14)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 22, Elementary
students in more than half of Germany’s 16 states returned to school
after more than two months at home, the first major relaxation of
the country's pandemic measures since before Christmas.
Kindergartens also reopened their doors for pre-school children.
   (AP, 2/22/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 24, A German court in
a landmark ruling convicted Eyad al-Gharib, a former members of
Syrian Pres. Bashar Assad's secret police, of facilitating the
torture of prisoners and sentenced him to 4.5 years in prison.
Judges took in mitigating factors.Â
   (SFC, 2/24/21, p.A2)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 26, In Germany a
33-year-old Italian man was convicted of attempted extortion for
threatening to blow up a British National Health Service hospital
unless he was paid off with 10 million pounds ($13.2 million) in
crypto currency. Defendant Emil A., a resident of Berlin, was
sentenced to three years in prison.
   (AP, 2/26/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 28, Germany announced
that travelers from France’s northeastern Moselle region will face
additional restrictions because of the high rate of variant
coronavirus cases there.
   (AP, 2/28/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 1, Paris-based
Reporters Without Borders filed a criminal case against Crown Prince
Mohammed bin Salman and others in the Saudi hierarchy in a German
court for the brutal 2018 murder, dismemberment, and disappearance
of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
   (AP, 3/2/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 3, German media
reported that the domestic security service has placed the far-right
Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party under surveillance for
suspected extremism.
   (Axios, 3/3/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 3, Germany's financial
watchdog BaFin said that it had imposed a moratorium on Greensill
Bank. The Bremen-based bank is part of the British fund Greensill
Capital, which is in talks to sell large parts of its business after
losing the backing of two asset managers who had underpinned parts
of its supply chain financing model.
   (Reuters, 3/3/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 4, Germany made the
AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine available to over-65s, in a reversal
of its previous policy.
   (The Telegraph, 3/4/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 4, It was reported
that SAP Chief Executive Christian Klein's fixed and variable pay
jumped 67% to 9.2 million euros ($11.1 million) last year, under
German disclosure rules, although he took home less after a tough
year for the business software group.
   (Reuters, 3/4/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 7, German lawmaker
Nikolas Loebel, a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel's party, said
he will give up his seat in parliament and leave politics after it
emerged that his company profited from deals to procure masks early
in the pandemic.
   (AP, 3/7/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 9, In Germany doors
were opened to limited numbers of guests, after authorities eased
restrictions to allow some museums, galleries and certain other
cultural venues to begin receiving visitors again.
   (AP, 3/9/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 9, Germany's Federal
Court of Justice upheld the conviction of Omaima A., the wife of
German rapper Denis Cuspert, for membership in a terrorist
organization as well as charges of failing to properly care for her
children, weapons offenses and aiding in the enslavement of a Yazidi
girl. She was given a three-and-a-half-year prison sentence. In
2018, the Islamic State group announced the Cuspert had been killed
in an airstrike in Syria.
   (AP, 3/22/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 14, In Germany Angela
Merkel's center-right Christian Democratic Union was handily
defeated in elections by two popular incumbent state governors: the
Green party's Winfried Kretschmann in Baden-Wuerttemberg and the
center-left Social Democrats' Malu Dreyer in Rhineland-Palatinate.
   (AP, 3/15/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 14, Carmaker
Volkswagen said it plans to cut up to 4,000 jobs at its plants in
Germany by offering early or partial retirement to older employees
in a move that could cost several hundred million euros.
   (Reuters, 3/14/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 15, Germany's IDT
Biologica said it would make Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19
vaccine using capacity previously reserved by Japan's Takeda,
helping to ease concerns about the US drugmaker's ability to meet
its production goals.
   (AP, 3/15/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 15, Germany, France,
Italy and Spain said they would stop administering the AstraZeneca
COVID-19 vaccine after several countries reported possible serious
side-effects.
   (AP, 3/15/21)(SFC, 3/16/21, p.A4)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 16, An expert at the
Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases said coronavirus
infections are again rising exponentially in Germany.
   (Reuters, 3/16/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 20, In Germany some
20,000 people clashed with police in Kassel over coronavirus
measures. Marchers gathered despite a court ordered ban.
   (SSFC, 3/21/21, p.A9)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 21, In Germany Alfred
Sauter, an influential figure in Bavaria's Christian Social Union,
resigned all party offices. He is at least the third conservative
politician to have resigned in the scandal over mask procurement
kickbacks.
   (Reuters, 3/21/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 22, Germany’s
agriculture ministry said the governments of Germany, Poland and the
Czech Republic have agreed that intensified hunting of wild boar is
needed to combat an outbreak of African swine fever (ASF) among wild
animals.
   (Reuters, 3/22/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 23, Chancellor Angela
Merkel said Germany would extend its lockdown until April 18 and
called on citizens to stay home and reduce contacts as much as
possible for five days from April 1. lobby groups said the decision
could drive more businesses to bankruptcy and be counterproductive
by encouraging people to flock to the shops beforehand.
   (Reuters, 3/23/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 24, German Chancellor
Angela Merkel dropped plans for a five-day shutdown over Easter,
which had prompted confusion and criticism. She called the idea a
mistake and apologized to Germans.
   (AP, 3/24/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 24, Chancellor Angela
Merkel's cabinet approved a debt-financed supplementary budget of 60
billion euros ($71 billion) which will lift annual new borrowing to
a record high of more than 240 billion euros this year.
   (Reuters, 3/24/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 24, The New York-based
Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany said that
Germany has committed millions of dollars in extra funding to help
ensure all Holocaust survivors are able to get vaccinated against
the coronavirus.
   (AP, 3/24/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 25, In Germany the
number of new confirmed coronavirus cases jumped by 22,657 to 2.713
million, the biggest increase since Jan. 9. The reported death toll
rose by 228 to 75,440.
   (Reuters, 3/25/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 26, Der Spiegel
reported that German security officials have detected another cyber
attack on the email accounts of members of the federal parliament.
   (Reuters, 3/26/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 26, Germany reported
21,573 new coronavirus cases, compared with 17,482 a week earlier.
   (SFC, 3/27/21, p.A7)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 30, Armin Laschet, the
new leader of Chancellor Angela Merkel's party pledged to restore
voters' confidence after discontent over Germany's pandemic
management and a scandal over lawmakers enriching themselves in
mask-procurement deals led to a sharp drop in its approval ratings.
   (AP, 3/30/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 30, Germany's vaccine
regulator said it has recorded 31 cases of a rare blood clot in the
brain, nine of which resulted in deaths, after people received a
COVID-19 vaccine from AstraZeneca.
   (Reuters, 3/30/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 1, Germany’s disease
control agency reported 24,300 newly confirmed cases in the past
day, and 201 deaths. Chancellor Angela Merkel called on citizens to
help ease the strain on nurses and doctors caring for the rising
number of COVID-19 patients by respecting pandemic rules over
Easter.
   (AP, 4/1/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 2, German-based
Giesecke+Devrient (G+D), which supplies raw materials, supplies and
system components for making Myanmar's kyat banknotes, said it was
suspending all deliveries to the state-owned security printer,
Security Print Works.
   (AP, 4/2/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 4, Germany announced
plans to allow people vaccinated against Covid-19 certain privileges
over their unvaccinated peers, in a significant step towards
introducing so-called "vaccine passports".
   (The Telegraph, 4/4/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 6, In Germany Hans
Küng (93), a Roman Catholic theologian, died at his home in
Tübingen. He was an early colleague and friend of the future Pope
Benedict XVI but later fell foul of the Vatican for challenging
church doctrine and became a vocal critic of the pontiff.
   (AP, 4/6/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 13, US Defense Sec.
Lloyd Austin announced that he is expanding the US military presence
in Germany by 500 troops and has stopped planning for large-scale
troop cuts ordered by the Trump administration.
   (SFC, 4/14/21, p.A2)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 16, Ukrainian
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in Paris for talks with French
President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel amid
his country's growing tensions with neighboring Russia, which has
deployed troops near its border with Ukraine.
   (AP, 4/16/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 20, Armin Laschet
(60), the governor of Germany’s most populous state, won a bruising
power struggle to become the candidate of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s
center-right bloc for chancellor in the September election.
   (AP, 4/20/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 21, German's lower
house of parliament approved a proposal by Chancellor Angela
Merkel’s government to mandate uniform restrictions in areas where
the coronavirus is spreading too quickly.
   (AP, 4/21/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 21, A German woman,
Nurten J. (35), accused of joining the Islamic State group in Syria
after traveling there with her young daughter, was convicted of
participating in a terrorist organization and other offenses.
   (AP, 4/21/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 23, A Berlin court
convicted Zeynep G. (34), of membership in the Islamic State group
over her time spent in territory controlled by the extremist group
in Syria and sentenced her to two years and 10 months in prison.
However, it ordered her released on condition that she reports to
authorities.
   (AP, 4/23/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 27, France and Germany
laid out plans for billions in spending from the EU's recovery fund
aimed at fighting climate change and boosting the use of digital
technology.
   (SFC, 4/28/21, p.A6)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 29, US prosecutors
said that German software giant SAP will pay more than $8 million in
penalties in acknowledging that it illegally exported its products
to Iran.
   (AP, 4/29/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 30, It was reported
that Germany has agreed to return to Nigeria priceless artefacts
that were stolen during the colonization of Africa.
   (BBC, 4/30/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â May 1, In Germany one of
more than 20 May Day rallies in Berlin erupted in violence
leaving at least 93 police officers injured and 354 protesters
detained.
   (SFC, 5/3/21, p.A4)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â May 2, Prominent German
philosopher Juergen Habermas (91) said he will not accept the
high-priced Sheikh Zayed Book Award from the United Arab Emirates,
reversing an earlier decision.
   (AP, 5/2/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â May 3, Bavarian officials
canceled Oktoberfest festivities for a second year in a row due to
concerns over the spread of COVID-19, saying there are too many
risks in hosting the celebrations.
   (AP, 5/3/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â May 5, Germany and the
World Health Organization (WHO) announced the creation of a new
global hub in Berlin for gathering data on pandemics.
   (Reuters, 5/5/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â May 5, The German
government banned Ansaar International, a Muslim organization that
it accused of supporting "terrorism globally with its donations."
More than 1,000 police officers raided buildings and office spaces
across Germany and confiscated about 150,000 euros ($180,000).
   (AP, 5/5/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â May 5, Germany's
constitutional court dismissed emergency appeals against the
government's decision to impose night curfews in areas with high
COVID-19 infections as some regions are eyeing a loosening of
lockdown restrictions.
   (Reuters, 5/5/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â May 6, Germany rejected a
US proposal to waive patent protection for COVID-19 vaccines, saying
the greatest constraints on production were not intellectual
property but increasing capacity and ensuring quality.
   (Reuters, 5/6/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â May 7, In Germany the
Saxony intelligence agency classified the anti-immigration group
PEGIDA as a “proven extremist movement.” It said the Patriotic
Europeans against the Islamization of the West, had turned into an
anti-constitutional movement in recent years.
   (AP, 5/7/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â May 9, It was reported
that Germany's powerful Catholic progressives are openly defying a
recent Holy See pronouncement that priests cannot bless same-sex
unions by offering such blessings at services in about 100 different
churches all over the country this week.
   (AP, 5/9/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â May 10, In Germany a fruit
logistics company in Erding, near Munich, called police to report
that workers had discovered at least 4.5 kg (almost 10 pounds) of
cocaine in organic waste bins. Police determined that the drugs had
been dumped there a day earlier by subcontractors who gave no
thought to the “foreign objects” they found wrapped in tape inside
the banana crates before discarding them. The crates had been
shipped from Ecuador via the Netherlands.
   (AP, 5/25/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â May 12, The German
government adopted an ambitious plan to reduce the country's
greenhouse gas emissions to ‘net zero’ by 2045, five years earlier
and with deeper cuts than previously planned.
   (AP, 5/12/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â May 12, The German
government passed a new law making hate-motivated insults a criminal
offence that can be punished with a monetary fine or prison of up to
two years.
   (AP, 5/12/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â May 12, The German
government agreed to let travelers who have been vaccinated against
COVID-19 or recovered from infection avoid testing and quarantine
when entering the country, unless they come from areas where
variants of concern are prevalent.
   (AP, 5/12/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â May 13, Germany's leading
Jewish group sharply condemned protests in front of a synagogue in
the western city of Gelsenkirchen. Several other German cities
including Berlin, Hamburg and Hannover have seen anti-Israeli
protests over the past few days.
   (AP, 5/13/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â May 14, A German court
officially declared billionaire Karl-Erivan Haub dead, more than
three years after the head of retail group Tengelmann went missing
in the Swiss Alps. He was last seen on the morning of April 7, 2018,
as he headed up a mountain lift with skis and a daypack.
   (AP, 5/14/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â May 18, German prosecutors
said a businessman suspected of helping Russia purchase
sophisticated machinery in breach of arms export rules has been
detained in Leipzig.
   (AP, 5/18/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â May 18, It was reported
that the Biden administration will waive sanctions on the corporate
entity and CEO overseeing the construction of Russia’s Nord Stream 2
pipeline into Germany.
   (Axios, 5/18/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â May 19, Police in Germany
raided sites in seven states as authorities announced a ban on three
groups linked to the Lebanese militant organization Hezbollah.
   (AP, 5/19/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â May 27, Germany and Norway
inaugurated a new undersea cable that directly links the two
countries' electricity networks, a project that has been described
as a key step in Europe's effort to shift away from fossil fuels to
renewable energy.
   (AP, 5/27/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â May 27, Namibian media
said Germany has agreed to fund projects worth more than a billion
euros over 30 years to atone for its role in genocide and property
seizures in its-then colony more than a century ago.
   (Reuters, 5/27/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â May 28, Germany formally
recognized and said it would ask for forgiveness for the early 20th
century genocide of the Herero and Nama people in present-day
Namibia.
   (Axios, 5/28/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â May 31, Two suspects were
arrested in Germany and Slovakia in raids on a group accused of
smuggling Vietnamese into Germany and other European countries for
large fees that they had to work off in massage parlors, brothels
and other places. Police found 13 people who were in Germany
illegally during the raids in several parts of Germany.
   (AP, 5/31/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 1, Germany's foreign
minister rejected the idea of delivering weapons to Ukraine after
the country's president indicated that he would like military help
from Berlin.
   (AP, 6/1/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 1, Germany's public
health agency lowered the coronavirus risk level to "high" from
"very high" for the first time in 2021, reflecting a fall in the
number of new infections.
   (Reuters, 6/1/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 4, Cardinal Reinhard
Marx, a leading German cardinal and confidant of Pope Francis,
offered to resign over the Catholic Church's “catastrophic"
mishandling of clergy sexual abuse cases, declaring that the
scandals had brought the church to “a dead end".
   (AP, 6/4/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 5, In Germany Berlin
police said 13 journalists were detained early today while reporting
on a protest by environmentalist against the construction of a
highway in the capital.
   (AP, 6/5/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 6, Voters in
Saxony-Anhalt went to the polls to elect a new state assembly in
what is seen as the last big test for Germany's political parties
before a national election in September. Merkel’s Christian
Democratic Union won the election with 37.1% of the vote, far ahead
of the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD, with 20.8%.
   (AP, 6/6/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 7, German officials
said police conducted raids targeting people suspected of
involvement in organized crime, as part of a larger international
bust coordinated by Europol.
   (AP, 6/7/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 7, In Germany Robert
Bosch opened a 1 billion euro ($1.2 billion) chip plant near
Dresden, a record investment by the leading automotive supplier as
it stakes a claim to equipping the latest electric and self-driving
cars.
   (Reuters, 6/7/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 9, Germany-based
Volkswagen said that former CEO Martin Winterkorn has agreed to pay
11.2 million euros ($13.6 million) in compensation for what the
company called his failure to quickly get to the bottom of the
scandal over diesel engines rigged to cheat on emissions tests.
   (AP, 6/9/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 9, A top European
Union court annulled the EU's approval of 550 million euros ($670
million) in state aid for German airline Condor, backing a challenge
by budget carrier Ryanair but suspending the application of the
ruling because of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
   (AP, 6/9/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 9, In Germany dozens
of workers gathered outside of one of Berlin's most-celebrated
startups, the grocery delivery company Gorillas, to protest the
firing hours earlier of a colleague.
   (AP, 6/13/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 9, German architect
Gottfried Boehm (101) died. He was famous for his concrete
brutalist-style church buildings.
   (AP, 6/10/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 10, Germany started
rolling out a digital vaccination pass that can be used across
Europe as the continent is gets ready for the key summer travel
season.
   (AP, 6/10/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 10, Pope Francis
refused to let German Cardinal Reinhard Marx resign over the sex
abuse scandal in the church, but said a process of reform was
necessary and that every bishop must take responsibility for the
“catastrophe” of the crisis.
   (AP, 6/10/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 16, It was reported
that Germany's finance minister has ordered the purchase of data on
Germans with assets in Dubai as part of efforts to combat tax
evasion, following similar purchases by regional authorities of data
from Switzerland in the past decade.
   (AP, 6/16/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 16, The German company
CureVac delivered disappointing preliminary results from a clinical
trial of its Covid-19 vaccine, dimming hopes that it could help fill
the world’s great need.
   (NY Times, 6/16/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 17, Germany-based
Lufthansa said it will allow passengers to use new digital COVID-19
vaccination certificates at check-in for their flights.
   (Reuters, 6/17/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 21, A German trade
union called on workers at seven Amazon warehouses to go on a 3-day
strike over better pay and working conditions to coincide with the
global Prime Day promotion.
   (AP, 6/21/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 22, Germany's national
rail operator announced plans to reopen 20 stretches of railway
around the country that have been closed over the years, a move
intended to help get more people and freight on trains as the
country steps up efforts to fight climate change.
   (AP, 6/22/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 22, Germany and the UN
brought together representatives of Libya with powers that have
interests in the country at a conference which aims for progress
toward securing elections in the North African nation and the
removal of foreign fighters.
   (Reuters, 6/22/21)(AP, 6/23/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 23, Germany's Cabinet
approved plans for a 2022 budget that foresee an increase in new
debt as spending on health and fighting climate change rise.
   (AP, 6/23/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 24, The United States
and Germany launched a new initiative to stem an alarming rise in
antisemitism and Holocaust denial around the world.
   (AP, 6/24/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 24, France and
Germany’s call for European Union summit talks with Russian
President Vladimir Putin were blocked late today after fierce
opposition from Poland and the Baltic countries.
   (The Telegraph, 6/24/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 25, In Germany a
Somali man (24) killed three people and severely injured several
others with a long knife in Wuerzburg before he was shot and
arrested.
   (SFC, 6/25/21, p.A4)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 26, Klaus Zellmer,
Volkswagen board member for sales, said the carmaker will stop
selling combustion engines cars in Europe by 2035 as it shifts to
electric vehicles, but later in the United States and China.
   (Reuters, 6/26/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 28, Deutsche Telekom
said it has successfully tested software-based mobile network
technology using high-capacity antennas, a potential alternative to
existing network suppliers that could give mobile firms more
flexibility and cut costs.
   (Reuters, 6/28/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 2, German Health
Minister Jens Spahn announced measures to boost the effectiveness of
the country's vaccination program against an expected wave of the
Delta variant of COVID-19, which is more infectious.
   (AP, 7/2/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 6, German security
officials said more than 750 people have been arrested and large
amounts of drugs seized as part of an investigation that started in
2020.
   (SFC, 7/7/21, p.A4)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 8, The EU handed down
$1 billion in fines to major Germany car manufacturers, saying they
colluded to limit development and rollout of emission-control
systems.
   (SFC, 7/9/21, p.B2)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 9, Germany declared
all of Spain a coronavirus risk area after Spanish COVID-19
infection rates more than doubled in a week as the Delta variant
spread rapidly among unvaccinated young adults. Spain's Canary
Islands and its Mediterranean region of Valencia have asked the
government to bring back curfews to counter a soaring COVID-19
infection rate among unvaccinated youngsters.
   (Reuters, 7/9/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 10, In Germany former
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged Iranian dissidents to "keep
up the fight" against the hardline regime in Tehran as the National
Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) gathered in a summit to renew
calls for a secular and democratic Iran in a largely virtual event.
   (Fox News, 7/11/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 13, Germany-based
Volkswagen raised its long-term profitability target in a sign of
the automaker's growing confidence in managing the shift to electric
and self-driving vehicles.
   (Reuters, 7/13/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 14, Self-driving
sensor maker AEye Inc said it had struck deals with German
automotive supplier Continental AG and autonomous trucking firm
TuSimple related to its lidar technology.
   (Reuters, 7/14/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 15, In Belgium and
Germany more than 20 people have died and dozens of people were
missing after heavy flooding turned streams and streets into raging
torrents, sweeping away cars and causing buildings to collapse.
   (AP, 7/15/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 15, German authorities
said late today that after confirming scores of deaths, they were
unable to account for at least 1,300 people. Strong rains caused
rivers to burst their banks and wash away buildings in Belgium and
Germany. Homes and streets in the Netherlands and Switzerland also
flooded.
   (NY Times, 7/16/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 16, In Belgium and
western Germany more than 1,000 people were missing in
flood-stricken regions, where waters were still rising with the
death toll already well over 100 and communications in some areas
cut.
   (Reuters, 7/16/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 17, In Germany police
estimated that at least 133 people have died in flooding, including
some 90 people in the Ahrweiler district south of Cologne. Hundreds
of people remained missing.
   (Reuters, 7/17/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 17, In southwestern
Germany a small plane crashed shortly after taking off and three
bodies were found at the crash site near Steinenbronn.
   (AP, 7/17/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 18, At least 184
people have died in Germany and Belgium amid a rare flood event that
has devastated the region with 157 died in Germany and 27 dead in
Belgium.
   (Reuters, 7/18/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 19, German authorities
said a third case of African swine fever (ASF) was confirmed over
the weekend in farm pigs in the eastern state of Brandenburg.
   (Reuters, 7/19/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 19, Germany-based
BioNTech said it was acquiring a production site and a research and
development platform from a subsidiary of US biotech company Gilead
to expand its footprint in north America and in novel cancer
treatments.
   (Reuters, 7/19/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 21, Germany's Cabinet
approved a roughly 400 million-euro ($472 million) package of
immediate aid for victims of last week's floods and vowed to get
started quickly on rebuilding the devastated areas.
   (AP, 7/21/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 23, Germany said it is
listing Spain and the Netherlands as “high-incidence areas,” meaning
that most people arriving from those countries who aren’t fully
vaccinated will have to go into quarantine from next week.
   (AP, 7/23/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 25, Chancellor Angela
Merkel's chief of staff said he fears the number of new coronavirus
cases in Germany could soar to 100,000 a day in about two months
unless many more people get vaccinated and those who refuse may face
restrictions. Politicians across the political spectrum criticized
the warning.
   (AP, 7/25/21)(Reuters, 7/25/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 26, Germany's
pharmaceutical company BioNTech said that it wants to use the mRNA
technology behind its coronavirus vaccine to target malaria.
   (AP, 7/26/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 27, In Germany an
explosion at an industrial park for chemical companies killed at
least 2 person, with 31 others injured in Leverkusen. Five people
were missing.
   (AP, 7/27/21)(AP, 7/28/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 28, German prosecutors
said Syrian Dr. Alla Mousa has been charged with crimes against
humanity for allegedly torturing people in military hospitals in his
homeland and killing one of them.
   (AP, 7/28/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 29, A top German court
ruled that Facebook acted illegally in taking down racist posts and
blocking the account of their author because the social network
failed to inform the user or give a reason for shutting them down.
   (Reuters, 7/29/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 29, German
pharmaceutical and chemical company Bayer said it would take a
provision of $4.5 billion against second-quarter earnings to put the
company on what it said would be a path to closure of thousands of
US lawsuits over a weedkiller containing the chemical glyphosate.
Bayer AG said it would stop selling the current version of Roundup,
the world's most widely used herbicide, for US home and garden use
in 2023. A forthcoming version would replace glyphosate, the
product's current active ingredient, with new formulations.
   (AP, 7/29/21)(SFC, 7/30/21, p.B1)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 1, In Germany hundreds
of people turned out in Berlin to protest the German government’s
anti-coronavirus measures despite a ban on the gatherings, leading
to arrests and clashes with police.
   (AP, 8/1/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 2, German diplomat
Christian Schmidt took office as the top international envoy to
Bosnia, facing opposition from the country's Serbs, who have
rejected both his appointment and a ban on genocide denial brought
by his predecessor.
   (AP, 8/2/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 4, The German
government said it will strengthen its battle against the quickly
growing antisemitism in the country by investing 35 million euros
($41.5 million) into research and educational projects focused on
understanding its causes and effectively fighting hatred of Jews.
   (AP, 8/4/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 4, The daughter of a
German-Iranian rights activist said that her mother, Nahid Taghavi,
has been given a prison sentence of 10 years and eight months in
Iran. A Revolutionary Court sentenced Taghavi, arrested in 2020, and
a British-Iranian man, Mehran Raouf, for allegedly running an
“illegal group” and spreading “propaganda against the system”.
   (AP, 8/4/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 4, In Germany two
Afghan men (22 and 25) were detained after investigators found what
they believed to be the 34-year-old victim's body near the elder
brother's home in Bavaria. The woman, a divorced mother of two, had
been reported missing in mid-July. Police later said that the men
had acted out of an “aggrieved sense of honor” when they killed
their sister.
   (AP, 8/6/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 4, A German-Swiss
group that campaigns for human rights in Belarus called for Western
companies to stop buying airtime for advertising on the
authoritarian country’s state broadcasters.
   (AP, 8/4/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 9, Germany-based
BioNTech said that repeat shots of its COVID-19 vaccine, of which
more than a billion doses have now been supplied worldwide, was a
better strategy than tailoring the product it developed with Pfizer
to new variants.
   (Reuters, 8/9/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 10, It was reported
that the German government will stop offering free coronavirus tests
from Oct. 11 in a bid to encourage more people to get vaccinated
amid concerns about a rise in new cases.
   (Reuters, 8/10/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 10, Germany arrested a
British Embassy worker in Berlin on suspicion of being a spy after
prosecutors accused him of passing documents to Moscow.
   (Washington Examiner, 8/11/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 11, Germany and the
Netherlands said they have suspended any deportations of migrants to
Afghanistan due to the tense security situation as Taliban
insurgents make sweeping gains in the Central Asian country.
   (AP, 8/11/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 13, It was reported
that the German government has upgraded Israel, Turkey and the
United States to having a high COVID-19 risk, triggering a minimum
five-day quarantine requirement for those who are unvaccinated.
   (Reuters, 8/13/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 16, Chancellor Angela
Merkel told party colleagues that Germany must urgently evacuate up
to 10,000 people from Afghanistan for whom its has responsibility.
   (Reuters, 8/16/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 16, In Germany an
unknown number of missing people were tossed into a river in
Bavaria's Valley of Hell when a sudden flood tore down a bridge they
were on. At least four people had been pulled out of the water in
the valley known as Höllentalklamm. Rescue teams recovered the body
of a woman who was swept off a bridge. One person remained missing.
   (AP, 8/16/21)(AP, 8/17/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 16, Bayer, trying to
contain billions of dollars in legal costs, filed a petition with
the US Supreme Court to reverse an appeals court verdict that upheld
damages to a customer blaming his cancer on the German group's
glyphosate-based weedkillers.
   (Reuters, 8/16/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 16, GlaxoSmithKline
and CureVac said a study on macaque monkeys showed their
jointly-developed mRNA COVID-19 vaccine candidate to be "strongly
improved" in protecting against the virus compared with CureVac's
first attempt.
   (Reuters, 8/16/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 22, German Chancellor
Angela Merkel offered reassurances that Ukraine would not suffer
from the construction of Russia's Nord Stream 2 pipeline, but
Ukraine said talks about its future as a transit country had been
vague.
   (Reuters, 8/22/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 23, In Germany many
train drivers with the national railway walked off the job as their
union embarked on its second two-day strike this month in a bitter
dispute with the company.
   (AP, 8/23/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 23, The energy
ministers of Ukraine, the United States and Germany discussed in
Kyiv guarantees for Ukraine about its future as a transit country
after the construction of Russia's Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.
   (Reuters, 8/23/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 25, A senior German
diplomat said the Taliban have told Germany that Afghans with legal
documents will be able to travel on commercial flights beyond the
Aug. 31 cut-off date after which evacuations from Kabul airport will
no longer be allowed.
   (Reuters, 8/25/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 26, Germany said it
has completed its military evacuation operation from Kabul airport,
after evacuating 5,347 people, including more than 4,100 Afghans.
Around 300 German citizens remained in the country. At least 5,000
former staff and their families were left behind. Germany has said
its promise to take in former Afghan staff will still stand after a
Aug. 31 deadline for evacuations from Kabul airport has passed.
   (Reuters, 8/26/21)(Reuters, 8/27/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 26, Axel Springer said
it will acquire US political news website Politico, as the German
publisher stitches together a global network of digital news
operations.
   (Reuters, 8/26/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 27, Germany-based
COVID-19 vaccine maker BioNTech said it was looking into building
malaria and tuberculosis vaccine production sites in Rwanda and
Senegal, narrowing its search for African locations.
   (Reuters, 8/27/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 27, German genetic
testing specialist Qiagen said it is seeing demand for its COVID-19
tests firming up again, leading it to believe that sagging demand in
July was temporary.
   (Reuters, 8/27/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 28, In Germany police
tussled with protesters as thousands of people marched through
Berlin chanting slogans and waving banners against COVID-19
restrictions.
   (Reuters, 8/28/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 29, In Germany several
thousand people marched through the streets of Berlin for a second
day of unauthorized protest against coronavirus vaccinations and
restrictions aimed at curbing a fourth wave of the pandemic.
   (Reuters, 8/29/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 5, Germany's Robert
Koch Institute reported 4,005, 641 total cases of COVID-19 and
92,346 deaths. The actual number of cases was believed to be much
higher. More than 61% of the population was fully vaccinated.
   (SFC, 9/6/21, p.A6)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 6, Germany's Foreign
Ministry said it has protested to Russia over attempts to steal data
from lawmakers in what it suspects may have been preparation to
spread disinformation before upcoming elections.
   (AP, 9/6/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 9, German prosecutors
raided the finance and justice ministries as part of an
investigation into the government’s anti-money laundering agency,
putting a spotlight on Germany's failings in tackling financial
crime.
   (Reuters, 9/9/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 10, Germany's vaccine
oversight body recommended that women who are pregnant or
breastfeeding should be vaccinated against COVID-19 with an
mRNA-based shot.
   (Reuters, 9/10/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 10, Russian company
Gazprom said it had finished construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas
pipeline, which will take natural gas to Germany via the Baltic Sea,
bypassing Ukraine.
   (Reuters, 9/11/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 14, Germany's federal
prosecutor said police have arrested a German-Iranian man suspected
of exporting equipment to be used in Iran's nuclear and missile
programs in breach of European Union sanctions.
   (Reuters, 9/14/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 15, It was reported
that Pope Francis has rejected the resignation of Stefan Hesse, the
archbishop of Hamburg, who offered to step down in March after he
was faulted for his handling of sexual abuse in his previous
diocese.
   (AP, 9/15/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 16, In Germany another
case of African swine fever (ASF) was confirmed in a wild boar in
the Uckermark region in the eastern state of Brandenburg.
   (AP, 9/16/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 18, In Germany a
petrol station worker (20) was shot dead after an argument about a
face mask in the western town of Idar-Oberstein. The suspect (49)
later gave himself up at a police station, saying the coronavirus
measures were causing him stress.
   (Reuters, 9/21/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 21, A German court
ordered the removal of election posters saying "Hang The Greens"
placed by a far-right party with suspected links to neo-Nazi groups.
   (Reuters, 9/21/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 21, Around 300
protesters stormed Namibia's parliament, as the National Assembly
was due to vote on a $1 billion compensation offer from Germany to
atone for its 1904-1908 genocide against the Herero and Nama people.
Protesters argued the sum was too small and objected that they were
not involved in the negotiations.
   (Reuters, 9/21/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 22, Germany said it
will stop paying compensation to unvaccinated workers who are forced
into quarantine by coronavirus measures as it is unfair to ask
taxpayers to subsidize those who refuse to get inoculated.
   (Reuters, 9/22/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 24, In Germany tens of
thousands of environmental activists staged a rally outside of
parliament two days before national elections. Across Germany
several hundred thousand marchers joined similar protests in more
than 400 cities. This was part of a string of global "climate
strike" rallies.
   (SFC, 9/25/21, p.A4)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 26, Germans went to
the polls in a national election too close to call, with the
center-left Social Democrats (SPD) mounting a strong challenge to
retiring Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives. The Social
Democrats made significant gains, earning 25.7 percent of the vote,
but will still need at least one other partner to form a government.
Both the Greens and the Free Democrats also increased their share of
seats in Parliament, to 14.8 percent and 11.5 percent, respectively.
   (Reuters, 9/26/21)(NY Times, 9/27/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 27, German Social
Democrat Olaf Scholz vowed to strengthen the European Union and keep
up the transatlantic partnership in a three-way coalition government
he hopes to form by Christmas to take over from Angela Merkel's
conservatives.
   (Reuters, 9/27/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 30, In Germany Irmgard
Furchner (96), a secretary for the SS commander of the Stutthof
concentration camp during World War II, was arrested by police after
she fled before the start of her trial. She faced 11,412 counts of
accessory to murder.
   (Axios, 9/30/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 30, Carmaker Opel,
which is part of the Stellantis group, said it will close one of its
plants in Germany until at least the end of the year due to chip
shortages.
   (Reuters, 9/30/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 30, Germany's Merck
KGaA and Britain's GlaxoSmithKline ended their collaboration on
cancer treatment bintrafusp alfa, once seen as one of Merck's most
promising experimental drugs mostly due to disappointing lung cancer
trial data.
   (Reuters, 9/30/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 1, Ukraine called on
the United States and Germany to impose sanctions on Russia's
Gazprom, which it accused of using energy as a weapon after the
energy giant implemented a transit deal with Hungary that deprives
Kyiv of gas supplies.
   (Reuters, 10/1/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 5, German chipmaker
Infineon Technologies said it plans a 50% hike in investments next
year, boosting its shares as it looks to benefit from soaring demand
and a global shortage in semiconductors.
   (Reuters, 10/5/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 5, The Nobel Prize in
Physics went to Syukuro Manabe of Princeton University, Klaus
Hasselmann of the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology in Hamburg,
Germany, and Giorgio Parisi of the Sapienza University of Rome, for
their work in helping to understand complex systems, including how
humanity influences the climate.
   (NY Times, 10/5/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 6, Police in Germany
carried out large-scale raids in 25 cities, after a chance discovery
last year put investigators on the trail of a money-laundering
network alleged to have funneled millions in ill-gotten gains
abroad. They targeted 67 suspects, including 44 Syrians, 10 Germans,
five Jordanians and four Lebanese. 11 people were arrested.
   (AP, 10/6/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 6, The Nobel Prize in
Chemistry was awarded to Benjamin List, a German chemist and
director at the Max Planck Institute for Coal Research in Mülheim an
der Ruhr, and David W.C. MacMillan, a Scottish chemist and a
professor at Princeton University, for their development of a new
tool to build molecules, work that has spurred advances in
pharmaceutical research and lessened the impact of chemistry on the
environment.
   (NY Times, 10/6/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 6, The organization
that handles claims on behalf of Jews who suffered under the Nazis
said that Germany has agreed to extend compensation to Jewish
survivors who endured the World War II siege of Leningrad and two
other groups who had not received any monthly pensions from Germany.
   (AP, 10/6/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 6, Germany repatriated
23 children and their eight mothers from the Roj camp in
northeastern Syria this evening, while Denmark brought back 14
children and three women.
   (AP, 10/6/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 9, In Germany climate
activist Vanessa Nakate of Uganda visited the vast open-pit,
Garzweiler coal mine and a village that is to be bulldozed for its
expansion, saying the destruction is “really disturbing” and has
implications far beyond Germany.
   (Reuters, 10/9/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 11, The German city of
Cologne said it will start permitting mosques to broadcast muezzin
calls for prayer. The initiative will be limited to two years and
then be re-evaluated.
   (AP, 10/11/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 12, Germany-based
CureVac NV said it will give up on its first-generation COVID-19
vaccine candidate and instead focus on collaborating with GSK to
develop improved mRNA vaccine technology.
   (Reuters, 10/12/21)
2022Â Â Â Â Â Â In Germany all nuclear
power plants were expected to be switched off by this time.
   (Econ, 6/15/13, SR p.11)
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Subject = Germany
End of file.