German president arrives in Ukraine as tensions rise
Germany’s president has arrived in Kyiv for his first visit to Ukraine since the start of Russia’s invasion, a trip that comes amid Moscow’s unsubstantiated warnings about a “dirty bomb” attack and as the conflict enters its ninth month
washingtonpost.comGerman president arrives in Ukraine as tensions rise
Germany’s president arrived in Kyiv Tuesday for his first visit to Ukraine since the start of Russia’s invasion, a trip that comes amid Moscow's unsubstantiated warnings of a “dirty bomb” attack as the conflict enters its ninth month. President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said after arriving that “it was important to me in this phase of air attacks with drones, cruise missiles and rockets to send a signal of solidarity to Ukrainians,” German news agency dpa reported. Steinmeier’s spokesperson, Cerstin Gammelin, posted a picture of him in Kyiv on Tuesday.
news.yahoo.comGermany irritated by Ukraine's snub of a presidential visit
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Wednesday criticized a diplomatic snub by Ukraine for his country's president and defended Berlin's record on delivering weapons to Kyiv amid tensions that have flared at a delicate moment in German policymaking on the war. President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Germany's largely ceremonial head of state, had hoped to travel to Ukraine on Wednesday with his Polish and Baltic counterparts. The German newspaper Bild quoted an unidentified Ukrainian diplomat as saying that Steinmeier was not welcome at the moment, pointing to his close relations with Russia in the past.
news.yahoo.comGerman president asks country to confront its colonial past
Germany’s president has called on the country to face its cruel colonial past as he opened a new museum in the capital’s center that will be home to two of Berlin’s state museums which include looted artifacts from countries in Africa and elsewhere.
German candidate sorry for laughing scene in flood visit
The front-runner to succeed Chancellor Angela Merkel in Germany’s September election has apologized for a scene in which he was seen laughing in the background as the country’s president delivered a statement on the devastating floods in western Germany.
German candidate sorry for laughing scene in flood visit
The front-runner to succeed Chancellor Angela Merkel in Germany's September election has apologized for a scene in which he was seen laughing in the background as the country's president delivered a statement on the devastating floods in western Germany. Armin Laschet, the candidate of Merkel's center-right Union bloc to be Germany's next leader, is also the governor of North Rhine-Westphalia state — one of two badly hit by last week's floods. On Saturday, he visited the town of Erfstadt, which was the scene of a dramatic rescue effort after the ground gave way, with President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
news.yahoo.comDeath toll from Europe floods tops 150 as water recedes
The death toll from disastrous flooding in western Europe rose above 150 on Saturday as rescue workers toiled to clear up the devastation and prevent further damage. Police said that more than 90 people are now known to have died in western Germany's Ahrweiler county, one of the worst-hit areas, and more casualties are feared. On Friday, authorities gave a death toll of 63 for Rhineland-Palatinate state, where Ahrweiler is located.
news.yahoo.comIsrael welcomes German leader as ally against antisemitism
Israel's president warmly welcomed his German counterpart on Thursday, praising him as an ally in combatting antisemitism. German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier is set to meet with Israel's new Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and visit the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial. Israeli President Reuven Rivlin said that Germany has been “our strong partner in the uncompromising fight against antisemitism” and has stood with Israel against “the forces of terror who seek to wipe us off the map.”
news.yahoo.comMerkel: 'A quiet Easter' needed to counter rising infections
“There needs to be a quiet Easter festival,” Merkel said in a video address. AdIn contrast, Britain has given one vaccine shot to 46% of its people. Health Minister Jens Spahn said routine vaccinations will begin in doctors' practices on Tuesday, with 35,000 GPs scheduled to receive 940,000 vaccine doses next week. Germany expects to receive about 40 million vaccine doses during the second quarter. AdMerkel, who is 66, says she would be prepared to take the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Scientist behind coronavirus shot says next target is cancer
Ozlem Tureci founder of the BioNTech company speaks during an interview with the Associated Press in Berlin, Germany, Thursday, March 18, 2021. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)BERLIN – The scientist who won the race to deliver the first widely used coronavirus vaccine says people can rest assured the shots are safe, and the technology behind it will soon be used to fight another global scourge — cancer. “There is a very rigid process in place and the process does not stop after a vaccine has been approved,” she said. “We have several different cancer vaccines based on mRNA," said Tureci, who is BioNTech's chief medical officer. “You began with a drug to treat cancer in a single individual,” Steinmeier told the couple.
UN to rich nations: Don't undermine COVAX vaccine program
(AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)BERLIN – The head of the World Health Organization pleaded with rich countries on Monday to check before ordering additional COVID-19 vaccine shots for themselves whether that undermines efforts to get vaccine shots to poorer nations. Wealthy nations have snapped up several billion vaccine doses while some countries in the developing world have little or none. Tedros added that rich countries need to “cooperate in respecting the deals that COVAX did” and make sure before they seek more vaccines that their requests don’t undermine those deals. WHO also said Monday it had reached an agreement with Chubb Limited on behalf of COVAX for a global vaccine injury compensation program. The initiative will allow people in poorer countries to get compensation for rare but serious side effects linked to COVID-19 vaccines distributed through COVAX until next June.
Germany commemorates victims of racist shooting, 1 year on
The names of the nine victims of the Hanau shooting are painted on a building in Hanau, Germany, Thursday, Feb.18, 2021. One year ago a far right man shot nine people before he shot himself. The rampage in Hanau, near Frankfurt, caused widespread shock in Germany and beyond. Mehmet Daimagueler, a prominent lawyer who has represented victims of other racist crimes in Germany, said the attack in Hanau should prompt politicians to reflect on the stereotypes about migrants they repeat, including portraying shisha bars as crime dens. “The state needs to start fighting racism in its own house," Daimagueler told news portal Watson, calling for racist officials to lose their jobs and victims of hate crimes to be taken more seriously.
Auschwitz survivors mark anniversary online amid pandemic
Most observances were held online, due to the coronavirus pandemic, and only few people attended the ceremony at the monument. In Israel, some 900 Holocaust survivors died from COVID-19 out of 5,300 who were infected last year. Israel, which counts 197,000 Holocaust survivors, officially marks its Holocaust remembrance day in the spring. Meanwhile, Luxembourg signed a deal agreeing to pay reparations and to restitute dormant bank accounts, insurance policies and looted art to Holocaust survivors. Of the 6 million Jewish victims, some 1.5 million were children, and this year's commemorations included a special focus on them.
U.S. allies "greatly relieved" as Biden steps up, but they've learned to be wary, too
There had been suggestions that Mr. Trump might take post-presidential refuge at one of his golf clubs in Scotland. Yes, President Biden said the U.S. will re-join the Paris Climate Accords, but what does that mean? European allies certainly expect the Biden administration to reengage, to take a more cooperative approach to solving the world's biggest problems. Maurizio Gambarini/picture alliance/GettyBut those allies know not every element of Mr. Trump's foreign policy will be rolled back. Overall, America's allies are approaching the new White House with optimism, but it is optimism tempered by a wariness learned over the past four years.
cbsnews.comPompeo says criticism of Trump's 'America First' policy doesn't 'reflect reality'
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo adresses the audience on the podium during the 56th Munich Security Conference in Munich on February 15, 2020. MUNICH Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Saturday defended the United States' foreign policy approach and dismissed criticisms that the Trump administration disregards international alliances. The West is winning, and we're winning together," Pompeo said in a speech at the Munich Security Conference. "Our closest ally, the United States of America, under the current administration, rejects the very concept of the international community," he said. "'Great again' but at the expense of neighbors and partners," Steinmeier added without naming Trump but referring to his "Make America Great Again" campaign slogan.
cnbc.comGerman president slams Trump's 'America First' foreign policy in front of Pompeo and Esper
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier addresses the opening speech of the 56th Munich Security Conference in Munich, southern Germany, on February 14, 2020. "Our closest ally, the United States of America, under the current administration, rejects the very concept of the international community," he said. In his opening remarks, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier warned that the United States would put its own interests first at the expense of allies. MUNICH Germany's president kicked off the annual Munich Security Conference on Friday by taking a swipe at President Donald Trump's "America First" foreign policy approach. Read more: Nuclear weapons and 5G among national security topics at Munich Security ConferenceSteinmeier also accused Russia and China of amplifying global insecurity in pursuit of "great power" competition.
cnbc.comAllies, Germany mark the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge
Bastogne, Belgium Side by side, the Allies and former enemy Germany together marked the 75th anniversary of one of the most important battles in World War II: the Battle of the Bulge. American soldiers check for identification on the bodies of dead U.S. troops shot by the Germans near Malmedy, Belgium, Jan. 1945 during World War II's Battle of the Bulge. World War II veteran Joe Landry, from Massachusetts, and Jack Stitzinger wait for the start of a ceremony to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge at the Luxembourg American Cemetery in Hamm, Luxembourg on Monday, Dec. 16, 2019. Troops from the American First Army cautiously search a wooded area in Belgium during the Battle of the Bulge, Dec. 24, 1944 during World War II. U.S. tanks move in the snow and ice from the town of Tri-le-Cheslaing, Belgium, on Jan. 7, 1945 during the Battle of the Bulge in World War II.
cbsnews.comEntangled in Trump scandal, the Ukrainian president faces challenges at home
The conflict followed the 2013 Maidan street revolution in Kyiv, which forced Kremlin-favored President Viktor Yanukovych to flee to Russia. In that call, Trump asked Zelensky for help investigating former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Bidens business dealings in Ukraine. That call is now the basis of an impeachment inquiry asking whether Trump abused his official powers. In 2014, then-Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko oversaw the Minsk peace plan intended to stop the fighting in eastern Ukraine. It was signed by Russia, Ukraine, and representatives from the self-declared Donetsk and Luhansk Peoples Republics.
latimes.comGermany's Angela Merkel gets the shakes in public for the 2nd time in just 9 days
German Chancellor Angela Merkel was seen shaking as she met President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Berlin, Germany, June 27, 2019, her second shaking bout within two weeks. REUTERSBerlin -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel appeared unsteady and was seen shaking for the second time in just over a week at a ceremony in Berlin on Thursday. Merkel set off to Japan a few hours later for the annual summit of the Group of 20 global powers. Last week, dpa reported that Merkel had previously been seen shaking under similar circumstances in the hot sun. Merkel said last year that she won't seek a fifth term as chancellor and won't seek any other political job after her current term ends in 2021.
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