Germany News

January 23, 2019

At Davos, China and Germany tout openness as teenager plugs climate fight

China and Germany Wednesday defended global cooperation against the temptation of populism at the Davos forum of the world’s business elite, but a Swedish teenager emerged as the unlikely star after her urgent calls for climate action inspired schoolchildren around…

January 23, 2019

Iraqi charged with rape, murder in Germany’s ‘Susanna case’

German prosecutors Wednesday announced child rape and murder charges against a rejected Iraqi asylum-seeker in a case that fuelled a heated debate about immigrant crime. The accused in the “Susanna case”, 21-year-old Ali Bashar, had fled Germany after the crime…

January 23, 2019

German car firms to build self-driving alliance: report

Germany’s biggest carmakers and auto parts suppliers are weighing plans to work together on autonomous driving, according to press reports Wednesday. Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes-Benz parent Daimler, as well as component makers Bosch and Continental, are “examining” a possible alliance,…

January 23, 2019

Volkswagen invests in California battery start-up

German car giant Volkswagen said Wednesday it would invest $10 million in an American startup specialising in battery technology, part of its mammoth transition to electric driving in the coming years. California-based Forge Nano is developing a chemical process to…

January 23, 2019

Fall in asylum bids in Germany defuses political tension

Applications for asylum in Germany dropped steeply last year, hardline Interior Minister Horst Seehofer reported Wednesday, saying the issue had become less politically explosive as a result. Seehofer said the official 2018 figures showed Germany had received some 185,000 appeals…

January 23, 2019

German court lengthens Syrian kidnapper’s jail term

A German appeals court Wednesday lengthened the jail term for a Syrian refugee found guilty of war crimes and taking part in the kidnapping of a Canadian UN peacekeeper. The defendant, named only as Suliman al-S., 28, was sentenced to…

January 22, 2019

Iran deplores “unjustifiable” German banning of Mahan Air

Iran’s foreign ministry on Tuesday deplored Germany’s decision to ban Iranian airline Mahan air from its airports describing the move as “hasty and unjustifiable”. “The rescinding of Mahan Air’s flight permits to Germany is a hasty, unjustifiable act,” the ministry…

January 22, 2019

France, Germany strengthen treaty ties to tackle EU crisis

France and Germany Tuesday signed a new friendship treaty to deepen their alliance at a time of crisis for the EU, drawing fire from the far right which President Emmanuel Macron slapped down for “spreading lies” about the pact. Macron…

January 22, 2019

Franco-German treaty a step toward ‘European army’: Merkel

The leaders of France and Germany on Tuesday laid out their commitment to a future joint European Army, an idea that has sparked angry reactions from US President Donald Trump. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said closer defence ties agreed in…