Tag: Germany

German Catholic Church to own up to decades of child abuse

  by Frank Zeller Agence France Presse BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — Germany’s Catholic Church was Tuesday due to confess to and apologize for thousands of cases of sexual abuse against children, part of a global scandal heaping pressure on the Vatican. It will release the latest in a series of reports on sexual crimes and cover-ups spanning decades that has shaken the largest Christian Church, from Europe to the United States, South America and Australia. […]

Merkel removes spy chief to defuse row over far-right

by Frank ZELLER and Michelle FITZPATRICK in Frankfurt Agence France Presse BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — Angela Merkel’s government on Tuesday removed domestic spy chief Hans-Georg Maassen from office, transferring him to a different post to end an explosive row over immigration and the far right that once more rocked the German chancellor’s fragile coalition. “Mr Maassen will become state secretary in the interior ministry,” Merkel and the leaders of her coalition parties announced in a […]

Germany rolls out world’s first hydrogen train

BREMERVORDE, Germany (AFP) — Germany on Monday rolled out the world’s first hydrogen-powered train, signalling the start of a push to challenge the might of polluting diesel trains with costlier but more eco-friendly technology. Two bright blue Coradia iLint trains, built by French TGV-maker Alstom, began running a 100-kilometer (62-mile) route between the towns and cities of Cuxhaven, Bremerhaven, Bremervoerde and Buxtehude in northern Germany — a stretch normally plied by diesel trains. “The world’s […]

Catholic priests abused more than 3,600 children in Germany, says study

BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — More than 3,600 children were sexually assaulted by Catholic priests in Germany over nearly seven decades, local media reported Wednesday, citing a study commissioned by the German Bishops Conference. The damning report, which Cardinal Reinhard Marx is to present officially on September 25, deals another blow to the Church after clerical child abuse has been uncovered worldwide. According to the study, 1,670 clergymen in Germany committed some form of sexual attack […]

Raging forest fire bears down on German villages

BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — A large forest fire raging 50 kilometers (30 miles) southwest of Berlin continued to spread early Friday after hundreds of people were evacuated from their homes. The smell of acrid smoke reached as far away as the capital as more than 400 hectares (1,000 acres) of woodland burned outside the city of Potsdam. Around 600 people were told to leave their homes in three villages in Brandenburg state late Thursday as […]

BI arrests German for alleged human trafficking

(Eagle News) — The Bureau of Immigration has arrested a German national who allegedly attempted to take with him to Germany four Filipinas who were “made to lie about the circumstances of their travel.” In a statement, the BI said one Herbert Joseph Vogt, 72, was nabbed on Monday, Aug. 21, as he and the four attempted to board a flight to Doha, Qatar at the Clark International Airport. Immigration officer in charge Deputy Commissioner […]

Harvey Weinstein sued by German actress for alleged rape

  LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — A German actress has filed a lawsuit against Harvey Weinstein alleging the disgraced movie mogul raped her in 2006 at the Cannes Film Festival. Emma Loman says in a complaint filed on Monday in Los Angeles that she met Weinstein in 2004 at the Venice Film Festival and he later invited her to Cannes as his guest to discuss her career. The model-turned-actress says she was initially hesitant […]

Investors shun Bayer stock over US pesticide ruling that awarded $290M to cancer patient

https://youtu.be/rEeEdBlt_OI   by Tom Barfield Agence France Presse FRANKFURT AM MAIN, Germany (AFP) — Investors fled shares in German chemicals and pharmaceuticals giant Bayer Monday, fearing a massive damages ruling against one of newly-acquired US firm Monsanto’s flagship products could signal a wave of costly lawsuits. The stock had plunged 11.5 percent to 82.60 euros ($94.47) by midday (1000 GMT), lopping around $10 billion off its market value. A California jury on Friday awarded dying […]

BMW confirms recall of 323,700 cars across Europe

  FRANKFURT AM MAIN, Germany (AFP) — German luxury carmaker BMW on Wednesday confirmed it would recall 323,700 cars across Europe due to a faulty component that could cause engines to catch fire. Just under a third — 96,300 — of the affected vehicles are in Germany, while 75,000 are in Britain, a BMW spokesman told AFP. Some 23,500 cars in France and 24,700 in Italy are also hit. The Europe-wide recall came after the […]

Merkel, rebel minister agree migrant deal to avert govt crisis

by Frank Zeller © Agence France-Presse BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel reached a deal Monday on migration with her rebellious interior minister, Horst Seehofer, defusing a bitter row that had threatened her government. Both sides hammered out “a truly good compromise … after a tough struggle and difficult days,” Merkel said, adding that it involved setting up holding and processing centres for asylum seekers near German borders. “We have reached an agreement […]

Future of Merkel coalition in doubt as interior minister offers to resign

by Ralf Isermann with Tom Barfield in Frankfurt Agence France-Presse MUNICH, Germany (AFP) – German  Chancellor Angela Merkel’s ruling coalition was facing  an uncertain future, as her hardline conservative interior minister Sunday offered his resignation after weeks of battling to change her mind on migrant policy. Horst Seehofer told fellow leaders of the conservative Bavarian CSU party he wants to resign as both party chief and interior minister, saying he had “no support,” sources at […]

‘Flying brain’ designed to follow German astronaut launches Friday

  by Kerry Sheridan Agence France-Presse TAMPA, United States (AFP) – A floating, ball-shaped, artificial intelligence robot, specially trained to follow around a German astronaut at the International Space Station, is scheduled to blast off Friday on its ground-breaking mission. The basketball-sized device called CIMON — shortened from Crew Interactive MObile CompanioN — was described as a “flying brain” by Manfred Jaumann, head of microgravity payloads at Airbus. It launches from Cape Canaveral, Florida on Friday […]