by Coralie Febvre Agence France Presse BERLIN, Berlin (AFP) — Whether they’re hauling parcels or children, cargo bikes are becoming a familiar sight in German cities as the nippy, clean alternative to cars and delivery vans — and shaking up urban transport in the process. A desire to go green has been key to the rise of cargo bikes in a country where dozens of smog-choked cities are considering diesel driving bans to combat air […]
Tag: Germany
Merkel in Washington to make Germany heard again
by Andrew Beatty Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel heads to the White House on Friday for talks with Donald Trump, facing an uphill struggle to save the Iran nuclear deal, avoid a trade war and make her relationship with the US president functional again. The German leader’s visit has already been overshadowed by a backslapping three-day festival of “fraternite” between Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron this […]
Oops…Deutsche Bank makes 28bn euro transfer in error
FRANKFURT AM MAIN, Germany (AFP) — Germany’s biggest lender Deutsche Bank on Friday admitted to a massive erroneous transfer of 28 billion euros ($34 billion) in a routine operation, more than the entire bank is worth. The unprecedented mistake happened on March 16 when Deutsche Bank carried out a transfer to an account at Deutsche Boerse’s Eurex clearing house, a spokesman told AFP. The operation was meant to involve a far smaller sum, which […]
Robredo, several LP members draw flak for posing happily at Holocaust Memorial meant to honor those killed by Nazis
(Eagle News) — Members of the Liberal Party including Vice President Leni Robredo drew flak from netizens after a picture of them happily posing at the Holocaust memorial in Berlin, Germany circulated online. Apart from Robredo, Senator Francis Pangilinan, Ifugao Rep. Teddy Baguilat Jr., Quezon City Rep. Jose Christopher Belmonte, Dinagat Islands Rep. Kaka Bag-ao, Marikina Rep. Miro Quimbo and former Budget Secretary Florencio Abad were seen smiling at the monument meant to honor those […]
Police see mental illness behind deadly German van attack
by Tom BARFIELD and Deborah COLE in Berlin Agence France Presse MUNSTER, Germany (AFP) — German authorities investigating a deadly van ramming attack focused Sunday on mental health problems of the driver, as the city of Muenster mourned for the two people killed on a sunny afternoon at an open-air restaurant. “There are strong indications at the moment that this was a lone perpetrator and that there were no links to the terror scene,” federal […]
German police rule out ‘political motive’ in van attack
MUENSTER, Germany (AFP) — German police said Sunday they did not see an extremist motive behind a ramming attack with a van that claimed two lives and placed the driver’s mental health issues in the foreground. There are “no indications of a political motive,” said Hajo Kuhlisch, chief of police in western city Muenster where the attack took place. Rather, “the motive and origins (of the crime) lie within the perpetrator himself,” he added. Far-right […]
Nadal beats Zverev to set up Davis Cup decider with Germany
VALENCIA, Spain (AFP) — Rafael Nadal kept Spain’s Davis Cup hopes alive by beating Alexander Zverev on Sunday in the fourth rubber of their quarter-final against Germany. Nadal’s 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 win in Valencia draws the tie level at 2-2, with Spanish world number 33 David Ferrer up against Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber in the fifth and decisive match. Two breaks in each set were enough for Nadal to seal an impressively comfortable victory over Zverev in […]
DFA checking for Filipino casualties after van rams packed restaurant in Germany
(Eagle News)–The Department of Foreign Affairs is still checking whether there were Filipino casualties when a vehicle plowed into a crowd of pedestrians in Munster, Germany. In a DFA statement, Embassy Chargè d’Affaires Lilibeth Pono said around 4,100 of the 22,500 Filipinos are in North Rhine-Westphalia, where Munster is located. She said the Embassy has also asked the Essen Honorary Consul in Essen, Heinz-Peter Heidrich, to coordinate with police in Munster. Pono said members of the […]
Man drives into crowd in Germany, at least 2 dead
by Tom Barfield © Agence France-Presse MUENSTER, Germany (AFP) — A man smashed a van into a packed restaurant terrace in Germany Saturday killing at least two people before shooting himself dead, with authorities ruling out an “Islamist” motive. Images of the scene showed broken and upturned tables and chairs strewn across the pavement in the center of the picturesque medieval city of Muenster. While stressing that the investigation was still ongoing, state interior minister […]
Germany urges EU response to ‘intransparent’ Facebook
BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — Germany’s justice minister on Thursday accused Facebook of unethical behavior and said the social media giant should face a strong European response over a huge data leak involving millions of more users than initially thought. “Facebook is a network of intransparency,” Katarina Barley said. “Ethical convictions have fallen victim to commercial interests.” She called for “a clear reaction from European countries” over the company’s misuse of private information. Some 310,000 […]
BMW sued in US over diesel emissions
NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — German luxury carmaker BMW has been sued in the United States over “defeat devices” installed in tens of thousands of vehicles in order to cheat diesel emissions tests, lawyers for the plaintiffs said Tuesday. The case, filed in federal court in New Jersey, will become a class-action suit once it is certified by a judge. The suit singles out the BMW X5 and 335D model diesel cars sold between […]
Merkel narrowly elected to fourth term as German chancellor
by Frank Zeller Agence France Presse BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel, bruised by half a year of post-election coalition haggling, was Wednesday narrowly confirmed by parliament to her fourth and likely final term at the helm of Europe’s biggest economy. Lawmakers in Berlin’s glass-domed Reichstag voted 364-315 with nine abstentions for Merkel, who was then formally appointed by President Frank-Walter Steinmeier before taking the oath of office. The outcome of the […]





