BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesperson Steffen Seibert on Friday expressed “deep sorrow over a great German and a great European” on news that Helmut Kohl had died. Merkel’s chancellery chief-of-staff Peter Altmaier said that “we owe an infinite debt to Helmut Kohl: for our freedom, for our unity, for our Europe.”
Tag: Germany
German veteran leader, EU visionary Kohl dies
BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — Germany’s longest serving post-war leader, Helmut Kohl, the father of German reunification and an architect of European integration, died Friday at the age of 87. Kohl, a passionate European, helped long-divided Germany navigate the traumatic transition to a reunified country, and later worked with France’s Francois Mitterand to put Germany at the core of the European project. Tributes poured in for the man former United States president George H.W. Bush hailed […]
Shots fired at German rail station; several wounded
MUNICH, Germany (AFP) — Several people were wounded when shots were fired at a commuter rail station near the southern German city of Munich on Tuesday, as police detain one person who is believed to be behind the incident. “Several people were injured by shots. A female police officer was badly wounded” at an S-Bahn station in Unterfoehring, a northeastern suburb of the Bavarian city, police tweeted, and that the scene was now “secured.” A Munich police […]
Merkel hosts G20 outreach talks with African leaders
BERLIN, Germany (Reuters) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday (June 12) hosted talks in the chancellery with a group of African leaders in the framework of the G20 Africa Partnership. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi were among the leaders taking part in the talks, which came at the end of the first day of a two-day G20 conference on Africa. The discussion was set to focus on private […]
Merkel: no turning back from historic Paris climate pact
BERLIN, Germany (Reuters) – Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel pledged her country’s continued commitment to the Paris Climate Agreement on Friday, in the wake of United States President Donald Trump’s withdrawal. “The decision of the U.S. President to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement is very regrettable, and I’m expressing myself in a very reserved way when I say that,” she said. Merkel called for Europe to work closer together, saying Trump’s decision would not stop them […]
Trump has ‘weakened’ the West, hurt EU interests: German FM
by Damien Stroka Agence France Presse BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — Germany unleashed a volley of criticism Monday against United States President Donald Trump, slamming his “short-sighted” policies that have “weakened the West” and hurt European interests. The sharp words from Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel came after Trump concluded his first official tour abroad which took him to Saudi Arabia, Israel, Brussels and then Italy for a G7 summit. They followed Chancellor Angela Merkel’s warning on […]
Merkel voices ‘sorrow and horror’ over Manchester attack
BERLIN, Germany (AFP) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday expressed her “sorrow and horror” over the bomb attack in Manchester, vowing that Germany will stand by Britain in the fight against terror. “This suspected terrorist attack will only strengthen our resolve to work with our British friends against those who plan and execute such inhuman acts. I assure the people in Britain: Germany stands by your side,” she said in a statement. © Agence […]
PHL joins calls for world leaders to implement Paris Agreement
The Philippines joined calls for world leaders to implement the historic Paris Agreement to fight global warming, this amid the United States’ threats it would exit from the United Nations pact. “As long there is a chance to stop global warming at a level that lets humanity survive and thrive, we should seize it,” Emmanuel De Guzman of the Philippines’ Climate Change Commission said on the sidelines of UN talks under way in Bonn. “This is […]
Merkel’s party faces election dry run in bellwether state
by Jean-Philippe Lacour HALTERN AM SEE, Germany (AFP) – Germany’s most populous state goes to the polls on Sunday, with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party aiming to extend a winning streak that could seriously damage her rival before national elections. One in five German voters — 13.1 million — will cast ballots in North Rhine-Westphalia, a sprawling industrial area with a big migrant population which has been a Social Democratic Party (SPD) stronghold for 17 years. But […]
50,000 evacuated in Germany over unexploded WWII bombs
BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — German police on Sunday evacuated 50,000 people from the northern city of Hanover in one of the country’s largest post-war operations to defuse World War II era bombs. Residents in a densely populated part of the city were ordered to leave their homes for the operation, planned since mid-April, to remove several recently discovered unexploded bombs. Authorities had expected to remove as many as five bombs but as the day developed […]
News in photos: Remembering the 6 million Jewish victims of the Holocaust





