Merkel and Pope discuss climate change in farewell visit
Vatican CityReuters Outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday the response to climate change would require a radical change in how people live as she met Pope Francis during a farewell visit to the Vatican and Italy. Francis and other religious leaders made a joint appeal on Monday for next month’s UN Climate Change […]
Making elephants dance: a guide to Germany’s electoral system
Berlin, GermanyReuters Sixty million voters, casting twice as many votes for 47 parties, leading to a parliament that could have anywhere from 700 to as much as 1,000 legislators – the German electoral system is baffling even to Germans. Here are its key features. How it works?Germany’s electoral system was designed in reaction to the […]
StrangeSights: Cat sounds, cinema smells and the purpose of beards – this year’s Ig Nobel winners; a marzipan Merkel; and, ugly tomatoes…
DAVID ADAMS provides a round-up of some stories on the odder side of life…
Germany: Survivors, leaders remember victims of July floods
Berlin, Germany AP More than a month after extreme flooding killed more than 180 people in western Germany, survivors of the disaster, first responders, religious leaders and government officials came together Saturday to remember the victims who died and to express hope for the future. Chancellor Angela Merkel, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Bundestag President Wolfgang […]
Germany faces calls for mobile phone disaster alerts after floods
Berlin, GermanyReuters German authorities faced pressure on Tuesday to set aside longstanding privacy concerns and send mobile phone alerts directly to people in potential disaster zones following the devastation wrought by last week’s catastrophic floods. Unlike many other countries, including Japan, Israel and New Zealand, Germany has no way of sending text messages en masse […]
World leaders launch plan to speed COVID-19 drugs, vaccine; US stays away
Geneva/Zurich, SwitzerlandReuters World leaders pledged on Friday to accelerate work on tests, drugs and vaccines against COVID-19 and to share them around the globe, but the United States did not take part in the launch of the World Health Organization initiative. French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa […]
Suspected shisha bar gunman published racist manifesto – German prosecutor
Hanau, GermanyReuters A man suspected of shooting dead nine people in shisha bars in a German town before killing himself and his mother had posted a manifesto online including conspiracy theories and deeply racist views, prosecutors said on Thursday. The presumed attacker – a 43-year-old German man identified as Tobias R – was found dead […]
“Bravery and sacrifice”: World leaders gather in south England to remember D-Day
Postmouth, UKReuters World leaders gather on the coast of southern England on Wednesday to mark the 75th anniversary of D-Day, the largest seaborne invasion in history and a feat that helped bring World War II to an end. Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Theresa May will be joined for the commemorative events in […]
GERMANY: PAYMENTS TO CHURCHES CONTINUE A CENTURY AFTER GOVERNMENT DECISION TO STOP
TOM HENEGAN, of Religious News Service, reports on how government payments to churches in Germany have continued despite a decision to stop them 100 years ago…
Pope tells Merkel to keep pressing for international cooperation
RNS/Reuters Pope Francis has asked Germany to keep fighting for the Paris climate change deal and to ‘tear down walls’ that inhibit international cooperation, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday, offering a stark contrast between her agenda and US policy. US President Donald Trump announced this month that he would withdraw from the landmark 2015 […]