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☆ Germany's Airport Security Staff to Ground Flights in Nationwide Protests
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-01 | by ( Feb. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN (Reuters) - Security staff at some of Germany's biggest airports, including the global hub Frankfurt, walked off the job on Thursday, grounding flights and piling pain on Europe's largest economy. The 24-hour strike, called by labour union Verdi, is the latest in a series of industrial actions that has paralysed the country's transportation sector in recent weeks. Almost 200,000 travellers will be affected by over 1,100 flight cancellations or delays, the German airports association ADV estimated on Wednesday as some of Germany's biggest airports including Frankfurt, Berlin, Hamburg and Stuttgart said there would be no departures for passengers. Last week, German train drivers had staged their longest railway strike to date following a week-long nationwide protest by German farmers who had blocked the country's roads. On Friday, industrial action is expected to bring public transport to a halt in every federal state except Bavaria.

Persons: Verdi, Ralph Beisel, Wolfgang Pieper, Nette Nöstlinger, Klaus Lauer Organizations: BERLIN, Security, ADV Locations: Frankfurt, Berlin, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Germany, Bavaria

☆ EU's Centre-Right Expects to Nominate Von Der Leyen for Second Term - EPP's Caspary
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-26 | by ( Jan. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN (Reuters) - The European Union's main centre-right alliance will nominate Ursula von der Leyen for a second term as European Commission president at a congress in March if she wants to continue in the post, a senior EU lawmaker told Reuters. Von der Leyen, a German Christian Democrat, has not yet said publicly whether she wants a second stint at the helm of the EU executive after her current term expires later this year. "The EPP will nominate Ursula von der Leyen as its lead candidate for the European elections at its European Congress on March 6 and 7," Caspary said, adding, "If that's what she wants." Being nominated as the EPP's lead candidate would mean von der Leyen would also be its nominee for Commission president. Caspary's comments add strength to the widespread assumption among diplomats and officials in Brussels that von der Leyen will seek and receive a second term as Commission president.

Persons: Ursula von der Leyen, Von der, Daniel Caspary, Caspary, Leyen, der Leyen, Andreas Rinke, Andrew Gray, Nette Nöstlinger, Rachel More Organizations: BERLIN, Reuters, Christian Democrat, European People's Party, EPP Locations: Brussels

☆ Visitors to sunflower fields urged to stop posing naked for photo shoots
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-18 | by ( Lianne Kolirin | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

London CNN —A British farm has urged visitors to stop posing naked for photographs in its field of sunflowers. The owners of Stoke Fruit Farm on Hayling Island, off England’s south coast, issued the unusual request on social media, having noticed a growing number of visitors stripping naked to pose for pictures among the blooms. It comprises 350 acres, producing wheat, peas, potatoes, pumpkins, squash, sweetcorn, hay – and sunflowers. Wilson told CNN Friday that there had been about six incidents of people stripping off among the sunflowers since the field opened to visitors at the end of last month. Today, paying visitors are invited to wander around a massive area of about 50 acres, covered by two million sunflowers, said Wilson.

Persons: London CNN —, Sam Wilson, Nette Petley, Wilson, “ We’ve, it’s, we’ve, ”, “, Sams, Petley Organizations: London CNN, Stoke Fruit, Facebook, CNN Locations: Stoke, Hayling, Stoke Fruit, England

Worldcoin says 2.2 million have signed up, mostly during a trial period over the last two years. Worldcoin raised $115 million from venture capital investors including Blockchain Capital, a16z crypto, Bain Capital Crypto and Distributed Global in a funding round in May. Macieira said Worldcoin would continue rolling out operations in Europe, Latin America, Africa and "all the parts of the world that will accept us." "The idea is that as we build this infrastructure and that we allow other third parties to use the technology." Michael Will, president of the Bavarian regulator, said it would look into whether Worldcoin's system is "safe and stable".

Persons: Medha Singh, Sam Altman, Worldcoin, Ricardo Macieira, Macieira, Michael Will, Will, Rainer Rehak, Web3, Nette Noestlinger, Matthias Baehr, Elizabeth Howcroft, Tomasz Janowski Organizations: WorldCoin, REUTERS, Reuters, Co, Humanity, Blockchain, Bain Capital Crypto, Companies, Bavarian State Office, Data Protection, Union, Weizenbaum Institute, Worldcoin Foundation, Thomson Locations: Bengaluru, India, Britain, France, Germany, Europe, San Francisco, Berlin, Latin America, Africa, Japan, Bavarian, blockchain, Cayman Islands

FRANKFURT/LONDON, July 26 (Reuters) - German industry is finding new ways to transport cargoes from coal to chemicals as increasingly frequent low water levels on the Rhine disrupt Europe's largest economy. At Kaub , the critical chokepoint for Rhine barges, water levels fell to their lowest this year earlier this week. ARTERY OF THE ECONOMYThe impact of low water levels is not limited to big business. But logistics firms are benefiting from rising demand for vessels adapted to lower river levels. "We expect, due to climate change, that the extremes on the river Rhine will happen more often," said Maickel Uijtewaal, general manager at Stolt-Nielsen (SNI.OL).

Persons: Uwe Arndt, Barbara Hoyer, majeure, Roberto Spranzi, Maickel Uijtewaal, Steffen Bauer, Christoph Steitz, Vera Eckert, Ludwig Burger, Patricia Weiss, Rene Wagner, Nette, Tom Kaeckenhoff, Matthias Inverardi, Vincent Flasseur, Barbara Lewis Organizations: Federal Waterways, Shipping Agency, Reuters Graphics, Cologne, BASF, Reuters Graphics Reuters, Kiel Institute, Deutsche Bank, Reuters, Stolt, Nielsen, HGK Shipping, Daniels, Midland Co, Chemicals, Thomson Locations: FRANKFURT, LONDON, Kaub, Europe, Reuters Graphics Germany, Ludwigshafen, HGK, Frankfurt, Berlin, Duesseldorf, London

GRUENHEIDE, Germany, July 18 (Reuters) - Tesla (TSLA.O) on Tuesday sought to assuage Brandenburg state residents' concerns by holding a question-and-answer session on the EV maker's planned expansion that would make its local plant the biggest car factory in the country. Tesla, which currently produces around 5,000 cars a week, hopes to double the plant's production capacity to 1 million vehicles a year and add 50 gigawatt hours of battery production capacity, though it has not provided a timeline. While Volkswagen still holds the highest EV market share in the region, Tesla is making its mark. Tesla has long argued that the plant's impact is relatively low and referred to the benefits of EVs in combating climate change. "Water isn't a Tesla problem - it's a general problem," said 68-year-old local resident Matthias Handschick.

Persons: Tesla, Emily, Matthias Handschick, Victoria Waldersee, Nette Noestlinger, Leon Malherbe, Christoph Steitz, Louise Heavens, Matthew Lewis Organizations: EV, Volkswagen, Reuters, Thomson Locations: GRUENHEIDE, Germany, Brandenburg, Wolfsburg, Europe, Gruenheide

☆ Phoenix homeless camp to be cleared after neighbors sued. What happens to vulnerable residents remains unclear
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Gabe Cohen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Rayann Denny lives in a tent in a homeless encampment in Phoenix. So for now, the crew of helpers has stepped up its years-old effort to try to get residents off the streets. Katie Hobbs this year vetoed one such bill, saying it only served to make homelessness “less visible.”Debbie and Joe Faillace own the Old Station Sub Shop near where a homeless encampment developed. A person walks through a homeless encampment on April 18 in Phoenix. “I think we have a lot of work to do.”Stefanie Powell, right, lives in a tent at a homeless encampment in Phoenix.

[1/4] Law enforcement officers investigate the scene following an attack on bank ATMs in Ratingen, Germany, March 15, 2023. Courtesy of Achim Blazy/Handout via REUTERSRATINGEN, Germany, April 14 (Reuters) - In the German town of Ratingen, exploding cash machines are a hot-button topic. But in Germany, thieves are blowing ATMs up at the rate of more than one a day. Europe's largest economy has 53,000 ATM machines, a disproportionately high number that reflects Germans' preference for cash rather than bank cards. Germany is also working with officials in Belgium and France and at Europol to combat the cash machine crime wave.

Strikes have rolled through France, Portugal, Britain and Germany in recent weeks and could cause air travel disruption in parts of Europe through the Easter holidays, officials at airlines, airports and air traffic authorities told Reuters. There's no doubt about it," said Steven Moore, who is in charge of air traffic management operations at Eurocontrol. Airlines say they have to pay compensation without themselves getting compensated for air traffic delays. Consumer groups say air traffic control strikes are not new and airlines should be quicker to react and pay compensation. He called last week on the European Commission to do more to stop such strikes hitting overflights, by introducing minimum service rules, though industry experts say strikes are a national issue.

ZURICH/BERLIN/LONDON, March 20 (Reuters) - Urs Kessler, who runs Jungfrau Railways, a train that takes tourists up the highest mountain in Switzerland, was excited for the return of Chinese tourists after COVID-19 restrictions were lifted late last year. Chinese outbound flight bookings to Europe during March and August are only 32% that of pre-pandemic levels, according to travel data firm ForwardKeys. OPTIMISM FOR THE FUTUREMany tourist operators and retailers hope the second half will bring a relaxation in visa policies, more flights and the long-expected influx of Chinese tourists. Harrods launched branded stickers, including its iconic teddy bear, on China's popular WeChat messaging platform this year to attract Chinese tourists. Kessler believes his Lang Lang campaign was still worth it.

Endive farmers Emmanuel Lefebvre and Christophe Mazingarbe walk in a field of endive plants in Bouvines, France, September 15, 2022. Across northern and western Europe, vegetable producers are contemplating halting their activities because of the financial hit from Europe's energy crisis, further threatening food supplies. Surging gas prices are the biggest cost vegetable farmers cultivating inside greenhouses face, farmers said. HEADING SOUTHFarmers are not just contending with spiralling energy prices. read moreEven in sun-flushed countries like Spain, fruit and vegetable farmers are grappling with a 25% increase in fertiliser costs.

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