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☆ Joe Biden has a decision to make about Julian Assange
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-01 | by ( Mattathias Schwartz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +26 min

A small group of lawyers and media executives gathered in a well-appointed back room to listen to Gabriel Shipton, Assange's half-brother. In the case of Vault 7, WikiLeaks' source turned out to be a disgruntled former C.I.A employee. AdvertisementAdvertisementIn New York, Gabriel Shipton, Assange's half-brother, declined to rule out the possibility of a plea deal. Every time the Australian government raises this issue, the Chinese government puts out a statement about Julian Assange. Senator Peter Whish-Wilson, right, was part of a delegation of Australian officials in the US to press for the release of Julian Assange.

Persons: Julian Assange, Assange, Gabriel Shipton, Tucker Carlson, Tucker, Shipton, he'd, Anthony Albanese, Joe Biden, Monique Ryan, Albanese, Mike Pompeo, Caroline Kennedy, Der Spiegel, El Pais, David Hicks, Julian, John Shipton, Assange's, John, Gabriel, Brett Assange, Peter Whish, Wilson, We've, Robert Carr, Chelsea Manning's, Obama, We're, Cheng Lei, —, Chelsea Manning, Manning, What's, Julian Assange's, John MacDougall, …, they'd, he's, John Young, Laura Poitras's, Mueller, Robert Mueller's, John Podesta's, Bernie Sanders, John Koeltl, They've, Donald, Trump, we've, James Comey, Hillary Clinton, He's, I'm, Yevgeny Prigozhin's Wagner, I've, Putin, exfiltrate Assange, Julian wasn't, Dana Rohrabacher, Rohrabacher, Jennifer Robinson, Tracey Nearmy, we'd, Marjorie Taylor, Greene, Antony Blinken, Biden, Mattathias Schwartz Organizations: United Nations General Assembly, WikiLeaks, Washington Post, Washington, DOJ, The Washington, Australia's Labor Party, New, Biden, Senate Intelligence, Justice Department, New York Times, Guardian, Chelsea, Pentagon, Getty, Justice, The State Department, Laura Poitras's WikiLeaks, State Department, DNC, Democratic, Committee, Democratic National Convention, of, Russian Federation, Novaya Gazeta, Trump, CIA, The Justice Locations: New York, London, Assange's, Pacific, Ecuadorian, Washington, Russia, Australia, Shipton, Brig, Chelsea, Iraq, Australian, China, American, Moscow, Getty Shipton, … Shipton, Cryptome, There's, Southern, of New York, Russian, Ukrainian, Ukraine, Panama, schwartz79@protonmail.com

☆ Elon Musk attacked German support for migrants and promoted a call to support a far-right extremist political party
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-29 | by ( Charles R. Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Germany has responded to an attack from Elon Musk, saying it's "saving lives" by helping migrants. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . AdvertisementAdvertisementElon Musk, the billionaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, attacked Germany's center-left governing coalition for supporting migrants on Friday and boosted a call for the German people to support a far-right extremist party instead. In the post shared by Musk, the account lamented the presence of humanitarian groups in the Mediterranean Sea that rescue migrants from distressed vessels. AdvertisementAdvertisementGermany alone has accepted more than 6 million migrants since 2013, many having arrived by sea from countries such as Libya and Turkey.

Persons: Elon Musk, —, Germany's, Giorgia Meloni, Olaf Sholz —, Musk, Der Spiegel, Chancellor Sholz's, Lukas Kaldenhoff, Kaldenhoff, Musk's, Tony Gonazales Organizations: Service, SpaceX, UN, DW, Social Democrat Party, United Nations, European Union, SOS, SOS Humanity, Republican Party, White House, Republican Locations: Germany, Europe, Berlin, Italy's, Nazi, Nazi Germany, Africa, Italy, Libya, Turkey, South Africa, Russia, Ukraine, Starlink, Kyiv, United States, Eagle, , Texas, Mexico

CNN —Germany announced Wednesday that it is ramping up its border controls with neighboring Poland and the Czech Republic to “limit human trafficking,” as the country faces fierce debate on its migration policy while asylum applications surge. Police will carry out “additional flexible checks and mobile controls along the smuggling routes at the borders with Poland and the Czech Republic,” Interior Minister Nancy Faeser told the press. The announcement came as the interior minister raised the possibility of implementing fixed controls along the borders with its two eastern neighbors this week. Until now, the southern state of Bavaria on the Austrian border was the only part of Germany with stationary border controls, a legacy of the 2015-2016 migration crisis when Europe’s leading economy took in over a million refugees. “We are fighting to keep internal border controls open within the European Union.

Persons: CNN —, Nancy Faeser, Lisi Niesner, Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s, Faeser, Italy –, Berlin’s, ” Alexander Handschuh, Handschuh, Angela Merkel’s Organizations: CNN, Police, ”, Immigration, Scholz’s Social Democratic Party, European Union, Office, Migration, Refugees, German Federal Police, German Association of Towns Locations: Poland, Czech Republic, Czech, Bavaria, Austrian, Germany, Polish, Forst, Hesse, Italy, Berlin, –, Brussels, “, Ukraine, Municipalities

☆ Q+A What is known about the Nord Stream gas pipeline explosions
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-26 | by ( Nerijus Adomaitis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

This is what we know so far:WHAT ARE NORD STREAM PIPELINES? The multibillion-dollar infrastructure project was built by Russia's Gazprom (GAZP.MM) in two stages - Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2. Gazprom owns 51% of Nord Stream 1, while Germany's E.ON (EONGn.DE) and Wintershall Dea (WINT.UL) have 15.5% each, while French Engie (ENGIE.PA) and Dutch Gasunie (GSUNI.UL) hold 9% each in Nord Stream 1. Nord Stream 2, fully owned by Gazprom and operated by Nord Stream 2 AG, was completed in September 2021 at a cost of $11 billion, but was never put into operation because Germany had cancelled Nord Stream 2's certification days before Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. The Nord Stream pipelines have been a flashpoint in an energy dispute between Europe and Moscow since Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Persons: Pipes, Fabian Bimmer, Wintershall, OMV, Peter Frank, Die, Seymour Hersh, Mats Ljungqvist, Der Spiegel, Der Siegel, BfV, Nerijus Adomaitis, Christoph Steitz, Nina Chestney, Ros Russell Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Gazprom, Nord, E.ON, Shell, . Security, WHO, Washington Post, Die Welt, . Security Council, Reuters, Street, ZDF, Kyiv, CIA, NDR, WDR, German Federal Intelligence Service, Thomson Locations: Baltic, Mukran, Germany, Rights OSLO, Russia, Swedish, Bornholm, Sweden, Denmark, Nord, Ukraine, Uniper, Washington, NATO, Moscow, Kaliningrad, Russian, Britain ., U.S, Norway, China, Brazil, Rostock, Wiek, Rugen, Danish, Christianso, Kolobrzeg, Poland, Europe, United States, Oslo, Frankfurt

☆ Ukraine's European allies keep sending it broken and unusable Leopard 1 tanks
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-22 | by ( Charles R. Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Over half the tanks donated to Ukraine from Denmark have technical problems, Danish media reported. In a briefing, Denmark's defense minister said there are problems with 12 out of 20 Leopard 1 tanks. German's defense ministry announced in February a partnership with Denmark and the Netherlands to send Ukraine a donation of "at least" 100 refurbished Leopard 1A5 tanks. On Friday, TV 2, a public broadcaster in Denmark, reported that 12 out of 20 of the Leopard 1A5s that have already been donated have technical issues. AdvertisementAdvertisementAnd earlier in the week, the German outlet Der Spiegel reported that another 10 Leopard tanks had problems substantial enough for Ukraine to reject delivery of them.

Persons: Troels Lund Poulsen, Der Spiegel, cdavis@insider.com Organizations: Service, Leopard, Danish Defense Locations: Ukraine, Denmark, Wall, Silicon, Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Dutch

☆ Ukraine refused 10 Leopard tanks from Germany because they needed repairs and it didn't have the technicians and parts to fix them, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-20 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Ukraine refused to take 10 German Leopard tanks because they were in bad shape, per German media. Germany has committed 110 tanks to Ukraine as part of a $2.9 billion package. Authorities in Kyiv refused to import the group of Leopard 1A tanks on the grounds that they needed significant repairs, German newspaper der Speigel reported on Tuesday. Germany has committed to sending 110 tanks to Ukraine as part of a $2.9 billion military aid package announced in the spring. As of early August, German news outlet die Welt reported that just 10% of the country's promised tanks to Ukraine had been delivered.

Persons: Der Spiegel, Axel Springer, der Spiegel, Boris Pistorius, Der, — Organizations: Service, Leopard, Authorities, New York Times, Forbes, German Ministry of Defense Locations: Ukraine, Germany, Wall, Silicon, Kyiv, Russia, Der Speigel

BERLIN, Sept 13 (Reuters) - The Earth's life-support systems are facing greater risks and uncertainties than ever before, with most major safety limits already crossed as a result of planet-wide human interventions, according to a scientific study released on Wednesday. The authors said crossing the boundaries did not represent a tipping point where human civilisation would just crash, but could bring irreversible shifts in the Earth's support systems. "We can think of Earth as a human body, and the planetary boundaries as blood pressure. Over 120/80 does not indicate a certain heart attack but it does raise the risk," Richardson said. "It is a complete failure ...and it's a large risk... We're still following a pathway that takes us unequivocally to disaster."

Persons: Katherine Richardson, Richardson, Ueslei Marcelino, We're, Johan Rockström, I've, Rockström, Riham, David Stanway, Mark Heinrich Our Organizations: University of Copenhagen, REUTERS, Potsdam Institute, Climate Impact, United Nations Global, Thomson Locations: Seca, Uruara, Para State, Brazil, Dubai

The report, culminating a two-year evaluation of the 2015 Paris climate agreement goals, distils thousands of submissions from experts, governments and campaigners. "The Paris Agreement has driven near-universal climate action by setting goals and sending signals to the world regarding the urgency of responding to the climate crisis," it said. "While action is proceeding, much more is needed now on all fronts." More than 20 gigatonnes of further CO2 reductions were needed this decade - and global net zero by 2050 - in order to meet the goals, the U.N. assessment said. Commitment was needed to phase out fossil fuels, set 2030 targets for renewable energy expansion, ensure the financial system funds climate action, and raise funds for adaptation and damage, he said.

Persons: Tom Evans, Sultan Al Jaber, U.N, Antonio Guterres, David Stanway, Andrew Cawthorne Organizations: United Nations, United Arab Emirates, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Dubai, Paris, UAE, Singapore, Berlin

[1/5] A view shows a sign for a heavy haulage convoy during transport of a nacelle of a wind turbine near a wind farm, in Biegen, Germany August 31, 2023. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner Acquire Licensing RightsBERLIN, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Germany's wind power expansion is facing an unexpected roadblock: builders need permits to transport the heavy turbines down the country's roads, and they are waiting months to get them. "Assuming nothing changes, it could cost 115 million euros extra by the end of the year," Felix Rehwald, a spokesperson for wind turbine manufacturer Enercon, told Reuters. Transport permits are needed to drive heavy loads over bridges and highways. The cost of applications had jumped to more than 1,000 euros per permit in 2021 from 100 euros, Nordex said.

Persons: Lisi Niesner, Felix Rehwald, Rehwald, Nordex, Kai Westphal, VDMA, Sebastian Steul, Steul, Morten Arnskov Boejesen, Soren Andersen, " Westphal, Johannes Gotfredsen, Toby Sterling, Riham, Thomas Escritt, Alexandra Hudson Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Reuters, Transport, GmbH, Wednesday, of, of Danish Industry, Danish, Directorate, Alexandra Hudson Our, Thomson Locations: Biegen, Germany, Netherlands, Denmark, of Danish, Copenhagen, Amsterdam

Some experts caution that progress may be slow, noting parts of Germany's administrative machinery are already creaking under a big backlog of existing citizenship applications. German citizenship is not a condition of employment for migrants, but Germany wants to establish itself as a migration destination for foreign talent, like the U.S. and Canada, and Berlin hopes the prospect of a smoother, quicker path to German nationality will attract skilled migrants. But with German authorities already overwhelmed by thousands of backlogged naturalisation applications, some experts doubt the reforms can quickly achieve their main goal of luring global talent to fill hundreds of thousands of vacancies. Migrants complain of long waits even for a first citizenship consultation appointment. "Even with this reform in Germany, access to citizenship is still much easier in traditional immigration countries like Canada.

Persons: Fabrizio Bensch, Holger Kolb, Kolb, Mediendienst Intergation, Nancy Faeser, Tariq Tabbara, Tabbara, Riham Alkousaa, William Maclean Organizations: Office of Health, Social Affairs, REUTERS, Rights, Integration, Reuters, Berlin University of Economics, Law, Thomson Locations: Berlin, Germany, U.S, Canada, Turkey, Europe, Germany's, Cologne, Dresden, Bielefeld, Hamburg, Munich, Chemnitz

☆ Putin's invasion of Ukraine was his 'greatest intelligence fiasco,' spy expert says
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-20 | by ( Nathan Rennolds | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Russia's invasion of Ukraine was an "intelligence fiasco," an intelligence expert wrote in The Times. He said that Russia's FSB had failed to adequately prepare for the invasion of Ukraine. download the app Email address By clicking ‘Sign up’, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider as well as other partner offers and accept our Terms of Service and Privacy PolicyRussian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine was his "greatest intelligence fiasco," an intelligence expert has claimed. It likely played a role in the FSB's failure to establish well-placed recruits to act as saboteurs and help Russian forces during the invasion, Walton wrote. "The time after the war, with all the expulsions, was a fateful time for the Russian intelligence system," a European intelligence official told the outlet.

Persons: Calder Walton, Vladimir Putin's, Walton, Putin, Celestino Arce, Der Spiegel, Der, Horst Jehmlich Organizations: The, Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, Service, Sunday Times, Intelligence, Center for Strategic, International Studies, Guardian, Red Army Locations: Ukraine, The Times, Wall, Silicon, Russian, Ukraine's Kherson, Slovenia, Greece, Brazil, Norway, Netherlands, Dresden, East Germany, Soviet, West Germany

France has used an anti-terrorism unit to question some climate activists, the police confirmed to Reuters. Britain’s National Police Chiefs’ Council did not immediately respond to a request for comment and its interior ministry did not comment. Germany does not have a national policy targeting climate activists, who the government considers mainly non-extremist, a spokesperson for the country’s interior ministry said. "Climate protesters can perhaps be locked away, but the climate catastrophe will come anyway," Lachner said after being convicted in Berlin in July for glueing incidents last year and fined 2,700 euros. In the January newspaper interview, the local office of the interior ministry confirmed both devices had been installed.

Persons: Yves Herman, Simon Lachner, he'd, “ radicalisation ”, Lachner’s, Lachner, Regensberg, Lafarge Holcim, SLT, Julien Le Guet, Le Guet, Pascale Leglise, Riham Alkousaa, Juliette Jabkhiro, Andrew MacAskill, William James, Katy Daigle, Frank Jack Daniel Our Organizations: REUTERS, GPS, Bavaria, Reuters, Britain’s National Police Chiefs ’, Los, Prosecutors, Bavarian, Berlin, Military, National Commission, Control, Thomson Locations: France, Sainte, Soline, BERLIN, Lachner, Britain, Germany, Berlin, Europe, Los Angeles, Brandenburg, Bavaria, Bavarian, Regensberg, French, Deux, Sevres, Nouvelle Aquitaine, SLT, Paris, London

The findings come as support for Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his coalition slumps and the AfD capitalises on voter insecurity. German inflation has been on a downward trend, but is still much higher than the European Union's 2% target. Low and middle income households have been generally hit harder by inflation, Florian Dorn, a researcher at Ifo told Reuters. Although higher energy import prices initially drove inflation in Europe and Germany, companies were also putting up prices beyond their cost inflation, WSI analysis showed. Companies' profit inflation rose by 7% in 2022 compared to an only 3.3% rise in labour costs.

Persons: Fabian Bimmer, Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Florian Dorn, Ulrich Schneider, Der, Riham, Alexandra Hudson Organizations: REUTERS, Kantar Public, Ifo, Reuters, Workers, Companies, Alexandra Hudson Our, Thomson Locations: Hamburg, Germany, Russia, Ukraine, Europe's, Europe

☆ Huawei ban would cost German rail operator 400 million euros, der Spiegel reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

A Huawei logo is seen on a cell phone screen in their store at Vina del Mar, Chile July 18, 2019. REUTERS/Rodrigo Garrido/File photoBERLIN, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Germany's national railway operator would have to spend up to 400 million euros ($437.44 million) to replace all the components in its infrastructure supplied by Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologies [RIC:RIC:HWT.UL], Spiegel magazine reported on Friday. Deutsche Bahn, which is state-owned, would face delays of five to six years for its projects if the German government decided to ban Huawei components in the short term, the report said, citing an internal company document. A spokesperson for Deutsche Bahn said the company would not comment on internal documents. Any decision to ban Huawei outright would likely draw an angry response from Beijing, with the Chinese foreign ministry having urged Berlin to act in line with its own interests and international rules.

Persons: Rodrigo Garrido, Rachel More, Miranda Murray Organizations: Huawei, Vina del, REUTERS, Huawei Technologies, Spiegel, Deutsche Bahn, Deutsche Telekom, Thomson Locations: Vina del Mar, Chile, BERLIN, Beijing, Berlin

But their cheap food, often produced on an industrial scale, has a high environmental price. German agriculture was responsible for 55.5 million metric tonnes of greenhouse emissions last year, roughly 7.4% of the country's emissions. During the "true cost" campaign, which runs until Saturday, customers at Penny's 2,150 branches, will be charged a price for nine products, from yoghurt to sausages and vegan schnitzel, that includes climate, health, soil and water costs. According to figures provided by Penny, organic products had environmental costs of an average of 1.15 euros, while non-organic products that relied on chemicals had an average environmental cost of 1.57 euros. It is unclear, however, whether consumers are prepared to pay more to reduce their environmental impact.

Persons: Read, Penny, Stefan Goergens, Goergens, Holger Meckel, I'm, Riham, Barbara Lewis Organizations: European Union, Reuters, Germany's Greens, Technical University of Nuremberg, University of Greifswald, Thomson Locations: Europe, BERLIN, Spain, Italy, Germany, Frankfurt, Penny's

The German cabinet approved a new hydrogen strategy, setting guidelines for hydrogen production, transport infrastructure and market plans. Produced using solar and wind power, green hydrogen is a pillar of Berlin's plan to transition away from fossil fuels. "A domestic supply that fully covers demand does not make economic sense or serve the transformation processes resulting from the energy transition as a whole," the document said. But Germany's limited renewable energy space will make it heavily dependent on imported hydrogen, experts say. We simply need space for wind and photovoltaic to be able to produce the hydrogen," Philipp Heilmaier, an energy transition researcher at Germany energy agency, told Reuters.

Persons: Simone Peter, Bettina Stark, Watzinger, Philipp Heilmaier, Volker Wissing, Riham Alkousaa, Christian Kraemer, Rachel More, Kirsten Donovan, David Evans Organizations: Reuters, United Arab Emirates, Thomson Locations: BERLIN, Germany, Canada, Norway, United Arab, Australia

☆ China is looking all over the world for help building and flying its fighter jets
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-25 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

A British Royal Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jet at RAF Coningsby in May. Daniel Duggan, a former US Marine Corps pilot, has been accused of violating the Arms Export Control Act by training Chinese military pilots. "Currently, Chinese jet engines can at best achieve one-fourth the life span of Western engines," the report says. To manufacture engines, China still needs to import complex machine tools, including equipment made in Germany, Japan, Italy, and South Korea. A J-20 stealth fighter jet at Airshow China 2022 in Zhuhai in November.

Persons: —, Der Spiegel, Christopher Furlong, Daniel Duggan, Duggan, Chen Jimin, Deng Hua, John Paul Jones, walling, Michael Peck Organizations: Service, Privacy, China, NATO, Taiwan, British Royal Air Force Eurofighter, Coningsby, US, Chinese headhunters, US Marine Corps, Western, China News Service, Getty, Center for Strategic, International Studies, CSIS, Nations, Soviets, Defense, Foreign Policy, Twitter, LinkedIn Locations: China, May, Australian, Zhuhai, US, Germany, Japan, Italy, South Korea, Xinhua, Constantinople, Byzantine Empire, Hungarian, Russia, Russian, Nazi, Forbes

☆ Flights leaving Moscow sell out as Wagner troops descend, and unconfirmed reports say Putin might have left the capital for St. Petersburg
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-24 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Flights from Moscow have sold out amid reports Wagner troops are marching on the city, per Der Spiegel. There have been unconfirmed reports that Vladimir Putin has fled from the capital to St. Petersberg. Flights from Moscow to Tbilisi, Georgia, Astana, Kazakhstan, and Istanbul, Turkey, are now no longer available, a Der Spiegel reporter confirmed. Several other private flights from Russia were also tracked on the Flightradar24 platform, Der Spiegel said. Putin has condemned the mutiny, which he has described as a "betrayal," and has vowed that Russia will defend itself.

Persons: Wagner, Der Spiegel, Vladimir Putin, —, Petersberg, Dmitry Peskov, Denis Manturov, Putin Organizations: Wagner Group, Service, Moscow's Vnukovo Locations: Moscow, Russia, St, Petersberg, Ukraine, Tbilisi , Georgia, Astana, Kazakhstan, Istanbul, Turkey, Flightradar24, Moscow's, Russian

The 13-year-old, who has Down's syndrome, is competing against over 100 gymnasts at the Special Olympics World Games in Berlin. It's great," Annabelle's father, Markus Tschech-Loeffler, told Reuters. Thousands of athletes with intellectual disabilities compete together in 26 sports over nine days at the Games. "Our core goal is to put the living situation of people with intellectual disabilities at the centre of society," Hauthal said. For Annabelle's father, making sure his daughter can focus on her routine and not get distracted by other competitors with thousands of people watching is the biggest challenge.

Persons: Annabelle, Mary, Markus, Jonathan, Read, Annabelle Tschech, Markus Tschech, Tom Hauthal, Hauthal, Olympiastadion, Nadine Baethke, Riham Alkousaa, Alison Williams Organizations: Federal, Special, Reuters, Games, Thomson Locations: BERLIN, Berlin, Germany, Nazi Germany

☆ Germany only has 20,000 high explosive artillery shells left - report
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN, June 19 (Reuters) - Germany's armed forces only have around 20,000 high explosive artillery shells left, magazine Der Spiegel wrote on Monday citing confidential defence ministry papers prepared to convince the budget committee of the need for urgent purchases. Germany's military needs to build up an inventory of some 230,000 shells by 2031 to comply with NATO goals to have enough artillery to withstand 30 days of intensive combat, Der Spiegel wrote. The defence ministry did not immediately reply to a request for comment. The ministry aims to present the budget committee with nine contracts for the accelerated purchase of artillery and tank ammunition in coming months, Der Spiegel wrote. Reporting by Sabine Siebold and Sarah Marsh; Editing by Christina FincherOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Der Spiegel, Sabine Siebold, Sarah Marsh, Christina Fincher Organizations: NATO, Thomson Locations: BERLIN, Germany, Ukraine, Russia

They are to be built on some of the 33,000 hectares (330 square km) of former coal mines in Lusatia by 2030. The plans are emblematic of the drive by Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government to accelerate the phase-out of coal power towards a carbon neutral economy by as early as 2030 versus the agreed target of 2038. Many of LEAG's 8,000 coal workers are expected to retire by 2030 or retrain in renewable energy. Only 18% of locals believe politicians are doing enough to counteract the consequences of the coal phase-out, a survey published in May by broadcaster rbb showed, while 70% worry electricity could become expensive. "It is fundamentally unrealistic that the coal phase-out can be achieved in 2030," Christine Herntier, mayor of the town of Spremberg, told Reuters.

Persons: LEAG, Chancellor Olaf Scholz's, Ute Liebsch, Liebsch, Knut Abraham, Abraham, rbb, Christine Herntier, Rainer Schiller, Schiller, Ben Schueppel, Ingolf Arnold, Matthias Williams Organizations: Green, Reuters, Park, Thomson Locations: Berlin, FORST, Germany, Czech, Lusatia, Brandenburg, Saxony, Spremberg, Herntier

☆ Vladimir Putin was never the Soviet super spy he'd like us to believe. He was merely a KGB 'errand boy,' report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-04 | by ( Nathan Rennolds | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been portrayed as an elite KGB intelligence officer in the 1980s. But a new report from Der Spiegel suggests he was never the super spy he was thought to be. Horst Jehmlich, a former Stasi officer who also worked in Dresden, told Der Spiegel that Putin was nothing more than an "errand boy." Putin worked for the KGB, the Soviet Union's intelligence service, for nearly two decades. Officially he retired from active KGB service with the rank of lieutenant colonel.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Der Spiegel, —, Spiegel, Der, Putin, Horst Jehmlich, Oleg Kalugin Organizations: Service, Red Army, Dresden University, KGB, RFE Locations: Soviet, West Germany, Dresden, East Germany, Germany, Russia

CNN —Hundreds of far-left protesters clashed with police in the eastern German city of Leipzig on Saturday night, during demonstrations over jail terms handed down to several people convicted of vigilante attacks against neo-Nazis. Groups sympathetic to Lina E., who is from Leipzig, have been protesting the verdict. Police tried at first to accommodate the demonstration, but when it turned violent and officers came under attack, authorities responded with force. Five people were arrested, all male German citizens aged 20 to 32 years old, Leipzig police said. “All the information available to the Leipzig police department suggests that protesters will still gather in Leipzig on Saturday despite the ban,” a Leipzig police spokesperson told CNN on Friday.

Persons: Lina E, –, Der, ”, Jan Woitas, Lina ”, Lennart A, Jannis, Jonathan M, Germany’s Organizations: CNN, Der Spiegel, Police, ”, Saturday, Prosecutors Locations: German, Leipzig, Dresden, Leipzig –, ” Leipzig, Europe, Germany, Hamburg, Berlin, Wurzen, Eisenach, Thuringia

CNN —German police are preparing to mobilize in cities across the country on Saturday, with protests expected amid a mounting backlash after a court sent several left-wing militants to prison over attacks on neo-Nazis. The city of Leipzig – where most of the attacks took place – has already banned an anti-fascist march dubbed ‘Day-X’ because of fears for public safety. As well as in Leipzig, protests are also expected in the cities of Bremen, Hanover, Hamburg and Berlin on Saturday. The accusations leveled against the group were the most serious faced by Germany’s radical left in recent years. The far-right Alternative for Germany party, which has come under its own scrutiny from security services for its ties to extremists, welcomed the verdict by the Dresden court.

Persons: Lina E, –, Der, Marcus Brandt, ”, “, Lennart A, Jannis, Jonathan M, Germany’s, Lina ”, Jan Woitas, Lina, Nancy Faeser, Faeser, Timon Dzienus Organizations: CNN, Der Spiegel, Protesters, AP Leipzig, Saturday, Prosecutors, Guardian, Germany, Germany’s Green Party, Twitter Locations: Dresden, Leipzig, Europe, Bremen, Hanover, Hamburg, Berlin, Wurzen, Eisenach, German, Thuringia, Germany

Even if the whole world stands with him, we will bring him to justice," said Houaida Muhi Aldeen, a 49-year-old Syrian living in France and a former political detainee in Syrian prisons. Muhi Aldeen and other workshop attendants are among millions of Syrians displaced by the 12-year war. They found Assad's reintegration into the Arab League after more than a decade of isolation frustrating, but not surprising. "This is the goal of this (normalization) step, to sow despair and frustration among Syrians," said Anwar al-Bunni, a lawyer helping prosecute Syrians suspected of war crimes in Germany. Arab normalisation with Assad would make it more difficult for Syrian refugees to return, said Muhi Aldeen.

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