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☆ NATO to extend Stoltenberg's term to April 2024, Welt am Sonntag reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN, Feb 12 (Reuters) - NATO will extend again the term of Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Welt am Sonntag reported on Sunday, citing unidentified diplomatic sources, as the alliance seeks to maintain stability during the war in Ukraine. Members will extend Stoltenberg's term until April 2024 due to his "outstanding achievements" and to guarantee the military alliance's stability during the ongoing war in Ukraine, the newspaper said. Stoltenberg, an economist by training and a former leader of Norway's Labour Party, had his original NATO term extended last year. He was prime minister of Norway from 2000-01 and 2005-13 before becoming NATO chief the following year. Welt said alliance members want to give Stoltenberg the opportunity to chair the organisation's 75th anniversary summit in Washington in April 2024.

☆ Google search chief warns AI chatbots can give 'convincing but completely fictitious' answers, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-12 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Google's search engine boss said AI chatbots can give "convincing" but "fictitious" answers. Prabhakar Raghavan told Welt am Sonntag it's considering how to integrate Bard with Google search. Prabhakar Raghavan told Welt Am Sonntag on Saturday that they can sometimes give false but convincing answers. However, an ad for Bard showed it giving an inaccurate answer to a question about the James Webb Space Telescope. Maarten Bosma, a former research engineer at Alphabet's AI division Google Brain, tweeted that the presentation showed the company wasn't taking AI seriously enough.

☆ China cranking up political espionage, German official tells newspaper
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] German and Chinese national flags fly in Tiananmen Square ahead of the visit of German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Beijing, China, May 23, 2018. We must be prepared for these to increase in the coming years," Verfassungsschutz agency chief Thomas Haldenwang told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper. He warned that economic dependence on China could be exploited for political influence. "The political leadership is already using its economic power, which also results from intensive relations with the German and European economies, to implement political goals." The German government has been reassessing its economic relations with authoritarian countries after the Ukraine war laid bare the vulnerabilities of Berlin's years-long energy dependence on Russia.

☆ Google cautions against 'hallucinating' chatbots - report
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN, Feb 11 (Reuters) - The boss of Google's search engine warned against the pitfalls of artificial intelligence in chatbots in a newspaper interview published on Saturday, as Google parent company Alphabet (GOOGL.O) battles to compete with blockbuster app ChatGPT. "This kind of artificial intelligence we're talking about right now can sometimes lead to something we call hallucination," Prabhakar Raghavan, senior vice president at Google and head of Google Search, told Germany's Welt am Sonntag newspaper. "This then expresses itself in such a way that a machine provides a convincing but completely made-up answer," Raghavan said in comments published in German. Alphabet, which is still conducting user testing on Bard, has not yet indicated when the app could go public. "We obviously feel the urgency, but we also feel the great responsibility," Raghavan said.

There are "continued calls for violence directed at U.S. critical infrastructure," the agency warned last February, "as a means to create chaos and advance ideological goals." Law enforcement and utility companies, though, say they're working to resolve the open cases and prevent future attacks. Members of accelerationist groups have been charged with several plots in recent years to attack critical infrastructure. "The critical infrastructure element has become one of the core components of neo-fascist accelerationist movements in the US. "They don't really care who is doing the violence, who's doing the critical infrastructure attacks, Lewis said.

☆ Germany has evidence of war crimes in Ukraine 'in three-digit range' - prosecutor
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BERLIN, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Germany has collected evidence of war crimes in Ukraine, the country's prosecutor general said in a newspaper interview published on Saturday, adding that he saw a need for a judicial process at international level. So far, prosecutors have pieces of evidence in the "three-digit range", he added, without elaborating. Germany began collecting evidence in March 2022 to prosecute possible war crimes, including by interviewing Ukrainian refugees and evaluating publicly available information, Frank said, adding that German prosecutors were not yet investigating specific individuals. Ukraine is pushing for the creation of a special tribunal to prosecute Russian military and political leaders it holds responsible for starting the war. Moscow has rejected allegations by Kyiv and Western nations of war crimes.

☆ NATO's Stoltenberg expects allies to lift defence spending target
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN, Jan 25 (Reuters) - NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg expects the alliance's member states to raise their current spending target on defence of 2% of national output when they meet for a summit in Vilnius in July, he told German newspaper Die Welt. "I assume that there will be a new target for defence spending when we meet for the NATO summit in Vilnius in July this year," Stoltenberg told Welt. "The two percent target was initially for a decade, so until 2024, so we have to update it now." Stoltenberg said he could not yet say what the member states would agree on. Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February last year, many allies have increased their military spending.

☆ Factbox: Russia decries German tanks decision, Ukraine 'sincerely grateful'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Russia's foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the German decision confirmed what she said was a "pre-planned war" against Moscow. UKRAINEUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he was "sincerely grateful" to Germany and Chancellor Olaf Scholz for Berlin's "important and timely" decision to provide Kyiv with battle tanks. "The right decision by NATO Allies and friends to send main battle tanks to Ukraine. FRANCEThe French presidency welcomed Berlin's decision to send tanks to Ukraine and allow other states to do the same. NETHERLANDSThe Netherlands is prepared to deliver battle tanks to Ukraine if needed, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said.

☆ German finance minister warns against quick decoupling from China
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Germany must reduce its dependence on China gradually as decoupling from the Chinese market would costs jobs in Europe's biggest economy, Finance Minister Christian Lindner was quoted as saying on Sunday. "Decoupling our economy from the Chinese market would not be in the interest of jobs in Germany," Lindner was quoted as saying by the Welt am Sonntag newspaper. He said that gradually other world regions and markets would have to become more important for German business over the coming years and decades, Welt reported. "The political conditions must be improved for this," Lindner said. Reporting by Riham Alkousaa, editing by Emma-Victoria FarrOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Tesla's German gigafactory is in 'total chaos' due to staff shortages, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Stephanie Stacey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Tesla is struggling to recruit and retain enough staff at its German gigafactory, Wired reported. The Berlin plant is falling behind on production goals, leaving it in "total chaos," per the report. One worker told Wired: "Many people are signed off sick because the motivation isn't there." One anonymous worker told the publication that the plant was in "total chaos" due to staffing issues. Union representatives told Wired that Tesla's recruitment and retention problems reflected the company's reputation as an unattractive employer in Germany's heavily-unionized automotive sector.

☆ 15 Best Dress Shoes for Men, According to Style Experts
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( ) www.wsj.com time to read: +8 min

The laces and classic body shape are characteristic of traditional men’s dress shoes, while the rugged rubber soles still make a statement with any formal outfit. “Good leather shoes are not an arena in which it pays to cut costs,” he says, recommending investing in “the pair of a decade” from this made-in-England favorite. (Crockett & Jones has regal and Hollywood credentials: the brand received a Royal Warrant of Appointment in 2017, and this is the style of dress shoes worn by Daniel Craig’s James Bond). Sleek sneakersEcco Soft 7 City Sneaker $170 at NordstromThe key to dressed-up sneakers is finding a leather pair free of busy accents or logos. The style is “acceptable to wear with dress clothes,” confirms Los Angeles-based personal stylist Rayne Parvis, who advises people to wear these sneakers in place of brown lace-up dress shoes.

☆ German finance ministry wants 33% windfall tax on energy firms - Die Welt
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Germany's finance ministry aims to introduce a 33% tax on oil and gas companies that have benefited from windfall profits, Die Welt newspaper reported on Tuesday. Citing a draft document, Die Welt said companies in the oil, gas, coal and refining sectors whose profits for this and next year are more than 20% higher than the average profits of 2018 to 2021 would have to pay the extra tax. The plans are the implementation of a European Union-wide agreement on energy companies in response to high energy prices due to a collapse in supplies from Russia since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. The ministry has estimated additional revenues of about three billion euros, said the newspaper. No one at the finance ministry was immediately available for comment.

☆ Germany's China strategy must include level playing field - Lindner
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BERLIN, Nov 4 (Reuters) - A level playing field for German and Chinese companies must be part of the Berlin government's strategy going forward, German Finance Minister Christian Lindner told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper on Friday. "We must recognize that China is not only a place to do business, but also a systemic rival. Therefore, we must protect our critical infrastructure and intellectual property," he said. He added that he was open to offering new trade talks with the United States as a consequence of the changed world order. Writing by Miranda MurrayOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Nord Stream gas 'sabotage': who's being blamed and why?
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-30 | by ( Joanna Plucinska | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Russia's foreign ministry said on Thursday it was "unthinkable" that an investigation into ruptures on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines would proceed without Moscow's participation. President Vladimir Putin said on Friday the United States and its allies blew up Nord Stream. U.S. President Joe Biden said on Friday damage to Nord Stream was a deliberate act of sabotage. Map of Nord Stream pipelines and locations of reported leaksWHY SABOTAGE A PIPELINE? "They already succeeded in stopping Nord Stream 2.

☆ German officials reportedly believe the crucial Nord Stream natural-gas pipelines connecting Russia to Europe were attacked near a Danish island
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

German officials reportedly believe the Nord Stream Russia-Europe natural-gas pipelines were attacked. Later Tuesday, the Kremlin said it couldn't rule out that damage to the Nord Stream pipelines was caused by sabotage. The Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipeline systems are the largest for sending natural-gas from Russia to Europe. The Danish Energy Agency said Monday it had discovered a leak in the Nord Stream 2 system near Bonhomme, a Danish island in the Baltic Sea. The Swedish Maritime Authority said leaks had been detected in both Nord Steam 1 and Nord Stream 2 near Bornholm.

☆ Germany and the US aren't going to deter Putin with a few sanctions and frozen bank accounts. It's going to take a strong, democratic alliance to stop the war in Ukraine.
▼ + stars: | 2022-02-25 | by ( Mathias Döpfner | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Germany must abandon its pacifist foreign policy and stand up against Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Germany needs to form tighter ties with the US, stop using Russian gas, and confront Vladimir Putin. Stirred by the nuclear-power-plant disaster in Fukushima, Germany made an epochal blunder and created an unnecessary dependence on Russian energy and Russian policy. Time for a new German foreign policyNow Putin has started the long-feared war with Ukraine. The people of Ukraine need our solidarity, and words will not be enough.

☆ Noutățile Editurii Cartier pentru luna iunie. Cu ce cărți îți poți îmbogăți biblioteca
▼ + stars: | 2021-06-23 | by ( Onixmedia Srl | ) diez.md time to read: +5 min

La acest sfârșit de iunie, editura Cartier a publicat o listă de cărți care vă pot fi curioase și cu siguranță, vă pot îmbogăți biblioteca proprie. Răgazul pe care pare că și-l acordă este al unui om care regândește continuu lumea pentru a o recompune ca sens. Preț: 5.99 USD„Internat este una dintre cele mai impresionante și mai grăitoare cărți despre războiul din Donbas. Preț: 5.99 USD„Jadan este un scriitor unic, apropiat de mase și, în același timp, îndrăgit de intelectuali. Preț: 5,99 USDUna dintre cele mai polemice cărți ale secolului XXI.

Persons: Arthur Suciu, Mircea Platon, Margareta, Dumitru, Crudu, El, Vasile, Johann Holtrop, Victor, Richard Kämmerlings, Julia Encke, Vladimir Beșleagă, Vasile Vasilache, Volodimir, Liza, Iuri Anduhovîci, Philippe Muray, Élisabeth Lévy Organizations: Cartier, WELT Locations: Rotonda, României, Donbas, Jadan, balaganul, Skovoroda, România, Republica Moldova

☆ Украина назвала два условия для запуска «Северного потока-2»
▼ + stars: | 2021-06-14 | by ( Mld Media Srl | Степанов Георгий | ) noi.md time to read: +1 min

Министр иностранных дел Украины Дмитрий Кулеба назвал два условия для запуска газопровода «Северный поток-2». «Мы против "Северного потока-2". Условием его запуска должна быть деоккупация наших территорий и энергетическая безопасность Украины. Ранее в июне дипломат заявил о готовности Киева вести переговоры с США о компенсации в случае запуска «Северного потока-2». 10 июня оператор Nord Stream 2 AG сообщил, что строительство первой нитки газопровода «Северный поток-2» завершено.

Persons: Дмитрий Кулеба, Справедливая, Кулеба Locations: Украина, Киев, США, Россия, Германия

☆ Посол Украины возмутился отсутствием поставок оружия из Германии
▼ + stars: | 2021-06-08 | by ( Mld Media Srl | Степанов Георгий | ) noi.md time to read: +1 min

Посол Украины в Германии Андрей Мельник возмутился отказом Берлина поставлять Киеву оружие из-за конфликта в Донбассе. Свои претензии дипломат озвучил в интервью изданию Welt am Sonntag, выдержки из которого приводит РИА Новости. По словам посла, его раздражает сам факт обсуждения этого вопроса, в том числе и позиция части немецких политиков, что «чисто оборонительной военной помощи не бывает». Он добавил, что в повестке переговоров Берлина и Киева вопрос военной помощи попросту отсутствует из-за нежелания отдельных лиц развивать эту тему. Ранее Мельник призвал Германию добиться скорейшего вступления Украины в НАТО, поскольку Берлин несет историческую ответственность за нацистские преступления против украинского народа.

Persons: Андрей Мельник, Мельник Organizations: РИА Новости, НАТО Locations: Украина, Германия, Берлин, Киев, Донбасс, ФРГ, Европа

☆ Генсек НАТО заявил об угрозах, исходящих от РФ и Беларуси, и упомянул Молдову. Реакция России
▼ + stars: | 2021-06-07 | by ( ) newsmaker.md time to read: +2 min

Генеральный секретарь НАТО Йенс Столтенберг заявил, что альянс готов защищать своих союзников от любых угроз, исходящих от Беларуси и России. При этом Столтенберг в беседе с Welt Am Sonntag напомнил, что в прошлом Россия уже нарушила территориальную целостность некоторых страны, в том числе Молдовы. При этом Столтенберг отметил, что Россия в прошлом «нарушила территориальную целостность» некоторых стран бывшего СССР. В прошлом, как мы знаем, Россия нарушила территориальную целостность таких государств, как Украина, Грузия и Молдова», — сказал Столтенберг. Официальный представитель МИД России Мария Захарова заявила, что НАТО пытается помешать интеграции России и Беларуси, так как это не входит в планы альянса.

Persons: Йенс Столтенберг, Столтенберг, Мария Захарова, Джо Байден, Ангела Меркель, Генсек, Захарова Organizations: НАТО, МИД, Альянс Locations: Беларусь, Россия, Молдова, СССР, Москва, Минск, Украина, Грузия, Брюссель, США, Германия

☆ Реакция Москвы на заявление генсека НАТО об угрозах России для Молдовы
▼ + stars: | 2021-06-07 | by ( Mld Media Srl | Степанов Георгий | ) noi.md time to read: +2 min

Генеральный секретарь НАТО Йенс Столтенберг заявил, что альянс готов защищать своих союзников от любых угроз, исходящих от Беларуси и России. При этом Столтенберг в беседе с Welt Am Sonntag напомнил, что в прошлом Россия уже нарушила территориальную целостность некоторых стран, в том числе Молдовы. При этом Столтенберг отметил, что Россия в прошлом «нарушила территориальную целостность» некоторых стран бывшего СССР. В прошлом, как мы знаем, Россия нарушила территориальную целостность таких государств, как Украина, Грузия и Молдова», — сказал Столтенберг. Официальный представитель МИД России Мария Захарова заявила, что НАТО пытается помешать интеграции России и Беларуси, так как это не входит в планы альянса.

Persons: Йенс Столтенберг, Столтенберг, Мария Захарова, Джо Байден, Ангела Меркель, Генсек, Захарова Organizations: НАТО, Министерство иностранных дел, МИД, Альянс Locations: Беларусь, Россия, Молдова, СССР, Москва, Минск, Украина, Грузия, Брюссель, США, Германия, Запад, Белоруссия

„Suntem vigilenţi şi urmărim îndeaproape ce se întâmplă în Belarus”, a adăugat secretarul general al NATO, apreciind că Belarusul devine „tot mai dependent” de Rusia. Stoltenberg a afirmat că NATO este serios îngrijorat de cooperarea mai strânsă dintre Moscova şi Minsk din ultimele luni. „Am învăţat din trecut că Rusia a încălcat masiv integritatea teritorială a unor state precum Ucraina, Georgia şi Republica Moldova”, a spus el, care a amintit că „NATO este o alianţă defensivă”. Secretarul general al NATO a spus că recent anvergura programului Parteneriatul pentru Pace (PFP) cu Belarus a fost redusă semnificativ şi că va continua să fie revizuită. NATO trebuie să menţină dialogul "cu vecina noastră Rusia" despre controlul armamentelor şi provocările politice, îndeosebi în perioade dificile, a spus secretarul general al NATO.

Persons: Stoltenberg, Rusia . Stoltenberg, Aleksandr Lukaşenko, Roman, Sofia, Vladimir Putin, Putin, . Stoltenberg, Joe Biden Organizations: Agerpres, NATO, Ryanair, Uniunii Europene, UE Locations: Welt, Belarus, Belarusul, Moscova, Minsk, Rusia, Ucraina, Georgia, Republica Moldova, Lituania, Letonia, Polonia, Atena, Vilnius, Sofia Sapega, Belarusului, Bruxelles

☆ Din motive necunoscute, Franța tergiversează comanda UE de 1,8 miliarde de doze Pfizer
▼ + stars: | 2021-05-07 | by ( Publika.Md - Aici Sunt Știrile | ) www.publika.md time to read: +1 min

Franţa tergiversează o comandă a Uniunii Europene pentru achiziţionarea a 1,8 miliarde de doze de vaccin împotriva COVID-19 de la Pfizer/BioNTech preconizată pentru următorii doi ani, a informat vineri publicaţia germană Die Welt, citând diplomaţi europeni, potrivit Reuters. Motivele ezitării Parisului nu sunt clare, dar diplomaţi citaţi de publicaţia menţionată au avansat ipoteza că s-ar putea ca întreprinderi franceze să dorească să joace un rol mai mare în producţia de vaccinuri, scrie Agerpres. Ziarul german a relatat că, în cadrul unor recente reuniuni la care s-a discutat despre comenzile de noi vaccinuri, reprezentanţii francezi au întârziat luarea deciziilor, adresând întrebări tehnice şi solicitând clarificări, scrie digi24.ro. Din cauza cererii masive pe plan mondial de doze pentru rapel şi de vaccinuri pentru tineri, guvernele UE se tem că s-ar putea să fie prea târziu şi să piardă comanda de seruri. "Aceasta ar fi un dezastru pentru care Franţa va fi responsabilă", a declarat un diplomat, citat de Die Welt.

Persons: achiziţionarea, Reuters Organizations: Uniunii Europene, Welt Locations: germană, Franţa

☆ Kitul de care ai nevoie pentru a învăța germana. Loredana Avram ți-a pregătit o serie de metode testate pe propria piele, pentru a-ți îmbunătăți interactiv vocabularul
▼ + stars: | 2021-04-16 | by ( Onixmedia Srl | Corespondentă Din Liceu | ) diez.md time to read: +3 min

Loredana Avram ți-a pregătit o serie de metode testate pe propria piele, pentru a-ți îmbunătăți interactiv vocabularulFie că vor să călătorească sau să studieze într-o țară străină, tot mai mulți tineri aleg să învețe o limbă străină. Loredana Avram, elevă împătimită de limba germană, vine cu niște sfaturi și resurse interactive pe care le-a testat pe propria piele și care au dat roade. Acum, Loredana se poate mândri cu un nivel avansat de germană și îți va explica și ție ce metode a folosit pentru a „a stăpâni” limba la cel mai înalt nivel. De asemenea, Cătălina Albu a scris o listă de recomandări de podcast-uri în germană, pe care o poți găsi aici. Mai mult decât atât, poți asculta emisiuni radio corespunzătoare nivelului tău și poți afla mai multe despre știință din rubrica Das Deutschlandlabor.

Persons: Loredana Avram, Loredana, Cătălina Albu, Mark Forster, Lena, Rammstein Organizations: Deutsche Locations: welt.de

☆ Celor mai puternice femei din Europa le-a venit rândul la vaccinare. Cu ce se imunizează Angela Merkel și Ursula von der Leyen
▼ + stars: | 2021-04-15 | by ( Publika.Md - Aici Sunt Știrile | ) www.publika.md time to read: +4 min

Deocamdată, numai şapte din cei 27 de comisari europeni au fost vaccinaţi împotriva COVID-19, a adăugat purtătorul de cuvânt. Angela Merkel se vaccinează vineriCancelarul german Angela Merkel va primi vineri o primă doză de vaccin împotriva COVID-19. Cancelarului îi va fi administrată o doză de vaccin de la AstraZeneca, susține Die Welt, fără a preciza sursa informației. Aproape 18% din populaţia Germania a făcut cel puţin o doză a unui vaccin anti-COVID-19, potrivit statisticilor furnizate de Institutul Robert Koch (RKI). În rândul germanilor cu vârste de peste 60 de ani, procentajul de vaccinare variază la nivelul landurilor federale între 33% şi 50%.

Persons: Ursula von der Leyen, Ursula von der, Vaccinările, von der, Angela Merkel, Frank, Walter Steinmeier, Horst Seehofer, Merkel, Jens Spahn, Robert Koch Organizations: Uniunii Europene, Agerpres, Welt Locations: Belgia, Germaniei, Germania, Berlin

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