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☆ Zelensky Meets With German Leaders After Their Massive Weapons Pledge
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-14 | by ( Erika Solomon | Vivek Shankar | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Mr. Zelensky’s trip to Germany follows a visit to Rome, where peace negotiations were a major theme in meetings with Pope Francis and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Ukrainian and German officials have privately said that Mr. Zelensky might be hoping to persuade Mr. Scholz to play a more influential role when it comes to European support for the war, or even in mediating a peace settlement. Later on Sunday, Mr. Zelensky is expected to travel to city of Aachen in western Germany to receive the prestigious Charlemagne award on behalf of himself and the Ukrainian people. The award is bestowed on those who have done the most to promote European unity. Russian missile strike hits Ternopil in western UkraineRussia fired missiles at the Ternopil region in western Ukraine, Ukrainian officials on Sunday, hitting the hometown of Ukraine’s Eurovision group during the song contest and demonstrating Moscow’s ability to launch attacks far from the front lines.

☆ A German Soccer Team’s Radical Fix for Declining Attendance: Free Tickets
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Rachel Bachman | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Fortuna Düsseldorf in western Germany has had a wild ride over more than a century as the city’s top professional soccer club. It has savored the heights of the Bundesliga and sunk to the fourth division. In the early 2000s, it even took on as a sponsor the punk band Die Toten Hosen, which means “The Dead Pants.”Now playing in Germany’s second-tier Bundesliga 2, Fortuna Düsseldorf is heading toward its most radical move ever: giving away its match tickets for free.

[1/5] A demonstrator takes part in a protest against the shut down of the last three German nuclear power plants, in Berlin, Germany, April 15, 2023. An estimated 50,000 protesters in Germany formed a 45-kilometre long (27-mile) human chain after the Fukushima disaster from Stuttgart to the Neckarwestheim Nuclear Power Plant. One of the long-running movement's early successes came in the 1970s when it managed to get plans for a nuclear plant in Wyhl in western Germany overturned. It was a Greens-coalition government that introduced the country's first nuclear phase-out law in 2002. "The nuclear phase-out is a Greens project ... and all parties have practically adopted it," said Rainer Klute, head of pro-nuclear non-profit association Nuklearia.

☆ ‘Beginning of the end’ for fossil fuels: Global wind and solar reached record levels in 2022, study finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Sophie Tanno | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Levels of planet-heating pollution from fossil fuel electricity generation may have already peaked, the report found. Ina Fassbender/AFP/Getty ImagesEmber analyzed data from 78 countries representing 93% of global demand for electricity, for the fourth edition of its annual Global Electricity Review. Nearly 40% of global electricity is now powered by renewables and nuclear energy, marking a new record high, according to the report. Wind and solar made up 12% of global energy generation in 2022, up from 10% the previous year. Coal power remained the single largest source of electricity across the globe, accounting for 36% of global electricity production in 2022.

☆ A hidden time bomb? A 'Big Short' investor sees financial disaster brewing in housing markets
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Josh Edelson | Afp | Getty ImagesMore than a decade after a U.S. mortgage meltdown threatened to destroy the international financial system, a "Big Short" investor once again sees financial disaster brewing in the real estate market. Now, Burt believes an overlooked climate risk could see history repeating itself. U.S. housing market overvalued? watch now"The biggest reason why it matters from our perspective is that climate risk isn't being priced into the housing market," Jeremy Porter, head of climate implications at First Street Foundation, told CNBC. 'A humanitarian crisis'Far from a domestic issue, Burt stressed the climate risks associated with the U.S. housing market posed a major problem for countries worldwide.

☆ Europe Moves to Revive Mining to Cut Reliance on China
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-18 | by ( Eric Sylvers | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

INSHEIM, Germany—Near the Rhine river in this part of western Germany, little indicates that beneath the picturesque villages, vineyards and rolling hills there lies enough lithium to make millions of batteries for electric vehicles. Vulcan Energy Resources Ltd., an Australian-German mining company, recently began extracting lithium from a mix of scalding water, minerals and metals almost 2 miles underground. The same hot brine has for years powered a geothermal electricity station, which Vulcan bought. The company has big expansion plans in the valley, backed by contracts to supply the auto industry.

☆ A startup raised $79 million for its open smart-locker network. Check out the pitch deck it used to raise the funds.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Maybrit Martschin | Nathan Rennolds | Business Insider Deutschland | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Myflexbox is an Austrian startup that offers a smart-locker network. The company uses an open API to connect operating systems from different delivery providers. Insider has an exclusive copy of the pitch deck it used to raise 75 million euros. To help them achieve this, the founders recently secured 75 million euros, or about $79 million, in new funding. Insider has an exclusive copy of the pitch deck it used to raise the funds.

Among methods that produce what is known as green hydrogen are electrolysis to split water into hydrogen and oxygen using power from renewables. The technology for shipping hydrogen is still in early stages of development, said Chevron's vice president of hydrogen Austin Knight. About 30-35% of the total energy system will need hydrogen to decarbonize, he said. NextEra is working with the U.S. Treasury on rules that govern what can be considered green hydrogen, he said. The process is complicated by the variability of renewable power supply from wind and solar, he said.

☆ BASF to cut 2,600 jobs on high costs in Europe
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

A view of a chemical plant of German company BASF, in Ludwigshafen, Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany, on October 06, 2022 in Ludwigshafen, Germany. BASF said it would cut 2,600 jobs and halt its share buybacks as it warned of a further decline in earnings reflecting high costs in Europe, uncertainty due to the war in Ukraine and rising interest rates. BASF, which in October laid out plans to cut annual costs in Europe by 500 million euros, said on Friday that this would translate into about 2,600 job cuts, about 65% of which would be in Germany and laid out plans to cut another 200 million euros in annual costs. A share buyback programme, with 3 billion euros earmarked early last year, will be stopped early after 1.4 billion euros spent on own shares due to "profound changes in the global economy", it added. Among the cutbacks in Ludwigshafen, BASF will stop production of caprolactam used in engineering plastics and textile fibres, using instead a production line in Belgium.

☆ Mercedes-Benz flags market uncertainty despite 2022 earnings boost
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The Mercedes star logo is seen in front of the Mercedes-Benz customer center in Sindelfingen, southwestern Germany, on February 13, 2023. Mercedes-Benz Group on Friday beat analysts' forecasts with annual earnings of 20.5 billion euros ($21.80 billion), but the premium carmaker warned of lower earnings this year due to economic uncertainty. The company hit its forecast of a 13%-15% adjusted return on sales in the cars division, reporting a 14.6% margin for 2022. But it forecast a lower adjusted return of 12%-14% on sales for the cars division in 2023 and group earnings slightly below 2022, even though sales at the Mercedes-Benz Cars business are expected at the same level. Roughly 50% of the company's annual portfolio is financed, he said, meaning that higher rates will have an impact.

☆ Moscow's decades-old gas ties with Europe lie in ruins
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Vladimir Soldatkin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +10 min

Washington has long criticised Germany's policy of reliance on Russian energy, which until last year, Berlin had said was a means to improve relations. In October, he mooted an idea of a gas hub in Turkey to divert the Russian gas flows from the Baltic Sea and North-West Europe. The 20-year supply deal is worth about $30 billion in current gas prices. In Europe, gas prices hit record levels and international oil prices shortly after the special military operation began spiked close to their all-time high. Domestic gas prices are regulated by the government and there have been discussions about liberalising the gas market, a sensitive issue for Russian households.

☆ German ministry to review sale of regional airport to Russian investor - source
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The insolvency administrator for Frankfurt-Hahn airport, in western Germany, said the investor and seller had decided to submit a purchase contract to the economy ministry, which has the power to block some takeovers by foreign players. A source close to the proceedings confirmed local media reports that the successful, and highest, offer came from NR Holding, which belongs to Russian billionaire Viktor Kharitonin. The federal economy ministry can block takeovers of critical infrastructure by firms outside the European Union. Economy Minister Robert Habeck said on Monday that his ministry had launched a routine screening of the process. It had 1.23 million passengers between January and November last year, less than half the number a decade ago.

☆ Nearly a year on from the supposed Russian exodus, most major companies have yet to withdraw
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

PATRIK STOLLARZ | AFP | Getty ImagesAfter Russian troops invaded Ukraine in February 2022, companies across the G-7 major economies and the European Union announced plans to cease business operations in Russia. The report published earlier this month documented a total of 2,405 subsidiaries owned by 1,404 EU and G-7 companies that were active in Russia at the time of the first military incursion into Ukraine. Of the EU and G-7 companies remaining in Russia, the research found that 19.5% were German, 12.4% were American owned, and 7% were Japanese multinationals. Various companies told Barclays that there were a host of challenges to fully divest. "There have also been suggestions that the assets (including intellectual property) of companies that leave Russia will be nationalised."

☆ Race against the clock for Germany's top Nazi hunter
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Tilman Blasshofer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/5] Nazi hunter Thomas Will, head of Germany's main agency responsible for the investigation of war crimes during Nazi rule looks into files at the Central Office of State Judicial Authorities for the Investigation of National Socialist Crimes in Ludwigsburg, Germany, January 25, 2023. REUTERS/Timm ReichertLUDWIGSBURG, Germany, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Germany's top Nazi hunter, Thomas Will, is hopeful of securing further convictions over the Holocaust even as the remaining suspects, many now in their late 90s, die. So as long as perpetrators are still alive, we will pursue the cases," he said from his office outside Stuttgart in southwestern Germany. Will heads Germany's Central Office of State Judicial Authorities for the Investigation of National Socialist Crimes. The conviction last month of a 97-year-old woman who worked as a concentration camp secretary "was certainly one of the last", Will said.

☆ Fact Check-Green screen digitally added to video of Greta Thunberg’s detention
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Video of climate activist Greta Thunberg’s detention during a protest near Luetzerath village in western Germany was not created with a green screen, contrary to claims being shared online. An Aachen police spokesperson told Reuters: "Greta Thunberg was part of a group of activists who rushed towards the ledge. Reuters has debunked claims that Thunberg’s detention was staged by the media or by the police (here). The video being shared online shows combines footage of actual videos of Thunberg’s detention with behind-the-scenes takes from the creation of the 2009 film Avatar, where the use of green screen technology was extensive. Climate activist Greta Thunberg’s brief detention during a protest in western Germany was not created with a green screen.

☆ Fact Check-Greta Thunberg’s brief detention was not ‘staged by the media’
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Climate activist Greta Thunberg’s detainment during a protest near Luetzerath village in western Germany was not orchestrated by the media, despite claims circulating on social media. An Aachen police spokesperson told Reuters, "Greta Thunberg was part of a group of activists who rushed towards the ledge. The German media outlet Bild, also at the scene, similarly sent Reuters an article where Bild reporter Michael Engelberg recounted what occurred (here). Thunberg’s detainment at a coal mine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia was not staged by media. Read more about our work to fact-check social media posts here .

☆ Greta Thunberg says Davos elite are prioritizing greed and short-term profits over people and the planet
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

watch nowSwedish climate activist Greta Thunberg on Thursday accused the political and business elite at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, of prioritizing self-interest and short-term profits over people and the planet. They are prioritizing self-greed, corporate greed and short-term economic profits above people and above planet." Thunberg said it was an "absurd" situation that the world seems to be listening to Davos delegates rather than those on the frontlines of the climate emergency. We were kettled by police and then detained but were let go later that evening," Thunberg said on Wednesday via Twitter. To be sure, the burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas, is the chief driver of the climate crisis.

Many Germans viewed the end of the Cold War as the end of major conflict for the West. Germany has since become one of Ukraine's top military supporters, having spent 2.2 billion euros on weapons deliveries. 'EMPTY-HANDED' ARMYBeyond the immediate decision on tanks, Pistorius faces the mammoth task of upgrading Germany's military, the Bundeswehr, which army chief Alfons Mais, on the day of Russia's invasion, described as "more or less empty handed". Even before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Germany was 20 billion euros short of reaching NATO's target for ammunitions stockpiling, a defence source said. Analysts and experts say Pistorius will have to find his own voice to push for more spending and an overhaul of Germany's defence and procurement systems.

☆ Police clear first buildings in abandoned German coal village
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Christian MangLUETZERATH, Germany, Jan 12 (Reuters) - German police were trying to clear hundreds of climate protesters holed up in an abandoned village in western Germany for a second day on Thursday, in a continuing standoff over the expansion of a coal mine. For over two years demonstrators have occupied Luetzerath, a village in the brown-coal district of the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia, to stop the expansion of the Garzweiler lignite coal mine, run by energy firm RWE (RWEG.DE). Protesters have formed human chains, staged sit-ins and occupied deserted buildings which will be razed to make way for the mine's expansion. The company has said it supports both energy transition and a temporary increase in the use of lignite-fired plants to tide Germany through the energy crisis. Reporting by Riham Alkousaa and Wolfgang Rattay, editing by Rachel More and Raissa KasolowskyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Climate activists dig in to defend German village from coal mine
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

Climate activists pledged Sunday to defend a tiny village in western Germany from being bulldozed for the expansion of a nearby coal mine that has become a battleground between the government and environmental campaigners. A climate activist protests in the village of Luetzerath, Germany on Jan. 8, 2023. But environmental groups have blasted the agreement, saying it will still result in hundreds of millions of tons of coal being extracted and burned. They argue that this would release vast amounts of greenhouse gas and make it impossible for Germany to meet its commitments under the 2015 Paris climate accord. “(We) will fight for every tree, for every house, for every meter in this village,” said Luka Scott, a spokesperson for the alliance of groups organizing protests.

☆ German police detain Iranian suspected of chemical attack plot
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-08 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

German police have taken into custody a 32-year-old Iranian citizen suspected of having procured deadly poisons cyanide and ricin to commit an “Islamist-motivated” attack, authorities in western Germany said on Sunday. “The suspect is suspected of having prepared a serious act of violence endangering the state by allegedly procuring cyanide and ricin to commit an Islamist-motivated attack,” the statement said. Police seized electronic storage devices but found neither cyanide nor ricin during the search, Holger Heming of the Duesseldorf public prosecutor’s office told Reuters TV. The authorities are now investigating at full speed.”Heming said the tip came from a security agency of a “friendly state”, without elaborating. News about Sunday’s searches also comes a month after German authorities arrested 25 members and supporters of a far-right group that the prosecutor’s office said was preparing a violent overthrow of the state.

[1/3] TV cameras are set up in front of a building where German police have taken a 32-year-old Iranian citizen into custody, suspected of having procured deadly poisons cyanide and ricin to commit an "Islamist-motivated" attack, in Castrop-Rauxel, Germany, January 8, 2023. REUTERS/Stephane NitschkeCASTROP-RAUXEL, Germany, Jan 8 (Reuters) - German police have taken into custody a 32-year-old Iranian citizen suspected of having procured deadly poisons cyanide and ricin to commit an "Islamist-motivated" attack, authorities in western Germany said on Sunday. Police said the Iranian was suspected of having planned a "serious act of violence endangering the state" by allegedly procuring cyanide and ricin to commit an Islamist-motivated attack. Islamist-motivated lone perpetrators are another considerable danger," German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said following news of the investigation. "Our security authorities therefore expect preparations for an attack at any time," she said, adding that since 2000 German security authorities had prevented 21 Islamist attacks in Germany.

☆ Natural gas prices haven’t been this low since Russia went to war
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Anna Cooban | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

London CNN —Natural gas prices in Europe and the United States have tumbled to levels last seen before Russia sparked a global energy crisis by invading Ukraine. Even so, European gas prices are still historically high, and could rise again this year if demand from China picks up or supplies are disrupted. Wholesale prices were already shooting up in the months before the war as economies reopened from pandemic lockdowns. “It will take a bit [of time] for the fall in the wholesale prices of natural gas to [feed into] into the retail prices,” he said. That will keep Europe at a competitive disadvantage to the United States, where gas prices are about five times lower.

☆ Germany Is Short of Workers, but Its Migrants Are Struggling to Find Jobs
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Tom Fairless | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A temporary refugee shelter at the former Tegel airport in Berlin, where some Ukrainians are fleeing to escape Russian attacks on their country. KASSEL, Germany—In 2016, as Middle Eastern refugees fled to Germany in their hundreds of thousands, Ingo Neupert decided to help. A professor of social work, he started a training program in western Germany for 25 young refugees to become nurses and medical assistants.

☆ Factbox: Far-right attacks, scandals in Germany
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Following are some of the far-right attacks and scandals that have shaken Germany in recent years:Jan. 2021 - Far-right sympathiser Stephan Ernst is handed a life sentence for shooting dead pro-immigration conservative politician Walter Luebcke who was found lying in a pool of blood outside his home in western Germany in 2019. Luebcke had been an outspoken supporter of former Chancellor Angela Merkel's decision in 2015 to let in refugees. June 2020 - German defence minister disbands company of its elite KSK special forces after a scandal over its links to far-right radicals. The attacker, a 27-year-old German, fatally shoots a woman outside the synagogue and a man inside a nearby kebab shop. An official report later says police had "massively underestimated" the risk of far-right violence and that missteps had allowed the cell to go undetected.

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