Germany

BERLIN, Oct. 25 (Xinhua) -- Faced with a steep increase in the number of migrants and refugees arriving in the country, the German government approved a draft law on Wednesday which aims to accelerate the deportation of rejected asylum seekers.

In order to give authorities more time to prepare for deportations, the maximum duration of pre-deportation custody is to be increased from 10 days to 28 days. The draft law still needs to be approved by the lower house of the German Parliament (Bundestag).

BERLIN, Oct 23 (Reuters) - The star of Germany's left-most parliamentary party has quit to set up her own populist formation, based on scepticism on both green issues and on support for Ukraine, that polls suggest could capture up to 20% of the vote.

Sahra Wagenknecht, who grew up in East Germany as the daughter of a German mother and an absent Iranian father, told reporters on Monday she would aim to win over disgruntled voters of left and right.

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — For months after Ukraine’s Western allies limited sales of Russian oil to $60 per barrel, the price cap was still largely symbolic. Most of Moscow’s crude — its main moneymaker — cost less than that.

But the cap was there in case oil prices rose — and would keep the Kremlin from pocketing extra profits to fund its war in Ukraine. That time has now come, putting the price cap to its most serious test so far and underlining its weaknesses.

19 October 2023; MEMO: Germany, on Thursday, advised its citizens to leave the West Bank now due to intensifying violence in the region, Anadolu Agency reports.

“We recommend all German nationals to leave the West Bank now,” the German Foreign Ministry said in a statement, warning against travelling to Israel and the Palestinian Territories “due to the escalation of violence in the region.”

BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz strongly condemned a firebomb assault on a synagogue in Berlin on Wednesday, saying, “We will never accept when attacks are carried out against Jewish institutions.”

Assailants threw two Molotov cocktails early Wednesday at the synagogue in the center of the German capital, police said, as antisemitic incidents in the country have been rising following the violent escalation in the Middle East.

BERLIN, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Jordan's King Abdullah on Tuesday warned against trying to push Palestinian refugees into Egypt or Jordan, adding that the humanitarian situation must to be dealt with inside Gaza and the West Bank.

"That is a red line, because I think that is the plan by certain of the usual suspects to try and create de facto issues on the ground. No refugees in Jordan, no refugees in Egypt," King Abdullah said at a news conference following a meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin.

BERLIN (AP) — Several more people suspected of being involved in planning a far-right coup and plotting to kidnap the German health minister were arrested in raids in a number of regions on Tuesday, authorities said.

Prosecutors have said the group intended to create “conditions similar to civil war” by using explosives to cause nationwide blackouts, then kidnapping Health Minister Karl Lauterbach, who was a prominent advocate of strict coronavirus measures. There were no indications the group was close to launching a coup.

BERLIN, Oct 9 (Reuters) - Air traffic has resumed at Germany's Hamburg airport, a spokesperson told Reuters on Monday, after a police operation in response to a threat against a plane from Tehran prompted all landings and take-offs to be halted.

A federal police spokesperson earlier said officers, acting on a threat of an attack sent via email, searched a plane with 198 passengers from Tehran that had landed in the northern German city.

BERLIN, Oct 8 (Reuters) - German Chancellor Olaf Scholz warned on Sunday against violence spreading like wildfire "with incalculable consequences for the whole region" following the biggest attack on Israel in years by Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.

"We warn everyone against fueling and spreading terror in this situation," he said, noting he would hold a discussion with U.S. President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on the topic later on Sunday.

BERLIN (AP) — Two German states hold elections on Sunday at the halfway mark of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s unpopular national government, with polls showing the center-right opposition well ahead and Germany’s interior minister facing an uphill struggle in a bid to become governor of her home region.