Germany

BERLIN, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.2 jolted Iceland at 1612 GMT on Wednesday, the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences said.

The epicenter, with a depth of 10.0 km, was initially determined to be at 64.44 degrees north latitude and 17.64 degrees west longitude. 

BERLIN, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Serbia's troop deployment on Kosovo's border recalls Russia's behaviour towards Ukraine before its invasion, the Kosovar foreign minister said, urging the European Union to take action against Belgrade such as freezing its candidacy status.

The warning comes after the United States said on Friday it was monitoring a troubling Serbian military build-up along the Kosovo frontier that is destabilising the area, and NATO said it was authorizing additional peacekeeping forces for Kosovo.

BERLIN, Sept 27 (Reuters) - Germany will introduce new border controls with Poland and the Czech Republic this week, the German interior minister announced on Wednesday, saying that more should be done to protect the European Union's fragile system of open borders.

Germany saw its first-time asylum requests rise by 78% in the first seven months of 2023, according to official data. In August, registered illegal border crossings to Germany reached 14,701, up 66% on the same month last year, police data shows.

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The head of the European Central Bank said Monday that interest rates will stay high enough to restrict business activity for “as long as necessary” to beat back inflation because upward pressure on prices “remains strong” in the 20 countries that use the euro currency.

Christine Lagarde said “strong spending on holidays and travel” and increasing wages were slowing the decline in price levels even as the economy stays sluggish. Annual inflation in the eurozone eased only slightly from 5.2% in July to 5.3% in August.

RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany (AP) — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin urged allied defense leaders Tuesday to “dig deep” and provide more air defense systems for Ukraine, to help the country block increasing barrages of Russian missiles.

But while the allies said they will discuss how they can best help Ukraine’s counteroffensive, they appeared no closer to commitments on the longer-range missiles that Kyiv’s leaders insist they need.

BERLIN (AP) — The German government on Tuesday banned the neo-Nazi group Hammerskins Germany and raided homes of dozens of its members. The group is an offshoot of an American ring-wing extremist group and plays a prominent role across Europe.

The Hammerskins Germany is an offshoot of the Hammerskins Nation founded in the United States in 1988, according to the interior ministry.

FRANKFURT/SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA, Sept 15 (Reuters) - European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde seized the mobile phones of her fellow policymakers at this week's meeting and rebuked them for leaking crucial information ahead of a policy decision, two sources told Reuters.

The unprecedented move is the boldest step that Lagarde has taken to stop information leaking out from the Governing Council, an issue that has plagued her presidency as well as that of her predecessor, Mario Draghi.

BERLIN (AP) — The U.N. nuclear watchdog harshly criticized Iran on Saturday for effectively barring several of its most experienced inspectors from monitoring the country’s disputed program.

The strongly worded statement came amid longstanding tensions between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency, which is tasked with monitoring a nuclear program that Western nations have long suspected is aimed at eventually developing a nuclear weapon. Iran insists the program is peaceful.

BERLIN, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- The environmental activist group Fridays for Future (FFF) called for a global day of strikes on Friday, with climate protests planned in nearly 250 locations in Germany alone.

"We are in the midst of a climate crisis," the group said in a statement. "That's why we need to get out of coal, oil and gas now. We need a real change in transport and a fresh start at all levels."

MUNICH, Germany, Sept. 5 (Xinhua) -- German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Tuesday welcomed the international auto manufacturers at the country's largest automobile show, IAA Mobility, stressing that "fair competition is good for business."

It is "nice to have so many international manufacturers and suppliers here in Munich, welcome," Scholz said in his speech.

The 2023 International Motor Show (IAA), one of the world's largest mobility trade fairs, opened in the southern German city of Munich on Tuesday, with German and Chinese exhibitors in the limelight.