Germany

23 May 2023; MEMO: Germany has informed Lebanon it has issued an arrest warrant for Central Bank Governor, Riad Salameh, on corruption charges, including forgery, money laundering and embezzlement, a senior judicial source told Reuters on Tuesday.

A second source familiar with the matter confirmed the arrest warrant to Reuters. Salameh has denied any wrongdoing.

BERLIN (AP) — Scores of members of Congress and the European Parliament called Tuesday for the designated chair of the next United Nations climate summit to be replaced over his ties to the fossil fuel sector and for the industry’s influence at the upcoming talks to be sharply limited.

The United Arab Emirates has been strongly criticized by environmental advocates for nominating Sultan al-Jaber, the head of the state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, to preside over the Nov. 30 - Dec. 12 meeting in Dubai known as COP28.

22 May 2023; MEMO: Police in the German capital, Berlin, upheld a ban on demonstrations commemorating the Palestinian Nakba events, enforcing it by cracking down on a spontaneous protest organised by Jewish progressive figures.

BERLIN (AP) — The head of Germany’s domestic intelligence agency warned Monday of a rise in anti-government extremism - fueled by authoritarian states such as Russia - that seeks to divide society and topple the government.

BERLIN, May 21. /TASS/: At least two Ukrainians could be behind the explosions at the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines, Germanys’ Suddeutsche Zeitung daily said on Sunday.

According to a probe conducted by the daily and other German and European media, several months ago Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office found the Feeria Lwowa travel agency in Poland, which chartered the Andromeda yacht used by the suspects of the Nord Stream blasts to reach the site.

BERLIN, May 21 (Reuters) - German police said they are investigating the possible poisoning of two Russian exiles who attended a conference in Berlin at the end of April, organised by Russian Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

Berlin police told Reuters "a file had been opened" after German newspaper Welt am Sonntag, citing Russian investigative media group Agentstvo, said two women reported symptoms that suggested possible poisoning.

Police gave no further details, citing ongoing investigations.

May 19 (Reuters) - Germany's interior ministry published draft legislation aimed at making it easier for people to apply for citizenship, as Berlin seeks to boost migration and open up the job market in Europe's biggest economy.

The draft proposes a multiple citizenship option and cuts the required residency years before naturalization down to five or three years from the previous eight.

17 May 2023; MEMO: Two Turkish journalists were released several hours after their arrest by the German police on Wednesday, sparking a diplomatic row between Ankara and Berlin, Anadolu News Agency reports.

BERLIN, May 17. /TASS/: Germany doesn’t have the planes and other capabilities required to be part of a coalition for the supply of fighter jets to Ukraine, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said on Wednesday.

"We can’t play an active role in this alliance, this coalition because we don’t have training capabilities, expertise or planes," he said at a joint news conference with his UK counterpart Ben Wallace in Berlin.

BERLIN (AP) — A top official at the German economy and climate ministry resigned Wednesday following accusations that he was involved in choosing his best man to head the federally owned German Energy Agency and signed off on financial support for a project in which his sister was involved

Patrick Graichen was one of Economy Minister Robert Habeck’s closest aides and had been in charge of developing and implementing the government’s energy policies with the goal of achieving net zero emissions in Germany in 2045.