Germany

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The European Central Bank piled on another outsized interest rate hike aimed at squelching out-of-control inflation, increasing rates at the fastest pace in the euro currency’s history and underscoring the bank’s determination to control prices despite the threat of recession.

BERLIN, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Germany on Wednesday set out plans to legalise cannabis, in a move promised by Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government that would make it one of the first countries in Europe to make weed legal.

Health Minister Karl Lauterbach presented a cornerstone paper on planned legislation to regulate the controlled distribution and consumption of cannabis for recreational purposes among adults.

Acquiring and possessing up to 20 to 30 grams of recreational cannabis for personal consumption would also be made legal.

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Natural gas and electricity prices in Europe have plunged from summer peaks thanks to mild weather and a monthslong scramble to fill gas storage ahead of winter and replace Russian supplies during the war in Ukraine. It’s a welcome respite after Russia slashed natural gas flows, triggering an energy crisis that has fueled record inflation and a looming recession.

BERLIN, October 25. /TASS/: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said that the West intends to provide assistance to Ukraine "for decades" to come, noting that a "Marshall Plan of the 21st century" was on the agenda. He was speaking at the opening of an international conference on the restoration of Ukraine in Berlin on Tuesday.

25 October 2022; MEMO: Two former German soldiers have been convicted of trying to form a terrorist organisation to intervene in the war in Yemen.

The Higher Regional Court in Stuttgart found the pair guilty of trying to establish a mercenary force consisting of former and current Bundeswehr soldiers.

FRANKFURT, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- The 74th Frankfurt Book Fair, the largest of its kind in the world, concluded on Sunday on the Frankfurt exhibition grounds.

This year's book fair attracted around 90,000 trade visitors from over 100 countries and regions, surpassing expectations, according to Juergen Boos, president and CEO of the Frankfurt Book Fair. He expects further progress in the coming year with a diverse literary landscape.

BERLIN/DUESSELDORF, Oct 22 - Tens of thousands of protesters in six German cities gathered on Saturday to demand a more just distribution of government funds to deal with rising energy prices and living costs and a faster transition away from fossil fuels.

Protesters marched in Berlin, Duesseldorf, Hannover, Stuttgart, Dresden and Frankfurt-am-Main, holding signs bearing slogans on everything from lowering inflation to switching off nuclear power and more energy price subsidies for the poor.

BERLIN, October 20. /TASS/: A political decision to cap energy prices is always fraught with risks and can lead to a reduction in gas supplies to Europe, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said speaking in the Bundestag on Thursday.

"We are considering the proposals of the European Commission very carefully. A politically set price cap always carries the risk that producers will sell their gas somewhere else, and we, Europeans, will end up not with more gas, but with less gas," he warned.

BERLIN, Oct 20 (NNN-NEWVISION) — World leaders have thrown more weight behind the campaign to end polio by confirming $2.6b funding toward the Global Polio Eradication Initiative’s (GPEI) 2022-2026 Strategy.

This timely commitment happened on Tuesday at the World Health Summit in Berlin, Germany.

The funds will bolster global efforts to eradicate polio, a disabling and life-threatening disease caused by the poliovirus.

BERLIN, Oct 18 (Reuters) - Economy Minister Robert Habeck on Tuesday endorsed the decision of Chancellor Olaf Scholz to use his executive authority to settle a long-running row within the coalition over extending the life of Germany's three remaining nuclear power stations.

Robert Habeck's Greens, opponents of nuclear power, wanted two plants kept running until April, while the business-friendly Free Democrats wanted an extension involving all three plants. On Monday, Scholz, a Social Democrat, ordered that all three should be kept going until April at the latest.