Germany

With the Greens now leading the polls, party co-chair Annalena Baerbock, 40, is seen as a serious contender for German chancellor in September's general election. She has moved the Greens increasingly to the political center.

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These Are The Top Politicians Vying To Succeed Angela Merkel As Germany's Chancellor

1:11pm April 28, 2021

by Esme Nicholson

With the Greens now leading the polls, their candidate, Annalena Baerbock, 40, is seen as a serious contender. She's moved the once single-issue environmentalist party into the political center.

Tareq Alaows stands in front of the Bundestag, Germany's parliament, in Berlin. Alaows came to Germany as an asylum-seeker from Syria in 2015. He launched a campaign to run in Germany's federal election in September for the Green Party but recently withdr

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Germany Grapples With Racism After Threats Derail Refugee's Candidacy For Parliament

6:00pm April 21, 2021

by Esme Nicholson

A Syrian refugee in Germany withdrew his bid for parliament over racist threats last month. The news came in the same week that a German comedian appeared on TV in blackface.

Lines form in front of a vaccination center Monday in Hamburg, Germany.

Germany Is Expected To Centralize Its COVID-19 Response. Some Fear It May Be Too Late

6:57pm April 12, 2021

by Esme Nicholson

The country's scattershot approach, with each of 16 states imposing different regulations, has come under mounting criticism as cases surpass 3 million and hospitals warn they're running out of beds.

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German Chancellor Angela Merkel prepares to announce a reversal of a planned hard lockdown for Easter on Wednesday.

In Reversal, Merkel Drops Plan For Lockdown In Germany Ahead Of Easter

4:27pm March 24, 2021

by Bill Chappell

German Chancellor Angela Merkel called the planned lockdown "a mistake," and she took the blame for the decision.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, with Bavaria's State Premier Markus Soeder (right) and Berlin's Mayor Michael Mueller, participate in a news conference following talks via videoconference with Germany's state premiers on the extension of the current COVI

'Basically In A New Pandemic,' Says Merkel, As Germany Extends Lockdown

12:00pm March 23, 2021

by Scott Neuman

The German chancellor announces an intensified coronavirus lockdown going into Easter, warning that new mutations raise the specter of a potentially deadly "third wave" of COVID-19.

Alexander Gauland, a leader in Germany's right-wing AfD political party, leaves a news conference after discussing reports that the Office for the Protection of the Constitution has deemed his entire party under suspicion of being a threat to the constitu

Germany Places Right-Wing Opposition Party Under Domestic Surveillance

11:46am March 03, 2021

by Bill Chappell

German investigators can now cultivate informants, tap phone calls and read emails as part of its inquiry. The Alternative for Germany party says the move is politically motivated.

Presiding judge Anne Kerber (left) stands before handing the verdict to Syrian defendant Eyad al-Gharib (right, face hidden under a folder) Wednesday in Koblenz. Gharib, 44, a former Syrian intelligence service agent, was sentenced to 4 1/2 years in jail

World News

Landmark Verdict In Germany Sentences Syrian For Aiding Crimes Against Humanity

11:33am February 24, 2021

by Deborah Amos

Eyad al-Gharib was convicted for sending protesters to a prison where they were tortured, in the first criminal trial against Syrians who served in President Bashar Assad's government.

A street sign says "Tesla Street 1" in front of the construction site of the Tesla Gigafactory near Berlin. The electric automaker plans to start building cars this summer at its first European production site.

World News

What Will Tesla's New German Gigafactory Mean For Germany's Auto Industry?

11:33am February 17, 2021

by Rob Schmitz

The electric automaker plans to start building cars outside Berlin this summer, threatening to upend Germany's traditional combustion engine car culture. It's Tesla's first European production site.

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Police officers search addresses in Holbaek, Denmark, on Feb. 6. Denmark's intelligence service said it detained 13 people over a suspected terror plot, with another person arrested in Germany in a "linked" case.

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Danish, German Authorities Detain 14 Suspects In Counter-Terrorism Operation

2:11pm February 12, 2021

by Rachel Treisman

The Danish intelligence service said it detained 13 people, with another arrested in Germany in a "linked" case. Seven are facing charges of possessing components for making explosives.

Alternative for Germany leaders Björn Höcke (right) and Alexander Gauland celebrate their party's election results in Erfurt, Germany, in 2019, when voters in Thuringia elected a new state parliament. The AfD now has 88 members in Germany's federal parl

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Germany Expected To Put Right-Wing AfD Under Surveillance For Violating Constitution

5:04pm January 22, 2021

by Rob Schmitz

Germany's Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution has wrapped up a two-year investigation into the Alternative for Germany. The party's far-right branch is already under surveillance.

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