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Berlin: The state finance minister of Germany's Hesse region, which includes Frankfurt, has been found dead. Authorities said he appears to have killed himself and the state's governor suggested Sunday that he was in despair over the fallout from the coronavirus crisis. The body of Thomas Schaefer, a 54-year-old member of Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union, was found Saturday on railway tracks at Hochheim, near Frankfurt. German minister Thomas Schaefer commits suicide over coronavirus worries, body found on railway tracks File image of Thomas Schäfer (CDU), Minister of Finance of Hesse. AP

Jake Tapper inadvertently admits COVID security theater.. CNN host Jake Tapper inadvertently revealed the security theater that is ‘COVID-safe’ after he tried to reassure people “we took off our masks just for the photo.” Tapper posted an image of himself and his CNN staffers for a “bake off” event before tweeting, “for anyone concerned, we took off our masks just for the photo, but generally we all wear masks around the office. also, we’re all vaccinated.” ... Apparently, COVID has developed artificial intelligence and knows not to infect people when they’re doing a photo-op. “Did you get everyone’s permission in...

Cuomo fires back at sheriff, AG James over criminal charges 'At 38,000 feet, we are all you have' - flight attendants are fed up with a growing… President Biden said during a meeting with top German leaders on Saturday that Russia cannot be able to manipulate natural gas for political purposes. iden met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Vice Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the Group of 20 summit in Rome on Saturday and emphasized the importance of working to implement the U.S.-Germany Joint Statement on Support for Ukraine and European Energy Security in an effort to "ensure that Russia...

BERLIN, Oct 9 (Reuters) - Two of outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel's closest political allies and most senior ministers will quit the German parliament to make way for a new generation that can rejuvenate her conservative party after its election defeat, they said.

German Parking Garage Unveils Dedicated Spaces For LGBTQ And Migrant Drivers Today in “our obsession with inclusiveness is once again leading us back to segregating people” news, a car park in Germany is unveiling dedicated parking spaces for LGBTQ and migrant drivers. The three “diversity” parking spaces were put up in an underground car park in Hanau city centre, according to the Daily Mail. Hanau is considered a city of diversity already, the report noted. Hanau’s population was “already ethnically diverse” before the 2015 migrant crisis. The aim of the spots was to “help people who feel a special need...

A hotel in the eastern German city of Leipzig was facing accusations of antisemitism on Tuesday after a musician said he was denied service for wearing a Star of David. The video sparked sharp criticism from Germany’s Jewish communities and drew the attention of police. In a video posted on social media, German musician Gil Ofarim said he attempted to check in to the Hotel Westin in Leipzig on Monday evening. Ofarim, who is Jewish, was wearing a necklace with a Star of David pendant. Due to technical issues with the hotel’s computers, a long line had formed at the...

Germany's four biggest parties have held a series of bilateral meetings on Sunday to communicate their positions before deciding on further steps in forming a new government. The centre-left Social Democrats, who won Germany's national election last month, first met with the Free Democrats before holding talks with the Greens. The latter two had already met on September 29, though it is unusual for smaller parties to make the first move. The sessions in Berlin — that some observers described as akin to a political "speed dating" — were rounded off by a meeting between the Free Democrats and the...

Two climate activists ended their hunger strike outside parliament after a leading candidate for chancellor of Germany agreed to a public meeting with them following Sunday's general election. The hunger strikers said Scholz called them on Saturday afternoon, seven hours after they stopped taking liquids, and agreed to a public meeting within a month after the vote. Scholz confirmed the agreement in a statement on Twitter, saying saving lives takes precedent. The candidate and his two rivals from the environmentalist Greens and the center-right Union bloc had turned down the hunger strikers' initial demand for a meeting before the election....

In the history of the world, German electricity prices have never been higher… … and if what just happened at the Steag Bergkamen-A electric plant is any indication, they are about to get a whole lot higher. According to Bloomberg, the global energy crisis has forced a German electricity producer to halt a power plant after it ran out of coal. Steag GmbH – which operates six large-scale hard coal plants in Germany with an installed capacity of more than 4,000 MW – closed its Bergkamen-A plant in the western part of the country this week due to shortages of...

<p>Priests and lay ministers protesting the Vatican ban publicly blessed same-sex couples in May at more than 100 churches across Germany, including this one in Cologne.</p><p>German Catholic bishops and lay leaders on Friday called for their church to bless same-sex relationships, challenging a Vatican ban on the practice.</p>

German ‘Synodal Way’ Extended to 2023 as Assembly Ends Abruptly After Votes on Sexual Morality, PriesthoodThe synodal assembly ended earlier than expected on Saturday afternoon after Bishop Bätzing asked organizers to count whether the meeting had a quorum of 154 participants after many departed early.FRANKFURT, Germany —The German Catholic Church’s “Synodal Way” will be extended to 2023 after its plenary session ended abruptly on Saturday following votes in favor of a text endorsing same-sex blessings and a discussion of whether the priesthood is necessary.Bishop Georg Bätzing, chairman of the German bishops’ conference, and Thomas Sternberg, president of the Central...

The document was approved by the Synodal Way in a 168 to 28, vote with five abstentions; sixty-nine of the Synodal Assembly members are German bishops.The “Synodal Way,” a conference consisting of German bishops, priests, religious, and laity, on Friday approved a draft document that appears to undermine Catholic doctrine on fundamental points of sexual morality, offering a defense of homosexual relationships, “self-stimulating sexuality,” contraception, and civil divorce and remarriage. The document, titled “Living in Successful Relationships – Living Love in Sexuality and Partnership,” is described by Vatican News as giving “a clear rejection to so-called conversion therapies for homosexuals”...

BERLIN — Millions of Germans will head to the polls in a federal election on Sunday that will determine who will succeed Angela Merkel after 16 years as Germany's chancellor. According to the latest polls, Germany's center-left Social Democratic Party is narrowly ahead of Merkel's center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian partner, the Christian Social Union. They're closely followed by the Greens, the far-right Alternative for Germany and the libertarian Free Democratic Party, all holding onto double-digit poll numbers going into Sunday's election. Josef Janning, a senior associate fellow with the German Council on Foreign Relations, says the...

With elections looming in Germany and France, European politicians are determined to avoid the sort of populist backlash that followed the 2015 refugee crisis. But experts say the comparison is flawed. BERLIN — Even before the first group of 19 Afghan refugees landed in Germany on Wednesday, the line was making the rounds in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative party: “2015 mustn’t be repeated.” Armin Laschet, who wants to succeed Ms. Merkel as chancellor after next month’s elections, said it on Monday. A top party official used the same words shortly after. A government minister repeated them again. The fall of...

Another climate activist on hunger strike in Berlin has been taken to the hospital after fainting. Six activists calling themselves "the last generation" have not eaten since the end of August. A 19-year-old climate activist on a weeks-long hunger strike outside the German parliament was taken to the hospital on Saturday, a spokesperson for the Charite hospital said. The spokeswoman said it was unclear if the teen intended to continue her hunger strike. Six climate activists began an open-ended hunger strike in front of the Reichstag building, home to the German lower house of parliament, on August 30. They said...

Facebook says it has deleted the accounts, pages and groups linked to virus conspiracy theorists, anti-vaxxers and anti-maskers in Germany who are vocal opponents of government restrictions to control the coronavirus pandemic. With just 10 days to go before Germany’s parliamentary elections — where the handling of the pandemic by Angela Merkel’s goverment will come under scrutiny — Facebook said it had “removed a network of Facebook and Instagram accounts” linked to the so-called “Querdenker” or Lateral Thinker movement. The pages posted “harmful health misinformation, hate speech and incitement to violence”, the social media giant said in a statement. It...

PARIS --- Just days after France and Germany signed a treaty in which they agree “to develop a common approach to arms exports with regard to joint projects,” the German government has blocked the sale of Meteor air-to-air missiles to Saudi Arabia. The Meteor, developed and produced by Paris-based MBDA but with German components, is not the target of a specific German veto, but rather its export to Saudi Arabia is being blocked by the German government’s embargo on all arms sales to the desert kingdom, decided in late November. An MBDA spokesman this morning would neither confirm nor deny...

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday described herself as a feminist, saying her position on equality between men and women had developed over the years. “Essentially, it’s about the fact that men and women are equal, in the sense of participation in society and in life in general. And in that sense I can say, ‘yes, I’m a feminist’,” Merkel told reporters after a meeting with Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. “For me, the word ‘feminism’ is linked to a specific movement which has fought a great deal to put these issues on society’s agenda,” said Germany’s first woman leader....

The German Ambassador to China, Jan Hecker, has died suddenly less than two weeks after taking up the job in Beijing. The 54-year-old’s death was confirmed by Germany’s Foreign Ministry on Monday. Hecker, who was a former foreign policy adviser to Chancellor Angela Merkel, began his posting on Aug. 24. Hecker had arrived in Beijing on Aug 1. with his wife and three children, according to German outlet Deutsche Welle. The details surrounding his death have not yet been disclosed. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said there was no indication Hacker’s death was linked to his diplomatic role.

BERLIN — A leading member of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s center-right Union bloc called Thursday for the United States to provide funding and shelter to those fleeing Afghanistan now. “The United States of America bear the main responsibility for the current situation,” Markus Soeder, the governor of Bavaria, said. “Because of their decision to leave Afghanistan, in parts overly hasty, they have the main responsibility.” Soeder noted that the U.S. had already provided security guarantees for the evacuation of foreigners and local staff from Kabul, and should do likewise “when it comes to providing financial support to neighboring countries, especially...