Three Republican senators have ordered Murkan Port on the island of Rugen to stop assisting Russian vessels constructing the final sections of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.

Three US senators are threatening the operators of a small German port with "crushing legal and economic sanctions" for provisioning Russian vessels assisting with constructing the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline.

The US strongly opposes the pipeline, which is owned by Russian gas company Gazprom and will carry natural gas from Russia to Germany.

In their letter,,Republican Senators Ted Cruz, Tom Cotton and Ron Johnson accuse port operator Faehrhafen Sassnitz of "knowingly providing significant goods, services, and support" for the project.

'Completely outrageous'

On Friday, German Minister of State Niels Annen said Germany "firmly rejected" the proposed sanctions, adding the tone and content of the letter were "completely outrageous."

A large-scale rally against restrictive measures in connection with the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic has taken place in Berlin today, August 1st. The procession started on the boulevard Unter den Linden and moved along the central streets of the city at noon local time.

The marchers shouted energetic slogans “Show me your Smile!”, “We are loud because our freedom is being stolen!” “No to Dictatorship – we’ve seen this before!”, “Arrest Bill Gates!”

“Since the meeting at Unter den Linden was quite crowded, our colleagues strongly point to the need to maintain the necessary distance,” the press service of the Metropolitan Police wrote on Twitter.

According to their data, which are confirmed by the footage coming from the scene, practically none of those present were wearing masks. Some of the participants brought with them flags with the symbols of various federal states.

The Nord Stream 2 project is set to carry up to 55 billion cubic meters (1.942 trillion cubic feet) of gas per year from Russia to Germany, passing through the territorial waters or exclusive economic zones of Denmark, Finland, Germany, Russia and Sweden.

US Senator Ted Cruz together with Senators Tom Cotton and Ron Johnson have threatened the management of Mukran Port in Germany, involved in the Nord Stream 2 project with “financial destruction”, if they continue their work on the venture.

In a three-page letter, obtained by Handelsblatt newspaper, the lawmakers called on Sassnitz GmbH, which operates the port, to discontinue logistical support for the project.

"If you continue to provide goods, services, and support for the Nord Stream 2 project, you will destroy the future financial survival of your company", the letter read.

A court in Germany has started the retrial of three pro-Palestine human rights activists, known as Humboldt 3, who had spoken out against Israeli crimes against the Palestinian people.

The trio – Palestinian activist Majed Abusalama and Israeli activists Ronnie Barkan and Stavit Sinai – are facing trial for their involvement in a June 2017 protest at Humboldt University, in the German capital Berlin, against Israeli Knesset Member (MK) for the Yesh Atid party, Aliza Lavie.

The three activists, known as Humboldt 3, were charged after they interrupted Lavie’s talk in 2017 about the massacre of civilians in Gaza during a speech at the Humboldt University of Berlin.

US President Donald Trump has defended his decision to pull out almost 12,000 troops from Germany by invoking its gas imports from Russia. Washington has recently ramped up its efforts to block the deliveries.

“Germany pays Russia billions of dollars a year for Energy, and we are supposed to protect Germany from Russia. What’s that all about?” Trump tweeted, shortly after Defense Secretary Mark Esper said the US would move out some 11,900 US soldiers from Germany, as opposed to the initial plan to withdraw some 9,500 personnel.

Trump has also cited the long-running row over NATO contributions, accusing Germany of failing to fork out its fair share of the costs for the military alliance.

For much of the past year Trump has caused angst among allies by maintaining a consistent position that Russia should be invited back into the Group of Seven (G7), making it as it was prior to 2014, the G-8.

Russia had been essentially booted from the summit as relations with the Obama White House broke down over the Ukraine crisis and the Crimea issue. Trump said in August 2019 that Obama had been "outsmarted" by Putin.

But as recently as May when Germany followed by other countries rebuffed Trump's plans to host the G7 at Camp David, Trump blasted the “very outdated group of countries” and expressed that he planned to invite four additional non-member nations, mostly notably Russia.

Inserting * stars into German words to make them gender neutral amounts to "nonsense," a German language association asserts. Other experts say linguistic equality and removal of patriarchal mindsets remains paramount.

Germany’s defense minister revealed on Wednesday that a unit of the Kommando Spezialkraefte (KSK), the country’s elite commando force, would be disbanded. The dissolution follows a report published in January revealing that hundreds of soldiers may embody far-right extremist ideologies.

On Wednesday, Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer told the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper that the KSK, an anti-terrorism and hostage rescue unit with roughly 1,300 soldiers, had created “a wall of secrecy” around itself and that the force has a “toxic leadership culture” that “cannot continue to exist in its present form,” NPR reported.

Kramp-Karrenbauer also confirmed that some of the 70 soldiers from the disbanded force would be reassigned to other combat companies while “those who made clear they are part of the problem and not part of the solution must leave the KSK," military.com reported.

Authored by Daniele Pozzati via The Strategic Culture Foundation,

Germany’s federal government and mainstream media are engaged in damage control after a report that challenges the established Corona narrative leaked from the interior ministry.

Some of the report key passages are:

The dangerousness of Covid-19 was overestimated: probably at no point did the danger posed by the new virus go beyond the normal level.

The people who die from Corona are essentially those who would statistically die this year, because they have reached the end of their lives and their weakened bodies can no longer cope with any random everyday stress (including the approximately 150 viruses currently in circulation).

Worldwide, within a quarter of a year, there has been no more than 250,000 deaths from Covid-19, compared to 1.5 million deaths [25,100 in Germany] during the influenza wave 2017/18.

The president wants a landmark event, but the German chancellor ‘cannot agree’ to travel due to ongoing pandemic.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has rebuffed Donald Trump’s invitation to attend a G-7 summit, which the president is keen to portray as a symbol of a return to normality from the upheaval of the coronavirus crisis.

"The federal chancellor thanks President Trump for his invitation to the G-7 summit at the end of June in Washington. As of today, considering the overall pandemic situation, she cannot agree to her personal participation, to a journey to Washington," German government spokesman Steffen Seibert told POLITICO on Friday.

Billionaire philanthropist and infamous Color Revolution financier George Soros recently elaborated on his views of International Relations in the midst of World War C during an interview with the UK's "Independent", unexpectedly concluding that Germany's recent court ruling against the European Central Bank's purchase of national bonds poses an "existential threat" to the bloc and therefore also to his "precious" vision of an "open society", even more so than the alleged ones posed by COVID, Trump, or China that he previously fearmongered about.

Riot police clashed with hundreds of protesters in Berlin yesterday during a demonstration against coronavirus lockdown in Germany.

Despite the central government easing lockdown on Wednesday, infected cases have begun to rise in Germany again, with some states saying they will not lift measures if the numbers continue to spike.

Overall infections rose by 1,251 cases yesterday with 147 new deaths.

Left-wing extremists assaulted a television crew in Berlin on May Day, resulting in a number of injuries, some severe enough to require hospitalisation.

The attack took place in the Kreuzberg district on Friday evening. A team of seven, including three security guards, from the satirical news programme Heute-Show (Today Show), which airs on Germany’s channel ZDF, had been filming as hundreds of demonstrators marched in the area. The march was held in violation of the ongoing lockdown in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. The demonstrators shouted chants against the police and threw smoke bombs as officers attempted to disperse the crowd, according to a report by Die Welt.

The Covid-19 crisis has surprisingly turned out to be a boon for German Chancellor Angela Merkel as she regained public support. Now, Interior Minister Horst Seehofer believes a fifth term in office might not be ruled out.

Successful handling of the novel coronavirus pandemic which has allowed Germany to start the process of gradually easing quarantine rules which have been crippling its economy for quite some time has apparently boosted Merkel’s image among her fellow party members and political allies.

Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, who has had quite a thorny relationship with the chancellor over the last couple of years, has now floated the idea of her staying at the helm for another term. The man, who once said he “cannot work with this woman” anymore and refused to shake hands with her amid the coronavirus scare just a couple of months ago, has now given generous praise to her “strong” leadership during the epidemic.

The federal prosecutor’s office has announced that it will not investigate members of the federal government over the drone attack in Iraq on January 3, 2020. Bundestag deputies Dr. Alexander S. Neu, Dr. Diether Dehm, Heike Hänsel, Andrej Hunko, Zaklin Nastic, Kathrin Vogler, Andreas Wagner, and Hubertus Zdebel filed criminal charges on February 27, 2020:

Berlin is reportedly considering issuing IDs confirming the bearer is immune to Covid-19 and may have more freedom than the as-yet uninfected. It adds to debate on whether recovery from the virus protects humans from reinfection.
Germany's federal government has passed a bill that would allow for handing out “coronavirus immunity cards” to anyone who has recovered from – and thus developed enough antibodies against – the disease, according to Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper, citing a copy of the document.

Germany’s Right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is calling for the government to provide aid to the country’s local breweries and inns, many of which are threatened with disaster because of the ongoing lockdown in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown.

More than 100 demonstrators have been arrested in the German capital for violating the coronavirus restrictions, city police said.

"Our assignment at Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz has ended. By blocking the surrounding streets, we were able to prevent a larger build-up on the square. However, many people violated the Covid-19 distance requirement. There were more than 100 arrests," Berlin police said on Saturday.

Earlier in the day, several hundred people gathered in Germany’s capital to protest against coronavirus restrictions. The demonstration lasted for a little over an hour.

More than a thousand anti-quarantine protesters turned out for a rally in the German capital, Berlin, on Saturday, resulting in dozens of arrests. This is a continuation from last weekend as social decay worsens.

Saturday's protest saw mainly leftist activist but also a mix of right-wing folks. Police were armed with riot gear and weapons, posted up around Rosa Luxemburg square.

Protesters handed out flyers entitled "Democratic Resistance," which stated the COVID-19 pandemic is ushering in the surveillance state as the government seizes power by spreading fear.

Police spokesman Thilo Cablitz said the city approved an event where people were to hand out flyers and follow social distancing rules -- but it eventually transformed into a protest that got out of hand.

"During coronavirus times and according to containment regulations, we are obliged to prevent a gathering," Cablitz said.

GERMANY has rattled China after joining the UK, France and the US in a rare attack, after Berlin called out Beijing's responsibility for the global pandemic and even issued a £130bn invoice.

A German medical law specialist who launched a rigorous fight against government-mandated coronavirus lockdown rules was taken to a mental health facility after expressing fears she was being targeted by ‘killers.’
Beate Bahner had repeatedly claimed that measures taken by Berlin to stem the spread of Covid-19 threaten nothing less than the nation’s constitutional order itself. The lawyer, from the German city of Heidelberg, was forced to spend a couple of days in a local psychiatric ward after her encounter with police went terribly wrong.

There we were, reading the transcript of NATO GenSec Stoltenburg’s pre-meeting presser

Then, after he had said what he wanted to say, Stoltenberg took questions via Skype and WhatsApp. Eventually, Teri Schultz from Deutsche Welle asked:

“do Allies have some responsibility in allowing Russia and China to have used that space early, to make these claims about NATO responsibility and effectiveness and the other disinformation that’s being put out right now?”

Apparently disappointed that Jens had not slammed Russia and China yet. No joy. In his reply, at some length, he did not so much as mention Russa! And Jens’ answer left the German press unsatisfied.

ANGELA MERKEL is facing increasing scrutiny from within her own party as some call for her to step down immediately as Chancellor - and one figure from the Christian Democratic Union claims she is making the same mistakes as ex-British Prime Minister Theresa May.

Thomas Schaefer, the finance minister of Germany's Hesse state, has committed suicide apparently after becoming "deeply worried" over how to cope with the economic fallout from the coronavirus, state premier Volker Bouffier said on Sunday.

Schaefer, 54, was found dead near a railway track on Saturday. The Wiesbaden prosecution's office said they believe he died by suicide.

GERMANY are set to introduce "immunity certificates" to those who have recovered from catching the coronavirus in a bid to end lockdowns across the country.

The body of Thomas Schäfer - finance minister of the German state of Hesse, was found next to high-speed train tracks on Saturday morning in the town of Hochheim, located between Frankfurt and Mainz, according to DW, citing local police.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has ramped up measures to combat the coronavirus outbreak effectively banning gatherings of more than two people across Germany unless they are related or live together.

Follow our live feed from the streets of the German capital Berlin amid new tough measures announced on Sunday by Chancellor Merkel as the city is dealing with the spread of the coronavirus.

The chancellor herself is under quarantine after being treated by a doctor who has tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

Bavaria will introduce tight restrictions on movement for two weeks in the hope of containing the Covid-19 pandemic that has seized Europe, making it the first German state to introduce a lockdown.

The strict measures include the closure of restaurants and bars, and bans large gatherings. People are urged to not leave their homes unless they are going to work, visiting the doctor, or buying groceries and medicine. Limited outdoor activity is still allowed but only alone or with a family member.

Minister Markus Soeder said on Friday that the lockdown, which begins at midnight, was not an "easy" decision to make.

"We're shutting down public life almost completely," he said while announcing the extreme new measures.

Bavaria became the first region in Germany to introduce a lockdown after Minister-President Markus Soeder announced an almost complete shutdown of public life to curb the infection.

People in Bavaria are avoiding avoid mass gatherings at public places, including Marienplatz square in the city of Munich. At the moment, Germany is among the worst-hit countries in the world after China, Italy, and Spain. There are almost 20,000 infected, like in the US or Iran, and the death toll from the coronavirus is at least 68.

In total, over 275,000 people have been diagnosed with COVID-19 and the death toll is over 11,400.

Germany will protect domestic firms from foreign takeovers, two leading politicians said on Friday, after company valuations in Europe’s largest economy have been hammered by the coronavirus pandemic. Ministers have already promised liquidity support to businesses, and introduced measures making it easier to reduce working hours rather than lay off workers.

Germany’s blue-chip DAX index, which comprises the country’s 30 largest listed corporations, has plunged by more than a third over the past month. This has increased the risk of foreign companies snapping up rivals at a discount.

“We will avoid a sell-out of German economic and industrial concerns. There cannot be any taboos. Temporary and limited state support as well as participation and takeovers need to be possible,” Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said.

German customs has reportedly seized face masks and other supplies destined for Switzerland, as European states struggle against the coronavirus pandemic with their limited medical equipment.

Authorities seized high-quality respiratory masks and other protective clothing for doctors and the general population during an inspection of a distribution center in Juechen, North Rhine-Westphalia, the Rheinische Post reported. US-based company 3M was reportedly planning on exporting the medical supplies to Switzerland.

Germany imposed export bans on such goods at the start of March, as part of the country's anti-coronavirus measures.

The German military is preparing for a long-term operation inside the country to combat the spread of the coronavirus. Medical personnel have already been deployed, and soldiers may also be used to maintain public order.

Germany is facing its biggest challenge "since the Second World War" in the fight against the coronavirus, Chancellor Angela Merkel said Wednesday, in what observers called a "final warning" for citizens to heed sweeping confinement measures.

In a dramatic television appeal, Merkel said everyone played a part in slowing down a pandemic that has raced across the globe and triggered unprecedented peace-time lockdowns.

"The situation is serious. Take it seriously. Not since German reunification, no, not since the Second World War has our country faced a challenge that depends so much on our collective solidarity," she said.

Friedrich Merz is one of the potential candidates to succeed Angela Merkel as the next leader of Germany's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and could be the country's next Chancellor.

German Chancellor Merkel's potential successor, Friedrich Merz, has confirmed that he has tested positive for the new coronavirus infection.

"The test that was carried out on Sunday is positive. I will be in quarantine at home until the end of next week," Merz told dpa on Tuesday.

The premier of Germany’s southern state of Bavaria declared a state of emergency on Monday, Reuters reported, as the number of new coronavirus cases continues to rise.

Markus Soeder also announced a fund worth up to €10 billion ($11.21 billion) to help the region withstand the coronavirus outbreak.

“The situation is very serious and changing daily, unfortunately not for the better,” the Bavarian leader said. He added that the regional government could buy stakes in struggling companies to prevent insolvencies.

Media in Germany reported on Sunday that the country would close its borders with Austria, France, and Switzerland starting Monday morning.

France will not be shutting down the border with Germany amid the coronavirus outbreak, but will ramp up border controls, a French presidency official was quoted by Reuters as saying.

Live from the German town of Rastatt on the border with France on Monday as the country closes its borders with France, Austria, and Switzerland in a bid to curb the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19).

Earlier, German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said that he had ordered the return of controls on the border with five Schengen zone countries.

The controls will return at 8 a.m. (7:00 GMT) on Monday. He stressed the measure was aimed at “disrupting the chain of infections” with the rapidly spreading coronavirus in Europe.

Dealing with Covid-19, Emmanuel Macron seems to be singing from the same hymn sheet as Angela Merkel, who is also against closing borders, but is this not a case of Western liberal ideology overriding necessity and common sense?

Compare and contrast. In his speech to the nation last night, Macron declared: “This virus has no passport.” He added: “We will undoubtedly take measures to close borders, but only when it is relevant… It is at the European level that we have built our freedoms.”

Despite warning that up to 70 percent of Germany could become infected with coronavirus, Chancellor Angela Markel said she refused to close the border to visitors from Italy during a joint press conference held with Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn in Berlin.

Serving as Merkel’s first public address on the outbreak, she warned that border closures would not be enough to prevent the spread of the virus, according to a report from Hungarian newspaper Mandiner.

“This is a test for our solidarity, our common sense and care for each other. And I hope we pass the test,” she said. However, she ruled out following Austria’s lead in banning visitors from Italy.

The worst-case coronavirus scenario is now being realized for German ports, as collapsing trade volumes from China could push Europe’s largest economy into recession.

For the last three weeks, global markets have been obsessed with economic paralysis that is quickly spreading across Asia, Europe, and the Americas. An economic shock combined with a virus outbreak is what triggered a macro matters moment for investors, who sold first and are asking questions later, as it appears a global trade recession could be on the horizon.

ANGELA MERKEL issued a chilling warning that as many as 60 to 70 percent of Germans could be infected with the lethal coronavirus.

The new American-led “Defender of Europe” exercise, which is months long and lasts from February until July, involves over 20,000 American troops – more than those of all its NATO allies put together, and more than at any time in the past quarter-century.

Although United States officials do not say it is designed to counter the mythical Russian threat, the demonstration of US force capability comes after years of piecemeal reinforcements of NATO’s eastern flank following Russia’s reunification with Crimea in March 2014.

It is no coincidence that Germany was chosen as the main site for the exercises. It’s no less remarkable that 20,000 troops, passing through Germany, will be relocated to Poland. It’s well known that Poland is an outpost of the anti-Russian policy of the West and a conductor of US ideas. These teachings are also one of the ways of imposing moral, if not military, pressure, and not so much on Russia as on Europe.

Thousands of protesters marched in Germany calling for open borders and for the European Union to allow thousands of migrants to flow into the bloc from Turkey.

Outside German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s official residence in Berlin, approximately 3,000 protesters gathered on Tuesday evening, with matching protests being held in Hamburg and Potsdam, calling for the EU to “open the border in Greece”.

The protesters chanted “we have space!” and called the 2016 agreement between the EU and Turkey to halt the flow of migration as “toxic”, according to DW.

A poll has claimed that just one in five Germans are confident that Angela Merkel’s government can handle a widespread outbreak of the coronavirus.

The survey, which was conducted by polling firm INSA for German tabloid Bild, showed that close to half (44 per cent) of the German public said they do not trust Merkel’s government to have made all the necessary preparations for an outbreak.

While confidence in the government’s preparedness is higher among men than women, only 23 per cent of men trust in the ability of the government.

AfD leader Tino Chrupalla was injured during an arson attack on his car on Monday night. Enemies of Chrupalla set fire to his Volkswagen Caddy that was parked on his property in Görlitz, a town in eastern Germany not far from the Polish border.

When attempting to put the fire out, the AfD leader – who last November was nominated by Alexander Gauland to replace him as co-chairman – inhaled toxic fumes and had to be treated at the hospital for several hours for smoke poisoning, German weekly newspaper Junge Freiheit reports.

The U.S. military is bracing for coronavirus cases to rise in Germany, potentially putting thousands of troops on lockdown or restricted movement, according to the head of U.S. European Command.

Eight German lawmakers from the country's Left Party have filed a criminal complaint against German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her government for complicity in US assassination of Iran's General Qassem Soleimani.

The complaint claims that the US Air force's Ramstein base in western Germany, believed to be used to control drones over Africa and the Middle East, was part of the operation that led to the general's assassination.

The coronavirus outbreak has seen financial markets around the world tumbling once again yesterday. The Dow Jones index saw its biggest one-day points loss in history, losing 1191. It’s down 9.7 percent so far this week, which is the worst week since the financial crisis. Mohamed El-Erian, one of the world’s most famous investors and now Chief Economic Adviser for financial services company Allianz, spoke to the BBC’s Today show about the further impact that the crisis could have on world markets, predicting some bad news for Angela Merkel’s German economy.

Germany’s health minister said Wednesday that the country was “at the beginning of an epidemic” as authorities in the west tested dozens of people who had contact with a couple infected with the coronavirus gaining a foothold in Europe.

Germany has been bracing for an increase in confirmed cases since the number of infected people spiked Friday in nearby Italy. The testing in western Germany came after a 47-year-old man with the virus was hospitalized in serious condition in Duesseldorf.

The man’s wife, who works in a kindergarten, was also confirmed to have contracted the virus. A soldier in the German air force who had contact with the hospitalized man also has tested positive, Col. Rainer Volb, acting head of the German military hospital in Koblenz.

German Health Minister Jens Spahn has said that his country is facing a “coronavirus epidemic.” Since breaking out in northern Italy, the deadly COVID-19 virus has spread to more than a dozen European countries.

“We are at the beginning of a coronavirus epidemic in Germany,” the minister told reporters in Berlin on Wednesday. Spahn added that infection chains can no longer be tracked in Germany, and called on hospitals and employers to review their pandemic planning.

A new instance of the deadly infection confirmed in the state of Nordrhein-Westfalen on Tuesday brought to 18 the number of cases recorded in Germany.

German Health Minister Jens Spahn has said that his country is facing a “coronavirus epidemic.” Since breaking out in northern Italy, the deadly COVID-19 virus has spread to more than a dozen European countries.
“We are at the beginning of a coronavirus epidemic in Germany,” the minister told reporters in Berlin on Wednesday. Spahn added that infection chains can no longer be tracked in Germany, and called on hospitals and employers to review their pandemic planning.

A new instance of the deadly infection confirmed in the state of Nordrhein-Westfalen on Tuesday brought to 18 the number of cases recorded in Germany.

Spahn claimed earlier that “detection and containment” efforts in Europe were working to hold back the spread of the virus, but an explosion of cases in northern Italy and at least 13 other European countries have forced him to reevaluate the situation. At his last press conference on Tuesday, Spahn admitted “it could get worse before it gets better.”

A silver Mercedes was intentionally driven into a crowd during a parade in the central German town of Volksmarsen on Monday, according to police, injuring around 30 people. One suspect has been arrested.

The incident unfolded at around 2:30pm local time during a Carnival procession in the town, when the silver station wagon ran through a barrier and plunged into the crowd, German media reports.

Germany is on the brink of recession as its auto industry hits a 22 year low. Tesla - and the EV movement - has disrupted the backbone of Germany's economy.