Paris, France | AFP | Say no to a handshake, refuse every peck on the cheek and definitely avoid hugging. Instead, try a direct gaze, or maybe a hand gesture. Around the world people are changing their habits at work, home and in worship to reduce the risk of contracting the …
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Frankfurt am Main, Germany | AFP | Ten thousand people are expected to join a demonstration Saturday in Erfurt, capital of Thuringia state in Germany’s former communist east, where far-right lawmakers last week helped install a new state premier. “Not with us! No pacts with fascists any time or anywhere!” is …
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Brussels, Belgium | AFP | Germany’s Ursula von der Leyen, who takes the reins of the European Commission on Sunday, is a loyal confidante of Chancellor Angela Merkel whom she served as defence minister for six difficult years. The political blue-blood, medical doctor and mother-of-seven was long considered a likely successor …
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Berlin, Germany | AFP | German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s centre-right CDU braces for a tumultuous two-day party congress in Leipzig from Friday, with members smarting from recent local election drubbings and bickering over her successor. Here’s a look at what’s ailing the Christian Democratic Union in the twilight of Merkel’s reign. …
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Berlin, Germany | AFP | US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and incoming EU chief Ursula von der Leyen issued stark warnings Friday that the West faces new challenges from Russia and China, on the eve of the 30th anniversary of the Berlin Wall’s fall. Urging Western allies to defend hard-won …
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Berlin, Germany | AFP | Germany on Saturday marks 30 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall that ushered in the end of communism and national reunification, as the Western alliance that helped secure those achievements is riddled with divisions. Two days before the date that brought epochal change, France’s …
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Paris, France | AFP | France’s Emmanuel Macron will hold talks Wednesday with Germany’s Angela Merkel for the second time in a week to chart a united front on issues ranging from Brexit to Syria ahead of this week’s EU summit. Macron goes into the two-day meeting in Brussels starting Thursday …
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Brussels, Belgium | AFP | Britain and the EU were seen to be closing in on a detailed draft Brexit deal on Tuesday, although officials voiced scepticism it would be ready in time for a key European summit this week. The pound jumped to its highest level in five months on …
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Brussels, Belgium | AFP | British and EU negotiators agreed Friday to intensify efforts to find a new Brexit withdrawal agreement, just days before a key European summit. European Union member states will review progress on Monday, following a meeting between influential leaders French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela …
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Welzow, Germany | AFP | Germany’s forests have long been treasured by its people, so the country has reacted with alarm and dismay as a beetle infestation has turned climate-stressed woodlands into brown ecological graveyards. After two unusually hot summers in a row, vast patches of the forests mythologised by …
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