GERMANY

A Tokyo company whose lunar lander slammed into the moon says a software issue and a last-minute switch in the touchdown location led to the crash.

German police have been left red-faced after a member of the public was able to slip into a VIP convoy for Chancellor Olaf Scholz and then give him a hearty hug as he prepared to board a plane at Frankfurt Airport.

Shares are mostly lower in Europe and Asia as investors watch for signs of progress on a deal to avert a default on U.S. government debt.

The German economy has shrunk unexpectedly in the first three months of this year, marking the second quarter of contraction that is one definition of recession.

Switzerland’s executive branch has thrown its weight behind a proposal to decommission 25 out-of-service Leopard 2 battle tanks that Germany’s government wants returned to the German manufacturer to help Berlin plug gaps in its arsenal after it shipped weapons to Ukraine.

Police searching for clues regarding the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, the British child who went missing in 2007 in Portugal, are concentrating operations in several areas around a dam including one where media reports say a lead suspect in the case often stayed.

Prosecutors in Germany say authorities have raided 15 properties across the country and seized assets in an investigation into the financing of protests by the Last Generation climate activist group.

Germany’s government is facing a major test after two junior partners in Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s three-party coalition sparred publicly over a key element in the country’s ambitious climate policy.

Portuguese police say they'll resume searching for Madeleine McCann, the British toddler who disappeared in the Algarve region in 2007, in the next few days.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has sharply criticized climate activists as “nutty” for drastic protests such as blocking streets or gluing themselves to famous paintings in museums.

The head of Germany’s domestic intelligence agency is warning of a rise in anti-government extremism fueled by authoritarian states such as Russia that seek to divide society and topple the government.

The leaders of South Korea and Germany have pledged more cooperation in building stable supply chains and addressing the challenges posed by nuclear-armed North Korea.

A German court has convicted a Jesuit priest of coercion in connection with a climate protest last year and ordered him to pay a small fine.

The former head of Volkswagen’s luxury division Audi has pleaded guilty to charges tied to the automaker’s diesel emissions scandal.

A German court has convicted five men over the theft of 18th-century jewels worth more than 100 million euros from a Dresden museum in 2019.

The European Union has approved Microsoft’s $69 billion purchase of video game maker Activision Blizzard.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will make a surprise visit to Paris for talks Sunday night with French President Emmanuel Macron, extending a multi-stop European tour that has elicited fresh pledges of additional military support as his country gears up for a counteroffensive against Russian occupation forces.

Voters are going to the polls in Germany’s northern state of Bremen to decide Sunday whether the center-left Social Democrats can continue to run a city they’ve governed since World War II.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in Berlin early Sunday for talks with German leaders about further arms deliveries to help his country fend off the Russian invasion and rebuild what’s been destroyed by more than a year of devastating conflict.

A labor union representing more than 200,000 railway workers in Germany says it is cancelling plans for a two-day strike after employers met one of its key demands.

A crucial radar antenna on a spacecraft bound for Jupiter is no longer jammed.

The Biden administration has approved an $8.5 billion sale of Chinook helicopters to NATO ally Germany.

German police say a 51-year-old man who was left tied up in the woods when a sex game went awry had a lucky escape, after a cyclist and a hunter heard his screams for help.

Germany’s energy minister has announced plans to ease bureaucratic hurdles for solar power as the country set a new record for photovoltaic installations during the first quarter.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has offered support to African countries to get a permanent seat in the U.

Senior officials from dozens of nations meeting in Berlin remain divided on how to meet international climate goals.

A Jesuit priest and a scientist are appearing before a court in Munich charged with coercion in connection with a climate protest last year.

Police across Europe have arrested dozens of people, raided homes and seized 25 million euros in assets in a joint effort to crack down on Italy’s ’ndrangheta organized crime syndicate.

Germany has called for governments around the world to work on setting an ambitious target for renewable energy that would “ring in the end of the fossil fuel age” and help prevent dangerous global warming.

Climate activists are staging a 10th straight day of protests in Berlin.

The German government has doubled its growth forecast this year for the Europe’s largest economy after the country made it through the winter without major energy problems.

Freddie Mercury’s extensive collection of costumes, fine art, and even hand-written working lyrics to “We Are the Champions” and “Killer Queen,” will be auctioned in September.

Germany’s Viessmann Group is selling its heat pump business, viewed as a key technology in making heating more climate-friendly, to Florida-based Carrier Global Corp. as part of a 12 billion-euro ($13.2 billion) deal.

Sweden has informed Russia that five employees of the Russian Embassy in Stockholm were asked to leave the country because they were suspected of spying.

A key measure of German business optimism rose in April for the seventh month in a row amid lower natural gas prices and the reopening of the Chinese economy after COVID-19 restrictions.

German climate activists were temporarily bringing traffic to a standstill in Berlin by gluing themselves to roads all over the capital.

Members of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s party have narrowly approved a local coalition deal in Berlin with Germany’s main center-right opposition party.

Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin says the American military has deployed forces and is developing options to assist in the potential evacuation of U.S. Embassy personnel from Sudan.

German climate activists best known for bringing traffic to a standstill by gluing themselves to the road instead staged a rare protest on the move Friday, marching through Berlin and causing gridlock in parts of the capital.

A German court has convicted a 30-year-old man who drove into groups of pedestrians in Berlin last year of one count of murder and 16 of attempted murder, ordering him to be permanently held in a psychiatric hospital.

Karl Lagerfeld transformed Chanel from frumpy to modern.

Erling Haaland has scored for Manchester City to advance to a Champions League semifinal against Real Madrid with a 1-1 draw against Bayern Munich in the second leg of their quarterfinal.

The German government is seeking to reassure homeowners that plans to phase out gas or oil heating systems will provide generous transition periods and take into account hardship cases.

Ukraine's defense minister says U.S.-made Patriot missiles have arrived in Ukraine.

A German labor union is calling for railway workers to stage an eight-hour strike on Friday to back calls for an inflation-busting pay raise.

The presidents of Germany, Poland and Israel, joined by Holocaust survivors and their descendants, are marking the 80th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.

Police say the former home of a man serving a life sentence for killing and eating an acquaintance in a case that appalled Germany two decades ago has burned down.

The CEO and co-owner of media company Axel Springer apologized Sunday for making crude remarks about “East Germans” in text messages leaked to a rival newspaper.

Energy and environment ministers of the Group of Seven wealthy nations have vowed to work to hasten the shift toward cleaner, renewable energy, but set no timetable for phasing out coal-fired power plants.

Germany has switched off its three remaining nuclear power plants as part of a long-planned transition toward renewable energy.

Germany is shutting down its last three nuclear power plants on Saturday as part of an energy transition agreed to by successive governments.

Russian threats to nuke Ukraine.

Official figures show that Germany's imports from Russia fell by more than 90% in the first year of Moscow’s war in Ukraine, largely as a result of the collapse of Russian energy deliveries to Europe’s biggest economy.

The German government has dismissed calls for a last-minute delay in shutting down the country's last three nuclear power plants this weekend.

Germany's government has presented scaled-back plans to liberalize the country’s rules on cannabis.

Germany’s justice minister has launched plans to relax the country’s strict restrictions on family names — for example, allowing couples to take double-barreled surnames and pass them on to their children.

Firefighters say they have freed an “uncooperative” squirrel that was stuck in a manhole cover in western Germany.

British antitrust regulators have started investigating Amazon’s purchase of robot vacuum maker iRobot, adding further scrutiny to the $1.7 billion deal.

The capacity to burn coal for power went up in 2022 despite global promises to phase down the fuel that’s the biggest source of planet-warming gases in the atmosphere, a report Wednesday found.

King Charles III won plenty of hearts during his three-day visit to Germany, his first foreign trip since becoming king following the death of his mother, Elizabeth II, last year.

Inflation in the 20 countries that use the euro currency have slowed to the lowest level in a year.

Disney Cruise Line reaches key construction milestone on Disney Treasure

King Charles III has arrived in Germany for his first foreign trip as Britain's monarch.

The U.N. Security Council has declined a Russian request to investigate the blasts on the pipelines that move natural gas from Russia to Europe under the Baltic Sea.

The remains of a U.S. airman whose plane was shot down over Germany during World War II have been accounted for.

German weekly Der Spiegel is reporting that Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II asked her hosts for a gift of two horses during her state visit to Germany in 1978.

Trains, planes and public transit systems stood still across much of Germany on Monday as labor unions called a major one-day strike over salaries in an effort to win inflation-busting raises for their members.

An increased number of travelers in Germany have boarded trains and planes to avoid a major one-day strike Monday that aims to bring the country’s transportation system to a standstill.

German news agency dpa says Lufthansa’s operations have been disrupted at Frankfurt airport because of technical problems.

Germany and the European Union say they have reached an agreement in their dispute over the future of cars with combustion engines, allowing the registration of new vehicles with such engines even after 2035 if they use climate-neutral fuel only.

Berlin voters on a proposal Sunday that would force the German capital to drastically ramp up its climate goals.

King Charles III’s first state visit as monarch has been scaled back, dashing hopes for a triumphal tour to win hearts and minds abroad just as his mother did so successfully during her 70 years on the throne.

Thousands of bone fragments, which may include the remains of victims of Nazi crimes, have been buried after they were found on a Berlin university campus where an institute for anthropology and eugenics was once located.

Scientists have pulled DNA from Ludwig van Beethoven's hair to look for clues about his many health problems and hearing loss.

The European Union's top diplomat says the 27-nation bloc and Norway have endorsed a fast-track procedure to supply badly-needed artillery shells to Ukraine.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida have agreed to strengthen economic and defense ties.

German officials say the country’s education and research minister is making an official trip to Taiwan next week.

The U.K. defense ministry says British and German air force fighter jets were scrambled to intercept a Russian aircraft flying close to Estonian airspace.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has suggested that his country could soon ratify Finland’s application to join NATO.

Germany’s defense industry says it stands ready to supply Ukraine with much-needed arms and ammunition, but needs clarity about what the country requires before investing in further production capacity.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz has expressed pride that the German antiwar movie “All quiet on the Western Front” won four Oscars, including best international film.

“All Quiet on the Western Front” has won an Oscar for best international film.

A timeline of the shooting at a Jehovah’s Witnesses hall in the German city of Hamburg on Thursday evening, according to information provided by authorities on Friday.

The humble egg has become a star performer for all the wrong reasons as inflation has hit households across the European Union extremely hard over the year.

Authorities say a gunman stormed a service at his former Jehovah’s Witnesses congregation in Hamburg, killing six people before taking his own life after police arrived.

Several people were killed and injured Thursday night after shots were fired inside a building where Jehovah’s Witnesses met in the northern German city of Hamburg, officials said.

Women in Berlin will soon be allowed to go topless, like men, at the city’s public pools.

It’s a major international mystery with global consequences: Who was behind the explosions that damaged the Nord Stream gas pipelines last year in the Baltic Sea.

Germany’s defense minister has voiced caution over media reports that a pro-Ukraine group was involved in blowing up the Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea last year.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz says his country faces considerable challenges, but also opportunities, in the coming years as it seeks to transform toward a green economy with a shrinking workforce.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz says there would be “consequences” if China sends weapons to Russia for Moscow’s war in Ukraine, but he’s fairly optimistic that Beijing will refrain from doing so.

“All Quiet on the Western Front,” Germany’s entry at the Academy Awards, shows the horrors of World War I from the unique perspective of the nation that triggered and lost two world wars.

King Charles III will travel to France and Germany for his first state visits since becoming monarch, underscoring Britain’s efforts to build bridges with its European neighbors.

The Swiss government says Germany wants to buy mothballed Leopard 2 battle tanks from Switzerland to replace tanks that Berlin and its Western allies are sending to Ukraine.

U.S. President Joe Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz have met privately in the Oval Office for more than an hour after declaring themselves in “lockstep” on maintaining pressure on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

U.S. airlines have made steady improvements to their overall accident rate in recent years.

Hungary is further delaying a vote on ratifying Sweden and Finland’s NATO accession bids.

Officials say a Lufthansa flight that experienced “significant turbulence” was diverted to Washington Dulles International Airport and seven people on board were taken to area hospitals.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has called on China to refrain from sending weapons to Russia and instead use its influence to press Moscow for the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine.

Inflation has eased only slightly in the 20 countries that use the euro currency as the pain from higher costs for food and fuel persists.