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US Drone Assassinations Continue Despite German Effort To Restrict Them

A year after a German court issued a ruling that would have dramatically restricted U.S. drone operations in accordance with international law, no substantive changes have taken place, as the lawsuit that led to the March 2019 ruling is still stuck in the appeals process. The lawsuit, filed by Yemeni engineer Faisal bin Ali Jaber over the killing of two family members, alleges that the German government intentionally ignored U.S. forces’ use of Ramstein Air Base, near Mannheim, as a vital data transfer point in drone assassinations. Those drone operations often kill civilians in areas where the United States has not declared war — a category of attack that has been interpreted as being against international law. According to the human rights organization Reprieve, which also took part in the suit, the two people killed in the 2012 Yemen drone strike were Jaber’s brother-in-law, Salem, and his nephew, Waleed. The family had gathered for a wedding celebration.

First US Citizen Convicted For Protests At Nuclear Weapons Base In Germany

A US Air Force veteran of the US war in Vietnam and two other nuclear weapons protesters were found guilty of trespassing and damage to property in Cochem District Court May 11, 2020, as a result of July 2018 protest action at Germany’s Büchel Air Force Base, where the United States positions 20 of its nuclear bombs and where German pilots train to use them in possible attacks against Russia. There have been repeated arrests and detentions of US citizens during protests at the Büchel base since 2017, but no charges have been brought to trial until now. The judge sentenced all three to fines equivalent to 30 times their daily income plus court costs. The fines ranged from 150 to 900 Euros ($165 to $990). Refusing to pay could see the defendants jailed for up to 30 days. The three were among 18 war resisters.

COVID-19: How Germany Is Managing Its Outbreak

A recent work visit to Germany, where I grew up, stretched from one week to three. Those weeks coincided with the spread of the coronavirus in Germany as well as across Europe. What I saw while there is that Germany’s population is in a state of shock and still can’t quite grasp how this sudden turnaround of their lives happened. Only some two weeks ago, life seemed to proceed in a fairly normal way despite the looming crisis which appeared to be unreal and far away. I’m back now at my home in the U.S. From my perspective as a scholar of history and international affairs, what is happening in Germany right now is notable both as a lesson in how to prepare for and manage a pandemic as well as a reflection of the poor state of relations between Germany and the U.S.

US Drone Assassinations Continue Despite German Effort To Restrict Them

Berlin– A year after a German court issued a ruling that would have dramatically restricted U.S. drone operations in accordance with international law, no substantive changes have taken place, as the lawsuit that led to the March 2019 ruling is still stuck in the appeals process.

Defender And Spearheads

Alarm! Twelve thousand residents must immediately leave their homes! All hospital clinics must be evacuated! No exceptions! Hasten! “ Not in burning Australia nor a besieged town in Syria or Afghanistan, but on January 12th 2020 in the otherwise peaceful if no longer prosperous Dortmund, in Germany’s Ruhr Valley; once again, unexploded bombs were detected under a central street and needed delicate defusing. Peaceful life had again been disrupted by remnants of World War Two; Dortmund, on March 12th 1945, was hit by the heaviest air raid of the war, costing 6341 lives and most of its remaining buildings. Last week’s detonations went safely - but restated a sad fact: in dozens of cities people still fear leftovers of a war which ended 75 years ago.

Germany’s Green Energy Quest Stalls

LONDON, 8 January, 2020 – The city of Munich – one of Europe’s wealthiest urban conurbations – has expansive plans to tackle the fast-growing problems associated with climate change: its policies are a good example of Germany’s green energy quest, the Energiewende. At the end of last year Munich, Germany’s third largest city with a population of just under one and a half million, joined a rapidly expanding group of countries, cities, towns and councils around the world in declaring a climate emergency.

What It Pays To Starve The People + German Reflections

There's only so much you can take from someone. And with the recent plans to starve some 700,000 Americans, we may have reached that threshold. We dive to the bottom line to uncover the real impetus behind such legislation and the horrifying ways in which we spend money that could - and should – go to we the people. Next up, We don't shut up, we shut down – a message, parallels and lessons from a recent climate court case in Germany

Thousands Of Activists Stage Protests At Three German Coal Mines To Demand Bolder Climate Policies

On the heels of Friday's global youth-led climate strike, thousands of activists staged demonstrations at three coal mines in Germany Saturday to protest the government's plan to phase out coal by 2038, which activists say isn't soon enough. The German news agency dpa reported that "protesters ran into the Jänschwalde and Welzow-Süd open-cast mining sites in the eastern state of Brandenburg, as well as the United Schleenhain lignite mining area in neighboring Saxony." Ende Gelände (End of the Road), which helped organize the protests, said there were about 4,000 demonstrators total...

30 Years Later: Another View Of The Fall Of The Berlin Wall

The defeat of the GDR, despite its serious problems, did not mean that the system it was trying to develop, strengthen and improve – socialism – was proven false by its defeat. Berlin - Media jubilation reaches a climax on November 9th, thirty years after the bumbling, perhaps even misunderstood decision to open the gate for all East Germans to stream through, hasten to the nearest West Berlin bank for their “welcome present“ of 100 prized West German marks, and taste the joys of the western free market system.

Germans Demand All US Military Leave

A democratic socialist faction of the German parliament is demanding the United States withdraw all 35,000 American troops from their nation, claiming that a war with Russia is inevitable and that America’s mere presence is incompatible with Germany’s visions of peace. Known simply in English as “The Left” (In German, “Die Linke”) the party (which was founded in 2007) has claimed that America is responsible for illegal wars across the world, and that their presence within German borders is a violation of the peace doctrine enshrined in German law. “More than 35,000 US soldiers are stationed in Germany, more than in any other country in Europe,” the party said in a statement. The party also noted that the US has nuclear weapons in Germany, and that any pending escalations with Russia would undoubtedly find the German people in front-row seats to the third world war, whether they want to participate or not.

Because ‘A World Without Insects Is Not Worth Living In,’ Germany Announces Plan To Ban Glyphosate

The German government announced Wednesday it had agreed on a plan to phase out the use of glyphosate—the key chemical in the weedkiller Roundup—with a total ban set to begin by the end of 2023. "Way to go, Germany!" tweeted the U.S.-based advocacy group Organic Consumers Association. Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet agreed to the plan Wednesday. The proposal, reported Bloomberg, also says that the "government intends to oppose any request for the E.U. to renew the license to produce the weedkiller, according to a release by the environment ministry."

Action vs. U.S. Nuclear Weapons On German Soil

Eleven international peace activists entered the Büchel Air Base southwest of Frankfurt early this morning to deliver a self-named Treaty Enforcement Order declaring that the sharing of US nuclear weapons at the base is a “criminal conspiracy to commit war crimes.” Upon entering the base’s main gate with a printed “cease and desist order,” insisted on seeing the base commander to deliver the order in person. “We refuse to be complicit in this crime,” said Brian Terrell of Voices for Creative Nonviolence in Chicago, Illinois. “We call for the nuclear bombs to be returned to the US immediately...

Direct Action Shuts Down Coal Infrastructure In Germany

The marches from the Ende Gelände covered a fair amount of distance and stretched into the afternoon. As the marchers approached the train they were going to take to their destination, police turned them away from using transit, forcing them to begin a trek of several kilometers on foot. Police in riot gear pushed their way through the march at one point, which increased the feeling of tension in the crowd. The green and red “finger” combined during the journey, while the pink “finger” had reportedly already reached the site.

Because ‘Another World Is Possible,’ Tens Of Thousands Of Activists Stage Climate Mobilizations In Germany

Chanting “we are unstoppable, another world is possible,” thousands of activists in Germany set off Friday to occupy a coal mine as tens of thousands of other demonstrators mobilized in a separate German city as part of the swelling “Fridays for Future” climate actions. Activists Organizers with Ende Gelände (EG) mobilization say that roughly 4,000 people departed their protest camp in the western city of Viersen to head to the Garzweiler surface mine, operated by energy company RWE, some 12 miles (20 kilometers) away.

‘Sea Rescues Have Been Criminalized’ As German Boat Captain Faces 20 Years In Prison For Saving Refugees

A German boat captain faces a long and costly trial in Italy for charges targeting her humanitarian efforts on behalf of refugees. "Italy's fascists are using this case as a showcase to deter others from aiding migrants. They would prefer to let people drown in the Mediterranean." —Rula Jebreal. Captain Pia Klemp, 35, told Basler Zeitung on June 7 that her upcoming trial in Italy for years of efforts with the civilian lifeboat "Iuventa" that saved at least 1,000 lives will take years and hundreds of thousands of dollars. Klemp faces up to 20 years in prison, but, she said, whether or not she ends up in jail—she would challenge any conviction in the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France if necessary...
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