Football: Colombia stun Germany at World Cup but New Zealand out in tears

 

SYDNEY, Australia -- Colombia scored a 97th-minute winner to stun Germany 2-1 on a night of Women's World Cup drama Sunday which also saw Norway and Switzerland into the last 16 but co-hosts New Zealand dumped out in tears.

Germany smashed Morocco 6-0 in their opener to underline why they were among the pre-tournament favorites, along with Spain and England, to snatch away the United States' crown.

But they came crashing back down to earth at the hands of a Colombia side inspired by 18-year-old Linda Caicedo and roared on by the majority of a rowdy 40,000 crowd in Sydney.

The Real Madrid attacker scored one of the best goals of the tournament so far, darting past two Germany defenders before curling the ball into the top corner to open the scoring.

Germany thought they had salvaged a point in the 89th minute when skipper Alexandra Popp defied the whistles to score from the penalty spot.

But with a pulsating game that deep into stoppage time appeared destined for a draw, Manuela Vanegas popped up to head home from close range and put Colombia on the verge of the last 16.

"Germany is a world power, that's a reality, but Colombia has been making great strides and today Colombia is a world power," said the defender Vanegas.

"I dreamed of scoring a goal in a World Cup, I knew it was going to come and I decided to do it for today's game."

Going into the last round of group matches, Colombia are top of Group H on six points, Germany and Morocco have three and South Korea have zero.

Germany's fate is still in their own hands when they face the Koreans next, with Colombia against Morocco.

Morocco won a Women's World Cup match for the first time after Ibtissam Jraidi struck early to give them a 1-0 victory over South Korea.

In the match, Moroccan defender Nouhaila Benzina became the first player to wear a hijab at the Women's World Cup.

- Norway through, New Zealand out -

Norway and Switzerland both emerged out of an excruciatingly tight Group A.

Former champions Norway thrashed the Philippines 6-0 in Auckland to squeeze into the last 16 on goal difference from New Zealand.

A full house in Dunedin saw the co-hosts held 0-0 by a stubborn Switzerland as the Football Ferns bowed out of their home tournament in tears.

The 1995 champions Norway needed a win and they did it in style against World Cup debutants the Philippines, who themselves were still in with a chance of reaching the knockouts.

Sophie Roman Haug scored a hat-trick as the Philippines' fairytale journey came to a shuddering halt.

With Norway well ahead, New Zealand now needed to beat Switzerland.

The hosts had the better of the first half with a string of chances, the pick of which saw forward Jacqui Hand rattle the post on 24 minutes.

As Norway chalked up the goals in Auckland, the New Zealanders upped the intensity, knowing only a win would be good enough to advance.

But the goal they so desperately needed never came.

"There are a lot of tears out there, but they should be so proud to finish on four points," captain Ali Riley said.

On Monday, Australia will hope to avoid the same fate as their co-hosts.

The Matildas must beat Olympic champions Canada to guarantee a place in the last 16 but are still sweating on their skipper and talismanic striker Sam Kerr.

She has declared herself available after a calf injury but it remains to be seen how much of a part she plays.

"Everyone involved in sport knows that with calf injuries it's one thing that you're available, but there's also risk when you come back from a muscle injury," said Australia's coach Tony Gustavsson.

Also in Group B, surprise-package Nigeria need just to avoid defeat against already-eliminated Ireland to progress.

Former champions Japan and title contenders Spain meet to decide who tops Group C with both already into the last 16.

Agence France-Presse

Football: Ruthless Germany hit six, Italy down Argentina late on at World Cup

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Alexandra Popp scored twice as Germany thrashed Morocco 6-0 to launch their Women's World Cup title bid in style Monday, while Italy triumphed in a feisty encounter with Argentina thanks to an 87th-minute winner.

In the last match of day five of the tournament in Australia and New Zealand, Brazil face debutants Panama hoping to make a statement of their own.

The lower-ranked teams at the first 32-team Women's World Cup have generally held their own so far, indicating a closing of the gap in women's international football.

But two-time champions Germany blew away Morocco -- the first Arab team at a Women's World Cup -- in Melbourne to record the biggest win of the tournament so far.

The Germans are among the favourites once again, along with holders the United States, England, Spain and France, and they showed why with a clinical performance in front of a near sell-out crowd of more than 27,000.

In their 32-year-old skipper Popp they have one of the best goal-scorers around and she took full advantage of some poor Morocco defending with simple close-range finishes.

Klara Buehl made it three straight after half-time to end the match as any kind of contest, before two own goals and a late sixth from Lea Schueller.

Colombia face South Korea on Tuesday also in Group H, in the final match of the first round of group games.

- Super sub -

Argentina had never won a game at the Women's World Cup after appearing at three previous finals -- and the wait goes on after going down 1-0 to Italy in a fiery clash that yielded six yellow cards.

Juventus veteran Cristiana Girelli was Italy's heroine, coming on as a substitute in the 83rd minute and scoring the winner with a superb header just four minutes later in front of nearly 31,000 fans in Auckland.

"I am really happy for me and my teammates because we deserved the victory," said Girelli, who scored a hat-trick against Jamaica at the 2019 World Cup.

"To win in that way, even though we had to suffer, is important," added the 33-year-old, surely now a contender to start the next match against Sweden even if she had no complaints about being an impact substitute.

"If all the games are like this then there is no problem," she said.

"Honestly, obviously every player wants to play 90 minutes, but I will settle for every game being like that. The main thing was the victory."

Argentina coach German Portanova felt the result at Eden Park was harsh on his side.

"It was a very even match," he said. "At times we controlled it and they did not have many opportunities.

"The result was somewhat unfair. A draw would have been the right score."

- Party-poopers -

South Korea and Colombia play first on Tuesday, before co-hosts New Zealand return to action when they face debutants the Philippines in Wellington.

South Korea coach Colin Bell is keen to protect 16-year-old United States-born attacker Casey Phair from "hype" ahead of her potential debut.

Phair is not expected to start against Colombia but could be a secret weapon off the bench if they are chasing the game.

"She did very well when she came in training with two other young players that we had," the 61-year-old Bell said.

"So now she's in the squad, then we just take it day by day, so I don't really want to hype up a young player too much before she's even played."

New Zealand defeated Norway 1-0 in the tournament opener -- their first win at the 16th try in the World Cup -- and are on a high as they eye a place in the knockout rounds.

The Philippines lost 2-0 to Switzerland in their first game but were not outclassed and their Australian coach Alen Stajcic is relishing silencing the home crowd.

"We want to crash the party. It's not really their party -- it's everyone's, ours as well," he said.

In the third match on Tuesday, Switzerland play former champions Norway in the New Zealand city of Hamilton.

Agence France-Presse

Football: England rally in six-goal Germany thriller to ease pressure on Southgate

LONDON -- Gareth Southgate hopes England will feel the benefit of being put under intense pressure in recent days at the World Cup after fighting back from 2-0 down to salvage a 3-3 draw against Germany on Monday.

The Three Lions had already been relegated from the top tier of the Nations League and will head to Qatar on a six-game winless run.

The knives were being sharpened for Southgate after his faith in Harry Maguire backfired for two German goals early in the second half.

Centre-back Maguire has been publicly backed by the England boss despite being dropped at club level by Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag.

Ilkay Gundogan slotted home the opener from the penalty spot after Maguire gifted possession to Jamal Musiala and then chopped down the Bayern Munich midfielder.

Kai Havertz then curled brilliantly into the top corner after Maguire was dispossessed in the German half.

England had failed to score from open play in any of their opening five games in Group A3.

But two goals in three minutes transformed the atmosphere around Wembley and the scrutiny on Southgate's position heading to Qatar.

Luke Shaw was also restored to the starting line-up despite his lack of game time at United and started the fightback by volleying in at the back post.

Moments later, two of Southgate's substitutes combined to deadly effect as Bukayo Saka set up Mason Mount to curl home.

Harry Kane looked to have completed the turnaround from the penalty spot seven minutes from time after Nico Schlotterbeck's challenge on Jude Bellingham was punished following a VAR review.

Yet, there was more drama to come as Nick Pope spilled Serge Gnabry's shot and Havertz pounced on the rebound to snatch Germany a point.

- Relief for Southgate -

Despite the disappointment of a late equalizer, there was relief for Southgate that England's attack finally came to life after accusations that his conservative tactics were to blame for a lack of goals.

"The whole experience has been what we needed," said Southgate, who had been booed by England fans after a 1-0 defeat to Italy in Milan on Friday.

"You are going to have pressure in a World Cup. You can try to avoid pressure, but it's coming.

"It's better that we feel it and know how we deal with it. The players reacted in the right way - we showed character but a lot of quality."

The home side had plenty of chances to end their goal drought even in a scoreless first half.

Raheem Sterling twice shot too close to Marc-Andre ter Stegen with just the German goalkeeper to beat, while Kane would have had a tap in but for a poor cross from Phil Foden.

Germany were seeking to bounce back from their first defeat under Hansi Flick after their hopes of reaching the Nations League final four were ended by losing 1-0 at home to Hungary on Friday.

"We made individual mistakes - it can't happen that we give away a lead like that," said a frustrated Flick. "But we came back, that's the positive. There's some work for us to do, but we're optimistic."

Germany came alive after the break with Musiala, who played for England at youth level, particularly impressive.

Dutch referee Danny Makkelie needed the assistance of VAR to see Maguire's mistimed challenge on Musiala as he tried to atone for his error in giving the ball away.

Gundogan coolly slotted into the bottom corner and it seemed game over when Havertz arrowed home his shot from outside the box with 23 minutes to go.

However, three goals in 11 minutes got the England support back on side and gave the team some impetus to build on heading to Qatar.

Any doubt over who Southgate will start in goal against Iran on November 21 appears to over though, as long as Jordan Pickford has recovered from a thigh injury that kept him out of this squad.

Pope has impressed in his early weeks as Newcastle's new number one, but would have done much better to palm Gnabry's shot to safety and Havertz took full advantage.

Agence France-Presse

Germany faces recession as energy crisis bites: think-tank

FRANKFURT, Germany - Germany will fall into recession next year, a leading think-tank warned Monday, with Europe's biggest economy facing soaring inflation as Russia slashes energy supplies.

The Ifo institute expects the German economy to shrink 0.3 percent in 2023 -- slashing its forecast by four percentage points from a previous prediction in June.

Inflation is expected to hit 8.1 percent this year and 9.3 percent next year, it said. 

"We are heading into a winter recession," said Timo Wollmershaeuser, Ifo's head of forecasts.

"The cuts in gas supplies from Russia over the summer and the drastic price increases they triggered are wreaking havoc on the economic recovery following the coronavirus."

Real household incomes and purchasing power will drop sharply, the think-tank warned.

There is likely to be a "return to normal" in 2024 with 1.8 percent growth and 2.5 percent inflation, Wollmershaeuser said. 

At the start of September, Russian energy giant Gazprom halted gas deliveries to Europe via the key Nord Stream 1 pipeline saying it would be under repair for an unspecified period. 

The shutdown accentuates an energy crisis in Germany, long reliant on Russian gas, and across Europe, with Moscow accused of using energy as a weapon amid tensions over the Ukraine war.

German inflation hit 7.9 percent in August, and earlier this month the government unveiled a new multi-billion-euro relief package to help households cope with soaring prices.

Last week, the European Central Bank hiked interest rates by a record 75 basis points as its seeks to battle sky-high inflation across the eurozone and said more increases were to come. 

Agence France-Presse

Gazprom halts pipeline gas flow in new jitters for Europe

LUBMIN, Germany - Russian energy giant Gazprom suspended gas deliveries to Germany for maintenance on a major pipeline on Wednesday, the latest in a series of supply halts that have fuelled an energy crisis in Europe.

Gazprom said supplies via Nord Stream 1 were "completely stopped" for "preventative work" at a compressor unit, shortly after the pipeline's operator, Entsog, announced that deliveries had stopped.

The move comes as European countries have faced soaring energy prices since Russia invaded Ukraine in late February and subsequently curbed its gas deliveries to the region.

Germany, which is heavily dependent on Russian gas, has accused Moscow of using energy as a "weapon".

But Gazprom has said the three-day maintenance work was "necessary" and had to be be carried out after "every 1,000 hours of operation".

Germany's Federal Network Agency chief Klaus Mueller has called it a "technically incomprehensible" decision, warning that it was likely just a pretext by Moscow to wield energy supplies as a threat.

Experience shows that Moscow "makes a political decision after every so-called maintenance", he said, adding that "we'll only know at the beginning of September if Russia does that again". 

With winter around the corner, European consumers are staring down the barrel of huge power bills. Some countries like France have warned that rationing is a possibility.

The European Union is preparing to take emergency action to reform the electricity market in order to bring galloping prices under control, with energy ministers scheduled to hold extraordinary talks next week.

Asked if gas supplies would resume after the three-day works were completed on Saturday, Russian government spokesman Dmitry Peskov said "there is a guarantee that, apart from technical problems caused by sanctions, nothing interferes with supplies".

Western capitals "have imposed sanctions against Russia, which do not allow for normal maintenance, repair work", he added, in what appeared to hint at a replay of an earlier round of start-stop rigmarole.

Gazprom had already carried out 10 days of long-scheduled maintenance works in July. While it restored gas flows following the works, it drastically dwindled supplies just days later, claiming a technical issue on a turbine.

The Russian company insists that a key turbine could not be sent to Russia because of sanctions on Moscow. But Germany, where the turbine was located, has said Moscow was itself in fact blocking the turbine's delivery to Russia.

An official at Gascade, which operates the distribution network within Germany, also viewed Gazprom's latest actions sceptically.

"In July, it was regular maintenance planned for a long time by Nord Stream 1, this time it was not planned and we don't know what is behind this operation," the official said on condition of anonymity.

A day ahead of the new shutdown, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Germany was now "in a much better position" in terms of energy security, having achieved its gas storage targets far sooner than expected.

Europe as a whole was also getting a march on filling its gas storage tanks. On Sunday, storage levels were already at 79.9 percent of capacity in the EU.

At the same time, fears over throttled supplies have also driven companies to slash their energy usage.

Germany's industry consumed 21.3 percent less gas in July than the average for the month from 2018 to 2021, said the Federal Network Agency.

Mueller has said such pre-emptive action "could save Germany from a gas emergency this winter".

And Europe's biggest economy was already racing to turn its back on Russian gas. 

At the German coastal city of Lubmin, where Nord Stream 1 comes onshore, plans are already well underway for the switch to liquefied natural gas (LNG).

The LNG, transported in by ships, will arrive at Lubmin's industrial port and be converted back into gas and pumped into Gascade's distribution network, which has so far been used to funnel Russian gas around the country.

"We expect to be able to inject gas into the distribution network on December 1," said Stephan Knabe of Deutsche ReGas -- the company managing the LNG project.

The company believes that up to 4.5 billion cubic meters of gas can be imported via the Lubmin LNG terminal alone, making up around eight percent of Nord Stream 1's capacity.

Agence France-Presse

Football: Serial winner Wiegman helps England 'change society' in Euro triumph

WEMBLEY, United Kingdom -- England women's manager Sarina Wiegman hailed the impact her players have made in changing perceptions beyond the pitch after the Lionesses won a major tournament for the first time at Euro 2022.

In front of a record crowd of 87,000 at Wembley for a European Championship match, the hosts were roared over the line to beat Germany 2-1 after extra-time.

"Winning is what we are here for, we try to win and do our job as good as possible," said Wiegman. "But through football you can make little changes in society and that is what we hope for."

Queen Elizabeth II was among those to pay tribute to the England squad for providing "inspiration for girls and women today, and for future generations."

Chloe Kelly and Ella Toone became national heroes by coming off the bench to score the goals as not for the first time in the tournament, Wiegman's substitutions changed the course of the game.

Five years on from leading her native Netherlands to their breakthrough on the international stage in the women's game at Euro 2017, Wiegman repeated the trick to inspire another home nation.

In between times, the former PE teacher also led the Dutch to the 2019 World Cup final.

Her commitments to taking the Netherlands to last year's Tokyo Olympics meant England had to wait over a year between her appointment in August 2020 and her first match in charge in September last year. Twenty games into her reign, England are yet to taste defeat.

"When I took the job you hope one thing, we knew there was quality and such big potential in this country," she added. "My challenge was to bring people together from another country and it worked out. It's something you dream of and hope for."

- Powerful message -

Wiegman's ability to foster a team spirit capable of capturing the heart of a nation was even more remarkable as she revealed her sister died leading up to the tournament.

"I'm kissing this little armband that was my sister's and my sister passed away during our prep camps," she said. "That's a really big miss because she's my mate, but I think she was here, I think she was on the crossbar.

"She would have been here. She went to every game so she would have been really proud of me and I was really proud of her too."

England's female footballers are now the pride of the nation and have a powerful message to share on changing perceptions.

"For every change of judgement or perception or opening the eyes of somebody who views women as somebody with the potential to be equal to her male counterpart, I think that makes change in society," said England captain Leah Williamson.

"The strides that we take forward can impact everybody on that wider scale."

The next stride on the field for the Lionesses is to next year's World Cup with Wiegman already wary of expectations "going through the roof."

But their immediate plan is a big party with a victory parade planned for London's Trafalgar Square on Monday.

After a 56-year wait to win a major tournament in either the men's or women's game, England has earned the right to revel in football finally coming home.

Agence France-Presse

Football: Germany see off Spain to reach Euro quarters

BRENTFORD, United Kingdom -- Germany booked their place in the Euro 2022 quarter-finals as Klara Buhl and Alexandra Popp sealed a 2-0 win against Spain on Tuesday.

Martina Voss-Tecklenburg's side crushed Denmark 4-0 in their opening fixture, but had to show their more gritty side to see off Spain.

Germany had only two shots on target and just 30 percent of the possession, but their opportunistic finishing proved the difference at Brentford's Community Stadium.

Buhl gave Germany the perfect start with her third minute opener and Popp doubled the lead eight minutes before half-time.

Germany sit top of Group B with maximum points after two successive victories, while Spain are in second place with three points.

"We started by pressing very high which immediately brought us a goal at a very important moment in the match," Voss-Tecklenburg said.

"We put together a team ready to suffer who showed their resilience. We knew we wouldn't have possession but we wanted to make the best use of transitions and it's great that it worked so well tactically."

In the last eight, Group B winners Germany play the runners-up in Group A, which will be either Austria or Norway.

Bottom of the group Finland, beaten 1-0 by Denmark earlier on Tuesday, were eliminated by the result from the day's late game.

Spain were one of the pre-tournament favourites, but now sit level on points with Denmark, who they face on Saturday in a shoot-out to decide who will advance along with Germany.

"There were two big mistakes that we paid for, but we know how it is against Germany. We created more chances but didn't know how to take them," Spain boss Jorge Vilda said.

- Flying start -

Germany, eight-time European champions, were gifted the lead when Spain goalkeeper Sandra Panos tried to make a clearance from a routine back-pass but the ball struck Buhl, who turned inside Irene Paredes to drill a low shot into the bottom corner.

Spain were suddenly presented with a golden chance to score themselves when Lucia Garcia was played clear of a high German backline.

The Athletic Bilbao forward raced into the penalty area and took the ball wide of goalkeeper Merle Frohms, but sent her angled shot into the side netting.

Spain continued to press for an equaliser as Mariona Caldentey fired a dipping effort from the edge of the box just wide.

It was Germany, though, who were on target again seven minutes before half-time.

A corner was floated over into the six-yard box, where captain Alexandra Popp got up to flick in a backward header via a slight deflection.

Spain looked to regroup once more and went close again just before the break when Aitana Bonmati's chipped effort dropped just wide.

Wolfsburg forward Popp almost had a third for Germany soon after the restart when she headed wide at the back post from a corner.

Popp was centre stage again as the hour mark approached, going down under what looked like a tug on the front of her shirt from Spain captain Paredes as she aimed to run clear on goal.

French referee Stephanie Frappart waved play on and VAR did not overturn the decision.

Spain almost pulled a goal back with 18 minutes left when a deep ball was floated into the penalty area and Caldentey sent a volley goalwards, which was brilliantly tipped over by Frohms.

Agence France-Presse

German prosecutors raid Deutsche Bank in 'greenwashing' probe

German prosecutors raided Deutsche Bank offices in Frankfurt on Tuesday as part of a probe into allegations that the financial institution was marketing investment products as "greener" than they actually were.

Investigators were carrying out raids "on suspicion of investment fraud" at the offices of the bank and its asset management subsidiary DWS, Frankfurt prosectors said in a statement.

The searches related to "greenwashing accusations" at DWS, Deutsche Bank said in a statement.

DWS said it would "work together with all relevant regulators and authorities", according to the statement.

The accusations were based on "statements made by a former DWS employee" who became a whistleblower for US securities regulators in 2021, the prosecutors said.

Investigators had found "sufficient indications" that ESG (environmental, social and governance) standards were only taken into account "in a minority of investments" contrary to information in DWS's "sales prospectus", they said.

The probe was targeting "as yet unknown" employees at DWS, prosecutors said.

The asset manager is already under investigation by federal prosecutors in the US on suspicion of lying about the scale of their green investments.

ESG products have become a major asset class as financial institutions seek to bring their portfolios in line with global climate targets.

US securities regulators last week put forward proposals to tighten disclosure requirements on the rising number of ESG investments.

Seeking to address the problem of "greenwashing", the Securities and Exchange Commission said the measure was meant to avoid cases where a fund "could exaggerate its actual consideration of ESG factors."

Agence France-Presse

Dutch police arrest 3 over ATM bomb attacks

Dutch police have arrested three people over a string of bomb attacks on cash machines in Germany that netted nearly one million euros ($1.05 million), the EU's policing agency said Thursday.

The three suspected members of a criminal gang that targets automated teller machines (ATMs) were arrested on Tuesday in the cities of Haarlem and Vianen in the Netherlands, Europol said.

Often using stolen vehicles and working in the dead of night, the gang used explosives to break into eight ATMs in Germany in October and November 2021 and steal the cash inside, Europol said in a statement.

"With the support of Europol, the Dutch Police, working together with the German Police... has arrested three suspected members of a criminal gang responsible for a string of robberies targeting ATMs in Germany," Europol said.

German police arrested three other suspects back in March 2020 and are hunting another fugitive.

The ATM raids in Hessen, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Lower Saxony and Rhineland Palatinate in Germany netted over 958,000 euros in cash, Europol said.

The blasts also caused nearly one million euros of damage "demonstrating no insight into the risk of harm, or even possibility of death, to those who lived nearby or who were near the machines at the time."

Dutch and German police said in September 2021 that they had busted a criminal gang that made video tutorials on the increasingly popular method of raiding ATMs.

One suspect was killed and another wounded when a trial run at a so-called training centre for the explosive attacks went wrong in the Dutch city of Utrecht.

Agence France-Presse

Germany's COVID-19 death toll passes 100,000

FRANKFURT—Germany announced record coronavirus fatalities and infections Thursday as its total death toll passed 100,000, with its most severe virus wave yet breaking just as a new government prepares to take the reins.

Germany weathered earlier bouts of the pandemic better than many other European countries, but has seen a recent resurgence, with intensive care beds rapidly filling up. 

Europe's largest economy recorded 351 fatalities in the past 24 hours, bringing the total death toll since the start of the pandemic to 100,119, according to figures from the Robert Koch Institute, a public health agency. 

The weekly incidence rate also hit an all-time high of 419.7 new infections per 100,000 people, RKI announced. 

The escalating health crisis poses an immediate challenge to the new coalition government set to take over from Angela Merkel's cabinet next month. 

The spike in Germany comes as Europe has re-emerged as the pandemic's epicenter, with the continent battling sluggish vaccine uptake in some nations, the highly contagious Delta variant, colder weather moving people indoors and the easing of restrictions. 

Last week, more than 2.5 million cases and almost 30,000 COVID-related deaths were recorded in Europe, making it by far the region currently worst hit by the virus, according to AFP's tally. 

'ACUTE OVERLOAD'

In a sign of the severity of the virus wave hitting Germany, its health sector has had to call on hospitals elsewhere in the EU for help.

Some hospitals are already facing an "acute overload" that has made it necessary to transfer COVID-19 patients abroad, according to Gernot Marx, head of the German Interdisciplinary Association for Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine.

Germany last week announced tougher restrictions, including requiring people to prove they are vaccinated, have recovered from COVID-19 or have recently tested negative for the virus before they can travel on public transport or enter workplaces. 

Several of the worst-hit areas have gone further, cancelling large events like Christmas markets and barring the unvaccinated from bars, gyms and leisure facilities.

The spike has ignited a fierce debate about whether to follow Austria's example and make vaccination mandatory for all citizens.

Incoming chancellor Olaf Scholz has voiced support for compulsory vaccinations for health staff, and said that his government would "do everything necessary to bring our country safely through this time". 

"The situation is serious," said Scholz's Social Democrats after announcing a coalition agreement with the Greens and the FDP liberals on Wednesday.

Earlier this week, outgoing Chancellor Merkel, who is retiring from politics after 4 terms, summoned the new center-left-led alliance's top brass for pandemic talks. 

Scholz said his new government would invest one billion euros in bonuses for health-care workers on the frontlines of the pandemic. 

But his critics accused him of lacking the urgency needed to tackle the national catastrophe. 

"It sounded like he wanted to be the leader of the Hamburg health authorities," snapped Spiegel online. 

Germany's COVID-19 crisis has in part been blamed on its relatively low vaccination rate of about 69 percent, compared to other Western European countries such as France, where it is 75 percent.

The country has urged all inoculated adults to get a booster to combat waning efficacy after 6 months.

Agence France-Presse

Germany Oktoberfest cancelled again over coronavirus

 

Germany is cancelling its iconic Oktoberfest beer festival for the second year running due to the coronavirus pandemic, Bavaria's state premier Markus Soeder said Monday.

The Oktoberfest, which draws around 6 million visitors annually from around the world in late September to October, was cancelled in 2020 for the first time since World War II.

"In the classic beer tents at the big festivals, social distancing, masks and other measures are practically impossible to implement," Soeder said after a meeting with Munich mayor Dieter Reiter.

"The situation is too precarious," he added. "Imagine there was a new wave and it then became a superspreader event. The brand would be damaged forever and we don't want that."

Reiter said the cancellation was "a great pity" for the millions of fans of the festival, with "existential consequences" for people's livelihoods.

But the pair said they hoped the festival, which generates around 1.2 billion euros ($1.4 billion) annually for the local economy, will return in 2022.

The event, where beer-swilling punters in traditional costume typically dance on tables to classic German drinking songs, was scrapped last year because of the pandemic.

And it has previously fallen victim to epidemics with cholera keeping the beer tents empty in 1854 and 1873. 

In its 211-year history, the festival, whose delicacies besides beer include roasted almonds and candyfloss, has been cancelled a total of 26 times.

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- 'Greatest calling card' -

Germany has been in some form of virus shutdown since November, with restaurants, bars, hotels and leisure facilities all feeling the pain from prolonged closures.

But with the vaccination effort picking up pace and new infection rates beginning to slow, talk has started to turn to the loosening of restrictions for vaccinated people and in areas with low incidence rates.

Under national containment measures introduced in April, areas with an incidence rate of less than 100 new infections per 100,000 people over the last seven days are allowed to open shops, restaurants, cinemas and other facilities to anyone who can provide a negative test.

Soeder had earlier announced plans for Bavaria to open restaurants, theatres, cinemas and beer gardens from next week in areas with incidence rates under 100.

Hotels, holiday homes and holiday apartments will also be allowed to welcome guests over the Whitsun holiday weekend in late May.

But Soeder said that under the "innumerable conditions" that would have to be in place for this year's Oktoberfest to go ahead, Bavaria could risk irreversible damage to its "greatest calling card".

Finance Minister Olaf Scholz had also earlier told the Funke media group there was "still not much to be said" for a large event like the Oktoberfest, despite the prospect of other restrictions being lifted.

"We should hold off on large crowds in a confined space for the time being," he said.

Hangovers are 'illness', German court rules 

Germany on Monday recorded 9,160 new infections in the past 24 hours and 84 deaths, according to the Robert Koch Institute health agency, with a national incidence rate of 146.9.

Agence France-Presse

As bodies pile up, Germany's eastern COVID hot spots struggle for answers

MEISSEN, Germany - For some in Meissen the caskets piling up in the eastern German city's sole crematorium are a tragic reminder of what happens when the coronavirus is not taken seriously. For others it is simply nature's way.

Meissen, along with other places across old East Germany that are generally poorer, older and more supportive of a far-right opposed to lockdown, are the worst hit by the pandemic in the country, complicating Chancellor Angela Merkel's efforts to bring it under control.

"It's heartbreaking," said manager Joerg Schaldach, whose furnaces cremated 1,400 bodies last month, double the figure from December last year. More than half had died of COVID-19 and Schaldach expects some 1,700 cremations in total this month.

"People are dying alone in hospital without a loved one holding their hand," added Schaldach, standing in the main hall cleared of chairs used for funeral services to make way for caskets. "People get just a phone call: 'deceased'. A farewell at the coffin is not possible, all they get is an urn."

Like many east German regions that had a relatively mild first wave, Saxony, home to Meissen and a stronghold of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, has the second highest 7-day incidence rate in Germany, almost double the national average of 136 per 100,000 people.

The neighbouring eastern state of Thuringia, where the AfD is also popular, is now Germany's worst hot spot, taking over from Saxony last week.

"If the Saxony government had acted earlier, we would have had the pandemic under control. But now we are a national problem," said Frank Richter, a lawmaker in the Saxony parliament for the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD).

"The pile of bodies in Meissen is bitter medicine against ignorance."

Detlev Spangenberg, an AfD lawmaker in the national parliament from Saxony, said the party should not be blamed.

"We've had a lockdown since November and the numbers are not going down. It's nothing to do with the AfD," he said late last week. "We are just saying that the collateral damage of lockdowns outweighs the benefits.

MISTAKES MADE

The governors of both Saxony and Thuringia had in September opposed efforts by Merkel to introduce restrictions after the summer in anticipation of a second wave of COVID-19, only to acknowledge recently that they had made an error in judgment.

On the deserted streets of Meissen, a city of 28,000 famed for it porcelain industry, people had different explanations for the dramatic surge in infections, ranging from naive complacency to skepticism partly promoted by the AfD.

"It sounds strange, but I noticed that young people follow rules like wearing a mask and keeping distance more than old people," said Jenna Schmidt, a 27-year-old waitress at a local restaurant shuttered since November.

"When numbers started to rise in October, you'd hear old people say, 'oh I'm too old, I'll die soon anyway'," said Schmidt, walking with her toddler in the snow in the main square that is usually bustling with tourists.

"It's attitudes like this that got us here."

At the crematorium, men working around the clock unloaded caskets marked with pieces of paper stating the deceased's name, date of birth and death and address. Almost all were in their late 60s or older. Some had lived in care homes.

"There is a lot of panic and hysteria," said Roswitha Zeidler, a 60-year-old who works as a cleaning lady in a hotel. "Old people die all the time. I'm sick and tired of all the restrictions and predictions. I just want my life back."

Merkel and state leaders will hold talks on Tuesday on whether more restrictions are needed when a hard lockdown expires on Jan. 31.

Germany, which imposed a lockdown in November that was tightened early last month, recorded just over 7,000 confirmed new infections on Monday and 214 deaths, roughly half the figures from a day earlier.

'OWN GOAL'

While limited testing and lower death reports at the weekend may have played a role, Health Minister Jens Spahn said the trend was downward but the numbers remained far too high.

Ute Czeschka, an independent member of the Meissen city council, said another factor that contributed to infections exploding in eastern German states like Saxony was their proximity to the Czech Republic and Poland, two hot spots on Germany's eastern border.

"Many of our health care workers and doctors come from hot spots like the Czech Republic," said Czeschka. "So this didn't help. But the main reason we got here is that, until recently, many people did not believe in the virus. Now they do."

SPD lawmaker Richter said that the skepticism of the coronavirus promoted by local AfD leaders, who during the summer showed up at anti-lockdown protests not wearing masks, had encouraged people to flout hygiene and distancing rules.

"Fighting a pandemic is like a team trying to win a soccer match," said Richter. "You can't win if some players are trying to score an own goal."

A study by the Forsa research institute found that only 19% of AfD supporters believed the federal government's information about the pandemic was credible and less than 30% of men who support the party followed distancing and hygiene rules.

This compared with 75% and 65% respectively for the whole population.

-reuters-

US to start vaccinating as Germany returns to partial lockdown

KALAMAZOO, US - The United States prepared to start its Covid-19 vaccination program on Monday as the nation's death toll edged towards 300,000, while Germany announced a partial lockdown over the holidays due to an explosion of cases.

Delivery trucks with special refrigeration equipment rolled out of a facility in Kalamazoo, Michigan, on Sunday as part of a public-private plan to ship millions of doses of the newly approved Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine to vulnerable Americans.

Courier services FedEx and UPS have deployed fleets of trucks and planes to carry their precious cargo -- sometimes under armed guard -- to all 50 states, where healthcare workers and nursing-home residents will be first in line.

"Vaccines are shipped and on their way," President Donald Trump tweeted. "Get well USA. Get well WORLD."

One state governor, Andy Beshear of Kentucky, said that "we now believe that the first individuals will be vaccinated" on Monday -- less than 72 hours after the vaccine received emergency authorization from the US Food and Drug Administration.

An initial 2.9 million doses are set to be delivered by Wednesday, with officials saying 20 million Americans could receive the two-shot regimen by year end, and 100 million by March.

But the breakthrough comes at one of the darkest moments of the pandemic, with infections in the United States and many other countries soaring, and health experts still struggling against vaccine skepticism, lockdown fatigue and uneven adherence to safety rules.

GRIM US DEATH TOLL

The US has the world's highest death toll of more than 299,000, and the largest number of cases, at 16.2 million -- including more than 1.5 million new cases in just the past week.

Worldwide, there have been at least 1.6 million deaths since the outbreak emerged in China last December, and 71.6 million cases overall.

The start of vaccination campaigns this week in the US -- and also Canada -- came as Germany announced a partial lockdown from Wednesday, with non-essential shops and schools to close in a bid to halt an "exponential growth" in infections.

The restrictions, agreed by Chancellor Angela Merkel and regional leaders, will apply through the holidays until January 10. 

Europe's biggest economy has been severely hit by a resurgence of the coronavirus, with daily new infections more than three times their springtime peak. Daily death tolls last week approached 600.

Germany's hardest-hit states had already ordered new measures. Saxony state, where in some areas incidence rates have hit 500 per 100,000 people, will shutter shops and schools from Monday.

Italy, meanwhile, overtook Britain as the European nation with the highest death toll.

"I am worried about the two weeks of Christmas holidays... The battle still has not been won," Italian Health Minister Roberto Speranza warned as the country recorded 64,520 deaths, surpassing Britain's 64,267.

Elsewhere, the prime minister of the small African nation of Eswatini died in a South African hospital on Sunday, two weeks after contracting coronavirus.

In Algeria, 75-year-old President Abdelmadjid Tebboune made his first televised appearance since being hospitalized with Covid-19 in October.

"Thanks to God," he said, "I have started on the road to recovery." 

And President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil faced scathing criticism over his government's plan -- or lack thereof -- to vaccinate the population.

Brazil, the country with the world's second-highest death toll, published its vaccination policy on Saturday under pressure from the Supreme Court, but listed no start date or details of how it would secure sufficient doses.

Leading newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo, in a scathing front-page editorial, said virus-skeptic Bolsonaro had shown "murderous stupidity."

South Korea -- once seen as a model of how to combat the pandemic -- on Sunday reported 1,030 new coronavirus cases, a record high for a second day in a row.

'DON'T LET YOUR GUARD DOWN'

Even as US health experts welcomed the unprecedented vaccine effort, they cautioned people not to grow lax in observing precautions.

"The next number of weeks are going to be hell, I fear," New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy told ABC's "This Week." 

"So we're begging people to please, please, please don't let your guard down."

UPS and FedEx are to ship glass vials of the vaccine to 636 sites around the country by Wednesday.

Doses are being shipped in boxes containing dry ice that can keep supplies at -70 degrees Celsius (-94 degrees Fahrenheit), the frigid temperature needed to preserve the drug.

Trials have shown the vaccine to be 95 percent effective, and Americans are being told it is safe unless they have an allergy to any of the drug's components.

The US National Security Council said Sunday that senior federal officials will be among those given priority access to keep the government functioning, but Trump later tweeted that government workers should be vaccinated "somewhat later in the program, unless specifically necessary."

"I am not scheduled to take the vaccine, but look forward to doing so at the appropriate time," he said.

Agence France-Presse

German ministers in hot seat over Wirecard collapse

FRANKFURT AM MAIN -- German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz on Wednesday said he gave lawmakers a "detailed" explanation of everything he knew about the fraud scandal that brought down payments firm Wirecard, amid criticism that authorities missed early warning signs of trouble.

Wirecard filed for insolvency last month after admitting that 1.9 billion euros ($2.2 billion) missing from its accounts did not exist.

Former CEO Markus Braun has been arrested on suspicion of falsifying accounts and market manipulation.

The Wirecard revelations have stunned Germany, drawing comparisons with the Enron accounting scandal in the United States almost two decades ago.

Germany's parliamentary finance committee held a special closed-door session in Berlin to grill Scholz and Economy Minister Peter Altmaier, with questions focussing on when exactly they had learned of Wirecard's misconduct and if there were any regulatory failings.

Upon leaving the hearing after some four hours, Scholz told reporters it had been "a detailed discussion".

"I made sure that everyone knows exactly what we know," he said, adding that his priority now was to "get reforms under way".

Scholz plans to overhaul German finance watchdog Bafin, accused by critics of having been too lax in its oversight of Wirecard, by giving it tougher intervention powers and more staff. 

He also wants more scrutiny of private-sector auditors.

Finance committee member Hans Michelbach, of Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative CDU/CSU bloc, said it was not enough to announce reforms, "there should also be accountability". 

He praised Scholz however for "his willingness to provide answers" to lawmakers.

Finance committee chair Katja Hessel of the opposition pro-business FDP party has not ruled out launching a parliamentary inquiry into the scandal.

Wirecard's downfall has increasingly become a political hot potato after finance ministry documents showed Scholz was told as early as February 2019 of suspicions of misconduct.

Even more embarrassing was the revelation that Merkel promoted Wirecard on a trip to China in September 2019, when the firm was eyeing a foray into the Chinese market.

Merkel had "no knowledge" of the Wirecard irregularities at that time, her spokeswoman has said.

- Rise and fall -

Founded in 1999, Bavarian start-up Wirecard rose from a company piping cash to porn and gambling sites to a respectable electronic payments provider that edged traditional lender Commerzbank out of the DAX 30 market index in 2018.

It boasted a market valuation of more than 23 billion euros ($26 billion) at one point -- outweighing even giant Deutsche Bank. Its share price has collapsed by more than 98 percent since last year.

Wirecard's woes began in January 2019 with a series of Financial Times articles alleging accounting irregularities in its Asian division, headed by chief operating officer Jan Marsalek.

Bafin responded by announcing a probe into FT journalists.

Wirecard's troubles exploded in June when longtime auditors Ernst & Young said they were unable to find 1.9 billion euros of cash meant to be sitting in trustee accounts at two Philippine banks.

Wirecard then acknowledged that the money, making up a quarter of its balance sheet, likely "did not exist".

The firm's Austrian born ex-CEO Braun was arrested and released on bail.

EY said it had been fed false statements and accused Wirecard of an "elaborate and sophisticated" fraud. But the auditing group has itself come under fire for signing off on Wirecard's accounts for years.

- 3.2 billion euros 'lost' -

The scandal widened last week when Munich prosecutors re-arrested Braun and detained two other former board members for large scale "commercial fraud", saying their investigations showed the trickery was already happening in 2015.

They also said evidence suggested banks and other investors were conned into providing funds of up to 3.2 billion euros to Wirecard.

Those sums are now "very likely lost", they added.

Braun, former finance chief Burkhard Ley and former accounting head Stephan von Erffa, as well as the managing director of a Dubai-based Wirecard subsidiary, stand accused of inflating the firm's revenues and balances to hide years of losses.

Ex-COO Marsalek, who is also wanted by German authorities, has disappeared.

Agence France-Presse

Germany vows to beef up finance watchdog after Wirecard drama

FRANKFURT AM MAIN, Germany -- German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said Sunday he wanted to overhaul the country's finance watchdog Bafin and give it more powers after a massive fraud scandal involving digital payments firm Wirecard.

Wirecard filed for bankruptcy late last month after admitting that 1.9 billion euros ($2.1 billion) was missing from its accounts, a case that has triggered criticism of the auditors and regulators meant to be overseeing the firm.

Scholz told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung newspaper he wanted to ditch the current two-stage procedure whereby Bafin is only called in when red flags are raised in a first vetting of accounts by a private monitoring body.

"We need far-reaching reforms," Scholz said, adding that Bafin needed to step in earlier and have the right to launch "special audits on a large scale".

"I want to give Bafin more control rights over financial reports, regardless of whether the company has a banking division," he went on.

"If we decide that Bafin needs more money, more employees and more competencies, I will work to ensure that happens." 

Bafin chief Felix Hufeld has admitted that his watchdog "had not been effective enough" at preventing the Wirecard disaster.

But auditing firm EY has also come under scrutiny for signing off on Wirecard's accounts for years before finally warning last month of an "elaborate and sophisticated fraud" at the payments provider.

The scandal has raised questions about whether auditing firms should be rotated more frequently, Scholz said, and whether it makes sense for them to advise and monitor a company at the same time.

German shareholders' association SdK, which has launched legal action against two EY auditors and one former employee over Wirecard, welcomed Scholz's proposals.

Bafin needs to be "completely rebuilt," SdK chief Daniel Bauer told the Handelsblatt financial daily.

"It's not enough to increase the number of employees," he warned. "They have to be the right employees who actually understand the subject matter."

Agence France-Presse

Five things to know about the Wirecard scandal

FRANKFURT AM MAIN, Germany - German payments provider Wirecard is in crisis after it admitted Monday that 1.9 billion euros ($2.1 billion) recorded in its accounts "do not exist".

Here are the most important facts about a scandal that is drawing comparisons with the collapse of US energy company Enron in the early 2000s over accounting fraud.

What does Wirecard do?

At its heart, Wirecard is a payments processor, offering companies services allowing them to accept credit cards and digital payments like Apple Pay or Paypal in stores, online or on mobile.

The company collects a commission for assuring that merchants will receive the money they are owed.

Around that, it sells its customers extra services like analytics based on the data generated from those transactions that it says can help boost sales and track trends.

Wirecard claims around 300,000 firms worldwide as customers, and deals with giants in the sector like China's AliPay and WeChat, Apple and Google have offered hot prospects for growth.

How did Wirecard make it big?

Wirecard was founded in 1999, starting out offering its services to porn and gambling sites.

Such stable revenue streams helped it survive the early-2000s dotcom crisis, and as more savory forms of online commerce ramped up through the 2000s and 2010s, the group's star mounted with it.

In the early days, founder Markus Braun increased his stake to seven percent, becoming the largest shareholder.

Wirecard now highlights clients like KLM, Deutsche Telekom and FedEx on its website.

First listed on the Frankfurt stock exchange in 2005, by 2018 it elbowed traditional lender Commerzbank out of the blue-chip DAX share index.

In early 2019, Wirecard's market value hit around 17 billion euros, matching crisis-ridden Deutsche Bank with 15 times fewer workers and revenues.

The past week's revelations have now collapsed that value to two billion.

Why weren't weak spots uncovered?

Beginning in January 2019, a string of Financial Times reports highlighted accounting irregularities, notably in Wirecard's Asian division.

Bosses denied any wrongdoing and the German financial world appeared to close ranks around its favourite.

Markets watchdog BaFin announced a probe into potential links between the FT and short sellers betting against Wirecard stock.

The fact his agency did not catch the scandal sooner was "a shame", BaFin chief Felix Hufeld said Monday.

"We weren't effective enough to prevent something like this happening," Hufeld added.

Wirecard's status as a Payment Service Provider (PSP) subjected it to multiple EU directives since 2008 obliging it to better fight payment fraud, but companies are not subject to as much scrutiny over their accounting practices.

Who controls Wirecard?

Wirecard was founded by Austrian Markus Braun, who until Friday served as chief executive.

Braun resigned after the company was forced to acknowledge the 1.9 billion euros might be missing.

Chief operating officer Jan Marsalek had been dismissed the day before.

American James Freis, installed as compliance chief on Thursday, was promoted to acting CEO on Braun's departure.

Freis had previously been compliance chief at German stock market operator Deutsche Boerse.

Aside from Freis, Braun and the remainder of Wirecard's former four-person board are under investigation by Munich prosecutors over "market manipulation" relating to how they presented KPMG's findings in its audit of their old accounts.

Wirecard's five-person supervisory board is headed by Thomas Eichelmann, a former business consultant who later switched to the financial sector including a stint at Deutsche Boerse.

Who is behind the missing cash?

German news weekly Der Spiegel named Mark Tolentino, a lawyer working in the Philippines, as the trustee responsible for the missing cash.

Based in Philippine financial centre Makati City, his website had vanished by Monday, although a Facebook page with public legal Q+A video sessions remained online.

Meanwhile one of the country's largest banks -- BPI -- where some of the missing money was supposedly deposited -- confirmed to AFP that an employee was on "preventive suspension".

Media had reported that an assistant manager at BPI signed a forged document relating to the supposed deposits at the bank.

Agence France-Presse

Denmark to let cross-border couples meet - if they show photos, love letters

COPENHAGEN - Denmark eased its border controls with other Nordic countries and Germany on Monday, allowing cross-border couples separated by the coronavirus lockdown to meet again if they can prove they have been in a relationship for at least six months.

The Danish police said couples would need to show shared text messages, private photos or personal information about their partner.

"They can bring along a photo or a love letter," deputy chief Allan Dalager Clausen told Danish broadcaster DR.

"I realize these are very intimate things, but the decision to let in the partner ultimately rests on the judgment of the individual police officer," he said.

While good news for separated couples, the move highlights some of the issues lawmakers and authorities around the world face as they gradually reopen their countries' borders.

Denmark closed its borders for non-citizens on March 14 to curb the spread of the new coronavirus, meaning only people with a clear purpose could enter the country.

Since then, elderly couples have been seen on the Danish-German border drinking coffee on each side of border and holding hands over the barriers to stay in touch with each other.

Some lawmakers took to social media to express their displeasure with the new guidelines, saying it was a violation of the right of privacy.

"I've never heard of a country where entry requires the showing of intimate texts or photos from a partner. We finally allowed couples to visit each other, but did not abolish the right of privacy," Kristian Hegaard of the Social-Liberal Party said on Twitter.

Summer cabin owners and grandparents of Danish citizens will now also be seen as having a creditable purpose to visit Denmark, while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have issued a new set of guidelines for business travel in and out of Denmark.


(Reporting by Andreas Mortensen; Editing by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen and Hugh Lawson)

-reuters-