German riot police clashed with thousands of protesters in Hamburg on Thursday evening as world leaders, including US President Donald Trump, arrived in the city ahead of Friday's G20 summit. Throughout the afternoon and night, police used water cannons as protesters threw bottles and smoke bombs during the anti-capitalist Welcome to Hell march, which began about 2 miles from where the summit will be held.
In a keynote address in Warsaw, U.S. President Donald Trump urged Russia “to cease its destabilizing activities in Ukraine and elsewhere” and specifically reaffirmed Washington's commitment to NATO's Article 5. Trump spoke on Thursday before a cheering, flag-waving crowd of 10,000 people at historic Krasinski Square in central Warsaw, where former President Lech Walesa sat among guests in the VIP area.
Former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl died on Friday morning in his home in Ludwigshafen, the Christian Democratic Union party (CDU) announced. The mentor of current Chancellor Angela Merkel and architect of Germany's reunification was 87 years old.
Angela Merkel has said she sees no obstacles in the way of beginning Brexit talks as scheduled after Theresa May failed to win a majority in Thursday's UK election. The German chancellor said she believed Britain would stick to the timetable, adding the European Union was ready.
Germany and Argentina voiced hopes Thursday for a free trade agreement between the European Union and Mercosur as German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited Buenos Aires. In talks with Argentine President Mauricio Macri, Merkel discussed bilateral commerce and efforts to strike a deal with the Mercosur grouping of South American countries.
Germany's energy utilities look set to receive refunds of billions of euros after the government's tax on their use of nuclear fuel rods was declared illegal by the country's top court. Between 2011 and 2016, nuclear power operators made payments of more than 6bn euros to the government. The Constitutional Court has ruled the tax was unconstitutional and void.
PM Theresa May has told Donald Trump of her “disappointment” with his decision to pull the US out of the 2015 Paris climate agreement. In a phone call with the US president, Mrs. May said the UK remained committed to the deal, according to a Downing Street statement. But Mrs. May has been criticized for not signing a joint condemnation from France, Germany, and Italy. Mr. Trump said he would try to negotiate a new, “fairer” climate deal.
Germany's top politicians have stepped up criticism of US President Donald Trump, a day after Chancellor Angela Merkel said the US and UK were no longer reliable partners. On Monday Mrs Merkel said it was right not to gloss over differences with the US, while her foreign minister said Mr. Trump's actions weakened the West.
Europe can no longer completely depend on the US and UK following the election of President Trump and Brexit, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said. Mrs. Merkel said she wanted friendly relations with both countries as well as Russia but Europe now had to fight for its own destiny.
France's new president, Emmanuel Macron, has called for a historic reconstruction of Europe, saying it is the only reaction to fight populism. Speaking in Berlin on the first full day of his presidency, he was joined by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who said the pair had a joint conviction that they needed to deepen the European Union.