عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
World

Germans Need to Reduce Contacts or Tougher Restrictions Unavoidable

Nurses prepare to provide medical treatment for patients suffering from the coronavirus disease at the COVID-19 isolation ward of DRK Kliniken Berlin Mitte hospital in Berlin, Germany, November 11, 2020. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch
Nurses prepare to provide medical treatment for patients suffering from the coronavirus disease at the COVID-19 isolation ward of DRK Kliniken Berlin Mitte hospital in Berlin, Germany, November 11, 2020. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch
TT
TT

Germans Need to Reduce Contacts or Tougher Restrictions Unavoidable

Nurses prepare to provide medical treatment for patients suffering from the coronavirus disease at the COVID-19 isolation ward of DRK Kliniken Berlin Mitte hospital in Berlin, Germany, November 11, 2020. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch
Nurses prepare to provide medical treatment for patients suffering from the coronavirus disease at the COVID-19 isolation ward of DRK Kliniken Berlin Mitte hospital in Berlin, Germany, November 11, 2020. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch

Germany will have no choice but to introduce tougher restrictions to curb coronavirus infections if people do not reduce contacts significantly, the head of the Robert Koch Institute for Infectious Diseases (RKI) said on Thursday.

People have so far reduced contacts by around 40% on average, but contacts will need to be cut by at least 60%, in order to bring infections down, Lother Wieler said as he urged people not to travel over the Christmas holiday period.

"If people cannot achieve this 60% reduction on their own, then other measures will have to be considered. If they do not succeed, I see no other option," he told a weekly news conference.

Europe's largest economy has been in partial lockdown for six weeks, with bars and restaurants closed but shops and schools open. That has stopped the coronavirus' exponential growth, but the second wave of COVID-19 is proving far more difficult to tame and is extracting a heavier human toll than the first one.

Germany's reported COVID-19 death toll increased by 440 to 20,372 over the past 24 hours, RKI data showed.

Confirmed coronavirus cases increased by 23,679 to 1,242,203, setting a new record daily rise. The previous record was an increase of 23,648 reported on Nov. 20.

Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday threw her weight behind calls for a fuller lockdown in Germany that would include closing shops after Christmas. Vaccines alone will not have a major impact on the pandemic's course in the first quarter, she told legislators.

A vaccine of US drugmaker Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech is a top contender in the global race to beat back COVID-19. Wieler said he expects the first vaccine to be approved in the European Union around the turn of the year.

Some 43% of Germans would get a COVID shot as soon as a vaccine becomes available, according to a survey of 1,002 people conducted by Forsa on behalf of RTL and ntv on Dec. 7/8. Half of participants said they would hold off for the moment, and 7% said they did not want to get a COVID shot.

Most Viewed

 
 
World

Iran Warns of Domestic Gas Shortages from War This Winter

People walk through the rain near Tehran's traditional main bazaar in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026. (AP)
People walk through the rain near Tehran's traditional main bazaar in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026. (AP)
TT
TT

Iran Warns of Domestic Gas Shortages from War This Winter

People walk through the rain near Tehran's traditional main bazaar in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026. (AP)
People walk through the rain near Tehran's traditional main bazaar in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026. (AP)

Iran's government has ‌warned of worsening internal gas shortages this winter as a result of damage to processing facilities in the war with the United States that could lead to cuts in supply.

"If the level of consumption is high it is possible that gas cuts will occur all over the country including in Tehran," government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani said in a news conference in Tehran on Tuesday.

Iran, a major oil producer, controls part of the world's biggest natural gas ‌field but has ‌sometimes faced difficulty meeting domestic demand ‌because ⁠of outdated equipment, worsened by ⁠international sanctions. It is now subject to a US blockade of its ports.

The country faced some gas shortages and power cuts even before the conflict that began with a US and Israeli air campaign on February 28, a situation which has now worsened.

Mohajerani forecast a ⁠shortfall of 430 million cubic meters in gas ‌supply this year, compared ‌to about 300 million cubic meters in previous years.

National Iranian Gas ‌Company managing director Saeed Tavakoli said this month there ‌had been damage to four processing plants during the first phase of the conflict early this year, which initially reduced capacity by 230 million cubic meters, of which around 100 million ‌had so far been restored.

Last week the company warned that 11 of Iran's 31 ⁠provinces could ⁠face supply difficulties this winter, naming Mazandaran on the Caspian coast, and Golestan and North Khorasan along Iran's border with Turkmenistan, as most vulnerable.

Political leaders have urged Iranians to use less gas. Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf on Sunday called on Iranians to cut their gas use by 10% ahead of the winter.

Iran's First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref was cited by state news agency IRNA on Monday as saying gas prices could rise as a result of the reduced supply if consumption was excessive.

World

Iran Slams US’s ‘Repugnant’ $20Mn Reward for Nuclear Info

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi looks on after a session of the United Nations Conference on Disarmament, on the sideline of a second round of US-Iranian nuclear negotiations in Geneva, on Feb. 17, 2026. (AFP/Getty Images)
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi looks on after a session of the United Nations Conference on Disarmament, on the sideline of a second round of US-Iranian nuclear negotiations in Geneva, on Feb. 17, 2026. (AFP/Getty Images)
TT
TT

Iran Slams US’s ‘Repugnant’ $20Mn Reward for Nuclear Info

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi looks on after a session of the United Nations Conference on Disarmament, on the sideline of a second round of US-Iranian nuclear negotiations in Geneva, on Feb. 17, 2026. (AFP/Getty Images)
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi looks on after a session of the United Nations Conference on Disarmament, on the sideline of a second round of US-Iranian nuclear negotiations in Geneva, on Feb. 17, 2026. (AFP/Getty Images)

Iran hit out at the United States' $20 million reward for information on its nuclear program on Wednesday, calling it "repugnant and regrettable".

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi urged the United Nations' atomic energy agency and the Security Council to condemn the reward, which was announced last week.

Last Friday, the US military said up to $20 million and "possible relocation" were available for information about the program's "facilities, equipment, and associated personnel".

"Iran calls upon the UN Secretary-General, the Security Council, and the Director General of the IAEA to condemn this repugnant announcement explicitly and unequivocally," Araghchi wrote in a letter addressed to all three.

He repeated Iran's insistence that its nuclear program is peaceful.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly said Iran's nuclear program was effectively obliterated by the brief US strikes on key Iranian nuclear facilities during the 12-day war between Iran and Israel in June 2025.

Since that war, Iran has blocked International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors from visiting bombed facilities at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan.

War broke out between Iran and the United States on February 28 when US-Israeli strikes killed the country’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

During the war's most intense phase, US-Israeli strikes hit Iranian nuclear sites again, but the scale of the damage remains unclear.

Diplomatic efforts, led by Qatar and Pakistan, have been underway to negotiate an end to the war.

Tehran has insisted Washington accepts a raft of demands including unfreezing assets and lifting sanctions in return for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, the vital energy conduit it has blockaded since the start of the conflict.

Araghchi previously said that talks over Iran's nuclear program would come at a later stage.

Iran's nuclear program has been at the center of tensions for years. In 2018, during Trump's first term, the US withdrew from an agreement struck under Barack Obama that aimed to stop it developing nuclear weapons in return for sanctions relief.

World

German Military Bans Chinese-Made Drones

Chinese-manufactured EHANG-E216 passenger drone taxi flies over the Colombo Port city during its first test flight in Colombo on November 11, 2026. (AFP)
Chinese-manufactured EHANG-E216 passenger drone taxi flies over the Colombo Port city during its first test flight in Colombo on November 11, 2026. (AFP)
TT
TT

German Military Bans Chinese-Made Drones

Chinese-manufactured EHANG-E216 passenger drone taxi flies over the Colombo Port city during its first test flight in Colombo on November 11, 2026. (AFP)
Chinese-manufactured EHANG-E216 passenger drone taxi flies over the Colombo Port city during its first test flight in Colombo on November 11, 2026. (AFP)

The German military has banned the use of Chinese-made drones, including for training, and is replacing them with European models, the defense ministry said on Wednesday.

Citing the need for data and IT security, the ministry said that "Chinese-made models will no longer be used ... and existing systems will be replaced by products from domestic or, where applicable, European sources".

News magazine Der Spiegel first reported on the decision, based on worries the drones could transmit data on military exercises, training grounds or weapons systems to Chinese intelligence services.

The ministry said the armed forces, the Bundeswehr, had used "inexpensive, off-the-shelf drones for training purposes", buying them "with minimal bureaucratic effort".

"To strengthen the Bundeswehr's self-sufficiency and technological sovereignty, Chinese-made models will no longer be used for target or training purposes," its statement said.