NEWS FROM BERLIN
Many flights cancelled due to warning strike at BER
Numerous flights were cancelled at BER on Monday due to a warning strike by security staff. According to an airport spokesperson, two-thirds of departures were cancelled. Queues formed in the terminal. The service workers’ union ver.di called for the one-day warning strike. From 4 a.m. on Monday morning until midnight on Monday night, employees in passenger control, personnel, and goods control were to stop working. The industrial action is linked to nationwide warning strikes by aviation security staff. They are also called to strike at Bremen, Hanover, Leipzig, Düsseldorf, and Cologne/Bonn airports. Collective bargaining is expected to continue on 16 and 17 March in Berlin. Source: rbb.
Arrivals centre at former Tegel airport to be ramped up
More and more refugees from Ukraine are arriving in Berlin. In one week, the new arrival centre in Tegel should be up and running at full capacity. Meanwhile, an easing of the situation is not in sight. “This is just the beginning,” says Social Senator Katja Kipping (“die Linke”). In the coming days, the arrival centre in Tegel is to gradually increase its capacity until up to 15,000 people can be accommodated there daily. There are still plans to put the disused terminal at Schönefeld airport into operation. Next door, there is also a camp bed storage facility. Source: rbb.
Corona incidence soars in Berlin
After a decline, the incidence of COVID-19 in Berlin has risen sharply on Wednesday. According to the Senate, at least 8,834 people have been infected with the virus in Berlin within one day. Experts also assume there are many cases of infection which are not yet recorded. One reason for this would be the limited capacity of public health offices to follow up on infections. The incidence has also increased significantly in Brandenburg. The situation in the hospitals is largely stable, but there is no relief in sight. The Bundestag will discuss a new Infection Protection Act. The law is to be passed on Friday. Source: rbb.
NEWS FROM GERMANY
What to do about right-wing judges?
After the last election in October 2021, MP Jens Maier, an AfD member, resigned from the Bundestag. It quickly became clear he wanted instead to return to the job of a judge at the Dresden Regional Court. The Saxon Ministry of Justice initially only stated Maier had the right to return according to section 6 of the MP Act, but to remain silent on disciplinary sanctions. This was followed by a lively discussion following an article by Andreas Fischer-Lescano (University of Bremen). Now, Maier is to be transferred to a district court in Dippoldiswalde on 14 March, where he is to be temporarily prohibited from performing his duties. Source: nd.
Why Germany’s cyber watchdogs warn about Kaspersky Founder and CEO
Yevgeny Kaspersky is not only a legend in the fight against computer viruses, he also studied technical computer science at a KGB university and worked at a military research institute. This makes him suspicious in the eyes of his critics. The Russian antivirus software Kaspersky protects millions of computer systems worldwide. The Moscow-based IT professionals are among the world’s leading experts in the fight against malware and cyberattacks of all kinds. The German Federal Office for Information Security fears the company could be infiltrated. In 2017, the US government banned its agencies from using Kaspersky software over security concerns. Source: Süddeutsche.
Greenpeace activists protest in Schwedt against oil imports from Russia
In front of the oil refinery in Schwedt, members of the environmental protection organisation Greenpeace demonstrated against oil imports from Russia on Tuesday. About 40 activists blocked the main entrance of the plant in the early morning. A banner with the inscription “Peace not Oil” was unfurled from a roof. Four environmentalists are said to have attached themselves to rail facilities on which diesel and petrol are transported to Berlin and Brandenburg. According to its own information, the PCK refinery in the Uckermark processes twelve million tonnes of crude oil annually, making it one of the largest processing sites in Germany. Source: rbb.
