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PM Modi of India arrives in Munich for the G-7 summit at the invitation of Chancellor Scholz. Also invited are South Africa, Argentina, and Indonesia. 

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German Foreign Minister Wadephul is interviewed by Nina Haase of the DW.com. She asks him what he thinks of Marco Rubio's speech at the Munich Security Conference in Feb. 2026. Wadephul says this is also the policy of Germany, that the US and Germany have a lot of common ground. Rubio spoke of cultural bonds, of Christianity, and of the common ground shared with Europe. Wadephul sees a lot of positive ground which he calls, is saying to Germany- we did it in the past in the cold War with the Iron Curtain coming down in the 1950's and that was a success including reunification of Germany. Now as Wadephul sees it the US is saying "lets do it again." What about climate and Ukraine. Wadephul says on Ukraine Germany is in agreement that more pressure needs to be put on Russia, including on India in negotiations to reduce funding of Russia. On climate he says that the US is saying- be flexible which is what Germany agrees with. On migration Wadephul says other European governments are taking the approach to migration the the US and Germany agree with. ...

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Efforts to explore ways to end the Ukraine war with Ukraine's participation will take place next week at the Munich Security Conference to be attended by JD Vance from the US.

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BBC pick of Champions League teams is for Real Madrid to win again now that Mbappe is joining the team. The player to watch is Lamine Yamal of Barcelona. 

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Kylian Mbappe scores 2 goals with the first in the 15th minute that broke the net to put Paris St Germain 2-1 against Real Sociedad in San Sebastian. After a 2-0 win in Paris this puts them up 4-1 in aggregate. Kane and Muller score for Bayern Munich against Lazio for 3-0.

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These pictures of empty streets in squares and shopping streets in Berlin, Hamburg, Dresden, Freiburg, and Munich show how Xmas in Germany in 2020 is different. Germany is under lockdown after second wave daily cases reached 30,000.

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Going up - Arsenal, Inter and Bayern Munich. Going down Leverkusen, Benefica and Paris Saint-Germain in the last 16 of Champions League soccer 2025. Inter beat a Dutch team and Bayern beat Leverkusen. Barcelona beat Benefica. Paris lost to Liverpool.

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The traditional Easter marches in German cities that call for peace in Bremen, Hanover, Munich, Cologne, Leipzig, Stuttgart, and Duisburg. Protesters in Jena held up banners saying "No to War." The Easter marches began with a demonstration in Hamburg in 1960.

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Reflecting with gratitude for things that have gone right on Thanksgiving Day in the US in 2025. Peggy Noonan asks us to follow Charles Dickens advice- Charles Dickens in “Sketches by Boz”: “Reflect upon your present blessings—of which every man has many—not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.” Thinking of old friends, of science that heals things, of the world outside and the joy of work. Knowing readers across different towns and cities around the world, and being able through Lyrarc.com "to provide a product that helps millions build educated mindsets that affects and shapes their lives that gives me inspiration for the effort." And the joys of Nature for me that include hiking in the French Alps near Grenoble and in the Austrian Alps near Innsbruck, and visiting simple churches in the mountains and in Munich, watching children in exercise in the gardens of Innsbruck. Like Peggy Noonan thankful to watch the World Series baseball the LA Dodger's Ohtani, and the 2 day Ashes Cricket Test with Mitchell Starc. ...

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The Bavarian government and the CDU party oppose the closing of the last 3 nuclear plants in Germany. This will increase use of fossil fuels till renewable energy supplies are secured. Bavarian prime minister Soder wants the federal government to give the state authority to continue operating the Isar 2 nuclear power station 80 kilometres northeast of Munich.

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The rivalry between Jurgen Klopp of Liverpool and Pep Guardiola of Manchester City with only one point separating the two teams in the Premier League. Liverpool was 3-3 with Benefica of Portugal on the second leg, after winning 3-1 in the first. Liverpool now meet Villareal in the Champions League semifinals and will play Manchester City in the Premier League. Villareal, part of the Valencian community in eastern Spain, won aginst Bayern Munich and Juventus to get to the semi-finals.

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The Trump administration suspended all flights from Europe on March 13, about one month after suspending all flights from China. This report in the NYT says there were about 10,000 estimated undetected infections in New York on March 1 when only 1 case of coronavirus was confirmed. It also says that researchers have tracked the mutations of the virus in all American states and found that most of it came from New York. Could the Trump administration have acted earlier than March 13 to stop flights from Europe? The state and city authorites in New York did not take the threat seriously by March 13, making it not clear that they would have acted earlier.   In places like Michigan which has Italian Fiat owned Chrysler operations, and automotive connections with Munich, Germany, reports show the virus coming from Europe. Munich based auto companies have extensive operations in China. In Louisiana the Mardi Gras celebrations around Feb. 25, received large numbers of visitors from New York, with research showing the virus mutations in Louisiana originated in New York. There was little awareness of the seriousness of the virus because of lack of past experience as happened in Asian countries. So that these kinds of public events bringing huge numbers of people in close contact were allowed to happen, and people who were cautious were likely to be ridiculed or shoved aside. New York continued to hold public gatherings at Madison Square Gardens and sports stadiums well into March, with complete disregard of the dangers, a decision made by local authorites.   ...

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Monika Staab, a German coach, heads the women's soccer training in Saudi Arabia. She trained Qatari women soccer players before going to Saudi Arabia. Here she is shown training Saudi players. The entry of Morocco into the world soccer semifinals has created new enthusiasm in the Arab world that women's soccer is next big thing in soccer. Qatar is also emerging as a destination for European soccer teams to train during the winter including Bayern Munich. There is Paris St Germain Academy in Qatar which also trains female soccer players. 

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With Brexit some of the banking community in London is expected to move to Frankfurt, the financial capital of Germany, and the location of the ECB. This article describes the attractions of Frankfurt, as compared to Cologne and Munich, other cities which attract more visitors. It is lower cost, with shorter distances within the city, a large community of foreigners of about one in three people that gives it international appeal, and easy access to the mountains for biking and hiking.

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In paying respects to the those injured in the attack by a Afghan asylum seeker in Munich on Feb 13 2025 Vance said at the Munich Security conference -“No voter on this continent went to the ballot box to open the floodgates to millions of unvetted immigrants.” It was a speech that raised serious questions about European politicians and parties excluding voices that warned about a decade of illegal migration which has taken Europe and also the US to the point that a fifth of the population is from outside the country. It is not that Northern Europe has adopted this approach. Denmark's Mette Frederiksen of the Socialist Party and before that Boris Johnson and now Keir Starmer parties on both the opposite Conservative and Labour sides have opposed human trafficking gangs and mass migration into their countries.  JD Vance said of Germany shutting down other voices on migration's ill effects on public safety and public services, on the cultural framework itself of their country, as pernicious. "Democracy rests on the sacred principle that the voice of the people matters... There's no room for firewalls. You either uphold the principle or you don't." DJT calls the speech "brilliant" and "well received." “And I think it’s true, in Europe, they’re losing their wonderful right of freedom of speech. Europe has to be careful it has a big immigration problem.” ...