Storm warning issued for Hamburg and North Sea Coast
A storm warning has been issued for the North Sea coast for Tuesday morning. Hamburg, the Hamburg Weser area and the Elbe area are particularly affected, the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) announced on Monday evening.
The police warned residents to avoid the affected areas and to keep themselves up-to-date on current conditions.
In the Weser and Elbe areas, including Hamburg-St. Pauli, the water is expected to be around 1.5 metres higher than the mean high tide.
On Monday, the high water already flooded the Hamburg fish market. According to the police, however, there were no major incidents due to the storm surge.
Sick pay allowed even for those who apply late
Even if a sick note (Krankschreibung) is received late by a health insurance fund (Krankenkasse), the insured person is entitled to sick pay for the period of their illness, according to the Federal Social Court (BSG) in Kassel in a judgement published on its website on Monday.
The case concerned the payment of sickness benefit (Krankengeld) for a period from May 12th to July 21st 2021, for which the insured person's Krankenkasse had refused to pay Krankengeld.
The insured person had only submitted the relevant certificates of incapacity for work (Arbeitsunfähigkeit) a few days after the end of this period.
Eleven drug smugglers arrested in Hamburg
Following the discovery of 48 kilograms of cocaine in a container in the port of Hamburg last Wednesday, eleven suspected drug smugglers have been arrested.
They are said to have been members of a group that smuggled the cocaine in from South America, as the customs investigation office in Hanover and investigators from Bremen announced on Monday evening.
The drugs, with a street value of €2.4 million, were discovered on Wednesday at the port of Hamburg in a container loaded with printer paper, it was reported. Photos showed that the cocaine was hidden in hollowed-out stacks of paper.
The drugs were seized and the container was transported onward to Bremen by a haulage company. Six suspects were reportedly arrested early on Saturday morning when the container was unloaded there.
German economy shrinks in 2023
The German economy shrank slightly in 2023, official data showed Monday, as costly energy, high interest rates and cooling foreign demand took their toll on Europe's export giant.
READ ALSO: Why is Germany stuck in recession - and how long might it last?
Output contracted by 0.3 percent year-on-year, federal statistics agency Destatis said in its figures.
"Overall economic development faltered in Germany in 2023 in an environment that continues to be marked by multiple crises," the agency's Ruth Brand told a Berlin press conference.
Europe's largest economy likely saw a 0.3-percent drop in gross domestic output in the final quarter of the year, the agency calculated, again in preliminary figures.
It also revised the data for the third quarter from a 0.1-percent contraction to a stagnation, meaning Germany avoided a year-end technical recession of two successive quarters of negative growth.
The German economy has faced severe headwinds since Russia's war in Ukraine sent inflation, particularly the cost of energy, soaring.
Brecht Festival director defends himself against anti-Semitism allegations
A few weeks before this year's famous Brecht Festival in Augsburg, festival director Julian Warner defended himself against accusations of anti-Semitism.
On Monday, Warner distanced himself from a signature he had added to an open letter in 2020. The letter, which was signed by more than 1,500 people, criticised a Bundestag decision on the controversial Israel boycott movement BDS ("Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions").
The campaign has been calling for years for a boycott of the state of Israel and Israeli products because of its actions against Palestinians. The Bundestag condemned the BDS movement in a resolution passed on May 17th, 2019, saying its arguments and methods are anti-Semitic.
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