1. Scholz receives Emir of Qatar in Berlin
2. 9 euro ticket on the home stretch
3. Drosten and Wiesendanger in court
4. “Extreme storm” sweeps across Germany
5. Australia elects new parliament
6. Juan Carlos’ brief return from exile
7. Westernhagen and “One Life”
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Economy Minister Robert Habeck and the Emir of Qatar Tamin bin Hamad Al-Thani in March
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Image: Dominik Butzmann
1. Scholz receives Emir of Qatar in Berlin
The federal government is hoping for liquefied natural gas from Qatar in order to become less dependent on Russian energy. Discussions are said to have stalled. Will the negotiations gain momentum today?
Press conference: Sheikh Tamin bin Hamad Al-Thani is meeting with Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) in Berlin today. In addition to the emir, the Qatari foreign, energy, finance and trade ministers are also due to arrive. As the “Handelsblatt” reports, the emir brings a contract for long-term gas supplies. According to the report, liquefied natural gas (LNG) should be delivered to Germany faster than previously known. Scholz and the Emir want to appear in front of the press at 3 p.m.
Image: FAZ
Negotiations: Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck visited Qatar in March and then reported on an energy partnership. German companies have been negotiating conditions for some time now. The talks about liquid gas deliveries are said to have been tough, the Reuters news agency reported about a week and a half ago. The main sticking point is that Qatar insists on long-term supply contracts for at least 20 years. There seems to be disagreement about the price as well.
EU accession and aid billions: On Thursday, Scholz expressed skepticism about Ukraine’s rapid accession to the EU. The accession process is “not a matter of a few months or a few years,” he said in his government statement on the upcoming EU summit at the end of May. Germany wants to support Ukraine with one billion euros, as Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) announced after the meeting with his counterparts and central bank governors from the G7 group. The US Senate also approved another $40 billion aid package for Ukraine.
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From June onwards, traveling by bus and train will cost only nine euros in local transport.
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Image: dpa
2. 9 euro ticket on the home stretch
The Bundestag has decided to finance the cheap public transport ticket, and today the Bundesrat is supposed to approve the law, which some federal states had criticized.
State Chamber: Some countries had generally demanded more money for local public transport and threatened a blockade. Among other things, the federal government wants to pay 2.5 billion euros to compensate for loss of income from transport providers. If the Federal Council also agrees today, the sale of the cheap monthly ticket should start nationwide on Monday. You can then use it from June 1st. Incidentally, in some places the matter was approached with confidence: “We sold 1,700 tickets in the first 24 hours from Wednesday 7 a.m.,” said a spokesman for Stadtwerke Wuppertal on Thursday – even before the approval of the Bundestag and Bundesrat – the German Press Agency .