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NEW YEAR

German New Year firecrackers kill two

Firecrackers left two people dead, a child injured and five people requiring amputations during New Year celebrations in Germany, police and emergency services said on Monday.

Published: 1 January 2018 13:50 CET
German New Year firecrackers kill two
Photo: DPA

A 35-year-old man and a 19-year-old died when fireworks went off in their faces in the eastern state of Brandenburg, regional police said on Twitter.

A firework thrown by a group of youths left an 11-year-old boy with severe facial injuries in the same region, regional daily Markische Allgemeine reported.

The paper described the firework as a “Polish rocket” sold on the Polish border and which typically contains more explosive than those which retail in Germany.

In Berlin, five people had hands or fingers amputated after suffering severe injuries with fireworks leaving 21 people hurt overall in the capital, according to hospital officials.

Firework-related accidents, fires and assorted injuries are a regular feature of New Year celebrations in Germany.

SEE ALSO: Politicians condemn New Year's Eve attacks on police and firefighters

RUSSIA

Russia announces no New Year’s greetings for France, US, Germany

US President Joe Biden, France's Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will not be receiving New Year's greetings from Russian leader Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin said on Friday.

Published: 31 December 2022 09:35 CET
Russia announces no New Year's greetings for France, US, Germany

As the world gears up to ring in the New Year this weekend, Putin sent congratulatory messages to the leaders of Kremlin-friendly countries including Turkey, Syria, Venezuela and China.

But Putin will not wish a happy New Year to the leaders of the United States, France and Germany, countries that have piled unprecedented sanctions on Moscow over Putin’s assault on Ukraine.

“We currently have no contact with them,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

“And the president will not congratulate them given the unfriendly actions that they are taking on a continuous basis,” he added.

Putin shocked the world by sending troops to pro-Western Ukraine on February 24.

While Kyiv’s Western allies refused to send troops to Ukraine, they have been supplying the ex-Soviet country with weapons in a show of support that has seen Moscow suffer humiliating setbacks on the battlefield.

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