Angela Merkel

Covid-19 vaccination rates are rising across Europe, restaurants and bars are reopening, people are traveling for work and leisure, and life is returning to something resembling normal.

Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has reiterated his warning against refugee influx towards Turkey, saying the issue is a matter of perpetuity for Turkey.

The "West has seen" that they can turn Turkey into an "open prison for refugees," Kılıçdaroğlu said in a video message on Twitter on July 25.

More than half of all European adults are now fully vaccinated, the EU said on July 22, as countries across Europe and Asia battled fresh outbreaks blamed on the fast-spreading Delta variant.

The European Central Bank said uncertainty over the wave of infections meant it was keeping the cash taps open to ensure the nascent economic recovery isn't snuffed out.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on July 22 reiterated her opposition to Turkey's full membership in the European Union but voiced support for closer ties with Ankara by updating the EU-Turkey Customs Union and a key refugee agreement.

Germany and the United States on Wednesday announced a deal to allow the completion of Nord Stream 2 (NS2) to Europe without the imposition of further American sanctions.

"Europeans, who are directing a hybrid war against us, Russia and even China, are not only creating a hotbed of strong tension, but are also inciting World War III", the Belarusian leader said in an interview with Sky News Arabia.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel surveyed what she called a "surreal, ghostly" scene in a devastated village on July 18, pledging quick financial aid and a redoubled political focus on curbing climate change as the death toll from floods in Western Europe climbed above 180.

Chancellor Angela Merkel is to visit flood-ravaged areas in Germany on July 18 to survey the damage and meet survivors, after days of extreme rainfall in western Europe left at least 183 people dead and dozens missing.

Merkel, let us remind you, is leaving the position of German Chancellor.
"I know that the partnership between Germany and the United States will continue to go stronger on the foundation that you helped being built. On a personal note, I must tell you: I'll miss seeing you at our summits. I truly will," Biden told Merkel, German Bild reports.

Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed her condolences to the victims of "the catastrophe, the scale of which will only be seen in the coming days."
More than 1.000 rescuers are helping the area, while authorities say it is too early to determine the extent of the damage.