Germany has taken a step towards rationing natural gas by activating the second of three stages in an emergency plan. Officials say that since Russia reduced supplies, gas is now a "scarce commodity". Also in the show: the UK is hit by a second day of rail strikes over job security, pay and the rising cost of living, and high inflation in France prompts a boom in demand for camping holidays.

German energy official Klaus Müller has said the country's gas situation is stable but predicted higher prices for consumers. He also said that Germany can last another 2 1/2 months without Russian gas.

The government is following through on its pledge to decriminalize abortion. Officials plan to abolish a law that subjects doctors who publish information on abortion procedures to prosecution.

Two localities in the German state of Brandenburg had to be evacuated as a large forest fire rages on the border with neighboring Saxony. Efforts to dampen the flames werre hampered because of old munitions in the area.

The G7 leaders are meeting for three days in Elmau, Germany. The summit has turned this idyllic corner of Bavaria into a high-security zone that has impacted local businesses and schools, as Sabine Kinkartz found out.

The G7 leaders want to fight the climate crisis, hunger and war. But is that even within their power? Some deny it, others say more action is necessary.

A snakebite to the farm owner led German police to finding more than 110 snakes. The woman who was poisoned is in a critical condition in hospital.

A German court has sentenced a 101-year-old former Nazi concentration camp guard to five years in prison. The pensioner is the oldest person so far to be charged with being complicit with the war crimes of the Holocaust.

Hundreds of thousands of people have resigned their memberships in Germany's Protestant and Catholic churches. Fifteen years ago, 61% of Germans belonged to churches, a number that has now dropped below 50%.

Germany has agreed to return trove of looted African colonial artifacts, including over 1,000 Benin Bronzes that will be repatriated to Nigeria.

In a case that shocked Germany, a man's head was left outside a court in Bonn and his body was found in a nearby river. Police, however, said he died of natural causes — but issued a warrant for desecration of the dead.

Germany is on the path to legalizing recreational marijuana use. Safety and public health will be top priorities in the upcoming legislation, the health minister has said.