Rob Schmitz

Germany, a country of more than 83 million people, has flattened its coronavirus curve, dropping from a peak of more than 6,000 new cases a day to just around 600 now. Contact tracing by telephone is one tool the country has relied on.

"Public Health Authority, Pankow," says an operator, answering her phone before the first ring is over and identifying the Berlin district where she works. "So," she confirms with the caller, "you've had contact with someone who's tested positive."

People on both sides of the Atlantic are waiting for official confirmation whether the U.S. will pull 9,500 troops out of Germany — over a third of its total 34,500 troop presence in the country.

The possible proposal was first reported June 5 by The Wall Street Journal. A U.S. official confirmed to NPR the plan exists, but no orders have been issued.

Before most of it was torn down, artists considered the Berlin Wall one of the largest canvases in the world. On a hill overlooking Berlin's Mauerpark, one of the last surviving sections of the wall is still covered in graffiti art — some of it abstract, some paying homage to celebrities and historical figures.

Now, one of the most prominent sections of the wall bears a portrait of George Floyd.

Berlin has become the first German state to pass its own anti-discrimination law. The law bars public authorities — including police — from discriminating against anyone based on background, skin color, gender, religion, disabilities, worldview, age, class, education and sexual identity.

The legislation passed Thursday has been in the works for weeks, but it has taken on a new meaning in the wake of protests against systemic racism that have erupted in the U.S. and spread to cities around the world, including Berlin.

Hungary's government has asked American news outlets to apologize for what it calls "baseless" critical coverage of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's coronavirus emergency powers. Granting Orbán special powers was the latest in a series of steps by Hungary's government that have stripped the country of its democracy, critics say.

In an email Hungary's Embassy in the U.S. sent NPR late Tuesday, the Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Relations Zoltán Kovács wrote, "Hungary has been subjected to a barrage of attacks unparalleled elsewhere in Europe."

"This is Europe's moment," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told the European Parliament today, as she proposed a massive fund to help Europe recover from the coronavirus pandemic. "Things we take for granted are being questioned. None of that can be fixed by any single country alone."

Arne Garlipp has farmed his 150 acres of asparagus in the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt for 24 years. For much of that time, he has relied on seasonal workers to help harvest it each spring.

"Our Romanian workers live with us on the farm," says Garlipp. "In the fields, they're surrounded by fresh air, birds and very few people."

Police cracked down on large anti-shutdown protests in cities across Germany over the weekend.

The coronavirus pandemic has plunged Europe's largest economy into recession. Official figures show Germany's economy shrank by 2.2% in the first three months of this year. It's the biggest quarterly fall since 2009 when the global financial crisis ravaged the country's economy.

Germany's federal government says the Bundesliga will be the first of Europe's major soccer leagues to resume its season later this month, after play was postponed in March. The German League said the first matches would take place on May 16.

The league has nine matches remaining, and it's committed to end the season by June 30. According to its agreement with Germany's Federal Health Ministry, players will submit to frequent COVID-19 testing and fans will have to watch matches on TV. The public will not be allowed inside or outside stadiums to watch the matches.

As British scholar Richard Evans researched the history of pandemics for a book more than 30 years ago, he was struck by the uniformity of how governments from different cultures and different historical periods responded.

"Almost every epidemic you can think of, the first reaction of any government is to say, 'No, no, it's not here. We haven't got it,'" he says. "Or 'it's only mild' or 'it's not going to have a big effect.'"

Wearing face masks on public transportation and in shops became mandatory in much of Germany on Monday, with some regions imposing fines on those who don't.

The requirement comes a week after small shops in much of the country were allowed to reopen and follows a monthlong government-imposed lockdown to curb the spread of COVID-19. Germany has the world's fifth-highest number of confirmed cases, and Chancellor Angela Merkel has implemented strict social distancing rules, limiting public gatherings to two people and canceling public events.

Updated on April 28 at 10:30 a.m. ET

In the pre-COVID-19 era, Michael Crotty's company, Golden Pacific Fashion and Design, based in Shanghai, sold curtains. But since the global economy ground to a halt, nobody's buying curtains. They're buying masks.

"It's pandemonium at its highest level," says Crotty. "It's the Wild West and it really is a unique situation where these factories that can make these goods are in the driver's seat at the moment."