A landmark HIV vaccine trial was launched in South Africa on the eve of World AIDS Day on 1 December. Scientists hope it will help eradicate the disease. Science has been trying in vain for 30 years to find a vaccine for HIV. But for the first time since the virus was identified in 1983, there is hope that a …

Horst Wenzel, dubbed ‘Germany’s number one love expert’, has been volunteering his services to teach new migrants how to flirt and approach women. The 27-year-old, who makes his living teaching wealthy but shy German men, has recently decided to offer his advice to young Syrian and Iraqi refugees in Dortmund, most of them from Middle Eastern countries, such as Iraq …

Lawmakers in the lower house of the Dutch parliament have backed a partial ban on “face-covering clothing”, including Islamic veils and robes such as the burqa and niqab. The legislation still requires Senate approval before it becomes law. Studies suggest that only a few hundred women in the Netherlands wear such clothes, but successive governments have attempted to ban the …

Struggling with a shortage of cash Zimbabwe has introduced a new currency, a “bond note”, redeemable against US dollars, which has been the country’s official currency since 2009. However, many people fear the bond note will wipe out savings and trigger printing of money, which raged out of control in 2008, leading to the adoption of the dollar. The secrecy …

Gambian President Yahya Jammeh has warned that anyone involved in violence or unrest during the country’s presidential election on 1 December would be dealt with harshly. “There will be zero tolerance of violence and anyone disregarding public order will face the full force of the law,” Jammeh told supporters at a rally broadcast on Gambian TV on Sunday. “I am …

For granting visa-on-arrival to all Africans in their respective countries, Ghana’s President John Mahama and Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame have been bestowed an award for African Leadership and Excellence by Humanitas Afrika. According to the African-Czech organisation based in Prague, “Boundaries and borders barricading African countries into sovereign states as in present-day Africa is no doubt a legacy borne out …

Ghanaians will go to the polls on 7 December to elect a president and 275 members of parliament. The Electoral Commission (EC) has released a final voter’s register of 15,703,890 eligible persons to participate in the country’s general election, which will be contested by seven political parties. However, the two most popular parties are the ruling National Democratic Congress or …

Volkswagen has signed a deal with its Algerian sales partner Sovac for the construction of a vehicle assembly plant in the North African country, officials told a news conference on Sunday [26 November]. Under the deal, worth 160 million euros, the plant will produce its first car in June 2017 and is expected to increase output to more than 100 …

As the world mourns the death of the Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro, it’s fitting to recall the pivotal role Cuba played in ending Apartheid and why Castro was one of only five world leaders invited to speak at Nelson Mandela’s funeral. While Angola won its independence from Portugal on 15 January 1975, internal political conflicts escalated between the People’s …

Kenneth Gbandi was elected the new chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation Europe (NIDOE) at the body’s annual general meeting in Athens, Greece, on 11 November. The Germany-based migration expert, communal politician, business consultant and media entrepreneur spoke in an exclusive interview with Femi Awoniyi on the challenges facing NIDOE and how he plans …

Thuli Madonsela, South Africa’s Public Protector who famously took on President Jacob Zuma over the use of taxpayers’ money to upgrade his country home, was honoured at a lavish ceremony on Wednesday in Berlin. Ms Madonsela, who resigned from the office only last month after completing her 7-year term, received the prestigious Africa Prize awarded annually by the German Africa …

More than 1,000 skulls and bones belonging to East Africans and brought to Germany for racial “scientific” research during the colonial era are still in storage in Berlin, a media report said Tuesday, 22 November. Public broadcaster ARD said it had obtained lists of the human remains that are still held by the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, which administers the …

On 15 and 16 November, the 9th session of the German-South Africa Binational Commission took place in Berlin. High ranked representatives from both countries come together every other year to debate on global challenges and establish an agenda for future joint co-operation. The Binational Commission (BNC) is an important instrument to steer intra-governmental relations between Germany and South Africa. On …

Four of the 10 countries hammered hardest in 2015 by climate-boosted extreme weather are in Africa, according to a report released during the just concluded UN climate talks in Marrakesh, Morocco. “Africa is especially vulnerable to the impacts of climate change,” said Sonke Kreft, lead author of the Global Climate Risk Index 2017 report, issued annually by risk analysts Germanwatch. …

Refugees that were accepted by Germany over the past years have shown a deeper devotion to European democratic principles in a whole range of aspects than their host citizens.

The main purpose of the video is to keep passengers' attention high during the explanation of important safety procedures using the power of illusion.

Chancellor Angela Merkel has announced she will stand in next year’s elections for a fourth term. She made the announcement in Berlin on Sunday evening. Addressing the media from a platform with the word “The Center” (Die Mitte) written on it in Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party colours, Merkel said on 20 November that her decision to stand was not a trivial …

US President Barack Obama paid a farewell visit on Thursday to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, seen by many as the new standard bearer of liberal democracy since the election of Donald Trump. On the last leg of his final European tour as president, Obama aimed to ease fears about the future of the transatlantic partnership and thank  Angela Merkel for …

Anu Parvatiyar, Lucy Chambers, Jennifer Bencivenga and Natalya Nepomnyashcha of the organisation eHealth Africa write on the ongoing transnational efforts to fully eradicate polio in Nigeria, one of the only three countries in the world where the virus still occurs.

Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier is poised to become Germany’s next president, after the two main parties in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s grand right-left coalition agreed to back his nomination, party sources said Monday. Party leaders have been wrangling for months over whom to nominate as a potential successor to President Joachim Gauck, a 76-year-old former pastor from the former communist East …