The 2026 FIFA World Cup, hosted jointly by the United States, Canada and Mexico, has already broken new ground for African football. For the first time, a record 10 African nations are competing in the tournament, raising hopes that the continent could finally produce a World Cup finalist – or even a champion. The expanded 48-team format has allowed Africa …

Nigeria and the European Union are set to strengthen their longstanding economic partnership as policymakers, investors and business leaders gather in Lagos for the 10th Nigeria–EU Business Forum on 25 June. The landmark event reflects growing efforts by both sides to transform diplomatic relations into concrete business opportunities and sustainable investments. Organised under the EU’s Global Gateway strategy, the forum …

In an unprecedented show of unity, Germany’s immigrant communities — African, Turkish, Polish, Kurdish, Italian and many others — have joined forces to fight the planned shutdown of COSMO, ARD’s only multilingual, intercultural public radio service. More than 100,000 people have signed a petition. Now the organised diaspora is calling on ARD’s leadership to act. On 11 June 2026, more …

New UNHCR figures released ahead of World Refugee Day on 20 June show a four percent drop in global displacement in 2025 — the first reduction in ten years. The data offers a moment of cautious optimism, but rights groups warn that the numbers mask deepening long-term crises and deteriorating conditions across Europe. For the first time in ten years, …

Nigeria has emerged as Africa’s largest source of international students and now ranks as the world’s third-largest sender of students abroad, according to UNESCO’s first Higher Education Global Trends Report, released on 12 May 2026. The report found that Nigerian students accounted for 5% of global outbound student mobility in 2023, placing the country behind only China and India, and …

In a landmark ruling issued on 4 June 2026, the European Court of Justice has found that Germany’s practice of cutting basic benefits for rejected asylum-seekers violates EU law, a verdict hailed by refugee advocates, but one whose impact may prove short-lived as sweeping new migration rules take effect just eight days later.____________ The case originated with an Afghan national, …

The European Union’s landmark Pact on Migration and Asylum enters into force on 12 June 2026, ushering in the most comprehensive reform of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) in decades. Designed to address longstanding weaknesses exposed during previous migration crises, the pact consists of ten interlinked legislative acts that reshape how the EU manages migration and processes asylum claims. …

Germany’s Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency handled more cases in 2025 than at any time in its history, with racist and antisemitic incidents accounting for the single largest share — and the country’s chief equality watchdog warning that prejudice is now being expressed more openly and more aggressively than at any point in recent memory. Germany’s Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency (Antidiskriminierungsstelle des Bundes, …

Germany granted citizenship to a record 332,500 foreign nationals in 2025, underscoring the growing importance of naturalisation as a pathway to full participation in German society. According to provisional figures released by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), the number of naturalisations rose by 14 per cent compared with 2024, marking the fifth consecutive annual increase and the highest figure since …

The United Nations General Assembly has elected Austria, Portugal, Trinidad and Tobago, Zimbabwe and Kyrgyzstan as non-permanent members of the UN Security Council for a two-year term beginning on 1 January 2027. The five countries were elected on 3 June to replace outgoing members whose terms expire at the end of 2026. They will join the Security Council’s 15-member body, …