The corpse of the 54-year-old clergyman was found in his office in the Berlin district of Berlin Charlottenburg last Thursday. Rev. Father (Dr) Alain-Florent Gandoulou is believed by the police to have been murdered. German media say the suspected assailant is from Cameroon. Berlin’s French-speaking Catholic community held funeral rites Sunday for Father Gandoulou in the city’s St Thomas Aquinas …
Read More »German free-food charity bars new migrant clients
A German food bank said Thursday it would temporarily stop accepting new non-German clients, citing a huge influx of migrants that was displacing locals in need. “We want the German granny to be able to keep coming to us,” said Joerg Sartor, chairman of the charitable group that serves free meals to the poor in the western city of Essen. …
Read More »Germany: Ghana’s President Akufo-Addo addresses business conference in Dortmund
The economy of many African countries are booming. How can German small and medium enterprises profit from this success? The 5th German-African Business Forum NRW (das 5. Deutsch-afrikanische Wirtschaftsforum NRW) will deal with this question on Tuesday 27 February 2018 in the western German city of Dortmund at which President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana will deliver a keynote speech. Under …
Read More »German court fines man €208,000 for stealing meat worth €13 in supermarket
A court in Munich has fined a 58-year-old man €208,000 for passing calf liver (Kalbsleber) as lower-cost fruit at a grocery store. The court said the fine was justified since the man earned tens of thousands of euros a month. A 58-year-old man has been given a record-breaking fine for theft at a Munich supermarket, the Munich District Court has …
Read More »Germany: SPD members vote on coalition agreement with CDU/CSU
A postal vote among some 450,000 German Social Democratic Party (SPD) members has begun in order to get their approval for another ‘Grand Coalition’ led by Chancellor Angela Merkel. Deadline for voting is 2 March with the result expected on 4 March. SPD’s youth and left wings are fiercely opposed to another governing coalition with Merkel. “We were against this …
Read More »Germany: Protesters confront AfD demonstration in Berlin
Residents of Berlin’s multicultural district of Kreuzberg turned out in large numbers on Saturday to confront a march of the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD). Protestors clashed with police during the heated counter-demonstration against the far-right party. Several arrests were made when demonstrators tried to obstruct AfD supporters as they marched through Kreuzberg, a district of Berlin known for …
Read More »Kenneth Alaekwe, NIDO Germany president, passes away
The President of the German chapter of the Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation (NIDO), Kenneth Chukwudi Alaekwe, has passed away. He died at the age of 55 on Saturday 17 February 2018 at a Berlin hospital after a brief illness. Kenneth is survived by his wife Ulla and son Henry. At the time of his death, Kenneth was Director for Conference …
Read More »Two-thirds of SPD supporters back German grand coalition
Two-thirds of supporters of Germany’s Social Democrats (SPD) back forming a coalition government with Angela Merkel’s conservatives, an opinion poll published on Friday shows. The poll conducted by Kantar Emnid for the Funke group of regional newspapers showed that 66 percent want a “grand coalition” and only 30 percent favour new elections, while 78 percent of supporters of the conservatives …
Read More »Germany: Syrians, Iraqis and Nigerians top asylum applications in January
German officials say 12,285 people applied for asylum in the country in January. That is a 15 percent drop compared with the same month last year. In January 2017, Germany recorded 14,476 new asylum requests, while some 13,082 people applied for asylum in December 2017. Figures published by the Interior Ministry on Tuesday show most new asylum-seekers last month originated …
Read More »Martin Schulz resigns as leader of Germany’s Social Democrats
The leader of Germany’s Social Democratic Party (SPD), Martin Schulz, resigned from his post on Tuesday. His resignation went into effect immediately. “With my resignation from office and decision not to participate in the government, I want to bring the personnel debate in the SPD to an end so that the members can really concentrate on what is in the …
Read More »Refugees find work in Germany via Munich start-up Social-Bee
Displaced people have a hard time finding employment. Five hundred thousand refugees are currently on the job market — and prospects look bleak. A Munich startup has founded a non-profit temporary work agency. Temporary work employment refers to an employment situation where the working arrangement is limited to a certain period of time based on the needs of the employing organization. …
Read More »Germany: Afghan refugee sentenced to life in prison for killing Christian convert
An Afghan man has been sentenced to life in prison for killing a woman because she had converted to Christianity. The court recognized a ‘very high degree of culpability’ in handing down its decision. A court in the southern German city of Traunstein on Friday sentenced a 30-year-old Muslim refugee from Afghanistan to life in prison for killing a woman …
Read More »Germany: What you should know about the coalition deal
After protracted talks, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative CDU/CSU bloc reached a deal for a new coalition government with the centre-left Social Democrats on Wednesday. If approved by the SPD’s 460,000 members, the deal would end Germany’s longest period without a government since the Second World War. Here are the key points agreed in the draft coalition contract: Health insurance The …
Read More »Germany: Angela Merkel finally reaches coalition deal with SPD
The conservatives and Social Democrats have finally managed to settle on a coalition agreement 136 days after the federal election. Negotiators from the Christian Democratic Union (CDU); their Bavarian partners, the Christian Social Union (CSU); and the centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) have finally hashed out a contract for a new grand coalition government — probably ensuring that Angela Merkel …
Read More »Germany: Police name suspect in Kenyan woman’s murder in Essen
The police in Essen have named a suspect in the murder of a Kenyan woman whose remains were found in the western German city on 17 January. The body of the 27-year-old Mary Waithera Kamathi, popularly known in the Kenyan community as Carrie Jones, was discovered in a kiosk in the south district of the city, where she worked as …
Read More »Germany’s Social Democrats back coalition talks with Merkel in narrow vote
Talks can now begin on ending months of political deadlock after members of the centre-left SPD voted to open formal talks on a “grand coalition” with the Chancellor Angela Merkel-led conservative CDU/CSU bloc. “Today, it’s not just about whether we’re entering coalition negotiations. No. Rather today we finally decide which direction our country and Europe are going. And that’s why …
Read More »How new German law punishes online fake news and hateful Facebook comments
Many users on social networking sites in Germany don’t know that publishing fake news or hateful comments can have legal ramifications. How does German law treat the subject? Aref Gabeau reports. On New Year’s Eve the German police in the Federal State of North Rhine Westphalia published a tweet in Arabic wishing a happy new year. German politician Beatrix von …
Read More »Germany, land of woefully slow internet
A new report has found that only a small fraction of German users get the internet speeds that providers promise. And, according to a study of service providers, the problem is only getting worse. Elizabeth Schumacher reports. A new report from Germany’s Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) has revealed that the country — known the world over for ingenuity and efficiency …
Read More »Germany: Another Kenyan found dead in Essen, police calling for information
As the Kenyan community is still mourning one of their own, Brian Nyawade Owino, an asylum-seeker whose death was announced in Berlin on 5 January, the police found the remains of a Kenyan woman in the western German city of Essen on Wednesday (17 January). The body of the 27-year-old Mary Waithera Kamathi, popularly known as Carrie Jones, was discovered in …
Read More »Refugees easing health insurance costs in Germany
As many refugees that arrive in Germany are younger than the aging native population, they help keep certain medical costs down. However, this is only expected to last for a few years. Kai Dambach reports. The arrival of primarily young migrants and refugees has had a stabilizing effect on statutory health funds in Germany. In 2015 and 2016, most new …
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