EUROPE

Ghana’s President Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo recently paid a 3-day visit to Germany to attend the G20 Africa Partnership Conference. He also met the Ghanaian community in the country during the visit. Our correspondent Nelly Sarpong reports on the meeting in Berlin. President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of Ghana paid an official visit to Germany on 11-13 June mainly to participate …

People travelling to other EU member states will no longer have to pay extra fees when they use their mobile telephones. After a decade-long battle with telecoms operators, the EU has on Thursday (15 June) officially scrapped roaming fees on calls, data and text messages, sent or received on mobiles. Frequently Asked Questions on Roam like at home  In which …

A District Court (Landgericht) in the western city of Aachen has ordered the operator of a fitness studio chain to pay a compensation of 2,500 euros to an African as damages for discriminating against him. The man had been repeatedly refused membership in a fitness studio in Aachen owned by EasyFit in a way the court found to have contravened …

A new legislation that bans face Muslim veils, obliges immigrants to attend integration courses and asylum seekers to carry out unpaid public work will go into force in October after it was signed into law by the country’s president. The controversial integration law that will fine women for wearing face-concealing Islamic dress from October, and deprive migrants of benefits who …

German men are claiming fatherhood of children born to immigrant women in exchange for cash, prosecutors say. A new law is now being drafted to tackle the fake paternity racket. Officials say growing numbers of pregnant immigrant women are paying German men to pose as fathers so that they can qualify for residency. The scheme allows for the children to become …

Equal pay for equal work, new minimum wage for temporary workers, no more roaming charges and increased video surveillance. These and more are the changes to laws and regulations affecting consumers in Germany from June. New minimum wage for temporary workers (Neuer Mindestlohn für Leiharbeiter) As from June, there is a mandatory minimum wage for temporary workers in Germany. It …

A top diplomat has advised Africans in the Diaspora not to focus on big projects in their efforts to contribute to the development of their homelands. Speaking at the Africa Day commemoration in Dortmund last weekend, Nigeria’s acting ambassador to Greece, Usman Ogah, said the Diaspora in their desire to make a contribution to the development of their countries had …

Europe “must take its fate into its own hands” faced with a western alliance divided by Brexit and Donald Trump’s presidency, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Sunday. “The times in which we could completely depend on others are on the way out. I’ve experienced that in the last few days,” Merkel told a crowd at an election rally in Munich, …

Saturday, 29 May 2004 was the day when a big ambition became reality in the Ghanaian community in Germany. It was the realisation of a dream, of having a single organisation to represent all Ghanaians irrespective of their ethnicity, religion or ideology, or the city in which they live. It was the gathering of the Ghanaian Diaspora in Germany for …

Police say at least 22 people have been killed in a reported blast at a concert venue in Manchester, UK, in what is being treated as a suspected terrorist incident. Around 60 others were injured in the explosion at the Manchester Arena in northern England on Monday night. Panic and chaos followed as thousands of mainly teenage concert goers tried to …

Mobile users travelling to other countries in the EU will be able to call, text or surf the net without paying any extra charges from June 2017. As from 15 June 2017, mobile phone users in the 28 European Union member countries will be able to call, text and download data in another EU country for the same price they …

After the appointment of Senegalese-born Sibeth Ndiaye (37) as press secretary or media advisor in the French presidency, another Black woman has been named minister in the new government of President Emmanuel Macron. France’s new cabinet, which was unveiled on Wednesday, is made up of 11 women and 11 men, including Laura Flessel, as sports minister. Aged 45, she is …

The German chapter of the Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation (NIDO) has elected a new executive council. The body’s Annual General Meeting, which took place on Saturday (13 May) in Frankfurt, elected Kenneth Chukwudi Alaekwe as President, Dr RosaLyn Dressman (Vice President) and Prof Dr Brando Okolo (General Secretary). Other new members of the council are Dr Augustine Okeke (Assistant General …

Karamba Diaby (57) represents the eastern city of Halle in the German Federal Parliament on the platform of the Social Democrats, the SPD. The election of the Senegalese-born holder of a doctorate degree in chemistry and that of the Afro-German Charles Huber (CDU) as the Bundestag’s first members of African descent in 2013 marked a watershed in the history of …

Germany’s Social Democratic Party, SPD, suffered a stunning defeat in the state election of its North Rhine Westphalia (NRW) stronghold on Sunday. The SPD lost 7% of their vote, winning only 31.2 per cent as Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative CDU soared to 33 %. The result is a boost for Merkel, who is seeking a fourth term in office at …

Emmanuel Macron, in the first batch appointments he made as president, has named Sibeth Ndiaye as his press secretary. The 37-year-old Senegalese-French woman played a very active role in the campaign that led to Macron’s victory to become the youngest-ever French president at 39. Ms Ndiaye has been described by the French media as one of the key figures who …

The 28 EU Member States granted protection status to 710,400 asylum seekers last year, more than double that of 2015, Eurostat, the EU’s statistical office, reported on Wednesday. Some 57 per cent of those granted asylum were Syrians. Iraqis (9% of the total), Afghans (9%), Eritreans (5%) and Iran and Somalia (2%) were the next major recipient-nationalities. Germany gave asylum …

Germany's official crime statistics for 2016 have shown a rise in violent crime across the country - including among young male migrants. "There is no sugar coating here," Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said at a crowded press conference in Berlin on Monday.

Moroccans topped the list of nationals who acquired the citizenship of a European country in 2015, according to figures published by Eurostat on Friday. “The largest group acquiring citizenship of an EU Member State in 2015 was citizens of Morocco (86,100 persons, of whom 88% acquired citizenship of Italy, Spain or France), ahead of citizens of Albania (48,400, 96% acquired …

A Christian revival event, bringing African Christians and their German brethrens together, will take place in the south-western town of Speyer on 1 May. The one-day gathering, christened Arise Africa, is to inspire Christians to rededicate themselves to the teaching of Jesus Christ and take up the task of spreading His word in Germany. “Arise Africa calls on Africans to …