Every household in Germany pays the Rundfunkbeitrag, a compulsory monthly licence fee for public broadcasting. In 2026, the fee remains €18.36 per month. This fee serves to finance public broadcasting service based on a contributory model. Who can be exempted? For people with good incomes, €18.36 per month may not matter much. But those living on social security support, every …
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Berlin-based independent bookshop Buchhandlung InterKontinental has once again been awarded the coveted Deutscher Buchhandlungspreis for 2025, marking its third recognition (previously honoured in 2021 and 2023). The award, announced on Tuesday (10 January), underscores InterKontinental’s continuing influence in Germany’s cultural and literary landscape. Located in the heart of Berlin’s district of Friedrichshain, InterKontinental has built a unique reputation as Germany’s …
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Since the beginning of 2026, the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) has suspended all new admissions to integration courses under Section 44, paragraph 4 of the German Residence Act (AufenthG). The circular, sent to course providers on 9 February, clarifies that this freeze affects asylum-seekers, tolerated residents (Geduldete), Ukrainians with temporary protection and EU citizens, who had previously …
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Mozambique has officially launched a new digitally enabled e-Visa platform, marking a major step in the country’s tourism drive and broader digital transformation agenda. The system is designed to simplify travel procedures, modernise border management and make the country more accessible to international visitors, including an increasing number of travellers from Germany. The platform, introduced under the government’s Visit Mozambique …
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The Berlin-based German-African Initiative for Development and Integration (GAIDI) gUG is intensifying its strategic engagement against irregular migration by partnering with civil society organisations (CSOs) in Nigeria, one of the main countries of origin of irregular migrants to Europe. This commitment was underlined by Femi Awoniyi, Director of GAIDI, during his keynote address at the first 2026 meeting of the …
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Germany’s population fell in 2025 for the first time in several years, underlining the country’s deepening demographic challenges and the growing importance of migration policy for its economic and social future. According to provisional figures released by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), around 83.5 million people were living in Germany at the end of 2025—about 100,000 fewer than a year …
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Civil society organisations in Lagos State have renewed calls for closer coordination and stronger partnerships to address irregular migration and promote dignified, legal mobility. Members of the Civil Society Network on Migration and Development (CSOnetMADE) made the appeal when they held their first coordination meeting of 2026 in Lagos recently. The meeting, held on 22 January at the Denny Social …
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When Berlin-based freelance journalist Wolfgang König recently travelled to New Orleans, he found himself drawn not only to the city’s famous music clubs and historic streets, but to a modest open space whose global significance is easy to overlook. In this reflection, König traces the remarkable history of Congo Square — a place where African traditions survived enslavement, shaped the …
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Afrobeat pioneer and cultural icon Fela Anikulapo-Kuti has made history by becoming the first African artist to receive a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. The honour was bestowed at a special ceremony held on 31 January 2026, ahead of this year’s Grammy Awards, nearly three decades after Fela’s death in 1997. Members of the Kuti family, including Fela’s children, accepted the …
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Lace Relations follows an expansive journey that begins in the bustling textile markets of Lagos, Nigeria, moves on to embroidery workshops in Lustenau, Austria, and reaches back to the historical roots of Europe’s prosperity. Centered on women, power dynamics and the global textile trade, the film exposes the colonial legacies that still influence Europe’s relationship with its neighbouring continent. Sarah …
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THE AFRICAN COURIER. Reporting Africa and its Diaspora! The African Courier is an international magazine published in Germany to report on Africa and the Diaspora African experience. The first issue of the bimonthly magazine appeared on the newsstands on 15 February 1998. The African Courier is a communication forum for European-African political, economic and cultural exchanges, and a voice for Africa in Europe.