June, 2018

• 1 June

  Euro area unemployment rate lowest since 2008

  Unemployment in the Euro area is at its lowest level since 2008 according to Eurostat. The rate fell to 8.5% in April from an upwardly revised 8.6% in March. Greece, Spain and Italy recorded the highest rates of unemployment while the Czech Republic, Malta and Germany recorded the lowest. The eurozone consists of 19 members who are EU members and use the euro. …

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• 1 June

  New law allows 25-year-old Nigerians to seek political office

  

  The minimum age for a Nigerian to run for political office has been reduced to twenty-five years from the previous thirty years cap. This follows the signing into law of the #NotTooYoungToRun bill. President Muhammadu Buhari signed the law at the presidential villa in Abuja Thursday flanked by a number of young advocates who vigorously campaigned for the bill. Of …

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• 1 June

  Uganda imposes tax on social media use, human rights groups kick against move

  The Ugandan parliament has passed a law imposing a tax on people using mobile social media networks in an attempt to increase revenue, but rights groups say the levy is actually aimed at silencing dissent. Users will be charged 200 shillings ($0.0531) per day for services such as Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp. That amounts to around $19 per year in …

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• 1 June

  Germany to lift FIFA World Cup again – Reuters poll

  

  Germany will retain their World Cup title in Moscow to equal Brazil’s record of five wins in the tournament, according to a Reuters poll of financial specialists more used to predicting market moves. In a May 16-31 survey of regular Reuters poll participants from across the globe, Germany’s national football team got the highest number of nods – 43 out …

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• 1 June

  France restricts public screenings of World Cup 2018 over terror fears

  The threat of terrorist attacks in France has put paid to fans’ hopes of watching the World Cup on big screens in public spaces, France’s ministry for the interior has announced. The ministry said the terrorism threat means transmissions will only be allowed if they have taken the necessary precautions. That includes showing the matches in a secured public area …

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• 1 June

  Denmark bans full-face veils in public

  Denmark has joined several other European countries in banning the full-face veil worn by some Muslim women in public spaces. In a 75 to 30 vote on Thursday, Danish legislators passed the law presented by Denmark’s centre-right governing coalition. The law was also backed by the Social Democrats and the far-right Danish People’s Party.  “Anyone who wears a garment that …

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• 1 June

  A quarter of migrants who arrived in Germany since 2015 have found jobs

  One in four migrants who arrived in Germany to seek refuge from wars and conflicts since 2015 has since found a job. According to figures from the research institute of the Federal Employment Agency, those from Pakistan have been the most successful. “If employment growth continues at this rate, half of the migrants will be employed within five years,” the …

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May, 2018

• 31 May

  Reggae star Ziggy Marley releases new solo album

  Ziggy Marley, the son of reggae music legend Bob Marley, has released his seventh solo album, Rebellion Rises. The 49-year-old Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter is currently touring the United States and Europe. He said he took lessons from his father’s “Exodus” as he was crafting the album. “It is a rebellion of love, rebellion of more peace, the rebellion of more …

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• 31 May

  Angela Merkel leads memorial of Solingen racist attack victims

  German Chancellor Angela Merkel met with political leaders, including Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, on the 25th anniversary of a neo-Nazi arson attack that killed five members of a Turkish-German family. German leaders gathered in Düsseldorf on Tuesday to honour the victims of the arson attack in the nearby community of Solingen on May 29, 1993, when right-wing extremists set …

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• 31 May

  Africa Festival Wuerzburg marks 30th anniversary

  It was thirty years ago when Dr Stefan Oschmann and Ali Schuster, two young German men, initiated the International Afro Roots Festival, popularly known as  International Africa Festival, with the aim of bringing the music and culture of Africa to Germans. The story of the event, which has meanwhile become the biggest of its kind in Europe and last year …

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