Germany

SPD politician calls for ‘no politics’ day

Andrea Nahles, general secretary of the Social Democratic Party, and new mother, has called on German politicians to take “one day off politics” every week. Source: TheLocal Nahles told the Hamburger Abendblatt newspaper, “The parties should agree on a set day – ideally Sunday – when everything that has anything […]

Kazakh president in German hospital

Source: Daily Times Pakistan BERLIN: Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev is in hospital in Germany, but it is unclear what he is being treated for, the Bild daily reported on Tuesday. The 71-year-old “secretly” checked himself into the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf in northern Germany, and is being guarded by a […]

Divisive Author Chased Out of Immigrant District

Source: Spiegel magazine Germany Thilo Sarrazin, pictured here in April, is outraged. Angry Muslims reportedly drove controversial author Thilo Sarrazin from a Turkish restaurant in Berlin. Though his bestselling book claims Muslims are dumbing down German society, their accusations of racism have left the former central bank board member shocked and […]

Made in Germany – Turning on the bright lights

The Local’s series Made in Germany presents the best the country has to offer, including high-end lighting designer Ingo Maurer. Source: TheLocal.de From luxury cars to precision machinery, “Made in Germany” still means quality craftsmanship around the world. But the Teutonic attention to detail goes far beyond engineering. This series features a […]

Germanys Weapondeal with Angola

Merkel is 1st German chancellor to visit Angola LUANDA, Angola — German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Wednesday that her country is willing to help train Angolan soldiers for peacekeeping, a German news agency reported. Merkel made the offer during a visit to Angola’s capital. She was the first German chancellor […]

Germany Is Missing Its Chance in Africa

During her 2007 trip to Liberia, Angela Merkel received a white chicken as a traditional welcoming gift. In Germany, most people think of wars, poverty and hunger when they think of Africa. Chancellor Angela Merkel’s stopover on the continent, where she will travel to three countries in just three days, is unlikely to […]

Tank Deal Reveals New Arms Exports Approach

A secretive plan to sell tanks to Saudia Arabia has caused a furor within Germany’s governing coalition, members of which are demanding an explanation. The deal, which violates a tradition of avoiding weapons sales in conflict areas, signals a fundamental shift in German arms trade. Is Chancellor Angela Merkel’s foreign […]

Women Nudged Out of German Workforce

Germany is a place where gender stereotypes remain engrained in the mind, and in key institutions across society. Only about 14 percent of German mothers with one child resume full-time work, and only 6 percent of those with two. Europe’s economic powerhouse, does not lack pluck: it rebounded from two […]

Catholic Church to allow access to internal files

The Catholic Church in Germany plans to open up a decade of personnel files to criminologist researchers, according to a magazine report, in a bid to facilitate an independent investigation into sexual abuse at Church-run institutions. News magazine Der Spiegel said bishops have decided to allow the Criminological Research Institute […]