The World Briefly

March 06, 2023

Looking Outward, Feminine Style

Germany

The German government announced it would create a new feminist foreign policy this week aimed at ensuring that all people “have the same right to representation and access to resources,” the Associated Press reported. The country’s foreign and development ministers said the policy will focus on...

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The World Briefly

February 14, 2023

Poor, Sexy, and Right

Germany

The conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party won elections in the German capital of Berlin over the weekend, in a rerun poll that marked a major defeat for the center-left party of Chancellor Olaf Scholz that had governed the city since 1999, the Financial Times...

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The World Briefly

January 13, 2023

The Death of a Village

Germany

German riot police began dragging climate activists away from an abandoned village in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia this week, after more than a year of occupation by the protesters who were trying to prevent the expansion of a coal mine, the BBC reported. The...

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The World Briefly

December 22, 2022

Closing An Era

Germany

A German court convicted a 97-year-old woman who worked as a secretary at a Nazi concentration camp of accessory to murder in the killing of thousands of people, following a trial considered the last of its kind against Nazi war criminals, NBC News reported. The court...

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The World Briefly

December 08, 2022

The 4th Reich

Germany

German police arrested at least 25 people Wednesday who planned to overthrow the country’s government by force in one of the country’s largest raids against right-wing extremists, CBS News reported. More than 3,000 officers were involved in 130 raids across 11 of Germany’s 16 federal states. Officials...

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The World Briefly

November 18, 2022

Uniquely Flawed

Germany

Berlin’s constitutional court ruled this week that the capital’s parliamentary elections must be repeated, a rerun that could change the political equilibrium in the state legislature, Politico reported. The court found that election results for the lower house and local district councils were invalid, saying there...

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The World Briefly

September 08, 2022

Closure, Sort Of

Germany

Germany delivered an official apology to Israel and the families of the 11 Israeli athletes slain by Palestinian militants at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, as both countries this week commemorated the 50th anniversary of the attack, the New York Times reported. German politicians, including...

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Need to Know

August 30, 2022

From the Energiewende and Back

Germany

German officials this winter may keep open three nuclear power plants that they previously had planned to shut down as part of the Energiewende, or “energy turnaround” in German, that aims to transition Europe’s largest economy to renewable sources of energy. Former Chancellor Angela Merkel, a...

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The World Briefly

August 16, 2022

Cats Will Be Cats

Germany

Cat owners in a southwestern German town will be allowed to let their pets out for the first time on Monday, following a three-month lockdown that authorities had imposed to protect an endangered bird species, the BBC reported. In May, local authorities ordered residents in Walldorf...

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Ukraine Briefly

August 09, 2022

Ukraine, Briefly

GermanyUkraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that talks with Kyiv or its foreign allies may not take place if Moscow stages referendums on joining Russia in occupied areas of Ukraine, according to Radio Free Europe. Russian forces and Moscow-backed rebels now control huge swathes of...

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The World Briefly

June 30, 2022

The Creaky Wheels

Germany

A German court sentenced a 101-year-old Nazi SS concentration camp guard to five years in prison over his involvement in the murder of more than 3,500 people during the Holocaust, CNN reported. The court charged the man – only identified as Josef S. due to Germany’s...

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The World Briefly

June 27, 2022

Advertisement Vs. Information

Germany

German lawmakers voted over the weekend to abolish a Nazi-era law that banned the advertisement of abortion services, a measure that had effectively criminalized the act of doctors providing information about the procedure, the New York Times reported. The vote came after years of deliberations over...

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The World Briefly

June 15, 2022

Through the Past, Darkly

Germany

Germany’s highest court rejected a case calling for the removal of a centuries-old anti-Semitic carving at a church in the country’s east that is associated with Martin Luther, the founder of Protestantism, Agence France-Presse reported Tuesday. The case centered over the “Judensau” – or “Jews’ sow”...

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The World Briefly

May 23, 2022

In the Hot Seat

GermanyRussia

Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder resigned as chair of the board of Russian state energy giant Rosneft over the weekend amid tremendous pressure in Europe to eschew the income from Russia or face sanctions, the Washington Post reported. Rosneft said in a statement that the former...

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The World Briefly

May 18, 2022

A Loss, a Slap

Germany

Germany’s center-right opposition scored a big win during legislative elections in the country’s most populous state, underscoring another loss for the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) of Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the New York Times reported. Results showed that the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) won almost 36...

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The World Briefly

May 10, 2022

A Blink, a Slap

Germany

Germany’s Christian Democratic Party (CDU) secured a decisive victory in regional elections over the weekend, foreshadowing a possible return for the center-right opposition following last year’s defeat in the country’s general elections, Politico reported. The CDU won 43 percent of the vote in the northern state...

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Need to Know

April 21, 2022

Zeitenwende

Germany

Are homeowners in Frankfurt to blame for the atrocities in Ukraine? Some critics think so. “Vladimir Putin’s war of aggression runs on the money Russia gets by selling fossil fuels to Europe,” wrote New York Times columnist Paul Krugman recently. “Germany…has in effect become Putin’s prime...

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The World Briefly

April 15, 2022

Boiling Over

Germany

German authorities arrested four people suspected of plotting to kidnap the country’s Health Minister Karl Lauterbach and destroy infrastructure in order to trigger “a civil war,” the Washington Post reported Thursday. Police said the individuals are alleged to be part of a Telegram chat group called...

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