The French and German foreign ministers arrived in Addis Ababa on Thursday on a mission to support a peace agreement signed last year to end two years of brutal war. The visit by France’s Catherine Colonna and Annalena Baerbock of…
Taiwan president thanks visiting German lawmakers
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen on Tuesday said that a visit by a delegation of German lawmakers showed Berlin’s support for Taiwan, which is facing growing tensions with China. The delegation, headed by Bundestag defence committee chairperson Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmerman, arrived in…
Germany returns 20 Benin bronzes to Nigeria, noting ‘‘dark past’’
Twenty historic bronze sculptures have been returned to Nigeria by Germany as part of efforts to address its “dark colonial past,” its foreign minister said on Tuesday. Annalena Baerbock, Germany’s foreign minister, returned the prized cultural artefacts to Nigerian officials…
Irmgard Furchner: Nazi typist guilty of complicity in 10,500 murders
A former secretary who worked for the commander of a Nazi concentration camp has been convicted of complicity in the murders of more than 10,505 people. Irmgard Furchner, 97, was taken on as a teenaged typist at Stutthof and worked…
Germany to begin returning Benin Bronzes in 2022
All state agencies in Germany agree on the “substantial return” of the valuable Benin bronzes cultural assets to Nigeria. State Minister of Culture Monika Grütters (CDU) also said that a coordinated stance on the German side is important “in order…
Berlin’s giant AquaDom aquarium containing 1,500 fish explodes
A giant aquarium containing a million litres of water in the lobby of the Radisson Blu in Berlin has burst, flooding the hotel and nearby streets. The “AquaDom” – home to 1,500 tropical fish – is 14m high (46 ft)…
Germany arrests 25 accused of plotting coup
Twenty-five people have been arrested in raids across Germany on suspicion of plotting to overthrow the government. The group of far-right and ex-military figures are said to have prepared for a “Day X” to storm the Reichstag parliament building and…
Help for Ukrainian aid driver stranded in Germany
A 4×4 heading to Ukraine to deliver aid that has been stranded in Germany for eight days should be back on the road next week. Oleh, a Ukrainian refugee living in Towcester, Northamptonshire, had started his journey to Lviv when…
Zelensky thanks German Bundestag for acknowledging Holodomor genocide
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has welcomed the German Bundestag’s decision to classify the famine in Ukraine, caused deliberately 90 years ago, as genocide. “This is a decision for justice, for truth,’’ Zelensky said in his daily video address on Thursday.…
Japanese fans continue to clean up at World Cup
Social media has been agog with pictures and comments about Japanese fans at the World Cup bagging trash after the country’s matches with Germany and Costa Rica. What some may not realise is that this is Japan’s seventh straight World…