EUROPE

A new report has found that only a small fraction of German users get the internet speeds that providers promise. And, according to a study of service providers, the problem is only getting worse. Elizabeth Schumacher reports. A new report from Germany’s Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) has revealed that the country — known the world over for ingenuity and efficiency …

The UK has created a “minister for loneliness” position to tackle modern public health problems associated with social isolation. The government of Prime Minister Theresa May said Wednesday it appointed Tracey Crouch after research showed as many as one in ten people felt lonely “always or often” and that hundreds of thousands of elderly people hadn’t spoken to a friend …

As the Kenyan community is still mourning one of their own, Brian Nyawade Owino, an asylum-seeker whose death was announced in Berlin on 5 January, the police found the remains of a Kenyan woman in the western German city of Essen on Wednesday (17 January). The body of the 27-year-old Mary Waithera Kamathi, popularly known as Carrie Jones, was discovered in …

The Dutch government has declared the head of the Eritrean embassy’s office in The Hague ‘persona non grata’ and has demanded his immediate departure. The decision followed a motion issued by the Dutch parliament to close the consulate. The decision to expel Tekeste Ghebremedhin Zemuy, Eritrea’s Chargé d’Affaires in the Netherlands, was made after reports of the intimidation and coercion, …

Brian Nyawade Owino, who went missing in Berlin on 29 December 2017, was reported dead on 5 January. Circumstances surrounding his death are still not clear. Following is the Press and Community Communiqué of the Kenyan Community, PEACE and The VOICE Refugee Forum Berlin on the sad event: Brian Nyawade Owino (26), an African asylum seeker from Kenya went missing …

A Nigerian-British male fashion model, Harry Uzoka, has been stabbed to death near his home in what is believed to be a robbery which went wrong. Uzoka, who was on the books of Premier Model Management, died from a single stab wound in the tragic incident on Friday (12 January). Neighbours on Old Oak Road, East Acton, reported a shout …

German doctors shut their doors to state insurance patients at the end of each quarter to save money, a new study has shown. Germany’s profit-driven health care system is increasingly attracting criticism. State health insurance patients are struggling to see their doctors towards the end of every quarter, while privately insured patients get easy access, according to a study released …

Several thousands of protesters turned out in Dessau on Sunday to demand justice for Oury Jalloh who died in mysterious circumstances in police custody in the eastern German city 13 years ago. Oury Jalloh died in a police cell in Dessau, Saxony-Anhalt, thirteen years ago, but the circumstances surrounding his death remain unclear until today. More than four thousand supporters …

After several days of public silence, tennis living legend Boris Becker has finally spoken up on the controversy surrounding AfD politician Jens Maier’s racist comment about his son. The member of the German parliament had attacked Noah Becker, calling him a “little half-negro” on Twitter over an interview in which the son of the former Wimbledon champion compared Berlin with …

The Association of Black People in Germany (Initiative Schwarze Menschen in Deutschland or ISD Bund e.V.) has condemned Jens Maier, a member of the far-right, anti-immigrant party Alternative for Germany (AfD), for his racist Twitter comment on Noah Becker (23), son of former tennis star Boris Becker. The member of the Bundestag or German parliament had attacked Noah Becker, calling …

The Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to France, Dr. Modupe Irele, has said that no fewer than 30,000 Nigerians are currently living in France. Irele told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Lagos that the number included Nigerians living in France as business owners, as well as those studying in various French educational institutions. “The …

As part of the awareness raising campaign for the International Decade for People of African Descent, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights hosted a Regional Meeting for Europe, Central Asia and North America in Geneva, Switzerland, on 23-24 November 2017. [The International Decade for People of African Descent, 2015–2024, was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly …

The Chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation Europe (NIDOE), Hon. Kenneth Gbandi, has called on Nigerians travelling home for Christmas to be good ambassadors of the Diaspora. In his end-of-the-year message to Nigerians living in Europe, Gbandi pleaded with his countrymen and women travelling home for the yuletide to use the opportunity “for knowledge transfer, mentoring, empowerment and to …

“Press Statement of the Central Council of the African Community in Germany e.V. (Zentralrat der afrikanischen Gemeinde in Deutschland e.V.) on the murder of Oury Jalloh. Fixed to a fireproof mattress with his hands and feet shackled, Oury Jalloh was found burnt in cell N ° 6 of the Dessau police station on 7 January 2005. The horrible image of …

A recent report by the German Federal Statistical Office has found that people with a migration background differ markedly from those without a migration background in key areas, such as education, employment and income, reports Chloe Lyneham/DW. The Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), which conducts regular reporting on integration, has found that the differences between persons with and without a migration …

The new system will allow those entitled to benefits to directly collect cash at tills, rather than using distributors at job centres, reports Emma Beswick. Germany’s unemployed will soon be able to collect benefits at checkouts in certain supermarkets and chemists as part of a government bid to cut costs, according to newspaper WELT AM SONNTAG. Set to kick off …

Police have detained six Nigerian in Ruhrgebiet who they allege have smuggled women into the country and forced them into prostitution. The police in the West German city of Oberhausen have arrested a couple from Nigeria who they alleged have smuggled women from Nigeria into the Ruhr area (Ruhrgebiet) in order to force them into prostitution. Also four more suspects …

One of the recipients of the MoneyGram-sponsored “Afrika! Community Award 2017”** is the Nigerian Community Germany e.V. (NGC), the umbrella body of Nigerian organisations in the country. Nigerians are found in various social stations across Germany and are organised in different forms – ethnic, religious, professional, political and socio-cultural. There’re no definite figures of the current number of Nigerians in the …

Thousands marched in Rome to protest against the government’s proposal to reform citizenship procedures for descendants of immigrants living in Italy. In Italy, thousands of people attended a far-right rally in Rome on Wednesday over a new law that could grant citizenship to children of immigrants. Under the bill called “right of the soil” (lus soli), children under 12 who’ve …

The Catalonian leader Carles Puigdemont and four associates have turned themselves into Belgian police. It follows an international arrest warrant issued by spain for sedition, rebellion, misuse of public funds and breach of trust in relation to Catalonia’s independence campaign. A spokesman for the prosecutor, Gilles Dejemeppe said the five handed themselves in to the authorities at the main police …