News

Femi Kuti, Afrobeat musician and son of music legend Fela, alongside dance hall singer Yemi Alade thrilled French President Emmanuel Macron and guests at the New Afrika Shrine on Tuesday. Macron, who visited the Shrine to inaugurate the African Cultural Season to be hosted in France in 2020, is believed to be the first head of state to enter the music …

In pursuant of its strategic objectives and core values, Nigerians in Diaspora Organization Europe (NIDOE) has finalized arrangements to commence the pre-enrolment of Nigerians in Europe in the National Identity Database. The pre-enrolment is to ensure that all Diaspora Nigerians are well documented in the National Identity Management System (NIMS) of the Federal Government of Nigeria. The National Identity Management …

Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah has signed a new five-year contract with the club. The 26-year-old Egypt international joined the Reds for £34m from Roma last summer and has scored 44 goals in 52 appearances for the club. The financial terms were not disclosed.  “I’m very happy to say I have signed a new contract with the club,” he said. “My …

Chancellor Angela Merkel and Bavarian conservative leader Horst Seehofer have reached a deal on migrant policy that could save the governing coalition. But will the Social Democrats accept the deal? Jefferson Chase/DW reports from Berlin. After plenty of political twists and turns over the past few days and weeks, Chancellor Angela Merkel has achieved a last-ditch agreement to end the …

The Dortmund-based AfricanTide Union e.V. has opened its first branch office.  Since 15 June, there is now the opportunity to exchange and develop joint projects in the Gutruf Haus in the immediate vicinity of the Alster in Hamburg. “We are happy to be in Hamburg now. Together with local stakeholders, we want to implement our successfully tested programmes for promoting integration and …

Many international organisations have expressed concern over violent attacks perpetrated by suspected cattle herders from the Fulani ethnic group in the central Nigerian state of Plateau early this week. The state government say more than 200 persons, including women and children, were killed in the military-style attack on 11 villages across three local government areas without the intervention of security forces. …

A new organisation of Ghanaians living in Europe gathered recently in the western German city of Dortmund to officially launch the body, whose professed aim is to drive the development of their homeland. The General Assembly of the Ghanaians in the Diaspora (Ghaspora), a new organisation bringing together Ghanaians in Europe, has held its first official meeting in Dortmund, Germany. …

Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel warns migration crisis ‘could determine the fate of the European Union’ European Union leaders gathered on Thursday to examine new ways to stop migrants entering Europe, desperate to ensure that their differences over managing the flows do not tear the 28-nation bloc apart. The number of people arriving in Europe seeking sanctuary or better lives has …

The level of financial aid EU members provide to asylum-seekers can vary significantly from country to country. Germany, for instance, grants monthly allowances of up to €354. Diana Hodali and Astrid Prange of DW examine asylum benefits across the bloc. European Union asylum law stipulates that member states must ensure everyone in need is guaranteed a fair asylum application process. …

Nigeria is far from ready to hold a credible ballot in 2019, argues Olayinka Ajala, Associate Lecturer and Conflict Analyst at the University of York, UK. The 2019 presidential election in Nigeria will be the country’s sixth since 1999, when it shifted to democracy after a long period of military rule. Most of these elections have been tarnished by acts …

A poll by Oxfam Intermon said over 60 percent of Spaniards interviewed were in favour of migration while 20 percent thought they were being ”invaded” by migrants. Paola Del Vecchio reports. A survey released by Oxfam Intermon to mark World Refugee Day on Wednesday said 65 percent of Spaniards interviewed wanted to welcome refugees and migrants and 21 percent of …

EU leaders are set to endorse plans to create a so-called “disembarkation scheme” under which migrants rescued at sea would be taken to sites in North Africa where their requests for asylum would be processed. The EU is considering the creation of “disembarkation platforms” in North Africa to decide asylum applications before migrants set out for Europe, according to a draft statement …

Obviously to change the observed apathy of devout Christians to politics in Nigeria, one of the country’s leading churches has now started a campaign encouraging its members to register to vote at next year’s general election. The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) has flagged off a political awareness campaign tagged ‘Let my people vote’, signalling what  many describe as …

Calling for a new approach to tackle the issue, UNHCR says 53 percent of the 68.6 million people displaced are children. Nearly 69 million people who have fled war, violence and persecution were forcibly displaced last year, according to the UN refugee agency (UNHCR). In its annual report released on Tuesday, UNHCR said continued crises in places like South Sudan …

After more than a week at sea, hundreds of migrants turned away by Italy danced and sang as their ships arrived in the Spanish port of Valencia on Sunday. The migrant rescue boat Aquarius arrived in Spain Sunday with 106 migrants on board. Spain swooped to offer safe harbour to a convoy of boats, carrying a total of 629 rescued …

After serving just 18 months as head of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF), Jutta Cordt was fired on Friday by Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, after an internal review discovered that the agency’s branch in the city of Bremen had violated legal and internal regulations for the approval of asylum applications. In April, it was revealed that a …

Ignorance of a landmark European Union law that scraps mobile phone roaming charges is on the increase, according to a new study. It’s a year since Brussels abolished the fees in a move that was hailed as a “real European success story”. It means travellers within the EU can call, text and browse the web on mobile devices at the …

Nigerian asylum seekers in Germany seem to find it easier than other African refugees to integrate into the labour market, a survey found. Sonia Piotie Yakap of Deutsche Welle (DW) reports. The latest monthly report on the integration of migrants in the German labour market, issued by the Institute for Employment Research (IAB), which is affiliated to the German Employment …

The Austrian government is closing down seven mosques because they allegedly “lack a positive mindset” towards Austria. Citing a 2015 law that prevents religious communities from receiving funding from abroad, the government also plans to expel 40 imams employed by ATIB, a group that oversees Turkish mosques in Austria. “Even if there were mistakes, even if these mosque communities have …

The African Union (AU) passport is expected to be fully rolled out by 2020, the AU Commissioner in charge of Infrastructure, Energy, ICT and Tourism, Dr Amani Abou-Zeid, has disclosed. The passport, a common travel document set to replace existing national passports, is expected to grant citizens of member states of the AU visa exemption to all the 54 states …