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After more than ten years of agitations, new names for streets in Berlin’s African Quarter linked to the brutal German colonial past in Africa have been found. The representatives of the three major parties on the district council of Wedding (Greens, SPD and Left) have agreed to rename Petersallee, Lüderitzstraße and Nachtigalplatz in honour of African liberation fighters. Lüderitzstraße was …

Berliners are calling on the city government to address skyrocketing housing costs as lawmakers dispute recent reports that the German capital has had the biggest price hikes in the world. Elizabeth Schumacher reports. Thousands of people defied the rain in the German capital, Berlin, on Saturday to protest the rising cost of housing amid rampant gentrification. Berlin has the fastest-rising property …

Politicians, ordinary people, supermodels and heads of state from all over the world came to give testimony to Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, whose impact was felt across the world, at a heroic farewell on Saturday. Zikhona Masala reports from Johannesburg. It was a funeral service that will forever be on the minds and hearts of those that attended and watched. Thousands of …

A group of Nigerians living in London yesterday protested against President Muhammadu Buhari, who is currently in the UK on a visit. The protest, held a day after Buhari declared his intention to contest for another term in office at next year’s election, took place at the Abuja House official residence of the Nigerian president in London. The protesters say …

Germany’s Interior Ministry supports the Central Council of Jews, whose chairman said those who disrespect German values should be stripped of their right of abode. It comes as Germany grapples with rising anti-Semitism. The chairman of Germany’s Central Council of Jews, Josef Schuster, told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper that fines and reprimands were not enough when tackling anti-Semitism and …

EU countries granted citizenship to around 995,000 people in 2016, according to the latest figures released by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, on Monday (9 April). In 2016, around 995 000 persons acquired citizenship of a Member State of the European Union (EU), up from 841,000 in 2015 and 889,000 in 2014. Of the total number of …

Kenyans won the men and women’s Paris Marathon titles on Sunday as, in a piece of theatre calculated by the organisers, the two champions finished almost together. The women’s race started 16min 26sec before the men, the difference in times between the male and female winners last year. Paul Lonyangata retained his men’s crown and also caught and passed Betsy …

Eritreans whose asylum claims were denied but were allowed to remain in Switzerland on a temporary basis could lose their status due to a court ruling last year. In recent days, they have received a letter from the government stating that their residence permit is being reviewed. In August 2017, the Federal Administrative Court ruled that Eritrean nationals who had …

The election of Julius Maada Bio as president is a vote against corruption and other issues that plagued Sierra Leone in the last decade. It’s also a major victory for the people, says Abu-Bakarr Jalloh, an editor with with DW’s English for Africa service, who is from Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone is in a state of awe, a mixture of …

Former South African President Jacob Zuma appeared in court on Friday (6 April) to face corruption charges relating to a $2.5 billion arms deal. He faces 16 charges including fraud, racketeering and money laundering. They relate to a procurement deal with Thales, a French arms manufacturer, in the mid-1990s, when Zuma was deputy president. Zuma’s financial adviser at the time, …

Jacob Zuma, South Africa’s former president, will appear at the Durban High Court on Friday to face more than a dozen corruption charges that date back to a fraught $2.5bn arms deal in the mid 1990s. Zuma, 75, faces 16 charges of corruption, racketeering and fraud, including taking bribes from a French arms manufacturer in a set of accusations that …

Opposition candidate Julius Maada Bio has won a narrow victory in a run-off election to become Sierra Leone’s new president. The National Electoral Commission announced at 10pm local time that Maada Bio of the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) won 51.8 percent of a total of over 2.5 million ballots cast in the March 31 vote, beating the ruling All …

Immigrants with limited German language competence are among those that face most difficulties finding accomodation or at risk of being thrown out of their apartment. Now, a new site offers information in multiple languages so that people of all backgrounds can know their rights and recourses. Werena Rosenke receives a lot of phone calls. “They’re people who need acute help. …

America marks the 50th anniversary of the assassination of the Rev Martin Luther King Junior Wednesday. Best known for his role in the advancement of civil rights by using the tactics of nonviolence and civil disobedience, King was assassinated on 4 April 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee. Is Black America better off today than in Dr King’s time? Our New York-based …

A spike in violent crime in London saw more murders committed in the city in February and March than there were in New York, new figures show. London’s monthly murder rate has overtaken New York City’s for the first time in modern history, according to new figures from the Metropolitan Police and the New York Police Department. In February, 15 …

Ethiopia’s parliament has elected Abiy Ahmed as the new prime minister, a week after the ruling coalition nominated him to succeed Hailemariam Desalegn. Abiy was sworn in on Monday shortly after his election to become Africa’s second-most populous country’s 16th prime minister and the first Oromo to hold Ethiopia’s top seat. Hailemariam resigned in February, following months of protests in …

The Southern Africa nation of Botswana has sworn-in its new president in the person of Mokgweetsi Masisi. The 55-year-old becomes the country’s 5th president. He took the oath of office before the country’s national assembly in the presence of the Chief Justice, the Speaker of Parliament and his immediate predecessor, Seretse Khama Ian Khama. The official oath was administered by …

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has been re-elected with 97 percent of votes, the same proportion that the former military commander secured four years ago for his first term, official results showed on Monday. However, turnout was lower at 41 percent, despite efforts to get as many Egyptians as possible to polling stations during last week’s vote. Sisi had been …

South African anti-apartheid icon Winnie Madikizela-Mandela died peacefully on Monday following a long illness, a family spokesman said. “She died after a long illness, for which she had been in and out of hospital since the start of the year,” Victor Dlamini said in a statement. “She succumbed peacefully in the early hours of Monday afternoon surrounded by her family …

A controversial pact, in which the US military wants to invest $20 million and get access to Ghana’s runways and communications, set off rallies in the West African nation, with people chanting their country is “not for sale.” Thousands of people flocked to the streets of Accra, the capital of Ghana, to protest a military deal the government recently signed …