WORLD

Nigeria’s Channels Television and the BBC are joining forces on a new English language current affairs programme due to launch in 2018. The live studio based show will focus on the stories behind the news, with original storytelling and audience interaction via social media and in the studio in Lagos. Made by the BBC and Channels Television in Nigeria, this …

US President Donald Trump has denied being “racist” in the wake of wide condemnation triggered by his alleged reference to Haiti and African nations as “shitholes”.   Trump reportedly used the term last week during a bipartisan Oval Office meeting on immigration reform. “I’m not a racist. I am the least racist person you have ever interviewed, that I can tell …

The annual Henley Passport Index has just been released. It ranks passports according to the number of countries their holders can travel to visa-free. The ranking named Germany as the country with the most powerful passport in the world for the fifth year in a row. Last October a separate ranking put Singapore at the top of the list, but Germany …

A report that President Donald Trump reportedly asked why so many people from “shithole countries” like El Salvador, Haiti and some African nations come to the US has been met with widespread outrage. Trump reportedly became furious during a meeting at the White House Thursday when Senators Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) and Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) proposed restoring protections for immigrants …

AfD federal lawmaker Jens Maier has been warned by his party over a racist tweet about the son of tennis legend Boris Becker. But Maier, who called Noah Becker a “half-negro,” can remain in the party. The national executive of the right-wing populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party on Monday officially reprimanded Bundestag member Jens Maier over a racist tweet …

Mike Reichel, a leading member of the Black Community in Germany who died recently, will be honoured at a funeral service on 19 January in Berlin. Reichel (54), who tragically ended his own life in December 2017, was one of the pioneer members of the Initiative of Black People in Germany (Initiative Schwarze Menschen in Deutschland or ISD) and a co-founder …

The Initiative in Memory of Oury Jalloh (Initiative zum Gedenken an Oury Jalloh) and its supporters will demonstrate for the thirteenth time in Dessau on Sunday to commemorate the death of Oury Jalloh, who died in police custody in the eastern German town on 7 January 2005. The memorial event, which takes place on Sunday, 7 January 2018, will also …

In a case that shows that the hand of justice is long, a Dutch court has convicted an aide of former Ethiopian dictator of war crimes committed in the 1970s and sentenced him to life in jail. Eshetu Alemu, who served Ethiopia’s ruthless leader Mengesitu Haile Mariam in the late 1970s, has been sentenced to life in jail by Dutch …

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier signed a multi-million dollar partnership deal with Ghana on his first trip to Africa since taking office. Germany hopes the accord might help curb migration to Europe. Germany has agreed to grant Ghana $118 million (€100 million) to promote renewable energies, energy efficiency and vocational training. The two countries signed the “Investment and Reform Partnership” agreement …

Dr Frank-Walter Steinmeier, President of the Federal Republic of Germany, will travel to Ghana and Gambia on 11-14 December 2017 on state visits. He will be accompanied by a delegation, including the Federal Minister for Economy and Energy, Mrs Brigitte Zypries, the Deputy Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Friedrich Kitschelt, the State Minister at the German Foreign Office, Maria …

From 29-30 November, 55 African and 28 European government representatives came together in Abidjan to adopt a new strategy for Africa. Despite the expectations, the end result was an utter disappointment, writes Barbara Wesel of the German international broadcaster Deutsche Welle, DW. This huge gathering of leaders in Côte d’Ivoire’s economic hub, Abidjan, was an ambitious event. Soldiers, gala dinners, …

As the EU-Africa Summit (29-30 November) kicks off in the Ivorian main city of Abidjan, a plan will be presented which analysts believe will spark an investment boom in Africa to generate employment for the continent’s youths. Chris Bishop* explains the plan and the challenges it faces. An effort that hopes to draw billions in investment in Africa from Europe …

A high-level conference hosted by the European Parliament on 22 November in Brussels has highlighted the need to improve EU-Africa relations, reports Andreas Rogal*. Exactly a week before the start of the fifth EU-Africa summit – between the European Union and the African Union – in Abidjan, the European Parliament hosted a high-level conference on EU-Africa relations, ‘Towards a renewed …

The African Union–European Union Summit, an institutional framework established to discuss relationships between both continents, convenes for its 5th edition in Abidjan, the economic capital of Cote d’Ivoire. African and European Heads of State and Government will gather for the 5th EU-Africa Summit on 29-30 November in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. The Summits, which take place every three years alternatively in …

Nicholas Opiyo received the prestigious German Africa Prize on Thursday at a solemn ceremony in the Allianz Forum at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. Opiyo, founder of the human rights organization “Chapter Four Uganda”, has worked tirelessly since 2005 to defend civil liberties in Uganda, often for free and on behalf of society’s most vulnerable and marginalized. The award was …

The Ugandan human rights lawyer Nicholas Opiyo will be conferred with the 2017 German Africa Prize on Wednesday (25 November) in Berlin. President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will present the prestigious award to Opiyo at a ceremony that will be attended by members of the Berlin diplomatic community as well as high-ranking officials of the German government. The German Africa Foundation which …

Oury Jalloh, a Sierra Leonean refugee died under mysterious circumstances in a police cell in the city of Dessau on 7 January 2005. According to police accounts, the then 21-year-old African was arrested after leaving a discotheque early in the morning of the fateful day. He had been reported by a street cleaner who felt intimidated when he asked to …

An online campaign has been launched for the retrial of the controversial death of Oury Jalloh. The Sierra Leonean refugee died in police custody in the eastern German city of Dessau on 7 January 2005. In different court proceedings, the police have always maintained that the African killed himself by setting on fire the mattress on which he was shackled. …

A man who apparently burned to death in a German police cell in 2005 could not have lit the fire himself, according to new documents. A prosecutor who had defended police now says there should be a murder investigation. Ben Knight of Deutsche Welle reports. Oury Jalloh, who died in police custody in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt in 2005, could …

A new survey ranks Germany as having the best global image, reports Deutsche Welle. Germany has replaced the United States as the country with the best “brand image,” according to a new study of 50 countries released Thursday. The Nation Brands Index (NBI) survey by German-based market research firm GfK and the British political consultant Simon Anholt measured public opinion …