Ogoni leaders have called on the Nigerian government to “exonerate” Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight others of all wrongdoing, 25 years after they were executed under controversial circumstances by the Sani Abacha-led military regime and despite the intervention by the international community. The 9 Nigerian environmental activists were hanged on 10 November 1995 on the orders of the military dictator after …

On Thursday, 5 November 2020, the Bundestag voted in favour of the Federal Government’s draft law “to strengthen security in passports, identity cards and documents relating to foreigners”. New identity cards will mandatorily contain two fingerprints from August next year. With this Bundestag resolution, Germany is implementing European law. According to the draft law, new requirements will also apply to …

An invitation has gone out to young people of African descent in Germany to participate in the Lead Academy 2020 via Zoom on 24-26 November. The event is organised by Lead Africa International e.V., a global non-governmental organization dealing with development issues. The three-day virtual event precedes the Global Partnership for African Development (G-PAD) 2020 Forum, with the theme Strengthening …

Africa has immense potential for photovoltaics which has barely been utilized up until now. But a pioneering spirit is spreading across the continent, with many countries paving the way for ambitious photovoltaics projects. This is the conclusion of the Intersolar Solarize Africa Market Report 2020, prepared by the Becquerel Institute and the German Solar Association (BSW-Solar) with support from Intersolar …

New quarantine rules for people entering Germany from risk areas enters into force on 8 November. Up to now, anyone returning to Germany from a risk area has been subject to compulsory testing and quarantine. The new regulation provides for a reduction of the quarantine period from 14 to 10 days. What are the new rules? Anyone who has been …

A new documentary film “König Bansah und seine Tochter” (King Bansah and his daughter), which takes viewers to Ludwigshafen, where a chief from Ghana lives and runs a car repair workshop, and on a journey to Africa where he’s a chief who is active in the development of his community – depicting a life between two identities, has won a …

Joseph Robinette Biden of the Democratic Party on Saturday said he is “honored and humbled“ by the trust the American people had placed in him and Vice-President elect, Kamala Harris. Biden has won Tuesday’s presidential election to become the 46th elected President of the United States. In a statement, Biden said he was “honoured and humbled“ by the trust the …

In a sign that it may become increasingly difficult to cross the Mediterranean on boat, a major route of irregular migration to Europe from Africa, Libya’s coast guard intercepted about 1,000 migrants and returned them to Libya within three days in the past week. From Sunday until Tuesday, a total of 935 migrants who tried to cross the Mediterranean Sea …

Coronavirus continues to spread rapidly in Germany. The number of registered new infections has reached a new record level of 21,506 cases within one day on Thursday. It was the highest single-day rise since the pandemic began, according to the country’s centre for disease prevention, Robert-Koch-Institute (RKI), in its report on Friday morning . Thursday’s caseload was an increase by …

An unfortunate effect of COVID-19, to include on the already long list, is that news stories which would usually make the headlines are either not being reported or are consigned to the back pages. What can happen is that governments then feel able to ignore important issues safe in the knowledge that they may be less likely to be challenged.