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Violence against people with disabilities in institutions: stronger controls
The German Bundestag has passed a ‘participation-strengthening law’ to allow children, young people and people with disabilities greater social integration. There is now a violence protection clause in the German social legislation. This means that women, in particular, are better protected when dwelling in state…
CDU, SPD the Greens make proposals for amended climate protection law
Federal Minister of Economics Peter Altmaier (CDU) believes it is possible that the climate protection law can be changed quickly. He wants to submit proposals to those responsible in the Federal Cabinet and possibly speak to the opposition, in addition, to ensure that the renewed…
Deutsche Bank reports best quarterly result since 2015
Deutsche Bank is on the up. Since the beginning of 2021, it has achieved the best quarterly result in seven years, posting a profit of 908 million Euros by the end of March. Income climbed to 7.2 billion Euros. This corresponds to an increase of…
Greens spokeswoman warns of a longer moratory of bankruptcy applications
Katja Keul, legal policy spokeswoman for the Green parliamentary group in the German Bundestag, has warned that a further suspension of the obligation to file for insolvency could endanger other market participants. Should the suspension to apply be extended beyond the end of April, this…
Basic rights for those vaccinated and recovered – without those who have tested negative?
The parliamentary group of the two Union parties supports the draft of an ordinance of the Federal Ministry of Justice for the re-recognition of basic rights for people vaccinated against Corona and those recovered after Corona. Details still need to be clarified. The Federal Council…
Hospital society slightly optimistic
The chairman of the board of directors of the German Hospital Association, Gerald Gaß, has announced that the burden on clinics in Germany has lessened slightly in view of the third Corona wave. New infections have been constant for 14 days, Gaß explained. Since April…
Heil specifies further financial aid plans for the cultural sector
Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) has promised cultural workers that they can continue to receive Corona financial aid from the Federal Government. Merkel’s Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) announced that if self-employed people, including artists, make small profits, they should not lose their insurance cover in…
Oktoberfest canceled, Bayreuth Festival to take place
The Oktoberfest in Munich, after being skipped in 2020, will also be canceled in 2021, in view of the Corona pandemic, the Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) has announced after a conversation with the Mayor of Munich, Reiter (SPD). There was no time for…
Von der Leyen and Maas demand for journalists to enjoy protection
On the occasion of International Press Freedom Day, Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas has criticized the fact that journalists were subjected to reprisals. “Journalism is not a crime and must not be a risk, sometimes life-threatening. We must ensure that information remain a public good,”…
The Federal Government wants to try to protect journalists in Germany better
by Thorsten Koch After violent attacks on journalists by demonstrators, including by those operating against the Corona measures, the Federal Government has announced to offer media representatives better protection. The risk should be “taken into account” better by the police forces, as a spokesman for…
Queen Elizabeth II: Steinmeier congratulates on occasion of Her Majesty’s 95th birthday
Queen Elizabeth II has received congratulations on her 95th birthday, celebrated on Wednesday, from Frank-Walter Steinmeier, President of the Federal Republic of Germany. Steinmeier wrote on behalf of his German compatriots, expressing his hope that the British sovereign could celebrate this special day with Her…
Armin Laschet is candidate for Chancellor of the Union parties
by Thorsten Koch The CDU chairman and Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, Armin Laschet, has thanked Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) for his fairness in negotiating with the newly appointed candidate for Chancellor of the two Union parties. Laschet promised to involve Söder closely…
Corona pandemic: German parliament votes for emergency brake
by Thorsten Koch This Wednesday, the Bundestag voted on the amendment to the Infection Protection Act, passing it after deliberations. The law includes the power to impose restrictions on contacts and closings, for which only the Federal States were previously solely responsible. First of all,…
Longer bankruptcy protection?
The Grand Coalition is debating whether to extend insolvency protection for commercial companies in view of the Corona pandemic. So far, the regulation applies until the end of April. The SPD would like a longer period of validity. A spokesman for the Union parties’ parliamentary…
Adjusting or strengthening data protection “responsibly”?
by Thorsten Koch Alena Buyx, Chairwoman of the German Ethics Council, would like to see data protection law revised. You have to adjust data protection in the sense of using big data, she said in an interview with the “Redaktionsnetzwerk Germany”. A change in the…
Baerbock wants to become Chancellor of the next Federal Government
Annalena Baerbock, the Green Party’s designated candidate for Chancellor, has no preference for a specific coalition after the election campaign leading up to the Federal Elections in September. She wants to lead the next government, said the co-speaker of the Green Party. It is about…
Survey: people for stricter Corona measures
Survey data published on Friday suggest that the Corona measures are supposed to be tightened, to judge from public opinion. 43 percent of those asked in the framework of the representative survey for the ZDF Politbarometer – instead of 33 percent at the end of…
The US will station 500 additional soldiers
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced in Berlin that an additional 500 soldiers would be stationed in Germany. At a meeting with his German counterpart Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, he named autumn as the time window. Austin wants to see conflicts prevented, for example in cyber…
Bundeswehr withdraws from Afghanistan starting 1 May
Germany wants the withdrawal of its soldiers from Afghanistan synchronized with 30 partner states from May 1 to be “orderly, coordinated and deliberate”. The withdrawal should be completed within a few months. In press reports, the time window for the German withdrawal was set from…
More soldiers in Mali, extension of the deployment off Somalia
In the West African country of Mali, the number of German soldiers participating in the EU training mission EUTM is to be increased from a maximum of 450 to 600 armed forces, the Union faction’s vice-president Johann Wadephul (CDU) announced. Germany will take over the…
Maas for a peace solution in Yemen
Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs Heiko Maas has welcomed the efforts of the US government for a peace solution in Yemen. As a result of the efforts, the framework conditions had changed, and there will be new opportunities to end the war. The war could…
SPD calls for package to help children and young people
The SPD has called for a 2 billion Euro package to be put together for needy children and young people, as part of the help for those affected by the Corona pandemic. The latter are particularly hard hit by the pandemic. The package can be…
Volkswagen reaches agreement with trade union
The employees of the car manufacturer Volkswagen will receive a Corona bonus of 1000 Euros each in June, as well as a salary increase of 2.3 percent from 2022. IG Metall and Volkswagen agreed on this. The collective agreement for 120,000 employees is valid for…
Merkel and Macron welcome Chinese climate targets
Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron have welcomed the People’s Republic of China’s goals of achieving CO2 neutrality before 2060. In a digital conference with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Xi said, according to Chinese state television, that cooperation with Germany and France would…
Attacks on refugees remain highly concerning
There were at least 1,606 attacks on refugees and asylum seekers in Germany last year. This results from a response from the Federal Ministry of the Interior to a request from the Left Party in the Bundestag. The figures are preliminary. According to official information,…