Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) has promised further financial aid to the Republic of Niger during a reception given for the President of Niger, Bazoum, in Berlin. Bazoum emphasized that this was an important element of support from Germany. The German government participates in EU…

Federal Finance Minister Olaf Scholz (SPD) expects that the global minimum tax will enable Germany to generate billions of Euros in additional budgetary means. He did not give any specific number. The minimum tax of 15 percent for internationally operating companies ends tax dumping and…

The increase in tobacco tax from 2022, totaling around 500 million Euros, will not be used to prevent addiction. Instead, Federal Finance Minister Olaf Scholz (SPD) had the additional income included in the planning of the overall federal budget. The parliamentarian Till Mansmann (FDP) criticized:…

According to the Federal Employment Agency, the situation with a view on vocational training has become more difficult. So far, only around 285 young people in Germany have applied for an apprenticeship position – 32,000 fewer than in 2020. There are 468,000 vacant apprenticeships. Nevertheless,…

The economic aid that the Federal Government has made available during the Covid-19 pandemic has hardly resulted in attempted fraud. Only about 1 percent of the 17,354 criminal proceedings in which the Federal Criminal Police Office has been engaged, and 1.2 percent in the total,…

It is mostly long-term patients who were infected in spring this year, during the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, who are now treated in intensive care units in German hospitals. There are only few new admissions, according to Gernot Marx, President of the German…

Among Germans, 22 percent were in favor of compulsory vaccination against Covid-19 after the Delta-Vatiante appeared, according to recent Forsa survey. Three quarters of those polled by Forsa want vaccination to continue to be voluntary. With 37 percent, especially the supporters of the Union parties…

Protecting the younger generation is crucial when it comes to vaccinations against the Corona virus, especially against the spread of the more contagious Delta variant. As the Minister of State in the Federal Chancellery, Helge Braun (CDU), said, special vaccination offers for students are to…

The chief executive of the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians, Andreas Gassen, has stated that the delta variant of the Corona virus is more contagious, but probably no more dangerous than the previously dominant variants. It is possible that the number of cases…

In 2020, more people started training in nursing professions than in previous years, as stated in the Federal Government’s 2nd Report of Concerted Care Action. This is an indication that care remains attractive for employees and trainees. In the previous year, 57,200 people started training…

This fall, new fines for speeders in car traffic will come into force. The Federal Council still has to approve the respective draft of the Federal Ministry of Transport. After long discussions, the Federal and State Governments agreed on a new catalog of fines. The…

Around 41 percent of young people between the ages of 16 and 21 fancy doing voluntary service, as reported by the German Red Cross (DRK). Ten years after the introduction of the Federal Voluntary Service, the DRK draws a positive balance and advises that the…

During a visit to the Polish capital, Warsaw, Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas warned against isolating from Russia: “It would put us in a difficult position in Europe if economic relations with Russia were no longer possible.” Maas warned that this was dangerous for Europe’s…

Two days ago, my desktop files were deleted in what, according to all likelihood, was government or government-sponsored hacking of my work computer. Four months of research on German politics for a new monograph are forever lost, and hundreds of hours of work on my…

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…

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 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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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,”…

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 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…