compiled by Ana Ferreira

NEWS FROM BERLIN

Neo-Nazis soon to stand trial

The two main suspects in the right-wing extremist attack series in Berlin-Neukölln are likely to stand trial soon. They have been charged by the public prosecutor’s office with aggravated arson, damage to property and threats. According to the indictment, the two men allegedly committed the arson attacks on the car of a bookseller and the car of a left-wing local politician on 1 February 2018. The accusation is based on several pieces of circumstantial evidence. The victims were quite active against right-wing extremism. Crimes like arson attacks on cars are very difficult to solve because there are often neither witnesses nor traces. Source: taz

SPD prefer concrete to the environment

Berlin’s building code – for two years, the Social Democrats, the Left Party and the Greens have been working on an amendment to the regulations. The new building code would present, for instance, greener roofs and facades. On Monday, however, the SPD representative Iris Spranger informed the Greens and the Left the talks were over. This means it is the end of the red-red-green coalition. Not only until election night, but beyond. Because the CDU and FDP seem to be better at the grey concrete. Now the gardens of grey seem to be back in vogue, thanks to Franziska Giffey. Source: taz

Socialisers under attack

The accusations of alleged sexual harassment against an activist of the initiative Deutsche Wohnen & Co Enteignen have now become public and the subsequent internal handling of the matter hold considerable explosive potential for the cause. While for some it is clear that in the case of allegations of sexual assault, the victim must first be fully believed, others consider it customary to first demand proof and also to let the alleged perpetrator describe his or her view of things. Two incompatible approaches. In this case, the feminist approach clearly prevailed. Source: nd

NEWS FROM GERMANY

Bundeswehr colonel leaves the AfD

Uwe Junge is leaving the party, citing its radicalisation as the reason. Among those radicals, he means the candidates for the Bundestag elections, Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla. But he himself is anything but moderate, having been side by side for instance with Pegida founder Lutz Bachmann, as well as many neo-Nazis at a demo in Chemnitz in September 2018. In the meantime, the first reactions have come from the AfD: candidate Tino Chrupalla wrote on Twitter: “I thank Mr Junge for his work in building up the party. All the best in your political retirement! Source: taz

GDL announces five-day passenger rail strike

The train drivers’ union GDL has announced new strikes in the wage dispute with Deutsche Bahn. The third strike within a few weeks will also be the longest so far in the current wage dispute. The strikes are to end on Tuesday next week at 02:00 in the morning. GDL leader Claus Weselsky said he was sorry for the rail passengers, but that the “unteachable railway board” was responsible. S-Bahn and regional services will also be likely “massively” affected. It is not yet clear to what extent these areas will also be affected by the third strike. Source: rbb

Mobile data in Germany costs more than the European average

The Federation of German Consumer Organisations has made a comparison of the costs of mobile data across Europe and found out internet is cheaper in not only countries like Estonia, Romania, and Poland, but also in neighbouring countries such as France and Italy. Just to compare, a gigabyte of mobile data cost an average of 3.35 euros in Germany in 2019, while in France it was something like 3.18 euros. In Poland, it cost the average of 0.83 euros. The Federation advocated measures against high costs. Source: iamexpat

Compiled by Ana Ferreira

NEWS FROM BERLIN

Large majority of Berliners in favour of taking in Afghan local workers

According to the Senate, 192 local Afghan forces and their families had arrived in Berlin by Tuesday. The Senate is preparing for more to come, affirmed Michael Müller (SPD). Berlin is prepared both for the reception and further distribution of people arriving in the capital and for the fact that some of them will remain here at least in the medium term. According to the Senate Administration, Berlin is a distribution centre. In Brandenburg, the first local Afghans already arrived on Friday and were brought to the initial reception centre in Doberlug-Kirchhain (Elbe-Elster). Source: rbb

Admission only for vaccinated and recovered people: will 2G come to Berlin, too?

Hamburg is the first German state to introduce the so-called 2G (“genesen, geimpft”) option model from Saturday on. In Berlin, the 3G (“genesen, getestet, geimpft”) regulation has been in force since last Friday. According to the mayor Michael Müller (SPD), the 2G model for public spaces cannot be implemented once this would represent an exclusion of, among others, families with small children, who cannot yet be vaccinated against the coronavirus. Other politicians such as Ramona Pop, Regine Günther and Dirk Behrendt (Greens) are very sympathetic to the 2G regulation. Source: Berliner Zeitung

Student council seeks non-white applicants for position

A job advertisement by the student representation (RefRat) of Berlin’s Humboldt University (HU) caused a stir on Thursday. The job is about a counselling centre on racist discrimination. “We ask (…) white people to refrain from applying for this counselling centre,” the advertisement reads. The management of the HU is calling on the constituted student body to review the job advertisement. Later, the advertisement could no longer be found in the RefRat section on tenders. “We are in the process of revising the advertisement. We regret the ambiguous wording,” the RefRat stated. Source: rbb

NEWS FROM GERMANY

A moral dilemma

Who to get out of Afghanistan first? Those at risk who are hiding or those who make it to the airport? There is no easy answer to this moral dilemma. It cannot be right that half-empty planes take off just because there are not enough people in the chaos who have a legitimate claim to leave. But it would also be wrong to take in those waiting at the airport, while for those waiting in hiding to be rescued, the time for help is running out. Anyway, the action of taking 823 people in an aircraft showed something else: it showed humanity. Source: taz

Last German soldiers have left Afghanistan

Two weeks after the start of the rescue mission, the Bundeswehr has completed its evacuation flights from Afghanistan. Parallel to the latest exodus of Germans, a suicide attack occurred outside the gates of Kabul airport this Thursday. Due to the attack outside the airport, a German plane intended for emergencies landed in Kabul a little later. The aircraft, which was kept on standby for possible emergencies in the airspace over Kabul, made an unscheduled landing. It also picked up two German soldiers who had remained on the ground during the chaos following the explosion outside the airport. Source: spiegel

Germany “needs 400.000 immigrants a year”

To compensate for its growing worker shortage, Germany will need to attract hundreds of thousands of immigrants in the next years. The idea of inviting skilled migration to Germany is certainly not a new one. To fill more jobs, the Skilled Workers Immigration Act was introduced in March 2020. However, it was just when the first wave of coronavirus hit Germany, with its first national lockdown. The accompanying restrictions on travel only exacerbated the problem. And the number of applications for recognition of foreign professional qualifications – fell by 3 percent in 2020. Source: iamexpat

compiled by Ana Ferreira

NEWS FROM BERLIN

Berlin police slow to react to right-wing chat group

The police had leads, yet it took more than a year before they acted against a right-wing chat group. It had a striking name, after all: it was called: “Die Eierköppe”. And it was not until this summer that investigators came across the second “Eierköppe” chat group. The “eggheads” are alleged to have sent messages with “inhuman content” from September 2017 to November 2019, including pictures, racist content and anti-constitutional symbols. The investigations into the “Eierköppen” are being conducted by the public prosecutor’s office and the internal police investigation group “Zentral”. The cases involve 32 police officers. Source: tagesspiegel

Strike date set for health workers

This Friday the 100-day ultimatum expires. Neither the Charité nor and Vivantes hospitals nor the Berlin Senate have made any concrete proposal to improve working conditions for non-medical employees. Therefore, the union bargaining committees decided that there will be a strike from 23 to 25 August. Vivantes railed against the work stoppages, affirming the safety and well-being of patients would be “endangered”. Verdi’s position is clear: wherever there is no risk to patients from a strike, the right of workers to strike must be made possible. If the situation does not change, Verdi will call on for a strike ballot on 30 August. Source: jW

Berlin Kulturbrauerei apparently threatened with sale

The Kulturbrauerei is apparently up for sale. It has, according to the owner’s estimates, the sale value of the site is around 150 million euros. This is indeed a possibility, and it would also have the right timing once most of the leases expire at the end of 2021. The building itself, built by Franz Schwechten, is well protected by the historic legislation and in excellent condition – thanks, among other things, to large investments done by the state. But such protection applies only to buildings. If the Senate wants to protect the current users, it must try something else. Source: rbb

NEWS FROM GERMANY

Covid not under control in Germany

In Israel, where the next Covid wave is already there, the number of hospital admissions and corona deaths rises. With a vaccination rate slightly higher than that in Germany, Israel is still far from getting the pandemic under control. We know why this is so: vaccinations do not protect against infection, but against serious illnesses. Meanwhile, in Germany, due to the unwillingness of many to pick up the first or second dose of the carefully tested and effective vaccines, the risk of another wave approaches. It is therefore misleading to keep adding new high-risk areas, as if the situation here is much safer than elsewhere. It is not. Source: taz

Brandenburg is taking over initial reception of Afghans

Brandenburg wants to take over the initial reception of local Afghan forces arriving in Germany. The people from Afghanistan will initially stay at the reception centre in Eisenhüttenstadt for three to four days after their arrival. There, they will be tested for the coronavirus, and receive medical assistance if needed. Meanwhile, the Left Party faction in Brandenburg is calling for a state reception programme for 500 refugees from Afghanistan. Berlin gets ready, too, to take in refugees from Afghanistan. According to the State Office for Refugee Affairs (LAF), there are currently 1,250 places available in Berlin to accommodate refugees. Source: rbb

Former AfD leader charged with tax evasion

Former AfD leader Frauke Petry is once again on trial. She will have to answer for tax evasion and subsidy fraud in an appeal trial before the Leipzig Regional Court. The public prosecutor’s office accused Petry of having received funding for a so-called turn-around consultancy for her company. However, the consultancy was not for the company, but exclusively for the preparation and support of her personal insolvency. In the first instance, the public prosecutor’s office demanded a 30,000 euro fine for subsidy fraud, breach of trust and tax evasion. Source: swp

NSU verdicts finally confirmed

Twenty-one years after the first murder of Enver Şimşek, ten years after the NSU terror was uncovered and three years after the end of the trial, the Federal Supreme Court has now declared the verdicts against Beate Zschäpe and two co-defendants final. The decision rewards the persistent taking of evidence by the Munich Criminal Senate led by Manfred Götzl. Nevertheless, decisive questions about the NSU terror are still unanswered. Among them, how did the trio choose its victims? Were there other helpers? Where did the weapons come from? Did the Office for the Protection of the Constitution know more after all? Source: taz

compiled by Ana Ferreira

NEWS FROM BERLIN

Berliners could get a third vaccination from September

Up to 200,000 Berliners could receive a Corona booster vaccination from September onwards. Initially, this is planned for the very elderly over 80 years of age, people in need of care, and for immunocompromised people. The booster is planned to be given no earlier than six months after the previous vaccinations. Doctors’ surgeries have also been called upon to ensure the vaccinations are administered to those in need of outpatient care. All others in the eligible groups, such as older people who are not in need of care, can also get vaccinated at their doctor’s office. Source: morgenpost

Schools start with rapid tests and vaccinations

Classes started again in Berlin and Brandenburg schools from Monday. For the first time, some schools also offered direct vaccinations. For those over the age of twelve, after the consent of the parents, they can be vaccinated in vaccination centers or by doctors in private practice. However, the special offers for schoolchildren may vary. It is expected that all students in Berlin’s vocational schools aged 16 and over will receive a vaccination offer in the next two months. The mobile vaccination teams would come every day to the schools for this purpose. Source: rbb

NEWS FROM GERMANY

German government U-Turn on Afghan refugees

Due to the dramatic deterioration of the security situation in Afghanistan, Germany will not deport any more rejected asylum seekers there for the time being. This decision shows a radical change of course once only a few days ago Germany has decided for continuing deportations to Afghanistan, at least for criminals. In the meantime, more Afghan employees of the army and the police, who have been granted visas, are coming to Germany. According to the Ministry of Defence in Berlin, around 1,700 of them, including dependents, have arrived in Germany by last Tuesday. Source: dw

Rail strike begins

The train drivers’ union and the Deutsche Bahn (DB) are in conflict. In June, the German Train Drivers’ Union, (GDL) declared that collective bargaining talks have failed, demanding an improved offer from the DB. This is affected by the Collective Bargaining Unity Act (Tarifeinheitsgesetz, TEG). According to the TEG, only the collective agreement of the union with the largest membership counts in a company. In most cases, this is the rival railway and transport union (EVG). Volker Krombholz, GDL Northeast District Manager, declared: “We have proven that we can strike for a long time.” Source: jW

Renovated Lübeck synagogue reopened

After more than six years of renovation, the Carlebach Synagogue was officially reopened on Thursday. The opening takes place in the year in which 1,700 years of Jewish life in Germany is being celebrated. The Carlebach Synagogue, named after its first rabbi Salomon Carlebach, was the target of two arson attacks in 1994 and 1995. Schleswig-Holstein’s Prime Minister Daniel Günther (CDU) spoke out in favour of not hiding Jewish life. “The Jewish faith needs places where it becomes visible – not on the margins, but in the midst of society.” Source: Süddeutsche

compiled by Ana Ferreira

NEWS FROM BERLIN

Berliners could get a third vaccination from September

Up to 200,000 Berliners could receive a Corona booster vaccination from September onwards. Initially, this is planned for the very elderly over 80 years of age, people in need of care, and for immunocompromised people. The booster is planned to be given no earlier than six months after the previous vaccinations. Doctors’ surgeries have also been called upon to ensure the vaccinations are administered to those in need of outpatient care. All others in the eligible groups, such as older people who are not in need of care, can also get vaccinated at their doctor’s office. Source: morgenpost

Schools start with rapid tests and vaccinations

Classes started again in Berlin and Brandenburg schools from Monday. For the first time, some schools also offered direct vaccinations. For those over the age of twelve, after the consent of the parents, they can be vaccinated in vaccination centers or by doctors in private practice. However, the special offers for schoolchildren may vary. It is expected that all students in Berlin’s vocational schools aged 16 and over will receive a vaccination offer in the next two months. The mobile vaccination teams would come every day to the schools for this purpose. Source: rbb

NEWS FROM GERMANY

German government U-Turn on Afghan refugees

Due to the dramatic deterioration of the security situation in Afghanistan, Germany will not deport any more rejected asylum seekers there for the time being. This decision shows a radical change of course once only a few days ago Germany has decided for continuing deportations to Afghanistan, at least for criminals. In the meantime, more Afghan employees of the army and the police, who have been granted visas, are coming to Germany. According to the Ministry of Defence in Berlin, around 1,700 of them, including dependents, have arrived in Germany by last Tuesday. Source: dw

Rail strike begins

The train drivers’ union and the Deutsche Bahn (DB) are in conflict. In June, the German Train Drivers’ Union, (GDL) declared that collective bargaining talks have failed, demanding an improved offer from the DB. This is affected by the Collective Bargaining Unity Act (Tarifeinheitsgesetz, TEG). According to the TEG, only the collective agreement of the union with the largest membership counts in a company. In most cases, this is the rival railway and transport union (EVG). Volker Krombholz, GDL Northeast District Manager, declared: “We have proven that we can strike for a long time.” Source: jW

Renovated Lübeck synagogue reopened

After more than six years of renovation, the Carlebach Synagogue was officially reopened on Thursday. The opening takes place in the year in which 1,700 years of Jewish life in Germany is being celebrated. The Carlebach Synagogue, named after its first rabbi Salomon Carlebach, was the target of two arson attacks in 1994 and 1995. Schleswig-Holstein’s Prime Minister Daniel Günther (CDU) spoke out in favour of not hiding Jewish life. “The Jewish faith needs places where it becomes visible – not on the margins, but in the midst of society.” Source: Süddeutsche