NEWS FROM BERLIN
Thousands protest outside CDU in Berlin
Thousands of people have once again gathered outside the CDU party headquarters in Berlin to protest against the controversial “cityscape” comments made by Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU). According to Berlin police, around 2,000 people took part in the rally, while organizers speak of 7,500. The rally was organized by the alliance “Together Against the Right.” The motto of the event was “Feminist Rally: We Are the Daughters.” At the demonstration on October 21, there were slogans such as “Daughters for a colorful cityscape,” and “We don’t have a cityscape problem, we have a racism problem.” Source: spiegel
Against asphyxia
The Senate has actually set a record budget for 2026/27. There is a lot of money there, but not a great share for culture. For two years now, Berlin’s cultural scene has been unable to breathe well. On October 23, providers of cultural activities for children and young people demonstrated in front of the House of Representatives against cuts in their sector. Cornelia Schuster, head of the State Association for Children and Youth (LKJ), said in her speech at the protest in front of the parliament: “We have been fighting against the cuts since the end of 2023. It’s just incredibly exhausting.” Source: taz
Bird flu: State laboratory confirms first cases in Berlin
Two dead cranes have tested positive for bird flu (avian influenza) in the Berlin-Brandenburg state laboratory, as explained by a spokeswoman from the Senate Department for Justice and ConsumerProtection. There are yet two suspected cases. According to the report, wildbirds are primarily affected in Berlin. In Germany, bird flu is spreading rapidly. There is also an outbreak of the disease among cranes and poultry farms in Brandenburg. In the past, the virus was only present in the country during the cold season in connection with bird migration. There are now detections throughout the year, albeit with seasonal fluctuations. Source: berlin.de
NEWS FROM GERMANY
German media disproportionately cover crimes where suspect is “non-German”
According to a new report conducted for Mediendienst Integration, violent crimes in which the suspect is perceived as “foreign” are far overrepresented in German media coverage. For instance, in 2024, a quarter of German TV crime reports named the suspect’s nationality, residence status or family origins (Herkunft) and in 94,6% of these reports,the suspect was a non-German and or had a recent migration background. However, according to Federal Criminal Police Office (Bundeskriminalamt) statistics, in only 34,3% of violent crimes in 2024 was the suspect non-German and or had a recent migration background. Source: iamexpat
Federal government wants to pay salaries of US Army employees
The German government wants to takeover the payment of salaries for the approximately 12,000 civilian employees of the US armed forces in Germany who are facing a loss of pay due to the budget freeze in the US – the so-called “shutdown.” “If the US does not provide the funds in time, the federal government will initially cover the costs for the October salaries,” a spokeswoman for the Federal Ministry of Finance told “tagesschau”. The ministry will “initiate the authorization for an unscheduled expenditure of approximately 43 million euros,” as added. The ver.di union had previously called on the federal government to take over the payments if necessary. Source: tagesschau
German Armed Forces purchase Israeli anti-tank missiles
According to information from theIsraeli daily newspaper “Haaretz”, Germany has decided to purchase Spike anti-tank missiles. The deal is worth around two billion euros and was handled by the NATO procurement agency. The contractual partner is the European joint venture EuroSpike, in which the Israeli arms manufacturer Rafael has a stake. According to Haaretz, this is one of the largest arms contracts concluded by NATO procurement in recent years. Germany has purchased Israeli military equipment worth around 315 million euros this year alone – more than in the previous four years combined. Source: juedische-allgemeine
CDU politician writes Nazi slogan on Facebook
CDU local politician Marco Walczakresponded to a Facebook post by Die Linke Niedersachsen (The Left Party ofLower Saxony) about citizen’s income with the Nazi slogan “Arbeit macht frei”(Work makes you free). Later, he spoke of a “terrible faux pas,” alleging to be“unaware of its historical significance.” The politician most recently held the chairmanship of the CDU local association in Meckelfeld, Klein-Moor in the municipality of Seevetal. According to the CDU in that city, he has since resigned from this position. A joint statement by the CDU Seevetal and the CDU district association Harburg-Land indicates that Walczak has received a reprimand. Source: ndr
Work yes, asylum no
Waiting and patience are two concepts in Germany that immigrants experience in the truest sense of the word. The news exemplifies such through the narrative of Patience, a Burundian. After three years of waiting, he finally had his interview at the BAMF – by which time he had already been working for quite a while. As an asylum seeker with “temporary residence permit,” he is not entitled to child benefit or child allowance. He has a family, a job, and must live in a container – and it will probably be a few years before a decision is made on his residence status. Source: jungewelt
