Berlin, Germany | AFP | German lawmakers on Thursday approved a partial ban on the full-face burqa Islamic veil and a package of security measures aimed at preventing extremist attacks. The new laws follow several jihadist attacks, including a truck rampage through a Berlin Christmas market that claimed 12 lives, …
Read More »ANALYSIS: No-one safe as sport becomes growing magnet for extremists
Paris, France | AFP | Three bombs hidden in a hedge that exploded when the Borussia Dortmund Champions League team passed by proved that no sporting event is now safe from a militant attack, experts said. With the Boston marathon looming on Monday — four years after it was the …
Read More »Police say blasts were ‘targeted attack’ on Dortmund
Dortmund, Germany | AFP | German police said Tuesday that they believe the three explosions that rocked Dortmund’s team bus ahead of a Champions League game were directly targeted at the club. “We are assuming that they were a targeted attack against the Dortmund team,” said Dortmund city’s police chief …
Read More »Five attacks on sporting events…memories of Munich massacre, Togo
Paris, France | AFP | Three explosions targetting the Borussia Dortmund team bus left one person injured and forced the postponement of Tuesday’s Champions League match against Monaco in Germany. Here are other attacks that have rocked sporting events. 1972 Munich Olympics massacre Eleven Israeli athletes perished at the 1972 Munich …
Read More »UPDATE: Namibia demands $30 bln for colonial era German genocide
Windhoek, Namibia | AFP | Namibia is to launch a 30-billion-dollar (28-billion-euro) lawsuit against Germany over genocide committed during colonial rule, when tens of thousands of people were killed, according to documents seen by AFP on Friday. The Namibian government has previously avoided demanding financial compensation, but it changed its stance …
Read More »Tensions show as Trump, Merkel meet for first time
Washington, United States | AFP | Stark differences between President Donald Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on everything from trade to immigration were in full view during an icy first meeting at the White House Friday. In a frequently awkward joint press conference, Trump and Merkel showed little common …
Read More »Namibia lodges colonial-era claim against Germany in NY court
New York, United States | AFP | More than a century after a long-hushed genocide took place in Namibia while under German colonial rule, descendants of the victims are getting their day in court in New York for the first time Thursday. In one of the darkest chapters of African colonial …
Read More »Volkswagen looks to team up with Tata in India
Frankfurt am Main, Germany | AFP | German carmaker Volkswagen and India’s Tata Motors plan a future “strategic partnership” in the subcontinent to jointly develop parts and vehicles, the two firms said in a joint statement Friday. Europe’s and India’s largest auto manufacturers signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) “to …
Read More »‘Mad’ axeman wounds 9 in German train station rampage
Düsseldorf, Germany | AFP | German police said Friday an axe-wielding attacker who went on the rampage wounding nine at a railway station was mentally ill and may have hoped police would shoot him dead. The 36-year-old Kosovan national had been diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic with a history of …
Read More »Erdogan likens Germany’s blocking rallies to Nazis
Istanbul, Turkey | AFP | Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan lashed out at Germany on Sunday for blocking rallies in support of him ahead of a vote on boosting his powers, likening the ban to “Nazi practices”. The attack came a day after German Chancellor Angela Merkel called Turkish Prime …
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