Europe | Germany | Politics

Angela Merkel ‘firm favourite’ for Nobel prize over refugee crisis – but losing favour in Germany

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Speculation is mounting that Angela Merkel will win this year’s Nobel Peace Prize for her handling of the European refugee crisis and the war in Ukraine, just as public opinion in Germany is hardening on the migrant issue. The German Chancellor has emerged as the firm favourite for the 2015 peace prize, the winner of which will be announced by the Norwegian Nobel Committee next Friday. But even as she is lauded on the international stage, Mrs Merkel is facing growing opposition to her refugee policy at home, where her personal approval rating with voters has plummeted n
Europe | Germany | Culture

Committedly Islamic, avowedly feminist: Germany’s Islamic feminist movement

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There are two general tendencies that govern how Muslim minorities in Europe are spoken about by mainstream European politicians and journalists. One is that the attention is overwhelmingly on Muslim communities living in Britain and France. Other European countries get a mention only when there erupts a crisis or a murder, as was the case in the Jyllands-Posten controversy in 2005 in Denmark. The other striking tendency is that Muslim minorities in Europe are typically spoken of as distinct from the people and common sensibilities of the nation in which they live. They are taken to be
Europe | Germany | Ethics

Is Merkel working for Germany’s National Interests?

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The claims that Merkel's government knew about German state intelligence spying on behalf of the Americans against the country's own industrial interests raise disturbing questions about the integrity of German government leaders. The apparent betrayal of German national interests by Chancellor Angela Merkel is not only evident over the recent industrial spying scandal on behalf of America. The slavish pursuit by Merkel of Washington's anti-Russian policy over Ukraine -- in contradistinction to her country's national interests -- also cogently suggests that the chancellor is serving a for
Europe | Germany | Health

German woman pregnant with quadruplets – at 65: reports

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A 65-year-old Berlin woman who already has 13 children is pregnant again with quadruplets, German media reported Sunday. The Russian and English teacher's pregnancy follows several attempts abroad at artificial insemination over the last year and a half, German RTL broadcaster said. The woman, Annegret Raunigk, decided to try to have another child because her youngest daughter, who is nine, wanted a little brother or sister, RTL said on its website. The TV channel will broadcast an interview with the expectant mother, who has seven grandchildren, on Monday evening.