Liberation of journalist signals cautious détente in German-Turkish relations

After one year and two days in Turkish prison – mostly spent in solitary confinement – journalist Deniz Yücel was set free by the Turkish authorities on February 16, 2018. The case of Yücel, a German and Turkish dual national working for the German Die Welt newspaper, had been a severe stumbling block in German-Turkish…

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Jesuit college’s decision to appoint hijab-wearing teacher makes headlines in Germany

The Canisius-Kolleg, an elite Catholic secondary school in Berlin has made national headlines in Germany by appointing a Muslim teacher wearing a hijab. The school is run by the Jesuit order and is located in the calm and upmarket diplomatic district of the German capital. Long-standing court battles Teachers with Islamic headscarves have for years…

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Documentary on young German-Syrian couple causes stir in Germany, giving free rein to xenophobic outbursts

For more than two decades, Germany’s public broadcasters ARD and ZDF have jointly operated KiKA, a channel aiming at a young audience aged three to thirteen. The TV channel – whose acronym stands for “children’s channel” – has led a relatively quiet life for most of its existence. For the past two weeks, however, it…

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Pew Research Center projects growing Muslim populations in Europe – report

In a recent study, renowned US think tank Pew has chosen to address a highly sensitive political issue: the number of Muslims living in European countries. The study, which was published on November 29, 2017, promises to “provide[…] the first estimates of the growing size of the Muslim population in Europe following the wave of…

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New law against online hate speech causes stir in Germany as AfD politician’s twitter is suspended

On January 1, 2018, a new law went into effect in Germany with the aim of curbing ‘fake news’ and hate speech online. The Act for the Improvement of Law Enforcement on Social Networks – thankfully shortened in common parlance to the Network Enforcement Law (Netzdurchsetzungsgesetz) targets social media such as Twitter and Facebook, seen…

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