Category: Politics

Experts debate what governments must do to get a grip on the crises. They continue to assume that inequality will increase.

The main thing is to be there: The elite of political and economic decision-makers – mostly male, for some inexplicable reason – meet in Davos. Picture: dpa

One should not put his word at this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos on the gold scale, sent David Rubenstein in advance. The head of the U.S. investment firm Carlyle Group admitted that he had been quite wrong with his economic forecasts in 2014.

Students at Istanbul’s Bogazici University are fighting back against the appointment of a rector with close ties to the AKP. Also with social media like Clubhouse.

A student is arrested during the demonstration Photo: Burhan Ozbilici/AP/dpa

Protests against the appointment of an AKP-affiliated rector have been going on at Istanbul’s prestigious Bogazici University since early January. Unlike previous rectors, Melih Bulu’s appointment was made by President Erdogan. Notable protests have become rarer in Turkey in recent years. The resistance, which is not abating now, is taking place not only on campus, in Istanbul and other cities, but also in the social media – with the hyped network Clubhouse playing a special role.

The Science Council wants more money for universities. In an internal letter, the finance ministers oppose ambitious figures.

Less money means above all nothing good for them, the students. Picture: dpa

More money for universities – that’s what the Science Council, the most important political advisory body on these issues, demanded last week. An internal letter obtained by the taz now shows how rabidly the finance ministers previously fought off overly ambitious spending targets.

CDU politician Wolfgang Bosbach does not want to support the Bundestag’s decision to continue negotiations with Greece. However, he will remain a member of parliament.

"I cannot and will not go along with this path," the 63-year-old said. Photo: dpa

CDU member of the Bundestag Wolfgang Bosbach wants to keep his parliamentary mandate despite his fierce criticism of the German government’s Greece policy, but resign from his post as chairman of the Interior Committee.

In Hamburg, the investor’s view of urban development is law. The presumed next victim: the City high-rises. A protocol of an urban planning tragedy.

Hamburg’s city high-rises were once pioneering buildings, but no one wants to hear about them anymore. Image: Hamburg Department of Culture

When everyone in Hamburg agrees, caution is always in order. This time it’s about the city skyscrapers, four massive buildings from the 1950s that catch the eye of train travelers just before they reach the main station from the south. "An eyesore!" is the unanimous response, whether from political leaders or dwarfs from all factions, the Hamburger Abendblatt, the Welt or Mopo.

Academy President Klaus Staeck experienced June 17, 1953 in the industrial town of Bitterfeld as a schoolboy. A visit to his old home.

Academy President Klaus Staeck in front of the Bitterfeld town hall, the seat of the strike committee sixty years ago. Photo: Rolf Zollner

As the ICE rolls out of the station, Klaus Staeck looks behind the train in amazement. "Are we really the only ones who got off?" One of the snack machines is smashed, tank cars are parked on sidings. "Bitterfeld" shows the sign, the clouds promise rain, wind rustles the hair. The welcome is not homey. How could it be? June 17, 1953 drove Klaus Staeck away from Bitterfeld. June 17 brings him back again.

The majority of Germans see migration as an opportunity, especially in the labor market. There is criticism of the government’s disunity.

After all, more than half of those surveyed see migration as an opportunity Photo: dpa

When it comes to the topic of migration, moderate positions rarely dominate in politics, the media and the social networks. Consequently, terms such as welcome culture and homeland have become political fighting words. The Friedrich Ebert Foundation has now conducted a study to investigate how Germans view the topics of flight and migration.