Germany

Germany's Paradox: Family-Friendly Benefits, But Few Kids

Tue, 07 May 2013 07:02:00 +0000

Germany is regarded as one of the most generous countries in the world when it comes to helping women raise families. The government invests about $260 billion each year into 156 separate family-friendly benefits, including health care, generous parental leave, subsidized day care and tax breaks.

Yet on a continent with low birthrates, Germany has the lowest of all, with just 1.39 children per woman.

Why the paradox?

Germany Arrests 93-Year-Old 'Auschwitz Guard'

Eyder Peralta — Mon, 06 May 2013 20:11:00 +0000

German authorities have arrested a 93-year-old man they say served as a guard at the Auschwitz extermination camp.

Hans Lipschis was deported from the United States to Germany after U.S.

Foreigners At Home: Turkey Beckons Its People In Germany

Peter Kenyon — Sun, 05 May 2013 12:42:47 +0000

In 1961, desperate to increase its labor force, West Germany signed an employment agreement with Turkey and launched a wave of immigration that continues to have repercussions today.

Now, after years of being treated as second-class citizens in Europe's economic powerhouse, large numbers of Turks — descendants of the first wave of immigrants — are returning to Turkey.

In A Strange Land

Yucel Yolcu, 44, has a good life in Istanbul.

Murder Trial Of Alleged Neo-Nazi Has Germans On Edge

Scott Neuman — Fri, 03 May 2013 14:44:00 +0000

The trial in Munich of an alleged neo-Nazi woman accused as an accomplice in a string of murders of mostly ethnic Turks is, as The Associated Press writes, "forcing Germans to confront painful truths about racism and the broader treatment of immigrants in society."

Last month, NPR's Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson reported on the impending trial of Beate Zsch

Deal To Protect Bangladeshi Factory Workers Still Elusive

Steve Henn — Wed, 01 May 2013 21:59:00 +0000

This week, major retailers including Wal-Mart, Gap and others met with labor activists in Germany, hoping to hammer out a deal to improve working conditions in Bangladesh.

The meeting came less than a week after a devastating building collapse in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, killed more than 400 workers.