Germany

The Bundestag, the lower house of the German parliament, has approved the so-called "self-determination law," a provision that makes it easier to change gender identity and name at the registry office

The parliamentary groups in current governing coalition are pushing for a strong legal framework to clarify the use of social media by parliamentary groups in the Bundestag to ensure transparent and legal use of taxpayers' money allocated to these groups

Those seeking German citizenship may soon have to answer test questions on anti-Semitism, Germany's commitment to Israel, and Jewish life in Germany

Citizens can now register online to indicate their willingness to donate organs after death; until now, people could only register such decisions on paper or on an organ donor card

In a long-running dispute over asylum policy between the German federal states and the central government, the states made a request to outsource asylum applications to third countries

The approximately seven million Germans - almost one-tenth of the population - who, according to Health Minister Karl Lauterbach, habitually consume cannabis will be able to legally purchase cannabis 'for recreational use' from 1 April

A German court has rejected an injunction by the far-right Young Alternativ wing of the German AfD party seeking to have its classification as a 'certified' right-wing-extremist organisation dropped

An estimated one hundred thousand people took to the streets in dozens of large and small cities to express their indignation against the rise of the parliamentary ultra-right AFD and its alleged secret plots with neo-Nazis

The German drivers' union announced the start of nationwide strikes which will increase traffic chaos while the confrontation between farmers and the government over agricultural subsidies continues

The country's greenhouse gas emissions have dropped to their lowest level in 70 years; the decline is largely attributable to the decrease in coal-fired power plant production and the economic recession, which has led to less demand for energy

To boost the retention of foreign graduates of German universities and to attract foreign degree holders to work in Germany, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, with the German Academic Exchange Service, has introduced new initiatives

A major exhibition has been open at the Hamburger Kunsthalle to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the birth of romantic painter Caspar David Friedrich (1774-1840); Berlin and Dresden will also be dedicating thematically independent exhibitions next year