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This Spiegel report looks at how far Germany has come in tackling the refugee crisis one year later in September 2016. It looks at the progress in several areas- housing, integration through language training, jobs and the labor market, school age children, crime, deportation, political scene and elections. Maintaining public support in the face of incidents such as the ones in Cologne and some terrorist incidents, the protests in cities such as Dresden, was tackled by negotiating a treaty with Turkey to turn back new refugees, and by letting countries in southeastern Europe such as Hungary to close routes used previously. Internal agreement with the Christian Social Union (CSU) and the CDU, led to a reduction in refugees granted asylum for each month in 2016. About 220,000 migrants were newly registered in the first half of 2016. Germany's EASY registration system shows 92,000 migrants registered in January and the number dropping to 16,000 in July.  Here are some of the figures on progress as cited by Spiegel. On BAMF, the Federal Office of Migration and Refugees- It has increased staff from 2300 employees in early 2015 to 8000, with many new offices opened, significantly more efficient than before. Housing- about a million refugees have found housing. Thousands of empty beds in emergency shelters and 1000 repurposed gyms are no longer needed. Smaller cities and towns have done better than large cities like Berlin, with hangars at Tempelhof Airport still housing refugees. Barbara Hendricks, Federal Environment and Building Minister of SPD party, has tripled funding for subsidized housing to 1.5 billion euros for 2018. Hendricks wants to repeal a constitutional amendment that shifts housing responsibility to states, so that the federal government is actively involved. Integration- BAMF head Weise estimates a shortage of 200,000 slots in language and integration courses. About 80,000 Afghans are not eligible for the programs. So far estimates by KMK representing education ministers of the 16 federal states, shows 325,000 children and young people integrated into school system in 2014 and 2015. Spiegel estimates 12,000 teachers were hired for this, and an additional 20,000 are needed says GEW. 58,000 daycare spots are needed for children arrived in 2015, and 9400 additional daycare personnel are needed. Wages have been raised. Jobs- The Federal Employment Office says 322,000 refugees were registered and seeking jobs in July 2016. Crime- Police crime statistics show 4% increase but when the asylum and visa related offenses are taken out the crime has not increased as it has appeared in the media. The events in Cologne had started a debate on this issue after teenagers harassed women near the Cathedral square. BKA Federal Criminal Polic Office says 1031 assaults on refugee accomodations happened in 2015, 665 in 2016. Incidents of Islamic terrorists happened in Wurzburg and Ansbach, and authorites have become more vigilant.  Deportation- the central register of foreign nationals has about 220,000 people who have to leave Germany. Because of wars in home countries 172,000 are still in Germany. Political scene- CDU and CSU sister parties have disagreements on immigration policy. There is fear about the country changing. Yet the new children in schools are only about 2% of the school children in Germany. As immigrants are mostly young people who will be required to take language training and integrate in schools and workplaces, the situation is different from the first wave of workers coming in from Turkey in early postwar period. Also lessons have been learned and integration is being required.   So has the most difficult period in this immigration crisis been put behind for Germany? It appears that this is the situation. Germany's economy was strong during the "wilkommen refugees" and it has helped the country deal with it better. The volunteer support certainly helped. State, city, and business leaders responded. What about the claims of Islamization. Because so many of the refugees are from a relatively progressive country such as Syria, and many from urban literate areas, combined with a policy of integration, this could prove to be a different experience for Germany. Because many left because of religious sectarianism or corrupt governments the immigrant mentality as a whole barring some exceptions, is likely different, seeking integration in a different modern culture that prizes the individual and respects his development. Over time and sooner than many realize, Merkel may be proved right when she says- "Germany will be Germany, with everything that is near and dear to us." When it comes to politics the CDU and CSU are taking the "homeland" theme as their own. Across the Atlantic Germany's example is being followed- as the number just a trickle about 4000 refugees admitted in 2014, has been increased to 110,000 for 2017 by president Obama, showing the power of the example in the face of adversity and skepticism. German culture and society tended to be insular and the experience of this type, difficult as it has been, and not something that was actively sought out, may have a positive effect. Particularly with the scarred immigrants who may want to embrace the new culture and not look back at what they left behind.   ...

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Prime Minister's questions in the British parliament will be very uncomfortable if Nadhim Zahawi is still head of the Tory party say Conservative party MP's in this report in The Guardian. Zahawi has a tax settlement with the British tax authorites which has led to much criticism leading to pressure for him to resign. 

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The Bavarian government and the CDU party oppose the closing of the last 3 nuclear plants in Germany. This will increase use of fossil fuels till renewable energy supplies are secured. Bavarian prime minister Soder wants the federal government to give the state authority to continue operating the Isar 2 nuclear power station 80 kilometres northeast of Munich.

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Indian prime minister Modi talks to chief ministers of all the Indian states by videoconference as he prepares for gradual reopening of the economy. A key concern- that the coronavirus should not spread to rural areas. Chief ministers were asked for their ideas on reopening. Indian railways sets up train services to take 45 million migrant workers to their home regions.

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For the second time Sweden takes a laid back approach to the coronavirus during the second wave in November. Swedish prime minister Stefan Lofven is in quarantine after he went into self isolation, following someone in his circle having contact with someone having coronavirus. The government only issues recommendations but there are no required restrictions, no strict rules to follow.

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Berlin Brandenburg Airport or BER was supposed to open in 2011 or 2012,instead it will open in October 2020, nine years behind schedule, three times over budget. There were 2 parliamentary probes into what went wrong. The planning was faulty and plans were changed, blueprints were not finalized, resulting in a long sequence of problems with such basic items such as the fire safety system, and shoddy electrical wiring, faulty smoke extractions systems. A technical manager was jailed for three years for accepting a bribe from a contractor who then went bankrupt.  The airport CEO Mr. Daldrup says his job was to mop up problems like a "crime scene cleaner." It may be an example of how German values in hard work and good engineering declined as the country lost its focus in the period after reunification and the austerity years under chancellors Schroeder, Merkel, a period when new infrastructure and public services suffered neglect.

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Akio Toyoda of Toyota Motor praises prime minister Abe's "tremendous leadership," as Abe takes a drive in the hydrogen fuel cell Toyota Mirai in the front lawn of the premier's residence in Tokyo, Japan. Toyota benefits from the yen at 110 to the dollar as this generates higher profits from exports. Sales in 2014 were $230 billion, and net profit $18 billion. Prime minister Abe's economic program depends on companies and their suppliers increasing wages, especially companies with a supplier base as large as Toyota with estimated 1.35 million employees at suppliers in Japan. Toyoda says "both the government and the private sector are of one mind in fighting deflation." Toyota's wage increases in 2014 were only 0.8%. In 2015 hope are high that Toyota will take stronger action. Toyota has refrained from asking suppliers for price cuts in fall 2014, and is likely to do so in spring 2015, so that its suppliers can raise wages. Toyota's 65,000 employees are pushing for a 1.7% monthly base salary increase in April, with bonuses and seniority adjustments bringing the wage increase up to 4%....

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Prime minister Boris Johnson says he will proceed with "maximum caution" as he plans reopening of the economy. The reproduction R ratio for the virus is just below 1.0 and may have gone up recently, say public health officials. Britain faces a problem of deaths in care homes that is not under control.

Prime minister Johnson will announce Sunday new moves which will be limited- allowing people to go out to take as much outdoor exercize as they like, and restart activities such as tennis, golf and fishing. Businesses will get guidance to prepare places for social distancing when people return to work. Restrictions on limiting people contact to those within their household will remain.

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The Japanese ambassador to India, Hiroshi Suzuki, tells the Hindustan Times how close coordination was done between the Hiroshima G7 meetings and the G20 meetings in India. He say the problems of the Global South such as debt, food prices, climate change, are serious in prime minister Kishida's thinking and there is a need to show results. All aspects of India Japan relations including trade and economic ties and defense are moving forward, he says.

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This report on Tory politics of the past 12 years looks back at how it has failed to bring upward mobility to British working families, widened disparities, and failed to make needed investments for the future for infrastructure and renewable energy. Mr. Sunak is seen as only the last of a series of prime ministers in a tired Tory party with internal divisions, that through its austerity policies has failed Britain and the aspirations of working families for a brighter future.

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Antonio Guterres was prime minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002. As climate change action leader he plays an important role in 2022. He is interviewed here by The Guardian with a look at his role so far before COP27 opens in Egypt. Guterres became Secretary General of the United Nations in 2017. His leadership and visible presence is a source of reduction of tensions during the war in Ukraine and a source of renewed commitment during the climate change disasters of 2022.

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Brexit negotiation guidelines from the EU rule out parallel talks on both Britian's future relationship with the EU and the separation agreement negotiations, preferring a phased approach. Only when the first phase of separation is complete or at an advanced stage would the second phase of future relationship with the EU be negotiated. The EU Council president, Donald Tusk, says the process would be long, complex and at times confrontational. Der Spiegel online writing on the negotiation describes the approach in a meeting with the lead German negotiator Mr. Oettinger, on the team of Michael Barnier who leads the negotiations for the EU- Oettinger focussed on what Britain owes the EU, estimated at over 60 billion euros. So far apart are the British and EU positions that Michael Barnier has no idea on the pathway for these negotiations, only awareness of the priorities such as the rights of EU and British citizens in each others region, says Der Spiegel. Looking at Theresa May speaking in parliament about her decision to move forward with Brexit in a letter to the EU invoking Article 50, one senses a mixture of confidence and nationalist appeal, far different from reality on the ground. The Leader of the Opposition cited government figures for a sharp decline in GDP as a result of Brexit, and the Scottish leader in parliament went so far as to say the government attitude in negotiations made "Scottish independence inevitable"- all headwinds Theresa May appears to be ignoring or treating with disdain. At this time the EU and the British prime minister appear to be talking over rather than to each other.   ...

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Prime minister Morrison becomes the first leader to meet prime minister Yoshihide Suga of Japan after Mr. Shinzo Abe resigned for health reasons. Mr. Suga was Chief Cabinet Secretary under Abe for 8 years. The 2 countries have agreed to strengthen defense relations by removing legal and administrative barriers for their militaries entering each others country. This improves joint military training and quick support in a crisis. Earlier in November Japan and Australia joined India and U.S. in joint naval exercizes after the 4 foreign ministers met in Tokyo. Small islands in the East China Sea controlled by Japan have seen more frequent patrols by Chinese Coast Guard. China claims these islands. Genron NPO shows almost 90% of Japanese people now have a negative view of China. Australia has acted on concerns of domestic interference by China. India has faced expansion along its Himalayan border with China by units of the Chinese armed forces. India has also developed closer ties with Australia to build its maritime presence in the Indian Ocean region. ...

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With the departure and replacement of Dan Cummings, the prime minister gets someone with extensive financial and other experience to replace his free wheeling adviser who lacked experience. Dan Rosenfield who worked at Treasury till 2016 under both Labor and Conservative party chancellors is the new choice for prime minister Boris Johnson's chief of staff at 10 Downing Street. Experts say less games, more interest in what matters in managing the costs of covid budgets. Here Mr. Rosenfield is described as the person at Treasury who put together the Olympics budget that came out at a little over 9 billion pounds after little preparation was done and Britain won the bid for the Olympics by bidding only 2.3 billion pounds. As Rosenfield puts it, there wasn't even a cats in hell chance of doing the Olympics at that cost, and the only option was to control costs as aggressively as we could. Britain now faces the task of keeping Covid budget costs manageable and getting a recovery in place in 2021-2022. ...

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This report in the Times looks at president Macron in a holiday setting at the presidential place Bregancon near the military port of Toulon in the south of France. Macron worked hard on the European Recovery Fund and getting a $390 billion non repayable aid fund for southern Europe with chancellor Merkel of Germany through tough long negotiations with the Dutch and the Danes. His work with two provincial mayors as prime ministers, the last current prime minister Castex, in fighting the coronavirus is giving him much needed boost in popularity. Throughout his willingness to learn and to try new approaches without worrying about the risks, and his frank manner with perseverance has helped Macron as he navigated unknown waters. After a drop in the polls to about 30% he is now up to 50%, 18 months before the presidential election. This is good for France as strong leadership is needed after the pandemic both for France, French speaking regions, and in solidarity with former French Africa. ...

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The Irish far economy is vulnerable and the Irish farmer at risk following Brexit. Rivals to prime minister Varadkar in the coming election say he has the M50 mentality, referring to the beltway around Dublin, not thinking enough of the Irish farm economy. A hard Brexit would have cut the Irish growth to 0.7% under Theresa May and now to 3.7% under Boris Johnson from the 6% for 2019.  This is happening as the Irish farmer depends on Britain for exports as he has for seven centuries.  Britain is the biggest importer of agricultural products from Ireland. Sinn Fein is gaining ground in this urban-rural divide with 25%, and so is Centre right Fiana Fail at 24%, with 20% for the current prime minister's party, in recent polls. Irish economy also depends on imports from Britain for machinery and trade agreement with Britain is crucial for Ireland now that Brexit has happened. All along Ireland's coast on the Atlantic Ocean for farmers this is a worrisome situation. ...

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India has done well with low cost, scalable, low tech solutions in the past. This is also being done now to tackle the coronavirus. This is being used to support what may be the largest lockdown in history. Everyone is expected to remain at home. Only shops selling essential items such as food and pharmaceuticals are allowed to remain open. All but essential offices are closed, with workers told to stay home. Indelible ink that takes two weeks to wash away was widely available following the election. It is being widely used with high numbers of infections having the back of their hand stamped "Home Quarantined." After India announced a nationwide lockdown all wireless carriers were asked by the government to  insert a taped coronavirus health advisory that comes on after callers dial and before the call connects.Th recorded message talks about how to protect against the coronavirus. Prime time news shows are interrupted three times a day for back to back news conferences from the prime minister, and local officials.   ...

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FR24 points out that it is not that unusual to see prosecution of French former presidents and prime ministers for campaign financing irregularities or putting political party officials on public payrolls. It shows that this happened to president Chirac, president Sarkozy, and prime minister Fillon. In fact former prime minister Fillon was doing well in the elections after the presidency of Socialist president Hollande. The revelation that he had put his wife on public payroll as parliamentary assistant with little work led to Mr. Macron taking his place as the leading candidate. No jail terms were served for these charges under French law. Here it is important to note that French law limits spending on election campaigns to 22 million euros and Sarkozy exceeded that number. In the US and India there are no such strict limits. So are France's leaders that much worse than the American leaders who spend and collect money lavishly? Or in India where the campaign financing has the result of making it hard to build the infrastructure desperately needed by a young aspiring population. Framers of the Indian constitution including Gandhi and Nehru intent on getting the British out never realized that political parties would look to public funds as ways to finance their campaigns, leaving less for the intended purpose of building roads and bridges making the country a poor place to invest in and entrenching underdevelopment and poverty.  In the US tech companies in Silicon Valley or banks in New York and Silicon Valley, pharmaceutical companies and companies in other sectors, are able to gain monopoly positions or favored regulatory setups for their industries by funding election campaigns for Congress. When this results in egregious behaviour such as the 2009 financial crisis or the current banking crisis this behaviour causes severe damage to ordinary Americans much worse than what Mr Chirac or Sarkozy were prosecuted for.  South Korea has a long history of prosecuting former presidents. Three presidents have been prosecuted so far. One president served as much as five years for a jail term. ...

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Moderate far right, right and socialist have less meaning in the context of the French government of prime minister Michael Barnier. The NFP as the largest single party sees the turning down of it's moderate candidate Lucie Castets by Macron as not representative of the vote. Michael Barnier's choice as prime minister from the Les Republicains party with 47 members in the new National Assembly, the smallest of the top four parties NFP, Renaissance, RN and LR, means he will have to depend on Marie Le Pen's RN party to remain prime minister. Together the Les Republicains of Sarkozy and the Ensemble of Macron  have 213 members in the National Assembly representing the status quo, 168 for Ensemble Macron and 45 Les Republicians the Gaullist party. These two parties are the largest bloc combined compared to 182 seats for the socialist NFP Front Populaire and the Le Pen party with 143 seats. The strange twist is that Macron started out in the Socialist Party and was part of the Socialist administration of Francois Hollande, who formed his own party Renaissance (now Ensemble) to bring younger faces and replace the old political parties. This led to the decline of the Gaullist Les Republicains party. In 2024 Macron is back to the old parties- becoming part of an alliance with the old Les Republicains Gaullists. Yet the financial crises of 2009, the pandemic, and the inflation crises in France have changed France from what it was in the Gaullist De Gaulle period in the 60's to 90's, with a struggling lower and middle class who have shifted their support to Le Pen and to the Socialist Front Populaire. Barnier is left with the challenging job of combining new immigration policies (Le Pen) with socialist policies to help the middle and working class. A new consensus that says stopping migrants is part of helping working class (in Denmark and other EU countries) is how Barnier has to approach this situation to bring together different parties. ...

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Washington DC National Guard deployment ruling by District Judge Jia Cobb ruling it unlawful gives time to December 11 for federal government to appeal her ruling. Small crimes committed by delinquent migrant youth on cycles had affected safety in the Nation's capital leading to the federal government sending in the National Guard when DC authorites failed to correct the situation. 

“Since September, cleanup teams have collected more than 500 tons of debris across the District—visible proof of a unified commitment to restoring public trust, improving quality of life, and ensuring that the capital reflects the pride and dignity worthy of representing the American people,” says the Army website in November 2025.

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The Supreme Court upheld the provision under an Arizona state law that requires police to check the immigration status of people stopped for traffic and other offenses. By a vote of 6-2 the Supreme Court voided the provision that made it a state crime to fail to carry federal registration papers. By a vote of 5-3 it voided the provision that provided for jail time for immigrants not carrying federal registration papers. Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote the majority opinion that includes Justices Roberts, Ginsburg, Breyer and Sotomayor, and said: "The government of the United States has broad, undoubted power over the subject of immigration and the status of aliens... Immigration policy can affect trade, investment, tourism and diplmatic relations for the entire nation." At the same time Justice Kennedy said " the problems posed to the State by illegal immigration must not be underestimated," saying that "unauthorized aliens, were responsible for a disproportionate share of serious crime." Unauthorized aliens are only 8.9% of the population of Maricopa County which includes Pheonix, but caused 21.8% of the felonies. The part of the Arizona law SB 1070 that stated the illegal immigrant seeking work was commiting a crime, was struck down on the grounds that this "would interfere with the careful balance struck by Congress" for the labor market in which only employers are committing a crime. Justice Kennedy reminded the country that it was still a nation of immigrants....

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New labor laws passed by the government of prime minister Mario Monti in June 2012 to introduce flexibility in the labor market, increase growth and provide opportunities for young people.

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Voter sentiment changes in Italy for the Democratic party led by prime minister Letta, only a few months after the national elections. Under Letta who belongs to a younger generation of Italian leaders, the Democratic party which supports being in the EU and pro-growth policies, has staged a comeback in Italian mayoral elections for 67 cities. The party of Mr. Berlusconi lost ground, and the party of newcomer Beppe Grillo also lost ground. Voter turnout was 48.5%, after years of failed politics of the national parties in Italy. This is new reason for optimism for the future of Italy.

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Spain's prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, accepts EU and IMF aid for recapitalizing Spain's banks. Rajoy tells a news conference in Spain on June 10th, 2012, "nobody pressured me," he did this because it would "help the credibility of the European project." The Partido Popular took decisive steps to improve Spain's competitiveness during the first 6 months of the new administration, but was caught by surprise by the problems in Bankia, a bank put together from failing cajas savings banks. The cajas savings banks were heavily involved in the housing bubble in Spain.

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Stephanie Clifford of the NYT provides this exceptional profile of a low profile prosecutor in action on cases ranging from civil rights to organized crime and terrorism. Clifford describes the calm and rigorous style of Loretta Lynch as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York as she handled the case of a Haitian immigrant and the New York Police in 1997, rarely bringing up race and focussing on justice and fairness. Other prosecutions included Pedro Espada, a former Democratic New York state senator from the Bronx, and William Boyland Jr., a Democratic assemblyman from Brooklyn, gang and Mafia cases, and terrorism. Her style is to let others take the spotlight including answering questions at news conferences, getting the job done by involving other colleagues and co-workers in a case.