DAILY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Indiaʼs former Prime Minister Vajpayee dies Announcing Vajpayeeʼs passing in a New Delhi clinic Thursday, Indiaʼs current prime minister Narenda Modi said his predecessor had "set the foundations for a strong, prosperous and inclusive India in the 21st century." "Atal Jiʼs passing away is a personal and irreplaceable loss for me," Modi said, using a Hindi-language honorific for Vajpayyee. The former premier died at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi, where he was admitted nine weeks ago. He had suffered a stroke in 2009. "Unfortunately, his condition deteriorated over the last 36 hours and he was put on life support systems. Despite the best efforts, we have lost him today," AIIMS said in a statement.
German river levels fall in heat, drought as farmers seek help The water level on the Oder River at the key Frankfurt 1 measuring point had dropped to 93 centimeters (3 feet) on Wednesday. It was 110 centimeters at the end of July. The river level was the lowest since records began more than a century ago according to Sebastian Dosch, a spokesman for the Eberswalde Water and Shipping Authority in the eastern German state of Brandenburg. Without rain, the Oderʼs water level could be expected to fall a further 2 centimeters per day, Dosch said. The Oder River rises in the Czech Republic before forming 187 kilometers (116 miles) of the border between Poland and Germany as it flows northwards to the Baltic Sea. Germany has faced hot weather and drought conditionsfor weeks. Some thunderstorms and rain over the last weekhave done little to change the situation for the Oder and a number of other rivers.
188/2018 • 17 AUGUST, 2018
Aretha Franklin, ʼQueen of Soul,ʼ dies aged 76 She won 18 Grammys
German doctor stabbed to death at practice A doctor was stabbed to death in his own practice on Thursday in a seemingly unprovoked attack in the southwestern German city of Offenburg. A 26-year-old man allegedly entered the surgery without an appointment and attacked the doctor and an assistant. The assistant was injured during the early morning attack. He then fled the scene, prompting a manhunt involving more than 20 police cars, helicopters and a canine unit, and was soon caught.
Fukushima: UN says clean-up workers in danger of ʼexploitationʼ
After falling gravely ill earlier this month, Aretha Franklin has died. Franklin won 18 Grammys and had some 25 gold records during her long career. Legendary soul singer Aretha Franklin died on Thursday in Detroit, US media reported. She was 76. Her publicist confirmed the death to several US media outlets. "Franklinʼs official cause of death was due to advance pancreatic cancer of the neuroendocrine type, which was confirmed by Franklinʼs oncologist, Dr. Philip Phillips of Karmanos Cancer Institute" in Detroit, her publicist said in a statement. Ray Charles once remarked that soul, as a music genre, was more difficult to explain than electricity. Mahalia Jackson claimed that it began with the laments of people on the cotton fields. But Aretha Franklin insisted: "You donʼt need to be an Afro-American in order to have it. Itʼs something creative, something thatʼs alive. Itʼs honesty." She knew what soul means, having been its undisputed queen since the 1960s. Born on March 25, 1942, in Memphis, Tennessee, Franklin grew up in a church setting. Her father, Reverend Clarence Franklin, was a Baptist
pastor, and her mother, Barbara Franklin, a famous gospel singer. Reverend Franklinʼs sermons became well-known beyond Detroit, where Aretha Franklin grew up with her three siblings. Her mother died when she was only ten years old. When Franklin, who rarely gave interviews, talked about her childhood, she would focus on its positive aspects. As she told US journalist Mark Bego, music could always be heard in the familyʼs home, where famous musicians would visit. They would eat together and talk, then one would start to play the piano, and spontaneously, all were making music together. Unsurprisingly, Franklin started to sing and to play the piano at an early age, but her career as a gospel singer came to an abrupt end when she became pregnant. She had her first son at age 14, to be followed by her second son at age 16. She never talked about the circumstances or the fathers. These early challenges shaped the young womanʼs character, and her music as well.
Tens of thousands of clean-up workers at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station risk exploitation, UN human rights experts said in a statement on Thursday. The three experts, who report to the UN Human Rights Council, warned that exposure to radiation remained a major risk for workers handling the cleanup of the plant. "Workers hired to decontaminate Fukushima reportedly include migrant workers, asylum seekers and people who are homeless," said the three: Baskut Tuncak, an expert on hazardous substances, Dainius Puras, an expert on health, and Urmila Bhoola, an expert on contemporary slavery. "We are deeply concerned about possible exploitation regarding the risks of exposure to radiation, possible coercion into accepting hazardous working conditions because of economic hardships, and the adequacy of training and protective measures," they said.
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188/2018 • 17 August, 2018
Amnesty accuses Turkey of ʼturning blind eyeʼ to abuses in Afrin Human rights organization Amnesty International accused Turkey on Thursday of allowing Syrian armed groups to commit a wide range of violations against civilians in Afrin. Turkish forces aided by allied rebelscaptured the northern Syrian townin March from the US-backed Kurdish Peopleʼs Protection Units (YPG), which Ankara considers a terrorist group.According to Amnestyʼs research, scores of displaced residents have since returned to their homes, only to be subjected to rights abuses. Read more:Turkeyʼs military offensive against Kurdish-held Afrin: What you need to know Amnesty interviewed 32 people, both current and former Afrin residents, between May and July 2018, who said: Residents in Afrin are enduring "arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances, confiscation of property and looting."Most of the abuses were "at the hands of Syrian groups that have been equipped and armed by Turkey."Some of the rebel groups and Turkish armed forces had "taken over schools, disrupting the education for thousands of children."
Outcry in Uganda over compulsory HIV test 19-year-old Methia Nalukwago, a student at Makerere University in the capital Kampala, is excited by the proposal to have all students undergo compulsory HIV/AIDS testing. Some students, she says, have been living in denial. "Our friends, we study with them but you look at someone and you are like, ʼare you sure you are not sick or something like that?ʼ Of course you never come out to tell them but you feel it deep down inside you, this person must be sick because of the symptoms that show," Nalukwago told DW. "Compulsory testing for HIV will help us know our HIV status and where we stand." Studies conducted by the Ugandan AIDS Commission show lack of sufficient information among the youth is contributing to an increase of HIV. Jane Were, the head teacher of Forest Hill College in Mukono district located 21 kilometers (13 miles) east of Kampala, said they are grappling with HIV in schools. She said the situation has been made worse by parents who mislead their children on what they are actually suffering from. "We have situations where parents lie to students about these [anti-retroviral] drugs. There are parents who tell children they have other ailments other than HIV," 2
Polandʼs president vetoes altered election rules He himself may need the backing of smaller parties to be re-elected in two yearsʼ time
Germanyʼs family reunification policy can leave young adults in limbo It sounds desperate, but Riham abo Staiti says she would rather die than turn 18. The 17-year-old only leaves her darkened accommodations when absolutely necessary. She lives here in a 30-square-meter (323-square-foot) portable housing unit with her father and three siblings in the Nahr alBared Refugee Camp in northern Lebanon. Yet, one important person is missing: "I just want to be with my mother," Riham says. She only speaks with her mother, who lives in a suburb of Karlsruhe, Germany, on her mobile phone. Her fear is constant when the two talk each day: "I am terrified of being left here on my own," says Riham. She has been waiting for the day she can join her mother for more than three years now. She is in a race against time, for she will likely be barred from family reunification as soon as she turns 18.
Polish President Duda has vetoed a reform of European Parliament electoral rules that would favor bigger Polish parties. Polish President Andrzej Duda on Thursday said he would not sign a law put forward by the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party that would have effectively meant that no small party in Poland would have a chance at European Parliament elections next year. "Iʼve decided to veto this bill. This change would mean that the effective electoral
German politician targeted by haters over climate refugees A member of the Green Youths has received an onslaught of online hate, including rape and death threats, after she publicly put her support behind extending citizenship to asylum seekers fleeing disasters of climate change. Earlier this month, comments made by 24-year-old Ricarda Lang (above), a spokeswoman for the political organization, were published in a number of German regional newspapers and online outlets, including ZDF, and Die Welt. "The EU should offer the citizens of island states that are threatened by climate change European citizenship and enable them to migrate with dignity," Lang told German media. In the 24 hours that followed, Lang
threshold would rise to as much as 16.5 percent from 5 percent," Duda said on public television. "This means that only two parties would have a real chance of winning representation in the European Parliament," Duda added. Duda himself, a PiS ally, may have to rely on the support of smaller parties to be reelected in 2020 polls. saidhate messagesflooded her Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Email. "People threatened my life and commented on my body, and said how they wanted to kill or rape me," she told DW. "The first day was really hard because I kind of felt like I was alone, standing in front of this huge wall of hate."
Refugees in Italy get their hands dirty with own farm Every morning Dembo Cisse, a sturdily-built 21-year old from Guinea, waits for the car to pick him up. He and two others, who live in the same apartment that belongs to Italyʼs privatized migrant reception system, get in the vehicle. The old family car then heads from Oleggio, a small
town in the northern Italian region of Piedmont, to an agricultural field nearby. But Dembo and his companions are not off to work in the food supply chain, dominated by largescale distributors who require ever lower prices and therefore cheap labor — which many of their fellow Africans provide for lack of better options. Read more: Italy tells refugees: Donʼt risk the journey The carʼs driver is Raffaele DʼAcunto, known as Lello, the areaʼs first organic farmer, now retired, who decided to set up a small-scale agricultural company to make organic produce and sell it on the local market. Lello, Dembo and four others from Mali, Senegal and Nigeria — the youngest of whom is just 19 — are to become equal partners in the budding business they have aptly named Zappa Ar‐ cobaleno, Italian for Rainbow Hoe. The company is currently caught up in the bureaucratic process awaiting official registration.
188/2018 • 17 August, 2018
US media fight back against Trump attacks US newspapers have launched a concerted campaign to counter President Donald Trumpʼs attacks on the press dubbed #EnemyOfNone. Over 350 media outlets are carrying editorials stressing the importance of free journalism. A wide array of US newspapers on Thursday hit back at President Donald Trumpʼsoften vitriolic attacks on the news media,with editorials accusing the US leader of endangering democracy by labelling any reports criticizing his actions as "fake news." The Boston Globe, which led calls for the media campaign, wrote that "today in the United States we have a president who has created a mantra that members of the media who do not blatantly support the policies of the current US administration are the ʼenemy of the
Germany greenlights controversial migrant transfer centers Speeding up asylum proceedings and bringing them all under one roof — simply put, thatʼs the idea behindGermanyʼs migrant transfer centers, also known as "Anker" centers. The name derives from the German words for arrival, decision and repatriation. Up to 1,500 refugees and migrants can be housed in each center. Arrivals, asylum applications and the decisions on those applications — everything is to take place at the centers,including deportations. In each of the seven locations in Bavaria, which officially began operations as "Anker centers" on August 1, every agency involved in the asylum process will be present on site, the state interior minister for Bavaria, Joachim Herrmann, recently told reporters. The pilot phase for the centers will last around six months, after which initial evaluations are planned. Only after these evaluations are complete will the German federal government have to create a legal basis for the centers — and it would be dependent on the countryʼs 16 states to do so.
peopleʼ." "This is one of the many lies that have been thrown out by this president, much like an old-time charlatan threw out ʼmagicʼ dust or water on a hopeful crowd," its editorial, entitled "Journalists are not the Enemy," said. The terms "fake news" and "enemy of the people" have often been used by Trump in connection any critical news reports. The president even admitted in a tweet in May 2018 that he considered any negative news regarding his person or administration "fake news."
Italy declares state of emergency after Genoa bridge collapse
Italian rescue workers in the city of Genoa continued to search through the rubble on Wednesday night, in hope of finding survivors of the Morandi bridge collapse. Itremains unclearwhat actually caused a 100meter (328-foot) section of the massive structure, known as Genoaʼs "Brooklyn Bridge," to cave in. The
bridge collapsed amid torrential rain on Tuesday, causing vehicles on the bridge to fall some 45 meters. Interior Minister Matteo Salvini did not speculate on how many people might still be trapped in the debris, but said that 1,000 rescue workers were taking part in the search for survivors.
German population with immigrant background reaches new peak in 2017 The number of people with foreign roots living in Germanyreached a new peak last year, according to the results of a "micro-census" that was published on Wednesday. According to Destatis, Germanyʼs Federal Office for Statistics, around 19.3 million people living in Germany have immigrant backgrounds. The figure increased 4.4 percent compared to the figures from the 2016 "micro-census."
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188/2018 • 17 August, 2018
EU ʼpositiveʼ on Russia-Ukraine gas talks
The EU sounded an optimistic note on Tuesday following talks in Berlin with envoys from Moscow and Kievover a dispute regarding future Russian gas shipments through Ukraine. According to European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic, the three-way talks were "futureoriented" and "positive" although the Russian representative, the countryʼs Energy Minister Alexander Novak said "the issues at stake are very complicated and need serious discussions to move forward." Large amounts of Russian gas are currently pumped to Europe via Ukraine, resulting in lucrative and critically important transit fees for the country. However, Ukraine holds deep concerns over the proposed Nord Stream 2 project, which will see a Baltic Sea pipeline opened from Russia to Germany, potentially ending the need for the transportation of gas through Ukraine.
Women entrepreneurs paying their dues
It all started in Lund, a Swedish university town near Malmo. About 90,000 people live in the town, almost 50,000 of them are students, among them Julia Beyer. The young woman from Munich is earning her masterʼs degree in entrepreneurship and innovation. She always knew that she wanted to start her own company but even she is stunned that at age 25, her first product is already available throughout Europe. "I do a lot of sports and spend a lot of time outside. I like to surf, which means I then have to protect my skin against the sun. But the available sunscreens usually contain very harmful substances." Read more: Germanyʼs corporate battle of the sexes This realization was the spark that led to the establishment of her company, Suntribe, which she founded with her fellow students, Karl Roos and Hampus Tarras-Wahlberg. Her goal was to develop a non-toxic sunscreen, thereby protect the environment and sell the lotion throughout the world. "Chemical UV-filters are allegedly responsible for damaging coral reefs. That was another reason why we wanted an environmentally friendly alternative," Beyer explains enthusiastically. 4
Putting Portugal on the power grid The power lines connecting France and the Iberian Peninsula are set to be upgraded. But will more renewable electricity flow from Portugal to Central Europe, or more French nuclear power flow in the other direction? At first glance deliveries of ecofriendly solar and wind energy from Portugal to Central Europe look great because both can be produced in abundance at the western end of Europe at reasonable prices. There is one problem though — a 3,000-meter-high obstacle called the Pyrenees Mountains, which cut off the Iberian
Toxic politics leaves Dieselgate fuming
Actually,the message from the courtsis pretty unequivocal and one would have to be quite deaf to miss it. They ruled that if policy makers at the national, state and local levels do not do something against nitrogen dioxide pollution in several dozen German cities, driving bans will be imposed,following the examples of Hamburg and Stuttgart. And experts agree: The problem can only be solved by upgrading older diesel vehicles, something that is technically complex and expensive and the car manufacturers are loth to pay for. This is a message that politicians like to avoid, but the moment of truth is coming. Many measures, little effect The "diesel summit" in Berlin last August, at the height of the crisis and in the middle of the Bundestag election campaign, had a long list of policy proposals and brought together politicians, business leaders and experts to see how to implement them.
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Tourists snap up ʼzero euroʼ bills with Karl Marxʼs image More than 100,000 ʼzero euroʼ bills printed with the image of capitalism critic Karl Marx have been sold since the souvenir was introduced in commemoration of the German philosopherʼs 200th birthday, says Hans-Albert Becker of the Trier tourism bureau, in western Germany. Itʼs become a brisk business for the city, where Marx was born on May 5, 1818: the popular souvenirs cost 3 (real) euros ($3.41) apiece. And tourists from all over the world have been snapping them up, in Trier and online, Becker told Germanyʼs dpa press agency, adding that the bill has surprisingly become a major seller. "We never expected the bills to be such a success." The purple bank note looks and feels real: it has just about the right size, is printed on security paper, and has all the right security features, including a water mark, copper stripes, hologram, UV fluorescent ink and an individual serial number. Asians seem to be particularly taken by the fake bill, says Becker. "25,000 to 30,000 alone must have gone to China," he said.
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Peninsula from France. But things are about to change now because Portugal, Spain and France decided at the end of last month to simply bypass the mountains. An investment of around €2 billion ($2.28 billion) will soon create a better connection between Spain and Portugal and the European energy market.
Fukushima: UN says clean-up workers in danger of ʼexploitationʼ
Tens of thousands of clean-up workers at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station risk exploitation, UN human rights experts said in a statement on Thursday. The three experts, who report to the UN Human Rights Council, warned that exposure to radiation remained a major risk for workers handling the cleanup of the plant. "Workers hired to decontaminate Fukushima reportedly include migrant workers, asylum seekers and people who are homeless," said the three: Baskut Tuncak, an expert on hazardous substances, Dainius Puras, an expert on health, and Urmila Bhoola, an expert on contemporary slavery. "We are deeply concerned about possible exploitation. The workers risk exposure to unhealthy levels of radiation not only because they work in places with high radiation but also because they work for longer hours than they should," Tuncak told DW in a telephonic interview after the statement was released. "They are not sufficiently trained, which exposes them to serious health risks. Also, most of them them are economically vulnerable, who may not turn down the job despite hazardous working conditions," he said.
188/2018 • 17 August, 2018
From college dropout to the Queen of Pop Madonna at 60:
Everyone knows who the Queen of Pop is: Madonna - style icon, headline-grabber, entrepreneur and mother. For her 60th birthday, we look back on the career of the most successful woman in music history. Madonna approached her 60th birthday in typically mocking style. She appeared in a photo on Twitter earlier this week, dressed to the nines, with half-eaten piece of cake in her mouth. "Three more days... Letʼs all have cake!" she wrote, apparently having temporarily lost her manners. It seems the Queen of Pop — Madonna Louise Ciccone — born
"The pardon procedure begins with the personal request of the convict," said a letter from the Kremlin to Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsovʼs mother. Published on the website Hromadske.ua on Wednesday, the letter to Lyudmila Sentsov rejected her request for a pardon for her son, who in August 2015 was sentenced to 20 years in a Russian jail north of the Arctic Circle. Sentsov was found guilty of having formed a terrorist group, and planning attacks in the Russian-annexed Crimea region of Ukraine in the spring of 2014. Sentsov denies the accusations, whichhave been widely condemned internationally. His mother had written to Russian President Vladimir Putin at the end of June pleading for her sonʼs release but she was told that pardons can only be considered if made by the prisoner.
The faces of Bowie at Várkert Bazaar until 19th September
August 16, 1958 in Bay City, Michigan, has no plans to ignore what for many is a day they dread. With some 335 million records sold and a fortune estimated at more than $1 billion (€880 million), Madonna is the music businessʼ most successful woman. Even more importantly, sheʼs become the first woman to dominate the male world of pop.
Why Germans give their kids paper cones on the first day of school The first day of first-grade is a turning point in the life of every German child - and family. Elementary schools here begin with grade one, not kindergarten or pre-K, so thereʼs a clean break between daycare and the 12 or 13 years of education that follow. And thatʼs enough reason to celebrate big time. In the gallery above, find out which rituals are associated with starting elementary school. By far the most important is the so-called "Schultüte," literally school bag or
Russia refuses to pardon jailed Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov
cone." Folklore expert Christiane Cantauw told DW why the cone tradition began, what goes into them and how new refugee children are getting to participate in the tradition. Christiane Cantauw: Thatʼs a good question, but thatʼs not what the tradition is about. Rather itʼs about making clear that a childʼs status is changing. This transition is associated with many changes for the child and for the family and thatʼs what people want to emphasize with the ritual.
In this documentary movie about the exhibition of the David Bowie Archive, curators Vicky Broackes and Geoffrey Marsh talk about Bowie’s exceptionally colourful body of work and major impact on the music industry. Featuring lyrics, manuscripts, personal objects, costumes, archive photos and videos, the documentary takes a close look at the star’s legacy. Within the movie, famous collaborators also get to talk about their memories, such as legendary fashion designer Kansai Yamamoto and Jarvis Cocker, frontman of Pulp. The movie is screened in English with Hungarian subtitles.
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Culture
France to introduce plastic packaging tax PRODUCTS THAT DONʼT USE RECYCLED PLASTIC WILL COST 10 PERCENT MORE IN THE FUTURE, ACCORDING TO A GOVERNMENT PLAN. THE PROPOSED INITIATIVE IS ONE PART OF A SERIES OF MEASURES TO GET THE COUNTRY TO RECYCLE ALL ITS PLASTIC.
France plans to introduce a penalty system for consumer goods that are packaged with nonrecycled plastic, an Environment Ministry official said in a newspaper interview on Sunday. The French government has pledged to transition the country to recycling 100 percent of its plastic by 2025 to reduce the vast amount of plastic finding its way into oceans. How France will promote recycled plastic Brune Poirson, secretary of state for ecological transition, told Journal du Dimanche newspaper that the government would introduce a series of measures: From 2019 products without recycled plastic packaging will cost up to 10 percent more.A deposit-refund scheme for plastic bottles will be introduced.Taxes on burying trash in landfill will increase, while taxes for recycling operations will be cut.Superfluous and substitutable plastic products such as straws, cups and plates will be banned by 2020.The color of recycling bins will be standardized across the country.
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188/2018 • 17 August, 2018
Carlos Sainz to replace Fernando Alonso from 2019
Carlos Sainz has signed a multi-year deal to replace Fernando Alonso at McLaren from the 2019 season, the team have confirmed. Alonso, twice world champion,announced on Tuesdaythat he will retire from Formula 1 at the end of the year. Fellow Spaniard Sainz, 23, is currently on loan at Renault from Red Bull and said it was a "childhood dream" to join McLaren. "Iʼve been a McLaren fan for as long as I can remember," he added. "Itʼs a great name in the sport with an incredible heritage, and the list of drivers that have raced for McLaren over the years are among the heroes of Formula 1.
Novak Djokovic: Wimbledon champion beats Adrian Mannarino in Cincinnati
Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic struggled with a stomach issue as he came from a set down to beat Adrian Mannarino and progress in Cincinnati. The 13-time Grand Slam winner defeated the French world number 28 4-6 6-2 6-1 to reach the third round. Serbiaʼs Djokovic will next play Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, who beat Mischa Zverev 7-6 (7-5) 7-5. "I didnʼt have a great night and wasnʼt feeling that well for the first set and a half," said Djokovic. "Iʼm just happy that I managed to overcome the challenge." Croatiaʼs Marin Cilic beat Marius Copil of Romania 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 6-4, while Robin Haase of the Netherlands defeated Germanyʼs Alexander Zverev 5-7 6-4 7-5. 6
Is eSports about to be recognized as a sport in Germany?
Mesut Özil talked a lot of ʼnonsenseʼ when quitting German team
Politicians in Germany are mulling recognizing eSports as a sport. Their decision would have wide-ranging repercussions in the gaming industry in the country and further legitimize the digital sport phenomenon. eSportsʼ continued growth has pushed competitive gaming ever-more into the public eye. This has sparked a debate about gaming’s role within German society, and whether eSports should be officially classified as a sport. And it is looking increasingly like it will. Chancellor Angela Merkelʼs grand coalition of her Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) and the Social Democrats (SPD) agreed to recognize eSports as a sport as part of the coalition agreement they reached earlier this year. However, the legislation necessary to do so has not yet been passed. "eSports were long considered a niche topic, generally only discussed by experts. It has now reached a tipping point where it has become a meaningful topic to all of society and cannot be ignored," Konstantin von Notz, deputy chair of the opposition Green Party in the lower house Bundestag said.
Toni Kroos:
Toni Kroos had strong words for Mesut Özil, saying that the manner of his departure was "out of order." He also has said that he will carry on playing for Germany after the shock early exit from the World Cup. Mesut Özilʼs retirement from the German national team last month was not handled well, Toni Kroos told the Thursday edition of German newspaper Bild. Kroos sought to stress that he thought Özil to be a "good guy" and added that he "deserved a better departure" from international football. Özil quit the national team afterthe shock group stage exit, but also after a larger controversy surroundinghis meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoganbefore the World Cup.He published a lengthy statement in Englishasking whether some quarters
of the national team — particularly DFB President Reinhard Grindel — had victimized him because of his Turkish heritage. "The parts of his resignation statement that are good and well said are sadly overshadowed by the considerably higher proportion of nonsense," Kroos said. "I think that he himself knows that thereʼs no racism within the German national team and the DFB. Quite the contrary: we repeatedly promote diversity and integration as a point of principle. Mesut was always a good example of that, like many of our other players."
Philipp Lahm set to front 2024 European Championship committee Philipp Lahm will be head of Germanyʼs European Championship organizing committee if Germany wins the right to host the 2024 tournament. Germany face competition from Turkey to hosts the event. Philipp Lahm, Germanyʼs World Cup winning captain in 2014, will be the head of Germanyʼs organizing committee for the 2024 European Championship, should Germanyʼs bid to host the event be successful. Read more:Philipp Lahm named honorary captain of Germany The 34-year-old
former Bayern Munich defender, who retired from football in 2017, has given his commitment to the German Football Association (DFB) that he would take on the role, according to a report in German weekly magazine Kicker. "As a honorary leader and world champion, I want to continue to take responsibility in football. Such an experience as the European Championship 2024 can inspire the next generation an to do sports," Lahm said in a recent interview with the German Press Agency (DPA).