Germany: Pride Parade as Berlin remembers homosexuals killed by Nazis in World War II

Berlin remembers homosexuals killed by Nazis in World War II

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USA - anti Semitism: Pittsburgh synagogue rampage spotlights rising anti-Semitism in America - by Aamer Madhani and Ryan W. Miller and Elizabeth Weise

The horrific killing of 11 worshipers at a Pittsburgh synagogue has taken a festering problem out of the shadows and put it in the spotlight: anti-Semitism is on the rise in America.

Bomb threats, menacing messages on social  media and assaults on Jewish Americans have become increasingly common in recent years, according to researchers and federal data.

Even before the attack – believed to be the deadliest in U.S. history targeting American Jews – violence and harassment of Jewish people and institutions was rising sharply, coinciding with a moment when American politics has become sharply divided.

Read more: Pittsburgh synagogue rampage spotlights rising anti-Semitism in America

Turkish-Dutch foreign relations break down; Ambassador recalled - by Janene Pieters

Talks on improving the relationship between the Netherlands and Turkey have failed, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Monday.

The Netherlands officially withdrew its ambassador in Ankara.

Relations between the Netherlands and Turkey have been tense since the Netherlands refused Turkish ministers access to the country to campaign for a referendum that gave Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan more power.

Turkey responded by comparing the Dutch to Nazis, calling them fascists, imposing a number of sanctions and accusing the Netherlands of mass murder in Srebrenica. The Netherlands refused to congratulate Erdogan when he won the referendum. 

Over the past months the two countries have been in talks on repairing the relationship. In December Erdogan called Prime Minister Mark Rutte an 'old friend' and said that he wanted to restore the relationship with the Netherlands.

And in mid-January Rutte said he no longer demanded that Erdogan publicly apologize for calling the Dutch Nazis and fascists, according to RTL Nieuws.

But these talks have been unsuccessful, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Monday. "For the time being these talks do not offer any view on the normalization of bilateral relations", the Ministry said in a statement. Foreign Affairs Minister Halbe Zijlstra added: "The recent talks provided an opportunity for Turkey and the Netherland to come closer together again, but we did not agree on how normalization should take place."

The government therefore decided to officially withdraw the Dutch ambassador to Ankara. The ambassador hasn't had access to Turkey since March 2017. "As long as the Netherlands does not have an ambassador in Turkey, the Netherlands will also not grant permission for the appointment of a new Turkish ambassador in the Netherlands. This message was conveyed to the Turkish agent in The Hague", the ministry said.

Read more: Turkish-Dutch foreign relations break down; Ambassador recalled | NL Times

Germany: Germans will never forget ‘unfathomable horrors’ at death camps, says Merkel

Germans will never forget the “unfathomable horrors” the Nazis inflicted at death camps.

The words of Chancellor Angela Merkel, as she addressed a ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp near Munich.

In a moving speech to 120 elderly survivors from 20 nations and six US soldiers who helped liberate the camp, Merkel said Dachau and other death camps freed near the end of World War Two stand as eternal reminders of the Nazi regime’s brutality.

“These former concentration camps have come into public focus in recent weeks with the passing of the 70th anniversaries of the liberation of one camp after another,” Merkel said at Dachau, now a memorial with 800-thousand annual visitors.

“There were unfathomable horrors everywhere,” she continued.
“They all admonish us to never forget. No, we will never forget. We’ll not forget for the sake of the victims, for our own sake, and for the sake of future generations.”

Read more: Germans will never forget ‘unfathomable horrors’ at death camps, says Merkel | euronews, world news