The German government pledged Tuesday to provide more support to cities and towns struggling to house the more than 1.1 million refugees and migrants who have arrived in the country this year, mostly from war-torn Ukraine but also other countries such as Syria and Afghanistan.
After meeting with state and local officials, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said while the government already allocated federal real estate for tens of thousands of refugees earlier this year, it would immediately provide additional property for about 4,000 refugees to ease the current housing crisis. Faeser also promised financial support but did not give any concrete figures.
Several cities have recently started putting up tents and turned convention centers into temporary accommodation as regular migrant centers have become overcrowded.
"I don't want to downplay this, we have a tense situation," Faeser told reporters in Berlin. "That's why we discussed today how to best coordinate our assistance to refugees ... also in view of the winter months that lie ahead."
More than 1 million people have entered Germany from Ukraine since Russia attacked the eastern European country on Feb. 24. About a third of them are children and teenagers, and more than 70 percent of the adults are women.
"It's a big humanitarian effort to take good care of the refugees from Ukraine, to provide shelters, to provide daycare centers and schools for the children and to give them social support," Faeser said. She added that Germany was expecting more refugees from Ukraine as Russia escalates its brutal attacks on Ukraine and people there may be struggling even more to survive during the cold winter months.
While the interior minister stressed that Germany was ready to welcome more Ukrainians despite the difficult housing situation, she struck a significantly different tone regarding asylum-seekers from other countries, especially those trying to reach Germany via the so-called Balkans migration route.
"The number of asylum applications has increased in recent months, as has the number of unauthorized entries. Not only in Germany, but overall along the European Unions' external borders, the pressure is currently increasing," Faeser said. "That's why we also have to clearly ensure a limit."
As of the end of September, 134,908 people had applied for asylum in Germany in 2022. That is around a third more than in the same period last year, according to figures from the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees. However, it's still a far call from 2015-16, when more than 1 million migrants from countries like Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan applied for asylum in Germany.
The figures for asylum applications in 2022 are much lower than the total number of refugees because Ukrainians can enter Germany without a visa and do not need to apply for asylum.
In an effort to keep other migrants from crossing into the country, the interior minister said Germany would extend and increase its border controls to Austria for another six months and also intensify controls to the Czech Republic.
The move comes after Austria and the Czech Republic introduced temporary border controls to Slovakia last month to keep migrants from entering their countries.
Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia all belong to the European Union's visa-free Schengen zone, where residents of member nations typically can cross borders without presenting passports or visas. However, Schengen countries have adopted temporary border controls in the past for various reasons, including to curb illegal migration and to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Germany also sharply criticized Serbia -- which is an EU candidate country but not a member yet -- for its visa-free regime with some non-EU countries. Citizens from India, for example, are increasingly flying to Serbia, where they don't need visas unlike for EU countries, and then trying to cross into wealthier western European countries via the Balkans route.
"To be clear, Serbia's visa practice is unacceptable," Faeser said. "This also contributes to the movements on the Balkan route. Serbia must adapt its visa rules to those of the European Union. This is a clear expectation of the German government."
Florida's storm-battered Gulf Coast raced against a Category 5 hurricane Monday as workers sprinted to pick up heaps of appliances and other street debris left over from Helene two weeks ago and highways were clogged with people fleeing ahead of the storm.
Days after a political sign was erected outside Chip Wilson's Vancouver mansion, the waterfront property has been vandalized with graffiti.
Hurricane Milton quickly intensified to a Category 5 storm on Monday, reaching the most dangerous rank on what's known as the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.
Two people are in hospital after they were chased and shot at in what appears to be an act of road rage before eventually flipping their car while trying to escape, police say.
A disgraced Winnipeg high school football coach convicted of sexual assault and luring will spend 20 years behind bars.
Despite Hurricane Milton evolving into a Category 5 storm, Walt Disney World Resort remains open to the public and will operate as normal. However, the park announced Monday a few closures in an abundance of caution.
Sammy Basso, who was the longest living survivor of the rare genetic disease progeria, has died at the age of 28, the Italian Progeria Association said on Sunday.
Ceremonies, events and protests are being held across Canada today to mark the anniversary of a Hamas attack on Israel that triggered the ongoing war in Gaza.
The day after a minivan was set ablaze outside Vancouver City Hall, a 78-year-old man has been criminally charged.
A disgraced Winnipeg high school football coach convicted of sexual assault and luring will spend 20 years behind bars.
Videos of a meteor streaking across the skies of southern Ontario have surfaced and small bits of the outer space rock may have made it to land, one astronomy professor says.
Days after a political sign was erected outside Chip Wilson's Vancouver mansion, the waterfront property has been vandalized with graffiti.
Two people are in hospital after they were chased and shot at in what appears to be an act of road rage before eventually flipping their car while trying to escape, police say.
The day after a minivan was set ablaze outside Vancouver City Hall, a 78-year-old man has been criminally charged.
A Canadian soldier who was exposed to toxic chemicals from burn pits while serving in Afghanistan has been awarded full medical compensation for testicular cancer after Veterans Affairs initially denied his claim.
Palestinian militants in Gaza fired a barrage of rockets into Israel on Monday as mourners marked the anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack, without disrupting a nearby ceremony. Here is the latest.
A canyoneer died in Zion National Park after falling between 150 and 200 feet near the the Upper Emerald Pool in southwest Utah, according to the National Park Service.
The mayor of a state capital in southern Mexico has been killed just one week after he took office, officials said Sunday.
Despite Hurricane Milton evolving into a Category 5 storm, Walt Disney World Resort remains open to the public and will operate as normal. However, the park announced Monday a few closures in an abundance of caution.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said on Monday there are 'a lot of bad genes' in the United States, while discussing murders allegedly committed by immigrants living illegally in the United States.
The Bay Area's fog-shrouded coast seems tailor-made for hiding ghosts from the past. But now, a research team has pulled back the curtain on a mystery that's endured for nearly 80 years: the location of a U.S. Navy destroyer known as the 'Ghost Ship of the Pacific.'
Global Affairs Canada says it's chartering more flights from Lebanon this week to help Canadians leave the country as conflict escalates between Israel and Hezbollah.
Federal political parties appear to be locked in a game of chicken over a debate that has stalled almost all business in the House of Commons.
A newly released document shows federal cabinet ministers were warned in May 2022 that hostile states were targeting Canada's strategic interests, the integrity of Canadian institutions and democratic processes, and the ability of the public to exercise Charter-protected rights and freedoms.
Georgia's highest court reinstated a ban on nearly all abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy on Monday while it considers the U.S. state's appeal of last week's ruling by a lower court judge blocking the law.
Sammy Basso, who was the longest living survivor of the rare genetic disease progeria, has died at the age of 28, the Italian Progeria Association said on Sunday.
If your household has recently been hit by a power outage, here are ways to keep your food safe.
A spacecraft blasted off Monday to investigate the scene of a cosmic crash.
The best minds in science will be thrust from academic obscurity into the spotlight this week when the Nobel Prizes in physics, chemistry, and physiology or medicine are announced. However, there is no shortage of Nobel-worthy discoveries: Here are five breakthroughs that haven't resulted in a life-changing call from Stockholm 鈥 at least not yet.
Scientists announced on Thursday a milestone in neurobiological research with the mapping of the entire brain of an adult fruit fly, a feat that may provide insight into brains across the animal kingdom, including people.
Cissy Houston, the mother of the late Whitney Houston and a two-time Grammy winner who performed alongside superstar musicians like Elvis Presley, and Aretha Franklin, has died. She was 91.
Ticketmaster is enforcing new rules around how fans transfer Taylor Swift tickets amid a surge in reported scams.
It's been nearly 30 years since 'The Puppy Episode' of Ellen DeGeneres' hit sitcom 'Ellen' aired, where her fictional counterpart came out as gay.
Canada's telecommunications regulator says the country's largest cellphone carriers must take steps to make their international roaming rates more affordable.
FTX received court approval of its bankruptcy plan on Monday, which will allow it to fully repay customers using up to US$16.5 billion in assets recovered since the once-leading crypto exchange collapsed.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal from Martin Shkreli, who was once dubbed 'Pharma Bro' after jacking up the price of a lifesaving drug.
Gerontologist Jay Olshansky is used to backlash about his views on human longevity. Decades ago he and his coauthors predicted children, on average, would live to only age 85 鈥 only 1 per cent to 5 per cent might survive until their 100th birthday.
'Eat more vegetables,' doctors and dietitians say over and over. But for many people, it鈥檚 hard to do, because they aren鈥檛 excited about veggies or just don鈥檛 like them.
Travelling on a budget can be stressful, but there are ways you can ensure you're getting the best deal on flights as the holiday season approaches.
The NCAA Division I Council is considering making a landmark change in eligibility rules this week that would allow Canadian Hockey League players to compete at U.S. colleges, the American Hockey Coaches Association executive director said Monday.
Max Pacioretty has a new home. The Toronto Maple Leafs signed the veteran forward to a one-year contract Monday after he made the team out of training camp on a professional tryout.
Shams Charania has been hired as ESPN's senior NBA insider, replacing his mentor Adrian Wojnarowski.
New data from the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) shows that even though claims for auto theft dropped in the first half of 2024 compared to their 2023 peak, the rates of reported theft remain well above those of years prior.
Tesla is recalling more than 27,000 Cybertrucks because the rearview camera image may not activate immediately after shifting into reverse, the fifth recall for the vehicle since it went on sale late last year.
A Pickering, Ont., student going to college to be a mechanic is shocked the engine in his two-year-old car will not be repaired under warranty after the dealership claimed he had been 'over-revving' the engine.
A unique form of clouds made an appearance over the skies of Ottawa on Sunday evening.
Bernie Hicks, known as the 鈥楤atman of Amherst,鈥 always wanted to sit in a Batmobile until a kind stranger made it happen.
Bubi鈥檚 Awesome Eats, located on University Ave West took to social media to announce the closure on Friday.
Weeneebayko Area Health Authority and the Government of Ontario have awarded a $1.8 billion fixed-price contract to design, build and finance a new Far North hospital.
Manitobans are in cleanup mode after intense winds barreled through southern parts of the province this weekend.
Avry Wortman, 13, scored two touchdowns on Sunday during her team's win in the under 14 Greater Moncton Football Association.
A gargantuan gourd 鈥 affectionately named 鈥極rangina鈥 by the urban gardeners who grew it in the front yard of their Vancouver home 鈥 earned the massive honour of being named B.C.鈥檚 heaviest giant pumpkin Saturday.
Chantal Kreviazuk is set to return to Winnipeg to mark a major milestone in her illustrious musical career.
From the beaches of Cannes to the bustling streets of New York City, a new film by a trio of Manitoba directors has toured the international film festival circuit to much pomp and circumstance.
The man accused of stealing a Vancouver police cruiser and taking it for a joyride in a public park over the weekend has been criminally charged, authorities announced Monday.
A driver who crashed into a Surrey bus stop, killing one man sitting on a bench, was likely impaired by drugs, according to an update from police Monday.
The Squamish Nation has implemented a ban prohibiting the sale, use and possession of fireworks on reserve land.
Toronto鈥檚 Jewish community is coming together to mourn and is calling for allyship as it marks one year since the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks on Israel that triggered a war that is still raging on.
Two people are in hospital after they were chased and shot at in what appears to be an act of road rage before eventually flipping their car while trying to escape, police say.
Toronto Coun. Michael Thompson 'forced himself on' a woman who awoke to find him standing over her after she fell asleep drunk, the Crown alleged Monday, as the five-day sexual assault trial of the six-term politician began in Bracebridge, Ont.
Less than 48 hours after his Monterey Park townhome was gutted by a fiery explosion, Calgarian Owen DeFoe returned on Monday to see what was left.
A 17-year-old boy was killed in a motorcycle crash in southeast Calgary over the weekend.
A Lethbridge police officer involved in a scandal involving former Lethbridge New Democrat MLA Shannon Phillips has been reprimanded.
The Renfrew County Joint Transportation Consortium (RCJTC) and school bus operators have reached a contract agreement in principle.
The Ottawa Police Service is investigating after a body was found along a road in Barrhaven. Emergency crews responded to a report of a deceased person at approximately 10:15 a.m. Monday in the 3100 block of Greenbank Road, at Strandherd Drive.
An event was held in Ottawa to honour the victims on the anniversary of the worst attack against Jewish people since the Holocaust.
Montreal students and supporters showed their grief and anger at protests and vigils as they marked the anniversary of the current war between Israel and Gaza.
Celine Dion introduced the marquee Dallas Cowboys - Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday Night Football game before getting drenched by orange Gatorade.
McGill University has agreed to drop a legal challenge of its law faculty's right to unionize, bringing an official end to a strike during which law professors walked off the job for more than five weeks this fall.
A Grande Prairie man has been charged with kidnapping after an assault on Sunday.
Provincial ministers testified before the House of Commons on Monday, asking the federal government to pay for the cost of the Jasper wildfire.
He was brought into the fold to presumably play in a Top 6 forward role, but Jeff Skinner might start the Edmonton Oilers' 2024-25 campaign lower down in the National Hockey League team's lineup.
CTV Atlantic meteorologist Kalin Mitchell has details on rain and downpours expected Monday through early Wednesday in the Maritimes, plus an update on Hurricane Milton.
A Canadian soldier who was exposed to toxic chemicals from burn pits while serving in Afghanistan has been awarded full medical compensation for testicular cancer after Veterans Affairs initially denied his claim.
The Nova Scotia RCMP has charged a 28-year-old woman with stunting for driving 109 km/h in a 30 km/h school zone last week.
A disgraced Winnipeg high school football coach convicted of sexual assault and luring will spend 20 years behind bars.
Shared Health said Manitobans could expect longer wait times in emergency departments if a strike among health-care support workers goes ahead Tuesday.
Winnipeg police have arrested two people and are searching for a third in the death of a woman who was last seen in October 2023.
Regina resident Murray Yagelniski says a city-owned tree on his property is the root of the issue behind his basement flooding.
The Saskatchewan NDP says the province's troubled payment and scheduling system for healthcare is only half implemented and has costed taxpayers nearly triple its original price tag so far.
The John Howard Society of Saskatchewan will appear in front of the Supreme Court of Canada on Tuesday challenging a regulation that it says lets correctional workers discipline inmates without sufficient proof.
Communities across Canada, including in Waterloo Region, are marking one year since the Oct. 7 attack that sparked the Israel-Hamas war.
In September, 愛污传媒 Kitchener reported on Sandvine's deals with autocratic governments, including Egypt, where its tech reportedly helped inject spyware into the devices of government critics.
The penalty hearing for Guelph Police constable Corey McArthur has heard from two character witnesses, both supporting an eventual return to policing for the officer who has admitted to assaulting a teen who was handcuffed to a hospital bed.
Saskatoon鈥檚 Prairie Harm Reduction (PHR) says a staff member arrived to work on Thursday morning to find someone at its doorstep, unresponsive from a suspected drug overdose.
A 36-year-old woman accused of sexually assaulting, physically assaulting and threatening residents at a Saskatchewan care home, was not in court when her matters were spoken to Monday afternoon.
Saskatoon mayoral candidate Cynthia Block says the city needs a new deal with Ottawa to keep life affordable.
Ontario Provincial Police are investigating a fatal crash of a side-by-side off-road vehicle east of Parry Sound that killed one and injured another Friday.
For decades, Mississauga First Nation has known that human remains from their land were at the Canadian Museum of History.
The Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities (FONOM) is the latest organization to call on the Doug Ford government to re-open dialogue with an airline service that transports lower-income Canadians to crucial medical care far from home.
London police are investigating a break and enter and shooting incident that happened this past weekend and are looking for the two suspects involved.
Emotions have boiled over after a judge acquitted two out of three defendants in a manslaughter case, while the third accused has since died
The London Knights have just become instant favourites for another Ontario Hockey League (OHL) championship.
One person was taken to the hospital with what police describe as minor injuries after a loose wheel caused a collision on Highway 400 in Bradford on Monday.
The cause of a fire that caused significant damage to a home in Oro-Medonte over the weekend is under investigation.
One person suffered serious injuries in a collision in Caledon Monday afternoon.
Chrysler鈥檚 parent company, Stellantis, has filed nine lawsuits against the United Auto Workers (UAW) and 23 individual local units, saying the union violated its contract by threatening to strike over the company鈥檚 future plans.
The Ambassador Bridge border crossing was 'temporarily closed' for a period of time, according to the Canada Border Services Agency website.
On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led militants launched air and ground attacks on Israel, killing nearly 1,200 and taking more than 250 hostages.
Major crime investigators have been called to the scene of a suspected homicide in the northern Vancouver Island community of Port Hardy.
The day after a minivan was set ablaze outside Vancouver City Hall, a 78-year-old man has been criminally charged.
A Canadian soldier who was exposed to toxic chemicals from burn pits while serving in Afghanistan has been awarded full medical compensation for testicular cancer after Veterans Affairs initially denied his claim.
Nearly two years after a man was stabbed to death in downtown Kelowna, RCMP have made an arrest in the case.
NDP Leader David Eby is promising to offer a $75-million loan forgiveness program to entice doctors, nurses and heath professionals to expand health-care services in rural British Columbia.
Three young suspects have been arrested in connection with a swarming attack on a teenager in B.C.'s Okanagan last week 鈥 and authorities have asked the public to stop circulating disturbing videos of the incident.
A Lethbridge police officer involved in a scandal involving former Lethbridge New Democrat MLA Shannon Phillips has been reprimanded.
Lethbridge police say a man who escaped from a psychiatric ward at the Chinook Regional Hospital has been found.
While the summer may be over, construction season in Lethbridge is not.
The Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities (FONOM) is the latest organization to call on the Doug Ford government to re-open dialogue with an airline service that transports lower-income Canadians to crucial medical care far from home.
For decades, Mississauga First Nation has known that human remains from their land were at the Canadian Museum of History.
Greater Sudbury in partnership with the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, is hosting the organization's annual mining conference.
As millions in federal funding flow into a Labrador group whose claims of Inuit identity have been rejected by Indigenous organizations across Canada, a national Inuit leader worries the Liberal government is putting the rights of Indigenous Peoples at risk.
He may not have logged the fastest time or even gone the full distance, but residents of a Newfoundland town agree the goat who unexpectedly joined the local weekend half marathon was the event's undisputed champion.
A mother in a community where the cost of living is one of the highest in the country says grocery prices are 'inhumane' and retailers are putting profits ahead of people鈥檚 basic human right to food.
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