Germany | Pakistan

Germany has launched the Opportunity Card, a new residence permit that allows non-EU citizens including Pakistanis to stay in the country for up to one year while searching for a job, without requiring a pre-arranged employment offer.

With temperatures just above freezing point, heavy snow has blanketed areas in southern Germany and left them frozen in both time and the literal sense. A snowy landscape can be seen through the heart-shaped hole cut out of an advertising sign in front of a beer garden in Bad Hindelang, Germany on November 20. — AFP A wooden cabin stands in the snow-covered landscape in Gorisried, Germany on November 20. — AFP An advertising sign stands in front of a closed beer garden in the snow in Bad Hindelang, Germany on November 20. — AFP A fence stands in the snow-covered landscape in Oy Mittelberg, Germany on November 20. — AFP Benches and tables of a closed beer garden stand in the snow in Bad Hindelang, Germany on November 20. — AFP A snowplow drives through the snow-covered landscape in Oy-Mittelberg, Germany on November 20. — AFP Header Image: A car drives behind an icicle in the snowfall in Hindelang, Germany, on November 20, 2025. — AFP

BERLIN: Berlin is offering cash to Afghan refugees in Pakistan if they agree to give up their places on a programme for resettlement in Germany, activists said on Tuesday. The Afghans were accepted under a refugee scheme set up by the previous German government but around 2,000 have been stuck in Pakistan since conservative Chancellor Friedrich Merz took office in May and froze the programme. According to the initiative Airbridge Kabul, refugees have been sent a letter offering them money and other support in return for exiting the resettlement programme. In the case of a single woman, the payments would be an initial 1,500 euros (about $1,700) in Pakistan and a further 5,000 euro payment if she travels to Afghanistan or a third country. A spokeswoman for the interior ministry said that “there are offers within the framework of a voluntary return programme to Afghanistan or departure to another third country”. Single woman may get 1,500 euros in Pakistan and a further 5,000 euros if she travels to Afghanistan...

Jordan and Germany said on Saturday that an international force expected to support a future Palestinian police in Gaza under US President Donald Trump’s post-war governance plan should have a UN mandate. Under the US-brokered ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, a coalition of mainly Arab and Muslim nations is expected to deploy forces in the Palestinian territory. The so-called international stabilisation force is supposed to train and support vetted Palestinian police in the Strip, with backing from Egypt and Jordan, as well as secure border areas and prevent weapons smuggling to Hamas. “We all agree that in order for that stabilisation force to be able to be effective in getting the job done, it has to have a Security Council mandate,” Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said. Jordan, however, will not be sending its own forces to the Strip. “We’re too close to the issue and we cannot deploy troops in Gaza,” Safadi said, adding his country was nonetheless ready to cooperate with the international force...

An Afghan man accused of a deadly knife attack on a group of toddlers in Germany went on trial on Thursday, nine months after an incident that inflamed a heated pre-election debate on immigration. Germany was shocked by the stabbing spree that killed a two-year-old boy and a 41-year-old man who tried to protect the children and left three others wounded in the southern city of Aschaffenburg. Five toddlers from a kindergarten class were in a public park, accompanied by two teachers, when the assailant attacked them with a kitchen knife. The suspect arrested at the scene of the January 22 attack has been only partially named, in line with usual practice by the German judiciary, as 28-year-old Enamullah O. He has a long history of mental illness, and prosecutors said an expert assessment concluded his psychiatric state meant he was not criminally responsible. The public prosecutor’s office has previously said there was no indication the suspect acted out of extremist or terrorist motivation, and they were seekin...

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif has commended Germany’s assistance in modern agricultural technology, green technology and forestry development.

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif has praised Germany’s cooperation in modern agricultural technology, green initiatives, and forestry development.

An Afghan man was sentenced to life in prison by a German court on Tuesday for a knife attack that killed a police officer and injured five others at an anti-Islam rally last year. The verdict comes at a time of heated debate about immigration and security in Germany, and a strong surge in support for the country’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. The defendant, named only as Sulaiman A to protect his privacy, was found guilty of using a large hunting knife to attack people during a demonstration in the western city of Mannheim that was organised by the anti-Islam group Pax Europa in late May 2024. Sulaiman A attacked a speaker and several demonstrators at the event before stabbing a police officer who rushed in to help. The officer later succumbed to his injuries. The attacker was taken into pre-trial custody in June 2024 after leaving intensive care for injuries he sustained during his arrest. Though prosecutors say he sympathised with the Islamic State group, he was not tried as a terrorist. ...

A group of 47 Afghans who fled the Taliban arrived in Germany on Monday after months of waiting in Pakistan until German court rulings forced Berlin to offer them refuge. The 10 families have been among more than 2,000 Afghans caught in limbo in Pakistan as Germany’s conservative-led government this year froze a programme to offer them sanctuary. Most of them arrived in Hanover on a commercial flight from Istanbul around 2pm (1200 GMT), said an AFP reporter and the Airbridge Kabul initiative set up to help those affected. An interior ministry spokeswoman confirmed that “45 Afghan nationals entered Germany. These are all individuals who obtained visas through legal proceedings … All of these individuals have fully completed the admission procedure and security screening“. The Airbridge Kabul initiative later said that two more people had arrived after catching a later connection from Istanbul. A mother and daughter who did not want to give their names told AFP they were looking forward to their new life in Ger...

The Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) said on Sunday it has formed an inquiry committee to probe “serious irregularities” during the Fisu World University Games 2025 in Germany, including the reported disappearance of two athletes. The Fisu World University Games is a tournament that brings together students from all over the world every two years to compete across 18 sports. This year, 8,500 students from across the world took part in the event, which was held from July 16 to July 27, according to its website. In a statement issued today, the PSB said Pakistani contingent’s participation in the tournament faced “significant administrative failures”, including a “lack of transparency in the selection of team officials, discipline issues, logistical mismanagement, and the alarming disappearance of two student-athletes”. One of the many “failures” was that “two student-athletes were reported missing or suspected of fleeing during the event”, the PSB said, citing the Higher Education Commission (HEC). The sports board...

Germany said on Friday it had deported 81 Afghan men convicted of crimes to their Taliban-controlled homeland, as Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s government looks to signal a hard line on immigration. The interior ministry said a plane carrying the men took off Friday morning bound for Afghanistan, adding that all the deportees were under expulsion orders and were convicted by the criminal justice system. The government of Europe’s top economy was forging ahead with a “policy change”, said Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt, who was hosting several European counterparts for a migration meeting. “Deportations to Afghanistan must continue to be carried out safely in the future. There is no right of residence for serious criminals in our country.” Berlin has had only indirect contact with the Taliban authorities through third parties with Friday’s operation executed with the help of Qatar, said the German interior ministry. Germany had stopped deportations to Afghanistan and closed its embassy in Kabul following t...

Germany’s data protection commissioner has asked Apple and Google to remove Chinese AI startup DeepSeek from their app stores in the country due to concerns about data protection. Commissioner Meike Kamp said in a statement on Friday that she made the request because DeepSeek illegally transfers users’ personal data to China. The two US tech giants must now review the request promptly and decide whether to block the app in Germany, she added. DeepSeek did not respond to a request for comment. Apple and Google were not immediately available for comment. According to its own privacy policy, DeepSeek stores numerous personal data, such as requests to its AI programme or uploaded files, on computers in China. “DeepSeek has not been able to provide my agency with convincing evidence that German users’ data is protected in China to a level equivalent to that in the European Union,” Kamp said. “Chinese authorities have far-reaching access rights to personal data within the sphere of influence of Chinese companies,” ...