sigidikronics

The German government is set to grant one-year residency permits to rejected asylum seekers who have lived in Germany for five years, offering them a legal chance to work in the country while hoping to solve an acute labour shortage that means around two million jobs across the country are currently unfilled.

More than a million Ukrainian refugees have arrived in Germany since the beginning of the year. The number of asylum seekers from Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan has also increased. In 2022 alone, Germany has already taken in more people than at the peak of the migrant crisis in 2015. Currently, the capital Berlin is home to around 100,000 Ukrainian refugees – more than in the whole of France. Although German local authorities are doing their best to welcome the new arrivals, some are warning that the influx of refugees represents a significant logistical challenge that could spark renewed tensions. Our correspondents report.

There was shock, sadness and disappointment in Germany on Friday following the country's surprise early exit from the 2022 World Cup in Qater the night before. France 24's Emmanuelle Chaze reports from Berlin.

The Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said the government will draw up a law banning churches affiliated with Russia, saying the move is necessary to prevent Moscow being able to "weaken Ukraine from within." The National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine, which groups top security, military and political figures, told the government to draft the law following a series of raids on parishes that Kyiv says could be taking orders from Moscow.

Unesco on Thursday added Tunisia's spicy national condiment harissa to its list of intangible cultural heritage, saying it was part of the North African country's identity.

Kenya has the fifth highest number of people living with HIV in the world and Homabay County, where many women are forced to trade sex for fish in order to survive, has had the highest rate of HIV in the country for years now, standing at 18.5 percent in 2021. Our correspondents Vivianne Wandera and Elodie Cousin visited the county.

Israeli Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu reached a coalition deal with the far-right Religious Zionism party, bringing him closer to securing a new government after an election last month, Netanyahu's Likud party said on Thursday.

Russian forces have continued to bombard the recently liberated Ukrainian city of Kherson with heavy shelling, while remaining residents are attempting to cope the best they can with a lack of power after Russian strikes knocked out the city's electricity system, reports France 24's chief foreign editor Rob Parsons.

The French baguette – one of the country's most abiding images – was given world heritage status by UNESCO on Wednesday, the organisation announced. More than six billion bread sticks are baked each year in France and the UN agency inscribed the tradition in its "intangible cultural heritage" list.

Leaders of South Africa's governing African National Congress (ANC) met on Friday after an inquiry found evidence President Cyril Ramaphosa may have committed misconduct, but they delayed a decision over whether he should stay in his post.