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Migrant Influx Pushing Germany To Learn Arabic

Migrant Influx Pushing Germany To Learn Arabic

HAMBURG — Few will deny that the influx of migrants in recent months, mostly coming from Syria and other Arab countries, has shaken up German society. Reactions have ranged from pride in Germany's ability to welcome refugees to outrage at the New Year's Eve attacks against women by mobs of mostly North African men.

But now, some are looking at practical, long-term ways of adjusting to the new reality. Writing in the German weekly newspaper Die Zeit, oneuniversity president said it should be compulsory for German students to learn Arabic.

Thomas Strothotte, President of the Kühne Logistics University in Hamburg, writes that the introduction of Arabic in German classrooms could make Germany a leader in gaining access to comprehension of the Arabic world. If Arabic were a required subject for all students, Strothotte writes: "This would prove that we acknowledge being an immigration country with a multilingual society."

An even superior act would be put the two languages on the same level, as languages of instruction, says Strothotte. This would make it possible for children to start preparing for the profound transformation process that has already started in the Middle East.

By pushing to learn Arabic language from a very young age on, Germany would present itself in the Middle East as a valuable economic, cultural and political partner, ready to accompany those countries in their transformation process.

In the meantime, broadcasting companies under public law are planning on adding Arabic programs. Considering the strong influx of refugees coming from the Middle East, the country's ARD network announced the support of the Deutsche Welle TV channel DW Arabia.

Further, broadcasting of documentaries and news coverage for an Arabic audience is scheduled. ARD chairman Karola Wille calls the cooperation "an important signal, in difficult times." Since December 2015, DW Arabia has been reporting 24/7 on recent events and evolutions, from a German and European point of view.

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FOCUS: Russia-Ukraine War

That Man In Mariupol: Is Putin Using A Body Double To Avoid Public Appearances?

Putin really is meeting with Xi in Moscow — we know that. But there are credible experts saying that the person who showed up in Mariupol the day before was someone else — the latest report that the Russian president uses a doppelganger for meetings and appearances.

screen grab of Putin in a dark down jacket

During the visit to Mariupol, the Presidential office only released screen grabs of a video

Russian President Press Office/TASS via ZUMA
Anna Akage

Have no doubt, the Vladimir Putin we’re seeing alongside Xi Jinping this week is the real Vladimir Putin. But it’s a question that is being asked after a range of credible experts have accused the Russian president of sending a body double for a high-profile visit this past weekend in the occupied Ukrainian city of Mariupol.

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Reports and conspiracy theories have circulated in the past about the Russian leader using a stand-in because of health or security issues. But the reaction to the Kremlin leader's trip to Mariupol is the first time that multiple credible sources — including those who’ve spent time with him in the past — have cast doubt on the identity of the man who showed up in the southeastern Ukrainian city that Russia took over last spring after a months-long siege.

Russian opposition politician Gennady Gudkov is among those who confidently claim that a Putin look-alike, or rather one of his look-alikes, was in the Ukrainian city.

"Now that there is a war going on, I don't rule out the possibility that someone strongly resembling or disguised as Putin is playing his role," Gudkov said.

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