Breaking - ArchivesPosts of 21/09/2017
One of the prestige projects of Angela Merkel’s outgoing coalition government has been thrown into doubt after a Berlin court ruled that a recently introduced rent-control law violates Germany’s constitution.
The so-called Mietpreisbremse or “rental price brake” was introduced two years ago with the aim of barring landlords in property hotspots from increasing rents by more than 10% above a local benchmark. In June 2015 Berlin became the first German state to implement the new regulation. Read more HERE.
South Korea has approved an $8m (£5.9m) aid package for North Korea, in a humanitarian gesture at odds with calls by Japan and the US for unwavering economic and diplomatic pressure on Pyongyang.
South Korea’s unification ministry agreed to provide the funds, which will go towards programmes for infants and pregnant women, days after the UN security council agreed a further round of sanctions in response to the regime’s recent nuclear test. Read more HERE.
Billionaire Russian oligarchs and Ukrainian elites accused of corruption are among hundreds of people who have acquired EU passports under controversial “golden visa” schemes, the Guardian has learnt.
The government of Cyprus has raised more than €4bn since 2013 by providing citizenship to the super rich, granting them the right to live and work throughout Europe in exchange for cash investment. More than 400 passports are understood to have been issued through this scheme last year alone. Read more HERE.