Berlin
German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder went on national television this week to urge Germans to adopt Russian orphans. Schröder himself adopted a 3-year-old girl, Victoria, from a St. Petersburg orphanage earlier this year. “For those Germans who have a place in their hearts and homes, they should think about if they want to also adopt a child,” Schröder said. “There are loads of children who can be offered a better future than the one they have.” German newspapers stressed another reason to adopt, one Schröder did not mention: a looming demographic crisis. Germany’s birthrate is already well below the “population replacement” level.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Venezuela’s Trump-shaped power vacuumIN THE SPOTLIGHT The American abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has thrust South America’s biggest oil-producing state into uncharted geopolitical waters
-
Most data centers are being built in the wrong climateThe explainer Data centers require substantial water and energy. But certain locations are more strained than others, mainly due to rising temperatures.
-
‘Maps are the ideal metaphor for our models of what the world might be’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
