FRANKFURT: The German city of Frankfurt switched on festive lights Sunday to celebrate the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, in what local media said was a nationwide first.
A large sign reading “Happy Ramadan” and a display of lights in the shape of stars, lanterns and crescent moons were formally unveiled in an evening ceremony, illuminating a pedestrianized street in the city center lined with restaurants and cafes.
Local officials and German media said it was the first time a German city had put up street illuminations for Ramadan.
Mayor Nargess Eskandari-Gruenberg called it a “beautiful gesture” that stood for “the peaceful co-existence of all people in Frankfurt.”
“In times of crises and wars, this lighting is a sign of hope for all people and strengthens cohesion in our diverse urban society,” she said in a statement earlier this week.
The western city of Frankfurt, Germany’s financial hub with a population of more than 750,000 people, is home to around 100,000 Muslims.
The Ramadan lights reportedly cost the city at least 75,000 euros ($82,000).
Ramadan street decorations were also on display in the city of Cologne for the first time, Bild newspaper reported, though those were financed by private donations rather than public funds.
The Frankfurt branch of the Coordinating Council of Muslims welcomed the street lights as a sign of “appreciation and recognition of the cultural and religious diversity of our international city.”
But not all the reactions were positive.
Robert Lambrou, a regional lawmaker from Hesse whose far-right AfD party has been riding high in opinion polls, condemned the Ramadan decorations as a “gesture of submission to Islam.”
The idea to hang the lights came from city councillor Omar Shehata, from Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party. Shehata told the Frankfurter Allgemeine newspaper he had been inspired by London, which last year lit up for Ramadan for the first time.
Responding to the AfD’s criticism, he said: “Many people in Frankfurt stand united against right-wing extremism, anti-Semitism and anti-Muslim racism.”
Frankfurt lights up for Ramadan in first for Germany
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Frankfurt lights up for Ramadan in first for Germany
- Large sign reading “Happy Ramadan” and a display of lights in the shape of stars, lanterns and crescent moons were formally unveiled in an evening ceremony
More than 200 killed in coltan mine collapse in east Congo, official says
- “Some people were rescued just in time and have serious injuries,” Muyisa
- An adviser to the governor said the number of confirmed dead was at least 227
KINSHASA: More than 200 people were killed this week in a collapse at the Rubaya coltan mine in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, Lubumba Kambere Muyisa, spokesperson for the rebel-appointed governor of the province where the mine is located, told Reuters on Friday.
Rubaya produces around 15 percent of the world’s coltan, which is processed into tantalum, a heat-resistant metal that is in high demand by makers of mobile phones, computers, aerospace components and gas turbines.
The site, where locals dig manually for a few dollars per day, has been under the control of the AFC/M23 rebel group since 2024.
The collapse occurred on Wednesday and the precise toll was still unclear as of Friday evening.
“More than 200 people were victims of this landslide, including miners, children and market women. Some people were rescued just in time and have serious injuries,” Muyisa said, adding that about 20 injured people were being treated in health facilities.
“We are in the rainy season. The ground is fragile. It was the ground that gave way while the victims were in the hole.”
An adviser to the governor said the number of confirmed dead was at least 227. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media.
The United Nations says AFC/M23 has plundered Rubaya’s riches to help fund its insurgency, backed by the government of neighboring Rwanda, an allegation Kigali denies.
The heavily-armed rebels, whose stated aim is to overthrow the government in Kinshasa and ensure the safety of the Congolese Tutsi minority, captured even more mineral-rich territory in eastern Congo during a lightning advance last year.
