Sylvia Cunningham is an Associate Editor and Reporter at KCRW Berlin. She first joined the team in October 2017 as a grantee from the Fulbright Young Professional Journalist Program.
Before moving to Berlin, Sylvia worked in New York for NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt. She also contributed to NBCNews.com, her stories ranging from the impact of Muhammad Ali’s death on the Louisville community, Michelle Obama’s final commencement speech as First Lady, and blood donation regulations in the aftermath of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Florida.
The BVG is making some changes to bus routes in Berlin. Cannabis consumption is on the rise among young people. Berlin is cracking down on the number of Spielhallen, or gambling halls in the city. Find out more in your KCRW Berlin News Brief.
CDU party leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said in an interview on ARD’s talk show “Anne Will” that she can’t imagine cooperating with the right-wing populist Alternative für Deutschland party at this time. Meanwhile, the SPD considers dual leadership to replace former party leader Andrea Nahles.
The head of the German Medical Association has suggested a new standard for organ donation. Also, security is being tightened at Berlin’s state parliament house in order to protect against attacks by people in cars or other vehicles.
Just weeks after the June 2 murder of Kassel district president Walter Lübcke, some other German politicians are receiving death threats. Also, details on the historic thatched-roof kiosk at the Dahlem-Dorf U-Bahn station that burned down Wednesday night.
A report from the Statistical Office for Berlin-Brandenburg found an increase in the number of Berlin apartments in 2018, and an SPD politician was appointed as the new justice minister. Find out more in your KCRW Berlin News Brief.
Siemens will cut jobs in Germany and internationally, plus district office releases cause of skin rash affecting dozens of children in Treptow-Köpenick. Find out more in your KCRW Berlin News Brief.
The Südkreuz train station is once again a testing site for video recognition technology. The BVG has partnered with the Netflix series “Dark” to create a special 33-year transit pass. There’s now a way to “Spende Dein Pfand” or “Donate your Deposit” at Schönefeld Airport. Find out more in your KCRW Berlin News Brief.
The Berlin Senate approved a measure on Tuesday that would allow for a citywide rent freeze. A planned road tax was shut down by the EU Court of Justice. And German authorities have made their biggest-ever drug bust: 670-kilogram of heroin in transit near the Polish border. Find out more in your KCRW Berlin News Brief.
Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, leader of the CDU, said her party has done too little to address climate protection in recent years. Also, EU foreign ministers met in Luxembourg to discuss the alleged attacks on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman.
This Sunday, CDU politician Octavian Ursu defeated AfD candidate Sebastian Wippel for mayor in the Saxony town of Görlitz. In Berlin, the Plansche im Plänterwald water playground in Treptow has been temporarily closed after 30 children complained of itching and skin rashes.
