German parliament approves plans to relax restrictions on family names
Voice of America
FILE - The upper house of the German parliament, which meets in the Prussian House of Lords, shown here in 2015 in Berlin, voted to ease regulations on family names, May 17, 2024.
The German parliament Friday approved plans to relax strict restrictions on family names — clearing the way, among other things, for couples to take double surnames and pass them on to their children.
Girls in the Eid family eat lentils cooked by their mother, Yasmin, at their tent in a refugee camp in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Nov. 19, 2024. Yasmin Eid cooks at her family's tent in a refugee camp in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Nov. 19, 2024.
FILE - Anima Mangola eats rice and stewed cassava leaves in the Sierra Leone capital, Freetown, Sept. 25, 2024. FILE Alhaji Aboubacar Kowa, imam and farming leader, poses for a photo in a rice field near the Sierra Leone village of Fanima, Sept. 25, 2024.
Afghan school girls attend a class at an open air primary school in Khogyani district of Nangarhar province, May 14, 2023. The Taliban banned secondary education for girls after the 2021 takeover.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks at a summit discussion during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, in Lima, Peru, Nov. 15, 2024.
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