Germany to tighten migration controls on land borders

Germany is boosting checks on its land borders to tighten migration controls, following a deadly knife attack by a Syrian asylum seeker last month.

According to an order issued earlier by German Minister of the Interior and Land Nancy Faeser, German police will implement border inspection measures at the border ports with Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands and Denmark beginning on Monday. This temporary control measure will last six months and may be extended after its expiration.

Every day, 25,000 vehicles pass through Piding, the German-Austrian border crossing where controls have been in place for almost 10 years. On Monday, the adoption of these measures will be extended to all of Germany's land border points.

People hold different views on the new control measures. Some fear traffic jams and delays, while others say it is a right action against illegal immigration.

"I think this is a weakness for the European community, because we open all the borders, (so) closing it is a step-back," said a driver crossing the border.

"I find it's quite good for Germany, so lots of illegal [immigrants] are out there. And I think it's good that we do something against that," said another driver.

Whether German police will start refusing to accept asylum seekers at its borders is still unclear. Negotiations between the government and opposition parties have been turbulent.

But Germany's neighbor, Austria, is concerned over the effects of the new border arrangements, and insists its policies will remain the same.

Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said that they will not take in anyone who has been refused illegal entry to Germany.

In the first half of this year, illegal migrant crossings into Germany actually fell by 7 percent, compared with the same period of last year.

Germany to tighten migration controls on land borders

The U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday slashed interest rates by 50 basis points amid cooling inflation and a weakening labor market, marking the first rate cut in over four years.

"The Committee has gained greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward 2 percent, and judges that the risks to achieving its employment and inflation goals are roughly in balance," the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the central bank's policy-setting body, said in a statement.

"In light of the progress on inflation and the balance of risks, the Committee decided to lower the target range for the federal funds rate by 1/2 percentage point to 4-3/4 to 5 percent," the FOMC said.

This signals the start of an easing cycle. Starting from March 2022, the Fed had raised rates consecutively for 11 times to combat inflation not seen in forty years, pushing the target range for the federal funds rate up to between 5.25 percent and 5.5 percent, the highest level in over two decades.

After maintaining rates at the high level for over a year, the Fed's tight monetary policy faced pressure to pivot due to the easing of inflationary pressures, signs of weakening in the job market, and slowing economic growth.

U.S. Fed slashes rates by 50 basis points, first rate cut in four years