Nurse evicted, refugees move in

A woman in Germany is being evicted from her home of 16 years to make way for asylum-seekers amid growing concerns over how Germany will find accommodation for the hundreds of thousands of refugees reaching the country. Bettina Halbey, a 51-year-old nurse, has lived alone in her apartment in the small western German town of Nieheim since her children grew up. On Sept 1, she received a letter from her landlord, the local municipality, telling her the building was being turned into a refugee shelter and she had until May to leave. When Halbey vented her frustration on Facebook, asking why she was being evicted when properties were standing empty in the town, her comments were shared 200,000 times. In Germany, where 52 per cent of the population rent their homes, it is almost unheard of to be asked to leave under such circumstances.