New head of anti-discrimination agency elected in Germany

BERLIN (AP) — German parliament has elected as the government’s new anti-discrimination commissioner a journalist whose nomination last month had sparked controversy. 42-year-old Ferda Ataman had written an op-ed defending calling Germans without immigrant roots “potatoes,” which can be derogatory. She was elected on Thursday. Members of the Free Democrats, who are part of the governing coalition, as well as lawmakers with the opposition conservative Christian Democrats and the far-right Alternative for Germany had sharply criticized the choice. They questioned Ataman’s suitability for the post, calling her a left-wing activist. Her supporters called the accusations against her slanderous and in part racist because she’s a second-generation immigrant.