German ex-minister, mayor contender stripped of doctorate

BERLIN (AP) — A Berlin university has stripped a prominent former German minister of her doctorate following a long-running saga over plagiarism allegations that led to her resignation last month. Franziska Giffey quit as Germany’s minister for women and families in mid-May, but the center-left Social Democrat is still a leading candidate to become Berlin’s mayor in an election in September. Berlin’s Free University said Thursday it had concluded that Giffey’s doctorate was obtained with “deception over the independence of her academic achievement.” It said that her thesis used texts and references from other authors without sufficiently labeling them as such. Doctorates are highly prized in Germany and have caused senior politicians trouble before.