Excerpt:
Germany's federal government agreed on Wednesday to distribute 6.85 billion euros ($7.87 billion) to its regions next year to help them cover the costs of housing and integrating migrants, a government source told Reuters.
Germany is trying to integrate over a million migrants and refugees who entered in 2015-2016 after Chancellor Angela Merkel opened its borders, an unpopular decision that catapulted the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) into the lower house of parliament after elections last year.
Merkel's government acted ahead of Sunday's election in the affluent state of Bavaria, where a backlash over migration is threatening the longtime hold on power of the conservative Christian Social Union (CSU), Merkel's federal coalition ally.