German parliament welcomes its first deaf lawmaker

BERLIN (AP) — The German parliament has welcomed its first deaf lawmaker, who took her place in a moment that the house’s speaker described as historic. Heike Heubach narrowly missed out on a seat in parliament’s lower house, or Bundestag, in Germany’s 2021 election. But she joined the house this week as the replacement for a fellow member of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s center-left Social Democrats from Bavaria. The 44-year-old, who has a background as an industrial manager, was welcomed on Thursday with applause and with raised, waving hands by her fellow lawmakers.