An elderly German woman was questioned by police after filling in blank spaces on a crossword puzzle that was being displayed as a work of art at a local museum.
The BBC reports that the 91-year-old woman used a ballpoint pen to write on the work of art titled “Reading-work-piece” by avant garde artist Arthur Koepcke during a senior citizens tour to Nuremberg’s Neues Museum.
If she thought it was rubbish, it means it was. Art should be understood by everyone — including cleaners.
Teachers in Germany have set off a national controversy after they boycotted their own school’s leavers’ ceremony in protest at a Muslim pupil who refused to shake hands with a female member of staff.
“We are considering how we can send a signal that we do not tolerate such behavior.”
OK. That’s English. But still.
Authorities now say that more than 1,200 women were sexually assaulted across Germany that night, including about 400 in Hamburg and more than 600 in Cologne, by more than 2,000 men. Previous estimates had ranged in the dozens, both for the victims as well as suspects.
About half of the 120 suspects whose identity has been established had come to Germany from a foreign countries within the last years.
Uhm… Why was it under-reported? I mean, what could possibly be the reason for doing so? Does anyone know? I’m just asking.
“There is a connection between the emergence of this phenomenon and the rapid migration in 2015.”
Police say more than 120 officers were injured and 86 demonstrators were detained during leftist riots in the German capital which police call “the most aggressive and violent protests in the last five years.”
About 3,500 protesters participated in the rallies, which started Saturday evening and lasted until early Sunday. Activists had called for the demonstration to protest against police operations at buildings taken over the squatters in the eastern part of the city last month.
123 Polizisten wurden bei den schweren Krawallen verletzt. Die Polizei sprach von der aggressivsten und gewalttätigsten Demonstration seit Jahren in der Hauptstadt.
And boy oh boy what a great deal did Iran ever make.
Iran continued trying to illegally procure nuclear equipment from Germany after forging last year’s landmark nuclear agreement with world powers, German intelligence officials said, even as the Foreign Ministry in Berlin and the White House played down the reports…
Germany’s intelligence agency said in its annual report Iran’s persistent efforts to illegally acquire nuclear technology in Germany continued at a “high level” during 2015.
A separate report from the intelligence agency in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia this week said it had registered 141 attempts to acquire technology for proliferation purposes last year, and that two-thirds of these attempts were linked to Iran.
Thanks El Presidente! They couldn’t have done it without you.
“We have no information to indicate Iran has procured any materials in violation of the” deal, a senior Obama administration official said.
But at least the politicians (SPD) who introduced it can claim to have done something in reaction to the infamous New Year’s Eve attacks. No one has been sentenced for any of these attacks, by the way. Just so you get where I’m coming from.
Introducing new legislation like this doesn’t solve the problem unless the laws are actually enforced. It’s a mentality thing. Judges here in Germany, like judges in another country many of you are familiar with, are simply much too lenient when it comes to their interpretation of the law and their sentencing. They will be just as lenient with the new law as they were with the old one. But boy oh boy is this new law ever strict or something. “No” actually means “no” now. As if it had meant something else before.
The wave of attacks on New Year’s Eve in Cologne shocked Germans, though prosecutions have been minimal and many were aghast to learn that, once again, assault could only be proven under German law if the victim resisted. On Thursday, a 21-year-old Iraqi and an Algerian of 26 became the first men to be convicted of sexual assault when a Cologne court gave them suspended one-year sentences.
Butt naked. In Germany of all places. The nerve. Is nothing sacred?
In the latest example of the German habit of seeking legal rulings on the tiniest details of every day life, a man has won a case over the right to walk to the sauna in his garden in the altogether.
The 42-year-old, named only as Robert B under German privacy laws, installed a private sauna in his garden in Dortmund.
In common with most Germans, Robert B liked to take his sauna naked, and didn’t bother covering up on his way to and from the house, despite the fact he could be clearly seen from the next door garden.
His neigbour, named only as Hans L, was sufficiently offended at the sight to seek legal redress, and initially won a court order for Robert B to cover up.
But Robert B appealed against the decision, and this week succeeded in securing his right to parade around his garden in a state of undress.
Die Rechtslage war bisher nicht eindeutig. Infrage kommt § 118 des Ordnungswidrigkeitengesetzes. Darin heißt es: “Ordnungswidrig handelt, wer eine grob ungehörige Handlung vornimmt, die geeignet ist, die Allgemeinheit zu belästigen oder zu gefährden und die öffentliche Ordnung zu beeinträchtigen.”
I just don’t get this stuff anymore. Are these people only confused or just plain stupid?
A young left-wing German politician has admitted she lied to police about the racial background of three men who raped her in case it triggered reprisals against refugees in her country.
Selin Gören, the national spokeswoman of the left-wing youth movement Solid, was attacked by three men in January in the city of Mannheim where she works as a refugee activist.
The 24-year-old was ambushed late at night in a playground where she said she was forced to perform a sex act on her attackers.
After the assault she went straight to the police – but she did not tell them the ethnic make-up of the men, that they were speaking Arabic or Farsi.
Eine junge Frau wird vergewaltigt und sagt es niemandem. Der Grund: Die Täter waren Männer mit arabischer Herkunft. Sie wollte den Rassismus nicht weiter befeuern.
That means stubborn or obstinate.
Merkel, Juncker und Schulz – das starrsinnige Trio
When looking to find the guilty parties for Brexit, most of the British who voted to remain in the EU are quick to name the three names of Martin Schulz, Jean-Claude Juncker and, above all, Angela Merkel. These EU advocates are convinced that the vote would have turned out completely different if these three had only shown a modicum of understanding for David Cameron’s urgent wish to submit a reform treaty to the British voters that would have deserved the name. This did not happen, however. And thus the obstinate trio frivolously created the basis for Britain’s turning away from the EU. Now the parliament is in an an uproar.
Bei der Suche nach den Schuldigen für den Brexit nennen die meisten derjenigen Briten, die für den EU-Verbleib stimmten, die Namen Martin Schulz, Jean-Claude Juncker und vor allem Angela Merkel. Die EU-Befürworter sind davon überzeugt, dass das Votum gänzlich anders ausgefallen wäre, wenn diese drei nur ein Fünkchen echtes Verständnis für David Camerons dringenden Wunsch aufgebracht hätten, den britischen Wählern einen Reformvertrag vorzulegen, der diese Bezeichnung verdient. Das geschah aber nicht. So schuf das starrsinnige Trio leichtfertig die Voraussetzung für die britische Abkehr von der EU. Jetzt ist das Parlament in Aufruhr.
Could Germans vote to exit the EU?
In a word, no.
Germans could only vote on exiting the EU if they first change their constitution to include such “direct democracy” at the national level. Only then could the Berlin government or parliament call a referendum.
Now isn’t that convenient. You’re not asked if you want in, you’re not asked about anything while you’re in and you couldn’t even ask to leave if you wanted to. So like why even ask?
And besides, what would you call the damned thing? A Dexet? A Gerexit? It just doesn’t have the right Klang.
Germany’s More Democracy organization has long called for making possible popular national referendums in the country. On its website, the group argues that the government merely presents “politics without any alternative” which parliament then “nods through.”
Observing Hermann 