Germany

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Good Friday Dancing Ban Has Germany in a Twist

But some Germans say one-day ban small price for tradition

(Newser) - No, the "Tanzverbot" isn't the latest German dance craze. It's quite the opposite: the decades-old law that bans all organized dancing in Germany on Good Friday and other religious holidays. And with church attendance falling around Germany, its citizens are increasingly calling for the ban to be...

Sections of Berlin Wall Come Down

Four sections of East Side Gallery make way for luxe apartments

(Newser) - Sorry, David Hasselhoff, you failed : Work crews removed four sections of the Berlin Wall's famed East Side Gallery this morning. The 4.5-foot sections that were removed will make way for an access route to the luxury apartments planned for the area, the AP reports. Protesters had demanded that...

Hasselhoff's New Mission: Save the Berlin Wall

He's back in Germany, singing 'Looking for Freedom' again

(Newser) - David Hasselhoff became a hero to many Germans when he performed his song, "Looking for Freedom," on top of the Berlin Wall in 1989; it became an anthem of the German reunification. But now the Hoff wants to save, not topple, the last standing portion of the wall:...

Berlin Wall to Be Razed for ... Luxe Housing

Petitions spring up to protect East Side Gallery

(Newser) - Once again, the Berlin Wall is coming down—but this time, it's so swanky apartments can rise up in its place. And Berliners aren't happy about it, the Local reports. Thousands have signed online petitions against the move, confirmed by an eastern Berlin mayor, who argues that razing...

Kerry: Americans Have 'a Right to Be Stupid'

Freedom of speech applies to wingnuts, too, says secretary of state

(Newser) - Life, liberty, and the pursuit of ... stupidity? These are all-American rights, secretary of state John Kerry explained to a German audience today. Reuters has the full quote:
  • "People have sometimes wondered about why our Supreme Court allows one group or another to march in a parade even though it'
...

Amazon Hired 'Neo-Nazis' to Cow Workers: Probe

German TV doc accuses retailer of getting nasty

(Newser) - One newspaper is calling it a "shitstorm": A German TV documentary claims that Amazon used security guards linked to neo-Nazis to bully and frisk temporary foreign workers. According to the story, Amazon in Germany employed guards from the firm HESS, which is headed by a man accused of having...

Knut the Polar Bear Now Knut the Museum Display

Cuddly bear now a polyurethane model

(Newser) - Adorable in life, still attracting admirers in death: Knut the polar bear's hide has been mounted on a polyurethane body and is going on display in a Berlin museum. The Natural History Museum today unveiled the statue prepared by taxidermists featuring the famous Berlin Zoo bear's fur and...

Horsemeat Scandal Gets Worse
 Horsemeat Scandal Gets Worse 
Feb 14, 2013 7:35 AM CST

Horsemeat Scandal Gets Worse

Meat tainted by vet drug 'bute' could be in French food supply

(Newser) - Europe's horsemeat scandal continues to worsen in both size and scope. For one, the meat of three horses tainted with "bute"—the veterinary drug phenylbutazone—possibly entered the human food chain in France, reports the AP . The British government said today that eight horse carcasses processed in...

PhD Stripped From German Education Minister

Annette Schavan plagiarized 30-year-old thesis: university

(Newser) - Irony alert: Germany's minister of education just lost her doctorate. The University of Düsseldorf has stripped Annette Schavan of her PhD, it announced yesterday, because she carried out "a deliberate deception through plagiarism." An anonymous blogger last year accused Schavan of plagiarizing sections of her thesis...

'Cookie Monster' Steals Century-Old Cookie Sculpture

And sends two ransom notes

(Newser) - A century-old, 44-pound cookie sculpture was stolen last month from outside a famous German bakery, and police have now received two "ransom" notes. Both included pictures of a person dressed as Cookie Monster putting the golden cookie in his or her mouth, Spiegel reports; the AP adds that the...

German Court Rules Internet Crucial to Living

Court awards man compensation for losing Internet service

(Newser) - Can't live without YouTube and Facebook? Well, a German court is on your side. For the first time, a federal court in the country has called the Internet crucial to everyday life, just like the telephone. As such, the court decreed that a man who lost Internet service from...

German Soldiers Growing Breasts&mdash;on One Side
German Soldiers Growing Breasts—on One Side
new report
Jan 25, 2013 8:06 AM CST

German Soldiers Growing Breasts—on One Side

Condition sparked by too much chest-thumping

(Newser) - As part of their training, elite German troops of the Wachbataillon do a lot of chest-beating, repeatedly whacking their rifles on the left side of their chests. That's stimulating unusual hormone production, according to experts. The result: The guys are growing breasts—just on the left side, the German...

Germany to Withdraw 300 Tons of Gold From US

Country's reserves stored mostly abroad

(Newser) - Germany boasts gold reserves worth $183 billion—but two-thirds of the stuff is kept outside the country. Now, the country's central bank is set to make a heck of a withdrawal, including some 300 tons currently in a vault under Manhattan, stored by the Federal Reserve Bank of New...

France Launches Mali Ground Offensive

Troops will be fighting Islamist rebels within hours, military says

(Newser) - France has launched a ground operation in Mali, and its troops should be in direct combat with radical Islamists "within hours," military officials tell the AP . The incursion began overnight, with troops pressing from the capital into rebel-held northern territory. France also announced yesterday that it was boosting...

Eurozone Industrial Output Down for 3rd Month

Points to continuing recession in 4th quarter

(Newser) - Industrial output across the 17 European Union countries that use the euro fell in November for the third straight month, official figures showed today, in a further sign that the region likely remained mired in recession for the fourth quarter of 2012. The 0.3% monthly decline reported by Eurostat,...

Brand-New Island Emerges Off Germany

34-acre land mass grew over 10 years

(Newser) - There's a new piece of Germany. Over the course of just 10 years, a 34-acre island has developed 16 miles off the country's coast, in the North Sea, the Telegraph reports. Some 50 different plant species already live on the island of Norderoogsand; sea birds are moving in,...

Germans Save Money by Exporting Old People
Germans Save Money
by Exporting Old People
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Dec 30, 2012 1:17 PM CST

Germans Save Money by Exporting Old People

Opponents call practice 'inhumane'

(Newser) - With long-term care costs rising—and actual care standards falling—a growing number of Germans are saving money by shipping their elderly relatives to foreign homes, the Guardian reports. Most are headed to Eastern Europe; an estimated 7,146 were in Hungary last year, along with more 3,000 in...

Germans Hope to Clone Perfect Christmas Tree

They want to improve the Nordmann fir by 2016

(Newser) - The hunt for the perfect Christmas tree may soon become a lot easier—and a lot less fun, at least in Germany: Just pick a nice clone. That's what German scientists are now working on, searching for a way to ensure that the sensitive saplings of the popular Nordmann...

The Strange Tale of the Brothers Grimm
 The Strange Tale 
 of the Brothers Grimm 
200th Anniversary
Dec 20, 2012 9:28 AM CST

The Strange Tale of the Brothers Grimm

200th anniversary of famous book has people looking at odd brothers

(Newser) - Today is the 200th anniversary of the first publication of Grimm's Fairy Tales—but while most people know many of those European folk tales, far fewer know about the odd German brothers, Jacob Ludwig Carl Grimm and Wilhelm Carl Grimm, who compiled them. The brothers were born into wealth,...

Germany Protects Circumcision
 Germany Protects Circumcision 
Dec 12, 2012 1:31 PM CST

Germany Protects Circumcision

Lawmakers affirm right to procedure after court case

(Newser) - German lawmakers took the unusual move today of reaffirming the right to have baby boys circumcised, reports Reuters . The move came after a local court in Cologne banned the practice for health and safety reasons, prompting Jewish and Muslim groups to call the court decision discriminatory. No nation outlaws the...

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