Portal:Germany/Germany news/Archive

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[edit] Previously run "In the news..."

• A UN report criticizes the German education system claiming the country's three-tiered school structure promotes social inequality. (Spiegel) - 2007-03-22
• A poll shows that 57% of all Germans favor a complete withdrawal of the country's troops from Afghanistan. (DW) 2007-03-17
• A Mannheim court sentences the Holocaust denier Germar Rudolf to two and a half years in prison. (DW) - 2007-03-16
• The Federal Court of Justice of Germany rules the use of crossed out swastikas (pictured) in anti-Nazi-symbols to be legal. (DW) - 2007-03-05
• The world's largest computers and communication trade fair CeBIT opens in Hanover. (DW) - 2007-03-14
• Irano-German relations improve as Donald Klein, the German citizen arrested by Iranian authorities for accidently straying into the country's waters during a fishing trip, is released after spending fifteen months in prison. (Bloomberg) - 2007-03-13
• German lawmakers raise the retirement age from 65 to 67 ignoring protests by trade unions. (Bloomberg) - 2007-03-09
• A German aid worker is killed by gunmen in northern Afghanistan. (BBC) - 2007-03-08
• Norwegian Lebensborn children - children fathered by German soldiers during World War II - appeal to the European Court of Human Rights accusing the Norwegian state of discrimination. (BBC) - 2007-03-08
• The Bishop of Eichstätt Gregor Maria Hanke compares the Israeli West Bank security fence (pictured) with Jewish ghettos in Nazi Germany reaping heavy criticism. (DW) - 2007-03-07
• Federation of Expellees head and CDU politician Erika Steinbach controversially compares the ruling parties in Poland with the German far-right parties NPD, DVU, and the The Republicans. (DW) - 2007-03-07
• Plans to found an organization to represent all Muslims in Germany are announced. (DW) - 2007-03-05
• The 10,000 jobs cut by Airbus include 3,700 in Germany. (BBC) - 2007-02-28
• Scientists in Potsdam start a project to research the possibilities of storing greenhouse gases underground. (DW) - 2007-02-28
• The Catholic Bishop of Augsburg Walter Mixa criticizes Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth Minister Ursula von der Leyen's plans to improve childcare facilities and reaps heavy criticism from various politicians himself.
• President of the Palestinian National Authority Mahmoud Abbas (pictured) meets top German politicians in Berlin as he strives to reach recognition for the unity government between the Fatah and the Hamas. (BBC) - 2007-02-23
• German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Jacques Chirac join talks with EADS executives to discuss the future of Airbus. (BBC) - 2007-02-23
• Germany's budget deficit sinks to 1.7% of the GDP allowing the country to meet Eurozone requirements for the first time in five years. (DW) - 2007-02-22
• An incestuous couple from Dresden gets set to challenge German anti-incest laws in front of the Federal Constitutional Court arguing that they violate the siblings' sexual freedom. (BBC) - 2007-02-20
• A float at Carnival celebration in Düsseldorf leads to outrage among Muslims. (DW) - 2007-02-19
• The Berlin International Film Festival comes to a close with the Chinese film Tuya's Marriage suprisingly winning the Golden Bear. (BBC) - 2007-02-17
• The reform of the German healthcare system finally passes all hurdles as it is approved by the Bundesrat and will come into effect on April 1. (DW) - 2007-02-16
• The European Court of Justice (building pictured) dismisses a lawsuit by the Greek town of Kalavrita against the German government for crimes committed in World War II. (BBC) - 2007-02-15
• A Mannheim court sentences the prominent neo-Nazi Ernst Zündel to five years in prison for Holocaust denial. (DW) - 2007-02-15
• A court in Stuttgart rules that former Red Army Faction (insignia pictured) member Brigitte Mohnhaupt is to be released early from prison, almost 30 years after the 1977 German Autumn. (DW) - 2007-02-12
• The German government decides to send up to eight Tornado jets (one pictured) to Afghanistan to operate in reconnaissance missions against an expected Taliban offensive. (DW) - 2007-02-07
• The German Federal Court of Justice rules secret police hacking to be illegal. (DW) - 2007-02-05
• Two former members of the German left-wing terrorist group Revolutionary Cells (RZ) surrender to police and are likely to stand trial. (BBC) - 2007-02-04
• Germany wins the 2007 World Men's Handball Championship beating Poland 29-24 in the final in Cologne. (DW) - 2007-02-04
• Munich prosecutors order the arrests of thirteen CIA agents accused of having abducted the German citizen Khaled al-Masri in Macedonia. (BBC) - 2007-01-31
• The German government announces plans to end subsidies to the coal industry, probably by the year 2018. (BBC) - 2007-01-29
• Ceremonies in Germany and around the world commemorate the victims of the Holocaust on Holocaust Memorial Day and the United Nations pass a resolution condemming Holocaust denial. (BBC) - 2007-01-27
• A report alleges former chief of staff in the chancellery and current Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier was responsible for prolonging Murat Kurnaz's detention at Guantanamo Bay, which leads to criticism from the opposition. (DW) - 2007-01-26
• The Volkswagen executive Peter Hartz is sentenced to a 560,000€ fine for breach of trust. (BBC) - 2007-01-25
• The storm Kyrill kills 11 and causes problems with rail and air travel in Germany as it hits Europe. (DW) - 2007-01-16
• Hans-Gert Poettering, a CDU MEP, is elected as the new chairman of the European Parliament. (BBC) - 2007-01-16
• German politicians have announced plans to push for a EU-wide ban of Holocaust denial during the country's presidency. (BBC) - 2007-01-15
• German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble has called for the sharing DNA and digital fingerprint data within the European Union to help fight crime, but was criticized by members of the FDP fearing civil rights violations. (DW) 2007-12-15
• The highest Bavarian court has upheld a ruling banning Muslim teachers from wearing headscarves in the classroom. (DW) - 2007-12-15
• In Berlin, a new large "Church of Scientology" is opened leading to a public debate, because the movement is not recognized as a religion by the German government and is considered to be anti-democratic. (BBC) - 2007-12-13
• 10 former members of the SS, most of whom still live in Germany, are convicted in absentia to life in prison by an Italian court for their part in the Marzabotto massacre between September 29 and October 5, 1944, though they are unlikely to serve their sentences. (BBC) - 2007-01-13
• Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel puts Germany's gradual shutdown of all nunclear power plants, which was decided upon in 2000 by the then ruling SPD-The Greens government, in question citing Germany's reliance on Russian energy. (DW) - 2007-01-09
• Preparations for the 12th documenta art exhibition, which will take place from June 16 to September 23 this year in Kassel, begin, although sponsors still need to be found. (DW) - 2007-01-09
• Bayern Munich goalkeeper Oliver Kahn announces his retirement in 2008. (DW) - 2007-01-07
• The charity organization Terre des Hommes reveals that the number of children living on the street in Germany is on the rise and may already be up to 7,000. (DW) - 2007-01-05
• The construction on a mosque in the Berlin suburb Pankow-Heinersdorf begins, as protests and legal actions failed to prevent it. (CNN) - 2007-01-02
• German politicians such as Deputy Foreign Minister Gernot Erler criticize the execution of Saddam Hussein reiterating their opposition to capital punishment. (DW) - 2006-12-30
• A report by the German Weather Service reveals that 2006 was Germany's warmest year since 1901. (DW) - 2006-12-29
• German expectant parents are reported to be attempting to delay the birth of their children in order to receive government subsidies given as part of scheme starting only on January 1, 2007. (BBC) - 2006-12-27
• Germany President Horst Köhler calls for more economic reforms in his traditional Christmas address. (DW) - 2006-12-25
• This year's Sports Personality of the Year award goes in the female category to biathlete Kati Wilhelm and in the male Category also to a biathlete, Michael Greis. Team of the Year is the Germany national football team. (IHT) - 2006-12-17
• The two year and five month prison sentence of German football (soccer) referee Robert Hoyzer, who caused the 2005 Bundesliga scandal, has been upheld by a German court. (FAZ) (DW) - 2006-12-15
• A World Health Organization report shows that the average age for German teenagers to lose their virginity is second lowest in all of Europe at 16.2 years. (Spiegel) 2006-12-15
• Berlin mayor Klaus Wowereit re-affirms that the airport Berlin Tempelhof will be closed on October 31, 2007 as Berlin-Brandenburg International Airport will be opened in 2011. (DW) - 2006-12-15
• Deutsche Bank launches new set of mutual funds, which comply with Sharia, which prohibits interest and dealing with businesses counter to Muslim beliefs. (Spiegel) - 2006-12-12
  
• In Berlin, a conference about the Holocaust takes place to counter another conference organized by the Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad taking place in Tehran, which known Holocaust deniers and neo-Nazis like Robert Faurisson and Fredrick Töben will attend. (Spiegel) - 2006-12-11
• The investigations surrounding Alexander Litvinenko's reach Germany as traces of polonium-210 have new been found in two Hamburg appartments visited by the Russian businessman Dmitry Kovtun, who was seriously poisoned by this radioactive material. (Washington Post), (wikinews) - 2006-12-10
• Germany's trade surplus has hit a record high in October 2006 at 17.2 billion euros. (BBC) – 2006-12-08
• Fraport and Ticona sign an agreement that clears a major obstacle in the way of extension of Frankfurt International Airport. (DW) – 2006-11-29

• Angela Merkel marks the first anniversary of her election as Chancellor of Germany. (DW) – 2006-11-22
• In Frankfurt an der Oder, neo-Nazis attacked a memorial service to commemorated the aniversary of the anti-Jewish violence in 1938 known as Reichspogromnacht shouting Sieg Heil and destroying wreaths. (CNN) – 2006-11-09
• According to reports by the Federal Statistical Office of Germany, the population of Germany will drop by up to 12 million by 2050. 2006-11-07 – (DW)
• German energy giant e.on has assumed responsibility for a recent power outage that spread over most of Western Europe. 2006-11-06 – (BBC)
• The Bundesverfassungsgericht rejects civilian war damages claims related to the NATO bombing of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. 2006-11-02 – (DW)
• The surfacing of more images of German ISAF soldiers playing with skulls in Afghanistan further increases this scandal. 2006-10-27 – (Der Spiegel)
• The Bundestag passes a a law banning the import of seal products into Germany citing animal rights abuses and ecological problems arising from seal hunting. 2006-10-21 – (DW)
• The Bode Museum on the Museumsinsel is reopened after being closed for repairs since 1997. 2006-10-17 – (Der Spiegel)
• German prosecutors drop investigations against former Guantanamo Bay detainee Murat Kurnaz, nicknamed the Bremen Taliban. 2006-10-17 – (DW)
• Two freelance journalists of the German foreign-language television station Deutsche Welle have been shot dead by unidentified people in Afghanistan. 2006-10-07 – (DW)
• The remains of 25 people thought to be victims of the Nazi euthanasia program are found at a cemetery in the North Rhine-Westphalian town of Menden, where Hitler's personal physician Karl Brandt ran a hospital. (DW) 2006-09-29
• The cancellation of a performance of Mozart's Idomeneo at the Deutsche Oper Berlin due to fear of Islamic terrorism is widely condemned by cultural and political leaders. (DW) - 2006-09-27
• 23 people are killed and 10 injured in a magnetic levitation train collision with another vehicle on the Transrapid rail; the cause was probably human error. (CNN) (wikinews) - 2006-09-22
• German navy ships set sail from Wilhelmshaven to assist operations of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon. (BBC) - 2009-09-21
• Elections take place in the states Berlin and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The SPD is likely to stay in power in both states - the conservative CDU lost many votes compared to the previous election. The far-right NPD is able to reach enough votes to get seats in the Landtag in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, making it the fourth state after Bremen, Saxony, and Brandenburg, where the party is represented in parliament, sparking concerns, because it is widely considered to be anti-democratic. (BBC) - 2006-09-18
• Germany wins the 2006 Men's Hockey World Cup, defeating Australia 4-3 (wikinews) - 2006-09-17
• 2006 FIFA World Cup concludes in Berlin with Italy defeating France in a penalty shootout. (wikinews) - 2006-07-09
• Germany beat Portugal 3-1, winning bronze at the 2006 FIFA World Cup. (wikinews) - 2006-07-08
• Germany beats Sweden 2:0 to advance to the quarterfinals of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, where it will face Argentina. (wikinews) - 2006-06-24
• A new budget is approved by the Bundestag six months too late. It was criticized by the FDP for increasing too much debt as well as by the Left Party for cuttings in the social sector. (DW) - 2006-06-23
• Germany shuts out Ecuador 3:0 to win the Group A at the FIFA World Cup 2006. Miroslav Klose shines, scoring 2 goals. (wikinews) - 2006-06-20
• Germany beats Poland 1:0 in its second game in the FIFA World Cup 2006. (wikinews) - 2006-06-14
• The 2006 FIFA World Cup opens with Germany winning 4–2 against Costa Rica. (wikinews) – 2006-06-09
• Charlotte Knobloch has been elected unanimously to become the new president of the Zentralrat der Juden in Deutschland, the largest Jewish organization in Germany, replacing Paul Spiegel, who died in April of this year. She is the first woman in this position. (DW) – 2006-06-07
• The largest union in Germany, IG Metall, has threatened to strike unless its members get a 3% pay raise (BBC) - 2006-04-21
• Two men have been arrested after a racist attack on a man of Ethiopian origin in Potsdam. (BBC) - 2006-04-21
• Justice Minister Brigitte Zypries has announced that an archive of records on Nazi concentration camp inmates will soon be made public. (BBC) - 2006-04-18
• In an "honor killing" case, the brother of a young German woman of Turkish origin was sentenced to nine years in prison. (DW) - 2006-04-13
• Patrick Owomoyela, a soccer player in the German national team, has achieved a preliminary injunction against the far-right NPD over a pamphlet of the party depicting Owomoyela. (Wikinews) - 2006-04-06
• Around 300 people have been evacuated from their homes in Dresden in anticipation of the Elbe flooding the city. (DW) - 2006-04-01
• Police have stepped in to ensure no students bring weapons to a violence-ridden school in the Neukölln borough of Berlin. (DW) - 2006-04-01
• In state elections in Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate, and Saxony-Anhalt, the incumbent minister-presidents are confirmed. (DW) - 2006-03-26
• Doctors at state-run hospitals in Germany are on strike demanding a pay increase to compensate for a longer working week. (DW) - 2006-03-24
• The German cabinet decided that the German job market will remain closed to employees from eastern European countries until at least 2009, citing the high unemployment in the continent's largest economy.(DW) - 2006-03-24
• Spelling reform spells trouble for Germany. Germany is changing its orthography for the second time in ten years. (DW) - 2006-03-04
• Germany's Rhineland is on the cusp of its annual carnival climax this weekend. (DW) - 2006-02-26
• The campaign Red Card for Forced Prostitution, which seeks to fight against an influx of prostitutes during the World Cup in Germany this summer was launched in Berlin (DW) - 2006-02-22
• German diplomats are negotiating with the United States government for the release of Murat Kurnaz, a Turkish citizen born in Bremen currently held at Guantanamo Bay. — 2006-02-12 (DW)
• Google has removed the official website of BMW from its search results. — 2006-02-06. More... - Removed 2/12/2006 --Mmounties 20:54, 12 February 2006 (UTC)
• The demolition of the Palast der Republik starts. — 2006-02-07 --Mmounties

Not only 2 swans. Now there are 41 birds found with bird flu. --Martin