Germany edition

Bonn

The following articles have been tagged with "Bonn":

What's on in Germany: February 2 - 8

Lifestyle: 2 Feb 12
This Week's Highlights: Burlesque in Hamburg, children's theatre in Nuremberg, and an exhibition in Berlin examines the dark side of technology. READ »

Bonn calls prostitute 'sex meter' a success

Society: 24 Jan 12
The German city of Bonn is calling its policy of levying a surcharge on streetwalking prostitutes via kerb-side meters a success that would continue. READ »

Airports still stingy with their wireless internet

National: 17 Jan 12
German airports are slowly offering more free internet access, but progress is slow, with only Cologne Bonn Airport providing unlimited free surfing. READ »

Art listing Hitler as 'freely elected' attacked

Politics: 2 Jan 12
A work of art in the Reichstag building which includes Adolf Hitler in a list of “freely and democratically” elected members of the German parliament has been repaired after someone attacked it. READ »

'Making it' by interpreting culture

Society: 2 Jan 12
The Local's series Making it in Germany presents John Magee, a Bonn-based consultant who bridges the gap between American and German business culture for large companies. READ »

What's on in Germany: December 22 – January 4

Lifestyle: 22 Dec 11
The highlights over the holidays: Shadow puppets in Hamburg, Bonnie and Clyde in Berlin, and Belarus ballerinas fluff their feathers in Munich. READ »

Afghan conference starts in Bonn without Pakistan

National: 5 Dec 11
The Bonn conference on Afghanistan to seek a way forward after the withdrawal of NATO combat troops in 2014 brought around 100 national delegations and aid organisations together on Monday. READ »

Karzai slams Pakistan for boycotting Bonn talks

National: 4 Dec 11
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has accused Pakistan of undermining negotiations with the ban by boycotting an international conference on Afghanistan starting Monday in Bonn. READ »

Merkel 'sorry' Pakistan to boycott Afghan meeting

Politics: 29 Nov 11
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Tuesday she was "very sorry" about Pakistan's announced boycott of a Bonn conference next week on the future of Afghanistan and would try to convince it to attend. READ »

Germany backs peace talks with the Taliban

National: 27 Nov 11
Germany's foreign and defence ministers called Sunday for the Taliban to be included in Afghanistan peace talks, ahead of a major international conference for the war-ravaged country next month. READ »

Westerwelle prepares for Afghan conference

Politics: 19 Nov 11
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle was in Kabul on Saturday for talks with President Hamid Karzai before a key international conference in Bonn on Afghanistan's future. READ »

Afghanistan to see German troop drawdown

National: 11 Nov 11
The German government plans to reduce the number of Bundeswehr soldiers deployed in Afghanistan by 1,000 in the coming year, according to a letter sent to Bundestag parliamentarians by the Foreign and Defence ministries. READ »

Bonn café stands up to Apple over trademark

Society: 26 Oct 11
A café in Bonn called Apfelkind has become entangled in a legal fight with Apple over its logo, with the computing giant trying to block the cafe owner’s trademark application. The Local spoke with its owner Christin Römer. READ »

Wulff makes surprise trip to Afghanistan

National: 16 Oct 11
German President Christian Wulff vowed Sunday that Germany would continue to support Afghanistan after the troops have left, as he made a surprise trip to Kabul for talks with President Hamid Karzai. READ »

Optimism shines in Unity Day celebrations

National: 3 Oct 11
As Germany celebrated its Unity Day on Monday, Chancellor Angela Merkel said that much work remained to be done to ensure the country remained strong and united, as well as a vital part of Europe. READ »

Alleged Islamists released, no threat found

National: 3 Oct 11
German authorities released four alleged Islamists on Sunday, the day after police arrested them on suspicion of illegally obtaining weapons ahead of a major reunification ceremony in Bonn. READ »

Bonn focus for Unity Day and NRW celebrations

National: 2 Oct 11
A three-day festival in Bonn this weekend and Monday marks not only the October 3 Day of German Unity, but also the 65th anniversary of the founding of North Rhine-Westphalia. READ »

Eastern business owners fear for future as young people leave

Business & Money: 20 Sep 11
As young people in Germany have literally 'gone west', small business owners in Eastern states face a quandary: Who will they pass their life’s work on to? READ »

Berliners look leftwards as Pirates set sail

Politics: 16 Sep 11
Berliners go to the polls on Sunday, with indications they will re-elect Social Democratic Mayor Klaus Wowereit yet force him to ditch coalition partners The Left for the Greens. The Pirate Party might also sail into parliament. READ »

Mercedes unveils its future vision

Society: 14 Sep 11
What will a Mercedes-Benz look like in 2025? Sporting wing doors and a hydrogen fuel cell, German carmaker Daimler is billing its F125 concept vehicle as the luxury saloon of the future. READ »

Earthquake shakes the Rhineland

Society: 9 Sep 11
An unusually strong earthquake rocked western Germany on Thursday evening, causing alarm but no damages. The quake was especially noticeable around the epicentre near the Lower Rhine region but was also felt through the Ruhr Valley. READ »

Customers unlikely to see TelDaFax money

Business & Money: 2 Sep 11
The official insolvency procedures of energy firm TelDaFax have begun in a Bonn court, but refunds appear to be a pipe dream for most of the failed utility's 700,000 former customers. READ »

Relatives of Kunduz bomb victims to sue

National: 1 Sep 11
A lawyer representing 74 relatives of those killed in an airstrike ordered by a German colonel in Afghanistan two years ago, announced Thursday that they would be seeking damages from the German government. READ »

Street prostitutes taxed via vending machine

Society: 30 Aug 11
The Rhineland city of Bonn is now requiring sex workers to purchase a daily tax ticket from a vending machine to walk the streets – ostensibly to make taxation fairer for prostitutes who work in brothels. READ »

Mountain climbers go missing in Afghanistan

National: 23 Aug 11
Fears are growing that two German men who went missing several days ago after setting off to climb snow-capped mountains in war-torn Afghanistan could have been kidnapped, officials said Tuesday. READ »

Skin cream possibly gave Egyptian queen cancer 3,500 years ago

Science & Technology: 19 Aug 11
An Egyptian queen who died 3,500 years ago might have poisoned herself accidentally by using a carcinogenic balm to treat a skin complaint, German university researchers said on Friday. READ »

Media roundup: Plotting the euro's future in Paris

Analysis & Opinion: 17 Aug 11
With the eurozone debt crisis still simmering, Germany and France have proposed an economic government for Europe’s currency union. But newspapers in The Local’s media roundup aren’t so sure it will be enough to save the euro. READ »

Toilet cleaner hid €40,000 in small coins from the taxman

Society: 6 Aug 11
Officials in Bonn are counting pennies after raiding a woman thought to have hoarded around €40,000 in small-denomination coins she earned looking after public toilets – and failed to declare to the tax office. READ »

Telekom reportedly mulling massive job cuts

Business & Money: 1 Aug 11
German communications giant Deutsche Telekom will cut up to 1,600 jobs in its Bonn headquarters as part of an aggressive cost-cutting measure targetting senior management, media reported Monday. READ »

French and German mice refuse to play nice

Science & Technology: 22 Jul 11
German and French mice prefer to stick to their own kind when it comes to sex, according to scientists trying to work out whether it is a language thing or different tastes in perfume. READ »

Another FDP politician stripped of doctorate in plagiarism affair

Politics: 14 Jul 11
Another high-profile politician of the pro-business Free Democratic Party, Jorgo Chatzimarkakis, has been stripped of his university doctorate amid a plagiarism scandal but has vowed to write another thesis if necessary. READ »

Company fights espionage by putting cell phones in biscuit tins

National: 27 Jun 11
A German chemicals company said on Monday its managers have begun keeping their mobile phones in biscuit tins during meetings in order to guard against industrial espionage. READ »

Ethnic Chinese fraternity man sparks racial row

Society: 24 Jun 11
Germany’s traditional Burschenschaften student fraternities sparked controversy recently by debating whether an ethnically Chinese German citizen could be a member. The Local spoke with him about race and Teutonic tradition. READ »

Koch-Mehrin gets European research post after losing doctorate

Politics: 23 Jun 11
Free Democratic European MEP Silvana Koch-Mehrin, who recently had her doctorate withdrawn for plagiarism, has been promoted to the European Parliament's committee responsible for research. READ »

Bonn climate talks end with Kyoto Protocol left hanging

National: 18 Jun 11
New talks on global warming ended in Bonn on Friday with the UN's climate chief calling on world leaders to help resolve the fate of the Kyoto Protocol ahead of a key meeting six months down the road. READ »

Cyber-defence centre opens amid IT warning

Science & Technology: 16 Jun 11
Germany's Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich warned of the danger of cyber attacks Thursday as he opened a special computer defence facility meant to thwart hackers and online terrorists. READ »

Bonn to Berlin move still controversial

Politics: 15 Jun 11
Two decades after the German parliament decided to move the government from the Cold War capital of Bonn back to Berlin, some politicians still disagree over whether all functions should be brought from the state of North-Rhine Westphalia. READ »

Big petrol firms inflating prices, watchdog says

National: 26 May 11
Motorists in Germany are paying too much for petrol because the five major fuel companies are informally collaborating on prices, the competition watchdog announced Thursday. READ »

Germany mediating US-Taliban talks: report

Politics: 23 May 11
Germany is helping mediate secret, direct talks between the United States and the Afghan Taliban, with meetings taking place on German soil, according to Der Spiegel magazine. READ »

Bremen election due to cement strong Green, weak FDP positions

Politics: 20 May 11
Bremen’s state election on Sunday is expected to confirm what opinion polls say is happening throughout Germany - the Greens are on the rise, the Free Democrats in the dumps. READ »

Hutu leaders on trial for organising Congo atrocities from Germany

National: 1 May 11
Two senior Rwandan Hutu rebel leaders go on trial Wednesday in Germany, accused of masterminding atrocities in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). READ »

Job market finally opens to eastern Europeans

Business & Money: 27 Apr 11
Germany put off opening its borders to eastern European workers until the last possible minute, but as May 1 now approaches, some fear a golden opportunity has already been missed. READ »

What's on in Germany: April 21 - 27

Lifestyle: 21 Apr 11
This week’s highlights: An Easter bonfire in Berlin, Shakespeare in Munich and Swabian festivities in Stuttgart. READ »

Volkswagen unveils new, macho Beetle

Society: 19 Apr 11
Volkswagen unveiled a new “bolder, more dynamic and masculine” model of its iconic Beetle this week – the third generation of the classic German car of which more than 20 million have been sold. READ »

Pope's plans for September trip to Germany finalized

National: 12 Apr 11
The plans for Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to Germany from September 22 to 25 have been finalized with the pope’s stamp of approval, the German Bishops’ Conference said Tuesday in Bonn. READ »

Intelligence agency still keeping secrets on Eichmann

National: 6 Apr 11
Fifty years after Adolf Eichmann went on trial in Israel, Germany is still keeping mum on how much it knew before Mossad agents kidnapped the Nazi war criminal in Argentina in 1960, a new Berlin exhibition revealed Wednesday. READ »

Suspicions raised in alleged Nazi criminal's death

National: 3 Apr 11
An alleged Nazi war criminal who died shortly before his trial was set to begin last November could have been murdered, according to authorities, who have opened an investigation. READ »

Epilepsy killed Knut, says doctor

Society: 27 Mar 11
A German neurologist has attributed Knut's sudden death last Saturday to the consequences of an epileptic seizure, while recriminations about the demise of Berlin's famous polar bear refused to abate. READ »

Man kills son and self with chainsaw

National: 24 Mar 11
A German man murdered his three-year-old son with a chainsaw before killing himself in an apparent custody dispute, police in Bonn said on Thursday. READ »

Human egg gives sperm a ‘navigation system’

Science & Technology: 18 Mar 11
Men might disdain female directions while driving, but when it comes to human reproduction a woman’s egg offers key navigation help to sperm. German scientists have discovered how hormones guide sperm to their destination. READ »

The rime of the ancient minister

Analysis & Opinion: 9 Mar 11
Can Thomas de Maizière, Germany’s new defence minister, break the curse hanging over his job? Roger Boyes, correspondent for British daily The Times, takes aim at a ministerial albatross. READ »

Talk begins about a Guttenberg comeback

Politics: 2 Mar 11
Almost immediately after Defence Minster Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg resigned due to a plagiarism scandal, a number of conservative politicians began expressing their hopes for a comeback. They say Germany needs him. READ »

Economists demand EU sovereign default plan

Business & Money: 25 Feb 11
Almost 200 German economics professors have signed a declaration rejecting current proposals to resolve the eurozone debt crisis, instead calling for a way for distressed countries to declare bankruptcy. READ »

Jens Weidmann: The low-profile chancellor advisor

Politics: 16 Feb 11
Jens Weidmann, chosen Wednesday to head the German central bank, has been one of Chancellor Angela Merkel's closest aides for almost five years but remains almost unknown to the wider public. READ »

Deutsche Telekom and VW probed for corruption

National: 15 Feb 11
Stuttgart state prosecutors are investigating high-level employees at both Volkswagen and Deutsche Telekom on suspicion of corruption between the two major German companies, a media report said Tuesday. READ »

DHL ends delivery and assembly service for Ikea and Karstadt

Business & Money: 14 Feb 11
Deutsche Post subsidiary DHL said on Monday it will no longer deliver and assemble goods from Ikea and department store Karstadt. Customers who need help putting together their Billy bookshelves are now on their own. READ »

Defence Ministry to keep Bonn presence

Politics: 7 Feb 11
The Defence Ministry will not be completely moved from Bonn to Berlin, assured Defence Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg on Monday. Some officials in the region had feared the Rhineland city would suffer financially from such a move. READ »

Further accusations fall on Mirco murderer

Society: 6 Feb 11
Olaf H., the man who confessed to the murder of 10-year-old Mirco, is now being investigated in connection with the unresolved case of an 11-year-old girl found dead 15 years ago. READ »

Father of three confesses to Mirco's murder

National: 28 Jan 11
A man arrested by Mönchengladbach police this week has confessed to murdering missing 10-year-old boy Mirco almost five months ago, police said on Friday. He claims his motive was job stress. READ »

Helmut Kohl's son tells of failed relationship

Politics: 25 Jan 11
The turbulent family life of former Chancellor Helmut Kohl has been etched into the public record in excruciating detail through a new memoir written by his estranged eldest son Walter. READ »

What's on in Germany: January 6 - 12

Lifestyle: 6 Jan 11
This week's highlights: Ballet in Berlin, Napoleon takes Bonn, and Cologne feels irie. READ »

Women have strengthened army, says military association

Society: 2 Jan 11
Women have been able to join the German military for ten years, and Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Sohst, regional chairman of the German Army Association (DBwV), believes the Bundeswehr is better for it. READ »

Holidays a high season for Islamist recruitment

Society: 27 Dec 10
Suspected Islamic extremists are reportedly being closely monitored during the holidays, which German intelligence authorities consider to be a high season for Islamist recruitment. READ »

Authorities reject 'Heatballs' attempt to skirt EU light bulb ban

Society: 10 Dec 10
German authorities on Friday rejected a satirical attempt by a businessman to import and sell EU-banned incandescent light bulbs by calling them “Heatballs” - thousands of bulbs shipped from China will be confiscated by customs. READ »

Spider smuggler caught in US sting operation

Society: 4 Dec 10
US authorities have arrested a German man for smuggling hundreds of tarantulas and other spiders into the country, after mounting a sting operation to catch him. READ »

Third most-wanted Nazi war criminal dies ahead of trial

National: 22 Nov 10
Nazi death camp guard Samuel Kunz, number three on the Simon Wiesenthal Centre’s most wanted list, has died aged 89, just months before he was due to stand trial, German prosecutors said Monday. READ »

Google Street View goes online

Science & Technology: 18 Nov 10
Google Street View, which has sparked a lengthy and heated debate in privacy-conscious Germany, went online overnight. READ »

De Maizière warns of imminent terror attacks

National: 17 Nov 10
German Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière on Wednesday warned the government had indications Islamists were planning terrorist attacks in Germany later this month. READ »

Germany eases ban on flights from Yemen

National: 13 Nov 10
The German government said Saturday it has relaxed its ban on flights from Yemen, allowing passenger planes to travel between the two countries but still forbidding freight. READ »

Karneval season kicks off

Society: 11 Nov 10
At exactly 11:11 am on Thursday, an army of jesters descended on the central squares in several Rhineland cities to kick off the traditional "Fifth Season" of Karneval. Months of clownish, alcohol-fuelled partying are to follow. READ »

Surprise security checks at logistics firms after letter bomb scare

National: 11 Nov 10
Officers from the Federal Office of Civil Aviation have conducted unannounced checks on more than 20 shipping and logistics companies in Germany in what appears to be a reaction to two separate parcel bomb incidents last week. READ »

Berlin mulls security 'black list' for airports

National: 6 Nov 10
The German government is considering a "black list" for airports that do not meet security standards, according to a Saturday report – a move Berlin hopes will boost cargo controls following two parcel bomb incidents in recent weeks. READ »

Google offers German Street View preview

Science & Technology: 2 Nov 10
Google presented Germany a foretaste of its controversial Street View navigation programme on Tuesday, featuring six national landmarks, 10 Bundesliga football stadiums and a few streets in the country's southern Allgäu region. READ »

Giving German schools an 'F' for integration

Society: 28 Oct 10
When children of immigrants do worse at school than their German peers, it provides fodder to xenophobes. But as David Wroe reports, schools are failing to help kids integrate into society. READ »

'Ineffectual' military set for radical overhaul

National: 26 Oct 10
Germany’s armed forces are in need of a radical overhaul, while the country's civilian defence bureaucracy is “substantially ineffectual,” a long-awaited official report has found. READ »

Quarter-million opt out of Google Street View

Science & Technology: 21 Oct 10
Google on Thursday revealed some 245,000 buildings were registered for Street View’s opt-out scheme in Germany, saying the figure did not correspond with the widespread controversy over the online navigation service. READ »

Jobless rate already seen below key three-million mark

Business & Money: 19 Oct 10
Unemployment in Germany has already sunk well below the political and psychological milestone of 3 million people out of work – the first time it has done so in 18 years – a leading economic institute said Tuesday. READ »

Google Street View opt-out deadline is nigh

Science & Technology: 15 Oct 10
Time is almost up for German residents to opt out of having their homes or businesses shown on Google's controversial Street View service. The deadline is midnight on Friday for people living in the 20 cities set to go online later this year. READ »

Rapist admits 1,000 sex offences, gets 10 years

National: 11 Oct 10
A Düsseldorf court on Monday sentenced a serial rapist, who had admitted to committing more than 1,000 sex offences over two decades, to 10 years behind bars. READ »

Rape suspect confesses to 1,000 sex offences

Society: 27 Sep 10
An alleged serial rapist admitted before a Düsseldorf court on Monday to having committed more than 1,000 sex offences over two decades, usually luring his victims by faking a disability. READ »

Diabetes drug Avandia to be banned amid heart attack fears

National: 25 Sep 10
The diabetes drug Avandia will be removed from the German market from the start of November, manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline announced on Friday. READ »

Westerwelle 'marries' partner Michael Mronz

Society: 18 Sep 10
Germany's foreign minister Guido Westerwelle has formalized his union with his long-term partner and businessman Michael Mronz in Bonn, the daily newspaper Bild said in its Saturday edition. READ »

The streets of Neukölln: Has integration failed?

Society: 16 Sep 10
Thilo Sarrazin’s controversial book has sparked a heated debate about immigration. But what’s it really like on the streets of Germany’s integration flash points? David Wroe and Ruth Michaelson report from Berlin’s Neukölln district. READ »

'Ditch Bonn,' agency tells Defence Ministry

Politics: 16 Sep 10
As politicians debate Defence Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg’s plans to streamline the Bundeswehr, a new paper from the Federal Labour Agency (BA) has made the controversial suggestion to move his ministry from Bonn to Berlin. READ »

Deutsche Telekom CEO faces bribery probe

Business & Money: 15 Sep 10
The Bonn state prosecutor’s office is investigating Deutsche Telekom CEO René Obermann and seven others on suspicion of bribery in Macedonia and Montenegro. READ »

Madam uses 'voodoo' to exploit prostitutes

National: 9 Sep 10
A 30-year-old woman accused of forcing young Nigerian women into prostitution with “voodoo magic” will face trial for human trafficking, Bonn police said on Thursday. READ »

What's on in Germany: September 9 - 15

Lifestyle: 9 Sep 10
This Week's Highlights: A weekend of art in Munich, Hamburg celebrates China, and the Berlin Festival lands at Tempelhof Airport. READ »

Defendant incriminates Deutsche Telekom boss in illegal search

Business & Money: 3 Sep 10
The Deutsche Telekom spying trial took a dramatic turn on its opening day Friday when the main accused, Klaus Trzeschan, made a partial admission and incriminated the company’s then boss Kai-Uwe Ricke. READ »

Inquiry exonerates police in Love Parade tragedy

National: 1 Sep 10
A legal inquiry released Wednesday puts blame for the Love Parade tragedy that left 21 people dead squarely with the city of Duisburg and the event’s organisers, who have claimed the police exacerbated the crowd problems. READ »

Sarrazin will be hard to sack, judge warns

National: 31 Aug 10
After Germany’s central bank stopped short of sacking board member Thilo Sarrazin over his incendiary remarks on race and immigration, a legal expert warned Tuesday it could be difficult to force him from the Bundesbank. READ »

Dirty bottle likely source of bacteria in Mainz infant deaths

National: 27 Aug 10
The bacterial contamination suspected in the deaths of three babies in Mainz last weekend was not the result of poor hospital practices but probably caused by a single bottle dirtied during transport, officials announced Friday. READ »

What's on in Germany: August 26 - September 1

Lifestyle: 26 Aug 10
This Week's Highlights: Roxy Music plays Bonn, Goethe is feted in Frankfurt, a fantasy film festival in Munich, and a vintage clothing swap sets up shop in Berlin. READ »

Aigner wants longer opt- out limit for Street View

Science & Technology: 17 Aug 10
German Consumer Affairs Minister Ilse Aigner on Tuesday called on Google to improve the options for the country's citizens to opt out from having their homes featured on the internet giant’s online “Street View” program. READ »

Economy revs up but Merkel still sputters

Politics: 16 Aug 10
Roaring growth figures released last week showed Germany's economy is firing on all cylinders. But voters aren't giving Chancellor Angela Merkel's centre-right coalition any credit for the robust recovery. READ »

Politicians plan Google Street View privacy law

Science & Technology: 12 Aug 10
As a growing number of German politicians said they would forbid Google from showing their homes on the internet giant's “Street View” service, the government on Thursday announced plans for a law to protect citizens' privacy on the web. READ »

Debate heats up over Google Street View

Science & Technology: 11 Aug 10
Internet giant Google’s plan to introduce its ''Street View'' to Germany has sparked a groundswell of debate about privacy, with one senior conservative politician complaining on Wednesday that the service would help burglars. READ »