Germany edition

Security

The following articles have been tagged with "Security":

Brutal cold triggers reserve power plants

National: 9 Feb 12
After exporting power to France earlier this week, Germany has switched on reserve energy plants amid surging demand for electricity due to the ongoing deep freeze hitting Europe. READ »

Germany signs €3 bln in deals with Kazakhstan

National: 8 Feb 12
Germany and Kazakhstan signed agreements Wednesday worth €3 billion ($4 billion) to cooperate on raw materials, industry and technology in Berlin. READ »

Sarkozy looks to Merkel for re-election help

Politics: 6 Feb 12
Increasingly citing Germany as a model for France, President Nicolas Sarkozy will look to give his re-election hopes a boost Monday in a joint TV interview with Chancellor Angela Merkel. READ »

Westerwelle hammers China, Russia over veto

National: 5 Feb 12
Germany's foreign minister heaped criticism on Russia and China on Saturday over their veto of a United Nations Security Council resolution aimed at ending the violence in Syria, calling it a "veto against the Syrian people." READ »

De Maizière urges more military might in Europe

National: 4 Feb 12
German Defence Minister Thomas de Maizière said Europe should not fear a renewed US focus on Asia and must increasingly look after its own backyard militarily, in remarks made during the 48th annual Munich Security Conference. READ »

Merkel gives mixed review of China trip

National: 4 Feb 12
German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke of stronger ties between China and Germany on the heels of her visit to the country, but voiced concern about attempts to keep her from meeting with government critics during her trip. READ »

Compassion needed for homeless out in cold

Society: 2 Feb 12
As a homeless man was found frozen to death on a bench in northern Germany on Thursday, authorities across the country called for people to show compassion for those in danger from the harsh weather. READ »

Merkel urges China to press Iran over nukes

Politics: 2 Feb 12
German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Beijing Thursday to put pressure on Iran over its controversial nuclear programme as she began an official visit to China on Thursday. READ »

Tub of lard found fit to eat after 64 years

Society: 1 Feb 12
A 64-year-old tub of American lard has been deemed fit for human consumption by food safety authorities in the eastern German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. READ »

Manhunt after second Bochum prisoner flees

National: 1 Feb 12
German authorities are investigating how a prisoner being held on the request of Polish authorities on suspicion of attempted murder and arson managed to escape a North Rhine-Westphalia prison on Sunday and remains on the run. READ »

Westerwelle demands 'urgent' action on Syria

National: 31 Jan 12
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle called on Tuesday for the UN Security Council to act "urgently" on Syria, telling a Cairo news conference a strong text on the crisis was "absolutely important." READ »

Grenade disguised as toy left on supermarket shelf

National: 28 Jan 12
A hand grenade disguised as a toy and placed at child’s eye level on the shelf of a supermarket could have killed someone, say German prosecutors investigating it as an attempted murder. READ »

Hollywood arsonist accused of 100 fires

Society: 25 Jan 12
Los Angeles prosecutors have announced 63 more charges against a German man accused over a four-day arson spree which gripped Hollywood over the year-end holidays. READ »

Germany joins European oil embargo against Iran

Politics: 24 Jan 12
The leaders of Britain, France and Germany late on Monday called on Tehran to immediately suspend its nuclear activities after the EU slapped an embargo on Iran's oil exports as part of tough new sanctions. READ »

Al Qaida 'planned to take German hostages'

National: 22 Jan 12
Documents seized in May linked to al Qaida leaders indicate that the terrorist organisation was aiming to take hostages in Germany and other Western countries as part of a "war of attrition," according to a newspaper report. READ »

UN envoy urges more action on Syria

Politics: 19 Jan 12
German's UN envoy has accused Russia of preventing the UN Security Council from taking decisive action over the deadly crackdown on anti regime protests in Syria. READ »

Germans' fuss for bubbly 'forces plane to land'

Society: 16 Jan 12
A German couple allegedly forced a Delta Airlines jet to make an unscheduled stop in Florida on Sunday – after making inordinate demands for champagne and food and refusing to sit down despite being told to by plane staff. READ »

Judges call for rethink on court security

National: 13 Jan 12
German judges have called for a complete rethink of security after a prosecutor was shot dead by a man in court who seemingly had no problem taking a pistol into the court. READ »

One woman tackles neo-Nazi graffiti

Society: 12 Jan 12
While the recently-discovered Neo-Nazi murders dominated the German media for weeks, the drip, drip, drip of xenophobic graffiti rarely gets much attention. AFP’s Deborah Cole meets a woman tackling it personally. READ »

Man who shot prosecutor only faced mild sentence

National: 12 Jan 12
The businessman who shot dead a prosecutor in court in Bavaria, would have walked out a free man had he not fired a gun at the judge and then turned on the prosecutor. READ »

Banks test touch-free payment cards

Business & Money: 12 Jan 12
Germany’s Sparkasse group of banks is testing a new touch-free payment system that promises to revolutionise the way regular people do their everyday shopping. READ »

Internet users 'should check for blackout virus'

Science & Technology: 12 Jan 12
The German government says all internet users should check their computers for a virus which could stop them going online from March 8. READ »

Football hooligans 'getting more violent'

Sport: 11 Jan 12
Violence at football matches in Germany’s top leagues has reached record highs, leaving police struggling to control it, the Interior Ministry said this week. READ »

Police hacked after top cop rows with daughter

National: 9 Jan 12
A hacker attack which infiltrated Germany’s federal police computer system using Trojan programs and a system of routes via Russia last summer was due to a row about internet usage between a top cop and his daughter. READ »

Guttenberg says he's ready for comeback

Politics: 8 Jan 12
Disgraced former Defence Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg is taking his first steps towards a political come-back, less than a year after his plagiarised doctorate forced him to resign. READ »

FDP in tatters as state government falls

Politics: 6 Jan 12
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition partner the Free Democratic Party (FDP) was dealt another devastating blow on Friday as the government in the small western state of Saarland collapsed. READ »

Hollywood arsonist 'hated America'

National: 5 Jan 12
A German man launched a "binge" of over 50 arson attacks in southern California over the New Year holiday weekend, fired up by anti-American "hatred" fueled by his mother's fight against deportation to Germany, prosecutors have said. READ »

Political foundation office re-opens in Cairo

National: 4 Jan 12
The Konrad Adenauer Foundation office in Cairo, the German political party foundation branch raided by Egyptian authorities at the end of December, has been allowed to re-open, the organization announced Tuesday. READ »

One million kick off 2012 at Brandenburg Gate

Society: 1 Jan 12
The official New Year's celebrations in the German capital drew over a million people on Saturday night. Overcrowding meant that the two-kilometre "party-mile" in front of the Brandenburg Gate was closed at 10 p.m. READ »

A million expected at Berlin's party

Society: 31 Dec 11
A million people are expected to gather in the centre of Berlin on Saturday night for a free concert and countdown to the New Year, when fireworks will fill the sky. READ »

'Baron Cut-and-Paste' may return to politics

Politics: 30 Dec 11
Bavaria's state premier Horst Seehofer said on Friday he would do his best to bring disgraced former Defence Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg back into German politics in 2012. READ »

More jobless only getting basic support

Business & Money: 29 Dec 11
One in four people in Germany who lose their jobs have paid so little into the generous social security system that they go straight onto the lowest possible level of support. READ »

The Local's top five features of 2011

Lifestyle: 29 Dec 11
While the economy was on everyone’s mind this year, The Local’s feature writers took an in-depth look at stories that may have been off the radar. We’ve picked some of our favourites. READ »

Top German emigration destinations: US and Switzerland

Society: 28 Dec 11
While many Germans complain of immigrants arriving and drawing on the social security system, tens of thousands of Germans also emigrate every year looking for wealth, as new statistics show. READ »

Berlin politician attacked in own home

Politics: 28 Dec 11
A Berlin local politician active in the Syrian opposition was attacked by two men in his home, police said Tuesday, in a case the German foreign ministry said it was following closely. READ »

Hackers could hijack mobile phones

Science & Technology: 27 Dec 11
A tech expert has figured out a way that hackers could take control of mobile phones and make calls or send out unlimited numbers of text messages. READ »

Top UN envoy stays optimistic on Iraq

National: 27 Dec 11
The United Nations' top envoy in Iraq, German diplomat Martin Kobler, does not expect civil war to break out in the country, he was quoted as saying on Monday. READ »

Berlin summons Syrian ambassador

National: 23 Dec 11
Germany's foreign ministry said Thursday it had summoned Syria's ambassador to Berlin to demand an immediate halt to the "brutal" repression of anti-regime demonstrators by government forces. READ »

Officials investigate more football violence

Sport: 21 Dec 11
The German Football Association (DFB) said Wednesday it will investigate Bundesliga strugglers Nuremberg following the violent incidents which followed a 1-0 German Cup defeat at home to Greuther Fürth. READ »

Teens jailed for brutal Berlin metro attack

National: 21 Dec 11
A judge has handed down prison sentences of between four and six years to four young men charged with attempting to kill a man at a Berlin metro station earlier this year. READ »

Afghanistan troop withdrawl to begin in Jan

National: 17 Dec 11
The withdrawl of German troops from Afghanistan will not take place before Christmas and won’t be accompanied by a celebration, according to German Defence Minister Thomas de Maizière. READ »

Berlin hails 'turning point' in Afghan war

National: 15 Dec 11
During a Bundestag debate on the German army’s future mission in Afghanistan Thursday, Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said a planned draw-down of troops heralded a “turning point” in the ten-year NATO-led war in Afghanistan. READ »

Plank-wielding bank robber takes €3

Society: 15 Dec 11
A man was charged with armed robbery in Berlin after he demanded three euros from a bank cashier while holding a piece of wood. READ »

German banks abandon US customers

Business & Money: 15 Dec 11
German banks are closing US customers’ investment accounts because they say financial reporting requirements from American authorities are just too onerous. READ »

Beating the holiday bag blues at Frankfurt Airport

Lifestyle: 14 Dec 11
Long lines and lost luggage make travelling during the holidays as much fun as an eggnog hangover. Caitlan Carroll spoke with the experts at Frankfurt Airport to ensure you’ll at least arrive at your destination with your bag. READ »

Life expectancy sinks for poorer Germans

Society: 12 Dec 11
Though the German population is steadily getting older, it is leaving its low income earners behind. A new report says their life expectancy has gone down two whole years since 2001. READ »

Cops search for more anarchist letter bombs

National: 9 Dec 11
Police on Friday were still searching for explosive packages after an Italian far-left group claimed responsibility for a letter bomb sent to Deutsche Bank's CEO and said that others were in the post. READ »

Deutsche Bank letter bomb was operational

National: 8 Dec 11
A suspected letter bomb addressed to Deutsche Bank chief Josef Ackermann which was intercepted on Wednesday at the bank's Frankfurt headquarters, could have exploded, German police have confirmed. 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 »

‘Nazi ideology is filled with terrorist spirit’

National: 2 Dec 11
A former neo-Nazi tells The Local how he broke out of extremism, describes violence in the far-right scene and offers his view of the latest revelations about neo-Nazi terrorism in Germany. READ »

Detentions had 'chilling effect' on G8 protests

National: 2 Dec 11
Two German anti-globalisation protesters detained for five days in 2007 to prevent them from demonstrating against a G8 summit won a victory at the European Court of Human Rights on Thursday. READ »

Iran 'planning attacks on US bases in Germany'

National: 1 Dec 11
Tehran may be planning attacks on US bases in Germany in the event of an American military strike against targets in Iran, German investigators have reportedly said. READ »

Ex-NPD official arrested in neo-Nazi probe

National: 29 Nov 11
German police on Tuesday arrested a former official of the far-right NPD party for allegedly supporting a neo-Nazi terrorist cell suspected of murdering at least 10 people. READ »

Armed neo-Nazi scene embraces violence

Society: 28 Nov 11
The rise of the National Socialist Underground (NSU) has focused attention on Germany's neo-Nazi scene, which experts say includes violent militants with professional weapons training. Ben Knight reports. READ »

Nuke waste train arrives despite protests

National: 28 Nov 11
The train taking radioactive waste from a French reprocessing centre to storage in northern Germany completed the rail stage of its journey early on Monday morning, after days of fierce protests. READ »

Police clear protestors from nuke train path

National: 27 Nov 11
Police early Sunday began to clear thousands of anti-nuclear protestors from railroad tracks to allow the passage of a train carrying radioactive waste from France for to a storage facility in Lower Saxony. READ »

The ins and outs of pensions

Lifestyle: 25 Nov 11
Plan on growing old and grey in Germany? Joe Morgan explains why you shouldn’t rely solely on a state pension for your golden years. READ »

Dortmund man named world's most-pierced

Society: 24 Nov 11
Weighed down with 453 piercings, a 52-year-old Dortmund man has officially been named the most-pierced person by the book of Guinness World Records. READ »

Debt-rattled Greeks seek out the German Dream

Society: 24 Nov 11
Athens-born Elin Georgakila holds a degree in interior design, is full of energy and, seeing the doors close for her in debt-mired Greece, has turned to booming Germany as the land of opportunity. AFP's Celine Le Prioux reports. READ »

Bundestag 'ashamed' by racist murders

Politics: 22 Nov 11
German parliamentarians from across the political spectrum expressed shame Tuesday over a decade-long murder spree blamed on a neo-Nazi cell and pledged to do more to protect the nation's minority communities. READ »

Deutsche Bahn hopes DNA will curb metal theft

National: 22 Nov 11
Germany railway operator Deutsche Bahn is spraying so-called “artificial DNA” on its tracks, as well as overhead wires and other metal to hinder thieves from selling it later on the black market. READ »

Westerwelle condemns Middle East violence

National: 21 Nov 11
Germany's foreign minister Guido Westerwelle and his Italian counterpart Giulio Terzi di Sant'Agata called for an end to violence in Syria and Egypt after talks on key European issues in Rome Sunday. READ »

Guttenberg attacks former colleagues

Politics: 20 Nov 11
Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, Germany’s former defence minister who resigned after being found to have plagiarised his doctoral thesis, has returned to the political stage with a scathing attack on his former colleagues. 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 »

Neo-Nazi killings, apathy shock German minorities

National: 17 Nov 11
Revelations a neo-Nazi gang was able to commit racist murders unhindered for a decade – and Germany’s seeming indifference to the crimes – has shaken the country’s minority communities. Moises Mendoza reports. READ »

'Were security officials, politicians and society blind in the right eye?'

Analysis & Opinion: 14 Nov 11
A shocked Germany is asking how a neo-Nazi gang could carry out a campaign of terror for more than a decade. The Local’s media roundup looks at the reaction on Monday. READ »

Neo-Nazi terrorism sparks calls for NPD ban

National: 14 Nov 11
As more details of an extreme-right terror cell continued to emerge on Monday, German politicians promised a full investigation into a series of murders and renewed calls to ban the neo-Nazi National Democratic Party (NPD). 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 »

The ins and outs of health insurance

Lifestyle: 11 Nov 11
Having health insurance is obligatory in Germany, but there are considerable differences between private and public coverage. Joe Morgan explores the healthy options for your wallet. READ »

Merkel denies mulling plan to split eurozone

Politics: 10 Nov 11
Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday denied rumours that Germany was considering allowing struggling euro countries to leave the single currency, amid increasing concerns about a eurozone split and warnings of a recession. READ »

Nuke report angers Germany and its allies

National: 9 Nov 11
Germany and its allies have angrily lashed out against Iran after the UN nuclear watchdog published its harshest report yet on Tehran's nuclear programme, saying it had sought to build atomic warheads. READ »

Bundesbank gold location kept secret

Business & Money: 8 Nov 11
As pressure grows for Germany to tap its gold reserves amid the European sovereign debt crisis, the Bundesbank is refusing to end its silence on where its more than 3,000 tonnes of the precious metal is stored. READ »

Germany to pressure Iran over nuclear programme

National: 7 Nov 11
Germany said Monday it would call for fresh "pressure" on Iran to comply with international commitments on its nuclear programme if a key report this week reveals further defiance. READ »

Data protection official accuses Facebook of new privacy breach

Science & Technology: 3 Nov 11
Data protection officials in Hamburg are accusing Facebook of a new breach of German privacy laws by tracking users even after they’ve cancelled their accounts. READ »

NATO leader praises German role in Libya

Politics: 2 Nov 11
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has praised Germany’s role in the transatlantic alliance’s military operation in Libya, even though the German government refused to support it at the United Nations. READ »

Germany offers help finding Libyan weapons

National: 1 Nov 11
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle has offered to help Libya follow a United Nations resolution ratified on Monday that obliges the country’s new government to control and destroy small arms and chemical weapons. READ »

Germany tries to block Palestine UNESCO bid

Politics: 31 Oct 11
Germany joined the United States and Israel on Monday in protesting Palestine’s acceptance as full member of the United Nations cultural organization UNESCO, sparking a foreign policy rift within the European Union. READ »

Alice model sacked for Qaddafi praise

Society: 31 Oct 11
The long-time face of the Germany's Alice phone company, Vanessa Hessler, has been sacked after she defended the family of late Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi and his son Mutassim, her former lover. READ »

Pakistan spied on Germans in Afghanistan

National: 31 Oct 11
Pakistan’s intelligence agency reportedly spied on German police officers working in Afghanistan, raising questions whether Pakistan is passing information on to the insurgent Taliban about security forces’ operations. READ »

Nervy Checkpoint Charlie stand-off remembered

Society: 27 Oct 11
Fifty years ago on October 27, 1961, US and Soviet forces took the world to the brink of war at Berlin's Checkpoint Charlie. Hannah Cleaver takes the temperature of the legendary Cold War flashpoint today. READ »

Football referees protest surging violence

Sport: 25 Oct 11
German referees are protesting what they say is an increase in violence and threats directed against them at lower division football matches. The situation has deteriorated to the point that some officials are boycotting specific teams. READ »

CIA spied on allied BND

National: 24 Oct 11
American spies have been keeping tabs on their Teutonic counterparts for decades – not only the East Germans of the Cold War, but also allied West Germans, according to newly released documents. READ »

Insurer covered terrorist wanted internationally

National: 21 Oct 11
German insurer Victoria ignored warnings from intelligence services and insured an internationally wanted terrorist for more than two years – with policies worth up to €2 million – according to the Handelsblatt newspaper. READ »

Shoddy spyware spurs web security reform call

Science & Technology: 20 Oct 11
Outrage over shoddy government computer spyware created by a private contractor is spurring calls for a federal minister to deal with internet security issues and pledges by the authorities they will develop such software internally. READ »