Music industry pulls the plug on Popkomm trade fair
The German music industry has cancelled this year’s Popkomm trade fair in Berlin due to a dramatic plunge in interest.
Day: June 19, 2009
Nanny sentenced to five years for shaking toddler to death
A 34-year-old Munich nanny was sentenced to five years in prison on Friday after being found guilty of shaking a toddler to death last September.
Parade in SS uniforms sparks outrage
Police are investigating whether marchers in a recent parade in Saxony-Anhalt broke the law by wearing Nazi-era SS and Wehrmacht uniforms. The incident has sparked outrage beyond the borders of the eastern German state.
Bavaria offers to prop up Arcandor unit Quelle
Officials in the southern German state of Bavaria said Friday they would contribute €20 million ($28 million) in aid to save Quelle, a mail-order unit of the insolvent retailer Arcandor.
Germany tightens gun laws after massacre
Three months after a teenage gunman killed 15 people in the southwestern town of Winnenden, the German parliament has tightened the country’s gun laws.
Schlager star Heino has to remove shades for ID photo
The German Schlager star known as Heino wears his sunglasses at night – and on his ID card photo. But the government doesn’t find the shades cool – and has told him he’s going to have to lose them for his new identification.
Müntefering’s love life irritates fellow Social Democrats
Facing a tough election campaign, some members of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) say chairman Franz Müntefering’s relationship with a much younger woman is a unwelcome distraction, the daily Tagesspiegel reported Friday.
East German economy decades from catching up with west
Twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the formerly communist eastern half of Germany is still decades from catching up with the western part of the country's economy, according to a report published Friday.
Porsche power struggle intensifies as earnings hit a wall
A power struggle between Volkswagen chairman Ferdinand Piëch and Porsche’s management continued to intensify on Friday, just as the company announced that sales had crashed 15 percent.
Father denies Yemen murder victims were converting Muslims
The father of a German woman murdered in Yemen this week said on Friday the devoted Christians did not run afoul of Islamists looking for converts.
Klitschko unfazed by ‘bloodsport’ bout in Gelsenkirchen
Wladimir Klitschko will not only risk his world heavyweight titles in Gelsenkirchen against Ruslan Chagaev on Saturday, but also possibly his health.