Merkel prepared to join Opel negotiations
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is prepared to take a personal role in the talks over the takeover of General Motors' embattled subsidiary Opel, her spokesman said on Wednesday.
Day: August 12, 2009
East German Trabant revs up for comeback
One of the most iconic products of communist East Germany, a little car called the Trabant, will make a comeback at the International Motor Show (IAA) in Frankfurt this September. And this time it’s electric.
Tragic Berlin Wall tunnel heroes honoured
Nearly 20 years after the Berlin Wall fell, two men who tried to spirit their East German families to freedom in the West were honoured in a moving ceremony on Wednesday. AFP's Deborah Cole reports on a daring escape attempt and tragic love story.
Father of starved toddler refuses to talk
The father of a three-year-old girl who died of starvation in Bavaria this week has refused to talk with the authorities and remained silent before a judge on Wednesday, as he was accused of negligent manslaughter.
Police clear animal rights protestors from lab site
Police in Hannover on Wednesday removed 26 protestors from a site where a pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim is slated to build a lab to test animal vaccinations.
Poisonous plant found in Plus market salad
A customer purchasing rocket salad at German supermarket Plus was surprised to find a poisonous plant in the package as well, the discount chain confirmed to The Local on Wednesday.
Economy Ministry under fire for outsourcing bank law
German politicians lambasted the Economy Ministry on Wednesday for outsourcing a draft legislation to a law firm, calling it “suspicious” and “unprofessional,” news magazine Der Spiegel reported.
Space official backs German moon mission
Germany should send an unmanned mission to the moon by 2015, according to government aerospace coordinator Peter Hintze, who will present his plan to the cabinet on Wednesday.
Luxury designer Escada filing for insolvency
German luxury fashion group Escada will have to file for insolvency this week due to €70.3 million in debt and falling sales, the company announced in Munich.
World Cocktail Championship shakes up Berlin
"No naked flames or juggling props,” and "garnishes to consist only of edible fruits, vegetables and herbs,” were just two of the rules at the 35th World Cocktail Championships that climaxed late on Tuesday in a hail of ice, bottles and shakers.
Berlin threatens to pull plug on free WiFi plan
A plan to provide free wireless internet across Berlin is on the verge of being taken offline, daily newspaper Berliner Morgenpost reported this week.
Signed copy of Hitler’s ‘Mein Kampf’ up for auction
A signed, early edition of Hitler's "Mein Kampf" is expected to sell for up to 20,000 pounds (€23,000) when it goes under the hammer in Britain Thursday, auctioneers said.