20,000 walk out in public sector strike
Thousands of public sector workers in Germany staged a warning strike over a pay dispute Monday, in a second wave of industrial action that is set to roll out across the country.
Day: March 19, 2012
Bank robber jailed for heist 20 years ago
A bank robber has been convicted for his role in what has been described as one of Germany's most brutal heists, when armed men killed a security guard during a raid on a money transport and escaped with millions.
Drink deposit decade shows mixed results
Ten years into the German recycling law which put deposits on drinks containers that cannot be used again, the share of drinks sold in re-usable containers has actually gone down.
C-sections ‘twice as frequent as necessary’
Almost a third of German babies born in 2010 were delivered by Caesarean section – twice as many as 20 years ago and more than twice the World Health Organisation says is generally necessary.
‘Look, smell, taste’ before chucking out food
Germans are being urged to look beyond the best-before date printed on their food, and use their own judgement on whether to throw something away.
Gauck ‘cannot meet all expectations’
New German president Joachim Gauck tried to dampen the huge expectations Germans have for him - and despite one hysterical headline, newspapers agreed he cannot be all things to all people. The Local’s media roundup surveys opinion.
Warm weather sparks early hay fever
Hay fever, which affects one in five Germans, has struck early this year as an unusually warm weekend kick-started pollen production, setting noses running and eyes watering weeks ahead of schedule.
German music industry goes more native
Germans seem to be winning back their own music industry, with more than half the top-selling albums sold in the country also made here, and 29 percent of them sung in German rather than English.
Internet’s share of economy on the rise
The Internet is becoming increasingly important for the German economy, which traditionally has been based firmly on manufacturing and export.
Political focus turns to tiny state election
Political attention in Germany turns to the tiny state of Saarland this week, as it prepares for an election on Sunday following the collapse of an unusual three-way coalition in January.