What’s on in Germany: May 3 – 9
This Week's Highlights: Animated films in Stuttgart, a surfing and skateboarding festival in Hamburg, and opera in a Berlin museum.
Day: May 2, 2012
German hits nuke power station with smoke bomb
A German man was in French police custody on Wednesday, after dropping a smoke bomb onto a nuclear power station near Lyon from his paraglider as part of a Greenpeace initiative to show up security gaps.
‘Petrol police’ set to fight pump price hikes
Germany is set to introduce “petrol police” to collect and monitor fuel prices across the country – from import to the pump, in an attempt to combat soaring prices.
Germany’s Rupert Murdoch turns 100
Revered and reviled German media tycoon Axel Springer, whose empire encompasses major opinion-making papers Bild and Die Welt, would have turned 100 on Wednesday, prompting praise and condemnation.
Should soccer be used as a political football?
As Euro 2012 approaches in Poland and Ukraine, soccer has become a political football over the treatment of former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. Is sport a useful diplomatic tool or should it be free of politics? Have your say.
Salafist Muslims arrested as protest turns ugly
Police arrested 81 people on Tuesday after a Salafist Muslim protest in western Germany against a far-right group displaying cartoons of Mohammed outside mosques turned violent, with rocks thrown at police who responded with tear gas.
Unemployment steady as Sundays are sacrificed
Unemployment fell in Germany in April, to slip beneath the three million mark, but was actually higher in seasonally adjusted terms, according to figures released by the German Federal Labour Agency on Wednesday.
Biker sues BMW for 20-month erection
Top German automobile maker BMW is facing a stiff legal challenge from an American man who claims a four-hour ride on one of their motorbikes left him with a permanent erection.
May Day passes (relatively) smoothly
Berlin and Hamburg saw their most peaceful May Days in years, authorities claimed on Tuesday. But the police were accused of "unbelievable brutality" as one anti-capitalist demonstration was broken up in the German capital.
Finance Minister gets boost for euro top job
The head of the Eurogroup of eurozone finance ministers, Jean-Claude Juncker, supports German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble to take over the post in July, a press report said on Tuesday.
‘German hooligans look up to the English’
Football violence is increasing in Germany, with reports of trouble at games now almost every week. At the same time, the Bundesliga is booming. The Local asked Jacob Sweetman of No Dice magazine to square the circle.