Germany – News Stories About Germany - Page 68

Mar 6, 2008 12:19 PM CST

German Soldiers Too Fat: Study

'Compared to the British, we're viewed as pathetic,' soldier complains

(Newser) - The German army is fat. It’s also unfit, smokes too much, and eats badly, according to a recent parliamentary update, the Guardian reports. About 40% of German soldiers are overweight—8.5% seriously so—and 70% smoke. “This has much to do with poor equipment and lack of...

Strike Cripples German Airports

Mar 5, 2008 7:23 AM CST

Strike Cripples German Airports

Scores of flights canceled; Berlin transport also shut

(Newser) - Thousands of German airport workers have walked off the job on the first day of a strike, leading to hundreds of flight cancellations across Europe's largest country. Frankfurt International Airport, a key European hub, was picketed by more than 2,000 employees from baggage handlers to check-in counter workers and...

Brits Used Astrologer Against Hitler

Mar 4, 2008 9:10 AM CST

Brits Used Astrologer Against Hitler

Declassified files tell of 'star wars' strategy in WWII

(Newser) - Some British strategists saw the outcome of World War II written in the stars, according to newly declassified documents that reveal the role of an astrologer in predicting Adolf Hilter's moves. An intelligence agency employed a colorful character who claimed to be able to use astrological readings to, as one...

World's Biggest Tech Show Goes Green

Mar 3, 2008 8:19 AM CST

World's Biggest Tech Show Goes Green

Top IT companies will display environmental friendliness at CeBIT

(Newser) - Greener tech solutions are a focus of this year’s CeBIT technology trade fair, which opens tomorrow in Germany. Tech companies from around the world will showcase products like servers that use less electricity alongside their hot new gadgets, AP reports. The emphasis on green ideas sets the tone for...

Knut to Hit the Silver Screen

Mar 3, 2008 6:30 AM CST

Knut to Hit the Silver Screen

Documentary follows star bear cub from tiny fluffball to frightening teen

(Newser) - Once celebrity polar bear Knut got big and his fluffy fur gained a yellowish-gray tint, public attention turned to younger, cuter bears. But now the spotlight is back on the Berlin Zoo's most famous orphan, with the premiere of a new documentary called Knut and Friends, the Canadian Press reports.

Scots Build Replica of Bach's Head

Mar 1, 2008 8:40 PM CST

Scots Build Replica of Bach's Head

Rendering is based on a cast, portrait, and papers from his time

(Newser) - Forensic artists have re-created Johann Sebastian Bach’s head based on a cast of his skull and documents from the composer’s time, the BBC reports. The model, built at Scotland’s Dundee University, is “the most complete face that can be built from the available reliable information,”...

Anne Frank's Lost Love Revealed

Feb 27, 2008 4:08 PM CST

Anne Frank's Lost Love Revealed

Childhood friend of diarist's darling 'Petel' donates photo

(Newser) - Anne Frank's sweetheart now has a face to go along with his pet name. A photo of 12-year-old Lutz Peter Schiff, or Petel, as she sometimes called him, has been donated to the Anne Frank House by a childhood friend, reports ABC News. Frank wrote that she loved so strongly...

Hedgehog Lobby Sways McD's

Feb 27, 2008 2:26 PM CST

Hedgehog Lobby Sways McD's

German group convinces giant to replace McFlurry lids that trapped spiky critters

(Newser) - Under fire from environmental groups in Germany, McDonald's plans to replace lids on its McFlurry dessert so as not to threaten hedgehogs—which were getting their heads trapped in the lids and starving to death, Der Spiegel reports. "We needed to find an opening that was big enough for...

Paris-Berlin Relations Turn Sour

Feb 27, 2008 10:08 AM CST

Paris-Berlin Relations Turn Sour

Tempers fraying in Merkel's camp after 2 high-level cancellations

(Newser) - Only a week after Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel called off a scheduled meeting, France and Germany's finance ministers canceled their own summit yesterday, reports AFP. While nobody wants to say that the leaders of Europe's two largest countries are getting testy with each other, disagreements over economic policy and...

Only Italians Can Call It Parmesan

Feb 26, 2008 7:36 PM CST

Only Italians Can Call It Parmesan

EU's high court rules against German cheese makers

(Newser) - Europe's high court ruled today that only Italians can call their cheese Parmesan, Bloomberg reports. The judges shot down an argument by German cheese-makers that the term is generic. "This is absolutely wonderful news," said the author of an Italian cheese guide. "There is no more risk...

German Tax Case Reads
Like Spy Thriller

Feb 26, 2008 5:34 PM CST

German Tax Case Reads Like Spy Thriller

Informant's tale rife with code names and kidnappings

(Newser) - Code names, kidnappings, secrets sold to international intelligence agencies: these staples of a thriller movie come from the real life of Heinrich Kieber, the whistleblower who for $7.4 million sold German authorities the information that exposed a huge tax-evasion ring. Kieber has been given a new identity and is...

Siemens to Slash 4,000 Jobs

Feb 25, 2008 6:31 PM CST

Siemens to Slash 4,000 Jobs

Troubled telecom sparks fear of union anger over cuts

(Newser) - Siemens is cutting nearly 4,000 jobs and moving 3,000 workers away from its troubled telecom equipment unit, sparking fears of union outcry in Germany, the Wall Street Journal reports. Once a $30 billion annual revenue giant, the business has been trailing competitors in cheap-labor countries like China and...

Germans Find Hidden Nazi Gold

Feb 20, 2008 7:44 AM CST

Germans Find Hidden Nazi Gold

Gold pinpointed in cavern, stolen chamber of the czars could be nearby

(Newser) - Treasure hunters in Germany have announced they've found a secret stash of Nazi gold in an underground cavern and they believe it could be from the looted Amber Room of the Russian czars, Der Speigel reports. Instruments have detected what could be 2 tons of gold in the cavern near...

EU Probes Chocolate Price Fixing

Feb 20, 2008 6:22 AM CST

EU Probes Chocolate Price Fixing

Hershey, Mars, others suspected of conspiracy

(Newser) - The European Commission suspects candy giant Hershey of conspiring with other chocolate and candy manufacturers in an industry-wide price-fixing scheme, AP reports. Both Hershey and rival Mars recently received requests for information from the commission after some 50 civil lawsuits in the US have alleged price fixing. The two companies...

Foes Mobilize to Block Blair as First Euro Prez

Feb 20, 2008 3:14 AM CST

Foes Mobilize to Block Blair as First Euro Prez

Iron support for US still rankles

(Newser) - Stiff opposition is mounting against the possibility of former British prime minister Tony Blair being named the first president of Europe. A "Stop Blair" website has been launched, and a cross-party caucus in the European parliament is forming to campaign against him. A new treaty about to be ratified...

Your Boyfriend Does Mind
If You Smoke

Feb 19, 2008 12:09 PM CST

Your Boyfriend Does Mind If You Smoke

German man turns fire extinguisher on girlfriend, cigarette

(Newser) - A German man was so sick of his girlfriend's smoking that he turned a fire extinguisher on her, Der Spiegel reports. The 42-year-old gave a few warning shouts before spraying the apartment the two share, and he hadn't stopped yelling by the time police arrived to escort him to the...

Homes Raided Nationwide in German Tax Fraud Probe

Feb 19, 2008 8:23 AM CST

Homes Raided Nationwide in German Tax Fraud Probe

$5B tax dodge crackdown

(Newser) - The fallout from Germany's enormous tax evasion scandal continued yesterday as police began a nationwide raid of the homes and offices of over a hundred people. More than 1,000 rich Germans are suspected of cheating the German treasury out of $5 billion by transferring huge sums to banks and...

Kosovo Independence Splits EU

Feb 18, 2008 6:11 AM CST

Kosovo Independence Splits EU

Some fear feisty new nation could inspire separatists elsewhere

(Newser) - A meeting of EU officials today to discuss Kosovo is likely to reveal deep-seated divisions within the European Union. While Britain, France and Germany are expected to recognize the newly independent Kosovo immediately, other states like Cyprus, Greece, Romania and Spain worry about the message such recognition will send to...

Knut's Dad Wants a Piece
of the Action

Feb 15, 2008 2:41 PM CST

Knut's Dad Wants a Piece of the Action

Rival zoo says it's entitled to share star polar bear's earnings

(Newser) - Knut, the polar bear superstar of the Berlin Zoo, has all the trappings of celebrity—fame, money, a Hollywood deal, and now, family members looking to cash in. The zoo that owns his dad, Lars, says it deserves some of the millions Knut has raked in, Der Spiegel reports. "...

Turkish PM
Tries to Quell Anger Over Fire

Feb 7, 2008 8:03 PM CST

Turkish PM Tries to Quell Anger Over Fire

Deadly blaze in Germany raises ethnic tensions

(Newser) - Turkish PM Recep Erdogan today visited the site of a questionable Sunday fire in Germany that killed nine ethnic Turks and inflamed tensions between the country, Der Spiegel reports. Charges that the fire was arson, and that rescue workers were slow to respond, have captured headlines in Turkey; Erdogan mourned...