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Germany

German High School Teacher Cleared Of Sex Charges Because He Was Just A Sub

Authorities in Bavaria want more severe laws to punish teachers found guilty of sex with teen students. In one recent case, a 34-year-old substitute teacher kept up a five-month relationship with his 14-year-old student -- and got off scot-free.

(DanielAd)
(DanielAd)


*NEWSBITES

He was 32. She was 14. The teacher and student got to know each other on a class trip. He followed up with regular text messages. The girl felt grown up, taken seriously, and wondered if this might be her One True Love. The teacher – considered "cool" by the students at school – began calling the girl "Honey" and "Honeybear" and getting more insistent.

The teacher taught Catholic religion, mathematics and English, but was actually only used as a substitute three times by the school.

"It was always about sex," the teen stated. They first had sex at the teacher's home, but later it happened at the school too – in the cleaning cupboard, for example. The affair lasted for five months.

But now, five years later, the teacher has been cleared of all charges: not guilty, is the court verdict. The young woman and her parents are stunned, the public outraged, particularly since the teenage girl was not the man's first victim. The year before, he had sent similar text messages to her older sister.

The court based its verdict on the fact that, according to present laws, the girl was not a student entrusted to his care because he was only a substitute teacher. (The age of consent in Germany is 14)

Justice Minister Beate Merk of the German state of Bavaria wants to make such scandalous verdicts impossible in the future, and has drafted an amendment that would make up for this gap in existing legislation. "It is absolutely unacceptable that the protection of school children against sexual predators should be a matter of whether a teacher is a substitute or not," she told Die Welt.

Read the full story in German by Peter Issig

Photo - DanielAd

*Newsbites are digest items, not direct translations

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Economy

Globalization Takes A New Turn, Away From China

China is still a manufacturing juggernaut and a growing power, but companies are looking for alternatives as Chinese labor costs continue to rise — as do geopolitical tensions with Beijing.

Photo of a woman working at a motorbike factory in China's Yunnan Province.

A woman works at a motorbike factory in China's Yunnan Province.

Pierre Haski

-Analysis-

PARIS — What were the representatives of dozens of large American companies doing in Vietnam these past few days?

A few days earlier, a delegation of foreign company chiefs currently based in China were being welcomed by business and government leaders in Mexico.

Then there was Foxconn, Apple's Taiwanese subcontractor, which signed an investment deal in the Indian state of Telangana, enabling the creation of 100,000 jobs. You read that right: 100,000 jobs.

What these three examples have in common is the frantic search for production sites — other than China!

For the past quarter century, China has borne the crown of the "world's factory," manufacturing the parts and products that the rest of the planet needs. Billionaire Jack Ma's Alibaba.com platform is based on this principle: if you are a manufacturer and you are looking for cheap ball bearings, or if you are looking for the cheapest way to produce socks or computers, Alibaba will provide you with a solution among the jungle of factories in Shenzhen or Dongguan, in southern China.

All of this is still not over, but the ebb is well underway.

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