Tim Cook and the Apple team remind us that a wearable time piece is much more than a style statement. But 500 years on, watches still represent a singular mix of status, obligation…and death.
Tag: germany
WUPPERTAL — The god you’ll discover if you become a Salafist is not a god who will coddle you. That’s a message zealot Pierre Vogel sends out loud and clear over the microphone when he’s doing his village tours to promote the “perfect sharia.” Germany’s best-known convert to Islam used to be a professional boxer […]
MUNICH — Munich’s Oktoberfest has an ugly side. Alexandra Stigger is all too familiar with it but says it’s nevertheless a great celebration. Stigger, 29, is a Munich native who grew up attending it every year, and now she works there — not in one of the beer tents but in a service center where […]
Remember asset-backed securities and the 2008 global financial crash? Desperate to jumpstart Europe’s economy, the European Central Bank chief is making them presentable again.
Recent behavioral and developmental studies of animals such as rabbits and rats show striking similarities to patterns we see in how childhood relationships and experiences shape humans.
Just how should the West deal with terrorists as ruthless as ISIS? Hunt them down, ally with their enemies, mess with their minds? Some concrete options, but there’s no time to waste.
Parents and health experts in had voiced outrage that the American fast-food giant was behind a program to teach German students about good nutrition.
NUREMBERG — Soccer isn’t everything. At least not in the sports equipment business. Adidas is learning that the hard way. The brand with the familiar three-stripe logo used the World Cup in Brazil to its advantage — far better than global leader Nike — but the hoopla died when the games ended. Adidas is in […]
Berlin-based American musician Anton Newcombe posted a demo of his band the Brian Jonestown Massacre performing a cover of the French composer William Sheller“s “Philadelphia Story” Tuesday. Although he explains that on Twitter singing in French is difficult and that he plans to have a woman perform it for the recording, we at Paris-based Worldcrunch […]
–Commentary– BERLIN — There are photographs of Afghanistan’s capital city Kabul, taken in the 1960s, that show elegantly dressed women sitting in street cafés. There are similar photos from the period shot in Ankara, Cairo, Damascus and Karachi. A half-century later, comparable scenes are nowhere to be found in many of these cities. Ankara is […]
Environmental activists the world over are breathlessly indignant that the popular Rainbow Loom wristbands are neither degradable nor recyclable. But are they overreacting?
When a journalist visits an old horse stable converted into a sado-masochist club, he finds surprisingly normal people who just have a different idea of foreplay.
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Are Mind-Powered Drones Next?
MUNICH — As the pilot sits in the cockpit with his hands in his lap, the airplane’s control stick moves all by itself. The plane lands perfectly. Automatic pilot? No, the pilot controls the flight simulator — using only the power of thought. From electrodes on the test pilot’s head, “We read brain signals that […]
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Meet Camillo, Germany’s Roaming Facebook Cat
EICHSTATT —Camillo the cat nearly missed his TV appearance. The one-year-old feline belongs to the Auer family in the this Bavarian town of 14,000, but he is anything but a house cat. No, Camillo spends his days and nights attending parties around town, visiting art galleries, and catching a cat nap in a comfortable chair […]
Can you spot the Russian women lounging under umbrellas? A (male) German writer says he can. British, French and, yes, Germans too.
The decision comes in response to Snowden’s NSA revelations, and follows two recent cases of German officials accused of spying for the U.S.
Protests over the weekend in major European cities to support the people of Gaza were fertile ground for a growing movement of anti-Semitism.
A crafty entrepreneur is bringing the canceled wedding market to Germany, where brides and grooms are embracing new ways to save tons of cash off the leftovers of altar breakups.
BERLIN — How is Germany supposed to react to the U.S. spying activities that have come to light recently? The political opposition seems to think the answer is simple: Expel all U.S. intelligence agents! Allow whistle-blower Edward Snowden asylum! Immediately halt all negotiations regarding the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP)! Stop all cooperation with […]
The Mannschaft’s World Cup winning team was the perfect embodiment of what Germany hopes to be perceived as — a mix of artistry, perseverance, solidarity and individual freedom.
Germany’s 1-0 win over Argentina was front-page news around the world. Here are some highlights: Argentina: Belgium: Brazil: Germany: Mexico: Spain: UK: Uruguay: U.S.: Venezuela:
On the scene as Germany’s 13th Primark branch was stormed by shoppers at its opening. Hard questions asked after the Bangladesh worker tragedy are lost in the furor of “Primania.”
SAARBRÜCKEN — If you’re looking for the biggest whorehouse in the state of Saarland, you’ll probably end up first at a dog training school. There aren’t any signs yet pointing the way to the brothel — or, as it calls itself, the “wellness oasis” — so the GPS will take you right past its unobtrusive […]
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Brick By Brick
Things were getting heated in West Berlin in the summer of 1967. The conflict was escalating between the government and the West German student movement, peaking with the police shooting dead a young protester just one month before we went there. This photo shows the ongoing construction of the Berlin Wall, six years after the […]
MUNICH — Citing the failure of antibiotics to work effectively in their patients, a group of German doctors and other healthcare providers are laying blame on the factory farming industry — and calling for reform. The doctors say that antibiotics no longer work because of multi-resistant germs that patients carry, at least some of which […]
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Robots Park Your Car At Dusseldorf Airport
Starting on Tuesday, arriving passengers at Düsseldorf airport will be able to turn their car over to robot Ray who’ll park it for them. Vehicles are left in one of six boxes about the size of a car-wash unit. Each box is equipped with its own Ray. Once the car is parked in the box, […]
MUNICH — At a simple café near the main street, a group of mountain bikers comes in, and they’re thirsty. “What kinds of beer do you have?” one of them asks the server. He starts reciting: Amber Ale. India Pale Ale. Summer Ale. White Ale. Porter. Stout. Then he adds Lager — a little sheepishly, […]
Newsmaking images that caught our eye.
The growing tendency to say ‘there is no just war’ is just a way to keep one’s hands clean, while leaving it to others to pay the consequences for your freedom. A view from Germany.
Some German companies that used concentration camp victims as forced labor during World War II took decades to own up to their wretched acquiescence to the Hitler regime.
BERLIN — Peter Seher sits on his balcony in Berlin-Wilmersdorf enjoying the late afternoon sun. He looks at the large puddles of water beneath his feet. It was nice and warm today, so after work the stockbroker set up a little wading pool on the balcony for his young daughter Hanna. “She really got going […]
WARSAW — While protests swept Maidan Square in Kiev, both Polish and German media reported the same storyline: Ukraine was overthrowing a bloody dictator and changing its course toward the West. German politicians, much like their Polish counterparts, made fiery speeches and pushed the European Union to address a “serious offer” to Ukrainians. The pro-Ukrainian […]
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Can A Tattoo Get You Fired?
After a prospective police candidate was banned for a tattoo, Germany debates workplace appearance rules as the number of young employees with tattoos is exploding.
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Soccer’s Long-Ignored Depression Problem
Though it has been taboo to discuss, the top ranks of soccer are rife with players who suffer from depression during and after their careers.
In order to maximize profits, the German automaker wants to eliminate paid 15-minute breaks for its workforce.
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German TV Explores Sex Among Seniors
Curious about the sex lives of the over-70 crowd? Even intimate relations among 50-somethings is usually not talked about. And teens? Now all is revealed on German television.
In 1930, the International Labour Organization set a goal to eradicate forced work. Today, 21 million people are exploited around the world. Globalization is making matters worse.
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The Last Man At The Pump
MAISACH — “It’s high season, so it’s not really convenient,” says Uwe Möderl when we first talk on the phone. Then, moments later, he says, “How would tomorrow night be?” The 51-year-old Bavarian is apparently not a man who wants to be kept from his work. I had been looking for an experienced gas station […]
It seemed like a good idea to a German restaurateur: attract more family clientele who wouldn’t disturb other patrons. But putting an idea into action can be a messy affair.
The ugly sandal beloved everywhere by hippies and the comfort footwear set is so hot this season that even Marc Jacobs wants in on the action. Paint those toes, baby.