Berlin – 13 December 2009
The present German minister of Defence zu Guttenberg has said that the conflict in Afghanistan will not be won by the military and has called for more development aid, before flying on an unannounced visit to troops there on Friday.
Germany presently has 4,400 soldiers stationed in Afghanistan, which makes it the 3rd largest contributor in the Nato mission.
Zu Guttenberg said [...] Continue Reading…
In a decision they may live to regret , the city airport authority said today that Berlin’s new airport will not be called Berlin-Brandenburg International Airport or BBI, as everyone has been calling it, but instead be called Willy Brandt airport.
This to honour the former West German chancellor and one time major of Berlin who was better known internationally for having built [...] Continue Reading…
The “Very-Long-Dong” is not a North Korean rocket, but rather a mural on the side of a Berlin office building.
Berlin artist Peter Lenk created the “mural” some months ago at the behest of the TAZ newspaper, as a “shot at the bow” so to speak and to mock the Bild, whose building is right across the street.
It is more specifically aimed at [...] Continue Reading…
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu cancelled his planned trip to Berlin today ostensibly after developing a cold. This comes during a very cold time, a veritable melt-down in the relations between EU and Israel.
Since it heard about it, Israeli officialdom has “gone nuclear” in response to a leaked EU draft document [prepared by Sweden ] that states that under a future peace agreement the capital [...] Continue Reading…
Hertha Berlin won for only the third time this season in a 1-0 victory away to Ventspils in Latvia.
This win means they are now within one point of a place in the last 32 of the Europa League.
Hertha’s coach Friedhelm Funkel’s team have only 5 points to show for 14 Bundesliga games this year – so this win in Latvia could prove [...] Continue Reading…
Mozart’s comic opera – Così fan Tutte – a complex love story about the alleged fickleness of women has gotten a modern make-over in a recent production in Berlin called “Così fan Tutte: Sex, Lies & TV”. Christoph Hagel, the director, has Mozart‘s turbulent comedy take place inside a former night club in Berlin, and the opera gets modern television type of treatment.
Mr. Hagel [...] Continue Reading…
BMW – known officially in Germany as the Bayerische Motoren Werke - will replace Volkswagon as an official lead sponsor of the Berlinale in 2010.
BMW new cars like the 5-series Gran Turismo will drive stars and visitors around the city from Feb. 11 to Feb. 21. next year.
Volkswagen, the largest auto producer in Europe, have sponsored the past seven Berlinale festivals, did not say [...] Continue Reading…
To stop it falling into insolvency, the WestLB, based in Dusseldorf, will be the first German bank to use federal government aid.
A “Landesbank” is a German bank controlled by the regional state governments. The WestLB Bank is owned by the state government of North Rhine Westphalia and that state’s non-profit public savings banks.
It had at one time visions to become an international [...] Continue Reading…
A federal court in Germany has struck down rules allowing shops in Berlin to open all four Sundays before Christmas. It declared formerly approved Sunday shopping regulations as unconstitutional and thus handed the appealing churches a partial victory.
Stores in Germany are allowed to open only 4 Sundays per year- the local state or Lander determine which dates they wish to allocate.
In 2006 the city state of Berlin [...] Continue Reading…
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All photos trade-marked to Uli Klose of BerlinProPhoto | berlinprophoto.de
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