Leaders

Before the afd party conference: with mask in wonderland

Despite the pandemic, the AfD wants to hold its party conference this weekend as an attendance meeting. Will the 600 delegates adhere to the hygiene rules?

Opposes the corona rules: the AfD parliamentary group in the Bundestag Photo: Fritz Engel/archiv agentur zenit

Wunderland Kalkar is a pretty special place. On the site of a nuclear power plant that never went into operation – the "fast breeder reactor" – on the Lower Rhine in North Rhine-Westphalia, a Dutch investor built a convention center complete with amusement park in the 1990s. Outside the cooling tower is now a climbing wall, inside a huge chain carousel. Both, like the amusement park as a whole, are currently closed for corona reasons; they are advertising a "drive-in Christmas market" in December.

News

Short films about jerusalem: all-round view at the checkpoint

Director Dani Levy has made four virtual reality short films about Jerusalem. They can be seen in a Berlin exhibition.

A somewhat different film experience: the 360-degree view with virtual reality glasses Photo: dpa

Regular riots, constant provocations and a peace process that is more illusory than real – this is the feeling of everyday life in Jerusalem, the city that both Jewish people and Palestinians* call their capital.

Lawyer

Verdict against christine lagarde: the willing puppet

She was found guilty, but she does not have to pay a fine. And Christine Lagarde will probably remain IMF chief.

Christine Lagarde with "halo" Photo: reuters

As always when a woman is in the forefront of political power, the main issue seems to be her outward appearance. When Christine Lagarde stood before a special court for ministerial malfeasance in Paris last week, one hears nothing but compliments about her appearance, even when she was visibly embarrassed in response to the judges’ pressing questions about her levity in the Tapie dossier.

News

Munich security conference: federal president as admonisher

At the opening, Frank-Walter Steinmeier warns against destructive dynamics. He fears a new arms race between countries.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier at the Munich Security Conference Photo: Tobioas Hase/dpa

The Munich Security Conference began on Friday with a thoughtful speech by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. He urgently warned against an increasingly destructive dynamic in world politics. "From the goal of international cooperation to create a more peaceful world, we are moving further away every year," he said.

Finance

Rescue angels wanted

After a not entirely voluntary move, the Archive of Youth Cultures has to cope with rising rents. So far this has been possible with donations, but they actually need a patron.

Gabriele Rohmann runs the archive on a voluntary basis; Love Parade banners and party flyers are stored in the boxes Photo: Stefanie Loos

Last July, the Berlin Archive of Youth Cultures had to move. It was not a move that had been desired. But now they are in their new premises on the former site of the Bock Brewery on Fidicinstrabe in Kreuzberg. Gabriele Rohmann, co-founder and head of the archive, is pleased. She leads us through the rooms, where countless youth magazines and pop magazines are stored. And she shows the opulent reference library with specialized books on youth cultures, which has to be closed at the moment for corona reasons. Above all, there is more space than before, because the stock continues to grow. There is just one small problem: for the foreseeable future, the rent will no longer be affordable.

School

Too few after-school care places in bremen: no room for children

Although the expansion of all-day schools is moving forward, the number of after-school places has not changed since 2013. Certain districts in particular are affected.

In short supply in some Bremen districts: an after-school place Photo: dpa

The city of Bremen offers too little after-school care for primary school children. This is the result of an answer to a question from the Left faction. According to it, 368 children are on the waiting list, mainly from Blumenthal and Huchting. For single parents, this can become a major problem. Kristina Vogt (Die Linke) calls the situation "grossly negligent".

News

Presidential election in haiti: political power vacuum in the loop

The mandate of the interim president will not be extended because his predecessor opposes it. A successor is not in sight.

Supporters of the interim president demonstrate in Port-au-Prince Photo: ap

With the expiration of the term of interim President Jocelerme Privert on Tuesday of this week, the political crisis in Haiti has further intensified. Parliamentary supporters of President Michel Martelly, who left office in February, refuse to extend the interim president’s mandate.

News

Police violence during protests in chile: squeezed between police cars

A young protester is squeezed with force between two armored police cars. In Chile, this triggers a new wave of anger.

Santiago: The anger of demonstrators in Chile against police violence is growing Photo: reuters

New escalation of police violence against the ongoing protests in Chile: In Santiago on Friday, 20-year-old demonstrator oscar Perez was crushed by two armored police cars. Video of the scene quickly spread on social media.

News

Commentary abortion ruling in the usa: shysters punished

Republican-led states are trying to undermine vested rights. For them, the ruling is a punishment. But they are not giving up.

Bland aftertaste: Demonstrators in front of the Surpreme Court Photo: dpa

It is an important victory for women’s rights, what the US Supreme Court announced on Monday. By a vote of five to three, the justices declared unconstitutional legislation in Texas that had made it unbearably difficult for women to obtain an abortion.

Travels

Column generation camper: pioneers of slowness

The rest stop "a dazzling little town" to writers Julio Cortazar and Carol Dunlop. For others, a sinister place.

At night outside Milan Photo: Imago/IPA

Among the world’s crazy expeditions, the VW bus trip of writers Julio Cortazar and Carol Dunlop (1982) was guaranteed to be the craziest: 33 days on the Paris-Marseille highway from rest stop to rest stop. But the literary result was great: "The Autonauts on the Cosmobahn," as the title goes, is still a wonderfully ironic-poetic travelogue and an ethnography from no-man’s-land, i.e., from places that one visits at best to pee, grab a bite to eat, refuel.