A German public broadcaster has been criticised for a satirical adaptation to one of the country’s best-known children’s songs about a grandmother’s environmentally questionable habits and apologised after the song drew a wave of criticism. A video featuring broadcaster Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR)’s children’s choir singing an altered version of “My grandma rides a motorbike in the chicken coop” – a German children’s classic – was pulled from the WDR channel’s Facebook page on Friday evening. On Saturday, WDR boss Tom Buhrow apologised personally “with no ifs and buts”. Critics, many of them online, took offence at a section in the altered song that had the grandmother driving to the doctor in an SUV, with the singers declaring: “My grandma is an old environmental pig.” The governor of North Rhine-Westphalia state, where WDR is based, was among those who were not amused. Armin Laschet wrote on Twitter: “The debate about the best climate protection is increasingly being escalated by some into a generational conflict.” He added that WDR’s song “crossed the limits of style and respect for older people. Instrumentalising the young against the old is not acceptable”. The mass-circulation daily Bild gave the issue front-page treatment on Monday, saying in an editorial that people born in the 1950s did a lot “to hand over a better, rich, peaceful country to their children and grandchildren”.

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Last night shortly before 03:00 a.m., more than 40 gravestones were knocked over at the Jewish cemetery on Heinsberger Street in Geilenkirchen, some of which were sprayed with blue paint. A witness observed two persons wearing balaclavas and darkly dressed in dark clothing during the crime. He immediately called the police. During the search, the officers spotted two dark-dressed men in the immediate vicinity of the crime scene. During their search, the police found storm hats and spray cans with blue paint. The two suspects, aged 21 and 33, who were from Gangelt and known to the police, were then provisionally arrested. In agreement with the responsible district court, both were released this morning. The Aachen police’s State Security Department has started investigations. 

https://searchlight-germany.blogspot.com/2019/12/germany-40-gravestones-vandalised-in.html

Security services in the capital have said they are responding to an incident in the center of the city. Shots fired at Checkpoint Charlie, popular Berlin tourist spot, police say incident related to cafe robbery Berlin police say an operation is ongoing after gunshots were heard during an armed robbery of a cafe near the famous Checkpoint Charlie landmark in the German capital. The incident took place at around 2pm local time, with shots ringing out close to the famous Cold War era Berlin Wall crossing point, which is usually thronged with tourists. Police in the Germany capital of Berlin said they were responding to shots fired in the Friedrichstrasse area in the center of the city.

In the night from Friday to Saturday, a previously unknown perpetrator had written slogans on a concrete wall in front of the main entrance of a grocery store in Vier-Häuser-Street in Schramberg.Using a black felt-tip pen, the anti-Semitic slogan “Don’t buy from Jews you social misfits” was inscribed. An identical text passage had already been found at the same location on the night of November 12 to 13. It is assumed that there was a connection between the two incidents. The Schramberg police are investigating. Persons who have made suspicious perceptions are asked to contact the Schramberg police station by calling 07422/2701-0.

https://searchlight-germany.blogspot.com/2019/12/germany-anti-semitic-graffiti-at-food.html

On Friday evening, a 44-year-old man is said to have killed his wife in Heilbronn. The husband stabbed his 33-year-old wife several times with a pointed object out of jealousy, according to the current state of investigation, around 11:00 pm. The woman died of her injuries. The 44-year-old then went to the Heilbronn police station, reported on the incident and was arrested without resistance. When the police immediately checked the family’s home address, the wife could only be found dead.The seven minor children of the couple were found unharmed in the apartment. According to first investigations they did not witness the crime. The children were cared for and taken into foster care by the Heilbronn Youth Welfare Office. The husband, of Kosovan nationality, was meanwhile brought before a judge who issued an arrest warrant for murder at the request of the Heilbronn public prosecutor’s office. The 44-year-old was taken to a prison.

https://searchlight-germany.blogspot.com/2019/12/germany-kosovo-albanian-stabs-mother-of.html

Success of the Würzburg criminal police in their search for a sexual offence in the Zellerau district: As the Lower Franconian police headquarters and the Würzburg public prosecutor’s office reported on Friday afternoon, the investigators arrested a suspect on Thursday. The 15-year-old is now in custody.The teenager is accused of raping a 19-year-old girl who was on her way home on the night of the 7th of December. According to police, the young woman had got off a bus at the “Bürgerbräu” bus stop at about 2:40 a.m. A few meters further on, she had encountered the perpetrator in the street Mainaustrasse, who then pushed her against a wall. “Subsequently, he touched her indecently in the genital area and abused her sexually,” the report states further.The young woman had “vehemently defended herself” and “loudly shouted for help”. Only after she had bitten the perpetrator’s lip did he let go of her and fled. After an emergency call was received, several patrols immediately went to the scene of the crime, according to the police. A large-scale search for the perpetrator was initially unsuccessful.In the course of further investigations the 15-year-old came into focus of the investigators. “Because of the urgent suspicion of rape, an arrest warrant was issued against the teenager as late as Thursday,” the police and the public prosecutor’s office stated. The arrest took place at the Würzburg district court: there he was in the dock for another offence. During the arrest, the 15-year-old had offered “considerable resistance” and injured an officer of the criminal police.As a police spokesman confirmed to the press, the young Syrian is known to the police in connection with the investigation of juvenile delinquency in the downtown area of Würzburg.These crimes are usually committed by groups with an above-average proportion of refugees. The 15-year-old has so far been charged with theft and assault. 
mainpost.de

During the Christmas holidays, the Federal Police were again very busy at Neumünster station. On Christmas Day, the officers became aware of a man who continuously spat on the floor in front of a train cleaning man and harassed passengers. The 28-year-old Syrian behaved provocatively and was expelled from the station.

https://searchlight-germany.blogspot.com/2019/12/germany-syrian-harasses-train.html

In the period from the 1st of December 2019 to the 23rd of December 2019, two leaded stained glass church windows at the parish church of St. Martin in Perl-Nennig (photo above) were smashed by hitherto unknown persons. Property damage in the amount of approx. 2,000 euros was caused. On Monday, on December the 23rd, 2019, a glass pane of the entrance door of the Lutwinus Chapel in Mettlach-Weiten was smashed in. According to a witness, she heard the shattering of the glass pane at about 03:20 pm. Afterwards four youths (three boys and one girl) came from the direction of the chapel, wearing hoods. At present, it cannot be ruled out that young people may be involved in the damage to property. Further damage to property occurred to the detriment of the parish of Beckingen, where the glass pane of the entrance door to the Catholic Youth Club Erbringen-Hargarten was damaged in the period from 09:00 p.m. on the 20th of December 2019 to 11:30 a.m. on the 21st of December 2019. Furthermore, the facade of the St. John’s Church on the left side of the entrance door was sprayed with blue paint. The material damage amounts to approx. 800 Euro. Persons who can provide information on the above-mentioned crimes are requested to contact the Merzig police inspection by calling 06861/7040.

https://searchlight-germany.blogspot.com/2019/12/germany-several-churches-and-chapels-in.html

It was on Christmas Eve when residents on Alstadener Street in Oberhausen, shortly after midnight, were torn from sleep by loud honking and disturbed during their sleep. Two residents then approached the 28-year-old Opel car driver and asked for silence. As a reaction, the driver, a man from Albania, honked again and then raced off with a cavalier start. Due to the strong acceleration, the Opel crashed into the oncoming lane, where an oncoming driver had to brake hard to avoid a collision.After a few minutes, the Albanian returned on foot and bothered the local residents, who had meanwhile called the police. The man screamed loudly and insulted the residents continuously. The police took the man, who clearly smelled of alcohol, to the police station where a blood sample was taken. They seized his driver’s license and forbade him to further drive in the Opel, which they found parked only one street away with the engine still operating. 

https://searchlight-germany.blogspot.com/2019/12/germany-albanian-man-provokes-local.html