Last week I happened to make three interrelated discoveries: 1. The Australian singer Nick Cave is not the only person to perform in a decrepit West Berlin nightclub in the movie “Wings of Desire” (1987), as I thought I remembered. Cave, who was based in Berlin for a time, sings near the end of the…
But every four years, the election cycle cracks the door open a bit, and Ms. Merkel, whose meetings with European leaders about the state of the continent’s economy are widely reported, can be found regaling small groups — and, by extension, millions of German voters — with tales of hunting for goods in the sparsely…
“He wrote ‘H.O.F.’ on it, and I had to ask my buddies, ‘What is that for?’ ” Lutz said the other day, by phone from the Cincinnati Reds’ clubhouse. “I didn’t really have any knowledge of the history of the game. I’ve had to Google so much.” A quick search could tell Lutz that H.O.F. stands…
As fireworks shot skyward, an imposing gray sedan zoomed forward onto a temporary stage, delivering Alicia Keys, in a dark floor-length evening gown, to the piano where she performed with a local backup band, the Hamburg Philharmonic. Befitting the flagship of the Mercedes line, the premiere of the new S-Class at a vast Airbus jetliner…
Simela Pantzartzi/European Pressphoto Agency A poster of German Chancellor Angela Merkel dressed in a Nazi uniform was seen burning in front of the Greek Parliament last year. Athens has seen its fair share of violence in its rich history, and as a dark red swastika flag burned brightly against smoke bombs, Syntagma Square descended into…
A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that a German family could not claim asylum in the United States because it would face penalties in Germany for home-schooling its children. The Romeike family wanted to educate five children at home “largely for religious reasons,” the decision stated, but were prohibited by German law and faced prosecution.…
The 17-nation euro zone contracted by 0.2 percent from the last three months of 2012, Eurostat, the statistical agency of the European Union, reported from Luxembourg, less than the 0.6 percent decline recorded in the fourth quarter, but more than economists’ expectations of a 0.1 percent fall. The economy of the overall European Union, made…
PARIS — The euro zone economy shrank more than expected in the first three months of 2013, official data showed Wednesday, marking a sixth consecutive quarter of decline as France returned to recession and Germany marked time. The 17-nation euro zone contracted by 0.2 percent from the last three months of 2012, Eurostat, the statistical…
Opinion » Disunion: Fighting for the Union – and Equal Pay The story of the 55th Massachusetts Infantry, a black unit that demanded, and won, just compensation.