Euro Crisis Reaches German Industry

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A construction site in Frankfurt. Concerns are growing that the German economy may be slowing down.

German companies believe the euro crisis has damaged their prospects for growth in 2012, according to new figures released on Thursday. Manufacturing activity hit a three-year low and export orders have also seen a sharp drop. The data suggest the crisis is starting to hit the previously robust German economy.

For a long time, the German economic powerhouse seemed immune to the effects of the European debt crisis. In recent weeks, however, economic indicators have begun to suggest that dark clouds may be gathering over Germany.

 

The latest bad news came on Thursday. New figures showed that Germany's private sector shrank in June for the second month in a row, and manufacturing activity hit a three-year low.

 

The purchasing managers' index compiled by the research institute Markit based on a survey of 1,000 firms fell by 0.8 points to 48.5 percent -- the lowest figure since June 2009, and below the 50-point mark which is considered to separate growth from contraction. The index for the whole of the euro zone was 46, the same as last month and the lowest level in three years.

Markit's Tim Moore said in a statement that there seems to be "a deepening consensus among German businesses that the euro area turbulence has already damaged their growth prospects for the latter half of 2012." Business outlook in the service sector fell sharply from 55.9 in May to 47.0, the biggest drop in the survey's 15-year history.

The purchasing managers' index for industry also fell by 0.5 to 44.7 points, the lowest value in three years. "German manufacturers were at the forefront of the downturn as a worsening global economic backdrop and the ongoing euro crisis weighed heavily on export demand," Moore said.

In June, export orders saw their biggest drop since April 2009. As a result, industry cut the largest number of jobs in two-and-a-half years. Although the sector sector is still taking on workers, the number of new hires was relatively low in June.

'Worryingly Steep Downturn'

"It is a worryingly steep downturn we are seeing (in Europe) and it is spreading from the periphery, which has been falling at an increased rate, through to Germany," said Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit.

 

There are fears that the German economy may have contracted in the second quarter of 2012, following its strong performance in the first quarter, when it grew by 0.5 percent. The Markit survey suggested that gross domestic product for the whole of the euro zone may have shrunk by 0.6 percent in the second quarter. The German government, however, expects the German economy to grow moderately through 2012, according to a monthly report published by the Finance Ministry on Thursday.

 

The Finance Ministry's report also revealed that tax revenues had fallen in May for the first time in two years. Total tax revenues on the national and state level were €40.26 billion ($51 billion) in May, 4.3 percent lower than in the same month of last year. Ministry experts blamed the drop largely on a technical change in the way certain taxes are collected. But the ministry report also said that there were indicators that the German economy is slowing down, which will affect tax revenues.

Thursday's figures come on the heels of other bad news. The ZEW survey of investor and analyst sentiment published earlier this week showed sentiment fell in June at its fastest rate since October 1998 amid concerns about Spanish banks and the Greek election. Other figures released earlier this month showed that German exports had fallen by 1.7 percent month-on-month in April.

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3,300-year-old treasure trove of gold found in northern Germany has stumped German archeologists.

A 3,300-year-old treasure trove of gold found in northern Germany has stumped German archeologists. One theory suggests that traders transported it thousands of miles from a mine in Central Asia, but other experts are skeptical.

Archeologists in Germany have an unlikely new hero: former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder. They have nothing but praise for the cigar-smoking veteran Social Democratic politician.

 

Why? Because it was Schröder who, together with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, pushed through a plan to pump Russian natural gas to Western Europe. For that purpose, an embankment 440 kilometers (275 miles) long and up to 30 meters (100 feet) wide had to be created from Lubmin, a coastal resort town in northeastern Germany, to Rehden in Lower Saxony near the northwestern city of Bremen.

 

The result has been a veritable cornucopia of ancient discoveries. The most beautiful find was made in the Gessel district of Lower Saxony, where 117 pieces of gold were found stacked tightly together in a rotten linen cloth. The hidden treasure is about 3,300 years old.

The 1.8 kilograms (4 pounds) of gold, which was found in a field, consists of some jewelry, but primarily spirals of gold wire, which are tied together in chains consisting of 10 spirals each. This isn't jewelry, but an ancient form of gold bullion.

Traveling the Continent

When Johanna Wanka, the Lower Saxony science minister, unveiled the treasure to the press in February, the story became even more surprising. She explained that testing done at the University of Hanover had revealed that the gold had come from a mine in Central Asia.

"Using a mass spectrometer, we examined more than 20 trace elements, allowing us to determine the fingerprint of the metal," explains chemist Robert Lehmann. "The gold vein must have been created deep in the mountains of Kazakhstan, Afghanistan or Uzbekistan over a period of millions of years."

Lower Saxony can now consider itself the owner of what Wanka calls the "find of the century." Merchants trading in luxury goods used to travel across the entire continent, says state archeologist Henning Hassmann. "Trips of 10,000 kilometers were nothing to them."

He suspects that the gold found in Gessel was initially brought in caravans from the mountains to the nearby Indus Valley, where a giant riparian culture flourished until about 1,800 B.C. From there, says Hassmann, the merchandise was sent by ship to Mesopotamia and, after that, somehow reached the northern flatlands.

'Pretty Bold'

But is that really the right explanation? Not everyone has faith in Lehmann's analysis of the gold. Some say that, despite the advanced testing equipment at his disposal, Lehmann is "inexperienced." Ernst Pernicka, an archeologist who studies ancient metallurgical processes in the southwestern city of Tübingen -- known for his groundbreaking metal studies on the famous Nebra sky disk -- calls Lehmann's conclusions "highly speculative."

Because almost nothing is known about ancient mining in Central Asia, Lehmann could only compare the Gessel find with a few Scythian gold coins. To arrive at such ambitious theories on the basis of such scant facts is "pretty bold," says Gregor Borg, an expert on gold deposits at the University of Halle in eastern Germany.

Despite the criticism, Lehmann remains undeterred, noting his use of first-class equipment. With these devices, he says, he can also perform confocal white-light microscopy and laser ablation ICP mass spectrometry. "We're counting individual atoms here," he says.

Who is right?

The Asia Connection

As audacious as the Asia connection seems, it could be true. There is plenty of evidence that human greed led to globalized trade more than 3,000 years ago. The ancient Egyptians' folding-chair designs reached Sweden, and magnificent Spondylus shells from the Mediterranean have been found as far away as Bavaria.

Valuable metals such as tin, copper, gold and silver were a favorite among long-distance traders, who dragged them across the continent in rucksacks or on oxcarts. Ötzi the Iceman, a natural mummy found in the Ötztal Alps, probably traded in gold and flint, and was murdered in the process.

But did the merchants' extensive trading networks reach as far as the remote mines in Central Asia as long ago as the 2nd century B.C.? It certainly would have been worthwhile. A massive gold-and-tin belt extends from the Altai Mountains to the Aral Sea. A prehistoric gold mine, the largest in the central Caucasus region, was also recently discovered in Armenia.

 

This could explain the origins of the myth of the Argonauts, who in the story sail through the Black Sea to steal the Golden Fleece.

 

Whether the treasure found inland from the North Sea coast truly originated in the faraway steppes remains disputable for now. Lehmann has invited his critics to attend a presentation in Hanover on July 13, when he intends to elucidate the details of his research. "It will be a closed meeting," he says.

Apparently Lehmann doesn't want anyone to lose face in the dispute over the prehistoric gold.

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Wildlife camera catches Austrian politician having sex in forest

An Austrian politician is in line to get up to £16,000 in compensation after a hidden camera used for snapping wildlife photographed him having sexual intercourse in a forest.

The camera was concealed in a forest in the Austrian region of Carinthia Photo: ALAMY

The politician, who has not been named, will get the money if a court rules the photographs violated his privacy.

Carefully concealed, placed well away from areas frequented by people and packing motion sensors the camera was designed to record the wildlife of the forest in the Austrian region of Carinthia but instead caught the politician's physical liaison.

Legal experts said the camera contravenes Austrian laws restricting the use of surveillance cameras. Hans Zeger, president of Argen Daten, an NGO specialising in data protection, said official permission was needed to place the camera, and "at the very least is should have been marked with signs so visitors could adjust their behaviour and avoid the monitored areas." But the Carinthia Hunting Society, the organisation which placed the camera, defended the use of the spying equipment.

"I cannot say for sure how many cameras are in operation in forests in Carinthia as they do not have to be registered to us," said Freydis Burgstaller-Gredenegger, the society's manager. "We have never had any problems with the cameras up until now." She added that the cameras were generally used to record animal feeding patterns.

So far the politician's blushes have been spared by the society decision to keep both the photographs and his name secret.

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A hot-blooded groom from Feldkirch, Germany, couldn't wait until after the reception to celebrate with his new bride, so he went after a waitress instead.

Sneaking into the kitchen for a secret tryst, the groom and server got it on just hours after he tied the knot.

No one would have been the wiser if the father of the bride hadn't popped in for a snack - and the surprise of his life.

Love & Marriage: A hot-blooded groom from Feldkirch, Germany, couldn't wait until after the reception to celebrate with his new bride, so he went after a waitress instead

Austria's Vorarlberg Online reports that the groom wanted one last taste of the single life before happily ever after.

Unfortunately, the bride's father walked in on the lovers in the act.

The furious father stopped the music, sent home the crowds and told no one why.

 

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That same day, the bride went to the wedding registry office to demand a divorce, but was refused.

She had to stay with her unfaithful man for six months, according to Austrian law.

Kiss Kiss: That same day, the bride went to the wedding registry office to demand a divorce, but was refused. Six months later, she was divorced, but he remarried - to the waitress

But it's not all bad news, that same law requires that the party in the wrong pay alimony.

Eventually the bride got what she wanted and so did the groom.

The court separated the adulterer and his wife, freeing them both. 

He's now happily married - to the waitress.

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Man stranded in desert builds motorcycle out of his broken car

According to Merriam-Webster, ingenuity can be defined as "skill or cleverness in devising or combining" or "cleverness or aptness of design or contrivance." We'd say that's an apt description of a Frenchman named Emile who reportedly found himself stranded in the deserts of Northwest Africa after breaking a frame rail and a suspension swingarm underneath his Citroën 2CV.

What to do? Why, disassemble the broken hulk and build yourself a motorcycle from its pile of parts, of course! As the story goes, Emile was able to use the inventive machine to escape the desert, though not before convincing the local authorities that he wasn't an insurgent and paying a fine for importing a non-conforming vehicle...

Since Emile was the only soul in the area, nobody has been able to confirm the veracity of the events that led to the little French runabout's conversion into a makeshift motorcycle. That said, judging by the images you can see here (apparently from the March 2003 issue of 2CV Magazine), this Citroën-bred two-wheeler does indeed exist, and it was definitely fashioned from parts scavenged from an old 2CV.

Emile, wherever you are, we take our hats off to your real-life MacGyver skills, sir.

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Prince Philip in hospital

The Duke of Edinburgh has been taken to hospital with a bladder infection and will miss the rest of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations. Buckingham Palace said Prince Philip, 90, had been taken to the King Edward VII Hospital in London from Windsor Castle as a "precautionary measure". The Queen is still expected to join 12,000 others at the Jubilee concert which is under way at the palace. The prince will remain in hospital under observation for a few days. The prince had appeared to be in good health when he accompanied the Queen on Sunday on the royal barge the Spirit of Chartwell, which formed part of the rain-drenched Jubilee river pageant. He and the Queen stood for most of the 80-minute journey, as they were accompanied by 1,000 boats travelling seven miles down the river to Tower Bridge.

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Luka Rocco Magnotta, the 'Canadian Psycho,' arrested in Berlin

Luka Rocco Magnotta was arrested in Berlin Monday after a four-day international manhunt that spanned three countries. The 29-year-old Canadian wanted over a horrific Montreal ice pick murder and decapitation of a Chinese student that he allegedly filmed and posted to the Internet, was arrested in or near an Internet cafe, Berlin police said. Montreal police confirmed they are aware of the reports that Magnotta was arrested, but said they are still in the process of contacting their Berlin counterparts. The arrest comes after French authorities said they were investigating a tip that Magnotta travelled from Paris to Berlin via bus on the weekend. “Somebody recognized him and (then) all the police recognized him,” Berlin police spokesperson Stefan Redlich told CP24 Monday. Handout (Click to enlarge) Magnotta's alleged victim is Lin Jun, a 33-year-old Concordia University student from Wuhan, Hubei, China. He was last seen on May 24, police said, and reported missing on May 29. Redlich said police were called in by a civilian who spotted Magnotta and he was arrested after police asked for his identification at about 2:00 p.m. local time in Berlin. Reuters is reporting it was an employee of the cafe, Kadir Anlayisli, that recognized Magnotta. The cafe is on Karl Marx Strasse, a busy shopping street filled with Turkish and Lebanese shops and cafes in the Neukoelln district of Berlin. German television quoted the owner of the cafe saying Magnotta was surfing the Internet for about an hour before his arrest. Redlich said Magnotta has been taken into custody without incident and will go in front of a judge Tuesday. Canadian officials are expected to start the extradition process for Magnotta in the near future.

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