Latest news with #UlrichMäurer
Yahoo
6 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Berlin police renew push for New Year's fireworks ban
The Berlin branch of the German Police Union (GdP) is pushing for a nationwide ban on private fireworks around New Year's Eve, citing growing public support and safety concerns. "The public is ready to rethink how we celebrate New Year's," Stephan Weh, head of the Berlin GdP, told dpa. In Germany fireworks can be purchased in the days prior to New Year's Eve for private use. Weh pointed to the results of an online survey in April that showed overwhelming support for tighter restrictions on fireworks. It was a non-representative poll conducted by the Berlin GdP itself. It showed that 97% of the roughly 178,000 respondents supported banning fireworks for private use, while 93% backed a ban on sales. Respondents came from all 16 German states, with 85% of them over the age of 30 and 63% women. Weh said it was time for policymakers to act. He said he had submitted the survey results to Ulrich Mäurer so they can be discussed at the next meeting of state interior ministers next week. Weh said the atmosphere around New Year's Eve had increasingly been overshadowed by fear, insecurity and frustration. Around 70% of respondents said they no longer go outside at all on New Year's Eve. Instead of private fireworks, 91% supported organized public firework displays, with nearly half saying they would attend such events.
Yahoo
27-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
German interior ministers demand changes after Aschaffenburg attack
Interior ministers of Germany's 16 states called on Monday for changes in how the psychologically ill are dealt with following a fatal knife attack in Aschaffenburg in Bavaria last week. Potential criminals needed to be identified at an early stage and there had to be better exchange of information between government bodies, Ulrich Mäurer, interior minister of the city-state of Bremen and current head of the conference of interior ministers, said. Protecting the population needed to take priority over data protection, Mäurer said after the extraordinary conference, which was conducted online. Investigators should be given additional facial recognition powers and allowed to analyse data with artificial intelligence, he said. "There is of course no ultimate security, and we cannot make a record of everyone, but we are convinced that more can be done in this area," Mäurer said. The extraordinary conference was called after a 2-year-old child and a 41-year-old man were killed in a park in Aschaffenburg on Wednesday. A 28-year-old failed Afghan asylum-seeker has been arrested in connection with the murders. Chancellor Olaf Scholz is to address parliament on the incident on Wednesday. The stabbings have caused outrage in Germany and provoked heated debate on migration ahead of parliamentary elections on February 23.
