<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/germany" target="_blank" rel="noopener">German</a> gun manufacturer <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/guns" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Heckler &amp; Koch</a> addressed a controversy on social media after the person running their Twitter account defended a pro-feminism Miller Lite ad.
The company distanced themselves from their employee&#8217;s comments, which were also deleted. They <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/twitter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tweeted</a>, “The Road Forward” alongside an image of a road sign that said, “HK does not engage in identity politics. A policy was violated. Changes were made.” 
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The Road Forward. <a href="https://t.co/qdMEo3NiWm">pic.twitter.com/qdMEo3NiWm</a>
&mdash; Heckler &amp; Koch (@HecklerAndKoch) <a href="https://twitter.com/HecklerAndKoch/status/1658959377632559104?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 17, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The gun manufacturing company was likely referring to a series of tweets that went viral in the wake of a Miller Lite ad resurfacing online. The Miller Lite spot, which was originally released in March, celebrated female beer brewers and mocked previous advertising efforts featuring women in bikinis. The ad started circulating in amid the backlash toward Bud Light&#8217;s partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney. 
&#8220;Wow- woke? Allow me to translate: objectifying women was never a good marketing strategy. In the firearms industry, that was a prominent strategy up until recently. Many industries have done that (including beer corps),&#8221; the Heckler &amp; Koch verified Twitter account wrote in the now-deleted tweet. 
&#8220;As an actual woman typing this, I’ll use more words for you to comprehend: using bunnies to sell products is trash marketing. Supporting women by not doing that is good.&#8221;
The social media manager criticized some aspects of the ad. 
&#8220;Now to address the rest, non-bikini parts, of the ad: seems like they should have given sources for the info they’re throwing out. And, for them to isolate a huge part of their target consumer base makes no sense. Annnd, their virtue signaling ad doesn’t even make me want to drink their beer,&#8221; she wrote. &#8220;But, at least they used actual women for it (presumably).&#8221;
She went on to criticize the &#8220;old marketing strategy of putting a gun in a ‘bikini model’s’ hand for the sake of marketing and not even making sure she knows how to hold the gun properly.&#8221;
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Several Twitter users were pleased to see the company quickly take control of the situation with their follow-up tweet. 
TurningPoint USA contributor Lauren Chen <a href="https://twitter.com/TheLaurenChen/status/1658985803413098498" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>, &#8220;Next up is an official apology, but it&#8217;s a good start.&#8221;
Conservative talk radio host Jesse Kelly <a href="https://twitter.com/jessekellydc/status/1658963070457384962?s=43&amp;t=BDz6oekueqrSVJ50bM62xw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a>, “This is how you respond when the liberal white woman you hired finally reveals herself. Well done and I will now go back to wanting an HK, but never actually spending that kind of money.”

HK logo

German Gun Manufacturer Says ‘Changes Were Made’ After Twitter Account Manager Defended Woke Miller Lite Ad

German Gun Manufacturer Says 'Changes Were Made' After Twitter Account Manager Defended Woke Miller Lite Ad

Bud Light

Germany

Guns

Social Issues

Social Media

Twitter

World

The Association for Decentralized Learning, a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/christianity" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Christian</a> hybrid school provider in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/germany" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Germany</a> which offers both virtual and home education, filed a lawsuit at the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/europe" target="_blank" rel="noopener">European</a> Court of Human Rights after government officials refused to grant the entity approval to open new <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/education" target="_blank" rel="noopener">schools</a>.
German authorities did not approve a 2014 application from the Association for Decentralized Learning to launch primary and secondary educational opportunities. Attorneys filed a lawsuit over the inaction in 2017 and presented their case in three separate hearings. The German Constitutional Court dismissed a final domestic appeal last year.
Lawyers for Alliance Defending Freedom International will represent the school before the European Court of Human Rights and contend that the denial of recognition for “an innovative school based on Christian values” should draw scrutiny, according to a <a href="https://adfinternational.org/hybrid-school-echr-germany/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">press release</a> from the faith-based legal advocacy organization.
“The right to education includes the right to embrace innovative approaches like hybrid schooling,” ADF International Director of European Advocacy Felix Böllmann said in the release. “By restricting this educational model, the state is violating the right of German citizens to pursue education that conforms with their convictions. When it comes to the requirement of physical presence, Germany has one of the most restrictive educational systems in the world.”
Current students at the Association for Decentralized Learning reportedly maintain average standardized test scores higher than their peers at government-controlled institutions. Court officials acknowledge the robust educational outcomes but contend that the school’s hybrid model does not offer sufficient socialization for participants.
Home education has been outlawed in Germany for more than a century; four years ago, the European Court of Human Rights ruled against a family from Darmstadt, Germany, which had <a href="https://adflegal.org/client/wunderlich-family" target="_blank" rel="noopener">asserted</a> the right to homeschool their children. Private religious schools, although legal, must follow state-mandated curricula from the area in which they are located.
Tobias Riemenschneider, a pastor at Evangelical Reformed Baptist Church in Frankfurt, Germany, said in an interview with The Daily Wire that the nation’s restrictive education laws present “great difficulty to parents who are convinced by their Christian faith that it is God’s will for them to raise their children themselves in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” He noted that parents who defy government sanctions against home education risk incurring considerable fines, prison sentences, and the possibility that authorities will take their children.
“Even for many Christians who see school attendance as generally compatible with their faith, the situation has changed fundamentally in the last three years,” Riemenschneider said. “In recent times, the state has increasingly included ideologies in the curriculum that contradict the teachings of the Bible, such as homosexuality or transgenderism. Many parents legitimately worry that their child will be indoctrinated at school contrary to their beliefs and may even be encouraged to embrace homosexuality or undergo sex reassignment surgery.”
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Riemenschneider said that Christian families, including some from his congregation, have left Germany to homeschool their children in Switzerland and France over the lack of robust private Christian schools and the cost of enrolling students in the programs. Across Europe, however, home education is “becoming increasingly difficult” or is “banned altogether.”
“If you stay in Germany, the best, and for many only, option is to put your children in as good a Christian school as possible and take the necessary time every day to correct things at home that were taught at school and may go against the parents’ faith,” he added.
Riemenschneider, an attorney by training, expressed doubt that the European Court of Human Rights would intervene in the century-old German school system.
“The current case differs from previous cases in that it is not parents who are suing, but a private school that offers a hybrid school model that combines physical attendance with homeschooling,” he noted. “Particularly in light of the fact that during COVID, public schools had themselves temporarily switched to homeschooling, maintaining such a ban would seem less than stringent.”
The outcome of the case is personal for Riemenschneider since his oldest daughter is slated to begin her formal education next year. “I still don’t know what to do about this,” he added.

Frankfurt, Germany

German Christian School Takes Case Against Nation’s Homeschool Ban To High Court

German Christian School Takes Case Against Nation’s Strict Education Regime To High Court

Christianity

Education

Europe

Lawsuit

A 56-year-old elementary school <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/education" target="_blank" rel="noopener">teacher</a> formerly employed by the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/department-of-defense" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Department of Defense</a> Education Activity will spend the rest of his life behind bars for sexually abusing four students between 6 and 8 years old.
From 2001 to 2021, Stefan Zappey taught first through third grade at Patch Elementary, a school on a U.S. military base near Stuggart, Germany. Zappey was <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/former-elementary-school-teacher-convicted-sexually-abusing-children" target="_blank" rel="noopener">convicted</a> by a federal jury in January of four counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child and four counts of abusive sexual contact, according to the Department of Justice. He was sentenced to life in prison on Tuesday. 
“Zappey’s offenses are especially egregious because he was entrusted with teaching the children of our brave service members overseas,” <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/former-elementary-school-teacher-sentenced-life-prison-sexually-abusing-children" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> Kenneth Polite Jr., the assistant attorney general for the DOJ’s Criminal Division. “The courage of the victims and the perseverance of investigators and prosecutors ensured that Zappey’s offenses were exposed and will prevent him from abusing even more children.”
One of Zappey’s former students came forward in 2020, telling Army criminal investigators that the former elementary school teacher touched her under her clothing while she was attending the school from 2009 to 2010. She also said Zappey called her to his desk during class and repeatedly fondled her. The victim, who was 8 years old at the time of the abuse, said she didn’t report Zappey&#8217;s crimes right away because she “didn’t know it was wrong,” <a href="https://www.kttn.com/former-elementary-school-teacher-sentenced-to-life-in-prison-for-sexually-abusing-children/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to court documents. 
After launching an investigation, officials found that Zappey sexually abused at least four of his students by touching them on multiple occasions and placing his hands inside their underwear to touch their genitals. 
Other students and even some faculty members said they saw Zappey hug students multiple times and had them sit on his lap, touching their backs and stomachs under their clothes, the DOJ press release said. One faculty member said Zappey “would train students to become ‘touchy-feely,’” according to court documents. 
The FBI joined the Army Criminal Investigation Division in investigating the case. The case was a part of Project Safe Childhood, a DOJ initiative combatting child sexual exploitation. 
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American Flag Hanging in Classroom

Former DOD Elementary Teacher Sentenced To Life In Prison For Sexually Abusing Children As Young As 6

Child Sex Abuse

Crime

Department of Defense

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/belgium" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Belgian</a> trade authorities destroyed more than 2,300 cans of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/alcohol" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Miller High Life</a> meant for <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/germany" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Germany</a> earlier this week because the brews were labeled the “Champagne of Beers,” a violation of European Union international customs policies.
The General Administration of Belgian Customs and the Champagne Committee, which monitors and regulates the shipment of alcohols for the wine region of Champagne, France, confirmed in a <a href="https://www.champagne.fr/en/additional-information/media/champagne-press/protected-designation-origin-destruction-beer-cans" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a> that the two entities destroyed the American beverages after they were intercepted in Antwerp, Belgium. The “Champagne of Beers” label was considered an infringement on the “protected designation” of the term “Champagne.”
German authorities “did not contest” the decision to nix the Miller High Life shipment, which was destroyed in Ypres, Belgium, with the “utmost respect for environmental concerns by ensuring that the entire batch, both contents and container, was recycled in an environmentally responsible manner,” according to the statement.
Champagne Committee Managing Director Charles Goemaere lauded Belgian authorities for their “vigilance with regard to the Champagne designation” and their responsiveness to the organization. “This destruction is the result of a successful collaboration between Belgian customs authorities and the Comité Champagne,” he remarked. “It confirms the importance that the European Union attaches to designations of origin and rewards the determination of the Champagne producers to protect their designation.”
Miller High Life, the flagship product of Miller Brewing Company, is an American lager <a href="https://www.millerhighlife.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">created</a> with a blend of malted barley, hops from the Pacific Northwest, and Miller yeast. The brand is owned by Molson Coors, a multinational Canadian and American publicly traded firm.
&#8220;Every year we do thousands of controls on protected designations of origin. It is very important for us to be able to work closely with organizations such as the Comité Champagne,” Belgian Customs Service Administrator Kristian Venderwaeren added in the statement. “The Comité Champagne helps train our teams and provides information that allows us to identify whether products are genuine or counterfeit. When a counterfeit is detected, as is the case here, we also agree on the decision to destroy these goods and how to get them destroyed.”
The zealous customs authorities in Europe have not been the only entities to turn their noses at a popular brand of American beer in recent weeks. Anheuser-Busch InBev, the Belgian company which owns Bud Light, witnessed backlash in the United States after executives partnered with transgender social media influencer Dylan Mulvaney, who gained notoriety for chronicling his supposed “gender transition” on TikTok for more than a year.
Consumer demand for Bud Light appears to have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-straight-hate-on-bud-light-is-real-and-these-sales-numbers-show-it" target="_blank" rel="noopener">plummeted</a> in the weeks since the partnership was unveiled through a social media campaign. A number of public figures have denounced the product, which is traditionally popular among males; country music star Brantley Gilbert, for example, smashed a can of the brew to the ground at a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/f-that-country-music-star-gets-tossed-a-bud-light-during-concert-smashes-it" target="_blank" rel="noopener">concert</a> last weekend.
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Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth issued a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/anheuser-busch-ceo-breaks-long-silence-amid-dylan-mulvaney-pr-crisis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a> at the end of last week in response to the controversy but did not make mention of Mulvaney or transgenderism and neglected to offer an apology to offended customers. Bud Light Marketing Vice President Alissa Heinerscheid is reported to be taking a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bud-light-marketing-vp-takes-leave-of-absence-amid-dylan-mulvaney-controversy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">leave</a> of absence from the company as of Friday.

Glass ofBbeer

If Only It Were Bud: European Authorities Destroy Thousands Of American Beer Cans

European Authorities Destroy Thousands Of American Beer Cans

Alcohol

Belgium

Economy

European Union

A professional photographer is turning down a prestigious award after revealing that the winning image was actually <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/artificial-intelligence">artificial intelligence-generated</a>.
German artist Boris Eldagsen said he intentionally submitted the faux <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/photos">photo</a> to help drive the debate about AI-generated images, per an IGN <a href="https://www.ign.com/articles/an-ai-generated-photo-was-submitted-to-a-competition-to-make-a-point-and-it-ended-up-winning">report</a>. 
Eldagsen was among the winners in the Sony World Photographer Awards, which published the names of finalists in March. He won for the photograph “Electricia,” which was described in Sony&#8217;s press release as &#8220;a haunting black-and-white <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/arts">portrait</a> of two women from different generations, reminiscent of the visual language of 1940s family portraits.&#8221;
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German artist Boris Eldagsen rejected a prestigious photography award and revealed that his submission was AI-generated, saying he hopes &quot;to speed up this debate&quot; on AI images in competitions. <a href="https://t.co/BVX3RzHVLc">https://t.co/BVX3RzHVLc</a> <a href="https://t.co/5D4ISQJ1kK">pic.twitter.com/5D4ISQJ1kK</a>
&mdash; IGN (@IGN) <a href="https://twitter.com/IGN/status/1648314460677832706?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 18, 2023</a></blockquote>
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The German photographer admitted it was a fake as part of a recent blog post, &#8220;How many of you knew or suspected that it was AI generated? Something about this doesn’t feel right, does it?&#8221; Eldagsen <a href="https://www.eldagsen.com/sony-world-photography-awards-2023/">wrote</a>.
He argued that &#8220;AI images and photography should not compete with each other in an award like this” and confirmed that he would not attend the ceremony or accept the award. 
&#8220;I applied as a cheeky monkey, to find out, if the competitions are prepared for AI images to enter. They are not,&#8221; Eldagsen wrote. &#8220;We, the photo world, need an open discussion. A discussion about what we want to consider photography and what not. Is the umbrella of photography large enough to invite AI images to enter – or would this be a mistake?&#8221;
&#8220;With my refusal of the award I hope to speed up this debate,&#8221; he said.
The image was removed from the Sony World Photographer Awards website. A spokesperson for the World <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/photography" data-component="auto-linked-tag" data-link-name="in body link">Photography</a> Organization said Eldagsen had revealed the “co-creation” of the image using AI technology before he was announced as the winner, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/apr/17/photographer-admits-prize-winning-image-was-ai-generated">per</a> The Guardian.
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Conversations about AI potentially being misused are becoming more frequent. Recently, software developer Mckay Wrigley wrote on Twitter that AI would continue to see “exponential growth” and that skeptics should take note because it will “hit them like an asteroid.”
“I saw it happening from well before GPT-1, which is why I tried to warn the public for years,” billionaire businessman Elon Musk <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1647601906087329794">wrote</a> in the replies.
“The only one on one meeting I ever had with Obama as President I used not to promote Tesla or SpaceX, but to encourage AI regulation,” he wrote.
Musk also just signed an <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/musk-wozniak-other-tech-leaders-call-for-six-month-pause-on-ai-development">open letter</a> with hundreds of other technology leaders calling for a six-month moratorium on developing AI solutions stronger than GPT-4 until the potential dangers of the technology can be evaluated.
A recent Goldman Sachs report found that most jobs in the U.S. will be “complemented” by AI, but up to 7% will be “replaced” by the technology, as The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/colossal-share-of-american-jobs-could-be-replaced-by-ai-new-report-says">reported</a>.
RELATED: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/google-ceo-calls-for-ai-regulation-warns-society-to-brace-for-impact-of-technology">Google CEO Calls For AI Regulation, Warns Society To Brace For Impact Of Technology</a>

AI generated image

Photographer Refuses To Accept Top Prize After Admitting His Winning Photo Is AI-Generated

Artificial Intelligence

Photos

Technology

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/jordan-peterson" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dr. Jordan B. Peterson</a> noted the harmful effects of closing <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/nuclear-power" target="_blank" rel="noopener">nuclear</a> power facilities for ideological purposes as <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/germany" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Germany</a> shuttered the nation’s remaining nuclear plants and <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/elon-musk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Elon Musk</a> strongly advised against the move.
Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel approved the gradual closure of the nation’s nuclear plants following the 2011 nuclear meltdown in Fukushima, Japan, which raised public opposition to the emission-free and relatively safe power generation method. The closure of Emsland, Neckarwestheim II, and Isar II, the remaining three nuclear facilities in the country, was slated to occur last year but was delayed until last Saturday as the Russian invasion of Ukraine heightened concerns over energy affordability and reliability.
Musk, an advocate of a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/civilization-will-crumble-elon-musk-issues-dire-warning-about-rapid-shift-to-green-energy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">gradual</a> transition toward renewable energy amid the continued use of fossil fuels, warned that closing nuclear plants in Germany would force the central European economic behemoth to rely upon coal power, which produces higher emissions and causes more deaths than nuclear power plants over time through increased air pollution.
“Germany should not only not shut down the nuclear power plants, it should reopen the ones that shut down. Those are the fastest ones to restart. It’s crazy to shut down nuclear power plants,” he said in an <a href="https://twitter.com/jordanbpeterson/status/1647357961054871554?s=51" target="_blank" rel="noopener">interview</a> shared on social media. “Please do not shut down nuclear power plants and please reopen the ones that have been shut. This is total madness to shut them down. I want to be clear: total madness.”
Peterson, a DailyWire+ host and clinical psychologist, informed the world’s richest man that those who want to close nuclear plants are advocating for an inherently demented policy. “But crazy is the point,” Peterson <a href="https://twitter.com/jordanbpeterson/status/1647357961054871554?s=51" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> Musk on social media. “Anti-nuclear is not a pro-environment stance; it is an anti-human, anti-industrial stance. So crazy is a feature not a bug.”
Peterson has frequently contended that “idiot hypothetically environmentalist policies” in nations like Germany cause more expensive energy and noted the “pseudo-religious” ideological elements which some modern climate movements maintain.
“The environmentalists offer us a story to live by and it’s a pseudo-religious story and it essentially elevates the biosphere, the earth, Gaia the earth goddess, to the status of primary deity and characterizes her as sort of a waif-like innocent victim, easily taken advantage of and fragile,” Peterson <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/a-pseudo-religious-story-jordan-peterson-gets-to-the-core-of-todays-environmentalism-on-tucker" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> Fox News host Tucker Carlson last month. “It casts the entire human endeavor on the social front as a raping and pillaging, patriarchal, monster only interested in power. And it casts the individual as a devouring mouth riding on the back of that giant.”
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While some nations, such as the Netherlands and Poland, seek to expand their nuclear energy initiatives, other European countries are concluding their nuclear programs despite the constrained energy supplies emerging from worsened relations with Russia. Elevated energy prices severely <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/european-companies-pause-production-as-energy-prices-soar" target="_blank" rel="noopener">impacted</a> the continent’s economy in the fall and winter as several manufacturers in central Europe shuttered their operations due to the cost increases. Germany relied on Russia for more than half of natural gas supplies before the war.
“This is a national security risk. Listen, playtime is over,” Musk continued in the interview. “It is a national security risk to shut these things down.”

Jordan Peterson

‘Crazy Is The Point’: Jordan Peterson Reacts To Germany Closing Last Nuclear Power Plants, Elon Musk’s Dire Warning

Jordan Peterson Reacts To Germany Closing Last Nuclear Power Plants, Elon Musk’s Dire Warning

Climate Change

Elon Musk

Energy

Nuclear

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/germany" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Germany</a> will shutter the nation’s three remaining <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/nuclear-power" target="_blank" rel="noopener">nuclear</a> energy plants on Saturday, marking an end to the <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/economy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">economic</a> bellwether’s utilization of the power source despite threats to <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/energy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">energy</a> security posed by the Russian invasion of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/ukraine-russia-war" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ukraine</a>.
Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel approved the gradual closure of the nation’s nuclear plants following the 2011 nuclear meltdown in Fukushima, Japan. The closure of Emsland, Neckarwestheim II, and Isar II, the remaining three nuclear plants in the country, was slated to occur last year but was delayed until this month over concerns about energy security, since Germany imported more than half of its natural gas reserves from Russia ahead of the war.
&#8220;The risks of nuclear power are ultimately uncontrollable; that&#8217;s why the nuclear phaseout makes our country safer, and avoids more nuclear waste,” German Environment Minister Steffi Lemke, a member of the Green Party, said at the end of last month, according to a <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/germany-shuts-down-its-last-nuclear-power-stations/a-65249019" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from German state-funded media outlet Deutsche Welle.
The popularity of nuclear energy in Germany rose amid the soaring energy prices in the early 1970s. The Chernobyl nuclear meltdown in 1986 provoked widespread hesitance toward the power source and inaugurated decades of politically charged debate over nuclear energy policy, according to an <a href="https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/country-profiles/countries-g-n/germany.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">analysis</a> from the World Nuclear Association. Nuclear energy once accounted for one-third of electricity supplies in Germany.
The Netherlands and Poland will meanwhile expand their nuclear systems while Belgium is delaying a previously enacted phaseout. Some nations, on the other hand, proceeded with shutdowns of nuclear facilities despite catastrophic increases in energy prices induced by the conflict in Ukraine. Switzerland, for example, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/swiss-nuclear-power-plant-cuts-production-in-middle-of-energy-crisis-to-protect-local-fish" target="_blank" rel="noopener">slowed</a> production at one nuclear power plant to avoid raising nearby river temperatures and thereby protect local fish populations.
The elevated energy prices severely <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/european-companies-pause-production-as-energy-prices-soar" target="_blank" rel="noopener">impacted</a> the continent’s economy in the fall and winter as a number of manufacturers in central Europe shuttered their operations due to the cost increases. Several nations meanwhile <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/switzerland-may-jail-people-who-turn-heat-above-66-degrees-this-winter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">imposed</a> mandates for power usage, prohibiting residents from raising their thermostats or lowering their air conditioners beyond certain levels.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/european-union-social-market-economy-might-redistribute-fossil-fuel-profits" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> last year that she would introduce standards for European Union member states to reduce “overall electricity consumption” funded by redistributing profits from oil and gas companies.
“We are proposing a cap on the revenues of companies that produce electricity at a low cost. These companies are making revenues they never accounted for, they never even dreamt of,” von der Leyen said. “In our social market economy, profits are good. But in these times it is wrong to receive extraordinary record profits benefitting from war and on the back of consumers. In these times, profits must be shared and channeled to those who need it the most.”
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The European Union, in accordance with the European Green Deal and the Paris Climate Agreement, abides by the <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/clima/eu-action/climate-strategies-targets/2050-long-term-strategy_en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">goal</a> of becoming “a climate-neutral society” by 2050. Though von der Leyen has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/european-union-intends-to-flatten-the-curve-for-electricity-use" target="_blank" rel="noopener">acknowledged</a> that low hydropower generation caused by droughts is partially responsible for high energy prices in Europe, she said that “the climate crisis” is the ultimate impetus for the weather conditions and called for the elimination of all fossil fuel dependence.
Policymakers in the United States have similarly asserted that rising energy prices must increase the urgency of a transition toward renewable power. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/energy-secretary-lays-out-the-only-way-to-avoid-high-gas-prices-and-its-not-producing-more-oil" target="_blank" rel="noopener">contended</a> last year that the “only way out” of “boom-and-bust cycles” in energy prices is “deploying clean energy.”

Nuclear phase-out in Germany – Emsland nuclear power plant

Germany Shuts Down Remaining Nuclear Power Plants Despite Threats To Energy Security

Germany Shuts Down Remaining Nuclear Power Plants

Nuclear Power

Ukraine-Russia War

Danish investigators invited the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/nord-stream-pipeline" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nord Stream</a> pipelines’ Russian operator to inspect and help recover an unidentified object found near the only remaining intact pipeline on Thursday.
Last week, the pipelines’ Swiss-based operator found the cylindrical object jutting over a foot out of the seabed during an inspection of the last intact pipeline, according to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/denmark-invites-nord-stream-operator-help-salvage-unidentified-object-2023-03-23/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reuters</a>. The other three pipelines that make up the Nord Stream network, which carries natural gas from Russia to Germany, were blown up in September in what several countries’ investigators have said was an intentional act of sabotage.
“With a view to further clarifying the nature of the object, Danish authorities have decided to salvage the object with assistance from the Danish Defence,” Denmark’s Energy Agency said in a statement Thursday. “The Danish Energy Agency has in that context invited the owner of the pipeline, Nord Stream 2 AG, to participate in the operation.”
Despite months of investigating, officials have yet to formally accuse anyone of blowing up the pipelines. German investigators have said the party of a yacht rented several weeks before the explosions is raising red flags. The mysterious crew, which rented the boat on September 6, has ties to Ukraine, investigators <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/nord-stream-pipeline-blasts-lead-to-ukraine-media-reports-germany/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.
Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, dismissed questions that Ukraine’s government had been involved in the Nord Stream explosions.
“Although I enjoy collecting amusing conspiracy theories about the [Ukrainian] government, I have to say: [Ukraine] has nothing to do with the Baltic Sea mishap and has no information about ‘pro-[Ukraine] sabotage groups,’” Podolyak <a href="https://twitter.com/Podolyak_M/status/1633160394427494415" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a post on social media.
Investigators say that the 50-foot-long yacht Andromeda, rented from a harbor in northern Germany, could have served as a staging point for divers to swim down to the pipelines on the bed of the Baltic Sea and rig them with explosives. The boat carried traces of explosives when investigators examined it.
Russian President Vladimir Putin was under suspicion of ordering the sabotage early on, though no evidence has been found connecting Russia with the explosions. It is unclear what motive Putin would have to carry out the attack, and skeptics have pointed out that if Russia wanted the pipelines offline, it could have cut off the supply of fuel.
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Putin has dismissed reports that suggested Ukraine or pro-Ukraine militants were responsible for sabotaging the pipeline.
“One should always look for those who are interested. And who is interested? Theoretically, of course, the United States is interested,” Putin <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/putin-says-nord-stream-blasts-carried-out-state-level-2023-03-14/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. The Russian president added that whoever was responsible needed state support to pull it off.
The United States has been pointed to as a potential culprit, earning early suspicion because of some of President Joe Biden’s past opposition to Nord Stream and his pledge to “stop it.” Investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, who won a 1970 Pulitzer Prize for international reporting, but whose later journalism has been strongly questioned, reported in February that the United States sabotaged the pipeline with help from Norway.
The U.S. and Norway have denied Hersh’s <a href="https://seymourhersh.substack.com/p/how-america-took-out-the-nord-stream">report</a>, which has not been corroborated. “This is false and complete fiction,” White House spokeswoman Adrienne Watson told Hersh.

Nord Stream 2

Denmark Invites Nord Stream’s Russian Operator To Salvage Unidentified Object Near Pipeline

Denmark

Global Politics

Nord Stream Pipeline

Russia

Ukraine

United States

A <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/germany">German</a> ballet director has formally apologized for smearing dog feces in the face of a critic, but she’s not buying it.
The incident occurred over the weekend when Marco Goecke approached Wiebke Hüster, a newspaper critic, during an intermission of a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/theater">show</a> and asked why she was there, per Buzzfeed News. Goecke was allegedly angry about a bad review Hüster had written about one of his shows in The Netherlands and claimed she was responsible for people canceling season tickets to his performances.
Per reports, the ballet director <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/crime">retaliated</a> by smearing dog feces in the critic’s face on Saturday.
“He didn’t just throw it at me. He pulled out the bag with the open side of the bag and rubbed it in my face brutally, so the dog poop would stick in my face,” Hüster <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/german-ballet-director-marco-goecke-accused-of-throwing-dog-feces-on-critic">told</a> The Daily Beast of the incident. “One moment we were still talking and the next moment his fist was in my face. When I realized what he had done, I screamed. I was so shocked, so panicked. You can’t imagine.”
“I would like to apologize sincerely to all concerned, first and foremost to Ms. Hüster, for my absolutely unacceptable act,” Goecke shared in a written statement. “In retrospect, I am clearly aware that this was a disgraceful act in the heat of the moment and an overreaction,” he continued.
He also said the incident occurred following a &#8220;nervous strain of two premieres in quick succession&#8221; in The Hague on February 9 and in Hanover on Saturday, per <a href="https://www.cnn.com/style/article/ballet-director-dog-feces-critic-intl-scli/index.html">CNN</a>.
Next, the director attempted to defend his actions, saying Hüster should “rethink a certain form of destructive and hurtful reporting that damages the whole cultural sector” and accused her of posting “nasty reviews.”
“I apologize for the fact that I finally blew my top, but I also ask for a certain understanding at least for the reasons why this happened,” he wrote. Goecke also told public broadcast station NDR that Hüster had been &#8220;throwing s***&#8221; at him &#8220;for years.”
“What kind of an apology is this supposed to be?” Hüster replied while speaking with 3sat television, per HuffPo.
Goecke was subsequently suspended from his role as ballet chief at the Hannover State Opera following the incident. 
&#8220;Ballet director Marco Goecke has violated all principles of conduct of the Hanover State Opera by his impulsive reaction towards journalist Wiebke Hüster last Saturday evening, has deeply offended Ms. Hüster personally and has thus unsettled the audience, the employees of the house, and the general public in the most extreme way,&#8221; the organization said in a statement, per <a href="https://www.cnn.com/style/article/ballet-director-dog-feces-critic-intl-scli/index.html">CNN</a>.
Hüster’s review of Goecke’s play “In the Dutch Mountain” was published the same day as the incident and called the production “disjointed” and capable of making audiences “go insane and be killed by boredom while watching.”

New artistic directors at the Staatstheater Hannover

German Ballet Director Issues Apology For Smearing Dog Feces In Critic’s Face, Asks For ‘Understanding’ Of Why He Did It

German Ballet Director Issues Apology For Smearing Dog Feces In Critic's Face, Asks For 'Understanding' Of Why He Did It

Assault

Theater

A mystery straight out of an Agatha Christie novel, with a lookalike found on Instagram, a missing woman, and a murdered victim has reportedly been solved by police.
A German-Iraqi young woman who reportedly had issues with her family is suspected of finding a lookalike on Instagram, arranging a meeting with her, and then murdering her in the hope that her family would identify the body as hers and she could escape to another life.
“The crime weapon has not been found, but the evidence is overwhelming,” police spokesperson Andreas Aichele, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/30/doppelganger-murder-ingolstadt-german-prosecutors-allege-woman-killed-lookalike-to-fake-death" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> Bild. “The victim was killed with over 50 thrusts of the knife, the face completely disfigured.”
“I can confirm that the accused 23-year-old female obviously planned to start a new life due to family problems,” Aichele said of what has been called the “doppelganger murder.”
“Investigations revealed contact to several young ladies during a period of few weeks,” Aichele told <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/doppelganger-murder-woman-killed-instagram-lookalike-fake-death-rcna68318?cid=sm_npd_nn_tw_ma" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NBC News</a>. “Investigators assume that under a pretext she managed to organize a meeting with the later victim. Together with the 23-year-old male she traveled to the Heilbronn region to pick her up and carry out the planned murder.”
The body of Khadidja O, 23, an Algerian beauty blogger, was found last August in a parked Mercedes; she was identified as Sharaban K. by Sharaban K’s family. But the following day an autopsy revealed that the identity was not clear.
Sharaban K. and her partner in crime, Sheqir K, 23, were detained by police on August 19. The couple allegedly picked up the victim from her apartment, then parked in the woods, lured the victim to exit the car, then stabbed Sharaban K. to death before placing the body back in the car and leaving the car near the Danube, where it was discovered by Sharaban K’s parents.
“You don’t get a case like this every day, especially with such a spectacular twist,” Aichele stated. “On the day we found the body there was nothing to prepare us for this development.”
Professor Fiona Brookman, a professor of criminology at the University of South Wales, admitted “committing a murder in order to fake one’s own death — I have never come across a homicide of this kind before.”
The case of someone disfiguring a victim so the body can be identified as their own and permit them to escape to a new life was a key part of Agatha Christie’s classic “Murder on the Links,” the second book devoted to her most famous creation, Hercule Poirot, who was the subject of 33 novels.

Police searching for clues after murder case in Ingolstadt

Woman Accused Of Killing Lookalike, Disfiguring Face To Fake Her Own Death

Look-alike

Murder

According to a Tuesday report, United States officials have <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/poland-formally-requests-german-permission-to-send-tanks-to-ukraine-11674558492">said</a> that the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/biden-administration" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Biden administration</a> is <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/us-may-deliver-significant-number-abrams-tanks-ukraine-despite-pentagon-misgivings">moving</a> in the direction of delivering a number of Abrams M1 tanks to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/ukraine" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ukraine</a> with a potential update on the plan this week.
The news would come in coordination with a move from <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/germany" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Germany</a>, which would also send some of its Leopard 2 tanks, as well as allowing more tanks made by Germany to be sent by other countries, according to The Wall Street Journal.
On Tuesday, Spiegel Politics <a href="https://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/krieg-in-der-ukraine-deutschland-schickt-leopard-panzer-a-e2dde871-88d0-4cf5-8aae-482d58fd850f" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is now also planning to send tanks to Ukraine. Poland has also officially <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2023/01/24/u-s-approving-abrams-tanks-ukraine-00079218" target="_blank" rel="noopener">requested</a> approval from Germany to send Leopard tanks to the country. 
“The Germans have already received our request for consent to transfer Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine,” Poland Defense Minister Mariusz Błaszczak said. “I also appeal to the German side to join the coalition of countries supporting Ukraine with Leopard 2 tanks.”
The United States, Germany, and other countries have contended over the delivery of tanks to war-torn Ukraine in order to help the nation in its fight against Russia. 
Last week, at the World Economic Forum, the chancellor privately <a href="https://www.politico.com/newsletters/national-security-daily/2023/01/19/scholz-to-lawmakers-us-must-move-first-on-tanks-00078507" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> legislators that he was not going to give Leopard tanks to Ukraine until the United States said it would send the Abrams tanks. After speaking with Scholz last week, President Joe Biden said he would examine sending Abrams tanks, even though the Pentagon was against it. 
A top German official said that the topic had been debated for over a week and seemed to be headed towards a solution, according to the Journal.
Military authorities had pushed back against the notion of sending the Abrams tanks due to how the military equipment uses gas and the effort that goes into their maintenance. 
“The Abrams tank is a very complicated piece of equipment. It’s expensive, it’s hard to train on. It has a jet engine, I think it’s about three gallons to the mile of jet fuel. It is not the easiest system to maintain,” Colin Kahl, the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2023/01/24/u-s-approving-abrams-tanks-ukraine-00079218" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> the press last week after traveling to Kyiv. “It may or may not be the right system.”
Officials in Germany have noted that Scholz was worried about Ukraine having so many of the military tanks that were made in Germany, since it could make it look like Germany was a main player in the war. The country wants to take action with the allies, specifically the United States since it does not have its own nuclear deterrent, the officials noted.
However, Germany <a href="https://thebulletin.org/2022/10/germanys-nuclear-weapons-policy-and-the-war-money-for-nukes-words-for-disarmament/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">keeps</a> <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2021/11/19/nuclear-weapons-debate-in-germany-touches-a-raw-nato-nerve/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">nuclear</a> <a href="https://www.icanw.org/germany" target="_blank" rel="noopener">weapons</a> of the United States on its land.
“We absolutely want to have German tanks in Ukraine but they need to be part of a broad coalition that would provide a mix of hardware, including the Abrams,” one official reportedly stated.

15051F63-7EFE-48FB-9CF0-1CCEF5D2F287_1_201_a

Report: U.S. Moving Towards Delivering Abrams Tanks To Ukraine, Germany To Also Send Tanks

Biden Administration

Military

New video that showed law enforcement officials detaining far-Left climate activist Greta Thunberg this week at an anti-energy protest in Europe sparked allegations that the entire situation was &#8220;staged&#8221; for the media.
The 20-year-old and her cohorts were protesting the planned demolition of the coal mining town Lutzerath in western Germany to make way for an expanded coal mining operation. The demonstration comes as the continent deals with an energy crisis sparked by Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Thunberg was initially seen smiling as German police picked her up and carried her away. However, video later emerged that showed the moments before Thunberg was carried off by police.
The footage showed the police effectively allowing the media to take pictures and film Thunberg before they removed her from the area.
Several major Twitter accounts claimed that the situation looked &#8220;staged&#8221; for the media.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
LMFAO Greta literally staged being arrested for the cameras. <a href="https://t.co/qGNurU0lrO">pic.twitter.com/qGNurU0lrO</a>
&mdash; Greg Price (@greg_price11) <a href="https://twitter.com/greg_price11/status/1615472233715208193?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 17, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Yes, the Greta Thunberg arrest was staged for the establishment media. 
 <a href="https://t.co/UtuRv0c2fD">pic.twitter.com/UtuRv0c2fD</a>
&mdash; Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) <a href="https://twitter.com/stillgray/status/1615471758093725698?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 17, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
This is how the fake arrest of Greta Thunberg was done.
Mainstream media will show only one photo where policemen are carrying her. Let me know if any mainstream media has covered this video!
 <a href="https://t.co/RUKPAPQV4y">pic.twitter.com/RUKPAPQV4y</a>
&mdash; Vijay Patel🇮🇳 (@vijaygajera) <a href="https://twitter.com/vijaygajera/status/1615597653689077760?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 18, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
“Greta Thunberg was part of a group of activists who rushed towards the ledge,” a police spokesperson told Reuters. “However, she was then stopped and carried by us with this group out of the immediate danger area to establish their identity.”
“There is no reason to hold them for days,” the spokesperson added. “It might take hours or they will go immediately.”
Thunberg was eventually released by police.
&#8220;Yesterday I was part of a group that peacefully protested the expansion of a coal mine in Germany,&#8221; Thunberg tweeted Wednesday. &#8220;We were kettled by police and then detained but were let go later that evening. Climate protection is not a crime.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Yesterday I was part of a group that peacefully protested the expansion of a coal mine in Germany. We were kettled by police and then detained but were let go later that evening.
Climate protection is not a crime.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/LuetziBleibt?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#LuetziBleibt</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/LuetziLebt?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#LuetziLebt</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/KeepItInTheGround?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#KeepItInTheGround</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ClimateJustice?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ClimateJustice</a>
&mdash; Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) <a href="https://twitter.com/GretaThunberg/status/1615618850711552000?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 18, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Germany has expanded its use of coal to the highest levels in more than half a decade after Russia clamped down on natural gas exports to Europe.
Part of the increased demand for energy comes from France, where nuclear reactor outages have caused issues.
Germany has had to extend “the lives of Germany’s nuclear power facilities” despite the country’s desire to move away from the clean energy source.
During a speech several years ago, Thunberg repeatedly condemned adults by dramatically saying, “how dare you!” as she complained about how the world works.
“My message is that we’ll be watching you. This is all wrong, I shouldn’t be up here, I should be back in school on the other side of the ocean,” Thunberg began. “Yet, you all come to us young people for hope, how dare you. You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words and yet I’m one of the lucky ones. People are suffering, people are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction and all you can talk about is money and fairytales of eternal economic growth.”
“You are failing us but the young people are starting to understand your betrayal,” she said. “The eyes of all future generations are upon you and if you choose to fail us I say we will never forgive you. We will not let you get away with this. Right here, right now, is where we draw the line the world is waking up, and change is coming whether you like it or not.”
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/greta-snaps-change-everything-climate-crisis-about-colonial-racist-and-patriarchal-systems-of-oppression-fossil-fuel-literally" data-reader-unique-id="44">GRETA SNAPS: ‘Change Everything,’ ‘Climate Crisis’ About ‘Colonial, Racist, And Patriarchal Systems Of Oppression,’ Fossil Fuel ‘Literally’ Killing Us</a>

BRITAIN-SWEDEN-CLIMATE-BOOK

New Video Of Greta Thunberg’s Detention Sparks Allegations Of A ‘Staged’ Incident

Environment

Greta Thunberg

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