Latest news with #HenrietteReker
Yahoo
06-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Cologne Pride draws thousands in defiance of rising LGBTQ+ hostility
Tens of thousands turned out in Cologne on Sunday to watch one of Europe's largest Pride parades, filling the rain-soaked streets with rainbow flags and colours. Some 60,000 people and 90 floats took part in the parade in the western German city. Rainbow colours, a symbol of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) community, could be seen across the city, in people's clothing and on flags lining the streets. Cologne is sending a strong signal today in support of human rights and everyone's right to live as they want, the city's mayor, Henriette Reker, said. "The mood is different this time," said Jens Pielhau, chairman of the Cologne Pride association, at the opening of the event. Freedom and the right to demonstrate openly and peacefully are in danger, he said. Germany's LGBTQ+ community is facing increased hostility and is the target of a rising number of crimes. In the face of this hostility, Pielhau stressed that it is all the more important to take to the streets in support of queer rights and to show up as a large community. The local police said a large number of officers were on duty to protect the event. Cologne Pride is one of the largest events for the LGBTQ+ community in Europe, hosting a march that is similar in size to the one in Berlin. In Germany, the marches are known as Christopher Street Day (CSD), in honour of the 1969 protest against the police storming of the Stonewall Inn on Christopher Street in New York, which helped spark the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement.
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Carnival's women revelers take over the Rhineland for a day, dancing, drinking and kissing
COLOGNE, Germany (AP) — At 11:11 a.m. on Thursday, hundreds of thousands of carnival revelers took over the streets of the Rhineland in western Germany, dancing, singing, drinking and showing off their colorful costumes. In many places, women stormed city halls, symbolically taking power for one day — which is why carnival's Fat Thursday in this region is traditionally called Weiberfastnacht, or the carnival of the women. According to another tradition, men get a kiss if they allow women to cut off their ties or shoelaces. On this day, kisses are famously exchanged not just among partners, but strangers as well. See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories. By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. In cities like Cologne, Düsseldorf, Bonn and Mainz, Karnevalisten — as the revelers are called in German — threw confetti, toasted with beer and swayed together on the streets. In addition to typical German brass band music, the sound of samba was in the air, too. Bakeries sell vast quantities of jelly donuts during carnival — the so-called fifth season of the year — which lasts from Fat Thursday to Ash Wednesday ahead of Lent in the traditionally Roman Catholic Rhineland. Across the region, police increased their presence following a recent series of stabbings and other attacks. State Interior Minister Herbert Reul said that 9,900 police officers were on duty in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia — 2,500 more than on a regular Thursday, German news agency dpa reported. But despite the recent attacks that have scared many in Germany, Cologne Mayor Henriette Reker called on the revelers to celebrate without fear. 'Nobody will succeed in intimidating us in Cologne," she said. "We will not let terrorists or Islamists take away our joy of life.' Reker herself was stabbed and critically wounded by a far-right extremist in Oct. 2015, while campaigning for the office of mayor. She was elected the following day while in an induced coma and took office about a month later.
The Independent
27-02-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Carnival's women revelers take over the Rhineland for a day, dancing, drinking and kissing
At 11:11 a.m. on Thursday, hundreds of thousands of carnival revelers took over the streets of the Rhineland in western Germany, dancing, singing, drinking and showing off their colorful costumes. In many places, women stormed city halls, symbolically taking power for one day — which is why carnival's Fat Thursday in this region is traditionally called Weiberfastnacht, or the carnival of the women. According to another tradition, men get a kiss if they allow women to cut off their ties or shoelaces. On this day, kisses are famously exchanged not just among partners, but strangers as well. In cities like Cologne, Düsseldorf, Bonn and Mainz, Karnevalisten — as the revelers are called in German — threw confetti, toasted with beer and swayed together on the streets. In addition to typical German brass band music, the sound of samba was in the air, too. Bakeries sell vast quantities of jelly donuts during carnival — the so-called fifth season of the year — which lasts from Fat Thursday to Ash Wednesday ahead of Lent in the traditionally Roman Catholic Rhineland. Across the region, police increased their presence following a recent series of stabbings and other attacks. State Interior Minister Herbert Reul said that 9,900 police officers were on duty in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia — 2,500 more than on a regular Thursday, German news agency dpa reported. But despite the recent attacks that have scared many in Germany, Cologne Mayor Henriette Reker called on the revelers to celebrate without fear. 'Nobody will succeed in intimidating us in Cologne," she said. "We will not let terrorists or Islamists take away our joy of life.' Reker herself was stabbed and critically wounded by a far-right extremist in Oct. 2015, while campaigning for the office of mayor. She was elected the following day while in an induced coma and took office about a month later.
Associated Press
27-02-2025
- Associated Press
Carnival's women revelers take over the Rhineland for a day, dancing, drinking and kissing
COLOGNE, Germany (AP) — At 11:11 a.m. on Thursday, hundreds of thousands of carnival revelers took over the streets of the Rhineland in western Germany, dancing, singing, drinking and showing off their colorful costumes. In many places, women stormed city halls, symbolically taking power for one day — which is why carnival's Fat Thursday in this region is traditionally called Weiberfastnacht, or the carnival of the women. According to another tradition, men get a kiss if they allow women to cut off their ties or shoelaces. On this day, kisses are famously exchanged not just among partners, but strangers as well. In cities like Cologne, Düsseldorf, Bonn and Mainz, Karnevalisten — as the revelers are called in German — threw confetti, toasted with beer and swayed together on the streets. In addition to typical German brass band music, the sound of samba was in the air, too. Bakeries sell vast quantities of jelly donuts during carnival — the so-called fifth season of the year — which lasts from Fat Thursday to Ash Wednesday ahead of Lent in the traditionally Roman Catholic Rhineland. Across the region, police increased their presence following a recent series of stabbings and other attacks. State Interior Minister Herbert Reul said that 9,900 police officers were on duty in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia — 2,500 more than on a regular Thursday, German news agency dpa reported. But despite the recent attacks that have scared many in Germany, Cologne Mayor Henriette Reker called on the revelers to celebrate without fear. 'Nobody will succeed in intimidating us in Cologne,' she said. 'We will not let terrorists or Islamists take away our joy of life.'
