Germany in Brief

Several Dead in Train Accident

At least five people died and many more were seriously injured in a head-on train collision in southwest Germany on Wednesday. Shortly after noon, two regional trains traveling in opposite directions on a single-track line near the town of Schrozberg collided, causing one wagon to derail and tip over, a spokesman for Deutsche Bahn said. Officials investigating the crash site were not able to give an immediate cause for the accident. Dieter Hünerkoch of Deutsche Bahn said the trains were on the line as planned.

France says German a top al Qaeda leader

The French government said Wednesday it believes a suspected German Islamic extremist arrested at Paris' Charles de Gaulle Airport on June 3 is a high-ranking member of the al Qaeda terror network. Authorities said Christian Ganczarski, 36, confessed he had contacts with al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and that he had been in close contact with the suicide bomber responsible for the deadly attack in Djerba, Tunisia, last year that killed 21 tourists, including 14 Germans. "(Intelligence) services know that he is a top leader of al Qaeda, in contact with Osama bin Laden himself, and has been in Afghanistan and Bosnia," French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy told the National Assembly. "This individual is a specialist in computers and in radio communication services," he said. French police are continuing a formal investigation of the suspected terrorist's activities.

Environment Minister Discusses Can Law

German Environment Minister, Jürgen Trittin met with heads of the beverage industry today for crisis talks over Germany’s new can deposit law. The law, which came into effect in January this year and is supposed to increase recycling, requires consumers to pay a 25 cent (29 U.S. cents) deposit on all disposable cans and bottles. But the German beverage industry has balked at setting up an expensive nationwide network of deposit machines by October 1 and complains the extra costs borne by the deposit penalizes drink producers. Trittin has said that German industry must stand by its promise to adhere to the new law, although representatives at the meeting have said they are not prepared to compromise.

Bundeswehr set to pull out of Kuwait

The German army will reportedly withdraw its troops from Kuwait by the end of the month. Wednesday’s Leipziger Volkszeitung quoted a Defence Ministry spokesperson as saying: "the remaining 60 troops will return to Germany at the end of June." The soldiers who were deployed as part of anti-terror legislation in conjunction with the U.S.-led mission Enduring Freedom have been stationed in the country since last year. They were outfitted with six Fox-class tanks and were responsible for protecting Kuwait against nuclear, biological and chemical weapons attacks.

Playboy Says Germans Love to Love Outdoors

A new nationwide study of Germany’s sexual loves and hates has revealed that Germans have a penchant for having sex in public. The study, commissioned by the German edition of Playboy found that a third of all Germans have enjoyed or enjoy sexual relations in the great outdoors. The survey, carried out by polling group Emnid for the men’s magazine, also found that while Hamburg residents are more likely to head to their cellars for a bit of nookie, ten percent of Bavarians prefer doing it on their balconies. And while every fifth German in the industrial Saarland gets a kick out making love in their local department store, 14 percent of those in Saxony prefer an elevator for a passionate clinch. But not all Germans are fans of public sex. Every fourth German surveyed said they’d never left the bedroom to engage in acts of pleasure.