Notable

Image: Kurdish Struggle/CC BY-2.0

This could open the way for a new peace process in the Kurdish question – if other European governments also follow the ruling

The Kurdistan Workers’ Party PKK is not a "terrorist organization", but a party in an armed conflict. This was the final verdict of the Court of Cassation in Brussels on Tuesday, confirming the decision of the Court of Appeal in March 2019. The Court of Cassation is the supreme court of Belgium and thus the last instance in civil and criminal proceedings.

In Austria, most people want an oVP-FPo coalition, which in Germany would be the equivalent of a coalition between the Union and AfD parties

In osterreich there was allowed to be a slide to the right over the weekend. According to the last poll, the FPo nor the oVP resp. catch up or overtake the Kurz party. SPo seems to have regained its footing after the scandal, but remains in third place with SPD-like scores of 23 percent, which would make a governing coalition with FPo difficult.

The majority believe that Kurz will win the election, and at 40 percent, most want an oVP-FPo coalition. Only 18 percent support a "Dirndl coalition" the oVP with the defeated Grunen and Neos, 17 percent were in favor of repeating the rough oVP-SPo coalition. But they are open fronts. The SPo, Grune and FPo have just voted against the oVP in favor of reforming unemployment assistance so that the partner’s income is no longer taken into account. There is general agreement between the red-blue-green coalition. The old left-right worldviews are increasingly faltering.

The poverty of the unemployed is not an isolated case

After it became known a few days ago that an unemployed man died of starvation in his apartment in Speyer, Germany, the consternation has been. A 20 year old man, who lived with his 48 year old mother, died of malfunction of important organs caused by malnutrition. His mother is under medical treatment for malnutrition-related illnesses.

According to their information, the young man had been cared for by the social welfare office before the introduction of Hartz IV as part of a rehabilitation measure. This ended when the labor market reforms came into effect. The man was classified as able to work, had to apply for unemployment benefit II and was henceforth subjected to the system of demanding and demanding, which had been buried by the proponents of Hartz IV as a gain of personal responsibility and initiative. The death in Speyer showed once again what can happen to people who are unable to keep up with the competition of the fit, flexible and creative.

The story of the stars

Astronomers are delving deeper and deeper into the depths of space, and the data they collect is revealing more and more about the formation, growth and decay of stars. Now it appears that the peak of stellar births was reached five billion years ago. And it becomes darker and darker in the cosmos.

Cat’s Paw Nebula, NGC 6334, a complex region of newly forming stars in the constellation Scorpio, Image: Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope

Berlin group searches the web for authors for a production

Web 2.0 meets play. This experiment, which is probably unique in Germany so far, is currently being tried by a Berlin theater group with the significant name Antigone 2.0. With a project in which everyone can participate via the net. The basis of the planned production is provided by Sophocles’ tragedy "Konig odipus", which is now to be edited, rewritten or expanded by interested parties on this site. According to the preserved Wikipedia principle. Registration is not required, by the way. And what will come out of it, of course, is still completely uncertain.

According to a press release, "It remains to be seen whether only the old language or also parts of the plot will be given a new face". Director Benedict Roeser’s concept revolves around the critical examination of knowledge. odipus, who uncovers his own misfortune through persistent research, is juxtaposed with the current practice of acquiring knowledge, which is changing at an accelerating pace through Internet services such as Wikipedia."