During the night going from 24th to 25th of October, the official time throughout Europe will be changed back to the so-called normal time. Those who are still awake in the early morning will reset their clocks from 3 o’clock to 2 o’clock. Their reward will be to sleep an hour longer. This time change was introduced by Directive 2000/84/EC of the European Parliament and the European Council of 19th January 2001 concerning summer-time arrangements. This Directive defines “summer time” as the time between the last Sunday in March and the last Sunday in October. The “summer time” has applied… Read More
Category: 2-EVERYDAY LIFE
All lies: Spoofing scams over the phone and by e-mail
A specific criminal act has become more widespread in the district of Tübingen in the past year: Spoofing (fraud). Fake police officers attempted 454 times to deceive (most often) elderly people. And exploit their fear of crime. That is 258 cases or almost 130 percent more than in 2018, according to the Reutlingen police headquarters in its current crime statistics. The crooks claim might that there has been a break-in in the neighborhood and that the people called are on an address list. Therefore, they should hand over money and valuables to a policeman who would pick them up. On… Read More
What is „Schufa“?
Every person who has applied for a loan or opened an account, has come into contact with the “Schufa”. Schufa is short for „Schutzgemeinschaft für allgemeine Kreditsicherung“ which can be translated as General Credit Protection Agency”. So, what exactly does Schufa do? At Schufa, all data concerning loans, checking accounts, installment payments and other such things, is saved – but only with the consent of the affected person. An inquiry with Schufa is supposed to give information about the creditworthiness, meaning how financially trustworthy, someone is or how orderly they pay back their debts. This is important for banks when… Read More
Opening packages, tasting fruit … what is allowed in the supermarket?
Germans love their supermarkets, as a survey by the German Ministry of Agriculture shows: More than half of all consumers shop there at least once a week. But what is allowed in a supermarket and what is not? The legal experts at Stiftung Warentest have compiled important rules. Nibbling on not-yet-paid-for sweets is prohibited, because the goods still belong to the store owner. Consequently, eating or drinking first and then paying is not allowed. Anyone who wants to buy fresh eggs can open the carton to see if the contents are intact. But it is not allowed to exchange broken… Read More
Car racing prohibited
The public roads in Germany are used by many different people: pedestrians, bicycles, motorcycles, cars, buses, trucks and more. There are laws and rules to ensure that everything works smoothly. The laws dictate who can travel where, how and at what speed. The main purpose of this is to keep traffic flowing, avoid accidents and protect everyone’s life. These laws include the ban of illegal car racing, a topic of recent interest in the media. Anyone who organizes or takes part in such races, risks their own life or that of others. Furthermore, there are also severe penalties for this:… Read More
Warning day in Germany
Starting this year, the nationwide warning day will take place in Germany. From now on, this will happen each year on the second Thursday in September. This falls on September 10th at 11 a.m. in 2020. Warning days and “siren tests” such as this used to happen regularly, but lately only North Rhine-Westphalia had been doing them. On this warning day, the sirens will sound everywhere, loudspeaker trucks will send messages, radio, television and social media will send information and emergency apps such as the NINA app will send push messages. The aim of these measures is to familiarize people… Read More
Coronavirus is not taking a break
Daily, the number of people infected with the coronavirus is rising fast. This is true for the state of Baden-Württemberg and for the rest of Germany. Many people are bringing back the virus from their vacation or are getting infected during gatherings with family or friends. The Minister-President of Baden-Württemberg, Winfried Kretschmann, understands that people are longing for a break. However, he says: “The virus is not taking a summer break.” In fact, the opposite is the case, “It is using every opportunity to spread again.” The head of state wants to avoid a second coronavirus wave as it happened… Read More
Going to the daycare center with a cold
During the fall, many children get a cough and a runny nose. This is also the case during times of the coronavirus. When are children with cold symptoms allowed to go to their daycare center and when not? The state of Baden-Württemberg’s public health department gives an answer to this before the opening of the daycare centers on Monday, August 31st. If a child has a runny nose without any other symptoms, a light cough or a sore throat, they are allowed to go to the daycare center. However, if they have a fever of at least 38 degrees Celsius… Read More
Distorted picture: Immigrants in German media
How does the German media report about people with a history of immigration? The media researcher Thomas Hestermann from the Macromedia University of Applied Sciences investigated this in a study for the Migration Media Service. People with an immigration history rarely have a voice in the media – even when they are being reported on. In only 12.3 percent of TV and newspaper reports about immigrants, are those mentioned quoted directly. For example, the “Bild-Zeitung” (6.9 percent) and the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” (9.2 percent) rarely allow people with a history of immigration to speak, while the most quoting occurs in the… Read More
Killing wild animals is punishable by law
If important flower pollinators such as bees were to disappear, the food supply of humans would be endangered. The Federal Nature Conservation Act (BNaSchG) makes the killing of wild animals a punishable offence: “It is forbidden to deliberately disturb (…) catch, injure or kill wild animals” (§ 39 Abs. 1 Nr.1 BNaSchG). This law applies to all wild animals, including insects such as hornets, wasps, bees or butterflies. www.gesetze-im-internet.de/bnatschg_2009/index.html#BJNR254210009BJNE004002124 tun060907 Impressionen zum Leben in Zeiten der Corona-Pandemie: Foto: tünews INTERNATIONAL; Oula Mahfouz, 14.06.2020 Latest information on Corona: Click here