Hey 20 Percent,
Deutsche Bahn says alcohol consumption is verboten from today (September 1) at the Hauptbahnhof and Gesundbrunnen stations. From October, the ban will apply to stations across Germany.
Now can they please crack down on the smoking? Gesundbrunnen still has “smoking areas” with large ashtrays surrounded by people puffing away but also signs that say “no smoking in the whole station”.
News below!
Maurice
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Berlin refuses to pay €2 million hacker ransom
In the recent cyberattack on Berlin’s state IT network, hackers reportedly stole 5.79 terabytes of sensitive data, including emergency plans, passwords, and 6,000 files with login credentials. The group, believed to be the Rhysida ransomware collective, is demanding a ransom of 30 Bitcoins (€2 million). The city has one week to pay. Hacker association Chaos Computer Club remarked that hackers could sell the passwords and other sensitive official data on the dark web. Meanwhile, Mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) said: “The state of Berlin will not be blackmailed.” The hack began as early as August 7 and it took at least a week to detect the intrusion. Investigations continue with help from US cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike. Deputy mayor Iris Spranger says the September 20 elections will be “100% secure.”
Rent cap = fewer new flats?
A study by Munich’s ifo Institute claims that Berlin’s rent cap (Mietendeckel), though overturned by the Constitutional Court in 2021, continues to negatively impact the housing market in Berlin. ifo, a generally pro-market think tank, says uncertainty around potential state intervention such as the yet-to-be implemented Expropriate Deutsche Wohnen & Co referendum has led to a significant decline in new construction and renovation, particularly among large players, according to researcher Mathias Dolls. How to fix the housing crisis is probably the main issue in the September 20 Berlin elections.
Linke candidate unhappy about rapper at Linke event
Elif Eralp, mayoral candidate for the left-wing Die Linke party as well as other party officials, criticised rapper Dahabflex for chanting “Yalla Yalla Intifada West Bank, Palestine, Gaza” and “Death to the IDF” at Die Linke’s “Angry at capitalism!” campaign event in Neukölln. Eralp called the chants unacceptable and is demanding consequences. She said she was committed to opposing antisemitism and urged the party’s Neukölln branch to investigate and take action. The incident has triggered a debate over whether the party should focus on Israel-Palestine in the Berlin election.
Events this week, curated by The Next Day Berlin
🖼️ Reopening: Prater Galerie
Thursday · 6 pm · Prater Galerie, Kastanienallee 7-9, Prenzlauer Berg · free
Seven years of building work, and the communal gallery founded here in 1967, in the GDR, is back. Courage: Sisters in Spirit brings together eight women artists, Yevgenia Belorusets and Magdalena Jetelová among them, curated with ifa, and focuses the new program on Eastern Europe. Anke Lucks and Ruth Schepers open on trombone and reeds, HakkaMoon cooks, and Masha Qrella plays records from seven.
🎸 Kurt Vile & The Violators Thursday · 8 pm · Huxleys Neue Welt, Hasenheide 107-113 · €38 Touring Philadelphia's Been Good To Me, his loosest, warmest guitar record yet.
🔊 JOY: Ecko Bazz (live) & DJ Marcelle Friday · 10:30 pm · Sameheads, Richardstraße 10, Neukölln From Kampala, grime and industrial electronics in Luganda, then Marcelle's genre-refusing selection.
🤖 Who Shapes Culture in the Age of AI?
Sunday · 4 pm screening, 5 pm panel · silent green, Gerichtstraße 35 · €11
Anika Meier screens AI-made film and image work, then sits Mat Dryhurst and Simon Denny down to argue in English about who actually owns the models. Dryhurst has been on this since Spawn, Denny makes art out of infrastructure, and the question is finally being asked by people who make things.
🍺 🥨 Germany-wide news 🥨 🍺
😢 British woman killed in stabbing at Bavarian railway station
🎮 Germany’s military wants to recruit gamers
🌋 Is Germany’s Laacher See volcano stirring again?
Factoid
Three segments of a CIA Cold War spy tunnel have been rediscovered and are being returned to Berlin. The Berliner Unterwelten association will transport the segments to the Lapidarium at Gartenstraße for temporary storage. The discovery was made during construction work at the Kurmark barracks in Storkow, Brandenburg. The spy tunnel was built by US and UK intelligence services in 1955 and used to tap into Eastern Bloc communications but was discovered by East German and Soviet officials in 1956.
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Important Berlin Politician: "Our people are demanding digitalization and they are demanding it now! How do I fix this for the next election?"
IT Expert: "Well as you already know from the last twenty years of reports on this, a proper conversion of Berlin government and its bureaucratic processes, exquisitely refined over the last 150 years since the time of Bismarck, will require ten years and 2 billion euros"
Politician: "I don't have the time or money for that! I got an election in three years to worry about. What can you do for 75 million in two years?"
IT Expert: "Well we can give you something that credibly claims that you digitized government but wastes more of everyone's time than if you had just left everything alone. Plus it will be ridden with Datenschutz problems...."
Politician: "No one important cares about Datenschutz! What's the worst that can happen? Just go ahead and do it."
Smoking should be banned from restaurants outdoors as well. People can get up stay a few meters away and smoke their cigarettes then come back to their table!
That's what I used to do when I was smoking. It didn't cost much.