Potsdam, Germany
Police last week arrested two men for beating a black man nearly to death, an incident that inspired a round of national soul-searching. Ermyas Mulugeta, a 37-year-old Ethiopian-born German, was in serious condition after the attack. Mulugeta was retrieving messages from his home phone when he was attacked, and his answering machine recorded sounds of an argument and a struggle, with a male voice calling him a “dirty nigger.” Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble triggered a political debate when he said the assault might not be a hate crime. “Blond, blue-eyed people are also the victims of attacks,” he said, “sometimes by attackers who might not even have German citizenship.” Authorities said the two men arrested in the case would likely be charged with hate crimes.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Peter Mandelson called Epstein his 'best pal' in birthday noteSpeed Read The UK's ambassador to Washington described the late convicted paedophile as an 'intelligent, sharp-witted man'
-
A Spinal Tap reunion, Thomas Pynchon by way of Paul Thomas Anderson and a harrowing Stephen King adaptation in September moviesthe week recommends This month's new releases include 'Spinal Tap II,' 'One Battle After Another' and 'The Long Walk'
-
'Vampire energy' could be causing your electric bill to riseUnder the Radar Wasted energy could account for up to 10% of home use
