German President Christian Wulff shrugged off an egg attack by a lone assailant yesterday, saying it was the price of having the common touch.
President Wulff, at 51 the country’s youngest-ever head of state, had just arrived in the western city of Wiesbaden when a 48-year-old man in the crowd starting lobbing eggs at him, police said in a statement.
“The clothing of the federal president was soiled,” the authorities said. “The president himself is doing fine.”
Mr Wulff was accompanied by Hesse state premier Volker Bouffier, who was also smeared with yolk. Police overpowered the egg-wielding assailant soon after the ambush and took him into custody.
The president told reporters that he had asked to keep security measures as low-key as possible. “I like to have contact with citizens,” he was quoted as saying. “That means getting hit by an egg now and then.”
Not all German politicians have managed to take such assaults in their stride.
Former chancellor Helmut Kohl was ambushed by demonstrators hurling eggs, tomatoes and paint in the eastern city of Halle in 1991. The furious German leader ran after the attackers, but his staff and a crowd barrier prevented him from levelling a blow.
Mubarak’s name
Partisans and opponents of Hosni Mubarak skirmished outside a Cairo court yesterday as it considered removing the ousted leader’s name from government buildings, a police official said.
About 300 people threw stones and empty bottles after a demonstration supporting Mubarak, who has been detained over a deadly crackdown on protesters who ousted him, gathered outside the Abdeen court house.
The official said soldiers and policemen intervened to quell the clash. Some of the pro-Mubarak protesters later relocated outside the government’s television building, complaining that they were targeted by “thugs”.
The court is considering a motion to remove Mubarak’s name from government buildings and public squares.
Dress code
South Korea’s culture minister yesterday rapped a top hotel for turning away a restaurant guest wearing a traditional hanbok dress, after the incident sparked an internet storm of protest.
Minister Choung Byoung-Gug called the incident “unacceptable” and vowed to take “stern measures” against Seoul’s Hotel Shilla, which is owned by the country’s top business group, Samsung.
Lee Hye-Soon, a celebrated designer of the widely flared dress, said she was refused admission to the hotel’s buffet restaurant on Tuesday night after a manager said the outfit may inconvenience other guests.
“How could I not enter a hotel wearing the traditional dress of my own country?” Chosun Ilbo newspaper quoted Ms Lee as saying. “I felt like our own culture has been insulted.”
Napping controllers
A top US civilian aviation official was forced to resign yesterday after a spate of cases in which air traffic controllers were found napping on the job at airports across the United States.
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) chief Randy Babbitt said he had accepted the resignation of Hank Krakowski, head of the agency’s office that manages the nation’s air traffic organisation.
The departure follows an embarrassing and potentially dangerous string of cases in which air traffic controllers snoozed while planes circled overhead awaiting permission to land, in some cases forcing planes to land without instructions from the control tower.
“Over the last few weeks, we have seen examples of unprofessional conduct on the part of a few individuals that have rightly caused the travelling public to question our ability to ensure their safety,” Mr Babbitt said in a statement.
Married jailbirds
Nepal’s highest court has ruled that married couples jailed at the same time – even for serious crimes – should be quartered together to protect their “conjugal rights”.
The ruling was made on a petition filed on behalf of a husband and wife serving life sentences for murder.
The childless couple had argued that they were being denied their constitutional right to conceive while still fertile.
“If both husband and wife are in the same prison, their conjugal and reproductive rights must be ensured,” Supreme Court spokesman Hemant Rawal said on Wednesday.
Easter egg shortage
Armenia has banned the export of eggs to head off fears of a shortage which could threaten traditional Easter celebrations in the ex-Soviet state, officials said yesteday.
The move follows a national controversy caused by a shortage during the New Year holiday season, when eggs disappeared from many shops for several hours and prices almost tripled.
The problem was blamed on market manipulation by major producers, causing the authorities to fine one leading poultry plant.
“There should be no shortage of eggs at Easter. We have taken several steps to ensure this,” an official at the Armenian Agriculture Ministry, Ashot Hovhannisian, said.
Pick-up trucks’ recall
Ford recalled 1.2 million pick-up trucks in the United States yesterday after finding a problem with the vehicles’ airbag system.
The US firm said a wiring fault could cause the airbag warning lamp to turn on and the airbag to deploy. “We urge all of our customers to seek service immediately for an airbag warning lamp that is illuminated.”
Ford has marketed the best-selling F-150 as a tough and reliable choice for work and personal use. The firm said it was not aware of any accidents caused by the fault.