The Globe and Mail - 22.02.2020

(Elle) #1
Adventure Canada, 55 Woodlawn Ave, Mississauga, ON L5G 3K7 Canada, TICO Reg# 4001400

advcan.ca/scotland 855.830.


ExperienceScotland,Slowly


Take a step back in time and discover Scotland on this uniquesmallship
expedition. Ancient ruins, dramatic cliffs, and gentle grasses—magic
flows through this coastal landscape. Here, nature and culture thrive, and
music and stories abound. Visit Glasgow, the Western Isles, Orkney, the
Shetland Islands, and Aberdeen, learning from Scottish experts as we go.
We willaccesstouniqueplacesas we travel by sea. Search for whales and
seabirds by Zodiac and wander among Neolithic ruins. Hike along the coast
for dramatic ocean views. Like good whisky, we will savour Scotland, slowly.

ScotlandSlowly, June 14–24, 2021
Book before June 1, 2020 and save 15%

©Dennis Minty

Iona Abbey

ARE


YOU


SITTING


DOWN?


HOMESOCIETE.CA/1270CALEDONIARD,TORONTO/647-696-

15

%


SATURDAY,FEBRUARY22,2020 | THEGLOBEANDMAIL O A


Gokhan Gultekin’s juggling act
was in many ways typical of Ha-
nau’s Turkish community: Tak-
ing care of frail parents, hustling
to work at a late-night café, mak-
ing some cash on the side at a sec-
ond job and attending Friday
prayers at the mosque across
town.
On Friday, Mr. Gultekin’s
friends mourned him at his
house of worship, two days after
“Gogo” was killed in a racially
motivated shooting rampage
that shook Germany and prompt-
ed fresh calls for a crackdown on
far-right extremism and anti-im-
migrant scapegoating.
“We grew up in here in these
streets, ran through the play-


grounds, laughed together,” said
Omer Demir, who described his
recently engaged, 37-year-old
friend as hard-working.
On Wednesday, a 43-year-old
German, Tobias Rathjen, shot to
death nine people with immi-
grant backgrounds in this Frank-
furt suburb before apparently
killing his mother and himself.
Five of the victims were reported
to be Turkish citizens. Mr. Rath-
jen left rambling texts and videos
in which he espoused racist
views, called for genocide and
claimed to have been under sur-
veillance since birth.
Germany’s top security official,
Interior Minister Horst Seehofer,
said protection would be stepped
up across the country at mosques
and other “sensitive sites” in the
wake of the attack. “The threat
posed by far-right extremism, an-
ti-Semitism and racism is very
high in Germany,” Mr. Seehofer
said in Berlin.
In Hanau, German and Turkish
flags flew at half-staff outside the
Turkish-speaking DITIB mosque,
where more than 300 people at-
tended the regular Friday prayers.
The mosque opened its doors
to the journalists who have
swarmed into Hanau after the at-

tack – not a usual practice in pri-
vacy-obsessed Germany. Mem-
bers of the congregation dis-
cussed their concerns openly and
offered reporters tea. The chair-
man of the mosque board, Mem-
duh Onder, said the community
was not afraid, “because we are
together,” citing the memorial
gathering Thursday evening in
front of City Hall, where German
President Frank-Walter Stein-

meier spoke. “The thousands of
people on the square, most of
them were German,” Mr. Onder
said.
On Thursday evening, thou-
sands of people gathered in cities
across Germany to hold vigils for
the victims but also to express
anger that authorities haven’t
done more to prevent attacks de-
spite a string of violent episodes
in recent years. Last week, au-

thorities arrested 12 men, includ-
ing a police employee, on suspi-
cion of planning attacks on Mus-
lims and politicians. Some have
also called for a crackdown on
the extremist and anti-migrant
ideology that has crept into
mainstream political debate with
the rise of the Alternative for Ger-
many party, or AfD. A top official
in the centre-left Social Demo-
cratic Party, a junior partner in
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s gov-
erning coalition, accused AfD of
providing ideological fodder to
people such as the Hanau gun-
man.
“One person carried out the
shooting in Hanau. That’s what it
looks like. But there were many
that supplied him with ammuni-
tion, and AfD definitely belongs
to them,” Lars Klingbeil told Ger-
man public broadcaster ARD.
Parts of AfD already were un-
der close scrutiny from Germa-
ny’s domestic intelligence agen-
cy. The party has rejected all re-
sponsibility for far-right attacks,
including a deadly anti-Semitic
shooting outside a synagogue
and the killing of a regional poli-
tician last year.

ASSOCIATEDPRESS

ShootingsinGermanypromptcallsforaction


Afterthelatestattack


left11peopledead,


vigilswereheldacross


thecountry,andsome


calledforacrackdown


onextremistideology


DAVIDMCHUGH
FRANKJORDANS
HANAU,GERMANY


MournersgatherinfrontoftheArenaBar&CaféonFridayto
commemoratethevictimsofashootingearlierintheweekthatleft
peopledeadinHanau,Germany.THOMASLOHNES/GETTYIMAGES

Michael Bloomberg said Friday he’d free three women
from confidentiality agreements that bar them from
speaking publicly about sexual harassment or discrimi-
nation suits filed against him over the past three dec-
ades.
The billionaire former mayor of New York also said his
company, Bloomberg LP, will no longer use such agree-
ments “to resolve claims of sexual harassment or mis-
conduct going forward.”
His remarks come after days of intense scrutiny over
the treatment of women at the company he’s led for
three decades, and amid pressure from Democratic presi-
dential rival Elizabeth Warren to allow the women to
share their claims publicly. Ms. Warren hammered Mr.
Bloomberg over the issue in the recent debate, his first
time facing his rivals. The announcement Friday high-
lights his efforts to remove a vulnerability ahead of the
next debate, on Tuesday in South Carolina, and refocus
his campaign ahead of March 3, known as Super Tuesday,
when he will be on the ballot for the first time. Mr.
Bloomberg didn’t automatically revoke the agreements,
but told the women to contact the company if they
would like to be released. The three agreements he’s
willing to open up relate specifically to comments he’s
alleged to have made. His company reportedly faced
nearly 40 lawsuits involving 65 plaintiffs between 1996
and 2016, though it’s unclear how many relate to sexual
harassment or discrimination.
At this week’s debate in Nevada, Mr. Bloomberg called
such nondisclosure agreements “consensual” and said
women who complained “didn’t like a joke I told.” The
remarks were viewed by some as out-of-touch with the
post-#MeToo era, which has prompted far more serious
scrutiny of sexual harassment and innuendo by men in
the workplace. Mr. Bloomberg is one of the country’s
richest men, worth an estimated US$60-billion.
It was the first time Mr. Bloomberg was truly put on
the spot in an otherwise choreographed campaign, where
he’s been promoting his message through television
advertising and scripted speeches rather than debates
and town halls with voters.
Mr. Bloomberg said in a statement he’d done “a lot of
reflecting on this issue over the past few days.”
ASSOCIATED PRESS


BLOO!BERSYSTREE:O!E"RELLO:E TO
BERELESE RO!"O" S
LOS4REREE!E"TS


NEWS |
Free download pdf