Sunday, January 19, 2003

Mr. Grecian Formula and the Euroweenies Alert!
The BBC reports that UK newspaper defies German ban:
A UK newspaper, the Mail on Sunday, has defied attempts by German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder to ban it from repeating allegations about his private life.

Days after Mr Schroeder obtained an injunction from a German court against its owners, the newspaper published for a second time claims about the chancellor's alleged relationship with a German television presenter.

The newspaper said the injunction only applied if it repeated the story in Germany, adding that "for now, at least, we can ignore this blustering and these threats".
...
In a spirited rejection of the court order, the Mail on Sunday said it would not be bound by the ruling.

"Because of our different tradition and our robust democracy, we can publish this sort of material and believe we have every right to do so," it said.

The paper's editor, Peter Wright, said he did not accept that Chancellor Schroeder could use a German court to tell it what it could and could not report.

"Mr Schroeder is an important European leader and we believe it is right that our readers should be fully informed about matters that affect his chancellorship," Mr Wright said in a statement.

"We do not intend to start taking lessons from German chancellors or German courts about the freedom of the press," he said.
Hey Gerhard we've got your EU right here!

And it wouldn't be the first time ole Mr. Grecian Formula ran into trouble on the home front from sleeping around. Take, for instance, how he tied the knot with his current (fourth) wife:
After a spell in New York she returning (sic) to work for Focus magazine in Munich, where she met the rising political star, Gerhard Schroeder.

They wed after their affair became public, bringing an acrimonious end to Mr Schroeder's third marriage to Hiltrud Hampel - a committed vegetarian and animal rights campaigner and a very different character to the coiffed Doris.
Trophy wife alert!

Paging Bubba! One of your bosom chums needs some spin advice!

UPDATE: Gerhard's third wife kicked him out for fooling around with his future fourth wife. Gerry later claimed "chronic inflexibility" since number 3 wouldn't cook his schnitzel. You really can't make this stuff up.