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    Munich Car Attack: What We Know

    At least 36 people were injured when an Afghan asylum seeker drove a car into a union march. The police said the driver confessed.On Thursday morning, a 24-year-old Afghan refugee drove into a union demonstration in central Munich, injuring nearly 40 people. The police say they are investigating whether the driver, who confessed to a deliberate attack, acted alone. The attack happened just 10 days before federal elections that have been focused on migration, and the crash could loom large in the campaign’s final days.What happened during the attack?At around 10:30 a.m. Thursday, officers in a police cruiser at the tail end of a union march in central Munich noticed a two-door Mini Cooper coming up from behind. The car sped up to pass the cruiser and plowed into the back of the marchers. Witnesses said they heard the Mini rev up as it drove into the crowd. The police fired a single shot as they went to arrest the driver.Ambulances and a helicopter arrived at the scene. Police set up a temporary post in a nearby restaurant, where they asked witnesses to come forward, and set up an online portal for uploading any video or pictures of the attack. Officers also used dogs to search the car.By evening the damaged car was lifted onto a flatbed tow truck and impounded.Who were the victims?On Friday, the police said that 36 people had been injured, including several children. A 12-year old girl, who was severely inquired, was still in intensive care.From right, Markus Söder, governor of Bavaria; Frank-Walter Steinmeier, president of Germany; and Dieter Reiter, mayor of Munich, placing roses on Friday at the crash site.Ebrahim Noroozi/Associated PressThe car plowed into a crowd of union members and supporters and their families. Verdi, one of the biggest unions in Germany, had called a one-day strike for some public sector workers, including those employed in day care, garbage collection and city administration.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    How Electric Car Batteries Might Aid the Grid (and Win Over Drivers)

    Automakers are exploring energy storage as a way to help utilities and save customers money, turning an expensive component into an industry asset.Electric cars are more expensive than gasoline models largely because batteries cost so much. But new technology could turn those pricey devices into an asset, giving owners benefits like reduced utility bills, lower lease payments or free parking.Ford Motor, General Motors, BMW and other automakers are exploring how electric-car batteries could be used to store excess renewable energy to help utilities deal with fluctuations in supply and demand for power. Automakers would make money by serving as intermediaries between car owners and power suppliers.Millions of cars could be thought of as a huge energy system that, for the first time, will be connected to another enormous energy system, the electrical grid, said Matthias Preindl, an associate professor of power electronic systems at Columbia University.“We’re just at the starting point,” Dr. Preindl said. “They will interact more in the future, and they can potentially support one another — or stress one another.”A large flat screen on the wall of the Munich offices of the Mobility House, a firm whose investors include Mercedes-Benz and Renault, illustrates one way that carmakers could profit while helping to stabilize the grid.The graphs and numbers on the screen provide a real-time picture of a European energy market where investors and utilities buy and sell electricity. The price changes from minute to minute as supply and demand surge or ebb.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    The Jeweler Hemmerle Is Leaving its 120-Year-Old Boutique

    Hemmerle is leaving its historic boutique for a discreet suite down the street. “It’s more in line with who we are today,” Christian Hemmerle said.For 120 of its more than 130 years, the German jeweler Hemmerle welcomed clients in an elegant shop at Maximilianstrasse 14. On one of Munich’s prestigious royal avenues lined with high-end fashion and jewelry stores, the boutique was Hemmerle’s only physical site; its grand arched facade a symbol of the brand in the city.A necklace made with sapphires, rock crystal, labradorite, silver and white gold, and earringsmade with tourmalines, sapphires, garnets, bronze and white gold.Laetitia Vancon for The New York TimesEarrings made with emeralds, bronze and white gold, and a diamond ring made with bronze aluminum and gold.Laetitia Vancon for The New York TimesLast year, as it marked its 130th anniversary, Hemmerle gave up the lease and announced, on cards mailed to clients, that it was relocating. The new home would still be on Maximilianstrasse, but on an upper floor, accessible only by appointment.“The new space is a dream come true,” said Christian Hemmerle, who now owns the business with his wife, Yasmin. “When the landlord offered to buy out our lease, we jumped at the opportunity.”The business never had a great deal of foot traffic anyway, he said. “We have always been confidential, so this is more in line with who we are today.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More