Germany In Brief
February 13, 2003
German Coach To Leave Iraq
The German who serves as coach of the Iraqi national soccer team planned to leave Baghdad on Thursday after being advised to do so by the German Embassy, the Berlin newspaper tageszeitung reported on Thursday.
Before leaving, Bernd Stange wrote a letter expressing his regret about the decision, the newspaper reported. "I pray to God that he will protect you and your families," Stange wrote. Stange is also the former soccer coach of the East German team.
Coalition Seeks Health Care Consensus
The two parties that govern Germany agreed late Wednesday to seek an agreement on health care reform with the country's opposition parties by summer. The Social Democrats and Greens must work with the opposition because it controls one house of the country's bicameral parliament. The parties are under pressure to work out a reform for several reasons. First, the country's public health insurance companies are running up billions of euros in deficits. Second, premiums are rising, creating an extra drag on the country's stagnate economy.
Wide Access To Computers Found
Three-quarters of adolescents and young adults have access to a computer at home, according to a study released Thursday by the Munich Institute for Adolescent Research. Nearly half of people ages 13 to 24 have their own computer, the study found.