Germany in Brief

Tougher law on terrorism planned

The government of Chancellor Gerhard Schröder is planning to toughen German laws on terrorism. The proposed changes would expand the number of crimes considered to be terrorist related and increase the maximum sentences for such crimes, the lawmaker Hans-Christian Ströbele told the Berliner Zeitung. The measure also would redefine the criteria for labeling a group as terrorists, said Ströbele, a member of the Green Party. The definition would include efforts to create widespread shock among the country's population or to destablize the government, he said.

Germans lose respect for the U.S.

As a result of the war against Iraq, the United States is no longer a role model for many Germans, a poll released on Wednesday shows. Eighty-nine percent of respondents said the United States no longer held this status for them, according the survey, conducted for the newsmagazine Stern. Sixty-nine percent said they expected the United States to be weakened by the war. The poll has a margin error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Apprenticeships drop by nearly 7 percent

In a sign of continued economic problems, the number of young Germans who found apprenticeships last year fell by 41,600 or nearly 7 percent, the German Statistical Office reported on Wednesday in Wiesbaden. The decrease was equally distributed in the western and the eastern regions of the country.

Compiled with information from wire reports.