New Year's Day

Seven Sacred Species

At sundown yesterday it was once again the start of the New Year. The sun dawn marked the beginning of the one-day festival of Tu BiShvat, otherwise known as the New Year of Trees, one of the four Jewish celebrations that are considered as the New Year. Four New Years in a single year, now that really sounds confusing!

Number of women assaulted in Cologne reached 400

Cologne police have said that the number of women claiming that they were assaulted on New Year’s Eve has risen to 379 with half of the cases reported involving crimes of a sexual nature.

Police said on Saturday that the number of cases reported to them had reached 379 and about 40 % of which involved allegations of sexual offences.

Germany shocked by mass sexual assaults on women in Cologne (pics+vid)

About 90 women have reported being robbed, threatened or sexually molested at New Year celebrations outside Cologne’s cathedral.

The police said the attackers were young, mostly drunk, men, describing the attacks as ‘a new dimension in crime’, as Reuters reports.

Hurriyet: ISIS fighters planning Munich attack entered EU through Greece

Germany obtained information on possible terrorist attacks in Munich on New Year’s Eve from the Turkish security service, according to the newspaper Hurriyet.

Apart from Germany, Turkish officials had also informed France, Austria, Italy and Belgium about the possibility of terrorist attacks, Hurriyet says in an article.

PM: Bulgaria Maintained Stability Despite Last Year's Global Challenges

In a Facebook publication on the occasion of the new year, Prime Minister Boyko Borisov noted that Bulgaria had managed to maintain stability despite the dynamic events taking place around the world in 2015.

Borisov identified 2015 as a year full of work and new challenges, when many projects had been fulfilled and the foundations for the long-awaited reforms had been laid.

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