I love this (via Newsbusters ), though I’m not sure why. The Washington Post reports that German police have taken “scent samples” of protest leaders so they can be found in the crowd more easily:
The German government has spared no expense — spending upward of $100 million — to safeguard this week’s summit, which brings together leaders of the industrial countries known as the Group of Eight. German authorities have taken an offensive-minded approach, using a variety of tactics that critics say conjure bad memories of the country’s totalitarian past.
For instance, police and prosecutors have surreptitiously acquired scent samples of some protest organizers to make it easier for police dogs to locate them in a crowd, authorities have acknowledged. The technique was pioneered by the Stasi, the East German secret police.