Below, Andrew notes the gang assaults with which hundreds of young men greeted the New Year in Germany. But the best line from that Times story is down the page, when Cologne mayor Henriette Reker turns to discussing Carnival, the city’s Eastertime festival, about which many residents are now justifiably concerned:
“We will explain our Carnival much better to people who come from other cultures,” [Reker] said, “so there won’t be any confusion about what constitutes celebratory behavior in Cologne, which has nothing to do with a sexual frankness.”
Oh, whew! What a relief! The mobs were just celebrating!