The mayor of Cologne, who was stabbed in the neck by a far-right fanatic last autumn, has spoken of her pain at hearing of the murder of British MP Jo Cox.
Germany on Friday put on trial a man accused of stabbing Cologne's mayor in the neck in a suspected violent protest against her welcoming stance towards refugees.
Cologne authorities have said they will not allow a repeat of the mass sexual assaults on New Year's Eve when the cathedral city lets its hair down for the annual carnival festivities this weekend.
A young mother made a brave stand against sexual assault in Germany’s streets on Tuesday, when she grabbed her attacker and stopped him getting away until the police arrived.
Cologne mayor Henriette Reker said police had failed to inform her fully about sexual assaults on New Year's Eve, in a final blow that has pushed police chief Wolfgang Albers to be suspended.
After the mayor of Cologne told women to defend themselves from sexual harrassment by keeping "an arm's length" away from men, women rallied online to reject bad advice - and circulate their own.
Cologne's new mayor Henriette Reker said on Friday that she would stick to her principles during her term in office, despite a vicious knife attack by a man angry about her refugee-friendly policies that left her in a coma.
The man who stabbed Cologne mayor Henriette Reker over her pro-refugee views earlier this month was formally charged with attempted murder and dangerous bodily harm on Wednesday.
A German city official who was stabbed in the neck in an attack apparently over her work with refugees was Sunday elected the first female mayor of the western city of Cologne.