عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Varieties

Mahsa Amini, the Kurdish-Iranian Woman Who Died in Police Custody, is Awarded EU Human Rights Prize

People attend a protest rally in Rome, Italy, Saturday, Sept. 16, 2023 to mark the first anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of Iran’s morality police. (Mauro Scrobogna/LaPresse via AP)
People attend a protest rally in Rome, Italy, Saturday, Sept. 16, 2023 to mark the first anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of Iran’s morality police. (Mauro Scrobogna/LaPresse via AP)
TT
20
TT

Mahsa Amini, the Kurdish-Iranian Woman Who Died in Police Custody, is Awarded EU Human Rights Prize

People attend a protest rally in Rome, Italy, Saturday, Sept. 16, 2023 to mark the first anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of Iran’s morality police. (Mauro Scrobogna/LaPresse via AP)
People attend a protest rally in Rome, Italy, Saturday, Sept. 16, 2023 to mark the first anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of Iran’s morality police. (Mauro Scrobogna/LaPresse via AP)

Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman who died in police custody in Iran last year, sparking worldwide protests against the country’s conservative theocracy, was awarded the European Union’s top human rights prize on Thursday.
The EU award, named for Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov, was created in 1988 to honor individuals or groups who defend human rights and fundamental freedoms. Sakharov, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, died in 1989, The Associated Press said.
Other finalists this year included Vilma Nunez de Escorcia and Roman Catholic Bishop Rolando Álvarez — two emblematic figures in the fight for the defense of human rights in Nicaragua — and a trio of women from Poland, El Salvador and the United States leading a fight for “free, safe and legal abortion.

Most Viewed

 
Varieties

Bloody Fingers Are Just Part of the Game in This Traditional German Sport 

Men try to pull the opponent over the table at the German Championships in Fingerhakeln or finger wrestling, in Pang, near Rosenheim, Germany, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP)
Men try to pull the opponent over the table at the German Championships in Fingerhakeln or finger wrestling, in Pang, near Rosenheim, Germany, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP)
TT
20
TT

Bloody Fingers Are Just Part of the Game in This Traditional German Sport 

Men try to pull the opponent over the table at the German Championships in Fingerhakeln or finger wrestling, in Pang, near Rosenheim, Germany, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP)
Men try to pull the opponent over the table at the German Championships in Fingerhakeln or finger wrestling, in Pang, near Rosenheim, Germany, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP)

Men in short leather pants and embroidered suspenders risked dislocated digits Sunday as they vied for the top prize at Germany's championship in the sport of fingerhakeln, or finger wrestling.

Around 180 competitors took part in Sunday’s 64th German championship in Pang, about an hour’s drive southwest of Munich.

It's thought that finger wrestling, popular in Germany’s Alpine region and neighboring Austria, originated as a way to settle disputes. The earliest depictions of the sport go back to the 19th century. Participants on Sunday wore the traditional Bavarian dress known as tracht.

Two competitors sit on opposite sides of a table and each hooks one finger — usually the middle finger — through a small leather loop. As soon as a referee signals the start, each contestant tries to pull the other across the table swiftly. The whole thing usually lasts a few seconds, and dislocated fingers are common.

Special attendants sit behind each athlete to catch them should one of them suddenly lose his grip and fly backwards. The winner moves to the next round. By custom, only men take part.

Today fingerhakeln is highly organized and follows strict rules starting with exactly defined measurements for both the table and the leather loop. In Sunday's championship, there were several winners in different weight and age categories.

There are nine clubs in Germany and another four in neighboring Austria, says Georg Hailer, chairman of Germany's oldest and biggest club, Fingerhakler Schlierachgau.

“It’s not dangerous at all,” Hailer said. “Of course, there will be open wounds and small injuries on the fingers from time to time. It looks worse than it really is, because there’s blood.”

It's not just brute force but skill too, said Maximilian Woelfl, a wrestler from the Bavarian town of Laufach.

“There are different techniques — how do I sit at the table?” he said. “How do I transfer my power as quickly as possible to the loop? And of course you need a well-trained finger.”

Competitors warm up by hoisting heavy blocks or pulling on cables with their competition finger.

Later this summer, the Bavarian championships in Mittenwald will once again demand all the strength that the athletes can muster — and perhaps a few patches of skin.