The Bundeswehr decided to jettison inventory that does not fit new dispensers

The German military is auctioning off nearly 10,000 rolls of toilet paper that do not fit new dispensers at Bundeswehr facilities, local media reported on Monday.

According to a posting on the Vebeg online auction platform, which was picked up by the German TV network RTL, the Bundeswehr is offering a total of 12 pallets of toilet paper stored in 360 boxes that has a transport weight of over 3 tons.

While it is unclear when exactly the ad was posted, the auction is scheduled to last until May 31. The winning bidder will be able to pick up the toilet paper, which was produced by the Sweden-based company Tork, at the military barracks in the city of Wesel, not far from Munster in the northwestern part of the country.

Potential buyers will need to register with the military department where the inventory is being stored before coming to the premises to pick it up or view it, the ad reads.

Germany faces toilet paper shortage

The German military told RTL that the sale was due to having switched the toilet paper dispensers at Bundeswehr sanitary facilities to pieces made by a different company.

“However, the toilet paper from the first company cannot be used in a universal hygiene dispenser,” a Bundeswehr spokesman told the outlet.

According to RTL, the German military has also put printer toners, desks, and laptops up for sale.

The state of the Bundeswehr stocks of weaponry and other equipment and amenities has been an issue of concern in Germany. In March, Eva Hogl, who serves as the country’s parliamentary commissioner for the armed forces, claimed that the Bundeswehr “has too little of everything and it has had even less since February 24, 2022,” referring to when Russia started its military campaign in Ukraine. Since then, Berlin has provided massive military and economic support to Kiev.

She noted that the German army also lacked “functioning toilets, clean showers… indoor sports facilities, troop kitchens… and last but not least, wireless internet.”

Hogl also pointed out that the government had failed to spend any of the money from a €100 billion ($108 billion) special defense fund created last year in light of the Ukraine conflict.

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The Falcon 9 has successfully blasted off on a private mission carrying Saudi and American astronauts to the ISS

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Sunday, on a mission from the Houston-based company Axiom Space. It also carried the first Saudi woman to travel to the cosmos.

The mission, dubbed Ax-2, is Axiom’s second private mission bound for the International Space Station. The company utilized SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, named Freedom, to carry the crew and the Falcon 9 to deliver it from Earth’s atmosphere.

Shortly after liftoff, the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket successfully performed a boost-back burn to SpaceX’s Landing Zone-1 and touched down safely about seven minutes and 45 seconds after launch.

The Dragon then detached from the Falcon 9’s upper stage some 12 minutes after liftoff and headed to the ISS to perform a docking scheduled for Monday.

Aboard Freedom are the first two Saudi Arabian nationals to travel to the ISS, including stem cell researcher Rayyanah Barnawi – the first Saudi woman ever to enter space. Joining the Ax-2 as mission pilot is businessman John Shofner, who paid out of his own pocket for the trip.

First blockbuster filmed in space premieres in theaters

Leading the mission is commander Peggy Whitson – a former NASA astronaut who has spent 665 days in space throughout her career, more than any other American or any other woman, and was also the first woman to serve as commander aboard the ISS. She currently works as Axiom’s director of human spaceflight.

The four-person crew is expected to spend eight days aboard the ISS, living and working alongside the seven astronauts currently residing there. They will also conduct independent research, including into how people that have not undergone rigorous training will react when first introduced to microgravity.

Axiom has announced plans to further develop commercialized spaceflight and even launch its own free floating private space station by the end of the decade. The first module of this future station is expected to be sent up to the ISS next year, with another three pieces to follow by the end of 2027.

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The move may prompt more African nations to ratify the Malabo Protocol, a political analyst told TSFT

Kenyan President William Ruto says his country will ratify the 2014 Malabo Protocol by September in a move towards making the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) an official legislative organ of the African Union (AU).

The Malabo Protocol seeks to convert the PAP into a full-fledged legislative body, which would hold jurisdiction over international and transnational organized crimes; in other words, creating an African international crimes court.

The protocol must be approved by at least 28 countries before it can enter into force. However, only 15 of the 22 signatories to the protocol in 2014 have ratified it, making Kenya the 16th.

Ken Bosire, a Kenyan political analyst, told RT that Nairobi’s decision to give the PAP legislative power is a “positive move” that could inspire other African leaders to follow suit. “The new president of Kenya seems to have some kind of persuasive sway among leaders of the region,” he added.

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