Excerpt:
Following the sexual assaults at last year's New Year's celebrations, Cologne police have said they're planning a "protection zone" at this year's festivities. Upcoming summer events will test the city's security.
With more than half a year to go until Germany - like the rest of the world - welcomes in 2017, police in the western German city of Cologne are already planning extra security measures at this year's public party.
The increased security comes in light of a series of attacks on New Year's Eve by gangs of young men outside the central railway station, in the shadow of the city's Medieval cathedral.