COLOGNE, Germany (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of people packed the streets of Cologne for its annual Rose Monday parade, the culmination of five days of Carnival festivities that took place amid heightened security following robberies and sexual assaults in the city on New Year's Eve. The figure of Syrian President Bashar Assad as an angel of peace also wound its way through the city, joined on its float by Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. There was a float showing Merkel haunted by Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras bearing a lightning rod, a reference to last year's showdown over Greece's new bailout, and one with suspended FIFA President Sepp Blatter clutching banknotes.
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