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Proposed Nabucco Gas Pipeline Gets European Bank Backing
The heads of the EU's European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said Tuesday, Jan. 27, that they are prepared to provide financial backing for the Nabucco gas pipeline.
Spurred on by Europe's worst-ever gas crisis earlier this month, which left millions of homes across the continent without heat in the depths of winter, Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany invited top-ranking officials from both the EU and the countries involved in Nabucco to inject fresh momentum into the slow-moving project. Nabucco, an ambitious but still-unbuilt gas pipeline aimed at reducing Europe's energy reliance on Russia, is a 3,300-kilometer (2,050-mile) pipeline between Turkey and Austria. Costing an estimated 7.9 billion euros, the aim is to transport up to 31 billion cubic meters of gas each year from the Caspian Sea to Western Europe, bypassing Russia and Ukraine. Nabucco currently has six shareholders -- OMV of Austria, MOL of Hungary, Transgaz of Romania, Bulgargaz of Bulgaria, Botas of Turkey and RWE of Germany. But for the pipeline to get moving, Nabucco would need an initial cash injection of an estimated 300 million euros. Both the EIB and EBRD said they were willing to invest in the early stages of the project through a series of loans, providing certain conditions are met. "The EIB is ready to finance projects that further EU objectives of increased sustainability and energy security," said Philippe Maystadt, president of the European Investment Bank, during the opening addresses by participants at the "Nabucco summit" in Hungary. The EIB is prepared to finance "up to 25 percent of project cost," provided a secure intergovernmental agreement on the Nabucco pipeline is reached, he said. Maystadt noted that of 48 billion euros of financing it provided last year, a quarter was for energy projects. EBRD President Thomas Mirow also offered financial backing to the Nabucco pipeline, on the condition that it "meets the requirements of solid project financing." The bank would need to see concrete plans and completion guarantees, besides a stable political agreement, said Mirow. EU wary of future gas crises Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, whose country currently holds the rotating presidency of the EU, spoke about the recent gas crisis caused by a pricing dispute between Russia and Ukraine that affected supplies to Europe. "A new crisis could emerge at any time, and next time it could be even worse," Topolanek said. He added that reaching an agreement on Nabucco is a "test of European solidarity." The latest gas row between Russia and Ukraine has highlighted Europe's need to diversify its energy sources and thrown the spotlight on Nabucco. But critics insist that the vast project will remain nothing but a pipe dream because its backers cannot guarantee that they will ever have sufficient gas supplies to make it profitable. EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs urged political leaders to commit firmly to Nabucco by the end of March, or risk jeopardizing the project. In his opening address as host, Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany called on the EU to provide 200 to 300 million euros within the next few weeks to get the construction of the pipeline off the ground. Gyurcsany stressed that he was not hoping for a loan, but rather for starting capital from the EU. US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza noted that the Tuesday summit had made it clear that Gyurcsany, who dismissed Nabucco as "a dream" in 2007, was now fully committed to the energy supply diversification project. On the supply side, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan both indicated they would be willing to supply some of the gas. "Azerbaijan, which is according to current plans is a transit country, could eventually serve as a supplier as well," Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said. Azerbaijan's gas reserves of some two or three trillion cubic meters would be sufficient to last "several decades," he said. Austrian Economy Minister Reinhold Mitterlehner suggested that Egypt and Iran could also be brought in as suppliers in the long term. But a deal currently seems unlikely with Iran given the long-running international standoff over its disputed nuclear program. Russia, Ukraine still wrangling Meanwhile, Russia and Ukraine were still wrangling over the details of the deal which ended their gas quarrel earlier this month. Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko said on Tuesday he would stand by the terms of the agreement with Russia, even though not all the details are to his liking. But Russian officials questioned his reliability, saying that the political rivalry between Yushchenko and Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko could still lead Kiev to cancel the contract. "The agreements signed are not easy ones, but Ukraine fully takes up the performance (of its commitments) and guarantees full-fledged transit to European consumers," Yushchenko told journalists in Brussels after a meeting with the head of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso. The assurance that Yushchenko would abide by the terms of the agreement finalized by Timoshenko was "an important step forward in allowing us to focus on our broader relationship," Barroso said. But the spokesman for Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said that Moscow still feared that the growing rivalry between Yushchenko and Timoshenko, who are set to face off in next year's presidential election, could torpedo the deal. EU in talks to upgrade Ukraine's transit system Yushchenko's working breakfast with Barroso was dominated by the energy question, with both men highlighting the need to upgrade Ukraine's gas-transit system and build more links between Ukrainian and European energy markets. The commission is set to host an international conference aimed at gathering donations to upgrade Ukraine's gas-transit system on March 23 in Brussels. The EU and Ukraine have agreed to form a joint expert group to plan the meeting, the leaders said Tuesday. During the conflict, Barroso had warned that both Russia and Ukraine were damaging their credibility as reliable partners. But on Monday he said that "in bilateral relations, we are not taking any negative consequences from (the gas row) because we believe Ukraine wants to deepen the relationship with the EU, and we also want to deepen the relationship with Ukraine." He also said that "we have to state very clearly that we were disappointed by the problems between Ukraine and Russia," and called for political stability and reform in Ukraine. His diplomatic balancing act is likely to have a frosty reception in Moscow, where Peskov said that Russia "would prefer to hear from the European states a very serious and severe evaluation of who is guilty for interrupting the transit." | [
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Chancellor Merkel Tries to Patch Up Differences With Pope Benedict
German Chancellor Merkel and Pope Benedict XVI spoke by telephone to set aside their differences over a Holocaust denial by an ultra-conservative bishop. Spokespeople said the talk was marked by "mutual respect."
Merkel was the first government leader to take the unusual step of calling on German-born Pope Benedict XVI to demand a traditionalist bishop readmitted to the Catholic Church retract statements he made denying the extent of the Holocaust. The pope and the chancellor explained their views during the conversation on Sunday, Feb. 8, "with the greatest of mutual respect," according to a joint statement released by the Vatican and German press spokesman. "It was a good and constructive talk, carried by the deep and constant reminder that the Shoah holds for humanity," the statement said. The telephone conversation came at the request of the chancellor, who earlier this week aroused the Vatican's ire by saying the Catholic Church had not spoken clearly enough in rejecting Holocaust denial. She was reacting to remarks made by Bishop Richard Williamson, one of four traditionalist bishops with the conservative St. Pius X Society whose 1988 excommunication was lifted by the pontiff. Outcry in Germany The move by Benedict XVI, formerly Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, was condemned by Jewish groups and led to an outcry in his native Germany, where Merkel joined in the criticism. The chancellor came under fire from conservative elements in her Christian Democrat and Christian Social Union alliance, who accused here of meddling in Church affairs. Benedict's decision to rehabilitate the four bishops was seen a sign that the renegade group was willing to reconcile with Rome. But amid mounting pressure, the Vatican eventually issued a statement saying Williamson would have to recant his Holocaust-denial claims before being allowed to occupy any office within the church. Merkel welcomed the Vatican's statement as "an important and good signal." British-born Williamson, who lives in Argentina, denied there were gas chambers at the Nazis' death camp in Auschwitz and alleging the scale of deaths of Jews under the Nazis was no more than "200,000 to 300,000." He refused to change the stance he made in a Swedish television interview days before his excommunication was lifted but told the German weekly Der Spiegel that he would reexamine the historical evidence. "If I find proof I would rectify (earlier statements).... But all that will take time," he was quoted as saying. An opinion poll in Germany found that two-thirds of German Catholics think the decision to allow Williamson back into the Church was harmful, the weekly Bild am Sonntag reported. Some 56 percent of people polled said Williamson should excommunicated for a second time. The Vatican has said Pope Benedict, who has expressed his full solidarity with Jews, was not aware of Williamson's denial of the Holocaust when he readmitted the bishops to the Catholic flock in an attempt to heal a 20-year-old division in the Church. | [
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Pakistan Submits Preliminary Report on Mumbai Attacks
A senior Pakistani official has admitted for the first time that last year's attacks in the Indian city of Mumbai were partly planned in Pakistan.
Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik said that several suspects are now being held and a case has been filed which may lead to their prosecution. At least 173 people were killed in November's attacks. Tensions between between India and Pakistan rose after Delhi said all 10 gunmen were from Pakistan. Pakistan denied any responsibility in the immediate aftermath of the attacks, but later it admitted that the sole gunman captured alive was a Pakistani national. | [
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EU Signs Pirate Deal With Kenya
The EU has signed an agreement with Kenya that provides for the handover of pirates seized by the German Navy off the coast of Somalia -- but no decision has been made whether the pirates would be transferred to Kenya.
The agreement was signed in Nairobi on Friday, March 6, by Kenyan Foreign Minister Moses Wetang'ula and the Czech ambassador to Kenya, said a Foreign Office spokesman. The Czech Republic holds the rotating presidency of the EU. The pirates are on board the German frigate Rheinland Pfalz, which apprehended them on Tuesday when they attacked a German merchant vessel off Somalia with anti-tank missiles and firearms. The frigate is part of the EU's anti-piracy mission Atalanta in the Gulf of Aden, which Germany joined in December. The foreign office spokesman said no decision had been made whether the nine pirates captured by the German Navy would be transferred to Kenya. Exploring unchartered territory First, independent prosecutors in Hamburg need to decide whether the men should face trial in Germany. The German navy has given them all its evidence, and it is now up to them to say whether German interests were at stake during the attack. A specially convened commission, representing Germany's Interior, Foreign, Defence and Justice ministries, met this week to discuss the legal status of the pirates -- hitherto unchartered legal territory. The Hamburg court, which is responsible for maritime legal issues, will provide Berlin with more time to decide on what to do with the alleged pirates. A spokesperson for the court has already said that the decision to open the probe meant in no way that the nine men would be brought to Germany for processing. "The government is studying in-depth whether the suspected pirates could, if necessary, be handed over to a third country for prosecution," the government said Thursday in a statement. This is the first time in Germany's modern history that its navy has made any apprehensions at sea. One possible destination for the nine men could be Kenya, which on Thursday received seven suspected Somali pirates captured Feb. 11 by the US guided-missile cruiser Vella Gul. The seven men will face prosecution under a bilateral pact between the US and Kenya. Prosecution uncertain The German Navy frigate Rheinland-Pfalz took part Tuesday in a dramatic rescue after the nine Somalis, allegedly armed with anti-tank rocket launchers and firearms, were said to have attacked a German merchant vessel off the Somali coast. The MV Courier, owned by a Bremen-based shipping company, had been sailing under an Antigua and Barbuda flag. No German nationals were on board. The Interior Ministry said Wednesday that there were no grounds for a German prosecution of the captured men, because no German interests were judged to have been endangered in the attack. Germany currently has no agreement with third-party countries under which captured pirates could be prosecuted. Under European law, which applies to the German naval mission, pirates can be held for up to 12 days. The men are to stay on board the Rheinland-Pfalz until a decision is reached. In 2008, pirates seized more than 200 ships off the Somali coast, demanding millions of dollars in ransom. | [
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NATO Troops Killed in Roadside Afghan Blast
Five NATO-led troops, three Afghan civilians, two Afghan police officers and five militants were killed in a series of blasts and clashes in Afghanistan. A sixth NATO soldier died in a traffic accident, officials said.
In the latest incident, four NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) soldiers were killed in a roadside bomb blast in eastern region of the country, the alliance said in a statement on Sunday, March 15. "On behalf of ISAF, I offer our sincere condolences to the families and friends of our fallen soldiers," Brigadier-General Richard Blanchette, an ISAF spokesperson said in a statement. "These dedicated professionals have risked their lives for a safe and stable Afghanistan," he said. The statement did not disclose the nationalities of the soldiers, nor say where exactly in eastern region the incident took place. Zabiullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman said that their forces attacked a US military tank in Kot district of eastern Nangarhar province on Sunday afternoon. It was not immediately clear if the Taliban and NATO statement were referring to the same incident. Meanwhile, a French soldier was killed in a Taliban attack in an area east of Kabul city on Saturday, French Defense Ministry and NATO military in Kabul said. The sixth NATO fatality was a German soldier, who was killed in a traffic accident in northern Afghanistan, the German Defense Ministry said. A British soldier was also killed in an insurgent attack in southern province of Helmand on Saturday, bringing the total number of NATO fatalities to seven in the past two days. Meanwhile, a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-packed vehicle near a convoy of foreign forces in the Afghan capital Kabul on Sunday afternoon, killing two civilians and wounding 14, including several children, Zemarai Bashary, spokesman for the Interior Ministry said. In the south of the country, a roadside bomb targeting Kandahar city's mayor on Sunday killed one bystander and wounded six more civilians, Abdul Khaliq, a senior police official in the province, said. In a separate incident in the same province, US-led coalition forces said they killed five suspected Taliban insurgents and detained four more in an operation in Maiwand district of the province on Sunday morning. The Afghan forces bear the brunt of Taliban attacks in Afghanistan. More than 2,300 police forces were killed in the past two years. Seven years from the ouster of their regime, Taliban militants continue to grow stronger and extend their writ to wider swathes of the country. | [
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Bonn Conference to Set Agenda for New UN Climate Deal
The UN's climate chief urged industrialized countries to lead the way on controlling climate change as a new round of UN talks aimed at replacing the Kyoto Protocol got underway in Bonn on Sunday, March 29.
Around 2,600 delegates from 175 countries gathered in the former German capital over the weekend for the first of several meetings ahead of December's Copenhagen summit, at which new global targets on emissions are to be set ahead of the 2012 expiry of the Kyoto agreement. The Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement on stabilizing the output of greenhouse gases, entered into force in 2005. Yvo De Boer, who heads climate change initiatives at the United Nations, said developing countries would only agree to a new climate pact if industrialized nations set clear targets for the reduction of greenhouse gases. Additionally, those nations have to be prepared to offer financial support to poorer countries. A challenge for big polluters The new agreement to replace the Kyoto Protocol sets a challenge for industrialized nations, with a call for an additional target of a 25 to 40-percent reduction in greenhouse gases by the year 2020, compared to 1990 figures. By the year 2050, output is to be reduced even more, with a targeted emissions cut of 50 to 80 percent. That cut is needed to keep the overall increase in world temperatures within 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 F). These targets will be haggled over in the months leading up to December's Copenhagen summit. Many industrialized nations are hoping to tweak their domestic economies as little as possible, perhaps by using compensatory projects, such as rain forest preservation, to help them meet targets. De Boer said the debate needed to move forward during the 10-day Bonn conference, as a draft proposal was needed by June in order to meet the Copenhagen deadline. "The clock is running and the states have a great deal of work ahead," de Boer said. All eyes on the US The United States' position will be keenly observed in the coming days, since Washington recently changed tack on climate change with the inauguration of President Barack Obama. Former US President Bill Clinton signed the Kyoto Protocol, but it was never ratified. The White House on Saturday invited the UN and 16 major economies to Washington to prepare for international efforts to reduce climate changing greenhouse gas emissions. "The US will be powerfully and fervently engaged in this process," Obama's climate negotiator, Todd Stern said on Sunday. But he cautioned against unrealistic expectations that the United States could "wave a magic wand" and find solutions to all problems. "I don't think anybody should be thinking that the US can ride in on a white horse and make it all work," he said. The Chinese puzzle In particular, Washington wants to see China increase its commitment to emissions reduction, since the country's economic growth made it one of the biggest greenhouse gas contributors. China and the US between them account for more than 40 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. "If you do the math, you simply cannot be anywhere near where science tells us we need to be if you don't have China involved, as well also other major developing countries," he said. The Kyoto protocol was lenient on developing countries such as China, India and Brazil. This is to change in the document to be signed in Copenhagen. De Boer welcomed Obama's initiative, saying it could be "useful" to find a political solution to the climate change talks. | [
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German Social Democrats pledge more money for low-income earners
Leaders of Germany's Social Democratic Party (SPD) have unanimously approved an election manifesto ahead of September's federal poll, hoping the promise of more cash will win over voters.
Key points of the center-left SPD's platform are tax cuts and state handouts for low-income groups and families with children. These promises would be partly financed by a tax on the rich and a levy on stock transactions. "We know that crisis management is necessary, and that is the core of this program," the Social Democrats' candidate for the chancellery, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, told journalists on Saturday, April 18. The SPD is seeking to distance itself from Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) as Germany's two coalition partners gear up for a parliamentary election on Sept. 27. This year's election campaign is expected to be dominated by the fallout from the financial crisis, which has hit key sectors of German industry and put tens of thousands of workers on reduced hours with less pay. Other key issues for the SPD will be a move to ban the right-extremist National Democratic Party (NPD), as well as a complete phasing out of nuclear energy by 2021. The Social Democrats have also promised to prevent the privatization of Germany's national rail operator Deutsche Bahn until the next election. The much-disputed initial private offering planned for last year was put on hold due to the slide in global markets. Turn to the left? The party platform, which Steinmeier will officially unveil on Sunday, includes a 300-euro ($390) tax rebate for people on low wages, in return for not filing a tax return. The SPD says the plan will not just help low-income earners, but also help cut red tape. But the proposal has already generated ridicule from opposition parties on Thursday, when the German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung leaked the plans. Chairman for the Christian Social Union party's association of small and medium businesses, Hans Michelbach, said the bonus would hinder rather than help. He said it would only complicate people's taxes, and labeled it "the worst form of rip-off." Secretary-general from the business-oriented Free Democratic Party, Dirk Niebel, described the scheme as typically socialist. His deputy, Carl-Ludwig Thiele, said the rebate would give tax authorities the added task of monitoring whether taxpayers applying for the bonus were earning a secondary income. The Social Democrats are also proposing to reduce the lowest-income tax bracket by four points to a rate of 10 percent. Families with children would also receive a 200-euro tax break. The measures would be financed by an increase in the top tax bracket - raising it to 47 percent for people with incomes of 125,000 euros and more, as well as a half-percent levy on stock exchange transactions. The party estimates their economic plans would generate 5 billion euros in extra revenue. The campaign trail begins The Social Democrats currently share power with their main political rival, Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU), in a right-left "grand-coalition." Both sides, however, seem ready to sever ties after September's election, although influential voices in both camps argue that, especially in difficult times, the grand coalition is the most prudent option. The conservative CDU opposes tax increases on the wealthy and wants to lower income taxes after the poll. "Tax increases during a time of economic crisis is simply irresponsible," CDU campaign manager Ronald Pofalla said last week. "Tax increases are poison for the economy and would endanger jobs." The SPD currently trails the CDU by about eight percentage points. | [
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Final four square off in German Cup semifinals
Bremen's unprecedented four-match battle with Hamburg gets underway with the Cup semifinal on Wednesday. But before that Leverkusen try to seize their last chance for some silverware against Mainz.
Among the high hopes Leverkusen carried into this season, one is still alive. If they can get past second-division Mainz, the underachieving squad will book a place in the Cup finals in Berlin on May 30. After topping the table for parts of the first half of the season, coach Bruno Labbadia's charges have been wretched of late, winning only three of their last 10 matches and dropping down to ninth in the league. One reason is that, with their own stadium undergoing renovations, they've had to play their home matches in Duesseldorf. That's also the case with Tuesday's semifinal. Still, Leverkusen have to fancy their chances -- with no major injury problems against an opponent from Division Two. And winning the Cup would go a long way toward salvaging a disappointing season and probably save Labbadia's job. Mainz, for their part, are certain to pack defenders into their own half and hope for a late goal, a strategy that worked well in their quarterfinal upset of first-division Schalke in early March. Epic rivalry The other Cup finalist will be determined when Bremen travel to Hamburg on Wednesday. It's the first of a four-game series between the Northern German rivals -- with a UEFA Cup semifinal tie and a league match to follow later in April and in May. Bremen, who have slipped down to tenth in the Bundesliga table, have been on cruise control in the league. But it will be a different story in the two cup competitions, with titles and a spot in international competition up for grabs. Bremen goalkeeper Tim Wiese has promised his side will try to "get on Hamburg's nerves" and win all four matches. The visitors will be bolstered by the return of superstar playmaker Diego who was rested with a perhaps fictional injury in the league last weekend. Hamburg, meanwhile, are third in the league and have an outside shot at winning a triple. But they should beware, if they think they're bound to be victorious in something. As recently as 2002, Leverkusen had a chance to win the Bundesliga, the Cup and the Champions League -- only to emerge, in the end, empty-handed. Author: Jefferson Chase Editor: Trinity Hartman | [
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UN criticizes Israel over Gaza bombing
A United Nations investigation into attacks by Israeli forces on UN installations during the Gaza war four months ago has strongly criticized Israel for gross negligence and recklessness.
The report, produced by a four-member inquiry board appointed by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, found that the Israeli army failed to protect UN personnel and civilians sheltering in UN buildings. Israel has rejected the report as one-sided and biased. The UN inquiry led by Briton Ian Martin, a former head of rights group Amnesty International who later joined the United Nations, investigated nine incidents of damage to UN property. It found Israel to blame in six incidents when people sheltering in UN buildings were killed or injured. Report highlights Jabalia incident The report highlighted the firing of artillery shells near a UN-run school in Jabalia where Palestinians had sought refuge on January 6. Seven people were wounded inside the school, but an estimated 30-40 people were killed nearby. In several cases, the report found Israel had "breached the inviolability of United Nations premises," had not respected UN immunity and was responsible for deaths and injuries. The board of inquiry also criticized Israel's use of white phosphorus shells which the UN says damaged the UN's main food warehouse in Gaza. The UN report says the Israeli military took "inadequate" precautions to protect UN premises and civilians inside and recommends further investigation into possible war crimes. Israel rejects allegations Israel's deputy UN ambassador, Daniel Carmon, called the report one-sided and unfair. "We were really shocked to see a report where the board is limiting itself to the facts of the damages only, ignoring the context, ignoring that there is war against terrorism," he told Reuters. UN Chief Ban Ki-moon said he would seek compensation from Israel for damage to UN property, estimated at more than $11 million, but would not follow the panel's call for further investigations. | [
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Lufthansa closes in on Austrian Airlines takeover
More than 85 percent of Austrian Airlines shareholders have reportedly accepted a public takeover offer by Germany's Lufthansa. But rival airlines continue to object to the move as being unfair.
Lufthansa has cleared an important hurdle in its bid to take over cash-strapped Austrian Airlines. Lufthansa holds well over the 75 percent of shares in the company, according to Austrian Airlines (AUA). Shares of AUA rose by more than 12 percent to 4.19 euros ($5.70) after Tuesday's announcement. Austrian Airlines said exact acceptance figures would be made public on Thursday. Lufthansa shares dropped 3 percent on the announcement before recovering to end the day down by one percent. At the end of last year, Lufthansa agreed to buy a 41.6-percent stake in AUA from the Austrian government for 366,000 euros. In exchange, Vienna agreed to assume 500 million euros of the struggling airline's debt. The European Commission opened an investigation after rival airlines complained about Austria's agreement with Lufthansa. The commission is scheduled to rule on the issue by June 17. Lufthansa is reportedly also interested in raising its stake in the British airline BMI to 80 percent this year. | [
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Russia and Japan Expand Energy Ties
Russia and Japan agreed on a series of energy deals during Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s visit this week. This includes a key pact on civilian nuclear co-operation. But the two sides once again failed to resolve their long-running diplomatic dispute.
Japan and Russia have been locked in a territorial dispute for decades. It focuses on a chain of islands between the two countries which are called the Northern Territories by the Japanese and the Southern Kurils by the Russians. The islands were occupied by Soviet army in the last days of World War II and are claimed by both sides. During a recent meeting between Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his Japanese counterpart Taro Aso in Tokyo this week, both sides said they would study all options to end the row, but fell short of announcing any breakthrough. The two countries also reaffirmed that they want to bolster bilateral co-operation and engage in joint energy projects. "Russia-Japanese relations have been worrying for years, including the cold-war period. But in recent years things have changed rapidly. And I think economic relations have become more important for them," explains Professor Nobuo Shimotomai, an expert on Japan-Russia relations at Tokyo's Hosei University. Nuclear pact One of the major highlights of the Putin-Aso meeting was a nuclear energy pact. The agreement will allow the transfer of Japanese technology to Russia. In return, Japan will get the much-needed nuclear fuel. It will also pave the way for joint uranium mining in Russia, a crucial step for the Russian uranium and nuclear industries, says Marcel Viëtor, an expert on energy policy at the German Council of Foreign Relations in Berlin: "The Russian uranium and nuclear industries have been in a critical situation for almost two decades. They are in dire need of new contracts to develop power plants and they are looking for international partners. And now it seems they have found one in Japan. And if it is ratified by both parliaments, this will be a wonderful deal for the Russian nuclear sector." Co-operation in gas sector Japanese and Russian energy companies have also agreed to jointly develop two major oil fields in eastern Siberia. The project is likely to cost over 150 million dollars. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between Russian energy giant Gazprom and its Japanese partners to explore ways to process natural gas near the Pacific city of Vladivostok. Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller told the media in Tokyo that a 2,000-kilometre pipeline from Sakhalin island to Vladivostok was likely to be completed by 2011, which could possibly supply natural gas to consumers in the Asia-Pacific region as well, including Japan. Energy expert Viëtor says the move, if successful, would considerably help Japan, which is currently heavily relying on Middle Eastern oil. "Until today the Japanese get their oil and gas imports from the Middle East. But of course they are cautious about the political developments there and if, for whatever reasons, the shipments of oil and gas from the Middle East are interrupted, the Japanese industries will suffer. So they are very much looking forward to establishing other transportation routes and since Russia is close to Japan, it will suit the Japanese industries very well." In February Russia opened its first Liquefied Natural Gas or LNG plant on the Pacific coast. The plant supplies Japan also with millions of tonnes of gas annually. Author: Disha Uppal Editor: Grahame Lucas | [
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Opposition to Kashgar Demolition Plans
A plan to demolish the historical centre of Kashgar in China's westernmost Xinjiang region has drawn opposition from the Uyghur community, which makes up the majority of the city’s population. According to the government, the buildings in the city centre are dangerous and thus need to be demolished and rebuilt. 900 families have been moved into government housing.
Despite an influx of Han Chinese in recent decades, Kashgar is mainly populated by Turkic-speaking Muslim Uyghurs and other Central Asian groups that consider Kashgar as one of the cradles of their culture. According to the old city's demolition plan, 49,000 homes will be destroyed. Henry Szadziewski, the manager of the Uyghur Human Rights Project in Washington DC, expressed great concern stating that Kashgar is one of the centres of Uyghur culture. “The destruction of Kashgar old city would be a catastrophe for the maintenance of Uyghur traditions. Many of the residents of Kashgar have built their homes and their businesses in the same area. So moving them out of Kashgar old city to very regimented living arrangements, roughly eight kilometres way from the old city would also remove them from their livelihoods too,” he said. Attempt to assimilate Uyghurs into dominant Han Chinese culture Szadziewski also doubted the official explanation and assumed that this was a move by the Chinese authorities to assimilate the Uyghurs. Attempts to assimilate the minority group into the dominant Han culture date back to well before 1949. Gardner Bovingdon, an expert on Xinjiang politics at Indiana University in the United States, said the demolition of Kashgar’s old city showed familiar patterns and compared it to the destruction of the old Uyghur quarter in Xinjiang’s capital Urumqi, which he witnessed in the mid-1990s. He said that it was “aimed at transforming neighbourhoods that were under Uyghur control into neighbourhoods that were more susceptible of police control which is generally Chinese control, more susceptible of scrutiny by the government and so forth. And I think those aims are important in Kashgar as well.” No open protests because of political oppression There was a lot of violent conflict in the region in the 1980s and 90s but public protest has declined recently. The demolition of Kashgar’s old city is only openly opposed by exiled Uyghurs. Gardner Bovingdon said that there might be some justification for arguing that a growing Uyghur middle class and economic growth in Xinjiang had satisfied some people in the Uyghur community but he thought that ”the more important explanation is that political oppression has increased in the region in the 2000s.” Some parts of the old city will be maintained for tourists Kashgar, a traditional trading point on the ancient Silk Road, has a long and interesting past with a history stretching over 2000 years. Its beautiful setting in a fertile oasis to the north of the Pamir Mountains and on the western edge of the Taklamakan desert, along with its ancient buildings has made it a major tourist attraction in Central Asia. Marco Polo recorded a visit in the 13th century. Chinese officials have commented that some parts of the old city will be kept for purposes of tourism but this will probably be only a very sanitised version like a kind of “open air museum,” feared Szadziewski. “This is a pattern that we see in other places in China where old parts of cities are destroyed and then some pieces are left, so that tourists can benefit.” At this point, it is still unclear what exactly will take the place of Kashgar’s old city but its original Uyghur inhabitants will certainly not live there for much longer. Author:Fritzi Titzmann Editor:Grahame Lucas | [
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Opinion: The biggest loser of the polls is Europe itself
Europe has voted and not even half of the electorate bothered to cast their vote. That's shameful. So little commitment for the only democratically-elected institution of the European Union is alarming.
The supranational parliament of 27 states is unparalleled in the world. But this unique chance doesn't seem to matter at all to most Europeans. It's not just lazy voters who are to blame for the debacle, European politicians are also largely to blame. As is normally the case, 27 national election campaigns were fought, with little evidence of any specific European election campaigns. At home politicians tend to lay into those politicians in Brussels, although they often share responsibility for decisions taken at EU level. In Eastern Europe's younger democracies the situation is even worse. There seems to be no comprehension of how important the European Parliament is in all areas of daily life. As in previous EU elections, governments are punished with only a few exceptions. The results of the European elections themselves point towards continuity. Victory for the conservative and center-right parties. The Socialists remain the second strongest force and the liberals stay the third strongest block. The Euro-sceptics and right-wing extremists might have caused uproar in a few countries, but they do not play a large role in the general make-up of the European Parliament. Even if they were to form into a parliamentary grouping, they do not have any major influence. EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso has even reason to celebrate. The conservative politician can remain in office for another five years, because it's usually the case that the Commission President comes from the same political family as the majority party represented in parliament. In the largest EU member state, Germany, it was the same story as in the rest of the EU. National topics dominated the scene. The election winners from the conservative CDU, the Left Party, the liberal FDP and the Greens declared the election a test for the federal polls in September. The election losers, the Social Democrats, though, dismiss any idea that Sunday’s outcome will affect the national vote. It's the same old story after every election. But because of the exceptionally low electoral turnout it is indeed hard to make a reliable prediction for Germany's upcoming national elections. One thing's for certain: The election loser is Europe, because far too many voters are not interested in European politics. Author: Bernd Riegert Editor: Andreas Illmer | [
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War crimes spokeswoman on trial over Milosevic secrets
A former spokeswoman for the tribunal set up to deal with Yugoslav war crimes was has gone on trial there herself. She is charged with contempt of court over the publication of classified information.
Florence Hartmann, who was spokeswoman for the former chief war crimes prosecutor, Carla Del Ponte, between 2000 and 2006, is accused of having disclosed confidential information about the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in a book and an article published after she left her post. The publications allegedly cite confidential documents and court decisions made during the trial of former Serbian leader, Slobodan Milosevic, which implicate the Serbian state in the 1995 massacre of thousands of men and boys in the Bosnian town of Srebrenica. In his opening speech, ICTY prosecutor Bruce MacFarlane said he would show that the accused had consciously published information from classified documents. But Hartmann's lawyer, Guenael Mettraux, says she did no wrong as the information referred to in her article and her book, entitled “Peace and Punishment: The Secret Wars of Politics and International Justice” was already in the public domain when her work went into print. Online support The journalist's supporters, many journalists themselves, are running an internet petition which calls for the case to be dropped. They say Hartmann was merely doing her job “by rigorously searching for and publicizing the truth.” The petition goes on to say that making Hartmann appear before a court established to try those guilty of genocide “will tarnish the image of the international justice system.” Hartmann, who could face seven years in prison or a fine of €100,000 ($139,000) if found guilty, declined to enter a plea on either charge. The court entered two pleas of “not guilty” on her behalf. The trial is expected to continue until Wednesday. tkw/AFP/AP/dpa Editor: Jennifer Abramsohn | [
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EU deplores recent events in Iran
The European Union has released a statement expressing serious concern after the deaths of Iranian protesters and called on Iranian authorities to allow peaceful demonstrations.
Iran's state media had announced that seven protesters were killed when a massive rally against the disputed re-election of Mahmoud Amhadinejad turned violent. A spokesman for the European Commission urged Iranian authorities to allow peaceful demonstrations in the country where civil unrest appears to have reached levels unseen since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. "The commission is indeed very concerned," said spokesman Amadeu Altafaj Tardio. "We regret the violence and the loss of life and we call on the Iranian authorities to respect the right to demonstrate in a peaceful manner. "We underline the right to protest in a peaceful way, which must be respected by the Iranian security forces," he added. The Iranian Foreign Ministry summoned a senior European diplomat on Tuesday to complain about the EU's reaction to the fatalities in the capital Tehran. "Neither the European Union nor other countries are in a position to have the right to make rude and interfering remarks against Iran, especially about our glorious election," the Foreign Ministry told the Czech charge d'affairs, Josef Havlas. A willingness to recount An Iranian state television broadcast said on Tuesday that the country's supervisory body, the Guardian Council, was ready to carry out a recount of some votes, and added that this could lead to changes in candidates’ tallies. But council spokesman Abbasali Kadkhodai rejected a call from the main opposition challenger, Mir Hossein Mousavi, to annul the vote. "Based on the law, the demand of those candidates for the cancellation of the vote, this cannot be considered," Kadkhodai told state television. The results of the presidential poll have been met with fury by opposition supporters. On Monday night, hundreds of thousands of Mousavi's followers took to the streets to decry what they say was foul play at the ballot box. Iranian state radio said the 'illegal' rally turned violent towards the end, when a military post was attacked with the intention of looting the weapons inside. "Illegal demonstration" The broadcast said thugs taking part in the "illegal" demonstration in Tehran had "attacked and vandalized a number of public and government buildings," in what it described as an "organized and coordinated" event. "Unfortunately, seven of our citizens were killed and a number of them injured," the radio broadcast stated. A source told the AFP news agency however that the emergency services claimed eight had been killed and many more injured in the incident. An unnamed nurse at a city hospital said 28 people with bullet wounds had been brought in, and that eight of them had died. State television has since said that authorities have arrested the "main agents" in the post-election unrest, but it did not say how many had been detained. Planned protests Earlier, Mousavi's supporters announced plans to hold another rally on Tuesday, this time at the same central Tehran square where President Ahmadinejad celebrated his controversial re-election victory on Sunday. But following calls from hardliners loyal to Ahmadinejad for a counter protest in the same place just one hour earlier, Mousavi has appealed to his supporters to protect their lives by not showing up. A spokesman for Mousavi said the "moderates' rally" had been cancelled. But the pro-Ahmadinejad rally is expected to go ahead. An organization affiliated with the government was quoted on Iran's Fars news agency as saying it would be held "in protest against the recent agitation and destruction of public property." Call for peaceful action Meanwhile the country’s top dissident cleric Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri has appealed to opposition followers to act peacefully. He issued a statement to the "noble and oppressed Iranian nation," in which he appealed to everyone, but especially the nation’s youth, to pursue their rights with "patience and restraint." He said protesters should preserve the "calm and security of the country and avoid any violence," adding that their presence at public demonstrations was a clear show of support for defeated presidential candidates in pursuit of the "violated rights." tkw/sjt/AP/AFP/reuters Editor: Susan Houlton | [
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Steinmeier calls on Syria and Lebanon to take part in Middle East peace process
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier is in Lebanon as part of a whirlwind Middle East visit centered on restarting negotiations in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Steinmeier congratulated Lebanon's new prime minister, Saad al-Hariri, and wished him success in forming a new cabinet, after talks between the two men in Beirut on Tuesday. His election was an encouraging sign of stability in the country, Steinmeier added. Steinmeier said that he and al-Hariri "agreed that we must use the opportunities presented by US President Barack Obama" in furthering the Middle East peace process. The German foreign minister arrived in Lebanon for a three-hour visit after meetings in Syria and Israel. Steinmeier and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad were not able to come to an agreement on resuming contact between Israel and Syria during their talks in Damascus, along with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem. "Syria has an objective interest in the success of the Middle East peace process," said Steinmeier, "and I call on Syria and also my counterpart Mr. al-Moallem to do its part." Contact between Israel and Syria was suspended after Israel's military offensive on the Gaza Strip this past winter. Al-Moallem reiterated that Syria would not give up its claim on the Golan Heights, which Israel has occupied since the Six Day War in 1967. Steinmeier specifically named Hezbollah as an obstacle to the peace process. The Lebanon-based organization relies on Syria for some financial support. The talks were also meant to focus on the issue of human rights in Syria, as the European Union has promised to support Damascus in its efforts to improve its infamous record. Steinmeier said he would call on Syria to continue its trend of openness, which he said had improved in recent months. Another hot topic is Syria's close relationship with Iran. During meetings with Israeli President Shimon Peres on Monday, Steinmeier was given harsh words to pass on in Syria. Peres asked Steinmeier to tell Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that, if Damascus continued to have such close ties with Iran, Israel would hesitate to return the Golan Heights to Syria. Talks in Israel Steinmeier had traveled to Syria from Jerusalem, where he'd met with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, on Monday. The German foreign minister welcomed Netanyahu's recent acceptance of the need for a two-state solution and called the removal of road blocks restricting the movement of Palestinians in the West Bank a "small start." He added that the "road to stability in the entire region leads only through talks with the Palestinian side. My personal conviction is that a guarantee for stability can only come through the realization of the two-state solution." Reciprocity Netanyahu had initially balked at the idea of openly supporting the two-state solution, but finally made a public endorsement of a demilitarized Palestinian state in a June 14 policy speech, following intense pressure from the US and Europe. Despite this, Netanyahu had refused to accept demands for a complete freeze of construction in Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, which the Palestinians along with nations including Egypt and Jordan, have made a condition for any resumption of peace negotiations. Netanyahu has also vowed to pursue a policy of "reciprocity," insisting on Palestinian and Arab counter-steps in exchange for any Israeli "concessions." This would include Arab states gradually moving towards normalizing ties with Israel even before a Palestinian state is created. hf/glb/Reuters/dpa/AFP/AP Editor: Chuck Penfold | [
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Hertha Berlin are hoping cleverness can make up for lack of cash
Money=transfers=success. That's the football formula last season's fourth-placed team is trying to disprove. DW-WORLD's Jefferson Chase looks at whether Hertha Berlin can solve a tough equation.
There won't be any record signings in the German capital this summer. In 2008-09, Hertha Berlin broke out of the mid-table doldrums and earned more points than ever before, but if you think that would be cause for a spending spree, you don't know Hertha's books. The "old lady," as the club is known, is bent on reducing its personnel costs by five million euros ($7 million). That's led to the departures of the squad's two top strikers, Marko Pantelic and Andriy Voronin, and the consensus choice for the Bundesliga's best defensive player last year, Josip Simunic. In fact, Hertha only have around 25 million euros in total for players - significantly less than one-third of what Real Madrid paid to pry Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United. Conventional wisdom would say that Hertha are heading for a precipitous fall this autumn. But the club thinks it can build on last season's success and balance the books - thanks to a new general manager, a no-nonsense strategist as a coach and at least one very unorthodox acquisition. Second chance for King Artur Hertha's main move thus far - other than selling Simunic for seven million euros - is to bring back one of the most reviled former players in recent years: striker Artur Wichniarek. The Polish forward spent two hapless years in the capital from 2003 to 2005, scoring just four goals in 44 appearances. Hertha have chosen to ignore that bleak bit of the past for two reasons: Wichniarek's record at his former club Bielefeld is impressive - 83 goals in 207 matches - and he's keen. King Artur's lack of success in the capital reportedly gnawed at him so much that he was willing to fork out a quarter of a million euros of his own money to buy himself out of his Bielefeld contract and take another crack at conquering Berlin. Hertha also have two promising but largely untested young forwards - Valeri Domovchiyski and Armine Chermiti - who they hope can make quantum leaps in 2009-10. But the weight of expectations - and the habitual skepticism of Hertha's supporters - will be on Wichniarek, who ended his last tenure in Berlin in utter acrimony and whose return was only made possible by the departure of a former enemy. Hoeness out, Preetz in Hertha's first move of the off-season was to oust Dieter Hoeness as its long-time general manager. When the former Bayern striker came to the club in 1996, it was struggling to stay in the second division. Under Hoeness, Hertha quickly established itself in the top flight and once even qualified for the Champions League. But Hoeness came under increasing pressure for some expensive transfer flops (chiefly Brazilian strikers) and for his propensity to make grandiose pronouncements in the media. The fact that impecunious Hertha were willing to part with a million euros to get him to resign in June is a sign of how much the club wanted him gone. Hertha's all-time leading goal scorer Michael Preetz has taken over, inheriting both Hoeness' achievements and some 25 million euros in debts that he racked up while trying to heave Berlin into the upper echelons of European soccer. During his career on the pitch, Preetz was known as an efficient, but also affable and intelligent player so there's reason to believe he can be convincing with potential signees. But more importantly, he gets on well with the man who has now been given unprecedented power to form the squad - coach Lucien Favre. Lulu's baby In only two seasons with the club, "Lulu" Favre has completely remade Hertha. Only five players remain from the squad he took over in 2007, and the Swiss coach has focused on building up a multi-talented, young midfield. Serbian Gojko Kacar and Brazilians Cicero and Raffael in particular impressed last season, scoring 19 goals between them. Manchester United are rumored to be keeping Kacar under observation and are said to believe that the 22-year-old all-rounder is worth at least 12 million euros. Hertha also reportedly turned down a 10-million-euro offer from French side Olympique Lyon for Raffael. Basically Hertha believe that with that trio, plus German national defender Arne Friedrich and rock-steady keeper Jaroslav Drobny, the squad has a solid core capable of improving next season. And Favre's insistence that his charges be capable of playing multiple positions means that he's better able to compensate for injuries and suspensions than most coaches. Still, expectations are one thing, and results another, and many teams have been burned when younger players didn't make the progress their bosses envisioned for them. If Hertha are able to maintain or surpass their level of play last season while cutting the budget, it will solidify Favre's argument that he is building a team of the future. But if the goals don't come up front, or the back four folds without Simunic, or the midfield trio stagnates, Hertha could find itself having to borrow some money in mid-season just to stave off collapse. Author: Jefferson Chase Editor: Chuck Penfold | [
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Rights groups consider responses to Lithuanian anti-gay law
After Lithuanian lawmakers approved a bill to keep material deemed harmful away from children - including information about homosexuality - some EU parliamentarians and rights groups are considering what to do next.
European members of parliament, including that body's gay and lesbian working group, as well as human rights groups are weighing their options regarding a response to a bill passed by Lithuania's parliament that would ban the dissemination of information to young people seen as promoting homosexuality. "This is crazy and un-European and totally out of thinking for me and many others," said Ulrike Lunacek, a new EU parliamentarian and member of the European Parliament's Intergroup on Gay and Lesbian rights. As Europe has long been held up as a global beacon on progressive legislation regarding gay rights - same-sex marriage or some version thereof is legal in many EU countries - the bill passed in Vilnius seems like an unexpected slap in the face. It brings back memories of cultural battles that many in western Europe at least thought were largely behind them. "But we have to be aware there are still forces out there who want to deny equal rights to gays and lesbians," she said. "We still have to convince people that equal rights for gays and lesbians doesn't mean taking away the rights of heterosexuals." Now she and others are considering the next steps, which include encouraging the new president of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek, to express his concern to the Baltic nation that the new law could be prejudicial to understanding and tolerance of homosexuals. "The new law contradicts the values of the European Union where minority rights are and should remain respected. It is the duty of the President of the European Parliament to ensure that all minorities are treated equally," said Michael Cashman, President of the Intergroup, in a statement. Child-protection or anti-gay censorship? It appears that a majority of lawmakers in this largely Roman Catholic country of 3.3 million do see homosexuality as a threat, since the bill that 86 of the Baltic state's 141 parliamentarians voted for says "public dissemination" of information favorable to homosexuality can harm the mental health and physical, intellectual and moral development of young people. Lithuania's outgoing president, Valdas Adamkus, had refused to sign the bill into law when 76 lawmakers approved it on June 16, but on Tuesday, a large majority overturned his veto. "Parliament has demonstrated its will to institutionalize homophobia," Vladimir Simonko, head of the Lithuanian Gay League, told the AFP news agency. The measure lists 19 examples of "detrimental" information that should be kept from minors, including instructions on making explosives, images of death and severe injury, hypnosis, and information that promotes bad eating. But the section on a ban on information that "agitates for homosexual, bisexual and polygamous relations" has caused the most controversy and, according to gay campaigners, will do the most harm. "This is a huge danger for young people who are lesbian/gay/bisexual not only to receive proper objective information about sexuality and development, but to receive support if needed, because basically all channels will be closed to them," said Juris Lavrikovs of the International Lesbian and Gay Association of Europe. Right-wing backlash The bill was backed by the right-wing populist Order and Justice Party. Petras Grazulis, the bill's co-sponsor, and other party members did not return phone calls or e-mails seeking comment. He told the Associated Press that the bill's passage was a step toward helping Lithuania "raise healthy generations unaffected by the rotten culture overwhelming them." Henricus Mickevicius, director of the Human Rights Monitoring Institute in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, said fears and insecurity over changing societal norms have played a role in the passage of this legislation. Since the country joined the EU in 2004, Lithuania has been asked to accept a host of new rules on gender and sexual equality that have unnerved more conservative members of society. "It's created a situation where people become concerned, and even scared, that it's undermined our national traditions, values and so on," Mickevicius said. According to him, the law intrudes on freedom of speech and violates international human rights standards. It is written so broadly, he and others have said, enforcing it will be difficult. Deciding on violations, and handing out fines for what will be classified as misdemeanors, could largely depend on the social views of those charged with enforcement. According to rights groups and campaigners, Lithuania's move violates the spirit of EU principles on equality, particularly Artricle 6, paragraph 1 of the EU Treaty, according to which "The Union is founded on the principles of liberty, democracy, respect for human right snd fundamental freedoms, and the rule of law, principles which are common to the Member States." Options According to MEP Lunacek, the head of the Green parliamentary group in the European Parliament, Daniel Cohn-Bendit, called on Jerzy Buzek on Wednesday morning to write a note of protest to Lithuania. She said that might carry some weight with Vilnius, since Burzek is from Poland, another former Soviet-satellite state which joined the European bloc not long ago. "Having a president of the EU parliament like Mr. Burzek, who himself comes from a new-member country, would help say to the Lithuanian parliament - look, this is not European," she said. But the EU's options overall are limited. Child-protection does not fall under Brussels' jurisdiction, and while the EU could apply sanctions of some sort, such options are not being considered right now. Another possibility would be to cancel some Lithuanian voting rights on the European Council, according to Lunacek. The new Lithuanian president, Dalia Grybauskaite, has not yet signed the law, although she is required to do so within three days. By Lithuanian law she cannot reimpose a veto. There has been as of yet no signal whether her office is considering further action against it. Human rights monitor Mickevicius said if that happens, Lithuanian activists will have to just wait. "It may sound cynical, but we'll have to see who becomes the first victim of this law and then take it through the national courts or even the European Court of Human Rights," he said. Author: Kyle James Editor: Neil King | [
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A face with wrinkles and blemishes: the moon is aging with dignity
The moon is more than 4 billion years old and people used to think there were large areas of water as well as lunar species. But there are no settlements yet and the moon's "seas" are bone dry.
The Earth's satellite looks really old. It's turned completely grey and its face is marked with numerous wrinkles, stains and scars. It's visible: it's been through a lot in its lifespan. But given it's been around for some 4 and a half billion years, the moon has aged with dignity. Getting a facelift is out of the question. And it's not even necessary – as every four weeks during the new moon phase, the moon is veiled in darkness and can't be spotted from earth. We can see many big dark and lighter areas on the face of the moon. This is due to the varied landscape on its surface. Some people see a face up there, others claim the pattern looks like a hopping rabbit. At the time of astronomer Galileo Galilei, the first observers looking through their telescopes euphorically baptized the dark spots "maria" - the Latin word for the seas. They imagined huge bodies of water sloshing about what poets called the "watery planet", and they imagined a very special lunar species living on the moon. All that has become legend, and although astronomers still talk about "maria", it's quite clear that the moon is dry as a desert. Just like an old bookshelf, the moon is covered in thick dust. Today, it has completely congealed. However our celestial companion looks back at a very turbulent past. In the first billion years of its existence, just like Earth, it was exposed to a tremendous bombardment. Leftover debris from planet formation was abundant, and huge meteorites and whole asteroids were colliding with the surface. Even today, the numerous craters on the moon bear witness to the dramatic impact. The biggest craters gradually filled up with liquid lava and welled up from what then was the hot liquid core of the moon. So the dark spots on the moon are actually due to volcanic activity. And the maria of the moon probably came about roughly 3 billion years ago. That's when the worst bombardment with space debris was over, which is why there are relatively few craters in the maria. The lighter-coloured regions of the moon are called "terrae", or more commonly just highlands, since they are higher than most maria. The soil samples collected by the Apollo space missions are evidence that once upon a time there was indeed volcanic activity on the moon. It's still unclear though how the lava reached the surface of the moon. Possibly it came up through cracks created by the impact of meteorites in the craters. Even the first scientists observing the moon have come up with colorful names for the maria, full of longing for the supposedly paradisiacal conditions on the moon: there are for instance, a sea of mirth, of nectar, of crisis, of clouds and also a 'mare fecunditiatis', or the sea of fertility. However, the most well-known dark spot in the near side of the moon – the right eye in the moon's face – is called mare tranquilitatis, or the sea of tranquillity. That name is an obvious misconception because four and a half million years later the lunar peace has well and truly been disturbed. On July 21, 1969, Neil Armstrong took his famous first step on the moon right in the sea of tranquillity. Author: Dirk H.Lorezen (ara) Editor: Neil King | [
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Vaccination timetable unclear as swine flu spreads
Failing to reach agreement over funding the German government's plan to launch mass vaccinations remains riddled with uncertainties. Experts point to the new drugs' unknown side effects as another problem.
The number of swine flu cases in Germany has risen by several hundred since the beginning of the week and now stands at close to 15,000 the Robert-Koch Institute reported on Wednesday. The institution officially in charge of recording the outbreak in Germany added that most new infections were caught by people travelling abroad. Faced with the growing extent of the swine flu outbreak in Germany, the federal government last week decided to launch the largest mass immunization program in the nation's history. Vaccinations are expected to start in October when sufficient serum is available, a Health Ministry spokeswoman said. Federal and state governments are aiming at obtaining a total of 50 million doses from drug company GlaxoSmithKline. Since every person has to be vaccinated twice, this would be sufficient for 25 million people. Delays due to unclear funding But, state health ministers, who have failed to reach agreement on how to pay for it, have not yet been able to place necessary additional orders, as planned. Public health funds will foot half the bill estimated at about one billion euros ($1.45 billion), but states and the federal government have not decided on how to split the remainder between them. As a result, vaccinations for all but the most vulnerable groups, such as children and pensioners, will only start in late fall. Health ministers are planning to hold a special meeting in Berlin in two weeks before placing the additional orders stalled so far. Side effects feared Experts are concerned about yet another problem due to the massive extent of the operation and the short time available for drug companies to develop and test substances against swine flu. "We may have to reckon with a larger number of previously unknown side effects", warned the Germany Association of Pediatricians (BKJV). A federal medical institute also pointed out that side effects like headaches or swellings may be more likely with vaccines against swine flu compared to those against seasonal flu viruses. The Health Ministry does not deny this and Minister Ulla Schmidt last week said she would not recommend vaccinating children until all medical studies have been completed. Another risk lies in the different methods of developing substances in Europe and the US, Wolfgang Becker-Brüser told the German newspaper "Muenchner Merkur". The Munich-based medical journal editor said that US labs use common flu vaccines and adapt them to deal with the new virus. "This method is safer compared to what the Europeans and Germany are doing", he added. The latter's substances are based on the much less tested vaccine against bird flu. rri/Reuters/AP/dpa/epd Editor: Mark Mattox | [
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Lights out for the incandescent light bulb?
The Dutch town of Eindhoven is where the Philips brothers first began mass-producing light bulbs. Today though, the company is pursuing technologies they say will make the good old light bulb a thing of the past.
The Philips brothers began producing the first light bulbs in a small brick factory in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, in 1887. The site is now home to a museum, where visitors can find out everything about the history of lighting. During the daily guided tours, visitors can see, for example, how workers made the carbonized cotton thread filaments encased in a bulb of glass. Philips became the world's biggest maker of light bulbs, and it turned Eindhoven into a city of light. Today, the company continues to be a pioneer in the field of lighting. But new developments promise to make the old-fashioned light bulb go the way of the horse and cart. "Its fate is sealed," said Niels Haverkorn, strategic marketing director for light at Philips. "The future belongs to LED lights and OLED lights - semiconductor light from light diodes." Four big advantages In light-emitting diode or LED bulbs, more than 50 percent of the energy is converted into light. In the case of energy-saving light bulbs, only 25 percent is converted into light, while the normal light bulb converts just 5 percent. Another advantage is that, in addition to dimming the light, consumers can also choose the color of the light to suit a certain atmosphere. Turn on a sunny yellow light while vacuuming, for example, or cozy red to accompany the evening meal. For designers, the tiny LED light sources also open up new possibilities. They can be more flexible when experimenting with forms and materials for lamps. But perhaps most importantly, an LED lamp burns 50 times longer than a normal light bulb: 50,000 instead of a mere 1,000 hours. The table lamp from Philips' new Ledino series, for example, looks like a shiny silver high-tech oyster that's just starting to open. And the new Daywave desk lamp is packed with special features, says Haverkorn. "It adjusts to the amount of daylight and doesn't disrupt people's biorhythms, so people can work more efficiently," he said. Surround lighting The next step will be OLED, an extension of LED technology (the 'O' stands for organic). Although it's still in the beginning stages, OLED technology has the ability to be embedded in fabric, meaning that your rug, sofa or curtains could be transformed into light sources. "Lamps will become obsolete," said Haverkorn. "Light will be more like daylight, it'll come from everywhere." First though, the estimated 24 billion lamps worldwide equipped with standard light bulb fixtures would have to be scrapped. And besides, LED technology, though quite advanced, is not perfect. It's still relatively expensive, and sometimes, it's not strong enough. To replace a 75-Watt light bulb, for example, you're still better off with an energy-saving bulb. They're now available in all sizes, with different lighting effects, including dimmers. Those who want to stick with the classic light bulb shape can now opt for the Philips Retrofit bulb. It still looks like the good old light bulb, it fits in all the old fixtures, but it gives off LED light. The cost is between 20 and 40 euros ($28 - $57). "But for that, it's environmentally friendly, it gives off a wonderful, warm light, and it'll burn for 50 years!" Haverkorn said. Author: Kirstin Schweighoefer (dc) Editor: Andreas Illmer | [
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More troops and new strategy for Afghanistan will be hard to come by
The dire situation in Afghanistan, highlighted by the call for more troops by NATO's top commander there, is forcing the alliance to make tough decisions. Surprisingly, Europe and the US are closer than before.
Whatever decisions President Barack Obama and other NATO leaders make in response to General Stanley McChrystal's assessment of the conflict in Afghanistan, they won't be able to claim later on they didn't understand the message NATO's chief commander in the country wanted to convey in his report. In clear and undiplomatic language, the head of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) spells out how he views the options the alliance is facing. "Success is not ensured by additional forces alone, but continued underresourcing will likely cause failure," is how McChrystal describes his call to send more troops to Afghanistan. The second component for possible success "is the urgent need for a significant change to our strategy and the way that we think and operate." While the two pillars - more soldiers and a new strategy - needed to make progress in Afghanistan are clearly laid out in the report, experts and even McChrystal himself are not sure whether they can be implemented by NATO member states where public opinion is growing increasingly weary of the war, now in its eigth year. The old dividing lines that have existed for a long time regarding the war in Afghanistan are still there, notes Daniel Korski, an Afghanistan expert with the European Council on Foreign Relations. "It's the division of those who want to committ more assets and those who would rather pull out." But, he adds, unlike before the lines between both camps can't be drawn geographically anymore. "I think it's a division that cuts across both the alliance and within certain member states, but not in sort of neat ways and certainly not in terms of Old Europe and New Europe that Donald Rumsfeld talked about." Skeptical Americans But while Europeans on a whole have for a long time had their doubts and concerns about the war in Afghanistan, in the US public opinion has grown increasingly skeptical toward the mission as well. According to a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll 51 percent of Americans now oppose sending more troops to Afghanistan. "More and more people feel that it is a never ending story, that this war has been dragging on now for longer than the second world war, that we see too little results and we really don't know why we are there," is how Patrick Keller, Foreign and Security Policy Coordinator at the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, a think tank affiliated with the German Christian Democrats, sums up the shift in the United States. "And this is a situation that is pretty similar to that in Europe and it's a difficult political issue, especially at a time when the administration is spending most its political capital on domestic issues such as healthcare," he adds. Whether or not the increasingly negative perception of the Afghanistan effort among the US public, but also within the foreign policy establishment, translates into political decisions could decide the future of the Afghan mission. The US currently provides 30,000 of the 65,000 ISAF troops in Afghanistan. Should Washington reassess the situation and not opt for increasing the funds and troop levels for Afghanistan as requested by General McChrystal it could signal to the international community that the US has given up on the country. What's more, President Obama has a lot of other tough issues to deal with such as the economic crisis, health care reform, Iran's nuclear program and the upcoming climate conference. Still, it will be difficult for him to turn down General McChrystal. "It's very hard to see that President Obama given all the things he said in the past about George Bush's strategy, would deny a direct request from the ground commanders for additional troops," says Korski. Few European troops Even more so, because the US shouldn't count on Europe to come up with more soldiers to fulfill McChrystal's request. "It's very difficult at this point to see a lot of European countries rushing to deploy more troops," says Korski. "And in going forward we will probably see the British offer some more troops, perhaps the Danes as well, but many other countries are really looking the other direction." While the first demand of McChrystal's request - more troops - may be hard to fulfill, his second demand - a new strategy - may prove even harder to implement. McChrystal said so himself in the report: "ISAF is a conventional force that is poorly configured for COIN (comprehensive counterinsurgency), inexperienced in local languages and culture, and struggling with challenges inherent to coalition warfare." To win in Afghanistan, argues McChrystal, ISAF troops must eschew their traditional role of combat soldier and switch to that of a counterinsurgency operator who basically lives among the local population and protects it. That, however, as the head of ISAF wrote himself, presents a huge challenge for most troops. "It's going to be very difficult for any other army bar the US, the Brits and perhaps one or two other countries to adopt to this unless we see a real push by the NATO secretary general to turn mentoring of Afghan forces and cooperation with Afghan civilians into a key focus for the alliance," argues Korski. But even if ISAF is able to retool its mission, which will take time, it will come with a higher risk for the individual soldier. That in turn could make it difficult to sustain the effort to war-weary constituencies in the US and Europe. "I think given how bad the situation in Afghanistan is, if you consider that we are there now for more than eight years and how relatively little progress there has been made, it is important to really consider a change in strategy even if that might lead to more casualties because in the long run with the current strategy we will also fail to convince our publics to support it," says Keller. Despite the recent negative turn of events in Afghanistan both Keller and Korski believe that a turnaround, not a victory in a classical sense, is still possible. "Can we build a capability in the Afghan government so that it can not destroy but contain the insurgency while gradually over time drawing more and more ordinary Afghans onto its side," is how Korski frames the question of success in Afghanistan. "That is what our objective ought to be and that is what probably can still be done at this stage." Author: Michael Knigge Editor: Rob Mudge | [
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Romania's shaky coalition government collapses
Romania's center-left coalition government has collapsed after a group of Social Democrat ministers resigned in protest over the firing of the country's interior minister.
After months of an uneasy cohabitation with its centrist Liberal Democrat (PDL) partners, left-leaning Social Democratic Party (PSD) leader Mircea Geoana said on Thursday that nine ministers from his party had quit the government "in solidarity" with Interior Minister, Dan Nica. The move ends the shaky nine-month tenure of a coalition consumed by bickering and corruption allegations just before presidential elections scheduled for November 22. Nica was fired by Prime Minister Emil Boc on Monday over comments he made about potential fraud in the run-up to the November poll. Nica's comments were widely interpreted as an accusation that Boc's Liberal Democrats might try to cheat to get President Traian Basescu re-elected. As an interim solution, Nica was replaced by Development Minister Vasile Blaga, who is the PDL campaign chief and a close ally of Basescu. Geoana has blamed the president for the crisis, saying "nothing was sacred" to him to ensure he wins another term in office. Coalition had a whole laundry list of problems Divisions between the PDL and PSD have festered since the beginning of the year after the Social Democrats accused President Basescu of interfering in the government decision-making process. Also in January, the PSD's interior minister, Gabriel Oprea, resigned in a dispute over the appointment of an intelligence officer considered too close to the coalition partners. In February, the newly appointed Liviu Dragnea quit the same post, citing insufficient funds allocated to his ministry. In September, Prime Minister Boc threatened to fire the leftist education minister unless she withdrew a controversial decision to allow political appointments in the education sector. Boc said the decision contradicted principles of newly adopted IMF-mandated legislation to reform the country's ailing education system. At the same time, the Social Democrats slammed massive job cuts planned by the government as part of a 20-billion-euro ($29 billion) IMF aid package, saying it would oppose the implementation of such a move. PSD support for parliamentary inquiries investigating PDL ministers Monica Iacob-Ridzi for fraud and Elena Udrea for abuse of power prompted the centrists to ask the PSD whether they wanted to be in government or in the opposition. As it stands now, with the presidential election in November, voters will have the option of sending a signal on which party should do what. gb/dpa/AFP/Reuters/AP Editor: Michael Lawton | [
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Berlin's ex-finance chief probed for controversial immigrant remarks
Thilo Sarazzin, Berlin's outspoken ex-finance chief who sparked outrage by making disparaging remarks about the capital's Arab and Turkish populations, is being investigated for suspicions of inciting racial hatred.
A spokesman for the state prosecutor's office in Berlin said on Friday that investigators were looking into comments made by Sarrazin in an interview this week, criticizing certain immigrant groups in the German capital for not being productive enough. "The authorities are examining whether the transcript of the interview crossed limits on free speech and whether there are initial suspicions for a crime," the spokesman told news agency AP. Sarrazin, an executive board member of Germany's federal bank, the Bundesbank, told magazine Lettre International that Berlin's large Arab and Turkish populations were unwilling to integrate and worsened the city's considerable economic problems. "A large number of Arabs and Turks in this city, whose number has grown through bad policies, have no productive function other than as fruit and vegetable vendors," Sarrazin, 64, told the quarterly magazine. Citing Berlin's high jobless rate compared to the national average, he said part of the city's problems lay in the fact that 40 percent of births were among the "lower class". He also took aim at what he called a "slob factor" in the capital. "I do not need to accept people who live on handouts from a state they reject and who are not adequately concerned about the education of their children, and constantly produce new, little headscarf-clad girls," he said. "That goes for 70 percent of the Turkish and 90 percent of the Arab population of Berlin." Far-right party applauds comments The comments have triggered a storm of outrage across Germany. "This is outrageous," Kenan Kolat, who heads the Turkish Association in Germany, told news agency dpa. Uwe Foullong of the Ver.di trade union called the comments "scandalous" and "extreme right-wing." Sarrazin, a member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), also faces calls for his expulsion. "After these comments, Thilo Sarrazin can no longer be tolerated in the party," Eva Hoegl, a SDP member of the Berlin state parliament told newspaper Rheinische Post. Gerhard Schick, a parliamentarian from the Green Party told the newspaper Frankfurter Rundschau that Sarrazin had damaged the reputation of the Bundesbank with his controversial comments and had clearly violated the bank's rules of conduct. The Bundesbank issued a statement saying it distanced itself resolutely from Sarrazin's "discriminatory remarks." Sarrazin said in a statement on Thursday he regrets the comments and did not mean to insult anyone. His remarks have however been applauded by the far-right NPD party. The party said that Berlin's former finance chief "had hit the nail on the head when it came to Germany's development as a country." No stranger to controversy It's not the first time Sarrazin has stirred controversy with his outspoken comments which earned him the nickname "Rambo." The belligerent 64-year-old established a reputation for criticizing the habits and slovenliness of Berlin's lower class during his seven-year term in political office in the city. At one point, he complained about people wandering the streets all day in jogging pants, and his department published a document demonstrating that the unpopular unemployment benefit known as Hartz IV still provided more than enough money for a well-balanced diet. sp/AP/dpa Editor: Andreas Illmer | [
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Czech court keeps Europe waiting
The Czech Republic's highest court said it will deliver a ruling next week on a complaint filed by Czech senators against the European Union's Lisbon Treaty, which could hold up reform of the unwieldy 27-member bloc.
The Czech Constitutional Court heard the case Tuesday and will likely announce its decision on Tuesday, November 3, according to secretary-general of the court, Tomas Langasek. The proceedings at the Czech Constitutional Court have stirred intense international interest because the Lisbon Treaty, designed to streamline the administrative and decision-making processes in the EU, hangs in the balance. The Czech Republic is the only country yet to ratify the treaty. Without its signature, the European Commission, the EU's executive body, would be in legal limbo and unable to fill appointments set to expire at the end of this month. "Only when we have legal clarity about the (Lisbon) Treaty can we decide about the new top posts in the EU," said Sweden's Minister for European Affairs, Cecilia Malmstrom, whose country currently hold the rotating EU presidency. The group of Czech senators who filed the complaint say the treaty undermines national sovereignty and is at odds with the Czech constitution. Czech President Vaclav Klaus has also been very critical of the treaty, demanding an "opt-out" clause with regard to the EU's human rights charter. Klaus has said that if the treaty were approved as is, it would allow ethnic Germans, expelled under the Benes Decrees in postwar Czechoslovakia to reclaim their property and file damage claims. Slovakia now eager to have the same privilege The move by the Czechs has led neighboring Slovakia to demand a similar opt-out. Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak on Monday said his country "would insist on the same political and legal protections as the Czech Republic" because it shares the same post-World War II law that deported millions of ethnic Germans and Hungarians from then-united Czechoslovakia. Most legal experts say the Czech court, which has already rejected one challenge by the Senate, will throw out the senators' appeal. It could issue a ruling on Tuesday, or take longer to do so. Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer, who would like to see the Lisbon Treaty ratified, said on Monday that he did not expect the final ruling until later. Rejection of the appeal would give President Klaus the legal authority to sign the Lisbon Treaty. He cannot sign before the ruling. However, if the court accepts the appeal, the Czech constitution would have to be changed to allow ratification. And this could be a lengthy process with an uncertain outcome. gb/dpa/AP/Reuters Editor: Nancy Isenson | [
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German students protest university reforms
Students throughout Germany are protesting reforms to the country's university system. But Germany's education minister says the changes will go ahead as planned - preferably sooner rather than later.
German university students staged demonstrations across the country on Thursday to protest recent reforms to the country's degree system and tuition fees. They also complain that colleges are underfunded and understaffed. By 2010, Germany will follow the Bachelor-Master-Doctorate format as part of the Council of Europe's Bologna reforms, aimed at synchronizing Europe's higher education standards. But critics say the new system will be too intense, as the time to complete one's degree will be shorter. "The students are protesting against the workload that results from this more condensed course and fear that a bachelor's degree will not be enough when entering the job market," said Susanne Schilden, a spokeswoman for the German Rectors Conference, a group representing 265 of the country's 300 universities. Demonstrators, who occupied lecture halls in 20 German cities, including Berlin, Hamburg and Munich, also said they want tuition fees to be scrapped. Police evicted around 200 protesters from a university lecture hall in Tuebingen. Inspiration from Austria Since 2005, German universities have been allowed to charge tuition fees, which now run between 100 to 500 euros ($150 to $750) per semester. "No one can force an academic reform against the will of the students," a statement from the Munich students said. "Therefore we call for rights of co-determination for all decision-making processes that affect studies at the university." Education Minister Annette Schavan has called for Germany's 16 states to quickly implement the planned reforms. "The students need a clear signal that the corrections that have been decided are being incorporated into the academic system," Schavan told broadcaster Suedwestrundfunk. The demonstrations began on Wednesday. They were inspired by student protests in Austria that have been underway for the past three weeks. There, too, the students are protesting against the Bologna reforms as well as plans to introduce tuition fees and to limit admissions to certain courses of study. vj/AFP/dpa Editor: Nancy Isenson | [
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Bhopal Gas Leak: 25 Years on
Shortly after midnight on December 2, 1984, the Indian city of Bhopal witnessed the world’s worst industrial disaster. Toxic fumes escaped from a pesticide factory owned by the US firm Union Carbide Corporation and engulfed the homes of thousands of residents, killing many in their sleep. As many as 3,000 people died in a single night - over 22,000 in the days and years that followed. 25 years later, the catastrophe in Bhopal is far from over. While survivors still have to cope with the long-term effects of being exposed to the gas, the disaster also has consequences for the city's newer residents.
A few kilometers away from the city centre in Bhopal, an abandoned factory lies in ruins. This factory, formerly owned by the US-based firm Union Carbide Corporation, gave off toxic fumes on the night of December 2, 1984 which killed over 3,000 people. Today the factory premises are unused. In 1989 a controversial court ruling cleared the firm of all liability with regard to the incident. For residents living in the slums nearby, the sight of the derelict factory is a constant reminder of the disaster that hit them on a dark night 25 years ago. Satinath Sarangi, the director of the Sambhavna Trust Clinic for gas victims, says the impact of the catastrophe is still there for all to see. “Today, in many ways the conditions are worse than how it was on the morning of the disaster. More than 100,000 people are suffering from chronic illnesses related to the toxic gas exposure. Then there are tens of thousands of children born to gas-exposed parents with a range of growth and developmental disorders. And also in the last 25 years people who lost their health also lost their ability to work and earn a livelihood, which has meant starvation conditions for thousands of families, because the government has not provided any kind of economic rehabilitation support.” Groundwater pollution But it is not just through the long-term effects of gas-exposure that the repercussions of the disaster are being felt. The Union Carbide Factory in Bhopal dumped thousands of tons of toxins at the site. The poison continues to pollute groundwater and thus expose the residents to still more danger. In an official statement on the disaster put up on its website, Union Carbide maintains that it has spent two million dollars on clean-up efforts at the site. Yet a study released on December 1 by an independent research organisation, the Centre for Science and Environment, shows that groundwater at and near the factory site contains almost 40 times more pesticides than the average for India. Soil and water samples taken in areas as far as 3 kilometres away from the site show harmful substances including heavy metals like mercury and chromium in high concentrations. The residents of nearby slums use hand pumps or bore wells to extract their drinking water from the ground. It is of course heavily contaminated and is having a negative impact on health, says Ram Bai, a resident of the area. “For 25 years we have been drinking this polluted water, we have no access to clean water,” says Ram Bai. “There are constant illnesses here. That is why we demand our right to clean water. We have lived most of our lives, but we want to secure a better future at least for the children now being born here.” Birth defects among newborns The high level of chemicals present in the water is leading to a rising number of birth defects in new-born children. This can be witnessed even among people who moved to Bhopal after the disaster and were not exposed to the harmful gas. According to Satinath Sarangi of Sambhavna Trust, more children are born with developmental defects in this area than in any other comparable population. Yet an alternate source of water is still not available. In 2004, the Supreme Court of India directed the state government in Madhya Pradesh to provide clean drinking water to the settlements near the factory site. Now a water pipeline has been built, but local activists say the water does not reach all of the settlements on a regular basis. Moreover, some of the slum-dwellers have been told it is a private water supply and that they have to pay to use it. Outside the premises of the Union Carbide factory, women have gathered to shout slogans in protest at the conduct of the Madhya Pradesh state government. A few days ahead of the 25th anniversary of the disaster, the state government went so far as to deny that there was any toxic contamination at the site. The women in these settlements now want the world to know that while the catastrophe may have occurred a long time ago, their struggle for basic rights like health care and clean drinking water is far from over. Author:Pia Chandavarkar(Bhopal) Editor: Grahame Lucas | [
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Climate activists receive Alternative Nobel Prizes
An award for activism, dubbed the "alternative Nobel prize" has been awarded to four individuals for their work in fields such as climate change, medicine and preventing deforestation.
Four activists were awarded the 2009 Right Livelihood award in the Stockholm parliament on Friday for "offering practical and exemplary answers to the most urgent challenges facing us today." The so-called "Alternative Nobels" have been awarded since 1980. David Suzuki of Canada won an honorary award for "his lifetime advocacy of the socially responsible use of science," as well as his contributions to highlighting the issue of climate change. He expressed concerns before the awards ceremony that the imminent Copenhagen conference would result in a contract emphasizing economics over the environment. "The worst possible thing would be a half-hearted agreement," he told the dpa news agency, saying it was better to work for a better deal next year. "We have partied as if there is no tomorrow, using things up and throwing them away without regard to the future," Suzuki said on Thursday. "Well, the party's over and we have to sober up, clean up our mess, assess our situation and get on with acting for a future." He also admitted doubting the Canadian government's commitment to dealing with climate change, saying that Ottawa "would try to prevent any hard targets and time frames and enforcement mechanisms." Prize winning activism Other laureates honored were Rene Ngongo, of the Democratic Republic of Congo, who won for his courage in establishing conservation efforts for the rainforests of the Congo. "Climate change is the biggest threat our planet has to face right now," Ngongo said. "The world must act now - if not, we risk suffering from growing and irreversible disturbances that will exceed our capacities to adapt." New Zealand's Alyn Ware won for his work promoting peace education and campaigns against nuclear weapons. In Ethiopia, Australian-born Catherine Hamlin, was awarded the prize for her 50 years of work dedicated to treating obstetric fistula patients. Co-winners Ware, Hamlin and Ngongo are to receive 50,000 euros ($73,000) in prize money. sjt/dpa/AP Editor: Sean Sinico | [
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Fake medicines inundate EU market
The EU's outgoing industry commissioner warns that the bloc has been swamped by spurious pharmaceutical products. Guenter Verheugen is calling for steps that will criminalize offenses and protect potential victims.
The Industry Commissioner said in an interview published in the German daily Die Welt on Monday that the trade in counterfeit medicines in the European Union had exceeded the body's worst fears. Guenter Verheugen said the EU had seized fake tablets worth millions within a short period of time. "In just two months, the EU seized 34 million fake tablets at customs points in all member countries. This exceeded our worst fears," he said. He told Die Welt that antibiotics, cancer treatments and Viagra were among the counterfeit medicines. Other fake drugs seized included anti-malaria medicines, analgesics and anti-cholesterol treatments. Verheugen is Germany's commissioner to the European Union and will hold the portfolio until commissioner-designate Antonio Tajani of Italy is approved and takes office early next year. Verheugen said the European Commission, the bloc's executive arm, was very concerned about the situation, adding that he expected the EU to take action to fight the menace of fake pharmaceutical products. "The number of counterfeit medicines arriving in Europe ... is constantly growing. The European Commission is extremely worried," Die Welt quoted Verheugen as saying. An EU report in July said that many of the fake pharmaceuticals seized in 2008 came from India. Call to criminalize Verheugen said counterfeiting drugs should be treated as a serious crime and punished severely. "Every faked drug is a potential massacre,” he said, adding: "Even when a medicine only contains an ineffective substance, this can lead to people dying because they think they are fighting their illness with a real drug." The outgoing EU commissioner expressed optimism that there would be progress in tackling the problem of fake medicines in the coming year. "I expect the EU will agree in 2010 that a drug's journey from manufacture to sale should be scrutinized carefully. There will also be anti-counterfeit markings on packaging – in particular a barcode and seal, to show clearly if a package has been opened," he said. In June, EU health ministers gave a warm reception to a legal proposal aimed at stopping fake drugs entering the legal supply chain. The plan included stepped-up security measures on packaging, including barcodes, seals and holograms, as well as tighter controls on suppliers. Some analysts have welcomed the proposal, saying it could help to better regulate distributors. rb/AFP/AP/dpa Editor: Kyle James | [
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Online betting firms say they discourage soccer match-fixing
As football authorities try to fight the worst scandal ever to hit the sport, gaming operators are coming under scrutiny. But as Deutsche Welle discovered, they could help prevent games from being thrown.
Prosecutors in the German city of Bochum certainly have enough to investigate - 200 manipulated matches in nine countries, the Champions League and possibly World Cup qualifiers. Players, referees and even hotel chefs are thought to be involved. The scandal is being called the biggest ever in football, and it comes just four years after German football was rocked by revelations that referee Robert Hoyzer had helped fix professional matches. Against this backdrop, some representatives of state gaming operators have criticized the dramatic growth of the online gambling industry, blaming it for persistent corruption in the sport. Not surprisingly, Internet betting firms disagree with that view. After the Hoyzer scandal, leading gaming operators banded together to form a watchdog, the European Sports Security Association, or ESSA. Industry representatives say the measures taken helped prevent abuses. When the German authorities started to investigate the Hoyzer scandal in 2005, they went to the largest operator at the time, bwin, and asked them how much money they lost," ESSA Secretary General Khalid Ali told Deutsche Welle. "Actually, bwin didn't lose anything. And the reason was that they were online so everything was fully traceable," he said, adding that the strict security procedures in place prevented people from coming online and placing large amounts of money on games - in particular on minor games in lower divisions. A spokesman for the large online betting platform Interwetten reaffirmed that assessment. "We have suffered in the past due to manipulated results, but we haven't been hurt at all by the current scandal," Interwetten Sponsoring and Public Relations Manager Michael Summer said. "That's because we have a risk management system that can block attempts at cheating at an early stages." Both Ali and Summer point out that online bookmakers are among those with the most to lose from match-fixing and, conversely, the biggest interest in uncovering instances of cheating. So can football's governing bodies and law-enforcement authorities actually learn from the Internet bookies? Transparency through technology For some people, online gambling is a marriage of something inherently dubious with something inherently seedy, but industry representatives say that impression is wrong. Both ESSA and individual Internet bookmakers monitor the flow of bets. If unusual amounts of money are wagered on a given result, the odds are immediately lowered. In extreme cases, bets are cancelled and football authorities notified about the irregularities. Computer technology increases the transparency. "All of our customers are identifiable and can't get away with using pseudonyms and false identities more than once or twice," Summer said. "That makes Internet gaming operators far more secure than traditional betting shops." Online bookmakers are particularly cautious with games in obscure leagues and lower divisions, where most, if not all, of the current match fixing seems to have taken place. "People think you can just go online and start betting a lot of money," Ali said. "That's not the case. It might be if you wanted to bet on the Champions League, the Premier League or the Bundesliga first division, but if you go down the leagues, the amount of money you can bet is very limited. In some cases you'd be lucky to be able to put even 50 euros on a match." The same, Ali says, is true of so-called provisional bets - for instance, who will pick up a game's first foul or corner kick. The industry asserts that the importance of such wagers, much criticized of late, has been blown out of proportion. "Provisional or in-play wagers aren't part of the problem at all," Summer said. "These are usually bets on 50-50 outcomes with very low odds and very low limits on the amounts that can be wagered." So if match fixers aren't making their ill-gotten gains from Internet bookmakers, how is the money being earned? The real bad guys "One of the first questions I'd be asking is: Where exactly have these bets been placed?" Ali said. "Once UEFA had released the names of the teams involved in the Champions League and Europe League games, we went to our members and did a retroactive search on this. And none of our members found anything suspicious. That's not to say the matches weren't fixed, but it shows that the criminals who were behind this are not putting their bets with the responsible online operators." Instead, say industry representatives, the trail leads to Asia and Eastern Europe, where gambling is usually illegal and controlled by the local mafia. That assertion is backed up by research done by British journalist Declan Hill, whose 2008 book "The Fix" predicted that the football world was on the verge of a major scandal. "In Asia, the gambling market is enormous - bigger than Las Vegas and the European bookmakers combined," Hill told The New York Times in a recent interview. "It's huge and most of it is illegal. It's easier to hide a fraud inside a covert, criminal industry." Online gaming operators do say more attention needs to be paid to betting exchanges, in which individual gamblers conclude bets with one another. And they say more effective use needs to be made of the information they provide to law-enforcement authorities and football governing bodies. "Abuses need to be pursued more vigorously," Summer said. "For example, after the Hoyzer affair, we passed on data we had collected to the German Football League, the DFL. But for whatever reason, some of the people behind that match-fixing scandal are the same ones involved in the latest affair. There was a lack of follow-up." Most observers are confident that investigators in Bochum are doing a good job trying to shed light on the current scandal. But improved cooperation between law enforcers, football organizations and legitimate bookmakers would help them in their attempt to eradicate match-fixing. Author: Jefferson Chase Editor: Kyle James | [
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Rainer Schüttler Tastes Victory
German tennis can once again dare to dream of taking home a Grand Slam title as Rainer Schüttler slams his way into the finals of the Australian Open with a sensational victory over American Andy Roddick.
He was supposed to be the rising star on the German tennis horizon, filling in the shoes of the likes of Boris Becker and former Davis Cup captain Michael Stich. And for a while in 1999, it seemed that Rainer Schüttler was just the man for a floundering post-Becker German tennis scene. In January 1999, Schüttler exploded on to the tennis circuit with a stunning ATP tournament victory in Doha over British player Tim Henman, catapulting him to a world ranking of 66. The German media hailed him as the "new hope" and the spectacular win even moved a previously skeptical Becker to remark that, "others have more talent than him. But Rainer manages to put in much more effort and perform better than other stylish players." Spectacular comeback But as the tennis world waited with bated breath for Schüttler to deliver after Doha, the German disappointed with a series of uninspiring performances, barely making it beyond the first or second rounds in events including the Davis Cup premiere for Germany in 1999. Schüttler was more or less written off after those disasters. But now 26-year-old Schüttler has finally filled those expectations, which accompanied him at the start of his shooting-star career three years ago. With a stunning 7:5, 2:6, 6:3, 6:3 win over American Andy Roddick (photo) on Friday, Schüttler is now close to emulating German tennis legend Boris Becker's last spectacular Grand Slam win of his career at the Australian Open seven years ago. Germany has not seen a Grand Slam victory since former Wimbledon champion Michael Stich won the French Open title seven years ago, just four months after Becker's coup at the Australian Open. Schüttler now becomes the sixth German to enter the finals of a Grand Slam tournament in tennis history. "I'm speechless, ecstatically happy! It was a dream and I fulfilled it," Schüttler said after the marathon match that lasted two hours, 19 minutes -- the longest in his career. The game began on an unhappy note for Schüttler, who appeared visibly nervous. He lost his serve at the beginning, though recovered soon after to make the 20-year-old Roddick -- who had two marathon five-setters behind him -- scramble after the ball. Schüttler also profited from a series of unforced errors from his opponent. With a huge crowd of supporters rooting for him, Schüttler clinched the first set after two break points. But he seemed to be out of sorts in the second and lost the set in the face of errors and a weak serve. From the third set on, Schüttler regained his characteristic confidence and made Roddick run for the ball and attacked his weak backhand. The strategy paid off. Roddick, who was suffering from a wrist injury, was fair enough not to excuse his defeat with his handicap. "Rainer played a clever game, absolutely brilliant! He's earned his spot in the finals," Roddick said later. Hard-hitting player Schüttler, born in 1976, first began playing tennis at 10, hitting balls with his father, a postal worker, on a tennis court in his home city of Korbach in the state of Hessen. For several years, tennis remained just a hobby for the blond Schüttler. "Until the 11th grade, I never thought of becoming a professional player," Schüttler said in an interview with Tennis Guide in 1998. He was then discovered by coach Dirk Hordoff at a tournament in Hessen and Schüttler made rapid progress under his tutelage. Not exactly known as an elegant player, Schüttler often relies heavily on his physical prowess to overpower his opponents. He has been working with an athletics trainer for the past six years and with an Iranian tae kwon do world champion for the past two. Schüttler is incredibly quick on his feet and almost deceptively simple in his persona on court -- a baseball cap worn backwards is his trademark -- but he also moves about with a huge dose of self-confidence. Asked whether it was a problem for him to be always standing in the shadows of German tennis heavyweights such as Becker, Stich, Haas and Kiefer, Schüttler said "it's normal. The expectations in Germany are always very high." Coach Hordoff said that Schüttler had transformed his frame of mind on court. "Earlier," he said, "Rainer was under too much pressure to win, now he just goes out and has fun playing tennis." "He's an absolutely solid guy, a proper German," coach Hordoff once told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper in an interview. "He’s a cautious person who has no silly ideas in his head and no caprices," Hordoff said. Schüttler v. Agassi up next Schüttler will next face the match of his life as he meets three-time Australian Open winner and American star Andre Agassi (photo) in the finals on Sunday. Schüttler -- who has once before played Agassi in 1998 at the ATP tour in Munich and lost a tame 1:6, 4:6 to him -- remains undaunted. "I still have a dream. Sorry, Andre, but you've won here so many times," Schüttler said in front of a 1,500-strong crowd in the packed Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne as he was interviewed by tennis legend John McEnroe for Australian television. "He's (Agassi) one of the greatest tennis players ever. Maybe he'll eat something wrong before the match!," Schüttler joked when asked how he felt about playing Agassi. Even if he loses to Agassi on Sunday, Schüttler has already picked up a cool $ 593,925 for entering the finals. And German tennis still stands to profit if Schüttler fails to deliver in the finals -- Agassi plans to play mixed doubles with wife and German tennis phenomenon, Steffi Graf in the French Open if he wins. Schüttler's coach Dirk Hordorff offered better odds for his chances on Sunday. "Agassi doesn't come from a different world. Rainer simply has to play his game." | [
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German Financial Experts to Discuss New Technology Index
Financial experts at the German Stock Exchange are due to discuss the expansion of the equity market and the implementation of the new TecDAX technology sector index model at a meeting on Tuesday.
Experts at the Deutsche Börse, the German Stock Exchange, will meet on February 11 in Frankfurt to discuss the final arrangements on the expansion of the country's financial market. While the original DAX index will remain unchanged and continuing to host Germany's 30 largest blue chip companies, the new developments are set to expand the equity market with a new index model that aims to showcase technology companies The model, to be known as TecDAX, is based on a plan that was approved in principle by the Exchange Council of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange last year. Members of Deutsche Börse AG, the company that runs the stock exchange, are due to discuss the proposal of introducing the TecDAX to the current market system on Tuesday. If the integration is agreed upon, the new indices will be launched on March 24. TecDAX to showcase technology companies The TecDAX, which will track the 30 largest equities, will offer companies from the technology sectors greater exposure and it is hoped it will contribute to an economic recovery for Germany. Volker Potthoff, the Deutsche Börse executive board member responsible for the cash market, said in an official press release: "The new index completes the new equity market segmentation with which we are creating the highest transparency standards in Europe and thus making investors the focus of market organization." Current Nemax index will offer support Once the TecDAX is up and running, a parallel calculation of the Nemax 50, the current index for the 50 largest equities in the technology sectors, is expected to continue until the end of 2004, in order to maintain continuity for financial products already based on this index. While the DAX will be unchanged, Deutsche Börse will differentiate between those companies below the DAX. For the companies from classic sectors, it will calculate the MDAX index, a senior index of companies, which is being reduced from 70 to 50 equities. The SDAX will continue to comprise 50 equities as the selection index for smaller firms ranked immediately below the MDAX. Skepticism from financial professionals Professionals from the financial sector are skeptical about the new TecDAX market and its worth. "I can hardly believe that this new market index sector will bring a real change," said Eberhard Weinberger from analysts Dr. Jens Erhard Kapital AG. "First, you must develop better frameworks in Germany, then that will be the time for big decisions." The air of caution may be justified. The Börse's New Market, its equivalent of the Nasdaq index, failed to make an impact and lost almost all of its value over a two-and-a-half year period. Germany's stock exchange operator announced the New Market's closure in September 2002 and planned an early 2003 timetable for it to be absorbed into the main market, along with the small-cap SMAX segment. | [
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Germany aims to make 2006 World Cup “Green”
Germany's World Cup organizing committee has launched a "Green Goal" campaign that promises to make the 2006 soccer championships the most environmentally friendly sporting event ever.
At a press conference in Frankfurt on Monday, former national team captain and president of Germany’s World Cup organizing committee Franz Beckenbauer and German Environment Minister Jürgen Trittin unveiled their vision for a tournament with little negative impact on the environment. "The whole world will be watching Germany during the World Cup, so we also want to be a role model for the environment," said Beckenbauer, adding the effort will promote environmental management in four key areas: water, refuse, energy and transportation. "Green Goal - the path to a sustainable 2006 FIFA World Cup" will be backed by the German government, soccer's world governing body FIFA and members of the German business community. The organizers of the World Cup in Germany have set aside €300,000 ($326,900) for ecological investment; a figure matched by a government sponsored environmental foundation. "I congratulate the organizing committee on its decision to meet a wide range of environmental concerns with its 'Green Goal' initiative,” said Trittin. “This is an example of teamwork and tactics at its best. We will set new standards in the environmental sphere via a series of concrete measures." Water demand will be immense Resources will be under pressure to deal with demands for drinking water, utilities and irrigation, as fans from the 32 participating countries flock to Germany for the month-long competition. The stadiums used for matches will require alone approximately 42,000 cubic meters of water. Concrete measures designed to deal with this demand include increasing the proportion of water reserves derived from rain. Organizers intend for ecological sources to provide 20 percent of total water used at the tournament. Plans are also in place concerning the regular maintenance of appliances and pipe work to make the water delivery system more efficient. Refuse from food and drink sales is a problem for any major event. With visitors to the 2006 World Cup expected to number in the hundreds of thousands, the "Green Goal" operation considers the potential trash problem as top priority. As a result, spectators can expect to use reusable cups and china or plastic dishes rather than throwaway paper plates. This will be strongly enforced at every stadium involved in the tournament scheduled to begin on June 9, 2006. The "Green Goal" initiative also hopes to reduce the current energy consumption at the stadiums by 20 percent during the tournament by exploiting energy-saving potential. EnBW AG, one of three 2006 FIFA World Cup official energy suppliers, will supply electricity derived from renewable sources. Tougher targets In a statement, Germany's environment ministry stressed the importance of setting specified targets for water and energy use: "These are more stringent than usual because, unlike the Olympic Games, the event will be spread across 12 cities in Germany and will generally have to rely on stadiums which already exist." In a bid to cut down on the effects of pollution from the exhaust fumes of cars and private vehicles making their way to the venues, the organizers are pushing an efficient and regular public transport network in the cities hosting games throughout the tournament. The target is that at least half of all visitors should arrive at the matches via public transport, compared with a current average of 40 percent for German first division soccer games. Despite the controls outlined by organizers, the 2006 World Cup is still likely to generate an estimated 100,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions in Germany. In an attempt to address the most demanding goal of reducing negative effects on the global climate, these emissions will be balanced by investment in environmental protection in other areas. | [
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Flu-Like Disease Has European Business on Edge
European trade fair organizers, tourism companies brace for economic impact as SARS disease death toll rises.
The phones have been ringing off the hook at travel offices run by the German company Rewe. Ever since the first reports of deaths in Southwest Asia and Canada linked to the flu-like disease SARS in Februrary, Rewe travel offices and company spokesmen have been seeking to calm harried would-be tourists. Company spokeswoman Antje Günther said there have been some cancellations and re-bookings but many more questions. "We don't want to give any predictions," Günther, a spokeswoman for the trading company's tourism wing. "It's something we need to measure day to day, week to week. The sickness isn't simple. You can't say it will be cured tomorrow and then Monday everything will be back to normal." Scientists from the World Health Organization travelled to Hong Kong on Thursday to determine the origin and cause of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). So far, the disease has killed 80 people and infected more than 2,300 people in 18 different countries, including a 72-year-old German man who was reported on Thursday to be in stable condition. As Europe braces for a potentially devastating economic impact, everyone from soccer teams to trade fair organizers are on edge. Trade fair bars Asian exhibitors Switzerland's health authorities have barred around 400 Asian exhibitors from a watch and jewelry trade fair that opened in Basel on Thursday. A spokesman for Germany's international Hanover Fair, which begins on Monday, April 7, says it has no plans to do the same. "We survive on our worldliness, and just because there's some sort of flu in Asia, that doesn't mean we're going to bar the Asians from Hanover," Eberhard Roloff, the Hanover Fair's spokesman, told DW-WORLD. Roloff said the Fair has had no cancellations from Asian exhibitors. In fact, the number of exhibitors from Asian countries has increased from 409 last year to 565 in 2003. "Unpredictable" sickness keeps visitors away Visitors to Asian countries, however, have begun rethinking their trips. The Everton soccer club, of England's Premier League, is mulling whether or not to cancel a two-game tour in China planned for May 25-26. Ditto for cycling's governing body, the UCI. The body is talking with International Olympic Committee on whether to cancel the for August planned track championships in the southern China province of Shenzhen. The Goethe Insitut, Germany's cultural outreach organization, has put staffers in Asia on high alert but has yet to pull anyone out. The German Foreign Office has posted travel warnings to Germans heading to Hong Kong and the southwest Guandong province. The warnings, added to already in-place warnings to Northern Africa and the Middle East, are likely to further dampen a travel industry that's already suffered by the outbreak of war in Iraq. Dutch airline KLM said this week that SARS has had a more dramatic effect on its passenger count than the Iraq war. A spokesman said that in particular business passengers have cancelled trips because of fears surrounding the virus. German flagship airline Lufthansa said it was grounding additional planes rather than face the possiblity of running empty flights to Asia. Günther is concerned the SARS scare could do more damage to the entire travel industry than Iraq ever could. "The war in Iraq was predictable and in some way measurable," Günther said in an interview with DW-WORLD. "This came as a complete surprise and nobody knows how long it's going to continue and how much it will spread." | [
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More Money than the Nobel Prize
Germany is well-known for its many past scientific achievements, but today it struggles to keep up with international research. But two new science awards are leading researchers back to German labs.
Ten years ago German immunologist Joachim Schultze started working at Harvard Medical School in Boston. Like many top German scientists, he had been lured to the United States because of the good conditions for research including excellent funding. And Schultze likely would have stayed at Harvard if he hadn’t been awarded one of 43 research stipends worth a total of around €36 million ($39 million). Now he’s back in Germany carrying on with his cancer research at the University of Cologne. Schultze and others have profited from two new German research prizes: the Wolfgang Paul award for scientists from abroad and the Sofja Kovalevskaja award for young scientists. Both were awarded for the first and only time in the autumn of 2001. The money for the awards came from the sale of German third-generation moblie phone licenses in 2000, which added €50.5 billion to the government's coffers. The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research awarded the stipends, which were meant to finance years of scientific research in Germany. Individual prize-winners received up to €2.3 million, twice the amount that Nobel prize-winners take home. Aims met Expectations were particularly high for the prize-winners, said Humboldt Foundation spokesman Florian Krebs. He said the first year and a half had been very successful. Russian physicist and Wolfgang Paul award laureate Alexei Khokhlov has also pleased with the results. The award has fulfilled its aim of introducing new prospects for research at German universities, he told DW-WORLD. With his prize-money Khokhlov has been able to establish a project dealing with research into polymer physics -- which deals with materials made up of large molecules -- at the University of Ulm. Khokhlov says one of Germany’s weaknesses in science is that universities can’t pick and choose their students. Instead institutions of higher learning, the vast majority of which are public, are obliged to accept any applicant with a German high school diploma. Undeserved reputation Germany doesn’t deserve its reputation as a bad place for science, said immunologist Schultze. But changes are necessary. For one, universities need not all have the same capacities, he says. He recommends the development of "centers of excellence" like in the United States with world-class universities like Harvard, Stanford and Yale. And Schultze points out that German scientists still have to learn a lesson their American colleagues figured out long ago: it pays to advertise. He said scientists should start using public relations to draw attention to their own high level research. Though Germany may never be able to compete with the United States for research funding, the new awards may just convince a few more scientists like Schultze to leave Boston for the likes of Cologne. | [
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Europe Salutes Mideast Summit as 'Historic' First Step
The Mideast Summit concluded on Wednesday with pledges from Israel and the Palestinians to support the international road map for peace. Europe applauded both sides’ commitment to the plan, but questioned its own role.
In a historic meeting in the Jordanian coastal town of Aqaba on Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas agreed to implement the so-called road map for peace as drafted by the Middle East quartet. European leaders lauded both sides’ commitment to the plan and expressed gratitude to United States President George W. Bush for his success in bringing Abbas and Sharon together. During the summit, Sharon said he was prepared to accept an interim Palestinian state and to dismantle "illegal" settlements in occupied Palestinian territories, but cautioned this could only happen if the Palestinians made inroads in stopping terrorism. Abbas, for his part, vowed that his government would "act vigorously" to end violence against Israel and pressure those militant groups who attack Israel to renounce terrorism. "A historic chance" German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer praised Sharon, Abbas and Bush, who spearheaded the one-day summit, for their "courageous efforts" in putting aside their differences and returning to peace talks for the first time since the process collapsed in 2000. "Israelis and Palestinians are called upon to use this historic chance to create peace and security for both people," Fischer said Wednesday evening. "Both conflicting parties have made important steps on the road to peace," he added, while warning that the will to peace should not be undermined by extremists. "Terror and violence must end," he urged. Speaking on behalf of the German government, Fischer vowed to support the renewal of the Middle East peace process with all his country’s strength. The foreign minister has been actively involved in the European Union’s attempts to bring Israel and the Palestinians back to the negotiating table. In April he met with Sharon and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to discuss efforts to speed up the adoption of the international road map to peace. Europe’s role in Middle East The road map, which was hammered out by the so-called Middle East quartet comprising of the United States, United Nations, the European Union and Russia details a series of steps aimed at creating a Palestinian state by 2005. What role the European Union is expected to play in the future of the peace process, however, seems to be a matter of discussion as the U.S. takes charge of the negotiations. Prior to the summit in Aqaba, France saluted the United States’ "re-engagement" in the Middle East, but insisted Europe must not be excluded from the negotiations. Speaking on Europe 1 radio on Wednesday, French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin stressed, "The road map means the quartet -- that is the U.N., Russia, the U.S. and the EU. And the EU has played a full role in recent months. It must continue to do so. To make peace succeed, everyone must act together." Lest the other players in the quartet forget what the EU brings to the negotiation table, the minister emphasized Europe’s strengths in the region. "Europe has a powerful influence. It is Israel’s main economic partner," he said. "It is the biggest aid donor to the Palestinian territories. This is a strength. Let us use our strengths together." "Everyone must act together" Earlier in the week, French President Jacques Chirac alluded to EU plans to draft a new parallel "road map" for the Middle East to include Syria and Lebanon. The plan, which allegedly has the approval of EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, is scheduled to be introduced at the European Union summit in Greece on June 20. If not carefully orchestrated, such actions could run up against Washington’s renewed interest in leading the peace talks. Although the U.S. has not come out with any comments to the contrary, it has also not specifically mentioned what role the EU would play in implementing the Israeli-Palestinian road map. One point of consternation between the two quartet players is Europe’s insistence on maintaining contact with Palestinian leader Arafat despite objections from the U.S. "They [the Europeans] are going to, for their own political reasons, meet with Arafat. That’s their choice. We basically say we don’t think it’s a good idea," a senior official traveling with Bush in the Middle East told Reuters. Both Israel and the U.S. have refused to deal with Arafat, who has been largely confined to his Ramallah headquarters since the recent wave of violence erupted in December 2001. European leaders, however, see Arafat as wielding a significant influence in the Palestinian territories and say he must be encouraged to work with and not against the quartet. | [
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European Press Review: Where is the U.S. in the Middle East?
European newspapers on Wednesday lamented the recent surge in violence in the Middle East and called on the U.S. to play a pivotal role in stopping it.
Just one week after Israeli and Palestinian leaders at the historic Aqaba Summit pledged to work towards peace, the situation in the Middle East again spiraled out of control as violence erupted. On Wednesday, a suicide bomb detonated in Jerusalem, killing 16 people and injuring 80. Israeli troops retaliated in the Gaza Strip, killing 9 suspected members of the Hamas organization. European newspapers, commenting on the never-ending violence, said it is time for the United States to take a more active role in bringing about peace in the region. It is now up to U.S. President George W. Bush, as Italy’s Il Messaggero put it, to take the initiative and make the next move. Condemnation and expressions of shock are no longer enough, the paper warned. De Volkskrant from the Netherlands wondered how far Bush will go if Sharon stays on his collision course. It will not be enough, the paper maintained, merely to urge both sides to stick to the peace plan. Britain’s The Independent noted that the aim of Hamas is to provoke Israel at every turn—and sadly, they have once again succeeded. But the Israeli actions, the paper continued, will not succeed in suppressing the terrorists and securing national security – they never have, and they never will. The cycle of violence in the region seems set to resume, the paper lamented. It also said the United States should play a pivotal role, and that President Bush must use all his country’s political and financial leverage to keep Sharon on the road map to peace. The editors for Liberation from France were of the same opinion. President Bush should not hesitate to exert more pressure on Israel. The U.S. President must, the paper wrote, force Israeli Prime Minister Sharon to hold back despite further Palestinian bombing attacks. And, the paper added, Bush must apply pressure to the Arab world to throw its entire political weight behind Palestinian Prime Minister Abbas’ government, and oppose armed groups. The Daily Mirror also regarded Sharon as the stumbling block on the road to peace. The London tabloid said President Bush is faced with two choices: He must now decide whether he wants to give up his peace plan or take the obvious alternative step, and demand a change in the Israeli leadership to bring the peace he and the rest of the world want. Austria’s Kurier turned its attention to the situation in Afghanistan following the latest attack on German troops there. For a year now, the paper noted, Hamid Karzai has sat in the President’s palace, surrounded by U.S. bodyguards—but his influence hardly reaches further than the city limits. But even in the capital, one is not entirely safe. If there is an attack, the paper said, western politicians are quick to point a finger at al Qaeda. Observers believe this is meant to calm people, but what is reassuring about the idea, the paper wondered, if the enemies are still alive and kicking? | [
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European Press Review: It’s All Greek To Me
European newspaper editors led on Friday with editorials on the EU’s Thessaloniki summit and the growing problems American and British forces are having maintaining order in Iraq.
With the leaders of the European Union meeting at a major summit, newspapers in European capitals on Friday commented on the major political issues being discussed at in Thessaloniki, Greece, as well as the hangover facing U.S. and British troops in Iraq. London’s Financial Times looked at British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s proposals for EU immigration policies and noted: “Back in 1999 EU states set themselves the goal of creating a common system of asylum, now a common European approach is being attempted towards some of the roots of the refugee problem which of course lie outside the Union.” And who is leading the approach, the paper asked? “It is none other than Britain which during the 1990s in the name of national sovereignty fought German efforts to bring the EU into asylum policy.” According to the paper, the reason for the switch was obvious: “Britain has replaced Germany as the largest single EU destination for asylum seekers.” France’s Le Figaro focused on the first formal talks on a European constitution taking place at the Greek summit. “An EU constitution will make the cooperation between member states much easier in many fields,” the paper said. It also saw a further opportunity arising out of the summit, suggesting: “After the conflict about the war in Iraq not only do transatlantic relations have to be redefined, it is even more important for the EU states to formulate a common position towards Washington.” Commenting on claims that the U.S. and Britain exaggerated the threat posed by Saddam Hussein’s weapon’s arsenal before the war, the Italian daily Corriere Della Sera noted that the opponents of the war also made mistakes. “They predicted millions of refugees and hundreds of thousands of dead,” the paper wrote, “they spoke of legions of guerrilla fighters who would join Hussein’s Republican Guards and they repeatedly predicted that the ordinary people would rise up.” But none of these fears ever came true, the paper pointed out. The Munich-based Süddeutsche Zeitung noted that there was one aspect that might endanger the Bush administration even more than Saddam’s vanished weapons of mass destruction – and that is Iraqi resistance that is leading to the murder of American soldiers almost every day. “First, American troops are to be worn down and therefore provoked to take ill-considered actions against civilians. Secondly, back in the U.S., doubts are to be planted about why young American men and women must risk their lives for a people that seems to be so ungrateful,” the paper wrote. Finally, the paper said the Iraqi resistance was pursuing a third goal: It wants to keep alive fear of Saddam and the revenge he will take if he returns. “It is not a coincidence,” the paper concluded, “that the resistance carries the name “Al Auda” – the return.” The editors of Strasbourg’s La Derniere Nouvelles D’Alsace had an altogether different take. The resistance, they concluded, is not pursuing any precise military goals; nor is it comprised of fanatic adherents to Saddam’s Baath Party. Instead, the paper wrote, the attacks by Iraqi resistance fighters against U.S. troops is merely a result of the prevailing anarchy in the country and the hostility of the Iraqi population toward the occupying powers. | [
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Germany's Bankrupt Cities to Get Some Relief
The federal government plans to relieve cash-strapped German cities like Berlin and Frankfurt by introducing more taxes. Everything from services to swimming pools has been cut during the financial crisis.
Frankfurt will close its ballet in 2004. One of Berlin's four major opera houses is also on the chopping block. The financial crisis both major cities find themselves in is being repeated ad infinitum across Germany, where swimming pools and day-care centers have been shut down over the summer months because of a lack of money. Now Chancellor Gerhard Schröder wants to do something about it. Following a meeting with top politicians and his economic and finance ministers during his vacation in Hanover Monday, word leaked out that Schröder planned to relieve the financial burden of Germany's cities to the tune of more than €4.5 billion ($5.1 billion). More taxes for business, self-employed Though details of the plan have yet to be formally announced, news reports suggested the government would close tax loopholes open to big business and distribute a large portion, some €854 million in 2004 according to one report, of the value-added tax paid to the federal government each year to the cities. The government would also introduce an occupational tax for freelancers and self-employed. That, together with existing plans to role the social and welfare benefits the city pays its unemployed into one payment, should significantly ease the burden, government members told reporters Monday evening. Opposition politicians, who did not take part in the meeting with members of Schröder's coalition government, greeted the plan with suspicion. The general secretary of the conservative Christian Democratic Union told German television that the tax on freelancers and self-employed was especially curious. "We can't punish" those who are carrying the burden, Meyer said. No investment, more on the dole After years of expansion and building in German cities, the country's communities find themselves in a downward spiral. Less investment is coming in, meaning lower economic output. Fewer people are paying taxes and more are on the dole. In the past ten years alone, investment has dropped by €11 billion, according to the German Association of Cities and Communities (DStGB). The most glaring example is the capital. Thanks to a corrupt former government and the collapse of a bank, Berlin is in debt to the tune of €40 billion. Streets have become endless construction sites, where the money to complete the work has run out. Swimming pools have closed in the heat of summer, and fountains are drying up. "If these developments continue like this and aren't stopped, then we'll have to cut a major part of these services," said Gerd Landsberg, of the DStGB in a radio interview. "We will make clear that politicians" have a responsibility. | [
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Fashionistas Unite in Düsseldorf
Its organizers say it’s the world's largest fashion trade fair. So what is cpd man-woman doing in Germany?
When most people think fashion, Paris immediately comes to mind. This though is followed quickly, of course, by Milan, New York or London. But for buyers and sellers of ready-to-wear this week, the most important place to be was in Düsseldorf, Germany. The three-day fashion trade fair "Collections Premieres Düsseldorf-cpd woman-man" comes to a close on Tuesday. In it, some 1,900 exhibitors from 51 countries are showing women's and men's collections for spring and summer 2004. And the show's organizers, Igedo, said they expect the final tally for visitors will be in the region of 60,000. Low fashion profile Despite its no-frills image, Germany has produced a handful of internationally renowned fashion designers, such as Karl Lagerfeld, Jil Sander, Wolfgang Joop and Hugo Boss. And firms like Escada, Bogner, and Strenesse have enjoyed international repute for decades. But while fashion plays an important role in daily life in Germany, especially for young people, the attitude differs from that of classic haute-couture countries such as France and Italy. In Germany, high fashion does not have the status of a stand-alone cultural asset, like art, literature or architecture. Thus, some of the hottest young German designers, such as Dirk Schönberger, Markus Lupfer, and Bernhard Willhelm, choose to work abroad. "Germany is not a classic fashion country," says Peter Paul Polte, editor-in-chief of the textile industry magazine Textilwirtschaft (Textile Industry.) "But German companies know a lot about marketing and production." Fashion exports According to cpd statistics, Germany is the largest and most important market for textile and apparel manufacturers in Europe. In 2000, Germany ranked as the third-largest textile importing country after the United States and Hong Kong. In 2001, German textile and apparel imports amounted to almost €30 billion ($34 billion). As an exporter, Germany ranks fifth, after China, Hong Kong, Italy and the United States, with total exports of €19.5 billion in 2001. Yet as with so much else having to do with Germany's economy, the picture is not entirely rosy. In 2002, the German textile and clothing industry had turnover of some €23.9 billion , of which clothing accounted for €9.6 billion – down some 8 percent from the previous year. This year, with the economy faltering, fashion is once again on the ropes, with overall sales some 5 percent lower for the first five months of the year, from the same period last year, according to the Associated Press. Düsseldorf, with its fashion trade fairs (in addition to cpd, there is a shoe trade fair and an international beauty fair,) supports 1,400 fashion-related businesses with a total turnover of about €13 billion. The Königsallee, or Kö, is one of the great shopping streets of Europe, lined with upscale designer boutiques. Fashion capital moves to Berlin? While industry insiders hope the fair will give German fashion sales a boost, Düsseldorf officials simply hope the cpd will remain in their city. Since the wall came down in 1989, Berlin has steadily been securing its place as the country's culture capital, with increasing numbers of events moving there from smaller cities. Recent press reports suggested that the cpd may be the latest big trade fair to do so, but Harald Schartau, the economy minister of the state of North Rhine Westphalia (of which Düsseldorf is the capital) denies it. Düsseldorf will remain Germany's fashion capital, Schartau told the DPA news agency. "The (cpd) benefits from a unique environment, from the many (locally)-based textile and clothing companies, designer-oriented shops and retailers, fashion centers, showrooms and order rooms, and a network of creative workers in advertising, design and fashion," he said. Yet even if cpd stays in Düsseldorf, German fashion's cutting edge may already belong to Berlin. The BREAD & butter trade fair, showing "urbanwear and street couture", used to be in Cologne but moved to Berlin this year. And the "No Dress?!" public show in Berlin is a hot venue for small, innovative labels promoting young talent. | [
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Michael Schumacher -- From Go-Carts to Grand Prix
He's the undisputed hero of Formula One racing and just a step away from a sixth world championship. But despite life in a very fast lane, Michael Schumacher has managed to keep things from spinning out of control.
Michael Schumacher got behind the wheel early on in life. At the age of four his father gave him a pedal go-cart and set him loose. A collision between young Michael's cart and a local lamppost might have put an end to the racing story, but his dad decided to send him to a local go-cart track where lampposts weren't a problem. It was a fortuitous decision and the beginning of one of the most dazzling careers ever in Formula One racing. Born in 1969 in the village of Hürth-Hermühlheim in Germany's Rhineland region, his father's interest in go-carting -- he later managed a local track -- provided the spark to his career. Soon after his father sent him to the course, Schumacher's natural talent for racing began to show. Although he considered it just a hobby, he starting winning races and earning a name for himself on the carting circuit. In 1984 he became German Junior Champion and one year later he finished runner-up in the Junior World Championship. In 1988 Schumacher graduated from go-carts; in 1992 he won his first major car racing championship. Three years later, he became the youngest double Formula One World Champion by winning the 1994 and 1995 seasons. He took home the top trophies again in 2000, 2001 and 2002. After a victory on Sunday in Indianapolis, Schumacher is one point shy of a record-breaking sixth World Championship title. He will race again in Suzuka, Japan on October 12, and most racing watchers expect Michael Schumacher to enter the record books on that day. Lucrative career choice Life behind the wheel of a Formula One race car, almost more jet airplane than car, has been good to Schumacher, who was estimated by Forbes magazine to be the highest paid athlete in the world. He's come a long way from the days when his father had to find a sponsor to support his go-cart racing. Today, racing around a track at speeds of more than 200 miles an hour for the Ferrari racing team and the lucrative product endorsements earn Schumacher in the neighborhood of €70 million ($80 million) a year. He's well on his way to career earnings of €1 billion. But driving for Formula One is quite different than speeding down a German autobahn, and while Schumacher has a seemingly in-born talent for knowing how fast he can take curves safely, he is renowned for his discipline and leadership. He exercises four hours a day, largely to strengthen his neck muscles, which have to endure enormous G-forces in every race. After the gym, it's back to the track for hours of driving so he will be in top form for the two critical racing hours, usually held on Sunday afternoons. It's the thrill of the speed that keeps him in racing, he says. The danger -- and it can be extreme -- doesn't have any special appeal, especially since Schumacher is married and has two young children. "None of us want to die," he said in an interview. "We don't do it for the thrill of the danger. We do it for the thrill of speed." He said there are some risks he refuses to take. Positive role model Sunday's victory in the U.S. (photo) was Schumacher's 70th race win, and his career statistics are a source of awe to every motor sports enthusiast. His average finish in 172 Grand Prix starts has been between second and third and he's been a perennial on the winner's platform for the past 11 years. Every future driver, from the child getting a taste for go-cart racing to the young Formula One hopefuls (and probably a lot of daredevil men and women on freeways around the world), wants to emulate Schumacher. While no one doubts his record on the track, his off-track activities are also the stuff of positive role models. Schumacher has avoided, publicly at least, the pitfalls that have befallen many other German sporting stars. Family man Schumacher sees loyalty as a virtue and views a casual fling as a character flaw, in striking contrast to soccer legend Franz Beckenbauer and former tennis star Boris Becker, whose dalliances with women and troubles with the tax authorities regularly make the pages of the tabloids. That's not to say that Schumacher hasn't come in for some criticism. As one the sporting world's highest earners, Germany's favorite racing son has moved across the border to Switzerland to save on his tax bill. But much of the criticism that has been levelled at him has to do with the rarefied culture and sporting practices of Formula One as well as some of his questionable strategic tactics on the racetrack when the competition heats up. Another complaint that has arisen seems hardly fair, but Schumacher's consistency on the track, his strictly business attitude about racing and overall nice-guy demeanor can can translate in our media-driven age into a kind of blandness. Beckenbauer and Boris may be flawed, but those flaws stir the public's emotions. The visual language of their own sports, Beckenbauer's ballet-style performances on the soccer field and Becker's dives on the Wimbeldon center court, were enough to inspire legions of fans. Watching a Formula One race, the most fans see of Schumacher is his helmet, a car streaking down the straightaway in a straight line, maybe a daring passing maneuver or two. What one doesn't see is the shaking in the driver's seat that is so intense that the driver can't read the pit board, the incremental adjustments of the steering wheel that can mean the difference between victory and catastrophe. | [
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Deutsche Bank reflects on values as profits drop
Deutsche Bank halved its earnings in the second quarter of 2013. While Germany's biggest bank is still struggling with the financial crisis and legal problems, a corporate culture change is supposed to help.
"In the second quarter our core businesses performed well, our franchise remained strong," a Deutsche Bank press release claimed. But the bare figures tell a different story: halved earnings from the first to the second quarter, to net earnings of 335 million euros ($444 million) for March through June of this year. Pre-tax income shrunk 18 percent, to 792 million euros ($1 billion). As Europe's largest investment bank continues to struggle with the shadows of the past, Deutsche Bank heads Jürgen Fitschen und Anshu Jain are promoting a strategy to transform the institution's culture from within. Meanwhile, the bank is also working to adjust to new European regulations. Lost values Expensive legal problems continue to be the bank's greatest plague. The bankruptcy court case for media house Kirch has been drawn out for 10 years. Then there's the Libor probe, over allegations that the bank manipulated inter-bank lending rates. Not to mention ongoing litigation over subprime mortgage lending in the United States. In the second quarter, the bank set an additional 630 million euros ($836 million) aside for dealing with legal issues, bringing its total litigation reserve to 3 billion euros ($4 billion). Co-CEO Jürgen Fitschen responded to the accusation that banks have been looking after their interests rather than those of their customers by admitting that principles and values were simply nixed on many occasions. "This should be taken very seriously," Fitschen said. Corporate culture shift Last fall, a survey found that only 40 percent of Deutsche Bank customers were satisfied - apparently one of the main motivations for the company's heads to seize the rudder and change course. "The customer should have the feeling that he's at the center," Fitschen said. Last week, the bank issued a new canon of values listing six guidelines for its 100,000 workers (about half of whom work in Germany). Keywords include integrity, sustainability, customer orientation, innovation, discipline, and partnership. Emphasis was placed on ethical responsibility and long-term over short-term success. Fitschen said everyone is "very passionately" working to reach the point where "if we are not loved, then at least we are respected for the things we do." He said that not only does he believe in the possibility of change, but "we do ourselves a great favor with it." The head of Deutsche Bank's employee council Alfred Herling isn't completely convinced. He's concerned there will be consequences for workers, and that there's still a need for clarity on how violations will be punished. Reconciling values and numbers With this new canon, Deutsche Bank is ultimately seeking to increase its bottom line. In the future, average savings account holders are supposed to be treated the same as wealthy private customers and professional investors like insurers and retirement funds. With this in mind, the company has set the goal of pre-tax profits from portfolio management at 1.7 million euros by 2015. This seems particularly ambitious when compared to the only 82 million euros gained from this sector for the second quarter of this year. Fitschen emphasized trustworthiness as the link between changing corporate culture and increasing profits. "What's decisive is the experience every businessman, every investor, every depositor has with his bank, which has to completely and fully convince him that he has a reliable partner sitting across from him," Fitschen said. Debt ratio complications Deutsche Bank is also continuing its work on compliance with stricter regulations for European banks, including increased equity ratios issued by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision. Based on Deutsche Bank figures from the most recent quarter, its rate is about 10 percent - that means it's well ahead of schedule, since that was a 2015 goal. But that hasn't resolved everything. Starting in 2018, the supervisory committee wants to introduce a leverage ratio of 3 percent, in order to prevent banks from working with an inflated proportion of lent money - which can be a problem in times of financial difficulty. Although it sounds like a paradox, the bank's revenues will have to shrink. Currently, Deutsche Bank's balance sheet total is around 1.9 billion euros. To stay within proper debt ratio bounds, the bank would have to reduce its revenues by about 250 million euros (although some analysts say this should be closer to 500 million euros). In any case, overflowing profits are not to be expected from Deutsche Bank in the foreseeable future. | [
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Keita and Cisse face off in Mali presidential election runoff
Two candidates made large gains in Mali's July 28 polls, but neither has won a majority. Polls have now reopened in a runoff vote that Malians hope will produce a president who can lead the country away from turmoil.
The ballot in Sunday's presidential election sharply reduces voters' choice from the original 27 candidates to only two frontrunners: former Prime Minister Ibrahim Boubacar Keita (pictured above, left), and former Finance Minister, Soumaila Cisse (pictured above, right). Ex-Prime Minister Keita is favored to win in the runoff vote on Sunday. Not only did he capture roughly 40 percent of the vote late last month, but he has also gained the backing of Mali's religious leaders and military. In the days leading up to the final stage of the election, Keita pledged to move the country toward a peaceful resolution with separatist groups in the country's north. "My first priority would be the reconciliation of the country ... after the trauma that it has suffered, a new start is needed," Keita told supporters at a speech last week, adding that they should give him a "clear and clean majority." Although Mali's largest political party, ADEMA, has endorsed Cisse, the former finance minister won only 20 percent of the vote in the late-July election. However, he expressed confidence in his chances to win the presidency while speaking to the news agency AFP. "It is not about adding to the votes from the first round. There will be new votes, it is a new election. Everything restarts from zero," Cisse told AFP. Voters hope the country's new president can help restabilize the government and protect them from further violence from northern separatists. An interim government and 12,600-strong UN peacekeeping mission now oversee the country. Unrest began in early 2012 with a military coup which led to the ouster of then President Amadou Toumani Toure. The weakened state allowed the Tuareg separatist National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) to gain control in the country's north. Al Qaeda-linked Islamist groups helping the ethnic separatist group gradually exercised their own influence over the region and imposed an extreme version of Islamic law. In January, the government in Bamako asked France to lead a military intervention to halt a rebel-led march toward the capital city. Thousands more troops, mainly from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) joined the effort. The UN deployed a 12,600 peacekeeping force to Mali at the beginning of July. A successful vote on Sunday should allow the new government to unlock 4 billion euros ($5.34 billion) needed to help re-stabilize Mali. Mali wants a strong leader Keita has run on the campaign slogan of returning honor to Mali. His popularity stems from his reputation as a firm leader who has political experience as a prime minister, finance minister and speaker of the National Assembly. "He has this reputation as somebody who is strict. He doesn't shy away from a fight," Mali expert Bruce Whitehouse, who teaches at the Lehigh University in the US state of Pennsylvania, told the Associate Press news agency. "He's this sort of old-school politician who knows how to get things done, and knows how to build alliances. I don't think anybody sees him as any kind of visionary or innovator but he may just be the sort of man who can hold things together in some basic way," said Whitehouse. Both Keita and Cisse ran against the last president, Amadou Toumani Toure, in 2002. Five years later, Keita attempted to oust the incumbent president again, but only gained 19 percent of the vote. The latest delay in forming a government signals hope for the country's future, according to a Malian journalist. "The fact that there's a runoff vote is a victory for democracy in Mali," the journalist Ramata Diaore told the news agency DPA. "It shows that religious leaders and the armed forces ... didn't succeed in pushing through their preferred candidate, Keita. Now everything is up in the air," Diaore said. The new president will face the task of reaching an agreement with the MLNA and allied groups in the north who want autonomy from Bamako. Earlier this week, the MLNA signed an agreement with Tuareg and related umbrella groups to work together for more independence from the Malian government. kms/lw (AP, AFP, Reuters, dpa) | [
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Israel releases Palestinian prisoners ahead of peace talks
Israel has begun the process of releasing 26 Palestinian prisoners ahead of a round of peace negotiations. The Palestinians, though, remain outraged by fresh Israeli plans to build settlement homes.
News agencies reported that vehicles carrying the inmates had left the Ayalon prison near Tel Aviv late on Tuesday. Under the planned release, some of the 26 were to be taken from Ayalon to Gaza Strip, while the rest were to be taken from the Ofer military prison to the West Bank. Celebrations were planned in the Palestinian territories and President Mahmoud Abbas planned to receive some of them at his headquarters in Ramallah. The group is meant to be just the first of 104 Palestinian prisoners to be released by Israel under a deal brokered by US Secretary of State John Kerry to get the Palestinians to return to peace negotiations after they had been stalled for the past three years. Most of the prisoners being released are reported to have been convicted of killings, with victims including Israeli civilians, or attempted murder or kidnapping. The release began after Israel's supreme court rejected an appeal earlier in the day, which had been launched by the families of people killed by some of the prisoners. More settlement home construction The Palestinians agreed to the deal despite the fact that Israel refused to halt all settlement construction, something they had long demanded as a pre-condition for talks. Over the past several days though, the Israeli's have approved the construction of hundreds of new homes in settlements on land captured during the 1967 war, which the Palestinians want to make part of a future state. On Tuesday, Israel approved the construction of around 900 housing units in a settlement in east Jerusalem. This followed Israel's announcement on Sunday, that it had approved of plans for 1,200 settlement homes in both east Jerusalem and the West Bank. Israeli plans to build more settlement homes have enraged the Palestinians, particularly as they've come in the lead-up to the first peace talks in years. "If the Israeli government believes that every week they're going to cross a red line by settlement activity ... what they're advertising is the unsustainability of the negotiations," the head of the Palestinian negotiating team, Saeb Erekat, said following Sunday's announcement. Peace talks still a go US Secretary of State Kerry took great pains on Tuesday to stress that the peace talks, to begin at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem on Wednesday, were still on track, despite the tensions over settlements. "I'll be talking to President Abbas today ... and he is committed to continuing to come to the negotiation because he believes that negotiation is what will resolve this issue," Kerry told a press conference in the Brazilian capital, Brasilia. "But, that said, [Israeli] Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was completely up front with me and with President Abbas that he would be announcing some additional building in places that will not affect the peace map, that will not have any impact on the capacity to have a peace agreement," Kerry said. He added, though, that "the policy of the United States with respect to all settlements, is that they are illegitimate." pfd/ccp (Reuters, dpa, AP) | [
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EU fears the worst in Egypt
After the recent violent escalation in Egypt, European Union representatives are calling for political dialogue to resume. But so far, there's little sign of a targeted or collective EU effort.
The EU is increasingly at a loss at how to react to the situation in Egypt. On Wednesday, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton reacted with a number of statements to the violence. She called on the security forces to act with the utmost restraint, and on the transitional government to put an end to the violence as quickly as possible. Earlier, Ashton had called on the demonstrators to avoid further provocation and escalation. She also condemned the attacks on Coptic Christian churches in Egypt - criticism clearly directed against the Muslim Brotherhood. But her comments were mainly directed at the government and the security forces. Ashton spoke of an "uncertain future" for Egypt should the confrontation continue. There still was, however, the possibility of a "different future" if all sides would come together and back a political process that, via democratic elections, could bring back democratic structures and would allow for a peaceful participation of all political forces. EU missions have failed Yet the EU has been reduced to a mere spectator. Officially, Bernardino Leon, EU special envoy for the Middle East, is still working on resolving the crisis through negotiation. But his latest bid along with US diplomat William Burns has failed. Leon said that, while the Muslim Brotherhood had agreed to the deal, the military had not; and that only hours later, the army had started the crackdown on the pro-Morsi camps. Leon therefore put the blame for the violence mostly on the transitional government and the military. In an official statement, European Parliament President Martin Schulz stressed the responsibility of the authorities "to ensure that all Egyptians - regardless of their political convictions - can protest peacefully." It was the government's "duty" to find a peaceful and just solution to the current crisis, Schulz said. Not ready to talk It seems the EU is taking the side of the Muslim Brotherhood. In fact, Ashton has repeatedly called for the release of ousted President Mohammed Morsi. Yet at the same time, the EU has been critical of the Brotherhood's attempts to pull Egypt into a more Islamist direction. Some observers accuse Brussels of hypocrisy, arguing that while the bloc is criticizin the military now, it was in fact rather sympathetic to the removal of Morsi. Elmar Brok, a German member of the European parliament for Chancellor Merkel's conservatives, doesn't actually believe that one would necessarily have to choose between these two sides. He told DW that "one should side with the third group - the majority of the people - who want a secular state." The EU should "get the military not only to stick to the roadmap to democracy" but also to undertake yet another attempt "to find a modus vivendi with the Muslim Brotherhood." The biggest problem, according to Brok, is that none of the three sides - military, Muslim Brotherhood or secular groups - are actually willing to seriously talk to each other. Berlincalls for EU crisis meeting The EU though doesn't seem to be drawing any consequences from the recent violence, it has not suspended financial aid to Egypt. In fact, none of the large EU states have. Only Denmark has axed its bilateral aid to the tune of 30 million euros. Brok advises against using money as leverage in negotiations. "This would impact especially negatively on the future prospects of precisely those young people who are fighting for more democracy and for a secular state. And the tense social situation would lead to even more riots." The foreign policy expert said he was still pinning his hopes on further attempts to mediate between the two sides - admitting himself that the hope seems forlorn right now. Should talks break down entirely, Brok fears there might be a "civil war or some kind of Islamist terrorism." German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle has called for an emergency meeting for the EU to discuss the situation in Egypt. During his current trip to Tunisia, Westerwelle stressed that a collective EU effort was in the bloc's interest as the violence was "not happening just anywhere - but in Europe's neighborhood." | [
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Muslim Brotherhood detainees die in Egypt prison convoy
Police have cracked down on inmates en route to an Egyptian prison, according to officials. Dozens of detainees were reported dead. Authorities said police were trying to stop an escape by Muslim Brotherhood followers.
An alleged prison break sparked a violent reaction from security forces, according to Egyptian media on Sunday evening. Police used force when inmates in a transfer convoy north of Cairo began rioting and attempting to escape, officials said. The official MENA news agency has reported that gunmen attempted to free prisoners during the transfer. Thirty-six Muslim Brotherhood members died in the clash, according to MENA, a figure later confirmed by police. The Interior Ministry said they had died through suffocation from tear gas as police tried to free an officer being held hostage in a van. However, one legal source told the news agency Reuters that the men had died of asphyxiationin cramped conditions during the journey. The news of violence against members of the Islamist group follows several days of police crackdowns on protesters in cities across Egypt. Supporters of ousted and detained President Mohammed Morsi have been demonstrating against the forced removal of protesters from sit-ins on Wednesday, which left more than 600 people dead. Since the crackdown began on Wednesday, some 800 people have died in clashes across Egypt. Police have arrested roughly 1,000 people in connection with this week's protests, according to state media. Of those, about 250 face charges of murder, attempted murder and terrorism. Pro-Brotherhood protesters calling for the release of Morsi took to the streets of Cairo, but were prevented from gathering outside the country's Constitutional Court as they had planned. Other marches took place across the country, including the central Fayyoum province and the Minya province in the south. The protests ended as a dusk-to-dawn curfew declared by the army went into force. At a gathering of military leaders on Sunday, Interim Defense Minister General Abdel-Fatah el-Sissi called for the inclusion of the former president's Islamist supporters in Egypt's political future. El-Sissi had led the July 3 coup that removed Mohammed Morsi from power. "There is room for everyone in Egypt," el-Sissi said, according to the army's official Facebook page. However, the general also cautioned that "we will not stand by silently watching the destruction of the country and the people or the torching of the nation and terrorizing of the citizens." kms,rc/ch (AP, AFP, Reuters) | [
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Medecins Sans Frontieres says 355 were killed in alleged Syrian chemical attack
The medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres has said 355 people died from an alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria. A top UN official is in Syria to urge government forces to allow an inquiry into the alleged attack.
Three hospitals near Syria's capital Damascus reported a total of about 355 deaths after an alleged chemical attack last Wednesday, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said on Saturday. The medical charity said about 3,600 Syrians showed "neurotoxic symptoms" within the first three hours of the alleged attack. The Syrian opposition accuses Assad's regime of using chemical weapons on a rebel-held suburb outside of the capital. The Syrian government has denied the allegations, and most recently said the attack was carried out by the rebels. Meanwhile, United Nations High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, Angela Kane, arrived in Damascus to press Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government for an inquiry into Wednesday's alleged chemical weapons attacks. UN chief Ban Ki-moon has tasked Kane with establishing the terms of an inquiry with Syrian officials and has also called on the opposition to cooperate. Assad's regime has yet to say if it will allow a UN team of chemical weapons experts, already on the ground since Sunday to probe three other sites, to inspect the latest allegations. Military chiefs to meet Top military officials from the US, Britain and several Arab countries are to meet in Amman, Jordan this week to discuss the situation in Syria, the Jordanian state news agency reported Saturday. Top military brass from the US, France, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Russia, Italy, Canada, Turkey and Qatar are reportedly going to attend the meeting. Meanwhile, US President Barack Obama was to meet early Saturday with top national security advisors to discuss Washington's possible next steps in Syria. "The president has directed the intelligence community to gather facts and evidence so that we can determine what occurred in Syria. Once we ascertain the facts, the president will make an informed decision about how to respond," a White House official said. "We have a range of options available, and we are going to act very deliberately so that we're making decisions consistent with our national interest as well as our assessment of what can advance our objectives in Syria," the official said. Obama has been under growing pressure to act following reports of the alleged chemical weapons attack. Last year he warned that proven use of the chemical arms in Syria would cross a "red line," and prompt US action. On Friday Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Obama had asked the US Defense Department to provide him with military options on Syria. "The Defense Department has a responsibility to provide the president with all options for contingencies," said Hagel. More than 100,000 people have been killed in Syria since March 2011, according to UN estimates. Millions more have fled the country or have been internally displaced. hc/rc (Reuters, AFP, AP, dpa) | [
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Greek democracy under siege
The murder of a left-wing activist in Athens has shaken up Greece and inspired a backlash. The government has now promised to take action against violence from far-right extremists.
Has Golden Dawn's far-right squad of thugs struck once again? That's what Athens wants to know following a series of violent incidents in the lead up to Greek elections. Leaders of the far-right Golden Dawn party, Greece's third largest and fastest growing political force - with a rampant anti-immigrant platform - deny that they were involved in the latest round of violence and are threatening to sue journalists who report otherwise. But there is growing evidence that the murderer of an anti-fascist activist in the working-class district of Keratsini in western Athens is at the very least a supporter of the group. The victim was Paylos Fyssas, a prominent left-wing hip hop artist who performed as Killah P. He was stabbed to death in a café on Wednesday morning (18.09.2013) after watching the Champions League match between Greek champion Olympiakos Priaeus and Paris St. Germain. For unknown reasons, Fyssas became involved in a fight with other customers. According to eyewitnesses, 15 thugs who described themselves as Golden Dawn members attacked the 34 year-old activist and his friends. Shortly afterwards, a 45-year-old man allegedly then joined the fight and stabbed Fyssas. According to eyewitnesses, the perpetrator had not been in the café before, and had been called to the scene by a cell phone message with the task of killing Fyssas. 'Planned down to the last detail' The division of tasks alone indicates a criminal organization, former vice president of the Greek Lawyers Association Konstantinos Logothetis told the TV station "Skai". "The murderer had nothing to do with the actual fight, so he didn't act in the heat of the moment. Rather he was called to the crime scene specifically tasked to kill. He had both the necessary criminal background and the will to do it. So we're looking at a crime that has been planned down to the last detail," the lawyer Logothetis said. Fyssas' murder marks the climax of a series of politically motivated attacks that has been causing a stir in Greece. Last Friday (13.09.2013), eight people were hurt when right- and left-wing extremists clashed in the Athens' district of Perama. And over the weekend, right-wing thugs stormed a memorial event for victims of the Greek Civil War (1946-1949) at the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece to attack the keynote speaker. Meanwhile, Panos Kammenos, head of the right-wing populist Independent Greeks party recently encouraged his supporters to "lynch" the socialist mayor of a northern Greek resort town. The quest for strategies In an interview with DW, political analyst Tassos Kokkinidis warned of a dangerous polarization of the political landscape. "The political parties in Greece are mainly concerned with protecting their own short-term interests," he said. Many politicians, he said, are still obsessed with scoring points against each other, rather than develop joint strategies to fight right-wing extremism, Kokkinidis argued. "And yet everyone should know that Golden Dawn is a criminal organization," he said. After Fyssas's murder, conservative Public Order Minister Nikos Dendias canceled his trip to Rome to appear on TV and allay Greek people's fears by announcing stricter policies against violence. In light of incidents, the government cannot sit on the sidelines and will significantly tighten laws against criminal organizations, he promised. According to Dendias, it is important that all political forces in the country agree upon how to deal with fascism and politically motivated violence. Fear of escalation Kokkinidis doubts that this proclamation will land on fertile soil. According to him, Syriza, a left-wing party that is currently the second strongest in the country, rejected the proposal to develop a common strategy because it indirectly blames the government for the increase in political violence. Kokkonidis even fears that politically motivated violence could increase in the future after Fyssas' murder. "There are already calls for acts of reprisal and mass rallies against the Golden Dawn on social media," he said. And his fears seem to be coming true. On Wednesday night, protesters and police clashed at the sight of an "anti-fascist protest meeting" not far from the crime scene in Keratsini. Anarchists reportedly attacked a police station and set it on fire. In response, law enforcement officers fired tear gas into the crowd. Several people were injured. Surprisingly, right-wing populist Kammenos also appeared at the rally and was attacked and injured by protestors. The European Council human rights commissioner recently suggested banning Golden Dawn, which currently controls 18 seats in the 300-member parliament. According to Athens' online news portal "To Vima", the Greek government is now seriously considering this ban. But it may not be enough to simply fight right-wing extremists with political means, said Nikos Xydakis, editor in chief of daily newspaper Kathimerini, on Greek TV. "Democracy means freedom and tolerance for everyone, but not for those trying to abolish our democracy. Up to now these people have profited from democracy's tolerance but now it is time to let them feel the iron fist of democracy," he said. | [
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From the lab to the medicine cabinet: the long road of drug development
Before new medicines are allowed on the market, they have to pass a series of trials to ensure they're safe. It's a lengthy and expensive - but necessary - process for pharmaceutical companies.
Out of about 10,000 manufactured substances, an average of about nine will make it out of the laboratory and into clinical studies. Of those nine, it can be as few as just one that will later receive approval to enter the market. Developing, manufacturing and testing new medicines can cost a company between $1 billion and $1.6 billion (750 million euros and 1.2 billion euros) - the range includes the cost of projects that fail. Due to these high costs, it's usually only private pharmaceutical companies that can afford to develop new drugs. But they have been collaborating more and more with universities and research institutes, which often provide the fundamental knowledge that leads to new medicines. Laying the foundation First, researchers aim to identify areas that new medicines could influence, such as particular proteins or genes. They will then search for agents capable of targeting the areas they have identified. Often they will use robots to test thousands of substances in broad tests. When the researchers come across substances they find interesting, they will usually attempt to chemically alter certain properties to make the substance suitable for use in medication. The substances need to be easy for the body to absorb and expel, and be free of poisonous side-effects - for obvious reasons. Manufacturers patent substances, which they feel have the potential to become candidates for use in future medicines. These potential medical substances are then subjected to strict trials. Researchers test them both in the lab and on animals to assess their toxicity – for instance, to ensure they are not carcinogenic, damage embryos or have other harmful effects. Clinical trials: testing pills on people There are three phases to clinical trials. In Phase 1, the medicine is given to a small number of volunteers to test how well they react to it and whether the predictions from animal tests apply to humans when it comes to acceptance, spread and clearance. Scientists also decide on the best means of administering a medicine - whether it's tablets, creams or solutions. The medicine is then tested on sick volunteers in Phase 2. By giving the medicine to between 100 and 500 sick patients, researchers test whether the drug has any effect. They also check for potential side effects and evaluate the ideal dosage. In Phase 3, the trial size grows to include several thousand patients. A study can be cancelled at any point if side effects prove too severe or if a drug is deemed to lack certain level of efficacy. Getting approval If, however, all the studies and trials are successful, drug manufacturers can apply for approval either from a national approval board or an international authority, such as the European Medicines Agency in London. In addition to the application, manufacturers are required to submit information about the purity of the drug and its shelf-life, as well as data from all pre-clinical tests and clinical trials. When all of the approval board's questions have been sufficiently answered, which generally takes about 13 months, the pharmaceutical company receives approval to sell the drug. From start to finish, the whole process of developing a new drug can take 10 years. | [
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Merkel, rivals in final push ahead of Sunday's German election
Politicians have continued to campaign hard leading up to Germany’s general election. Polls indicate that Chancellor Angela Merkel is headed for victory, but she too has been fighting for every last vote.
Chancellor Merkel continued her bid for re-election with a campaign stop in the southern city of Munich on Friday. She used her speech in the Bavarian capital to defend her government's record on the economy. "When I became chancellor ... there were more than 5 million unemployed, and now there are fewer than 3 million," she said, referring to her first term in office, when she led a grand coalition between her Christian Democrats (CDU) and the Social Democrats (SPD) from 2005 to 2009. "But we need to keep working," she added. "Many people can say that you're doing better than in 2009," Merkel said. "I want you to be able to say in 2017 that you're doing better than now." This was the chancellor's second major campaign event on Friday, having worked the crowds in the northern city of Hanover earlier in the day. The SPD's candidate to replace Merkel in the chancellery, Peer Steinbrück, also pressed the flesh on Friday in a bid to win over every last undecided voter. Steinbrück, who was finance minister during Merkel's first term in office, delivered speeches in the central cities of Wiesbaden, Marburg and Kassel. He has attacked Merkel's coalition government between her CDU and their junior coalition partners, the liberal Free Democrats (FDP), for allowing the gap between rich and poor to grow, despite reduced jobless figures. The SPD's preferred coalition partners, the Greens, held their last major rally of the campaign in one of their traditional strongholds, Berlin's Friedrichshain-Kreuzburg district. With the latest opinion polls giving the SPD and Greens little chance of winning a majority, the ecological party's leading candidates, Jürgen Trittin and Katrin Göring-Eckardt urged their supporters to make a final push to win over the undecided. "No, nothing at all is decided," Göring-Eckart told the crowd. "We're going to use the next 48 hours to convince people," Trittin said. An opinion poll released on Friday gave the SPD and the Greens a combined 36 percent support, well behind the CDU and the FDP, on 45 percent. With Steinbrück having ruled out including the Left party (nine percent) in any coalition, victory for Merkel's conservative-liberal coalition would appear to be assured. On its own, however, the FDP has consistently polled at about 5 percent throughout the campaign. That is the minimum required to send lawmakers to the Bundestag, and should the Free Democrats fail to clear 5 percent in Sunday's general election, Merkel could be forced to reach out to a different partner as she seeks to build a parliamentary majority. This could force her into another uneasy grand coalition with the Social Democrats. pfd/av (dpa, APF, Reuters) | [
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Shanghai's new FTZ: 'A testing ground for reforms'
Operations at a new free trade zone in Shanghai recently kicked off in what is regarded as a laboratory for testing reforms that have been difficult to implement in the whole of China, says analyst Nicola Casarini.
Located in the outskirts of Shanghai, the new China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone (FTZ) covers four existing 'bonded zones' in the eastern Chinese megacity, including the Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone, Waigaoqiao Free Trade Logistics Park, Yangshan Free Trade Port Area and the Pudong Airport Comprehensive Free Trade Zone. China's State Council or cabinet, which approved the project back in July, recently unveiled on its website a set of rules for the new pilot zone. Some 25 companies have so far been given the green light to start operations in a variety of sectors, alongside 11 financial institutions. In a DW interview, China expert Nicola Casarini says that if the FTZ is successful, it could pave the way for long-awaited economic reforms, such as the convertibility of the Chinese currency, the Renminbi. DW: The FTZ was formally launched on September 29. When will it be in business? Nicola Casarini: According to the announcements, it technically has been in business since Sunday. However, as China prepares for a week-long festivity starting on October 1st (foundation of the People's Republic of China), there will be no significant business until the middle of next week. What is the main purpose of the Shanghai Free Trade Zone? The zone is about 29 square kilometers (11-square-mile) in size. According to the government, it will serve as a testing ground for financial reforms, in particular, interest rate deregulation, a convertible exchange rate and an elimination of investment restrictions for foreign companies. What is special about the new Shanghai FTZ? It is special because it will be used as a laboratory for testing reforms that are difficult, if not impossible, to implement nationwide. Some reforms such as opening up the domestic service sector and the liberalization of capital accounts encounter stiff opposition from important sectors of the bureaucracy and the Communist Party of China (CPC). It is this that makes the Shanghai Free Trade Zone so special. What will foreigners be able to do? Do the same privileges apply for Chinese working within the free trade zone? The foreigners will be able to do the same things as the Chinese. Moreover, there have been rumors that both foreigners and Chinese in the FTZ will have access to social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter which are otherwise blocked in the rest of China. How significant is this new trade zone for China - both in terms of trade and of economic reforms? Extremely important. If successful after the three-year test period, it could pave the way - among other things - to the convertibility of the Renminbi, the Chinese currency. This will have a huge impact on trade and economic reforms. What is the CPC aiming at by establishing this free trade zone? The CPC is indicating that China is serious about economic and financial reforms and that it is aware of the huge challenges that it needs to undertake in order to graduate to the next phase of economic development and escape the middle-income trap. Nicola Casarini is an expert in EU-China relations at the Paris-based European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS). The interview was conducted by Gabriel Domínguez. | [
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Quirks and firsts of the Nobel Prize
Deceased winners, double laureates and famous refusals: With the 2013 Nobel Prizes set to be awarded, it's worth taking a look back at 112 years of award history. Just don't die before you're nominated...
When Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel specified in his will that his fortune be used to create a foundation, his relatives were outraged - even trying to contest his decision in court. It wasn't until 1901, five years after Nobel's death, that the first Nobel prize was actually awarded. This year's Nobel Prize laureates will be announced by October 14. The award, which includes prizes in the categories of chemistry, literature, physics, physiology and medicine - as well as the Nobel Peace Prize - has had a rich history since 1901. A prize for the deceased Officially, you can't be nominated for a Nobel Prize if you're dead. But Swedes Dag Hammarskjöld, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1961 and Erik Axel Karlfeldt, who won in 1931, were honored posthumously anyway, since they both passed away after being nominated, but before the winners had been announced. The practice was banned in 1974, only for the rule to be broken in 2011. When the Nobel Prize committee announced that Ralph Steinmann was to be honored with the Nobel Prize in Medicine, they didn't know that Steinmann had passed away three days before. In Steinmann's case, the committee made an exception and his heirs accepted the prize in his place. Second time's a charm So far, four scientists have managed to win two Nobel Prizes. John Bardeen of the US won the Nobel Prize in Physics twice - once for his discovery of the transistor effect in 1956 and a second time in 1972 for his theory of superconductivity. British biochemist Frederick Sanger was honored twice as well, once in 1958 and again in 1980. The Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to him first for discovering the structure of insulin and again for discovering the method for sequencing DNA molecules. US chemist Linus Pauling received an unusual combination of awards. In 1954 he won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry, which was followed up by a Nobel Peace Prize in 1962 for his ardent opposition to nuclear weapons testing. Women underrepresented Marie Curie is probably the most well known female Nobel Prize winner. She, too, won two Nobel Prizes. The first time, she was awarded a prize in Physics for her research on radioactivity in 1903. The second time she won the prize in Chemistry for her discovery of the chemical elements polonium and radium. Thus far, the Nobel Prize has gone to a woman just 44 times. In the three scientific categories, that number falls to 16, or less than five percent. Two women have won the Nobel Prize in Physics, and four have won in Chemistry. The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has gone to ten women. Famous refusals To date, one winner of the Nobel Peace Prize and one winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature have refused to accept the award. Le Duc Tho rejected the Peace Prize in 1973 because of the then-current situation in Vietnam, while Jean-Paul Sartre, who was awarded the literary accolade in 1964, simply rejected all public honors. In the scientific categories, the Nobel Prize has never been refused. Under Adolf Hitler, however, German scientists were not allowed to accept the prize. The rule affected the winners Richard Kuhn (Chemistry, 1938), Adolf Butenandt (Chemistry, 1939) and Gerhard Domagk (Medicine, 1939). All three accepted the Nobel diploma and medal after the Second World War ended, but they missed out on the prize money. Which nation has been the most successful? The United States has won the most Nobel Prizes in the scientific disciplines: 43 percent of all prize winners for the physics, chemistry and the physiology and medicine categories are Americans. In physics and chemistry, Germany has taken the second most number of prizes. Great Britain ranks third, with the ranking reversed in physiology and medicine. France ranks fourth in all three categories. When are Nobel Prize winners typically born? May 21 and February 28 are the most frequent birthdays for Nobel Prize winners. How old are the winners? The average age of a Nobel Prize winner across all the categories is 59. It's slightly lower in the scientific disciplines. When they accept their prize, chemistry and physics winners have an average age of 57. In medicine, they're only 55 on average. The youngest Nobel Prize winner was physicist Lawrence Bragg. He was 25 years old when he won in 1915. In the scientific categories the oldest winner was the physicist Raymond Davis Jr. When his prize was awarded in 2002, he was 88. Two winners of the Nobel Prize in the economic sciences, Leonid Hurwicz and Lloyd, were even older: 90 and 89 years old respectively. | [
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Union: Alitalia closes on cash injection to stay in the skies
Trade union officials have said Italian airline Alitalia is approaching a half-billion-euro cash injection, after reports that the company was days from bankruptcy. Alitalia came close to the brink as recently as 2008.
Union representatives met with Alitalia management in Rome on Wednesday, discussing the future of an airline that's thought to need around 500 million euros ($675 million) in fresh capital to stay afloat. Claudio Tarlazzi of the UIL Trasporti union said after the talks that stakeholders were considering a capital increase of 300 million euros, coupled with a loan of 200 million euros, to raise the funds. Tarlazzi said Alitalia would seek half its capital injection from a public sector investor, and half from company shareholders. Another union representative said a public investor like Fintecna, a public holding in property and shipyards, might prove a viable investor. "Alitalia is desperately seeking help before it fails," Franco Nasso from the Filt Cgil union said. "Either the continuity of the company is assured within 48 hours by deciding which public sector subject should be brought in or we have to accept a bankruptcy steered by Paris." Alitalia's most pressing immediate concern is an outstanding bill for around 30 million euros payable to its fuel supplier, Eni. Chief executive Paolo Scaroni has said that kerosene supplies will be shut off on Saturday, because Eni "cannot provide credit to a company whose future seems no longer assured." Further emergency talks are scheduled on Thursday, and Friday if necessary, for the Italian flagship carrier that employs roughly 14,000 people. Still almost all-Italian, but at what cost? Alitalia has not made an annual operating profit since its privatization and restructuring - itself a rescue mission for the once state-owned carrier - was completed in 2009. Under the terms of that deal, Air France-KLM acquired a 25-percent share in the company. Air France-KLM this week announced a restructuring plan of its own affecting at least 2,800 employees. Italy's prime minister at the time, Silvio Berlusconi, rejected the French-Dutch carrier's attempts to buy a controlling stake. German giant Lufthansa had also expressed an interest in the early stages of talks. One of Berlusconi's campaign promises in 2008 had been to save the airline, and to keep it Italian. It took a change in Italy's bankruptcy laws to entice domestic investors to purchase only those elements of the business with a chance at survival. The airline's liabilities and debts were turned into a "bad company" that remained in state and taxpayer hands. A classified US diplomatic cable on the topic, sent from the embassy in Rome and released in 2011, was given the subject-line: "Alitalia still flies under the Italian flag but at a high cost to Italy." The same cable concluded that the "new Alitalia," officially called Cai (Compagnia Aerea Italia), "still faces an uphill battle to return to profitability and to convince ordinary Italians and opposition politicians that the cost was worth it." Prime Minister Enrico Letta at the weekend described Berlusconi's handling of Alitalia's last escape from bankruptcy, finalized late in 2008 ahead of a January 2009 official relaunch, as an error "that we are paying for today." msh/lw (AFP, dpa, Reuters) | [
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Haribo boss Hans Riegel dies aged 90
HAns, RIegel, BOnn: now you know how Haribo got its name. The German candy giant was founded by the Riegel family and was synonymous with Hans Riegel since 1946. The long term leader has died aged 90.
A spokesman for Haribo said that the business' chief executive, Hans Riegel, died on Tuesday. Riegel had undergone brain surgery to remove a benign tumor last year. Riegel and his younger brother, Paul, rebuilt their father's company together after the Second World War. Founder Johann Riegel was known as Hans, and had named his company after the first letters in Hans, Riegel, and the business's home city, Bonn. The business grew to be world-renowned for its wide array of candy and sugary treats, not least its Gummibärchen, or gummy bears. Under the Riegel brothers' leadership, the company went global – even exporting its memorable slogan effectively into the English language. "Kids and grown-ups love it so, the happy world of Haribo" is an exceedingly loose but rhythmically pleasing translation of the original "Haribo macht Kinder froh, und Erwachsene ebenso." With a keen sense for promotion and marketing, Riegel secured domestic celebrities like extravagant game show host Thomas Gottschalk for prolonged television advertising campaigns. Riegel could be found at the company headquarters, Hans-Riegel-Strasse 1, on most days even into his old age. Haribo employs around 2,000 people and logged turnover of just under 620 million euros ($835 million) in 2011. Haribo's deceased patriarch was awarded The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, first class, in 1994 for his social engagement and promotion of sports. Austria also honored Riegel with the golden order of merit for services rendered to the republic of Austria. msh/rg (AFP, dpa) | [
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'US and Germany can't afford chasm of trust'
The alleged NSA monitoring of Chancellor Angela Merkel's mobile could have serious consequences. The EU should make the first step in raising the bar on transparency, former Hillary Clinton adviser Ben Scott told DW.
Ben Scott is currently program director at the Berlin-based think tank Stiftung Neue Verantwortung (New Responsibility Foundation). He served as an adviser on technology and foreign policy to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Barack Obama's first administration. DW: US intelligence stands accused of having spied on German Chancellor Angela Merkel's mobile. Berlin is upset and Merkel has already called US President Obama to discuss the matter. How big is the damage? Ben Scott: If it's true that the National Security Agency has tapped the phone of the German chancellor then that is a pretty serious political problem. And it indicates the misalignment between US American and European expectations on appropriate practices, on intelligence and foreign surveillance. Were you surprised at all when you heard about the allegations? Yes - pretty surprised. Tapping the phone of a world leader is something that I think is a decision you don't take lightly and has a lot of consequences if it is exposed. How will or should Germany react to this? We've already seen the initial reaction which is instant outrage and demands for explanation at every level all the way up to the top. But I think that the most important medium-term response is not just a demand to stop surveilling the chancellor's phone but a demand for an engagement government to government so that we'll have a policy solution. This incident is reflective of a larger division between the two countries' expectations and policies on surveillance. And I think it requires discussion and realignment because the US and Germany of course are long-time and very important allies. They can not afford to be separated by a big chasm of trust. What are the implications in terms of Trans-Atlantic relations? I think it speaks for the need for Trans-Atlantic engagement on these issues and a resolution about what standard practice should look like between allies when it comes to mass surveillance technologies. The irony of the (Edward) Snowden revelations is that we now know quite a bit about the NSA's practices. We don't know those facts about the German intelligence agency or the French intelligence agency. And if Europe wants to raise the bar and say this is the new standard for digital surveillance and this is appropriate and this is what's not and we demand the that United States comply, they have to be much more transparent about what they themselves do. There is no minimum standard for the protection of privacy among European states. Pretty much every country protects its own citizens at a much higher standard than they protect foreign citizens and I think one of the first steps has to be that the EU comes up with a common agreement amongst its member states. Do you think it's actually possible that EU members amongst themselves or the EU and the US can agree on a no-spy deal? I think it is. If NATO allies can organize themselves to go to war together, they can certainly decide to stop spying on one another. It's a question of political will and it's a question I think of a public debate of the costs and benefits of surveillance on your friends. What are the benefits that are so important to one side or the other that it's worth risking the political damage if exposed. And I think we should be careful to not put all the blame on Washington because it's clear from reading between the lines of all the stories that many European counties are doing very similar things - they simply don't have the capabilities the NSA does. How do you think the US will react to this? Does it register in Washington that the spying scandal is causing major damage in diplomatic ties with its allies? If hasn't registered yet, it is now. And I think that there will be a reaction of some kind. You've already seen President Obama make several statements about the reevaluation of surveillance policy, about making hard decision about what's really necessary in counter terrorism and what can be scaled back. He made some comments in his speech in the UN general assembly which I think are promising that the White House sees a need for reform and realignment with Europe. But what that looks like specifically remains to be seen. Is it even possible to roll back the clock here? Isn't it a fact that surveillance simply has become - in a way - so easy that intelligence services will always be tempted? I think that we have lots of technologies that would enable us to do things that we should not do. Whether it's digital surveillance or the use of powerful weapons. But that's why we have laws in democratic societies and I am confident that if the White House and the US congress changed the law and restricted the NSA from a practice that permits surveilling the German chancellor for example - then the NSA would stop doing that. The NSA has restrictions on what they do now and I think that these are honored or at least they attempt to honor them. Those screws could be tightened, the programs could be restricted further and the NSA would react appropriately. And I think so would European intelligence agencies. I think the general rule of thumb of any intelligence agency - at least in the West - is that if it's technically possible, legal and financially affordable, then it's happening. And if you're going to make changes, the place to change is the legal side. If you're going to make certain things illegal you have to be very clear where the lines are - otherwise no one is going to believe you. So there is the legal problem and the problem of trust. You not only have to change the laws to reset the lines to where they should be. You have to persuade people that it's real and that your oversight and accountability is meaningful. | [
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Lewitscharoff: 'I am bound to make use of my own language'
Sybille Lewitscharoff has been awarded the Georg Büchner Prize, Germany's most prestigious literary accolade. The author talks about her relationship to Büchner, the German language and her new plans.
On Saturday (26.10.2013), Sybille Lewitscharoff will receive the most highly regarded honor in German literature: The Georg Büchner Prize. She has been popular since 1998, when she received the Ingeborg Bachmann Prize for her first work of prose, "Pong". Since then, the author has written numerous novels. DW reached Lewitscharoff in Rome, where she is staying at the Villa Massimo, and talked to her about books, new plans, the German language and the meaning of culture. DW: You once stressed that you can't really relate to the eponym of Germany's most important literature award, Georg Büchner. Sybille Lewitscharoff: I don't really feel a connection with him. There are other writers who have really grown on me and with whom I do feel a strong connection. Jean Paul for example. But the biggest contender for my great love is Franz Kafka. I need to slowly build a relationship with books. In the jury's decision, it says that "Sybille Lewitscharoff expands the exact perception of the German present into areas of the satirical, the legendary and the fantastical." Do you agree with that? That's a nice description. Whether it's right on point, I don't really know. It's hard to say about yourself. You are currently in Rome. Has the stay inspired you to work on your newest project, a novel about Italian poet Dante? That idea was in my head before. It just so happened that I was invited to the Villa Massimo now, without anyone knowing about the project. Of course I can really delve into it now, even though I won't finish it here. But it's definitely a wonderful coincidence that I am allowed to be in Rome again and work on a novel that's based in Rome, too. What kind of novel project is this you're working on? I am planning to fully get my head into Dante. Now this is truly a great poet, a millennium poet. You don't just learn the Italian language from his work. It's the greatest work that Christianity has ever created. I wasn't primarily interested in getting into Dante's world, writing about Dante or about the century he lived in. I was fascinated by this idea: what happens when a Dante-convention today discusses Dante, and all of a sudden, a miracle occurs that has nothing to do with Dante? When a new Pentecostal miracle befalls the community? So it's about a Dante-convention that brings lots of different people with different languages together. What role does the language theme play? It's very important, because it's about breaking up the Babylonian confusion. People don't understand each other in all these different languages. That's a very great Biblical topic to revive. That's definitely an asset a writer can show off. That's our very own topic: what can we do with language? And what happens in different languages? That's very interesting! And language plays an important part in defining identity! Absolutely. That's why I'm opposing trying to produce an international novel. That's a very weak approach. You are bound to make use of your own language and society and your own experience. You can't just internationalize this from within. That has to happen through translations, by turning the text to make it work in the respective local language. Your book is about an understanding among people with different languages. How do you view German in light of the world language English? I'm only able to write a German novel. That means I have to overcome difficulties; have to come up with a smart solution that these people speak in different languages. But yet I have to write a German novel. I can't let too many people babble in different languages. That doesn't keep readers interested. It just doesn't work. But I need to reattach that to the German language, I need to transport the flickering of the other languages. That's quite difficult by the way. Today - at least in Europe - a great number of countries have come under economic discredit and can't provide jobs for the young people. Especially now, German language classes are in high demand in Goethe institutes in Greece, Spain, Portugal. They are packed, which they haven't been in decades. Can you also notice that in an increased cultural interest? Is culture also something that defines identities? I would definitely say Europe has cultural links. Of course also different traditions, the Roman Empire, the German empire, Habsburgs, that has very long historic ties. The Roman ancient world provided a strong unifying tradition over the course of many generations and centuries. Even though individuals might not be aware about it. One also talks about an extended cultural terminology. What does culture mean to you? I don't like to extend the cultural terminology, because it waters it down. To me, it's traditional areas such as literature, art, theater, music etc. | [
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Spain looks into whether US broke the law with NSA eavesdropping
Spain has opened an investigation into US eavesdropping on telephone calls. The White House may stop eavesdropping on friendly foreign leaders as the US confronts a flood of revelations about its spying practices.
Spain's probe comes amid outrage over revelations that the US snooped on the communications of millions in Europe, including leaders such as German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The probe aims to find signs that a criminal offense took place, which individuals prosecutors could hold accountable and whether any infractions fall within Spain's jurisdiction, a spokesman for the public prosecutor's office said on Tuesday. Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia Margallo said that if the reported espionage proved true "it could mean a break in the climate of trust that has traditionally reigned in relations between the two countries." On Monday, Spain's El Mundo newspaper published a classified document purportedly showing that the US security services tracked 60.5 million Spanish telephone calls in a single month as part of a worldwide espionage program that has enraged Europe. According to El Mundo, the National Security Agency (NSA) recorded the origin and destination of the calls and their duration but not the content. The newspaper printed a classified graph showing 30 days of monitoring through to January 8. The journalist Glenn Greenwald, who says he has access to previously secret documents obtained by former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, contributed to the article. Reports based on new leaks from the former NSA systems analyst indicate that the NSA listened to Merkel and 34 other foreign leaders. El Mundo urged prosecutors to charge the NSA with spying, calling monitoring of telephone calls without the proper judicial authority a criminal offense. Spain summoned the US ambassador Monday to the Foreign Ministry to discuss the spying allegations and called on Washington to provide "all necessary information" about the alleged phone tapping. 'Risks and rewards' On Monday, White House spokesman Jay Carney used a press conference to respond to criticism about the latest allegations of spying on European allies. Carney said monitoring electronic communications was a key part of protecting American citizens in a world that was becoming increasingly interconnected. "If we're going to keep our citizens and our allies safe, we have to continue to stay ahead of these changes, and that's what our intelligence community has been doing extraordinarily well," Carney said. In light of outrage in Europe over reports that the NSA had tapped German Chancellor Merkel's phone, among other allegations, Carney conceded that the United States may have to rethink some of its intelligence activities. "We ... need to ensure that our intelligence resources are most effectively supporting our foreign policy and national security objectives, that we are more effectively weighing the risks and rewards of our activities," he said. Meanwhile, Diane Feinstein, who chairs the US Senate's intelligence committee, has said that she would launch what she described as "a major review into all intelligence collection programs." In a statement, the Democrat from California said that the White House had informed her that "collection on our allies will not continue." mkg/rc (Reuters, AFP, dpa, AP) | [
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Berlin's art scandals combust spontaneously
When a Berlin artist 'vandalizes' his own painting or steals his own sculpture, does it cause a scandal? DW's Berlin insider Jan Kage explores the recipe for artistic provocation in a city known for rebellion.
"Can you please come for Jim's performance tomorrow morning," a journalist from television broadcaster Arte asked me after we finished an interview about Berlin artist Jim Avignon, who'd curated a show in my art space and who's been a friend of mine for many years now. "I need another picture of you in a different setting. It won't take long." "I don't think so," I answered honestly. "We have an opening tonight and tomorrow morning I have to take care of my baby." "Oh, bring her, too! That'd be an awesome picture." "Never! I can't have my little girl on TV. She can decide on that herself later," I replied. "Well, we don't have to show her face. Or we'll just shoot you and have her waiting on the side." Sometimes honest answers only prolong things, so I shifted to making vague promises: "Sure, I'll try my best!" Repainting the Berlin Wall Jim had planned a scandalous performance for that Saturday morning. He wanted to repaint the piece of the East Side Gallery that he had painted in 1990. The East Side Gallery is the last remaining part of the Berlin Wall. Right after it came down in 1989, a lot of artists painted the two kilometers of Wall between the Ostbahnhof train station and the bridge, Oberbaumbrücke. Although most of the results were pretty kitschy, they all carried the spirit of those days marking the end of the Cold War. A couple of nice ones are to be found as well of course - like Jim's and Thierry Noire's, for example. They both come from West Berlin's 80s scene and made a name for themselves as new pop artists in the 90s. Back then, Jim decorated a whole lot of techno parties in their illegally squatted venues. Posters and cardboard installations were quickly drawn and cheaply installed. It was art for the here-and-now that you could dance within, and in the morning when the party was over you could take it home with you. Jim had this philosophy of "better a thousand pictures for one dollar than one for a thousand." This popularized his art to the degree that most people in the scene had a piece of his at home. But also to the degree that the market is so flooded with his work that the price will probably never go up. Commenting on the present Back at the East Side Gallery, Jim and his helpers were planning to repaint the strip within just a couple of hours so they wouldn't get caught by the cops. The Gallery is not only a protected monument - a status which is taken very seriously in Germany - but also was renovated four years ago for a million euros so that tourists can forever enjoy the pictures that were painted on it 24 years ago. Jim Avignon didn't like the "forever" part of this concept. He had depicted the celebration of East Germany's self-liberation in 1989 as a picture of its time, with nitty-gritty politicians showing their teeth and tanks, and opposed to those happy people joyously running towards each other and hugging. Now he wanted to address the state of the city as he finds it today: failed investments and speculations on the house market, gentrification, and the like. But Jim's blatant repainting proved to be a true scandal, especially with the other artists. They felt provoked and feared that everybody could now paint on the Wall whenever they wanted. Another outcry concerning the East Side Gallery happened earlier this year when an investor had pieces of the Wall temporarily removed so trucks could enter his construction site, where he's building a fancy apartment complex. People didn't like both the expensive apartment and the removal of parts of the Wall. French street artist JR was in town at the time, working on the Berlin edition of his "Wrinkles of the City" project and responded by putting up wooden boards into the hole in the Wall, gluing posters with his photography onto it. The newspapers reported intensively on this - especially since one of the security guards got attacked that same night. But that must have been other people - not JR and his crew. "What do you think about Jim repainting the Wall?" the Arte journalist asked me. "Why not? I don't see why the paintings that were once drawn should be preserved forever." I said. "Art in the streets is bound to vanish. Also, most of the painters were not the best - or best-known - artists in the first place. They were just people who took the chance to paint it right after the Wall came down, which is great. But nobody promotes the idea of preserving the graffiti that was on the west side of the Wall either. So, I guess things change." 'Stolen' art Repainting his work was not Jim's first illegal action when it comes to presenting his art in public. Twelve years ago, a local tabloid asked Jim to paint one of the Buddy Bears - a rather kitschy series of hundreds of bear sculptures positioned in public spaces all over town. A bear is part of the city's coat of arms and it's a kind of local mascot. Jim hesitated because he didn't love the sculpture, but since it was for charity reasons and the paper promised to take it off Kurfürstendamm (one of Berlin's most famous boulevards) after six months to auction it off for a good cause, he agreed to paint one. Six months and three weeks later, however, the bear was still standing in the street, so Jim called the paper. The editor he spoke to was kind of ambiguous. He told Jim the same thing the TV journalist told me when I was not sure I'd make it to the performance: "But that's good promotion for you!" Jim didn't buy that answer. Instead, he rented a van and drove to the bear at night with a couple of friends and some screwdrivers. They unscrewed the sculpture, heaved it into the van, and took the bear to a place where he could "hibernate" for the winter. Suddenly, the tabloid was alarmed. "Jim Avignon's Bear Stolen," the headlines read. They went looking around for it, but the bear was nowhere to be found. And it stayed in hiding for a whole decade. Rebirth of a non-scandalous bear Jim's bear was finally resurrected for last year's Art Village, which is the art space I curate during the annual Berlin Festival music event. We rented a van and brought the bear back to the city. Then we put him on top of the five containers that served as the entrance to the Art Village at old, historic Tempelhof Airport. That was around the same time that the three members of the Russian band Pussy Riot were on trial in Moscow for their political dissidence. The case was a shock to all of us who grew up with punk rock and egalitarian ideals - but also stimulating to learn that one can still provoke the powers that be with a punky performance. So as a sign of solidarity and deference, we had an old lady crochet a bright yellow Pussy Riot ski mask for the bear's head. Unfortunately neither the bringing back of the bear nor the ski mask produced any kind of tabloid scandal. But it sure was loved by everybody who saw it. And that proves one point: You can't really plan a scandal. They just happen, depending on how relevant the topic is at the moment and how spot-on the timing is. And there may be two or three other parameters involved that I'm still investigating so that maybe I can plan the next one myself after all. | [
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GM ditches Chevrolet in Europe to boost Opel, Vauxhall fortunes
US auto giant General Motors (GM) has unveiled plans to withdraw its Chevrolet brand from markets in Europe. The move aims to strengthen GM’s other struggling European brands, Opel in Germany and the UK’s Vauxhall.
General Motors (GM) will stop selling its Chevrolet models in European markets by 2015, Stephen Girsky, Vice Chairman at the US carmaker announced on Thursday. Speaking to investors in a conference call, Girsky said GM's decision came as part of efforts to focus resources on reviving the company's Opel brand. “We have growing confidence in the Opel and Vauxhall brands in Europe,” Girsky said. German carmaker Opel and its UK equivalent Vauxhall have competed against Chevrolet for customers ever since GM introduced smaller Chevrolet models to European markets in 2005. While Opel/Vauxhall secured a 6.7 percent market share on the continent in recent years, Chevrolet barely managed to reach 1 percent. Moreover, Chevrolet sales slumped 17 percent year-on-year to just 25,000 cars by September. “Basically we will shut down the 1-percent-share company in Europe. The financial results have been unacceptable,” Girsky said. The GM vice chairman also said that the US auto giant would set aside up to $1 billion (740 million euros) over the next two years to cover the costs arising from closing Chevrolets about 1,900 dealerships in Europe. The move forms the latest effort by GM to turn around its European operations amid the ongoing car slump on the crisis-hit continent. GM also announced that it would continue to sell its smaller Chevrolet models in Russia and other former Soviet markets. In Western Europe, however, Chevrolet would only be present with its iconic Corvette model after 2016. uhe/pfd (dpa, Reuters, AFP) | [
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France's Fabius delivers doubts over moderate Syria opposition
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius has said he is "pessimistic" about the strength of the moderate opposition to Syria's government. Fabius voiced skepticism about the likelihood of success at planned peace talks.
The French Foreign Minister said that, while France would continue to work towards proposed talks in Geneva in January, hopes that they would provide any kind of resolution were becoming increasingly remote. "On Syria, I'm unfortunately rather pessimistic," Fabius said as he left the World Policy Conference, a meeting of political and business leaders in Monaco. "The moderate opposition that we support is in serious difficulty," he said. Talks have been scheduled for January 22 in the Swiss city - the next stage of extensive diplomatic efforts to bring together warring factions from within Syria's borders. However, Fabius said there were concerns that any progress would be made. "My fellow European ministers and I are working to make (the talks) a success, but there's room for lots of doubts," said Fabius. "And unfortunately, if this meeting's not a success, it means this martyred country is going to keep suffering - and neighboring countries, too," he said. The Syrian government and opposition are to send delegates to the so-called Geneva-2 conference. However, Fabius said that the weakened position of the opposition led him to believe it had lost bargaining powers with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime. "Bashar al-Assad says he will send representatives to Geneva," said Fabius. "While Mr Assad has a lot of faults, he is not an idiot... we can't see why he would hand over all his powers." The more moderate factions of the opposition to al-Assad have faced mounting difficulties this year, increasingly losing ground to Islamist fighters. There was a further blow on Thursday when the US and Britain said they would suspend the provision of non-lethal aid to the Free Syrian Army after an increasingly strong rebel group, the Islamic Front, took over a Turkish border crossing and weapons warehouses nearby. The civil war in Syria has now raged for more than two-and-a-half years and killed more than 126,000 people. rc/lw (AFP, Reuters) | [
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Happy New Year: Alcohol is a neurotoxin
We usually toast the New Year with sparkling wine or champagne - which even in small quantities has an impact on our health and brains. But what exactly happens in our body after we've enjoyed a drink?
Champagne tastes good, lifts the mood, maybe makes you a bit talkative - and affects your brain and body. It starts being absorbed into the blood stream through the mucus membranes in your mouth before heading on into the small intestine. There it continues to be absorbed, and then passed from the blood system to the liver. "The liver is the first main stop. It has enzymes that can break down the alcohol," Helmut K. Seitz, a German researcher from Heidelberg, said. The liver's job is to transport toxins out of the body, and alcohol is one of them. But alcohol's first pass through the liver it does not break it down completely - some reaches the other organs. "This applies for example to the pancreas, muscles and bones - and leads to corresponding changes," Seitz said. Alcohol can worsen even cause more than 200 diseases. Rush to the head Too much alcohol in the body affects especially the brain: perception is distorted, judgment clouded, and ability to concentrate decreases. At the same time, inhibitions are lowered, and a pleasant carefree feeling may arise. But too much of a good thing can lead unconsciousness - especially excessive binge drinking reflects this. Depression and aggression become stronger. A sad fact from 2012: Worldwide alcohol abuse and accidents, and violence under the influence of alcohol, led to a person's death every 10 seconds: 3.3 million people died of alcohol. When alcohol circulates through the body, it takes about 6 minutes to arrive to the brain. "Ethanol alcohol is a small molecule. It's in the blood, in all water - it is water soluble," Seitz said. "The human body consists of 70 to 80 percent water. The alcohol is distributed throughout, and then goes into the brain." Alcohol affects the neurotransmitters, or substances that are transmitted via nerve endings in the central nervous system. Alcohol can lead to false or altered transmission, which can cause acute damage. If the situation is chronic - after excessive consumption of alcohol for years, or even decades - the damage becomes correspondingly worse. "It disrupts vitamins and trace elements that play a large role in the central nervous system," Seitz said. For example, our brains require Vitamin B1. If it's missing, due to excessive alcohol consumption, this can lead to Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome. "In the brain, the effects of alcohol abuse can lead to dementia," Seitz warned. Carcinogenic In mouth and throat, alcohol affects the mucus membranes - for example in the esophagus. The body can no longer protect those against toxins. This can have significant consequences, Seitz said, like serious inflammation of the pancreas. "Let's think about cancer: tumors of the oral cavity, pharynx, larynx and esophagus, as well as liver or breast cancer," Seitz said. We often forget that alcohol is a risk factor for breast cancer, and also for the colon." Then there's cirrhosis of the liver. AS alcohol is metabolized in the liver, toxins are produced, which damage the liver cells. Approximately twenty to thirty thousand people die due to liver cirrhosis in Germany every year. "Alcohol is metabolized by the liver, and then you think the poison is gone," Seitz explained. "But an intermediate metabolite can even cause hereditary defects." Alcohol around the world In Germany, almost 12 liters of pure alcohol are consumed per capita per year. This corresponds to the equivalent of 500 bottles of beer - per person. In the United Kingdom and Slovenia, this is only slightly less, at 11.6 liters. But people in Ireland and Luxembourg drink even more than Germans: 11.9 liters on average, according to a World Health Organization study. Belarus takes a questionable first place: 17.5 liters of pure alcohol are consumed there annually. Countries such as Pakistan, Kuwait, Libya and Mauritania are at the bottom of the scale, with 0.1 liters per person per year. A very different situation prevails in some Asian countries. About 40 percent of all Japanese, Korean and Chinese people are missing an enzyme that breaks down acetaldehyde, which is an important prerequisite for the reducing alcohol in the body. "Alcohol is converted to acetaldehyde, and acetaldehyde to acetic acid. But if acetaldehyde is not converted to acetic acid, then acetaldehyde accumulates," Seitz said. Asians who cannot process alcohol due to their genetic disposition can get headache, nausea, vomiting and tremors - and their faces become red. But alcohol also has a good side: "It has a favorable effect on atherosclerosis, or the hardening of the blood vessels." Seitz said. He recommended a glass of wine a day, especially for people at risk of heart attack or stroke. Even Paracelsus knew that: The physician, healer and theologian preached at the beginning of the 16th century: "All things are poison and nothing is without poison; only the dose makes a thing not a poison." So, as with many things: alcohol in moderation. | [
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Rocket strike kills at least 15 at Afghan wedding
A rocket fired during fighting between Afghan forces and insurgents has killed at least 15 guests at a wedding in Afghanistan's southern Helmand province. Dozens of others have been wounded.
The rocket was assumed to have been fired amid fighting between Afghan Taliban insurgents and the army, which has been battling insurgents in the six months since US forces withdrew from the area. "At least 15 people were killed and 45 wounded when the rocket struck in a firefight between Afghan security forces and the Taliban," said Fareed Ahmad Obaid, police spokesman for Helmand province, earlier Wednesday. Karem Atal, head of Helmand's provincial council, confirmed the incident and said the death toll could increase as many of the wounded were rushed to the hospital. The Associated Press put the death toll higher, saying at least 26 had been killed and that the number could go up to 30. Civilian casualties high in 2014 According to the United Nations, nearly 10,000 civilians and 5,000 soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan this year, 75 percent of them in attacks by the Taliban. Afghanistan's counterterrorism forces have faced a tough challenge in the run-up to the withdrawal of NATO's International Security Assistance Force in January. Afghan security forces will mark the transfer of responsibility from NATO on Thursday. The NATO mission will be reduced to 12,500 troops in 2015, with another 17,000 staying on to assist local police and the army. mg/cmk (AP, Reuters) | [
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Death toll from Syrian bus bombing rises to 126; includes 68 children
The death toll in a bombing of a bus convoy carrying evacuees from Syrian government-held territory has risen, said a monitor. The transfers are part of a massive relocation of people along political and sectarian lines.
The death toll from Saturday's bus bombing in Syria has risen to 126, and includes 68 children. The attack struck a bus convoy carrying residents from the northern towns of Fuaa and Kafraya as they waited at a transit point in rebel-held Rashidin, west of Aleppo. At least 109 of the dead were evacuees, according to the British-based monitoring group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The evacuations are part of a broader relocation agreement between the Syrian regime and rebel forces involving thousands of people. The large numbers and ethnic make-up of those being relocated appears to represent a new phase of the six-year old civil war that has claimed nearly 350,000 lives. Critics of the latest relocations say the string of evacuations, which could see some 30,000 people moved across battle lines over the next two months, amounts to forced displacement along political and sectarian lines. On Sunday, a day after the gruesome bus attack, body parts and the belongings of evacuees - including clothes, dishes and even televisions - remained strewn about the scene of the attack. The shattered buses were nearby, as was the shell of a pick-up truck that was apparently used to carry out the bombing. No claim of responsibility No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack and the key Ahrar al-Sham rebel group denied any involvement. The government blamed "terrorists" - a term it uses generally to refer to all of its opponents. The Observatory, which relies on a network of sources inside Syria to monitor the conflict, said hundreds more people were wounded in the blast. It said a petrol station at the transit point was consumed in the explosion, adding to the number of victims. The Syrian Red Crescent said three of its workers were among the wounded. Maysa al-Aswad, a 30-year-old evacuee from Kafraya, told news agency AFP that she was sitting on one bus with her six-month-old son Hadi and 10-year-old daughter Narjis when the blast shook the parked convoy. "Hadi was on my lap and Narjis on a chair next to me. When the explosion happened I hugged them both and we fell to the floor," she said. "I didn't know what was happening, all I could hear was people crying and shouting." She added, "All I can think about is how we survived all the death during the last few years and then could have died just after we finally escaped." bik/rs (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters) | [
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Schalke knocked out by Ajax in Europa League thriller
Goals from Leon Goretzka, Guido Burgstaller and Daniel Caligiuri looked to be sending Schalke through to the semifinals. But Ajax hit back twice in extra time and progressed on aggregate.
Schalke 3-2 Ajax AET. (Ajax win 4-3 on aggregate) (Goretzka 53', Burgstaller 56', Caliguiri 101' - Viergever 111', Younes 120') Heartbreak for Schalke. They produced a fantastic fightback and were in touching distance of reaching the semifinals before their dream died in a flash as Ajax netted a crucial away goal in extra time and then added another late on. Markus Weinzierl's side had powered their way back into the tie after an insipid 2-0 defeat at Ajax last week thanks to a magical three-minute burst after the break. First Goretzka thrashed home on 53 minutes after storming up field and getting a cute return pass from Burgstaller and soon after, the Austria striker rammed in the aggregate leveler. Caliguiri thought he had won it for the hosts in the extra period but a flukey goal from Nick Viergever put Ajax ahead again in a rollercoaster encounter and to add insult to injury for the home side, German Amin Younes added a second for the visitors right at the end. Schalke had been boosted before kickoff by news that Benedikt Höwedes and Arsenal transfer target Sead Kolasinac were fit to return in defence with right back Sascha Riether also returning to the starting line-up after a long absence. Indeed, the hosts started the game in confident mood with Max Meyer cutting inside and striking the post after just three minutes. Suddenly a memorable comeback looked on as Schalke dominated the opening 10 minutes, roared on by an expectant crowd. Suddenly the game changed But Ajax, who so comfortably overran the Germans last week, eased their way into the game and had a good half chance when Hakim Ziyech tested Ralf Fährmann with a free kick. The Schalke goalkeeper was never likely to be as busy as he was in Amsterdam, where he saved his side from a more embarrassing deficit, but he was there when he needed to be as Ajax upped their threat. Schalke still carried their own though, and the lively Meyer blasted over when well-placed after a quick break. The home side just about edged the first half but it was the Dutchmen in fluorescent green who had the first big opportunities in the second period. Schalke were glad that faithful Fährmann was on hand to beat away Lasse Schöne's flying set-piece and save Bertrand Traore's effort. Then suddenly the game changed. Burgstaller had endured a frustrating evening up to that point but had the vision to play a one-two with the charging Goretzka, who shot hard and low to make sure he scored despite a deflection. He later went off injured and was taken to hospital. Weinzierl then threw on veteran Klaas-Jan Huntelaar but the Dutchman, heavily linked with a return to former club Ajax in the post season, could only watch as strike partner Burgstaller bagged the second from a typically bustling Kolasinac cross. Ajax quickly looked a shadow of last week's side, with Joel Veltman sent off on 80 minutes for a second booking after a cynical foul on Nabil Bentaleb. The man advantage should have spurred Schalke on but they only mustered one very good chance from Höwedes in the final moments of the 90 minutes. Painful drama It looked like being the same story in extra time but Caliguiri popped up to expertly head home after 101 minutes despite the attention of two defenders, with Kolasinac again instrumental. The Veltins Arena has seen few nights like this in recent years but such is the side's inconsistency, the atmosphere actually went a little quiet as time wore on, fans petrified that Ajax would hit back with a crucial away goal. And that is exactly what happened. It would not be Schalke without more drama. Out of the blue, Viergever grabbed the goal Ajax needed and it was as scrappy as can be. The Ajax player miscontrolled a cross but as Matija Nastasic tried to clear, the ball cannoned off Viergever and into the net. Schalke desperately tried to hit back but gaps were inevitable and Younes completed the job. "Compliments to the team for a good performance. It's an extremely bitter feeling to have gone out today. It is a bitter defeat as we were brutally unlucky,” Weinzierl told Sky, referring to Ajax’s first goal. "Now we have to absorb the result. We deserved to qualify for the semifinals." It had looked like being a famous triumph for Weinzierl but now he faces the prospect of being the first Schalke boss since 2009 not to qualify for Europe next term. United through In the other ties, two more games went to extra time. Manchester United beat Anderlecht 2-1 on the night and 3-2 overall after Marcus Rashford’s extra-time winner. But United lost Zlatan Ibrahimovic to a serious-looking knee injury. Lyon also went through to the semifinals after winning 7-6 on penalties after a 2-1 loss on the night at Besiktas. Spain’s Celta Vigo progressed with a 1-1 draw at Genk sealing a 4-3 aggregate victory. The semifinal draw is on Friday with the first legs of the last four on May 4 and the second legs on May 11. Re-live the Ajax v Schalke action as it happened: | [
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Poland and Industry 4.0 in the spotlight of Hanover industry fair
German chancellor Angela Merkel has opened the world's biggest industrial fair. Poland is the partner nation of the fair that also seeks to allay fears from technological advances associated with Industry 4.0.
During he traditional opening walk around the Hannover Messe fairground, the German chancellor made a plea for free and open trade, saying isolationism and protectionism would only lead to losses for society as a whole. In Hanover this year, Poland's industry is at the center of the fair. The five-day trade fair, which is in its 70th year, also focuses on networked industry, with robots playing an increasing role in the approximately 6,500 exhibitions from more than 70 countries. Poland is Germany's eighth most lucrative trading partner with a population of 38 million. Last year, German mechanical engineering companies exported assets worth 5.7 billion euros ($6.1 billion) across the border to Poland. The Mechanical Engineering Industry Association's (VDMA) Eastern Europe expert, Yvonne Heidler, says the plan is for growth in 2017. "Poland is coming, and we are assuming that Poland will become an increasingly important trade partner," said Carl Martin Welcker, the president of the VDMA in an interview with Reuters. The focus of this year's fair is Industry 4.0, which exchanges data on manufacturing techologies over cloud computing, energy transformation and automation of labor. Poland is one of the fastest growing markets for automation in manufacturing, but there's still room for industry to improve its competitiveness. "Many companies are still at the level of Industry 2.0, with only 15 percent of the factories fully automated, 76 percent partly automated, and the rest still being handled by hand," explained Heidler. Robots and humans can coexist Amid tensions on factory floors over the risk of losing jobs to robots, the Hannover Messe will attempt to alleviate concerns. Exhibitors will demonstrate how machines can coexist alongside human workers and offer support in factories. Although job changes are inevitable, robots can adapt to the speed and behavioral changes of humans, said trade fair boss Jochen Koeckler. "Robots learn from robots," said Koeckler. "But it is human beings who tell the robot what tasks need to be done." To adapt from manual jobs to commanding robots will demand higher qualifications and greater expertise of technology and programming explained Stefan Assmann, head of Bosch's connected industry unit. There is no need for fewer workers at the automotive supplier company. More than 1,700 panels will take place at the Hannover Messe with 6,500 exhibitors and a further 1,200 journalists from around the globe. uhe/rd (Reuters, dpa) | [
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Ai Weiwei Drifting
Ai Weiwei: Uncomfortable critic or one of the most brilliant artists of our time? Subject to government surveillance, detention and house arrest in China he moved to Berlin in 2015.
Now he's taking Europe to task, protesting against, and devoting his work, to what he sees as its catastrophic refugee policies. A DW film team has been following him around the world for more than a year. A lonely rubber boat is drifting in the Aegean Sea between Turkey and Greece. In it, Ai Weiwei. He cannot swim. Is this performance art? "We are all refugees," he says. Ai Weiwei displays his solidarity with the refugees and goes to meet them in Greece, Turkey and Gaza, producing a major documentary on the way. His current works deal with the fate of refugees, turning their abandoned boats, life vests and discarded clothing into memorials. Flight and exile have been constant themes in his life. He is currently writing his memoirs, set for publication in 20 languages. His father, a well-known poet, fell into disfavor during Mao's Cultural Revolution and Ai Weiwei grew up in exile. As the Einstein Visiting Professor at Berlin's University of the Arts, he also sets his students project work on the refugee issue. But when Ai Weiwei imitated the photo of the dead refugee boy Alan Kurdi with his own body, many thought he was going too far. Was it sensationalism? Provocation? "Oh," he seemed to say, "so now you care?" Ai Weiwei recognizes no boundaries. Our film gets close to him and gives us an insight into his artistic work as well as his private life - with his mother in Beijing, with his son and partner in Berlin and in moments never before shown on film. But a lot about him remains a riddle. Just who exactly is Ai Weiwei? Broadcasting Hours: DW (English) SAT 24.06.2017 – 19:15 UTC SUN 25.06.2017 – 01:15 UTC SUN 25.06.2017 – 07:15 UTC SUN 25.06.2017 – 15:15 UTC MON 26.06.2017 – 05:15 UTC MON 03.07.2017 – 09:15 UTC SUN 09.07.2017 – 03:15 UTC Cape Town UTC +2 | Delhi UTC +5,5 | Hong Kong UTC +8 San Francisco UTC -7 | Edmonton UTC -6 | New York UTC -4 Lagos UTC +1 | Cape Town UTC +2 | Nairobi UTC +3 London UTC +1 | Berlin UTC +2 | Moscow UTC +3 DW (Deutsch+) SUN 25.06.2017 – 09:15 UTC Vancouver UTC -7 | New York UTC -4 | Sao Paulo UTC -3 | [
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Le Pen 'copies phrases' from Fillon speech at May Day rally
Marine Le Pen has repeated parts of a patriotic speech given by defeated conservative candidate Francois Fillon last month, French media report. The far-right presidential contender is being accused of plagiarism.
French presidential hopeful Marine Le Pen did not say she was quoting Francois Fillon when she addressed her supporters at a May Day rally north of Paris. But French media reported Tuesday that, in her speech, she appeared to repeat almost verbatim three passages from an address the Les Republicains candidate delivered last month in Le Puy-en-Velay. The similarities were first picked up by satirical YouTube channel Ridicule TV, which is reportedly close to Fillon. The channel posted a video of the two candidates as they proclaimed the same statements. "If there are waiting lists for the Alliance Francaise [French language and culture organization] in Shanghai, Tokyo, or Mexico, for the French secondary school in Rabat or Rome... that is because France is something else, much more than an industrial, agricultural or military power," Fillon argued on April 15. "If there are waiting lists for the Alliance Francaise in Shanghai, Tokyo, or Mexico, for the French secondary school in Rabat or Rome... that is because France is something else, much more than the industrial, agricultural or military power that it must and can once more become," Le Pen said on May 1. Borrowed phrases Fillon referred specifically to the geography of France's borders and spoke of a third "French way" for the 21st century - sections Le Pen also borrowed, albeit with some adjustments to reflect her anti-EU political stance. "Then, there is the frontier of the Rhine, the most open, the most dangerous, the most promising too - this Germanic world with which we have been so often in conflict and with which we will yet cooperate in so many ways," Fillon said. "Then, there is the frontier of the Rhine, the most open, the most promising too - this Germanic world with which we will yet cooperate in so many ways, as long as we regain the status of allies and not of subjects or serfs," Le Pen declared. Read more: Le Pen's 'outsider' politics move to center stage in France Fillon, a former frontrunner who was eliminated in the first round of voting last month, also quoted World War I Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau and writer Andre Malraux. Le Pen used those same quotes in her speech, which comes ahead of Sunday's second round run-off. The similarities prompted "Le Monde" and other French media to accuse Le Pen of plagiarism. Deputy chairman of Le Pen's National Front party Florian Philippot defended the address, saying it contained a deliberate "nod to a short passage in a speech about France" on the part of "a candidate that shows she is not sectarian." nm/se (AFP, dpa) | [
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Iraqi refugee shares his success story as an entrepreneur in Germany
Entering the job market in Germany can be difficult for a refugee and often requires special educational qualifications. Could self-employment be the solution?
26-year-old Rani couldn't imagine 5 years ago that he would find success in Germany. In his home country, Iraq, he was constantly exposed to violence due to the war there. In addition, he and his family faced persecution because of their religious beliefs. "Things had reached a peak," he said, forcing him and his family to leave Mosul and go to Germany in search of safety and religious freedom. Rani arrived in Germany in September 2011, following a "long and arduous journey in which he and his family were exposed to many dangers," he told InfoMigrants. It took only three months for the Iraqi family's request for asylum to be recognized, but this was not enough for them to feel secure. Rani wanted to find a apartment so he could leave the refugee shelter, but this was not easy. Like other refugees, Rani receives monthly state aid, but landlords do not look favorably on this, making it difficult to find an apartment to rent. Moving into self-employment After a long search, Rani managed to find an apartment to live with his family. He also began to learn German. Rani did not want to continue receiving aid from the state and wanted to get his own source of income. For about four years he tried to work in various fields, such as construction or in restaurants. But he was not satisfied with these areas of work. "Working these types of jobs did not guarantee me enough income. We are a family of four," he said. Rani did not have sufficient educational qualifications to work in areas that could increase his income. "In recent years, the neighborhood I live in has witnessed the arrival of many Arab refugees," he said. This led him to think about opening up his own business. Rami's decision to move into self-employment was welcomed by the German labor office. An employee there enrolled him in a training course to help him understand the basics of self-employment in Germany. He learned how to "calculate profits and losses, better understand self-employment law and recognize my rights and duties of being self-employed in Germany." After he successfully completed the training course, he had to go to a German government department that would carry out an economic study on an entrepreneurial project he submitted. Once the study was completed, he would receive government funding toward his project. Rani was shocked when he found out his project was rejected because it was deemed "impossible to succeed." But Rani did not despair and began looking for an alternative solution: "I got a small loan from a friend and looked for a small space with low rent. I managed to achieve my dream." Finding success The project started small and his financial resources were limited but Rani began to buy food products that he would then resell. He was able to develop the project further thanks to the profit he was making. The grocery store was attracting customers of all different nationalities: "Along with Iraqi, Syrian and Egyptian customers, we also had Germans and Turks," he said. When asked about his secret to success he remarks: "At the beginning it took a lot of patience but with the help from my wife and brother I was able to persevere. Never forget that the way one treats the customer is very important." Rani hopes that in the future he could open up another shop to sell and repair mobile phones. He has extensive experience in the field from his home country. He advises refugees "to learn German, as that is the key to success here and helps a lot when searching for a job." "Those who study, learn and work here live a better life than back home and enjoy many rights," he concludes. © Copyright -- InfoMigrants All Rights Reserved InfoMigrants is not responsible for the content of external websites Source: InfoMigrants2017 | [
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Franco-German "war child" granted German citizenship
The son of a French woman and a German Wehrmacht officer, 66-year-old Daniel Rouxel on Wednesday became the first Franco-German "war child" to be granted German citizenship.
The French retiree was granted German citizenship at a ceremony at the German consulate in Paris. Rouxel said the event helped to ease a lifetime of rejection and humiliation in a country whose wartime occupation remained a taboo topic for a long time. "I'm German. I'm not a bastard any more. I'm a child like all the others. At last I've got the second half that I was so cruelly missing," Rouxel said. "Children of the Boche" Around 200,000 children were born between 1941 and 1945 as a result of liaisons between French women and occupying German troops. At the time, Nazi rules prohibited marriage with French natives - unlike with Norwegians or Dutch who were deemed to be "Aryan." So the affairs were secret and often ended abruptly when they were discovered. After the war, the mothers were humiliated or sent to jail amid a flood of anti-German hostility. Their children were derided as "children of the Boche" - an abusive term for Germans. They were often left to struggle alone with the psychological effects of humiliation, rejection, persecution and ostracism. A figure of hate Rouxel's story was no different. He was born in Paris in 1943 during the World War II occupation. His mother worked in the canteen of the German airbase in the Brittany town of Pleurtuit where his father, Lieutenant Otto Ammon, was stationed. Ammon was killed during the Allied liberation of France and after the war, when his mother could no longer cope with raising him, Rouxel was taken in by his grandmother in a small Breton village. As the illegitimate son of the former enemy, Rouxel was a figure of scorn. He was forced by his own grandmother to sleep in a chicken coop and publicly mocked by local officials. Rouxel detailed his accounts in a book published in 2004 in France on the long-neglected generation of Franco-German war-children. Growing up in the Breton village of Megrit in the 1950s, Rouxel remembers the mayor making him stand up in front of the parishioners outside church one Sunday. "Which one of you knows the difference between a swallow and a Boche?" the mayor asked. I'll tell you. When the swallow makes its babies here in France, it takes them with it when it leaves. But the Boche - he leaves his behind." The incident left its mark on Rouxel. "I cried a lot. I was only six years old and already I wanted to kill myself," he wrote. "Symbolic significance" For a long time, officials in both Germany and France refused to address the plight of war children. Recently, the two countries - which are now close allies - signed an agreement to recognize the children's parentage. Earlier this year, Germany said it would be generous in processing the claims by war children for dual citizenship. "That's an honor for me whose father - a German - was an enemy," Rouxel said at the time. "I idolized him as a child." But French historian Fabrice Virgili said he doubted whether the war-children generation - many of whom are well into their 60s - would apply for German citizenship. Virgili said for many of them the gesture was largely symbolic. sp/afp/ap/dpa Editor: Kyle James | [
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Berlin continues to spin its wheels over Opel's future
The tug-of-war over European carmaker Opel seems set to continue after talks between Opel's troubled parent company General Motors and the German government ended inconclusively on Tuesday.
General Motors' chief negotiator, John Smith, was in Berlin Tuesday to talk about the future of Opel. GM reportedly used the meeting to assure the German government Tuesday that it still may sell Opel, an unnamed German government source told the Associated Press. Yet other media reports that GM is looking for ways to hold onto Opel after all. The Wall Street Journal said that General Motors' new board of directors has ordered management to consider new options for Opel, including finding three billion euros ($4.3 billion) in funding to overhaul GM's European operations rather than sell them. The newspaper cited three unnamed sources familiar with the matter as saying that GM Chief Executive Frederick "Fritz" Henderson had been instructed to prepare a new financial plan ahead of the US carmaker's next board meeting in early September. Meanwhile, The Financial Times reports that GM is exploring ways of securing funding from the British, Spanish and US governments in a deal its source described as "feasible if complex". A leading German labor representative said he hopes General Motors will make a decision about the future of Opel by Wednesday morning. Armin Schild, the leader of the IG Metall union in the state of Hesse, where Opel has its headquarters, said the fact that GM's options for Opel had come to light ahead of an official announcement means that they may be under serious consideration. "I see that as a bad sign for the future of Opel," Schild told German public television station ZDF. Magna rejection The reports follow a meeting last Friday in which GM's board rejected Henderson's recommendation that Opel be sold to a consortium consisting of Canadian auto parts manufacturer Magna, Russian state-owned lender Sberbank and Russian carmaker GAZ. The move was an embarrassment to the German government, which has offered to throw 4.5 billion euros ($6.4 billion) worth of financial support behind the Magna bid. Lawmakers and unions fear that the rival offer from Belgian-based investment group RHJ International could lead to widespread job losses in Germany, which is home to about half of GM's 55,000-strong European workforce. But GM's board is reported to be wary of the Magna deal because it could see valuable technological know-how end up in the hands of its Russian competitors. Meanwhile, the absence of a foothold in Europe could harm the GM in the long run by leaving the company overly dependent on North American and Chinese markets. Sale or no sale, German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck suspects that GM favors the RHJ bid because managers in Detroit aim to maintain control of Opel in the long term. "My impression is that some people at the heart of GM management prefer the RHJ International offer because it would make it easier to buy back Opel in a few years time," Steinbrueck told the Handelsblatt financial newspaper. "Magna, in our view, has a clear industrial strategy, not just a plan for short-term gain and that is why the government will not give any financial aid to RHJ," he said. "Aid will only be given to Magna." sje/dpa/AP/Reuters Editor: Chuck Penfold/Trinity Hartman | [
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Tackling Youth Crime
A recent wave of attacks has rocketed the topic of crime among young people to the top of the political agenda, especially in the state of Hesse, which is preparing for elections. DW-WORLD takes a look at the issue.
In light of several recent incidents of violence committed by youths, crime among young people -- closely tied with the integration of immigrants -- has slipped into the spotlight in Germany as politicians look for solutions. The matter has even taken center-stage in the state election campaign in Hesse. DW-WORLD.DE takes a closer look at the discussion and the issues at stake. Don't forget to share your own opinion with us by clicking on the links below. | [
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New Belgian Leader Gets Nod from Parliament
Belgian members of parliament gave a vote of confidence Saturday to an incoming coalition government led by Flemish Christian Democrat Yves Leterme, sealing the end of a nine-month political crisis.
The 97-48 vote, with one abstention, in the lower chamber of deputies, was not unexpected, with the coalition partners -- the Flemish and francophone Liberals and Christian Democrats, plus francophone Socialists -- in favor. Leterme, 47, succeeds Flemish Liberal Guy Verhofstadt with a mandate that should in theory run until 2011 -- but which could well be abbreviated, as his own party has set a July 15 deadline for more powers to be given to Flanders. "That deadline will be respected," Leterme told parliament Saturday, a day after he and his 15-member cabinet were sworn into office by Belgium's King Albert II after protracted negotiations with other political groupings. Uniter, not a divider? Leterme has his work cut out to persuade Belgium's francophones -- concentrated in Brussels and the southern Wallonia region -- of his ability to unite the country in the wake of general elections back in June 2007. Flanders, home to Belgium's Dutch-speaking majority, craves more regional powers to reflect its prosperity. It also resents the dollops of euros it now pays to subsidise the poorer, French-speaking Wallonia region to its south. "I fear grave institutional chaos" if the government falls in July, said the new employment minister, Joelle Milquet, leader of the francophone centrists, adding that the danger of Belgium splitting into two nations was now "real." For the international community, such a possibility would be serious, given that both the European Union and NATO are headquartered in the capital Brussels. The new prime minister has promised to raise pensions and offer tax cuts for low earners although government revenues have been lower than expected. His plans have come under increasing scrutiny by the opposition and the media. Leterme -- who once confused Belgium's anthem with that of France and failed in two previous attempts to form a government -- fueled inter-communal anger in 2006 by suggesting that French-speakers were incapable of learning Dutch. | [
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Data Watchdog Questions EU's Controversial Fingerprint Plan
A potential scandal over infringements on privacy rights has surfaced in Brussels after it was revealed that the EU is considering launching a fingerprinting drive which would involve citizens as young as six years old.
The plans to add fingerprints to the new European passports and store them in a centralized database was launched in Brussels on Oct. 18 by EU Justice, Freedom and Security Commissioner Franco Frattini, the just as European leaders gathered for an important summit in Lisbon, the dpa news agency reported. But after Peter Hustinx, the head of the European data protection watchdog [EDPS], announced the watchdog agency's concerns on Thursday, march 27, EU officials worked to calm fears over the potential for privacy infringements. Hustinx's main concerns focus on controversial plans to fingerprint children as young as 6 years old and elderly people who would be physically unable to provide theirs, as well as the creation of a centralized database, which would hold a copy of fingerprints belonging to all EU citizens. Civil liberties advocates fear that such a database could be violated and used for criminal purposes. EU defends plan to fingerprint children Frattini's office on Thursday rejected calls for the 6-year-old exemption limit to be raised to include children under the age of 14 so that it may be brought "in line with international practice," arguing that the measure was needed to prevent child-trafficking. Officials also said they were willing to address Hustinx's concerns about the centralized database and respond within "a matter of weeks." "We have just received the comments, and we want to take them serious," said Friso Roscam Abbing, Frattini's spokesman. "Creating big databases poses data-protection challenges, nobody will deny it. However, precisely because we are aware of those challenges we will do everything that is needed to address them ... and ensure that we are taking duly into consideration all legitimate data protection concerns." Brussels claims citizens no longer hold concerns Officials in Brussels also argued that a growing number of EU citizens no longer fear being likened to potential suspects simply because their fingerprints are taken, noting that biometric data of this kind has become increasingly common, for instance as an added security measure in laptops. Slovenian Interior Minister Dragutin Mate, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the EU, acknowledged to reporters that the proposal will likely encounter difficulties when it is due to be discussed by the European Parliament and by member states. | [
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Goalkeepers Could Be Key in Germany-Turkey Semi-Final
Turkey may have stolen the show from Germany when it comes to fighting spirit at Euro 2008, but the Germans could still win their semi-final date because they appear to have the better goalkeeper.
Jens Lehmann has defied the critics with good showings when it mattered, while Turkey have to cope with the suspension of Volkan Demirel and the erratic performance of his replacement Rustu Recber. Both men have spent long periods of the past season on the substitutes' bench, Lehmann at England's Arsenal and Recber at Fenerbahce. The 38-year-old Lehmann has risen to the occasion when it mattered, playing solidly in Germany's 1-0 win over Austria and also in Thursday's 3-2 quarter-final success against Portugal. "The bigger the pressure the better Jens becomes. The last games showed that," said Germany goalkeeping coach Andreas Koepke. "I didn't see Jens as critically as others. We have seen other goalkeepers make errors here. Jens was very strong against Austria. He played a very, very good match against Portugal. He is playing the way we expected him to do and is also a team leader." Lehmann has seemingly calmed down as the tournament progressed. He met the German media in a very aggressive mood at the start of Euro after criticism of his showings in tune-up games. In contrast, he was very relaxed earlier this week. Experience isn't everything While Lehmann only became Germany No. 1 ahead of the 2006 World Cup, Rustu's biggest moment was the third-place finish with Turkey at the 2002 World Cup. He is now only in goal owing to Volkan's red-card suspension and put in a mixed performance in the quarter-finals against Croatia, when he won his 117th cap. Rustu looked like he might be the villain of the piece when his blunder allowed Ivan Klasnic give Croatia the lead in the 119th minute, but Turkey levelled through Semih Senturk. Rustu ended up as the hero in the penalty shoot-out when his save from Mladen Petric clinched the upset in Vienna. "Rustu is very experienced but not always good," said Germany defender Arne Friedrich of the 35-year-old. Rustu has said he will retire from the national team after Euro. Many in Germany expect Lehmann to do the same and give way to a younger man. New blood in training Currently, 30-year-old Robert Enke from Hanover and Bayer Leverkusen's Rene Adler, 23, are in the frame to continue Germany's tradition of great goalkeepers. Koepke readily admitted that the future was at stake and Enke and Adler were training hard in the Euro 2008 camp in case Lehmann gets injured. "Both are doing a really good job. No one knows what happens after Euro. This is about positioning as well for after Euro -- and to be fully fit if something happens to Jens," said Koepke. | [
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New Italian Law Grants Immunity to Premier Berlusconi
Italy's lower house of parliament has passed a bill that will grant immunity to Premier Silvio Berlusconi, who has had his share of run-ins with the law over corruption allegations in connection with his media empire.
The bill got 309 yes votes from lawmakers, with 236 opposed and 30 abstentions. The adoption of the new law is a victory for Berlusconi, who began his third round as prime minister in April. The bill gives legal immunity from prosecution to the president, prime minister and the speakers of the two chambers of parliament while in office, and is now expected to become law in record time when it advances to the Senate in late July. Judges and much of Italy's left-wing opposition opposed the law, which will suspend any statute of limitations to a case until the defendant leaves office. Italian Justice Minister Angelino Alfano said that the bill was a "response to the need of those in the highest positions of state to work in serenity." Opposition leader Walter Veltroni, whose Democratic Party voted against the bill, commented last month that "Berlusconi is in a big hurry on these matters," while the billionaire's lawyer Niccolo Ghedini said the prime minister was "under constant attacks by judges." Long list of allegations Berlusconi, a self-made billionaire, has faced charges including corruption, tax fraud, false accounting and illegally financing political parties, but he has never been definitively convicted. On Friday parliamentarians will also vote on a bill to suspend thousands of trials for a year as a means of speeding Italy's notoriously slow justice system for the most serious cases languishing on the books. That law would keep the media tycoon out of the dock this month in a trial on charges of giving $600,000 dollars (380,000 euros) to his British lawyer David Mills in exchange for giving false testimony. Berlusconi is also seeking strict curbs on the use of wiretaps in judicial investigations and stiffer penalties for the publication of their transcripts. | [
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German Athletes Feel the Pressure of Olympic Gold
Swimmer Britta Steffen and gymnast Fabian Hambuechen feel the burden of the whole country as both look to give Germany Olympic gold in glamour sports at the Beijing Games.
"I am torn, everybody has expectations of me which I may not be able to meet," the 100m freestyle European record holder Steffen told DPA news agency. Germany's medals for a top placing in the medal table normally come from sports such as canoeing, rowing, fencing, equestrian and shooting - and not so much the big three of athletics, swimming and gymnastics. "We will hopefully be helped by the sports in which we have traditionally been strong, such as canoeing or riding," said German Olympic Committee (DOSB) general director Michael Vesper. Germany came sixth in the Athens 2004 medal table with 13 gold medals, 16 silver and 20 bronze. Its overall score of 49 medals was good enough for joint fourth place with Australia, with the US leading the table with 36-39-27 medals and the overall list with 102 medals. "We want to achieve a good result, finish at the same level as in our sixth-place finish in Athens, or even move up one position," said the DOSB's vice president, Eberhard Gienger. The German team of around 450 athletes also features table tennis ace Timo Boll, who hopes to scare the hosts at their number one sport. Other bright lights Canoeing 2004 champion Andreas Dittmer, dressage star Isabelle Werth, the men's field hockey and handball teams are also major medal hopes. Steffen, meanwhile, rose to stardom with four golds and one silver at the 2006 European championships although she had to settle for a bronze and a silver at the 2007 worlds. Now the 24-year-old is hoping to deliver Germany's first swim gold since 1992, in the 50m or 100m freestyle races. "I am so scared to finish the 100m in second place and not to be happy with it. I don't even know if I could be happy with gold because that result would only confirm the expectations," Steffen said. Hambuechen won world championship gold for Germany on the horizontal bar, all-around silver and team bronze. The diminutive 20-year-old, known as the "gymnastics professor," now hopes to cap his career in Beijing and said he will be not be to the forefront when it comes to criticism of China over human rights and other issues. "I have a critical view of the political situation in China but at the Olympics in Beijing I will only think about my competition," said Hambuechen, the German Sportsman of the Year in 2007. | [
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War Crimes Suspect Karadzic Appears at UN Tribunal
Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic has made his first appearance before a UN war crimes tribunal to answer genocide charges. He opted to delay his plea for 30 days and announced he would conduct his own defense.
Karadzic, who was no longer sporting the beard and long hair that helped him conceal his identity for over a decade, waived his right to representation during the hearing on Thursday, July 31. When Judge Alphons Orie noted that he was alone, the wartime leader smiled and responded, "I have an invisible adviser, but I have decided to defend myself." Orie, who said he expected the trial to last for many months, gave Karadzic 30 days to decide a plea at the initial hour-long hearing of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. The trial was adjourned until Aug. 29. Repeat performance? Karadzic said that -- like his former ally -- he intends to defend himself throughout the rest of the trial. Slobodan Milosevic, who was accused of crimes against humanity for his role in the Bosnian wars, used this as a delaying tactic to drag out his trial at the criminal tribunal in The Hague for years, dying in 2006 before it ended. Karadzic, who is the most prominent Balkans war crimes suspect to be arrested after Milosevic, said on Thursday that he would also reveal "numerous irregularities" related to his presence at the hearing. "I will inform the court of the many mistakes and irregularities, like the mistaken date of my arrest," the 63-year-old said. He claimed that under the Dayton Accord, which ended the Bosnian war and brokered by former US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Holbrooke, an agreement was made that he would not be brought to trial if he withdrew from public life. Orie interrupted the former Bosnian Serb leader when he tried to read a prepared four-page statement about this, and said he should send the information to the court in writing. Chief prosecutor Serge Brammetz said lessons had been learned from the Milosevic case. "Of course, it will take some months before the prosecution and defense will be ready to start," he told reporters. "It will be a complex trial, but we are fully aware of the importance of being efficient." Some observers say he is likely to use the trial to illuminate claims that a shady deal with the West helped him avoid detention for so long. "This is a political man, a former poet, he likes being the center of attention," international justice expert Heikelina Verrijn Stuart told AFP news agency. Charges include siege and massacre atrocities During Thursday's hearing, Orie read out the 11 war crimes charges that were first leveled against Karadzic in 1995. The majority of the charges against Karadzic focus on his role in the siege of Sarajevo and the Srebrenica massacre. Some 8,000 Muslim men and boys were killed in the UN safe haven of Srebrenica, while the siege of Sarajevo, which lasted over three years, is estimated to have left some 10,000 people dead. If convicted of the crimes, Karadzic faces life imprisonment. | [
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Mbeki Received Millions in German Defense Deal, Report Says
South African President Thabo Mbeki allegedly took a multimillion-dollar bribe from a German shipbuilding giant in return for a 1999 submarine deal, a South African paper has reported.
South Africa's Sunday Times presented the findings of what it said was a six-month investigation which showed that the company, identified as MAN Ferrostaal, had allegedly paid 30 million rands ($4.1 million) to Mbeki to guarantee it would receive the hotly-sought contract. Mbeki vehemently denied the allegation. "The presidency would like to place it on record that President Thabo Mbeki has never at any stage received any amount of money from MAN Ferrostaal," a statement from his office said. Both Mbeki and Zuma bribed? The Sunday Times quoted a secret report compiled in 2007 by a British consultant, commissioned by an unnamed Central European manufacturer to investigate MAN Ferrostaal, which had launched a hostile takeover bid against it. According to The Times, Mbeki gave 2 million rands of the money to current Vice President Jacob Zuma and the rest to the ruling party, the African National Congress. The report was published as Zuma faces a fraud and corruption trial in connection with allegedly taking of bribes from arms dealers. Court proceedings are expected to take place this month. The statement from Mbeki's office called the newspaper report nothing "but a hotchpotch recycling of allegations that have from time been peddled against the government's strategic defense procurement package. "This time, the Sunday Times outdoes itself by placing a spurious allegation in the public domain, i.e. President Thabo Mbeki received a bribe of 30 million rands from MAN Ferrostaal," it said. ThyssenKrupp under investigation In a separate 1994 South African deal to purchase four German-made warships, or corvettes, German prosecutors are also investigating alleged kickbacks for South African officials. The company in question, ThyssenKrupp, part of a German consortium that produced the corvettes, confirmed in April that they had paid an African intermediary $22 million for "the usual commissions" but said they had declared it in their contract and there was no evidence of corruption. In that deal, the post-apartheid government in South Africa decided in 1994 to buy new warships, but the German consortium was scratched from the five-country shortlist of suppliers in December of that year. By that point, only British and Spanish suppliers were left in the race. But four weeks later, the Germans suddenly came back onto the shortlist, with then-vice president Mbeki announcing during a visit by a German minister and businessman that the issue was wide open. The Germans then moved to the front in a complicated tendering procedure and an order for the four warships was signed on December 3, 1999. The decision was criticized in South Africa, with an inquiry concluding in 2001 that the Germans should have been eliminated in the first round for failing to meet several requirements, according to German news weekly, Der Spiegel, in April. | [
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German Criminal Police Chief Warns of Possible Terrorist Attacks
Islamic militants trained in Pakistan and Afghanistan are planning attacks in Germany, although there is no evidence of any imminent threat, the country's top police officer was quoted as saying on Sunday.
Joerg Ziercke, head of the Federal Criminal Police (BKA), told Der Tagesspiegel newspaper that more than 50 militants had traveled from Germany to training camps in Pakistan and Afghanistan run by the Taliban, al Qaeda and the Islamic Jihad Union (IJU). When asked by the German daily if it was safe for the nation to breathe easy again, Ziercke said that he was unable to sound the all clear, as Germany has repeatedly eluded catastrophe by a mere hair's breadth. "Considering the statements from al Qaeda and the IJU, we are convinced it has been decided to mount attacks in Germany," he said. "However, there is currently no concrete evidence of imminent strikes." 900 Hezbollah supporters The interview with Ziercke came on the heels of a secret report release by the BKA saying that the Lebanese-based Hezbollah movement has the capacity to undertake damaging attacks in Germany. The German weekly Focus reported that the militia had the logistics to carry out wide-scale attacks on physical and human targets. The BKA is reported to number Hezbollah supporters in Germany at around 900. Focus pointed to the case of a 29-year-old medical student at Germany's Goettingen University, who was detained in Israel last month. It reported the man was suspected of making contact with Hezbollah supporters in Germany and of having received $20,000 (13,300 euros) for espionage work. Germany untouched so far In contrast to European neighbors such as Spain or Britain, Germany has not suffered a major recent attack on its own soil. But Ziercke said German investigators had foiled seven plots, including attacks planned by three men arrested in the western Sauerland region last year who authorities believe were targeting US installations in Germany. Altogether, there are currently 200 investigations linked to Islamic terrorism being conducted by the BKA, Ziercke told Tagesspiegel, saying that the danger has therefore in no way diminished. "A single-digit number of militants had returned to Germany from the training camps and were among around 100 suspects considered a threat," he said. | [
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German Gymnastics Team Gets Boost from 33-Year-Old Medalist
At her fifth Olympic Games in Beijing, 33-year-old gymnast Oksana Chusovitina finally claimed an individual medal. It's her story of determination and heartache that has won the hearts of viewers around the world.
Oksana Chusovitina is one of a kind. Not only is she the oldest woman in over half a century to win an Olympic medal in gymnastics, she's been competing for nearly two decades already -- that's longer than many of her teammates have been alive. And she's competed in five Olympic Games under three flags. In 1992, just after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, she joined the unified ex-Soviet squad and in 1996, 2000 and 2004 she competed for her home country Uzbekistan, where she had already become something of a national hero. But this year, after claiming German citizenship in 2006, she is a member of the German team. Germany has traditionally not been shown particular strength in gymnastics and Chusovitina's silver on Sunday in vault was Germany's first Olympic medal in gymnastics in 20 years -- a much needed boost to the team. Son's illness shaped gymnast's path Chusovitina began her Olympic career in 1992 with a team gold in Barcelona. Besides coming up dry after that in Atlanta, Sydney and Athens, the 16-year quest for an individual medal was a rough one for the Uzbek athlete. In 2002, Chusovitina's son Alisher, then three years old, was diagnosed with leukemia. Since she already had close ties to the gymnastics team in Cologne, where she had competed in the German national league, she moved to Germany with her husband Bakhodir Kurpanov, a former successful wrestler, and their son. In Cologne, Chusovitina was able to train with the German team and seek medical attention for Alisher. She competed like mad in the years that followed, using her prize money to cover medical bills. Claiming German citizenship in 2006 allowed the gymnast and her family to stay in Germany for Alisher's follow-up examinations -- and it allowed her to strive for a fifth Games. Chusovitina hadn't abandoned her hopes for an individual. Ready for London in 2012 And Sunday's silver shows that, in a sport dominated by teenage prodigies, she has only improved with age. "I don't feel 33, I feel 18," said Chusovitina. "This medal is for my son. I can't say how happy I am." And she's not thinking about retirement. Instead, she's got the 2012 London Games on her mind. "By then I'll be 37; if I can I'll do a sixth Olympics," she said. | [
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German Wine Producers Discover the Art of PR
After years of being thought of as cheap and sugary, German wine is enjoying huge international success. It owes its success to producers who are adapting to accommodate a new generation of consumers.
As the first grapes of this year's harvest are due to be picked in the coming weeks, wine producers are optimistic about the 2008 vintage. But Raimund Pruem, who has been producing wine in the Moselle Valley for over 30 years, remembers a time when Riesling was not so prosperous. "The bad reputation of German wine really hurt us," he said. "I will never forget a blind tasting we did a while ago. The judges gave tremendous praise: Against South African and Australian wines, German Riesling did the best. But when they took off their blindfolds and saw the labels they started making excuses for their comments." Since then, however, German wine has made a comeback, particularly in the US after some Moselle Valley vintners earned the attention of the hugely influential American wine critic Robert Parker. A new generation of customers As German vintners don't tend to produce very large quantities of any one style of wine due to the varying conditions in the vineyards, most of their wine sold abroad goes through specialist retailers or online. Due to the steepness of the slopes virtually all Riesling in the Moselle Valley is hand-picked and despite being very labor intensive, high quality German wines remain relatively inexpensive -- a new reputation that is prized by vintners. But while Germany's sweet Rieslings are by far the most popular in the US, the German market decidedly prefers the "trocken" variety, the dry wines. Ninety-five percent of the wine the S.A. Pruem winery sells in Germany is dry Riesling. "There is a generational problem, young people in Germany today do not drink the same wine as their grandparents anymore -- they drink only drier, more expensive wines," Pruem said. This is a relatively new development since a sudden change in German wine drinkers' pallets in 1976 switched the demand from very sweet Rieslings to bone dry. Such changes are not uncommon in the wine business as each generation of customers presents new demands. Producers stepping up Although Raimund Pruem's vineyards have been in his family since 1158 and his daughter is now sharing his marketing responsibilities, the art of winemaking is no longer something taught exclusively from one generation to the next. Virtually all top vintners around the Moselle have studied viticulture and vinification, gathering experience with many grape varieties and in some cases working in vineyards around the world. While Pruem's ancestors' jobs mainly consisted of winemaking, today German wine producers are increasingly spending their time promoting and selling their wines too. "When people come here they don't want to meet the sales staff, they want to meet the producer," Pruem explained. "Who else is a better promoter than the producer himself? That's something that has changed totally. My grandfather, my father and even myself when I was younger -- we saw how it doesn't work sitting here, waiting for customers, you have to be active." There has to be a connection between the producer and his customers, he added: "Customers need communication." As a result, more and more producers are taking it upon themselves to host large group tastings, wedding receptions and to participate in international tasting events, touring the world with their wines. An artful business The change in approach is evident. Producers are experimenting and reaching out more and more: Bottles of other grape varieties such as Pinot Blanc and Chardonnay -- and even the occasional red wine -- are increasingly found on tasting lists around the Moselle Valley. But the demands of marketing are hard to keep up with. "I have to sell my wine twice: first to the customer (the retailer), then to my customer's customer," Pruem said. "You have to go with the retailer to ensure the wine is on the shelves and is being taken off the shelves and bought." Like most other wine producers, Pruem is carrying on the centuries-old art of winemaking: "The art is to taste the juice from the grapes and produce a wine from it that shows the signals of the vineyard." But he is also introducing a new art -- that of public relations. "My wines need to show character, if they don't show character then forget it." -- Pruem's statement reveals the bottom line for vintners like himself: If their wine fails to meet standards, then not only is their livelihood, passion and reputation at stake, but also their legacy. | [
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On the spot: Paulo Guerrero
Now a regular starter at Hamburg, the Peruvian striker spent two years on Bayern's bench. Guerrero hasn't made Hamburg fans forget club legend Uwe Seeler, but he doesn't put much stock in older role models.
DWTV: Whose posters did you have in your room as a boy? Paulo Guerrero: I didn't like posters. DWTV: Stickers maybe? Paulo Guerrero: No. But I am a big fan of Zinedine Zidane, Thierry Henry and Ronaldo. They always fascinated me. They're my role models. DWTV: Hopefully you won't cut your hair like Ronaldo. Paulo Guerrero: No, everyone has their own look Guerrero not only has the hair, he's got the game too. He showed that by scoring five goals in his first four games for Bayern back in 2004. But he's never really managed to match that fantastic form since. Known as a shy and reserved player, he says the key to finding the net is confidence. Paulo Guerrero: I had already scored 21 goals for Bayern Munich's amateur side. I was very proud of that. So I came into those games with a lot of confidence, and the goals just happened. My coach Felix Magath always told me: Score your goal, score your goal! That's all he asked, for me to score a goal. And I believed in myself so I always scored one or two. DWTV: At the age of 18 you joined a squad full of stars like Michael Ballack, Lucio, Ze Roberto and Roy Makaay. Was that more intimidating or inspiring? Paulo Guerrero: They inspired me. They were very good players technically. I wanted to play at their level and get better. That also gave me the confidence to play alongside them. DWTV: You didn't start for Bayern so you went to Hamburg. But you had trouble there at first? Why was that? Paulo Guerrero: It was very hard for me to leave Bayern. It was very difficult after four years. I left my son and many of my friends behind. The first year in Hamburg was very hard. In my mind, I was still in Munich. I kept asking myself: "Why did you come here?" It was hard to get used to a new city so my first year at Hamburg wasn't that successful. DWTV: Was coach Thomas Doll part of the problem? Paulo Guerrero: No, definitely not. It wasn't the coach's fault. It was mine. I didn't have enough experience. I was only 22. It was hard, but that's in the past. Now I'm living in the present and I'm very happy in Hamburg. 2007/8 was Guerrero's breakthrough season. He scored 9 league goals and 5 in the UEFA Cup. And this time around his sights are set even higher. DWTV: Can Hamburg win the league this season? Paulo Guerrero: Most of our players are young and hungry for success. They want to get the job done. A lot of players here have attracted attention to themselves and play at a high level. In my opinion, we could win the title this year. DWTV: Do you have a clear target for the UEFA Cup? Paulo Guerrero: Of course. Last season we almost made the final and we put up a good fight in the Bundesliga too. We get along well as a team. We've got players with potential and we're hungry for success. Even as a teenager, Guerrero played for the national side in his native Peru. His first goal came as a substitute, but he's been a consistent member of the squad. DWTV: So what's more important to you, club or country? Paulo Guerrero: It's very different playing for Peru than playing for a club. You're not allowed to lose. I don't want to lose with Hamburg either, but when I put on the Peruvian jersey it's very different. Those are my people, my stadium. It's great playing in front of the crowd in Lima. What player doesn't want to play for his national side? DWTV: A lot of Latin American players dream of coming to Europe, something you did as a youngster. Wouldn't you have liked to play professionally in Peru as well? Paulo Guerrero: Of course, I would have, but Peruvian football isn't doing so well. There's no progress in the management, infrastructure and organization. In Europe, the situation is the opposite. So my parents always though I should go to Europe as soon as I got an offer. | [
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Expert: Election Outcome Won't Hurt Bavaria's CSU
Bavaria's ruling Christian Social Union has dropped in the polls ever since 2003. But the party's fear of losing political clout after Sunday's election is unfounded, says a leading German political scientist.
Ahead of Sunday's state elections in Bavaria that could have implications for the strength of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU), DW-WORLD.DE spoke to Heinrich Oberreuter, a political scientist at the University of Passau and director of the Academy for Civic Education in Tutzing, who is close to the Christian Social Union (CSU). DW-WORLD.DE: Bavaria is the wealthiest state in Germany, home to giants like BMW, Siemens and other high tech industries. Its school system is regarded as Germany's best. Since the 1960s, the CSU has governed Bavaria by an absolute majority. In the last elections, the party got over 60 percent of the vote, but the polls indicate that state premier Guenther Beckstein is slightly below the 50 percent threshold required for his party to maintain sole leadership. What accounts for this drop? Heinrich Oberreuter: First of all, the new leadership hasn't succeeded in getting across the message to voters that they really do have it good. Voters take that for granted, they see it as normal that they have it so good. Since the last elections, there was a turbulent period when the CSU lost some of its voter base, because of budget cuts or policies such as introducing university fees at public institutions or cutting the number of years devoted to secondary education (from 9 years to 8 years) without involving the public in a real public debate over the matter. Those who felt short changed are distancing themselves from the party, which was also hurt by the crisis in confidence caused by the Edmund Stoiber affair (in which the former premier mishandled allegations that an aide had snooped into the private affairs of another CSU politician). Stoiber however is a dynamic politician with magnetic appeal as was (late former Bavarian Premier Franz Josef) Strauss, a titan on the national and world stage. Their successors Beckstein and (CSU pary leader) Erwin Huber lack that kind of charisma and together they have not been able to excite voters or bring them together to support a fresh vision. Under the CSU leadership, Bavaria has become very modern in the high-tech sense, but the party still struggles with an image problem. It is perceived as clinging to traditional social values and Catholic Church doctrine in a Europe that has become increasingly secular. Can you give an example of this? One can say that the CSU took longer than the other parties to react to the trend that mothers are working outside the home -- that there is a demand for initiatives that enable women to combine careers with raising a family, which makes issues such as affordable day care paramount. This is something that the party supports and it is putting its money where its mouth is, but the CSU's public image hasn't caught up with that reality. What are some of the campaign issues? Let's look at educational policy, which is a state matter in Germany. There doesn't seem to be much of a difference between the CSU and the opposition parties (Social Democrats, Greens, Free Democrats), or is there? The only difference I see between them is a minor one, the age-old debate about how long pupils stay together in the primary school system, before they are tracked into the three different secondary paths (based on academic ability). The CSU says we should keep the status quo -- four years is enough and the opposition says let's prolong the primary years and make it six or seven years before the pupils are tracked. That is not a fundamental difference. What other campaign issues are there? The SPD opposition has brought up the issue of regional differences in economic development -- prosperous regions and not so prosperous ones. But one has to say in the last year or so that the CSU has truly made an effort to bridge the differences. They don't want big population shifts to the bigger cities where the jobs are. The unemployment rates are higher outside the metropolitan areas, but still lower than the federal average of 6.7 percent. Other Germans move to Bavaria, because that's where the jobs are. That's why there's been a huge wave of Germans from the (poorer) eastern states. Since so many Bavarian residents come from elsewhere, such as the former East Germany, does that mean that they don't have the same loyalty to the CSU party as native-born Bavarians do? Maybe that accounts for a drop in the polls? No, Germans from other regions -- from the east, north, wherever, cast their votes based on pocketbook issues, on which party contributes to their sense of well-being. On that basis, they have no reason not to vote for the CSU. But isn't the CSU party itself very strongly identified with what it means to be Bavarian? No, I'm not really convinced of that. The drop in the polls doesn't really have to do with identity issues, but with voters' perceptions of what a political party has done for them. This fear of falling just under this symbolic 50 percent threshold is based on the assumption that the CSU's political weight on the national and European level would be greatly diminished. But its weight won't really be diminished? I wouldn't attach too much importance to this 50 percent symbol-- it's only relevant in terms of the party's confidence in itself. The CSU would still have a broad mandate to govern. And even though Frau Merkel may not see it now -- when she wants to build her coalition without the support of the Social Democrats in the federal elections next year -- she can be thankful to every CSU deputy who comes from Bavaria. So if the CSU manages to capture 47 percent of Bavaria's voters, that's still good? Nowhere else in Europe has one single party been able to capture such a big swath of voters as the CSU in Bavaria. I still expect them being to be able to govern with an absolute majority. So what results do you anticipate on Sunday? For the CSU: 49-51 percent, the SPD around 20 percent, the Greens 8 percent, FDP 6-7 percent. According to the polls, the Free Voters' Party could capture 8 percent, but I doubt it and I don't see the Left Party, which is essentially a protest party for unhappy campers, (crossing the 5 percent hurdle for a seat in the state parliament). After all, no state in all of Germany has it better than Bavaria. | [
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Brussels Approves Financial Rescue Plans by Sweden, Portugal
The European Commission on Thursday approved packages by Sweden and Portugal to protect financial institutions from the global credit crunch.
In both cases, Europe's top state aid watchdog said that the plans respected its guidelines for helping the financial sector cope with the worst crisis in generations without distorting competition. Sweden's plan involves the state providing up to 1,500 billion Swedish kronor (153.8 billion euros, $201 billion) in debt guarantees to banks and other lenders. Portugal's plan envisages similar state guarantees worth 20 billion euros ($26 billion). Plans must follow strict guidelines But while Sweden's was cleared within just three days of it being notified to the commission, the Portuguese plan required negotiations with officials in Brussels over a two-week period. "The Swedish measures were well-designed and needed little alteration to take full account of the state aid rules' requirements that such schemes are non-discriminatory and minimize potential distortions of competition," said Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes. The commission has issued clear guidelines on what governments can and cannot do to protect their countries' financial institutions. Rescue plans have to be limited in time and scope and they should not discriminate against foreign banks operating in the country. They should also be followed up by structural adjustment measures for the financial sector as a whole, while state money should not be used by beneficiaries to attract new business. The commission has already cleared similar rescue plans by Britain, Denmark, Germany and Ireland and is still considering those of, among others, France and Spain. | [
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Germany to Send Intelligence Agents to India to Aid Terror Fight
Germany plans to send intelligence agents to India as part of efforts to step up cooperation in the fight against terrorism, German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said Friday, Dec. 12.
The two countries wanted to improve the exchange of information, the minister said after talks with Home Affairs Minister P Chidambaram and national security adviser MK Narayanan in New Delhi. Schaeuble said he had asked Indian authorities to allow Germany's anti-terrorism unit GSG 9 to make an intensive inspection of the scenes of last month's terrorist attacks in Mumbai. Germany would be prepared to help India in the fight against terrorist in any way it could, the minister said. Schaeuble said the Pakistan militant Lashkar-e-Taiba, which has been blamed for the attacks in Mumbai, had members in Germany, although the group had no organizational infrastructure there. The minister said there were no indications the group was plotting to target Germany despite "obvious links" to the Islamic Jihad Union, an Uzbek group accused of planning attacks on German soil. India has accused Pakistan of being behind the Mumbai bloodbath, which left more than 170 dead. The aim of the terrorists was to provoke India and increase tension with Pakistan, Schaeuble said. Internet terrorists an integral part of network In other security developments, Germany's prosecutor general said that Islamists who post fierce messages on the internet along with bomb-making instructions are becoming a key part of international terrorism. The internet served as a means of communications between different terrorist groups and as a source of information on how to mount attacks, Monika Harms said in Karlsruhe. "The internet has become the home handyman store for the do-it-yourself terrorist," said Harms at a news conference. "The desk man in front of a personal computer has become an essential component of the global jihad," she said, referring to the Arabic term for "struggle." She said this had been proven with a trio of men detained in Germany earlier this year on suspicion of planning bombings. Her office is also investigating a German-language Islamist site, the Global Islamic Media Front (GIMF), and seeks to prosecute its writers on the serious charge of supporting of terrorism. Half the group are said to be German converts to Islam. This week, magistrates released two of the GIMF suspects on bail. | [
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Amos Oz Receives German Literary Prize in Dusseldorf
Israeli author Amos Oz was presented with a top German award for his political and literary work on Saturday, Dec. 13.
Oz, 69, was honored by the city of Dusseldorf with the Heinrich Heine Prize on the 211st anniversary of the 19th century German poet's birth. The award, worth 50,000 euros ($66,000), has been presented every two years since 1972 to personalities who share Heine's values of tolerance, human rights and mutual understanding of peoples. The jury said it chose to honor Oz for his "literary quality, political sensibility, his humanitarian engagement and his bold clarity and determination in trying to build bridges between Israelis and Palestinians." Oz, who was born in Jerusalem in 1939, is one of Israel's best-known authors and political voices. He is a co-founder of the Israeli peace movement and a prominent champion of Palestinian rights. In his acceptance speech, Oz said the Arab-Israeli conflict could only be resolved in the context of European values of tolerance, rationality and pragmatism. However, it "is being kept alive by fanatics on both sides." Having fought in the Six-Day War and Yom Kippur War, Oz has said he does not regret his participation. But in his acceptance speech, he added that he has always drawn "a very clear line between wars that deal with survival and wars that deal with interests." Last month, Oz joined other Israeli intellectuals and dovish politicians to establish a new political party that aims to unite the Israeli peace camp. A former professor of literature at Ben-Gurion University, he won the Israel Prize for literature in 1998, the Goethe Prize in 2005 and Spain's Prince of Asturias Prize in 2007. Among his best known works are "A Tale of Love and Darkness," which appeared in 2003, "Don't Call It Night," published in 1994, and "Rhyming Life and Death," from 2007. | [
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Simon Wiesenthal: The Life of a Nazi Hunter
Some called him the Nazi Hunter, but in reality he was just a normal man looking to make sure that justice was served. On December 31, 2008, Simon Wiesenthal would have celebrated his 100th birthday.
Simon Wiesenthal once said that his purpose in life was to warn the murderers of tomorrow that they will never find rest. If he couldn't do that, then millions of people died for nothing. He was referring to victims of the Nazi Holocaust of World War II. Wiesenthal was a voice for the survivors of the Holocaust, but also for those who lost their lives in the concentration camps. Wiesenthal worked most of his life making sure that these crimes against humanity would never be hushed up or whitewashed. Some people labeled him a “justice fanatic”, others viewed him as a role model and hero. The early years Simon Wiesenthal was born on Dec. 31, 1908, to a Jewish family living in Galicia, which at the time was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He studied architecture in Lemburg and was able to pursue that passion until 1940, when the German army marched in and took over. Wiesenthal spent the next several years in countless forced labor and concentration camps. In 1945 Wiesenthal was among those freed from the Mauthausen death camp in Austria by the US army. It was shortly thereafter that he was reunited with the love of his life, Cyla, whose entire family was killed by the Nazis. Life's work It was in that same year that Wiesenthal started his real life's work: hunting down and capturing former members of the Nazi party. He was contracted by the US government to take on this task and drew on his experiences and memories from the war to accomplish it. He even recalled many of the perpetrator's names from his time in concentration camps. Two years later Wiesenthal, along with other survivors, founded a center for the documentation of crimes committed against European Jews in Linz, Austria. In 1961 a Jewish Documentation Center in Vienna was created. Soon the small office there was filled with documents, notes, memorabilia and evidence. The Americans followed the example, and by 1977 there was a similar institution established in Los Angeles named in Wiesenthal's honor. Nazi hunter Wiesenthal contributed to the capture of many prominent Nazis, including Adolf Eichmann, who was put on trial in Israel in 1961; Franz Stangl, Commandant of the Treblinka concentration camp; and Hermine Braunsteiner, who was responsible for the murder of hundreds of children at the Majdanek concentration camp. Simon Wiesenthal always considered himself a researcher who was simply working to make sure the Holocaust would never be forgotten and that the perpetrators would be brought to justice. Guilt, he always stressed, was individual. He never wanted to be a hate-driven Nazi hunter, saying that hate was a foreign emotion to him. For sixty years Wiesenthal collected, researched and documented – living deep in his dark memories. He was been honored multiple times for his life's work. Simon Wiesenthal died on September 20, 2005 at the age of 96. | [
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Mzoudi Verdict Postponed Amid New Testimony
Al Qaeda is allegedly trying to assassinate Abdelghani Mzoudi, who is on trial in Germany for his suspected involvement in the Sept. 11 attacks, a witness said on Thursday. The expected verdict has now been postponed.
Mzoudi had been released from jail on Dec. 11 after an anonymous witness said he was not involved in planning the attacks. A Hamburg court had been expected to announce its verdict on Thursday but in a surprising turn of events, judges agreed to hear new testimony that allegedly incriminates the 31-year-old. The new witness for the prosecution is a former Iranian intelligence agent, according to Mzoudi’s lawyers. A police officer who interrogated the man said the witness claimed to have received an e-mail in which Mzoudi is named as a member of the outside circle of the Hamburg terrorist cell around Sept. 11 hijacker Mohammed Atta. According to the police officer’s testimony, the e-mail mentioned a person, who is on trial in Germany and has been released to help law enforcement authorities in their search for further members of the terrorist cell. That’s why al Qaeda was allegedly planning to “eliminate” Mzoudi, the officer said. He added that the Iranian intelligence agent had asked for money to testify against Mzoudi. “He said he had to make a living,” the officer said. Allegedly the agent warned U.S. authorities of planned terrorist attacks prior to Sept. 11. The prosecution has asked the court to take a 30-day recess in order to evaluate the testimony. On Thursday, judges will also hear testimony from a federal prosecutor and another police officer who interrogated the man. Acquittal likely until now Mzoudi had been expected to leave the courtroom a free man after his Dec. 11 release from prison: An anonymous witness had cleared him of any involvement in planning the Sept. 11 attacks. Ramzi Binalshibh, the mastermind behind the attacks who is now in U.S. custody, is believed to be that witness. The defense has asked the court to acquit their client, while prosecutors are calling for a sentence of 15 years in prison for belonging to a terrorist organization and abetting murder in more than 3,000 cases. German authorities have said they plan to deport Mzoudi to his home country of Morocco in case of an acquittal. Mzoudi has been trying to stay in Germany, saying that he fears getting arrested in Morocco or facing extradition to the U.S. | [
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Eastern Germany's EU Funds in Danger of Drying Up
The EU's competition commissioner met with the heads of Germany's eastern states to discuss future financial support for the region, which may no longer be a top priority following enlargement.
The heads of Germany's economically depressed eastern states could be forgiven for going on the defensive prior to their meeting in Brandenburg with Mario Monti, the European commissioner for competition. With 10 mainly former communist countries now in the European Union, eastern Germany's economic problems suddenly don't seem so bad. And that means the region is in danger of losing some of the EU's development aid that, together with the so-called "solidarity payments" from western Germany, have funded reconstruction projects in the former East Germany. Reconstruction far from over During the meeting on Monday, Brandenburg's premier Matthias Platzeck said it would be difficult to explain to people in eastern Germany that their region would have to take a funding cutback. All the progress that's been made in recent years is still very fragile, Platzeck said. Eastern Germany had been completely deindustrialized after the collapse of the GDR, and rebuilding the region is far from over, he added. There have been no concrete signs yet as to how big a cut in EU subsidies the eastern German states would have to reckon with. The European Commission is conducting a comprehensive review of its regional aid policy in order to introduce new guidelines and criteria to come into effect on Jan.1, 2007. No reason to worry Monti (photo) said it was important for him to talk with eastern German leaders about their worries. He assured them that they can be confident about their region's future. Eastern Germany has gone from the outer edges to the very center of the EU -- a development that would soon manifest itself in further growth and development, he said. Statistically speaking, eastern Germany is no longer among the poorest regions in the EU, now that the bloc has expanded eastwards to include several ex-communist states with struggling economies. However, unemployment in Germany's eastern states is over 20 percent, and despite an estimated €1.25 trillion ($1.5) in aid, the economic gap separating east and west hasn't been closed. Platzeck said that parts of the European Commission's plan to reform its regional aid policy will only exacerbate the problem. The premier of Saxony-Anhalt, Wolfgang Böhmer, said that without financial help from Brussels his state would face a budget emergency. Last month, a government-commissioned report came to the conclusion that the east German reconstruction project was a failure. But Platzeck said accusations of ineffectiveness are unfair. He said 47 of the 50 large-scale development projects in his state of Brandenburg were working very well. Brandenburg's state government has already divided the region into two zones, so that it can at least apply for the highest level of EU funding for the poorer northern half. | [
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German Know-How For China's Energy Sector
Energy is becoming a scarce resource in China and Beijing is looking for alternatives. On Friday, Germany's foreign minister inaugurated one of the largest German-Chinese joint ventures for solar energy there.
The facility in Jinan is being billed as the largest solar collector plant in the world. The site in this eastern Chinese city, run by a Sino-German joint venture, produces solar collectors to heat water. It is a market that promises massive electricity savings in a country struggling with a potential shortfall this year of 30 million kilowatts. "China has recognized the urgent ecological issues that go along with strong economic growth and the increasing need for energy," German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer told German business representatives at the inauguration ceremony. "I am especially happy that China has made decisive steps towards using renewable energy and the development of a more environmentally-friendly energy sector," he added. Solar power instead of chocolate The joint venture is owned by the German vacuum tube solar collector manufacturer Paradigma, Karlsbad, and Chinese glass tubing producer Linuo in Jinan. Paradigma's major shareholder is Alfred Ritter, better-known for his chocolate company Ritter Sport. "With this joint venture, we are following a strategy to go where the markets are," Ritter said. "In China, we're producing for the Asian market, in Germany, for the European market." Germany sees the Shangdong Linuo Paradigma plant as the largest new venture in a virtually untapped market. "There are extraordinary opportunities here not only for large corporations, but also for mid-sized and small German companies," said Fischer, who is currently touring Asia with a German business delegation. China's energy resources are running out China, the world's largest solar energy market, is facing its worst energy crisis since the 1980s. It has been set off by the rapid development of power-hungry industries such as automobiles, iron and steel, as well as rapid urbanization and a rise in living standards. Energy production relative to buying power is four times more expensive in China than in other industrialized nations. At the same time, it is drastically depleting its coal deposits and oil imports are soaring. The symptoms of the shortages are visible throughout China. In order to feed Beijing's growing energy needs, frequent blackouts occur across the country. Many companies have begun working at night and on weekends to avoid high-use periods and more than 6,000 companies in Beijing have ordered one-week paid vacations this summer to save energy. | [
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German Reality Shows in Need of Reality Check
Reality shows are increasingly attracting the ire of critics -- some who object to the way animals are treated on a new farm docu-soap, and others who worry about the effects such shows have on the human participants.
"Die Alm" or "The Alps," is a sort of alpine-reality-docu-soap, in which a slew of German B-list celebrities gets down and dirty with everyday life on an alpine farm. Of course, no alpine pasture would be complete without real live farm animals, which provide the celebs with countless opportunities to boost ratings by engaging in gross-out stunts such as having goats lick syrup off their bodies, or sucking milk from a cow's udder. But the last straw for German animal activists came when a recent episode showed a turkey being slaughtered. Now, the German Society for the Protection of Animals (DTB) says it's looking at taking legal steps against the show, which runs on Munich-based private broadcaster, ProSieben. "We don't care if third-rate celebrities bathe in manure or throw themselves naked down a hillside," said DTB head Thomas Schröder. "But animals can't say yes or no. The show has overstepped the legal and ethical boundaries." ProSieben is nonplussed but intends to continue airing the show as planned. Tuesday evening's episode includes showing the candidates how to empty the intestines of a freshly slaughtered pig, for later use as sausage casings. The executive in charge of the show, Christian Asanger, has even invited members of the animal society out to the mountain pasture. "We have nothing to hide," he said. Makeover-shows also a target In a world where there's no such thing as bad publicity, experts say such protests are a welcome additional marketing strategy for the shows, which thrive on high ratings and advertising revenue. If that's true, then other German reality TV shows which feature plastic surgery and makeovers instead of farm animals can also expect a ratings boost. Cologne-based private broadcaster RTL II whipped up a storm of protest last week when it announced it would let candidates participating in its "Big Brother" reality show undergo cosmetic surgery. The German Association of Plastic Surgeons (VDÄPC) objected, not just to "Big Brother," but also to other makeover reality shows that recently hit the German airwaves. In MTV's "I Want a Famous Face," teens put themselves at the mercy of plastic surgeons in order to wake up looking like stars such as Brad Pitt or Kate Winslet. ProSieben's "The Swan" is a reality TV-show format imported from the US, in which ugly ducklings are turned into…well, swans, with the help of plastic surgeons, fitness trainers, nutritionists and psychologists. The most beautiful "swan" to emerge out of the 16 candidates wins a modeling contract. Don't blame plastic surgeons These shows are giving plastic surgery a bad name, according to the VDÄPC. "What we do is medical work. We treat patients. We don't sell the product 'beauty'," said the association's senior president, Constanze Neuhann-Lorenz. In a letter sent to the association's 120 members, president Rolf Rüdiger Olbrisch wrote: "Let's protect ourselves from landing in the wrong hands and wrong publicity, of the wrong business." Germany's media regulatory board said certain boundaries have to be respected, even in an industry that's all about erasing the boundaries between private and public life. "Showing plastic surgery can hurt the dignity of a human being, even if the person having the surgery doesn't have a problem with it," said the head of the director's conference for Germany's state media boards, Wolfgang Thaenert. "Basically, it's about respecting the final boundaries that touch on human dignity." | [
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Baltic Beach Battle
The Baltic Sea stretching from eastern Germany to Poland used to be a Mecca for beach bums who prefer skin to skivvies, but is an onslaught of prudish Western visitors spoiling the tradition?
Back in the days of Communism, as many as 90 percent of beach-goers along the East German-controlled stretch of the Baltic Sea preferred to bathe in their birthday suits, au natural. Fifteen years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, it's a different story. Today, officials are buckling under pressure from tourists from western Germany who have demanded the nudists, known here as Free Body Culture (FKK), be pushed to the fringes of public beaches. According to a report by news agency Reuters, the tensions have pitted the nudes against the prudes. "I grew up being naked at the beach and it's the only way to spend the summer here," Susanne Koch, 31, told Reuters. "Being nude on the beach feels completely normal." To cover or uncover? The dispute, unfortunately, has also tapped into divisions between the eastern Germans and their western German neighbors, who sometimes pejoratively refer to each other as "Ossis" and "Wessis." "Western tourists are ruining the atmosphere," Koch said. "The tensions are unfortunate. They don't know what they're missing, It's a shame westerners are so intolerant." But the resort town of Warnemünde, a coastal outpost near Rostock, is one of many in the area that reply heavily on tourism for its survival. Officials in the town have divided the beaches between "textile" areas and "FKK" sections. And there are even reported incidents of nudists taking one false step and winding up with a handful of sand in their faces. Keen to cash in on their higher spending power, tourism officials have sought to appease visitors from the west like Dirk Richter of the central western city of Hanover. "I really don't want to see naked bodies all around me," he said. "It's not for everyone and it's often not a very attractive sight. It's tough luck for the natives if that's the way it used to be. Times change." But few believe the nudists will go without a fight -- including people like Maron Mock. "It's not fair," the 25-year-old primary school teacher said. "We're being pushed off our own beach into a crummy little zone on the edge. Being nude is not a crime!" | [
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Online Advertising Gathers Momentum
At the German Multi-Media Congress, experts agreed that online advertising is finally witnessing an upswing after a long downturn.
After experiencing a three-year slump in online advertising, the situation in today's Internet market is looking promising, according to a group of industry experts meeting in Stuttgart this week. Earlier this year, Christian Muche from online marketing at the German Multi-Media Association (DMV) predicted that Internet advertising could expect a growth rate of 20 percent in 2004. His forecast reflected a wider optimistic trend based on the recent upswing in advertising spending. Online ads outstrip other media "According to estimates by US company Jupiter Research, turnover from online advertising will have overtaken turnover from print media by 2008," wrote German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung recently. Pressetext.Austria noted a similar development. "In the first half of 2004, online advertising spending was twice as high as it was in cinema theaters," it wrote, while the Interactive Advertising Bureau in New York, the industry's leading association, pointed out that Internet advertising would be outstripping radio advertising by 2007. In the US, the world's largest advertising market, Web sites provided turnover of almost €7.3 billion, thereby matching the amount spent in 2000, the most lucrative year ever. Advertising also increased by 6.5 percent in Germany in the first half of 2004, with a turnover of €8.8 billion for all media. The Internet, meanwhile, registered a drop of 2.6 percent. Nonetheless, Bernd Henning from DMV market research told DW-WORLD that other studies showed the market was improving. After years of ad price dumping, prices are once again rising, he said. That's because cost-per-thousand -- the average cost for achieving a thousand exposures for a commercial against a target audience -- rises in accordance with the number of users a site attracts, and the cost of advertising rises with it. The new face of online advertising Like cinema advertising, experts agree that Internet advertising has a slow-burn effect on the consumer. Current online advertising is now far more complex and less click-oriented than it was ten years ago. 'Sticky ads' and 'Interstitials', for example -- ads that display between two pages of a website -- are interruptive, like television advertising, rather than passive, like Web banner advertising. Another trend is keyword marketing. Search engines like Google and Yahoo auction off prime positions on their pages, primarily to Internet traders with a vested interest in appearing at the top of the list in response to a query for, for example, 'digital camera'. These hits are known as "sponsored listings". Even though the growth in the online advertising market is considerable, its budgets are still far smaller than in other media. According to the 2003 Focus Mediaguide, the online share of the total US advertising budget was just three percent. Even in Norway, Denmark and Estonia, the European countries spending most on online advertising, the budget is negligible. Mediterranean countries spend even less. "The North-South divide correlates with national statistics on Internet use," says Bernd Henning. "The worse the weather, the more time people spend on the Internet." | [
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Cloudy Skies Ahead for German Growth
A group of leading economic experts have given a less-than-sunny forecast for Germany's economic growth, as the high euro and surging oil prices dampen the modest recovery in the euro zone's biggest economy.
In their widely watched autumn report, the German government's so-called "Five Wise Men" -- independent economic advisors -- said they were expecting the country's gross domestic product (GDP) to expand by just 1.4 percent next year, compared with an anticipated 1.8 percent this year. Those figures fall far short of the government's official forecasts that put growth at 1.8 percent this year and 1.7 percent next year. Coupled with a stark decline in domestic consumer spending and a growing dependency on exports, the slower economic growth rate will further burden the already critical state of Germany's public finances. High euro, low domestic spending to blame The runaway strength of the euro against the dollar is partially to blame for the downturn in the German economy, which is heavily dependent on exports, the experts said. "A further rise in the euro would result in risks for growth momentum next year," said the report, which was published on Wednesday. The panel of experts, which actually comprises four men and one woman, said that strong export growth this year had "enabled Germany to break out of a three-year period of economic stagnation." "But the weakening in growth since this autumn emphatically illustrates the vulnerability of a recovery driven primarily by external economic factors," the experts said. "While global economic developments remain robust, they will be slowed by the rise in oil prices and it is therefore decisive that domestic investment and private consumption get on a better footing in Germany," they diagnosed. A modest upturn in equipment spending in the second half of this year provided the "first encouraging sign" for a possible improvement in domestic demand. "Our prognosis for next year is a gradual revival in domestic demand coupled with fundamentally positive impulses from the global economy." Nevertheless, "we're still a long way from seeing a sweeping upturn in the domestic economy," the experts said. The modest pace of growth will remain more or less unchanged in 2004 and 2005, the report estimated. Public finances at risk The absence of a stronger pick-up in the economy also spelled bad news for Germany's public finances. "The state of Germany's public finances remains critical," the experts wrote, predicting that the German public deficit would breach EU budget rules for the fourth year in a row next year. Under the terms of the European Stability and Growth Pact, drawn up in 1997 largely at Germany's behest, euro zone countries are prohibited from running up public deficits in excess of 3.0 percent of GDP. But the German deficit already breached that level in 2002 and 2003, and is expected to do so again this year. German Finance Minister Hans Eichel has pledged to bring the deficit back below the 3.0 percent ceiling in 2005. However, the "Five Wise Men" predicted the deficit ratio would remain at 3.5 percent again in 2005. In a sign that the government has acknowledged, if not accepted, the cloudy forecast, Chancellor Gerhard Schröder said it "won't be easy" to bring the public deficit back under 3.0 of GDP next year. | [
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Gap Growing Between Poor and Rich
A government-commissioned report on the rich-poor divide has found that poverty is on the rise in Germany and that the state might in fact be exacerbating it.
The gap between the rich and poor in Germany has drastically increased since 1998 when the ruling coalition government of Social Democrats and Greens took over from its conservative predecessors. That's the core finding of a draft study commissioned by Chancellor Gerhard Schröder's government and released on Thursday. The draft report minces no words. Poverty is on the rise in what is still considered to be one of the richest countries in the world, it says. Children worst affected The situation is particularly drastic in Germany’s big cities where children are among those worst affected in families with either lower incomes and reduced subsidies or suffering from long-term unemployment. 5 percent of the households concerned have to make do with less than 60 percent of average earnings, which is generally accepted by social scientists in the western world as the definition of poverty. This means that these households have fewer than €938 ($1,269) a month at their disposal. 15 percent of children up to 14 years of age are registered as being poor, and 19 percent of young people between 14 and 19 years of age. German social scientist Klaus Hurrelmann maintains that families and particularly single-parent households are not adequately supported by the state. "The social situation of many children is getting worse," he said. "Of course the problems that children in rich Germany face cannot be compared to those of children in the developing world. However, the psychological pressure cannot be overlooked." "Government making people poorer" Faced with an ageing population and an overburdened welfare system as a result, the coalition government of Social Democrats and Greens has set out to overhaul mechanisms of granting benefits for the needy. Of the measures to come into effect as of January next year will be the merging of unemployment and welfare benefits at a low level which will see a good proportion of people, first and foremost the long-term unemployed, in an even greater financial plight. Barbara Stolterfoht, head of the country’s welfare umbrella organization, predicts poverty levels going up even further as a result. "The merging of social and unemployment benefits is a good idea, not a bad one," she said. "But, merging this on the level of social benefits which is very low and which means poverty is a bad idea." Stolterfoht said poverty was bound to be the final outcome. "What this government is doing is just making people poorer without giving them work." It's a view shared by Walter Hanesch, a professor of social sciences in Darmstadt. He reckons that with an ongoing polarization in society more unrest is programmed. essence this means that we’re drifting more and more towards a greater potential of social unrest in the country, he said. "It’ll be interesting to see what impact the government’s social reforms will have in 2005." Hanesch contended that the merging of unemployment and welfare benefits will not be conducive to reducing poverty levels. "On the contrary, some of the poorest – particularly the long-term unemployed – will even get poorer.” Rich getting richer? While more and more people have to turn over every cent, there’s also an increasing number of people at the other side of the spectrum who can afford to spend money like water. 10 percent of people with the highest earnings now account for almost half of all net incomes in the country. Some 1.6 million Germans own at least half a million euros each, and an unspecified number can proudly call themselves billionaires. | [
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Euromaxx Highlights
Highlights of the Week
On this edition of Euromaxx Highlights: Euromaxx caught the travel bug, and visited Europe's five most popular travel destinations. Among others we took a literary tour of Edinburgh, enjoyed the Island of Fuerteventura and saw Berlin from above. A literary tour of Edinburgh The Scottish capital Edinburgh is well-known for its literary heritage. It’s even been named a UNESCO city of literature. Traces of the city’s famous poets can be found all over the place. Island of eternal spring The 'strong wind' that gives Fuerteventura its name has also made the island a paradise for surfers. But Fuerteventura has plenty more to offer The origins of pizza There are all sorts of pizza to be had in many countries worldwide, but its origins are in Italy. The first Pizza Margherita, with tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese and basil, was most likely invented in Naples. A bird’s eye view of Berlin Photographer Robert Grahn specializes in aerial shots of the German capital. We join him on a flight over Berlin to see the city from a unique perspective. Paris in the springtime City of love, city of fashion, city of art - Paris has a lot of labels and a long list of world-famous sights, including the Eiffel tower, the Louvre and Notre Dame. You haven't seen Europe if you haven't been to Paris. | [
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EU tells Turkey migrant flows 'still way too high'
The EU plans to offer Turkey billions of dollars in aid to stem the exodus of refugees into Europe has so far had little effect. Thousands continue to make the perilous journey every day.
Seven weeks after the EU and Turkey reached agreement on curbing the refugee flow into Europe, migrants continue to arrive in Turkey with the aim of gaining entry to the EU. But while critical of Turkey's efforts to stem the flow across the Aegean Sea, EU Vice President Frans Timmermans said Ankara and Brussels had to work together to implement the agreed upon action plan. Toward that end, Turkish authorities may start offering Syrians work permits - in an attempt to lure them into staying in Turkey. "The goal of this (action plan) is to stem the flow; 2,000 to 3.000 (arrivals) a day is not stemming the flow," Timmermans said, after meeting with Turkey's EU Affairs Minister Volkan Bozkir. "But we are in this together and we will work on that." As part of the deal reached on November 29, EU leaders pledged 3 billion euros ($3.2 billion) in aid for the more than 2.2 million Syrian refugees sheltering in Turkey in exchange for Ankara acting to reduce the flow. More than 1 million asylum seekers arrived in the EU in 2015, and governments across the bloc are under increasing domestic pressure to stem the tide. But every day thousands more attempt the perilous journey, all too often with fatal results. During a single day last week Turkish authorities said 36 migrants, including several children, either washed up along Turkish shores or were found floating in the sea after their boats sank. Thousands more have managed safe landings in Turkey and made their way to Greece in the hope of reaching wealthier EU countries such as Germany and Sweden. But the Balkan corridor to western Europe is rapidly closing, and now thousands more migrants are finding themselves stuck in Greece - an EU country with 25 percent unemployment. Fewer than 1,000 people so far have opted for voluntary repatriation, according to Daniel Edras, who heads the International Office of Migration in Greece. "It's one thing to return in handcuffs," he said, "and quite another to go as a normal passenger with some money in your pocket, because we give them each 400 euros ($435)." But repatriation isn't an option for tens of thousands from countries torn apart by violence. "I can't go back to Somalia," said English teacher Ali Heydar Aki, who hoped to settle in Europe and then bring his family. "I have sold half my house" to fund the trip. bik/ng (AFP, AP) | [
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Walmart to raise wages for over 1 million workers
More than 85 percent of Walmart's workforce can expect a wage hike next month as the US' largest private employer steps up efforts to polish its image in the wake of fierce criticism from labor activists.
The retail titan - the biggest in the world - announced that over 1.2 million of its employees would be paid at least $10 (9.2 euros) an hour, instead of the current minimum of $9, come February 20. The move, which Walmart hailed as "one of the largest single-day, private-sector pay increases ever," comes just a year after the chain raised base wages for 500,000 workers to $9 an hour. However, that did not go down well with everyone. Long-time employees complained that less-experienced newcomers were all of a sudden earning almost the same as they were. "We did hear from some associates who did feel left out last time," spokesman Kory Lundberg acknowledged. Across-the-board hikes But this time around, Walmart does not expect similar complaints. First, new entry level workers hired after January 1, 2016, will start at $9 per hour, before moving up to at least $10 an hour after having completed a six-month training program. Second, those already making more than $10 an hour would receive an annual pay increase "rather than waiting until their anniversary date," the company said. And last but not least, it added, top-level hourly employees would see the minimum wage rise by $2 an hour to $15. As a result, the average full-time hourly wage at one of Walmart's more than 5,000 US stores will be $13.38, up from $13. For part-time workers, the hourly wage will be $10.58, up from $10. While this is above the national hourly average of $9.26 for cashiers and low level retail staff, it is still below the $14.95 average hourly retail workers in a non-supervisory role earn, according to US government data. On top of the raise, full-time hourly workers would also receive free, basic short-term disability, the retailer said. Moreover, employees who have earned paid time off will no longer have to wait a year before they can make use of them. Not entirely unselfish? Walmart had already warned last October that earnings for the year, starting next month, could be down as much as 12 percent due to the workforce investment. But the company said it is a price it is willing to pay. "We are very clear that if we make sure our associates are being treated fairly, if they are rewarded simply and clearly, we will have a better business," said Judith McKenna, chief operating officer for Walmart's US division. But some say Walmart's move may not be completely unselfish. "The competition for talent is strong," said Craig Rowley, global leader of consultancy Hay Group's retail practice. "It's strong because there are fewer people to hire." According to Rowley, the turnover rate - the share of part-time workers who leave within a year - is now 67 percent for the retail industry, up from 50 percent during the recession. pad/hg (AP, AFP) | [
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Germany, Britain back Lagarde for second term as IMF head
Germany has joined Great Britain in backing Christine Lagarde for a second term at the head of the International Monetary Fund. Lagarde herself, however, is not ready to commit to seeking the job again.
A statement from Germany's Finance Ministry on Thursday lent support to the idea of keeping Christine Lagarde in her position at the head of the International Monetary Fund for another term. "Ms. Lagarde was a prudent and effective crisis manager in the difficult times after the financial crisis," the statement read from Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble's office read. "At the same time, she managed to bundle the interests of IMF stakeholders and to further increase the efficiency of the IMF." British Finance Minister George Osborne issued a similar statement on Thursday saying, "At a time when the world faces what I've called a dangerous cocktail of risks, I believe Christine has the vision, energy and acumen to help steer the global economy through the years ahead." Lagarde took part in a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday and briefly addressed the idea of second term at the IMF. "I'll be waiting before I say anything about that," she said. Lagarde's term is set to run out in July. She has served as the IMF head since July 2011. mz/sms (AP, dpa) | [
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Europol launches pan-European counterterrorism center
The EU law enforcement agency has announced the formation of a strategic center to combat terrorism in Europe. The hub is tasked with boosting intelligence-sharing among member states and tracking terrorists' finances.
EU Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos announced on Monday the creation of the European Counter Terrorism Centre (ECTC), which aims to boost cooperation among Europol member states in their fight against terrorist threats in Europe. "The establishment of the European Counter Terrorism Centre is a major strategic opportunity for the EU to make our collective efforts to fight terrorism more effective," said Avramopoulos, with Dutch Justice Minister Ard van der Steur and Europol Director Rob Wainwright at a press conference announcing the center's creation. Europol said that the ECTC, based in The Hague, would focus on "tackling foreign fighters, sharing intelligence and expertise on terrorism financing, online terrorist propaganda and extremism, illegal arms trafficking and international cooperation to increase effectiveness and prevention." The initiative follows the Paris attacks claimed by the so-called "Islamic State" militant group in November, which killed at least 130 people and wounded hundreds more. The assault on the French capital prompted fears of similar attacks across the continent. Europol chief Wainwright said that some 5,000 European nationals had left to fight alongside militant groups in Syria and Iraq, warning that they posed significant threats upon returning to their countries. "Our ambition is for the ECTC to become a central information hub in the fight against terrorism in the EU, providing analysis for ongoing investigations and contributing to a coordinated reaction in the event of major terrorist attacks," said Wainwright. Increased intelligence sharing among EU member states - notably France and Belgium - in the wake of November's attacks led to the agency receiving 2.7 terabytes of information, "resulting in 800 intelligence leads and more than 1,600 leads on suspicious financial transactions," Europol said. The law enforcement agency added that the ECTC's organizational structure would mirror Europol's, allowing for cooperation between counterterrorism authorities in the EU. | [
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