Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

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LETTER FROM BERLIN
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Blast from the Past Has Merkel on the Defensive
Criticism of Angela Merkel is nothing new. This week, though, it was
ex-Chancellor Helmut Kohl who found sharp words for his
erstwhile protégé. With her foreign minister also under fire, things are
not looking good for Merkel in upcoming state elections.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,782757,00.html#ref=nlint

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THE FINAL BATTLE
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Rebels Take Aim at Gadhafi's Last Bastion
Even as Libyan rebels have overrun Moammar Gadhafi's headquarter complex
in Tripoli, thousands of his forces are still holding out in one of the
city's neighborhoods. The battle continues, and it looks as though the
revolution may end in the same place where it began.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,782620,00.html#ref=nlint

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DEBT AND DEMOCRACY
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Why Germany's Rich Must Pay Higher Taxes
Germany is a land of inequality. The gap between rich and poor has
widened, and cutting public services to balance the budget will only
make things worse. If we're serious about saving German democracy, we
have to raise taxes on the rich.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,782454,00.html#ref=nlint

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MUSLIMS AS A MIRROR
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Germany's Unhealthy Obsession with Islam
Muslims in Germany have been accused of many things, from threatening
the feminist cause to trying to destroy German society through
"demographic jihad." It isn't the Muslims that are the problem, however,
but rather our obsession with Islam.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,781577,00.html#ref=nlint

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SENIORS WITH SPRAY CANS
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Germany's Older Generations Take Up Graffiti
Graffiti courses targeting senior citizens are inspiring Germany's older
generations to learn the art of spraying. Some see the endeavor as a
good way to bridge the generation gap. But others go rogue with their
new hobby, tagging city streets using skills learned in class.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,778978,00.html#ref=nlint

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Photo Gallery: Germany's Senior Graffiti
http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/fotostrecke-71807.html#ref=nlint


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BERLIN'S CABINET OF HORRORS
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World's First Pathology Museum Threatened with Closure
For over a century, Berlin's Charité Hospital has been home to the
formaldehyde-soaked brains and babies making up the collection of Rudolf
Virchow, the grandfather of pathology. But hospital administrators are
now threatening to shut its doors for good.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,782599,00.html#ref=nlint

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Photo Gallery: The Ghoulish Curiosities of Berlin's Pathology Museum
http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/fotostrecke-72101.html#ref=nlint


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THE WORLD FROM BERLIN
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'Protection from Piracy Comes at a Price'
Following moves to allow private security firms to protect German
merchant shipping against piracy off the Horn of Africa, some state
governments are demanding that police officers and soldiers be used to
guard vessels. German commentators say the onus is on shipowners to keep
their fleets safe.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,782661,00.html#ref=nlint

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A WARM GRAVE IN A COLD WAR
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East German Nuclear Bunker Opens to Tourists
A massive bunker built in the late 1960s to house East German naval
operations in the event of nuclear attack has opened to visitors for the
first time this summer. The Cold War time capsule reveals volumes about
how the communists planned for nuclear Armageddon.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,782755,00.html#ref=nlint

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Photo Gallery: Planning for Nuclear War
http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/fotostrecke-72123.html#ref=nlint


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LAST KAISER'S GREAT-GREAT GRANDSON
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Germany Set for its Own Royal Wedding
Germany is all atwitter with its very own royal wedding this weekend.
The great-great grandson of Kaiser Wilhelm II and a Hessian princess
will tie the knot in Potsdam, though festivities will be decidedly more
modest than other recent royal nuptials. The couple prefers to keep it
low-key.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,782655,00.html#ref=nlint

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A STORK VS. THE NEO-NAZIS
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Satire Campaign Targets NPD Election Efforts
The German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is set to hold
elections -- and the far-right NPD party has been hard at work with a
poster campaign. But one hotelier from Rostock has had enough, and has
joined forces with Storch Heinar, a satirical stork and staunch opponent
of neo-Nazis, to fight back.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,782720,00.html#ref=nlint

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Photo Gallery: Fighting Neo-Nazis with Satire
http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/fotostrecke-72133.html#ref=nlint


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PICTURE THIS
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Bolt from the Blue


http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,782631,00.html#ref=nlint