| SPIEGEL ONLINE | INTERNATIONAL NEWSLETTER |
| Compiled on December 05, 2012, 06:14 PM CET |
| ISLAMIST INTIMIDATION The Battle for the Future of Tunisia Almost two years after the Arab Spring got its start in Tunisia, Salafists are intimidating women, artists and intellectuals. Many fear that the government is tacitly supporting the radical Islamists in their efforts to turn the young democracy into a theocracy. |
| TOUCHY TALKS IN BERLIN Netanyahu Airs Complaints Ahead of Germany Visit Germany's abstention in the recent UN vote to recognize a Palestinian state, along with Israel's reaction of announcing new settlement construction, have chilled relations between the traditional allies. Ahead of a visit to Berlin, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu even said that he is "disappointed" in Chancellor Merkel. |
| BEFORE THE WALL The Soviet Fight for Postwar Berlin Although Berlin was split into four sectors in 1945, the Soviets were determined to see a unified city under their control. Their tactics for undermining the other occupying powers ranged from seductive to brutal, and a desperate blockade backfired into a 40-year divide. |
| TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL STUDY Greece Plunges in Global Corruption Rankings Adding to its numerous woes, Greece has plunged in this year's corruption rankings, issued annually by Transparency International. The country is now ranked as the EU's worst in the battle against graft. Perennial bottom feeders Bulgaria and Romania, by contrast, have shown improvement. |
| CRISIS IN EGYPT Rift Widens Between Morsi and Opposition Thousands of protesters marched on Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi's palace on Tuesday in Cairo, forcing police to retreat after violent clashes. The opposition is celebrating the protest as a victory, but the bitter power struggle is far from over. |
| NEW HOPES DASHED US Disappoints at Doha Climate Talks President Obama's comments in the wake of the Hurricane Sandy disaster raised hopes across the world that the US was finally willing to act on climate change. But America's refusal to make concessions at the Doha climate talks shows just how little its position has really budged. |
| THE WORLD FROM BERLIN 'Merkel's CDU Has Become Intellectually Comatose' Angela Merkel was overwhelmingly re-elected as her party's leader on Tuesday, providing her strong support as next year's general elections approach. German commentators on Wednesday say the chancellor seems to have transcended party politics -- and that this might not be a good thing. |
| WESTERN PHARMACEUTICAL TRIALS Patients Misused as Guinea Pigs in East Germany Prior to the fall of the Berlin Wall, East Germany sold patients as unwitting guinea pigs in drug trials conducted on behalf of Western pharmaceutical companies, according to a TV documentary. Journalists have spoken to former patients and their relatives and unearthed official documents proving secret collusion between the East and West. |
| PICTURE THIS Fire and Ice |
