| SPIEGEL ONLINE | INTERNATIONAL NEWSLETTER |
| Compiled on October 07, 2013, 06:49 PM CET |
| INTERVIEW WITH BASHAR ASSAD 'In the End, a Lie Is a Lie' In a SPIEGEL interview, Syrian President Bashar Assad discusses his fight for power, his arsenal of weapons of mass destruction and the special expectations he has for Germany. |
| EYE OF THE STORM Life Goes on in Damascus Despite Civil War As the civil war rages around them, Syrians in the capital of Damascus continue to support President Bashar Assad despite their fears. They simply want to maintain their way of life. |
| 'SEX JIHAD' AND OTHER LIES Assad's Elaborate Disinformation Campaign Syrian President Assad's regime is waging a PR campaign to spread stories that discredit its rivals and distract from its own crimes. Aided by gullible networks and foreign media, it has included tales of rebels engaging in "sex jihad" and massacring Christians. |
| INTERVIEW WITH GEORGE SOROS 'Greece Can Never Pay Back Its Debt' Should Greece have a large part of its debt waived? Absolutely, says George Soros, otherwise the country will never recover. The billionaire investor also warns about the rise of extremist parties if Germany does not change its policies towards Europe. |
| LAMPEDUSA TRAGEDY Deaths Prompt Calls to Amend Asylum Rules After over 180 African refugees died when their boat sank off the Italian island of Lampedusa last week, Europe is debating its asylum policy with renewed vigor. Politicians are calling for the EU to distribute the burden more fairly. |
| AFGHAN WITHDRAWAL Ministers Hand Over Germany's Kunduz Base After serving there for 10 years, Germany officially handed over its Kunduz military base to Afghan security forces on Sunday. And though German soldiers are leaving the area, officials assured the country would not turn its back on the Afghan people. |
| OKTOBERFEST ENDS 6.7 Million Liters of Beer and a Set of False Teeth 6.4 million visitors, 6.7 million liters of beer drunk, and 638 'beer corpses' -- Oktoberfest ended Sunday with another impressive array of statistics. However, only one set of false teeth was handed to the lost property office -- a sign of improved dental adhesive. |
| 'MEHMET'S' MEMOIRS Former Delinquent Banned from Book Fair Muhlis Ari, a Turkish man born in Germany who gained notoriety for committing more than 60 crimes before he was 14, wants to visit the Frankfurt Book Fair to present his autobiography. But German authorities have barred him from entering the country. |
| PICTURE THIS Sheep Jam |
