| SPIEGEL ONLINE | INTERNATIONAL NEWSLETTER |
| Compiled on October 08, 2013, 06:28 PM CET |
| 'WORSE THAN GANGS' Rio Police Criticized for Favela Crackdowns A new security campaign is helping authorities win back control of Rio de Janeiro's favelas ahead of next year's World Cup. Special police units are driving drug gangs out of the slums -- but often only to replace them with their own thuggish rule. |
| EU IMMIGRATION Only the Rich Are Welcome Hundreds of poverty-stricken refugees are drowning in the Mediterranean, while at the same time, many European Union member states issue residence permits to wealthy Chinese, Arabs and Russians. Anyone is welcome who can pay the asking price. |
| PERSISTENT SUPPORT How Italy's Tangled Taxes Help Berlusconi Silvio Berlusconi failed in his attempt to topple the Italian government last week, but he still remains popular with over 20 percent of the country's voters. A big reason he has so many backers is Italy's highly complex system of taxation. |
| PENNY BUN PINCHERS 'Mushroom Mafia' Pillaging German Forests The forests of Europe are a gold mine of gourmet mushrooms, and professional foragers are breaking laws to get their hands on them. Four of them tried to run over a forestry worker last week in Germany, where mushroom-madness is widespread. |
| 'I CAN'T GET CLEAN' Christiane F. Publishes New Book on Her Life Immortalized in a cult book and film more than 30 years ago, Christiane F. is Germany's most famous heroin addict. Now 51, she still uses drugs and has written a new book about her troubled life. |
| AUSTERITY INCARNATE Merkel Shows Frugality on Italian Vacations Chancellor Angela Merkel is well known for her penny pinching, in both economic policy and her own household. An article in Vanity Fair Italy shows that Merkel's frugality extends to her annual vacation on the Italian island of Ischia, too. |
| RUST AND RUIN The Downfall of Antarctic Whaling At the beginning of the last century, dozens of companies set up whaling operations near Antarctica. After several highly profitable decades, however, they eventually became victims of new technology and their own success. Their ghost towns tell the story. |
| TESTING LIMITS Diocese Opens Door to Communion for the Remarried The archdiocese of Freiburg recently signalled a willingness to allow remarried divorcées to receive communion. While far from revolutionary, the move reflects a desire to change doctrine long considered out of touch with reality. |
| PICTURE THIS Rio Burning |
