| SPIEGEL ONLINE | INTERNATIONAL NEWSLETTER |
| Compiled on December 02, 2013, 06:29 PM CET |
| COLD WAR IN THE PACIFIC China Escalates Tensions with Neighbors Beijing's recent establishment of a new air defense zone in the East China Sea is exacerbating long-running disputes with its neighbors Japan and Taiwan -- and threatens to draw the US military into a larger regional conflict. |
| RUSSIAN SCANDAL BOOK Author Claims Putin's Pets His Best Friends In a new book, a political scientist describes Vladimir Putin as a traumatized orphan with alleged homosexual tendencies and enormous wealth. The Kremlin has dismissed the claims as baseless insinuations. |
| TEHRAN TREATY Winners and Losers in Geneva Nuclear Deal The Geneva nuclear treaty with Tehran offers the West new opportunities and could change the world. But secret documents suggest it is the hardliners in Iran who stand to profit the most from the new opening. The clear losers are Israel and Saudi Arabia. |
| OLLI HEINONEN ON IRAN 'This Is a Step Forward, Without a Doubt' Former IAEA deputy secretary general Olli Heinonen says the nuclear deal with Iran is an important one, with verifiable results and a timetable for a final agreement. Still, he argues, "there is no reason to celebrate." |
| PURITY PRIDE Germany Wants World Heritage Status for Its Beer Germany's brewers are so proud of their 500-year-old beer purity law, which states that it must consist only of water, malt, hops and yeast, that they want it inscribed in UNESCO's World Heritage list -- alongside the pyramids, the Taj Mahal and Flamenco dancing. |
| UKRAINE DEMOS Merkel Calls for Calm as Kiev Protests Intensify Around 5,000 opposition protestors gathered in the center of Kiev overnight. The pro-European demonstrators erected tents and barricades on Independence Square. The opposition, centered around boxer Vitali Klitschko, now wants to blockade important administrative buildings. |
| SEX LAW REFORM Johns to be Prosecuted for Forced Prostitution Germany's new coalition government, which is yet to come into office, has agreed to push through a reform of the controversial Prostitution Act in early 2014. For the first time in German history, johns will be prosecuted if they knowingly use the services of prostitutes forced to work in the sex trade. |
| 'NAZI SHAZAM' Police Devise App to Curb Far-Right Music German police have developed a Shazam-like smartphone app that allows them to identify far-right rock songs by playing just a brief sample. It could make it harder for neo-Nazis to lure under-18s with music, which is seen as a "gateway drug" into the scene. |
| PICTURE THIS Krampus Parade |
