| SPIEGEL ONLINE | INTERNATIONAL NEWSLETTER |
| Compiled on January 21, 2013, 06:28 PM CET |
| CDU LOSES LOWER SAXONY State Defeat Heralds Tough Re-Election Fight for Merkel Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a setback in Sunday's state election in Lower Saxony, where her center-right alliance was ousted by the center-left opposition. The defeat comes just eight months before the general election and indicates that her bid for a third term could be tighter than expected. |
| THE WORLD FROM BERLIN 'Merkel Now De Facto Head of Both CDU and FDP' The conservatives may be out of power in Lower Saxony, but the result was not a total debacle for Chancellor Angela Merkel. After 100,000 conservative voters opted to prop up the floundering Free Democrats, she now has control over two center-right parties, say commentators. |
| OPINION Merkel's Nightmare Things couldn't be going worse for Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats. The slim center-left victory in Lower Saxony bodes poorly for the conservative coalition in federal elections this autumn. Now the fight for the Chancellery will get more brutal than the incumbent German leader had imagined. |
| REALITY CHECK State Election a Massive Setback for Pirates Germany's Pirate Party suffered its first setback at the ballot box on Sunday in Lower Saxony since its breakthrough in national politics in 2011. Its paltry 2.1 percent showing at the polls could kill its effort to gain seats in the federal parliament. |
| 'GATES OF HELL' Mali Conflict Opens New Front in War on Terror France has found early success in its fight against Islamist extremists in northern Mali. But Saharan terrorist groups have close ties and are prepared for a prolonged battle. The hostage crisis in Algeria shows that the new front in the war on terror could become a protracted conflict. |
| IVORY COAST LEADER 'Germany Should Also Send Troops to Mali' In an interview, Alassane Ouattara, president of the Ivory Coast and chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), urges Germany's leaders to engage more in the fight against Islamists in northern Mali. In addition to logistical aid, Berlin should also send troops, he argues. |
| 'LION OF THE DESERT' Ex-Partner of Germany Leads Malian Islamists The man at the center of the fight against Islamists in northern Mali has an unexpected history with Germany. In 2003 he was crucial in facilitating a ransom payment to secure the release of German tourists held hostage in Algeria. |
| BUDGETARY TOURISM Berlin Looks to Athens for Tips on Austerity The city-state of Berlin is no stranger to debt and budget deficits. In order to reach its goal of a balanced budget by 2016, the city is looking to Greece for some penny-pinching tips. |
| 'ENOUGH SAUERKRAUT AND BEER' France and Germany Celebrate 50 Years of Friendship In a SPIEGEL interview, French politician Jacques Delors and former German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer discuss tight, but sometimes complicated, relations between their countries on the 50th anniversary of the Franco-German friendship treaty. |
| TROIKA TRAVAILS Split Emerges Over Cyprus Bailout Package Cyprus is in urgent need of money from the euro rescue fund, but the troika responsible for the bailouts is split over how it should be structured. The IMF is worried that the country's debt load is not sustainable. |
| PICTURE THIS Spanish Scapegoat |
