Can breaking up banks fix the financial crisis?

An over 80-year-old idea is on the table in the United States and Germany: separating risky investment activities from everyday banking. But views differ on how strict the separation should be and if it will even help.

In October 1929, the New York stock market crash plunged the American economy into ruins. Within just a few years, the US government implemented reforms that drastically changed the financial sector. The Banking Act of 1933, otherwise known as the Glass-Steagall Act, saw the separation of banking activities. It barred commercial banks, which provided clients with normal savings and checking accounts as well as loans, from underwriting stocks and bonds or otherwise dealing in risky investments.
"As early as the 1920s, Senator Carter Glass, one of the authors of the act, believed that too much money was being pumped into speculative investments," said Hans-Joachim Voth, economic historian at Pompeu Fabre University in Barcelona. "With the Great Crash and ensuing Depression, Glass saw an opportunity for pushing through a clear separation of commercial banks from investment ones."

Reform fervor back then, a fear of reform now
The Glass-Steagall Act was not the only change made in the US banking sector. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was established one year later - in 1934. It continues to enforce federal securities laws and regulate the industry in the United States. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), which protects deposits in member banks, was also created at this time.
In contrast, - nearly four years after the collapse of Lehman Brothers - politicians have few fundamental reforms they can say will protect future generations. "It's bordering on the criminal that we have not learned one lesson from the crisis [that began in] 2007 and have not really managed to improve regulatory mechanisms," Voth said. "I think it also reflects a failure of intellect."
The banking business, the complex financial products, its interdependencies with the mainstream economy - all this seems so complex to the politicians that they are afraid of doing something wrong, Voth said.
"They listen to experts from the financial sector, and then they leave everything the way it was before," Voth added. The reforms so far have been limited to small changes in the equity rules, he said. "There is no way we will be able to prevent the next crisis with them."

Above all, the new capital adequacy rules known as Basel III have not even entered into force. In the United States, the attempt to ban banks from speculating on their own account has been postponed for now. Britain is planning a series of reforms, but no law is expected before the summer of 2015.
The appeal of the old system

Senator Carter Glass and Rep. Henry B. Steagall wanted to help end the Great Depression

No wonder then that some now wish a return to the major reform of the past, the separation between commercial and investment banks of 1933. That was finally eliminated in 1999 under President Bill Clinton. The decision suited a time in which deregulation was the magic word.

Even before 1999, the legal separation of banking had been gradually weakened. Thus, in 1998 the financial giant Citigroup, itself the result of a merger, was allowed to buy the investment bank Salomon Brothers.

Ironically, Sandy Weill, head of Citigroup until the outbreak of the financial crisis and one of the major beneficiaries of deregulation, is now demanding the reintroduction of the separation between commercial and investment banks. "The New York Times," which had fought the Glass-Steagall Act for years is now a convert. "Having seen the results of this sweeping deregulation, we now think we were wrong to have supported it," the newspaper said in an editorial.
In Germany, Social Democratic Party leader Sigmar Gabriel and Nikolaus von Bomhard, CEO of reinsurer Munich Re, have come out in favor of separating banks. They said there should be no banks that are so important for a country that they need to be rescued with taxpayers' money: "If something is system-relevant, something is wrong with the system," von Bomhard said.

Size isn't everything

"I'm not a big fan of a black and white policy that says we should break up the banks and keep them seperated," said Georg Fahrenschon, president of the German Savings Bank Association.
He defended universal banks that do everything - account keeping, lending, securities trading and foreign exchange transactions. "Over the last three years, we have seen how important it was to have regional banks that could also help mid-sized companies with currency risk management."

Senator Carter Glass and Rep. Henry B. Steagall wanted to help end the Great Depression

Economic historian Voth also said he does not believe that a two-tier banking system would have prevented the financial crisis. But added that a separation is necessary to prune banks back down to a size that does not threaten the entire economy. Until the beginning of liberalization in the 1980s, the world managed to get by very well without banks that were "too big to fail," and economic growth was strong.

Voth said the argument that growth was not possible without large international financial groups is a myth: "Nothing that is important to the economy was really worse 20 or 30 years ago. We wouldn't really miss any of the economic functions that investment banks perform today due to their size."

Because of its size Deutsche Bank is also "a risk to Germany that would be really hard to bear," said Voth. "I do not know how many crises we need to go through before we learn to regulate things well."

Stiff breeze batters German wind energy sector

A quarter of German electricity already comes from renewable energy sources. Far out front, the wind energy sector is growing faster than it has for years. However, business could be a lot better.

Politicians love it when they get the chance to present a successful investment project - Germany's transport minister Peter Ramsauer was able to talk about "pioneering work with worldwide relevance" when he visited an offshore energy plant in Cuxhaven on Germany's North Sea coast this week. A harbor and industrial area has been built there in which offshore wind turbines, along with all the necessary components, can be built and shipped. Wind energy on the high seas could become a winning export with which Germany could score points worldwide, said Ramsauer.
But there's actually not a lot of energy being generated right now off the German coast. There were just nine offshore wind turbines with a total output of 45 megawatts supplying the electricity grid in the first half of 2012. For Thorsten Herdan, director of the wind industry association VDMA Power Systems, that is below expectations: "It's highly unsatisfactory in comparison to federal government targets, and highly unsatisfactory in comparison to the industry's targets and investment efforts." That applies to everyone who invested in the industry, trusting in the government's Energy Industry Act and its timetable for the provision of a network to bring the electricity to land.
Billions of euros in investments
But there's still nothing much for the offshore wind turbines to plug into. And it's not yet clear who is legally liable when things go wrong. Who has to pay if the network isn't completed on time, or if a technical error occurs on the cables? The question of the financing of the network also seems to be still unresolved. Herdan says neither he nor the banks understand how a network operator with an annual turnover of one billion euros ($1.23 billion) could be expected to manage a borrowing requirement of 15 billion euros.

The wind will be blowing in a distinctly less favorable direction for the industry in 2013

The lack of clarity is ending up costing the offshore investors. The manufacturers and suppliers have delivered what was ordered, says Herdan, and they'd been paid. "Whoever wants to see how things are, should go to Bremerhaven, then they will see everything just stored there - it's all been paid for and it should already be standing in the water and what has been paid for and what should actually already be standing in the water. And we're talking about billions of euros."
More onshore wind turbines
The onshore wind industry also views the future with skepticism. The clear pattern of growth last year seems to have continued in the first half of 2012. An especially high number of tall wind turbines with large rotor-blades were installed in the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt and Rhineland-Palatinate. Now, 22,664 wind turbines across the country provide a total output of more than 30 gigawatts. Around 25 percent more wind turbines were erected in the first half of 2012 than in the first half of 2011. With wind power forming the backbone of Germany's move to renewable energy, there'll soon be enough to replace nuclear power entirely, says Hermann Albers, President of the Federal Association for Wind Energy (BWE).
However, the wind will be blowing in a distinctly less favorable direction next year. Foreign markets, which are very important for German manufacturers, will be much tighter. Albers points out that construction of wind energy turbines in the US, for example, has nosedived. China also looks set to push its "gigantic surplus capacity" onto the global market in 2013. The outlook is bleak for German producers, who plan to tackle the situation with efficient and cost-effective technology. There are few options left if they don't want to find themselves in the same position as the majority of German solar panel manufacturers. They have already been forced to capitulate to China's superior power.

German investor sentiment cools down

Investor confidence among German entrepreneurs has fallen for the fourth month in a row. Expectations are gloomy despite the German economy's resilience to the eurozone debt crisis, a leading think tank says.

German investor confidence dropped for the fourth consecutive month in August, a fresh survey by the Center for European Economic Research (ZEW) showed on Tuesday.
The Mannheim-based think tank said its index measuring the mood among analysts and institutional investors fell deeper into negative territory, easing to minus 25.5 points, down from minus 19.6 points in July, thus reaching its lowest level this year.
"The indicator's decline in August signals that financial market experts still expect the German economy to cool down throughout the next six months," the ZEW said in a statement. "Especially export-oriented sectors may be affected."
Exaggerated fears
A separate indicator measuring the assessment of the current economic situation in Germany fell to minus 18.2 points, the lowest level since July 2010.
"The mood clearly is worse than the current economic situation justifies," BHF Bank Economist Uwe Angenendt told Reuters news agency. "We for our part believe that the German economy will be able to grow even in the third and fourth quarters of the year."
Expectations for the eurozone's economic development as a whole remained almost unchanged in the ZEW's survey, with a slight improvement of 1.1 points failing to signal a fundamental shift in appraisal.
hg/jlw (AFP, Reuters, dpa)

Israel helps India clean up the Ganges river

It has been 26 years since India embarked on a lofty plan to restore the heavily polluted Ganges river. But the project has seen many setbacks. Now, with fresh cash from the World Bank, the river might make a recovery.

On its journey south and east from the Western Himalayas, through the Gangetic Plain of North India and on to the Bay of Bengal, the Ganges flows for over 2,500 kilometers (1,553 miles). More than 400 million people dwell in its basin and depend on its life source. It's one of the world's 20 largest rivers - and also one of the most polluted on the planet.
In places, the once sacred, life-giving Ganges has become a cesspool, polluted with fecal waste, semi-cremated bodies, and water-borne disease.
In its $3 billion (2.4 billion euros) quest to restore the Ganges to health, the Indian government is turning to an unlikely source - Israel - a tiny, arid Middle East country that is producing world-leading water technology.
Israel NewTech, an initiative led by the Israeli Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labour, is matching Israeli clean-tech companies with Indian partners to tender solutions for the Ganges.
The Indian government aims to have no untreated municipal sewage or industrial runoff enter the Ganges by 2020, but according to Oded Distel, head of Israel NewTech, cleaning the Ganges is more like a 20-year mission.
"It's a huge project. It combines technological aspects and elements from waste water treatment and water management up to irrigation," he said. During dry season, "it becomes more a kind of canal for waste water rather than a real living river."

The World Bank is investing in the clean-up of the Ganges

The World Bank is investing $1 billion (812 million euros) in loans and credits to India, to help with the first step in the Ganges River clean-up. The first goal is to reduce pollution in a sustainable way.
This may mean revolutionary changes to centuries old farming practices in India, where irrigation traditionally relies on the monsoon for flooding, resulting in chemical run-off into the Ganges.
One joint Israeli–Indian company, NaanDanJain, has established a test farm for drip irrigation in India. What is otherwise known as micro-irrigation is an Israeli technology that saves water and fertiliser by allowing water to drip slowly to the roots of plants through a network of valves, pipes, tubing and emitters.
According to NaanDanJain director Amnon Ofen, this technology already started to change the face of Indian agriculture.
"The irrigation business in India these days is above $0.5 billion a year, which in the next two or three years, will reach $1.5 billion - just micro irrigation," he said, adding this would be the reason why foreign companies are based in India.
Bypasses to help save the Ganges
Another Israeli company, bio-engineering firm Water Revive, is looking at natural constructed wetlands as a way to rehabilitate the Ganges. Water Revive marine ecologist Limor Gruber says it involves a series of bypasses, or channels, that divert domestic and industrial waste water from the river to cleanse it naturally, and make it drinkable by the time it flows back into the river. It has been tested successfully on Israel's Yarkon River, where more than eighty bypasses were installed.
"This technology - on the one hand it's sophisticated, but on the other hand it's a part of nature and it needs almost no maintenance. Now, when you go to a third world country and you put pumps, and you need electricity and you need very sophisticated systems, then people don't know how to maintain them," Gruber said.
Figures from India in 2003 show that only 27 percent of India's waste water is treated. According to figures by Israel's national water company Mekorot, 92 percent of Israel's waste water is treated and about three quarters of that re-used for agriculture.
Israel New Tech's Oded Distel says this technology is becoming so advanced that even left-over residue from waste water treatment is being considered as a possible source of energy. He puts Israel's success at water technology down to the fact that it has a 45 percent natural water deficit and must create solutions to sustain the population.

The Ganges River is a spritual place, where people go for ritual baths

"It's an industry that is classically based on 'necessity is the mother of innovation'," Distel said.
Distel also cites flexibility as a reason why Israeli companies are well suited to fashioning solutions for the Ganges. Some of Israel's top information technology professionals translate algorithms designed to analyze information flows into technology that detects water leakages.
"A very important element is the flexibility of Israeli companies to adjust their solution to specific problems. This is something that is unique in the clean-tech arena. The type of water in India is not like in Israel, it's not like [water] in California or in Florida,” Distel said.
As India and Israel celebrate 20 years of diplomatic ties in 2012, Israel NewTech has opened an office in India and an agreement was signed in February, aimed at fostering cooperation with a focus on urban water.
India's ambassador to Israel, Navtej Sarna hopes these business and environmental ties will lead to closer cooperation between the two countries in the future.

Photos prove rare Sumatran rhino is still alive

Seven of the world's rarest rhinoceroses have been found in a national park in Indonesia. This is the first time the creatures have been seen in 26 years. Deforestation is still pushing the Sumatran toward extinction.

Hidden cameras buried deep in an Indonesian national park have snapped images of seven critically endangered Sumatran rhinos. The rhinos haven't been seen in more than a quarter of a century and conservationists had feared the Sumatran was extinct. But, six females and one male rhino are now known to live in the Mount Leuser National Park, which is on the northern tip of Sumatra.
"I feel really happy. After 26 years, we have found the rhino in the Leuser ecosystem," said Jamal Gawi, who heads the Leuser International Foundation. "We attend international conferences on the plight of the Asian rhinos. When they talk about the Sumatran rhinos in Leuser, they always put a question mark. Now we can prove to the world, we found the rhinos! They alive!"

Proof of life: an infrared camera placed deep in the forest captured this rare image of the Sumatran rhino

Gawi's team first discovered evidence that the rhino was alive while they were doing research on tiger populations in the north. They noticed track marks and droppings that belonged to the Sumatran rhino and set up infrared cameras to capture images proving the creatures are not extinct. They have gathered thousands of photos and believe the tiny population is in good health.
Immediate protection needed
"We are very pleased!" said Stefan Ziegler of WWF Germany's department for the protection of endangered species in a statement to DW. "This shows that the protection of the Sumatran rhinoceros isn’t doomed to failure." But he warned that quick action was needed to protect the animals because news of their survival could attract poachers.

There are fewer than 200 Sumatran rhinos left in the world

According to the World Wildlife Fund, habitat loss due to the destruction of forests is pushing the Sumatran rhino toward extinction. Even in protected areas, the organization says illegal settlers are destroying forest stands in order to produce coffee and rice. But another threat is the continued interest of poachers. Hunting rhinos is illegal, but there is a strong demand for their horns, which are believed to have medicinal properties, especially in traditional Asian medicine practices.
Road to extinction
The Sumatran rhino is the smallest of rhinoceroses still alive today and is among the rarest large mammals on the planet. It is also unique because it is the only Asian rhino with two horns, though the posterior horn is often no more than a hump. They are solitary animals, often only approaching each other to mate. Their population has dropped by 50 percent over the past 20 years. It's believed there are now fewer than 200 left in the world.

The rhinos were first discovered by researchers studying Sumatran tigers

Gawi told DW that the number of poachers in the Leuser ecosystem has dropped because there are so few rhinos left. But he warned that the construction of roads intended to aid the timber trade also makes these areas easier for poachers to reach. "We object to new roads in this area," he said. "Roads are actually first step toward rhino extinction. We call them the roads to destruction."
But, Gawi hopes that the photos will renew international interest in preserving the habitat where the rhinos live. The team is already preparing to protect the rhinos from poachers. "We will set up a Rhino Protection Unit. This consist of patrol units. We'll gather information about hunters active in the area."
Benefits for all
The discovery of these rhinos may lead to better protection and more funding for conservation intiatives, says Andreas Dinkelmeyer of the International Fund for Animal Welfare in Germany. "I think there is a fascination with rhinos. They are impressive animals. And if we can protect environment of the Sumatra rhinos, we also protect other species," he explained in an interview with DW.
"There are certain animals considered umbrella species. It's hard to get funding and interest for a small insect that might be valuable for the ecosystem. But raise the funds for the rhino and the whole ecosystem sees a benefit," he said.

The discovery of Sumatran rhinos may renew interest in conservation across the region

Stefan Ziegler of WWF Germany also believes this discovery needs to be used to push forward a broad agenda for conservation. "We hope that we can make the Indonesian government take action to better protect endangered animals," he said. "There are international regulations that forbid commercial trading of the Sumatran rhino, but these rules are not enforced by at the national level. Poverty, corruption and poor compensation for the rangers creates ideal conditions for illegal poaching."

Insects benefit from plastic waste

Often invisible plastic waste in the ocean can harm birds, fish and other marine inhabitants. But not all organisms suffer because of it. Sea skaters use the waste as a deposit for their eggs.

Plastic has become an ever-present part of daily life. Plastic bottles, bags, furniture, electrical appliances, food packaging, construction materials - much of it ends up in the sea. Lighter than water, the plastic floats and is carried by ocean currents. All in all, there is an estimated 100 grams of plastic per square kilometer of ocean, which adds up to a volume of over 40,000 tons of plastic waste.
That's bad news for the many water birds, fish and turtles that eat the plastic and die because the cannot digest it. But there is also a sea creature that takes advantage of the plastic: the sea skater (Halobates sericeus). Like its freshwater relatives, this insect is about a centimeter long and stands on the surface tension of water. It skates back and forth above the sea. It lays its eggs underwater. But to do this, it needs a suitable substrate, such as any solid, floating debris.

Various organisms can use plastic as a habitat

Plastic replaces wood
The substrate does not have to be plastic: Traditionally, sea skaters lay eggs on algae, wood or floatable squid backbones known as cuttlebone.
"A very important substrate is pumice, which is released during volcanic eruptions, and is very similar to plastic in its characteristics. It is inorganic, it does not decompose easily and it's an ideal substrate to attach eggs to," said biologist Martin Thiel, who researches this particular habitat. Wood, for example, was much more important as a substrate in earlier centuries when large amounts of timber were still transported on waterways.
The industrial development of the 20th century led to barrages and dams that retain almost all the wood once used by the insects. But in the same period, the amount of plastic waste has dramatically increased. Today there is nearly 100 times as much plastic as there was in the 1970s. Researchers from the Institute of Oceanography at La Jolla University in California have now shown that the sea skater has much more room for its eggs. A lot of plastic collects in convergence zones where various currents come together.

Fishing line: dangerous for some, but an ideal home to tiny organisms

While the sea skater once again has plenty of room for its eggs, that does not necessarily mean that it can also reproduce indefinitely. The limited food supply in the Pacific Ocean limits its growth. In addition, the sea skaters compete with the other inhabitants of the convergence zones.
"On this floating debris, there is a very particular community of organisms that has adapted to the conditions there," said Thiel, who reviewed the research of his Californian colleagues.
Advantageous for fishers
Each piece of plastic is first occupied by algae. Then other organisms establish themselves - like barnacles that are, in fact, shellfish. And then come the predators. The sea skaters are joined by slugs looking for nutrients on which they can prey.
"There are also moss animals and many other organisms that take hold on plastic. It goes all the way up to many little fish, some larger fishes and even tuna," Thiel said.
The plethora of life forms drawn to the floating ecosystems also have their uses for humans. Fishing fleets place satellite emitters on rafts and let them float. Along with other floating debris, the rafts eventually end up in the convergence zones filled with fish, and the fishers can go off in search of tuna.

Turtles that consume plastic can die from its effects

Plastic has clear downsides, though. Through the constant ebb and flow of the tide and the aggressive UV rays from the sun, the plastic gets worn down into smaller and smaller pieces until it can barely be seen with the naked eye. Most plastic in the oceans is now a microplastic of this form. And a great deal of plastic waste is already microscopically small when it lands in the ocean to begin with.
Invisible debris
"Most are synthetic fibers from textiles, components from cleaning products, cosmetics and catalysts used in chemical production. Debris worn away from tires and from countless other grinding processes gets trapped in rainwater and moved to rivers and eventually into the ocean," explained Heinz-Dieter Franke, who works as a researcher at the Alfred Wegener Institute on the Heligoland archipelago. Franke added that since this plastic is invisible to the human eye, the public has long ignored the problem.
The smaller the plastic particles are, the more dangerous they can be for ocean inhabitants. Products of plastic decomposition can remain for a very long time in water. And surrounding toxins can also lodge themselves on the surface of plastic particles.
The invisible debris can easily be swallowed, broken down during digestion and make their way into other parts of organisms and, ultimately, into the food chain at large.
"As plastic particles decompose more, there's a greater risk of them affecting the hormonal health of organisms and leading to bigger problems," Franke said.

As cities grow rapidly, the amount of plastic waste does too

Although the problem of plastic waste in oceans has long been known, researchers are still unsure about what exactly changes biologically in areas where there is a lot of plastic floating around. Questions about the role bacteria plays in further decomposing plastic remain unanswered.
"We have to keep in mind that this is an environment located very far out in the ocean and that makes it extremely difficult to research. We know very little about the ecology of this unique habitat," Thiel said.
It is clear, though, that some ocean inhabitants profit from the changes, and others do not. A possible increase of the sea skater populations could be good for the small fish that prey on them. But for larger plankton-eating organisms, it represents a negative development, since sea skaters consume plankton.
"The flow of energy and materials is being shifted," Franke said. "What that means exactly depends on which viewpoint you adopt."
For those who fish, it is positive when certain fish populations increase. But "that is looking at things too strongly from the human perspective," which cannot necessarily serve as a scientific criterion, Franke said.

Pirate sentenced to 12 life sentences

A US court has sentenced a Somali man to 12 life sentences after being found guilty of his role in the deaths of four Americans in 2011 at the hands of pirates.

A US federal court judge in Norfolk, Virginia on Monday sentenced a Somali man to 12 concurrent life sentences and two 20-year sentences after he was found guilty of acting as a ransom negotiator for pirates who commandeered an American yacht.
"Mohammed Shibin was a key participant in two of the most heinous acts of piracy in modern memory," US prosecutor Neil MacBride said in a statement following sentencing.
Federal prosecutors presented claims Shibin was part of an elite group skilled in ransom negotiation. Court documents reveal he was paid up to $50,000 (40,400 euros) in cash for his services.
In evidence presented to the court, prosecutors proved Shibin used the Internet to research the background of hostages to establish how much ransom to demand and which family members to make contact with for the money.
U.S. District Court Judge Robert Doumar found Mohammad Shibin guilty in April on 15 counts, including piracy, hostage taking, kidnapping and conspiracy. He was ordered to pay $5.4 million in damages.
Taken hostage
Pirates seized a boat carrying four Americans off the coast off Somalia in February 2011. Despite US military attempts to negotiate the release of Jean and Scott Adam, Phyllis Macay and Bob Riggle, all four were killed. The court held Shibin made monetary demands to each of their families prior to their murders.
In 2010, Shibin acted as a ransom negotiator for pirates who seized the Marida Marguerite, a German-owned motor vessel carrying 22 crew members. The group took control of the ship for seven months, with reports of torture by those on board.
In a recent report by the International Maritime Bureau, Somali piracy cost the global economy more than $7 billion, with pirates earning some $160 million from ransom demands.
"[Shibin's] multiple life sentences should put all pirates on notice that the Justice Department will hold you accountable in a US courtroom for crimes on the high seas," MacBride said.

jlw/mz (DAPD, Reuters, AP)

Murder mystery in Kazakhstan

Police in the central Asian nation of Kazakhstan are searching for suspects Tuesday in connection to eight people found dead in a national park.

Russian news agency Interfax quoted Kazakh Interior Minister Kalmukhanbet Kasymov as saying some of the bodies found suffered knife injuries, suggesting murder.
According to police, both men and women were killed in the park, and robbery did not appear to be a motive.
Seven bodies with stab wounds, including two burned bodies, were found on Monday in the Ile-Alatau national park in southern Almaty Province, near the border with China and Kyrgyzstan. Searchers discovered two of the bodies in the home of a forester living in the heavily-wooded Karasaisky region, about 700 kilometers (435 miles) southeast of the Kazakh capital Astana. Five of the bodies found so far have reportedly been identified.
An additional body was discovered Tuesday, bringing the total to eight.
According to Interior Minister Kasymov, it was possible the killer or killers knew the victims.
This isn't the first time violence has haunted the region. In late May, a forest ranger and 14 border guards were killed and burned at a remote outpost along the Chinese border in the same region. One of the border guards deployed at the outpost was later found alive and charged with killing the 15 men. The case led to a newsreader for the popular Almaty-based Channel 31 television station resigning after refusing to broadcast a report about the guard's alleged confession to the killing spree.
Located in central Asia, Kazakhstan achieved independence following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. It is the second-largest of the former Soviet Republics after Russia, and one of the least densely populated countries in the world. Around 17 million people live in an area encompassing more than 2.7 million square kilometers (1 million square miles).
bm/mz (AFP, dpa)

Worst violence in years rocks northern French city

About 100 youths clashed with police in the French city of Amiens overnight. Sixteen police were reported to have been wounded as the youths set cars, a sports center and a primary school ablaze.

"The confrontations were very, very violent," Amiens Mayor Gilles Dumailly told French television network BFM . Demailly also said he had encountered a "scene of desolation" in the northern quarter of a city that is known for its university and its 13th century Gothic cathedral.
"There have been regular incidents here but it has been years since we've known a night as violent as this with so much damage," Demailly told AFP.

The crowd, composed mostly of young men, also pulled drivers from their cars and stole the vehicles. Police used tear gas and rubber bullets to quell the unrest after suffering injuries caused by buckshot, fireworks and other projectiles thrown by rioters. Up to 150 police were involved in fracas.
"Sixteen police were injured, some by buckshot fire," prefect's office spokesperson Thomas Lavielle told television station i>TELE TV.
On Tuesday, French President Francois Hollande voiced his concern over the violence.
"The state will mobilize all its means to combat these violent acts," Hollande said. "Security is not only a priority for us, it is an obligation."
Later Tuesday, Interior Minister Manuel Valls was due to visit the city to survey the damage.
Amiens police said the riot began around 9 p.m. local time. It ended, they said, when federal law enforcement reinforcements arrived early Tuesday morning. Local media reported the clashes were apparently sparked by tension over recent police checks on residents.
A restless city
The violence followed smaller clashes over the weekend, which were triggered by the arrest of a man for dangerous driving. According to AFP, the arrest was seen as insensitive as it came as many residents of the neighborhood were attending a funeral for a local youth who had died in a motorbike accident.
Amiens has had a history of unrest recently. Earlier this month, the district where Monday night's violence occurred, was declared among the 15 most troubled in France, with the French government pledging more security and more money.
Tensions remain high in France's rundown suburbs, where high unemployment, racial discrimination, a widespread sense of alienation and mistrust of police has periodically sparked violence.
Weeks of rioting in 2005 were followed by months of debate over the integration of millions of black and North African immigrants into mainstream society.
The death of two youths hit by a police car sparked further violence in 2007. More unrest followed in 2010, when police shot and killed a youth who robbed a casino.

Westerwald: nature at its best

Westerwald boasts a plethora of forests, plateaus, river valleys and romantic villages with half-timbered houses. The eroded mountain range about 40 kilometers northwest of Frankfurt is ideal for nature lovers.

The best way to explore this expansive region is through its many hiking trails. The Westerwaldsteig is 235 kilometers (146 miles) long and is one of Germany's most popular hiking trails. It runs through the Westerwald Lake Plateau to Birkenhof Distillery, where you can observe the production of schnapps - a sweet liquor - and, of course, sample the product too.
Hachenburg, with its Baroque castle situated on a basalt outcrop, is immediately noticeable from a distance. The castle was once home to the Counts of Sayn. The town's half-timbered buildings are typical of the region.
In the countryside around Hasselbach, about five kilometers away, sculptor Erwin Wortelkamp, together with 40 artists and landscape architects, has created "Im Tal," a landscape garden and sculpture park. The artworks are integrated into the natural surroundings, linking them closely to the Westerwald.
Our tour guide Potter Joachim Ermert has three travel tips: the ceramic museum in Höhr-Grenzhausen, the village of Grenzau with its castle ruins, and the restaurant "Zur Burg Grenzau."

Kunduz victims angry over colonel's promotion

A German colonel, Georg Klein, who ordered a tragic bombing near Kunduz three years ago, will be promoted to the rank of general. The Bundeswehr says it’s ‘normal’, but Afghan survivors view it as a provocation.

German Bundeswehr Colonel Georg Klein has a reputation in Afghanistan, but his name does not conjure up the best memories. On the the night of September 4, 2009, Col. Klein ordered the bombing of two hijacked tanker trucks near a Kunduz military camp. More than 100 Afghans died in the incident or were seriously injured, most of them civilians, many of them children. Despite the tragic misjudgment which Colonel Klein may have made out of fear of a possible attack, he was never charged.
The incident, however, did trigger consequences at the staff level. The poor information policy within the German Defense Ministry led to the resignation of the defense minister and to the dismissal of the Bundeswehr's Inspector General. But legal proceedings related to the case never led to formal charges or a verdict against Colonel Klein.
'Normal procedure'
Now, the Bundeswehr sees it as a ‘normal procedure' that Col. Klein should be promoted to the rank of general, three years after giving his fateful order. In future, he will be sitting behind a desk in his new position as head of the new Bundeswehr department for human resource management. But editorials in the German press mostly criticize the decision, saying what may be considered a ‘normal procedure' within the Bundeswehr, is probably seen differently abroad and also from a moral perspective. "That's not how the West can win the Afghans' hearts", read one editorial.

Lawyer Karim Popal criticizes Colonel Klein's promotion

The lawyer of the relatives of the Kunduz victims, Karim Popal, is disappointed with Colonel Klein's promotion and about Germany's Afghanistan policy as a whole. "The Federal Republic of Germany decides to promote Mr Oberst Klein and his First Sergeant at the time, Master Sergeant Wilhelm. That's a slap in the face of Afghan civil society", he says and adds that the decision to have the pair promoted is certainly not perceived as an act of international understanding by the Afghans.
Karim Popal, who works as a lawyer in the Northern German town of Bremen, is in close contact with the surviving relatives of the Afghan victims in Kunduz Province. As a group, they wrote a long and detailed letter to the German government, asking that the people responsible for the death of their children, their fathers, their families be convicted. These people, Karim Popal says, perceive Colonel Klein's promotion as a personal insult.
Angry about 'half-hearted help'

Burnt-out tanker trucks in Kunduz Province

To them, the memories of that night in September 2009 are still too vivid. Sayed Rasoul, who lost his brother in the Kunduz incident, is desperate. He has had to take over responsibility for his brother's orphans and hardly knows how to feed them, he says. "The help we got was pointless. If we'd known that they didn't plan to offer long-term help to us and that three years on, nobody thinks about what to do with the orphans, then we'd never have accepted it." Rasoul wants to see the responsible people stand trial.
Noor Jaan, who was severely injured in the incident three years ago, is equally bitter about the news from Germany. "I lost a hand, and half my bones are missing in one shoulder. They promised me surgery. But nothing's happened so far." Noor Jaan is close to tears and trembling with anger. If the injured and the victims' surviving members of family had known at the time that there was only ever going to be half-hearted help, he says, they would never have accepted it. (The Bundeswehr granted the families of 91 dead and 11 severely injured 5,000 US dollars in humanitarian aid each.)
"We have never forgiven (Colonel Klein). If the German government has forgiven him now that would disappoint us severely", Noor Jaan stresses. The letter the relatives and victims wrote will be published in a few days' time. Karim Popal will continue representing his clients and says he hopes that the so-called Kunduz affair will have a fair ending eventually.

Latvian mother seeks damages for Down's child

A controversial court case has angered disability groups across Europe. A Latvian mother has accused doctors of breaching her rights after her daughter was born with Down's syndrome.

In 2002, a 41-year-old Latvian woman, Laura (not her real name), gave birth to a child with Down's syndrome. It was only then that the she found out that mothers over the age of 35 fall into a higher risk category. Many doctors offer prenatal screening tests to detect such chromosomal disorders - and some parents decide to terminate the pregnancy based on the results of those tests.
Laura's doctor apparently failed to do this. She therefore lodged a complaint with the health authorities in a bid to get compensation - but judges in Latvia rejected the claim.
So Laura has taken her case all the way to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), claiming her right to a proper family life has been violated. She wants around 300,000 euros ($371,000) in moral damages to provide an allowance for her child.
"We're basing our complaint on two articles of the European Convention on Human Rights," her lawyer, Solvita Olsena. "First, the right to respect for private life prescribed by article eight. In other words, the right to have a reproductive choice and to know about reproductive matters. And secondly, we think there's been a breach of article six of the convention because she was denied a fair trial."
Olsena claims there is evidence of malpractice on the part of the doctor that was not allowed by the court in Latvia. Laura is now facing legal costs of around 4,000 euros, which she cannot afford.
Rights groups up in arms
Her quest for justice has provoked an angry response from more than 20 associations who work with people suffering from Down's syndrome. Earlier this year they launched an online petition calling on judges in the ECHR in Strasbourg to reject Laura's case. Liva Veiherte from the Latvian Down's Syndrome Society was among those who signed the petition.
"This is the first case where a mother has asked for the fundamental human right to euthanize her unborn child. And I really want to stress that we are not talking about abortion which is right or wrong depending on one's moral standards. This is about euthanasia which would be carried out in the last months of pregnancy," said Veiherte.
Veiherte believes people shouldn't be discriminated against because of genetic defects. And people with Down's syndrome, she says, don't usually suffer any physical pain because of their condition. They go to school, have jobs and can live full and independent lives.
Personal experience
Laimdota Landisa has also signed the international petition against Laura's case. She herself has a 13-year-old daughter who has Down's syndrome. And like Laura, Landisa was 41 when she gave birth.
"Victoria was our fourth child, and the long-awaited girl in the family. We didn't suspect any disorder because I'd had a sonogram, which usually detects irregularities during pregnancy. And the doctor didn't offer any additional genetic screening."
Landisa says that Victoria's Down's syndrome came as a shock and turned her life upside down. She considered rejecting the baby but eventually decided to take her daughter home. Her husband, though, couldn't accept this decision, and he left the family. Landisa went back to work and has raised Victoria alone along with her three other children. She says it's been a rough ride, but it's been worth it.
"I realized that I wouldn't cope, and I sought help," Landisa explained. "I joined a support group, and from early on I took Victoria to various day care centers. But I raised her. I don't know how it is in other countries, but here in Latvia mothers have to manage everything themselves if they want to raise children with disabilities."
Legal controversy
According to Henrietta Roscam Abbing, an editor at the European Journal of Health Law, Laura's claim has caused an uproar over issues which are not even the essence of the case:
"The court will not judge on those issues because the case is not about that," she told DW. "It's about informed consent and whether the woman was given a choice about taking screening test or not. And that is personal autonomy, which is in the European Convention of Human Rights. You shouldn't bring that in the light of abortion and of the disabled. That's what disturbing me very much."
The case has only just come before the ECHR, so it will be months before judges deliver their verdict. In the meantime, disability rights groups are continuing to collect signatures for their petition.

Indian schoolgirls dropping out during puberty

Young girls in India menstruating for the first time are considered impure and are excluded from social life. Tradition dictates they are not allowed into the family home and many are forced to stop going to school.

Tucked away beside a large public bus station in the heart of the city of Bangalore in India's southern Karnataka state, the Yeshwantpur slum is relatively quiet, with most of its residents away at work or school. Kousalya Velayutham, 14, sits alone at the doorway of the tenement building, washing clothes. For the past few days, the young girl has not been going to school because she got her period for the first time.
It's a common tradition in many parts of India to make menstruating girls sit outside the house for five days at a stretch. She sat at the doorway under a temporary shelter made of banana leaves.
"I was not supposed to come inside," Kousalya said. "I could come in only to sleep. Even then I had to sleep near the door, and was not allowed to come further inside. All of god's photos in our house were covered with a cloth, and I was not supposed to look at them for nine days. They say god will get angry."
Kousalya's family are migrant laborers from neighboring Tamil Nadu state. She shares her single room with two siblings, a widowed aunt and her three children. Kousalya's father abandoned the family, and her mother returned to their native village, leaving Kousalya and her brothers to the care of her Aunt Lalitha.

When Kousalya mentruated for the first time, all religious pictures were covered

While Lalitha works as a domestic helper during the day, Kousalya helps out by doing all the household chores.
As per tradition, Kousalya was allowed to enter the house again after the first five days, but she has other restrictions she must adhere to for nine days. She is not allowed to leave the slum - a protection against "evil spirits." But since the tenement they live in has only a small bathing area and no toilet, Kousalya is allowed once a day to walk over to the public toilet at the nearby bus station that is used by all the slum dwellers. Here, too, Kousalya was told to cover her face with her dupatta or scarf.
Being a 'big girl' now
"The boys and men walking around the bus station shouldn't see my face. I have got my period for the first time, so now if anyone sees me they say I will get pimples all over my face."
Apart from this list of instructions, Kousalya knows little else about the changes in her body. All she knows from her aunt and teachers at school is that she is considered a "big girl" now and has to be careful around boys and strangers, although no one has told her why. She is happy that she got new clothes and jewelry for the occasion.
Meanwhile, about half a kilometer (0.3 miles) away, Kousalya's school, the T.A. Higher Primary, is in full swing.
Kousalya's classmate Shalini Bhavu discovered during class about seven months ago that she was bleeding. The teacher sent Shalini home, where her mother told her that she had got her period.
Like Kousalya, Shalini also had to go through the ritual of sitting outside for five days. The ancient Hindu tradition was designed to give women a break from the housework. But over the years, the practice has often been interpreted differently. Women and girls were told that their bodies were "polluted" during this time, so they had to sit away from others and avoid chores like cooking so as not to "contaminate" others.
School drop-outs
Today, the practice still continues in rural areas and in poor or less educated families in India. But it's limited to girls having their period for the first time.
Shalini often misses a few days of school every month, complaining of severe stomach ache and heavy bleeding. She says she hasn't gone to a doctor yet.

Shalini's family has allowed her to continue her education

"My mother told my aunt that I had severe bleeding, but my aunt said that I don't need to go to a doctor," she says. "She just told her to give me some nuts, sweets and spicy food, and the bleeding will be reduced."
Shalini is lucky: she has her parents' support to continue her schooling. This is not the case for many other girls in India. Many parents take their daughters out of school when they reach puberty and start planning to marry them off. One of the reasons is the fear that they might become pregnant at an early age, especially since there have been cases in Bangalore of older men taking advantage of young adolescent girls in schools.
Teachers at the T.A. Higher Primary School say they have not had cases of dropouts in their school. Sometimes, however, they have to go to students' homes and convince the parents to send their daughters to school.
Up to a quarter of Indian girls are estimated to drop out of school for good after they reach adolescence. Some stay away from school during their menstruation because they can not afford proper menstrual protection like sanitary napkins.
Sex education not part of Indian culture?
Earlier this year, the state of Karnataka introduced sex education in the school curriculum. But whether it will be implemented by teachers and school authorities in the state remains to be seen.

Shalini (left) and her sister on her way back home from school

Shalini's English teacher Shanthi Baskaran says it would help to equip the girls with more awareness on how to behave around strangers and how to identify sex abuse, so they can prevent or report such incidents.
Yet she says a complete education on the female anatomy, puberty-related changes and sexuality would not be appropriate, because discussing these issues openly is not part of Indian culture.
"The children watch TV and know too much nowadays. If we just casually mention the word ‘love' or 'affection' in class, they start getting all kinds of wrong ideas," she told DW. "We don't feel comfortable discussing these things in detail. My personal opinion is that we don't need sex education. If there is a need to educate them about the do's and don'ts of sexual behavior, let other people come and teach them."

Indian court orders media to honor children’s privacy

The Delhi High Court issued new guidelines for the broadcast of news about children after a complaint about an infant who was shown on television as she was brought into a hospital with multiple injuries.

The Indian media will not be allowed to reveal personal details of children who have been victimized or who feature in stories concerning sexual offences, elopement and drug abuse.
According to the new guidelines, "The media shall ensure that a child's identity is not revealed in any manner, including but not limited to, disclosure of personal information, photograph, school or locality and information of the family including their residential or official address."
The rules, submitted to the court by a committee, also asked the media to not sensationalize stories about children. They require journalists to be conscious of the consequences of revealing sensitive information about child who are victims or who are connected to a crime.
The guidelines also say that the media must ensure the right to privacy of a child so that he or she may not be exposed to anxiety, distress, trauma or social stigma in the future.
In January this year, a-two-year-old battered baby was brought into a hospital in New Delhi. Media reports disclosed her identity and also that of a young girl who brought the baby to the hospital.

Journalists are being asked to be more sensitive about what they portray

A lawyer then filed a petition saying that the media exposure was a violation of the Juvenile Justice Act, according to which no report in any broadcasting medium is allowed to disclose the identity of a minor in conflict with the law. The Delhi High Court then appointed a committee which submitted its guidelines.
Insensitivity or ignorance?
The Indian media has not been very discreet about children's identities. Notable cases include the recent investigations into the murder of a teenager, whose photographs were widely publicized by the media. Another case in 2004 involved a teenager who was mentally bullied when her videos were circulated among her schoolmates. Some channels even publicized her name.
Ritu Jain, magistrate at the Delhi Police's special unit for women and children said that publicizing a child's identity only creates problems and doesn't offer any solutions. "There is no advantage for the child if his or her identity is made public. No one offers her any assistance, only the court or the police can help her and the child is reduced to just a name."
Jain believes that revealing a child's identity makes him or her a subject for discussion and this may have an effect on his or her future - especially when it comes to getting admissions in school and college.
Hunger of a growing media
The Indian media is expanding rapidly. According to Price Waterhouse Coopers, media is expanding at 11.4 percent every year, a pace that is one of the highest in the world. This is one reason why the media constantly needs new people with new skills.

The Indian media is undergoing a period of rapid expansion

Senior Journalist Qamar Waheed Naqvi believes this is one big reason why it is getting difficult to sensitize the media towards such issues. "If you look at the way the media is expanding and at the institutions of training, it's not necessary that all institutes take such issues into account. "
Naqvi says that there is no regulatory authority in India which ensures that all institutes teach the basics of sensitivity to their students.
Ritu Jain also believes that the media needs to be sensitized and many journalists themselves do not believe they are doing any harm by revealing the details of a child when they are reporting on a crime.
Naqvi says that most journalists are ignorant, and "by the time they become sensitive to such issues, it is already too late. The mistake has been made and the damages have to be dealt with."
And will the new guidelines be successful in ensuring protection to children? Naqvi believes that the new guidelines will at least help create awareness among journalists and such blatant revelations of a child's identity will be much lesser in the future.
Author: Manasi Gopalakrishnan
Editor: Richard Connor

Survival in the Sahel

More than a million children are going hungry in the Sahel because of drought. A German aid group believes it can help to contain the crisis by offering financial inducements for the slaughter of weaker livestock.

Adamou Nouhou is patiently sawing away at a bone. He is a butcher from the village of Yatakala in the Tera region of Niger. Two tables are standing in the sand, they are covered with plastic bags. Adamou's two assistants are putting pieces of raw meat on metal skewers and then hanging them out to dry in the sun. Nearby two beef carcasses, supported by a wooden frame, are swaying in the wind. The air is full of sand and dust, and it is hot, more than 40 degrees in the shade. Adamou Nouhou places his saw to one side. "After we have skinned the animals, we bring them here, cut them up and remove the bone. Before we put the meat out to dry, we have to weigh it.," he says
That is the job of Fati Salou, an independent weights and measures inspector. She examines the carcasses, notes down their weight and ensures the meat really does go to those who need it.

Weaker animals are slaughtered and the meat is dsitributed to the needy

Buying up livestock
This provisional abattoir is one of eight that the German aid organisation Welthungerhilfe (World Food Aid) have set up in villages across Niger. Some 60,000 people have benefited from the project since it started at the beginning of the year. All needy households in the villages have been supplied with meat, as well as millet and seed.
Fati Salaou opens the gate into a farmyard. A few underfed cattle and goats are chewing away in the shade of a tree. Because of the drought in the Sahel, oxen and cows have hardly anything to eat. Welthungerhilfe buys the weakest cattle from the farmers at a price which they would never get if they went to market. In and around Yatakala these animals now end up in cooking pots and save human lives.

Carcasses drying in the sun

Willi Kohlmus is Welthungerhilfe's regional director for Africa. He says they are trying to do everything they can to stop people leaving the area, because that would be the worst that could happen. "It would mean they would stop growing crops and the next harvest would also be a disaster. That in turn would mean more dependence on foreign aid, in refugee camps,".he warns.
 For farmers and the nomadic peoples of the Sahel, cows and oxen are status symbols. They are also an investment for the future, or savings to fall back on in hard times. Livestock is slaughtered only on special occasions, for example, when the son of the family gets married. Normally, they would let animals starve to death rather than take a knife to their throats. Selling them is the only option. But who is going to buy cattle when there isn't any feed because of the drought? It is a real dilemma, as Saydou Abdoulaye, a young father from Yatakala explains. "One really can't expect us to reduce the size of our herds, because we don't have anything else. They are all that we possess," he says.

"Things were different in the old days"

Worst drought ever
The food crisis is closely linked to the broader crisis enveloping the environment. Climate change has made the rainy season less predictable. Periods of drought now occur more frequently. Simultaneously, the growth in population is putting a greater strain on the soil. More people are keeping more livestock and the pastureland becomes overgrazed. As it is not given a chance to recover, it becomes worn out. In addition, more and more trees are cut down for firewood.
Slowly the people of Yatakala are realizing that they are partly to blame if nothing grows any more. For 60-year-old farmer Gambina Birma this is the worst drought she has ever experienced.
"We pray that this year there will be enough rain so that we never have another season like the last one ever again Now, we have a disaster here every second year. Two years ago we were hit by flooding. Things were different in the old days, there used to be a lot more trees and hardly any sand," she says.
Learning to treat animals

Learning to be a veterinary assistant at classes supported by Welthungerhilfe

In a school building in Tera, there is a class in which all the students are adult men. Rows of tables are covered with medicines and medical equipment. The students are being trained to become veterinary assistants. Two cattle breeders from Yatakala are also taking part.
Welthungerhilfe's Willi Kohlmus gives a short introductory speech. "We are not here just to offeryou emergency aid, instead we want - together with you -  to lay the foundations for a better future," he says.
Everyone completing the course will be able to run their own pharmacy, which will supply famers with the medicines they need for the care of their animals free of charge. They also learn that a small herd of healthy animals is far more valuable than a larger one, which cannot be fed adequately in times of drought. 

Egypt celebrates first Ramadan under Muslim Brotherhood

Ramadan is a time of reflection and piety for Muslims across the globe. In Egypt, this year marks the first Ramadan under the Muslim Brotherhood - and many perceive the celebrations as being different.

It is dusk in Cairo, and in the working class district of Moqattam a long table is wedged between two shopfronts. About 30 Egyptian men are gathered around. Some hold prayer beads, others sit with their heads resting on the tabletop.
The men are here for Iftar, the traditional meal that breaks the daytime fast for those observing Ramadan, when bars close, shops limit their trading hours and the pious abstain from food and drink from dawn until dusk.
It can be an expensive time of year for the more than 16 million Egyptians who live below the poverty line. Prices for groceries go up, businesses limit their hours, and local mosques encourage donations.
'Good, religious men'

The first civilian president in Egypt's history

But the meal on the Moqattam roadside comes at no charge: the Muslim Brotherhood, whose leading member Mohammed Morsi was elected president in June, is footing the bill. Egypt's largest religious organization has been giving away take-out Iftar meals most of the afternoon from their nearby headquarters.
Ahmed Mahmoud Ali is a store clerk, married with four children. He moved from a rural village to Cairo for its better job prospects. As Ahmed breaks his fast, he explains why he supports the Muslim Brotherhood and its political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party: "I know them, they have helped my community and they are good religious men."
Egyptians like Ahmed are the core constituents of the Brotherhood's base. While other political factions struggled to organize following the ouster of former strongman Hosni Mubarak early last year, the Brotherhood tapped into an already established grassroots network spanning the length and breadth of Egypt.

In the first round of parliamentary elections in November they won 47 percent of the vote. In June, longtime Muslim Brotherhood politician Morsi won the presidency in the country's first fair presidential elections. The Brotherhood has emerged as the only real rival to the ruling military council, which continues to hold the bulk of executive powers.
Formed in 1923, outlawed in 1957, and then slowly allowed back into public life during Mubarak's later years, the Brotherhood has a long tradition of charity and community outreach, particularly among the rural poor. They understand the people, Ahmed says.
New stature
Perched in the hills above Cairo, the famed Citadel offers a stunning view of the sprawling capital and is an apt metaphor for just how high the Brotherhood have risen. Here, the Brotherhood has organized a very different kind of Iftar. This is the Brotherhood's slick, educated, wealthy machine: Guests are greeted by a man in a suit with a Blackberry and seated at tables with flowing white tablecloths. The prayer call from the imposing Mohammed Ali mosque fights for attention with the babble of well-to-do attendees.

Many Egyptians feel Ramadan is different this year

However, not everyone is as excited about the new stature of the Muslim group.
Marlaine Morees, one of Egypt's 10 million Coptic Christians, feels Ramadan is a time to reflect on the changes in her community and country.
Seated in a western-style café at "City Stars," a massive modern mall in the upper-class Cairo suburb of Heliopolis, Morees, who works at a multinational bank, says Christians and Muslims used to celebrate Ramadan together as more of a cultural event. There was more harmony then, she says.

"This feels like there is more tension or struggle," she says. "The cause is not so clear - whether it's tension because of the pressure we have right now, the sort of environment of the Muslim Brotherhood being around."
'We don't serve alcohol'
There is no question that Ramadan is different this year, Morees says.

As an example she points to the upscale Gouna resort on the Red Sea, which has catered to foreigners - and served alcohol to them - for decades.

"Just recently, we were there and my dad asked if they have beverages like beer. They said we don't serve anymore," she says. None of the other bars and cafes in town did either. "I know alcohol isn't an important issue, but it gives a bit of an indicator that we are heading towards conservatism."
Despite President Morsi's repeated assurances that the Coptic minority will always have a place in Egypt, Morees and many of her friends are pondering their future in Egypt, especially after recent clashes between Muslims and Christians in the city of Dahshur.

Children participate in evening prayers at a Cairo mosque

"I know a lot of Christians who have considered leaving the country," she says. She and her father have discussed obtaining a second passport, because they no longer feel safe. "We feel that at any moment, things could turn, and there could be more and more violence between Christians and Muslims."
At the moment it's hard to say what to expect from the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party. The party's platform does not address specific political and economic problems, Cairo University political scientist Mostafa Elwi Saif says.
may have a platform,
Elwi Saif is optimistic the Brotherhood will be judged on their performance in government and their ability to implement actual policies, rather than their popularity amongst the community.

"There is a big difference between being in opposition and being in power - because being in power, you are responsible," he says.
At the end of the day, Marlaine Morees shares the professor's hopes: "I am Egyptian. Muslims and Christians - we're under the same roof, and we all care about one country."

Romania gone astray

Romania is beset by a political power struggle with endless squabbling in a highly-charged political standoff. The stakes are high and the Balkan country's constitutional court has turned to the EU for help.

For weeks, Prime Minister Victor Ponta's government has tried to have suspended President Traian Basescu removed from office, violating laws and rulings by the Constitutional Court as a means to an end. The government's efforts have been blasted as a "revolution of thieves" by Romania's Hotnews website. Forgery of the country's eligible voters and election fraud have meanwhile been added to the list of grievances.
On August 10, prosecutors at Romania's Supreme Court made public transcripts of intercepted phone calls made by ministers and senior officials.
The calls showed Ponta's government was planning to falsify electoral lists on a large scale: tens-of-thousands of people were to be declared dead and expatriate Romanians were to be taken off the lists. The Romanian judiciary has launched a probe into the alleged manipulation of voter rolls.
Insufficient voter turnout

President Basescu survived the impeachment referendum

The doctored data was aimed at retroactively declaring valid a controversial referendum on July 29 to impeach Basescu. The 50-percent turnout necessary for an impeachment of the president was not reached: about 46 percent of the electorate cast ballots, with an overwhelming majority - 80 percent - of those voters in favor of removing the center-right president from power.
The power struggle between the governing majority and the head of state has maneuvered Romania into its worst political crisis in two decades. According to the Bucharest daily Adevarul, the country is suffering from "political collapse." Former Justice Minister and current member of the EU parliament, Monica Macovei, describes Ponta's cabinet as "a law-breaking government that has marginalized Romania in the EU."
Just days after the referendum, Romania was in an uproar. The Constitutional Court is due to rule on the validity of the vote on unseating Basescu. Chief Constitutional Court judge, Augustin Zegrean, has meanwhile turned to the European Commission and the Council of Europe for help to protect its independence from political pressure asserted by Ponta's government. In an official letter to the EU bodies, Zegrean revealed there have been threats to the court's judges.
Beleaguered rule of law
European Commission President Jose Barroso and European Rights and Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding expressed support for the Court, saying in a letter the Commission was "committed to ensuring respect for the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary in Romania."
Foreign Minister Titus Corlatean has accused Zegrean of harming the country's reputation with his letter of complaint.
The uproar over the Constitutional Court, according to Peter Eckstein- Kovacs, a well-known human rights lawyer and political leader for the country's ethnic Hungarian minority, illustrates "that the rule of law in Romania is not really developed" and that "an attack on the few areas of the state that are still working" is underway.
Powerbrokers "not interested in EU values"

Victor Ponta appears to have lost the power struggle - for the time being

Socialist Prime Minister Victor Ponta has since, on several occasions, called for accepting defeat in the struggle with President Basescu. However, this standpoint is apparently not shared by the hardliners in his party.
Observers believe that Ponta has little real power in the Social Democratic Party he leads and that regional powerbrokers, who also control their local economies, have the most influence over his political fate. To make matters worse, the premier is facing criticism for allegedly plagiarizing portions of his doctoral thesis.
Laura Stefan, a Romanian lawyer and member of an EU oversight panel that regularly reviews Romania's progress toward the rule of law, is convinced that "no rules are being obeyed" and that "a large part of the political elite is not interested in EU values and would rather see Romania outside the EU."
"Everything we arduously built over the last two decades toward a civil society is now being destroyed in just a few days," Stefan said.

North against South in Europe?

Europe's dividing lines in the debt crisis run between the rich North and less well-off South - at first glance, anyway. But closer examination suggests the truth is more complicated.

Long before the current debt and economic crisis, statistics showed a gap in buying power between northern and southern nations in the European Union. For decades, the rule of thumb had been that the well-off people live in northern Europe while those in the south are less well-to-do.

The outlook shifted in 2004 when Eastern European and former communist states joined the bloc. The general rule changed to Western European countries having a higher standard of living than their counterparts in the East.

The population of Luxembourg booked the highest buying power with 271 percent of the European average. Italy and Spain were about average for the 27-member European Union. Meanwhile, Romania and Bulgaria had just 46 percent and 44 percent of the bloc's average per capita buying power. At 118 percent, Germany sat in the table's upper-middle range.

The distribution of rich and poor in Europe has not undergone major changes due to the economic crisis. Aid from the rescue fund has, so far, gone out to countries like Greece and Portugal, although buying power in Greece is 90 percent of the European average and 80 percent in Portugal.

The Northern European country of Ireland has also received billions from the fund even though its buying power was 128 percent of the European average and well above Germany's, the country bearing the most risk for the rescue fund. A simple North-vs.-South pattern also does not fit for Spain and Italy, which have paid more into the rescue program. Cyprus, which has also requested aid, is on par with Spain and Italy with its 99 percent buying power rating.

Luxembourg is on top in terms of buying power

Upon examination, it seems the debt crisis is less connected to wealth and poverty than it is to current financial and budgetary policies. Estonia, which is statistically regarded as one of Europe's poorer countries, has nearly no debt and is running a budget surplus.

New divisions

The Finnish Europe Minister Alexander Stubb said he sees new divisions in the European Union.

"We have quite a few different types of coalitions in the European Union nowadays, and I think it's a waste of time to talk about founding states versus new states and North versus South - and certainly East versus West," he said, adding, "The coalitions inside the European Union are functionally based. They depend on the area: 'Are you in the euro or not,' 'Are you pro-single-market or not,' 'Are you a triple-A country or not?' The divisions are completely new."

The real divisions today involve states that are pushing for sharing debt across the currency union and those that are against the practice, said former Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt. Germany, Finland and the Netherlands are the last three countries in the 17-member eurozone that oppose issuing common eurobonds. Verhofstadt, who currently heads the liberal-democratic group in the European Parliament, said deciding on debt will decide the fate of the EU.

"It is a dispute about the future of the European Union itself," he told DW. "I think everybody who is analyzing in an appropriate way what is happening now sees that the euro can only survive and the euro crisis can only be overcome by the establishment of a full-fledged economic, fiscal and political union - including a common bond market. If [German] Chancellor Merkel does not realize this then she is making a big mistake."

The fact that France is also pushing for common eurobonds has weakened the German-French motor that has traditionally helped drive the EU, Verhofstadt added.

The significant differences in economic performance within the EU led Hans-Olaf Henkel, a former president of the Federation of German Industry, to the controversial idea that the euro be split into a northern-euro for countries north of the Alps and southern-euro for the rest of Europe.

Guy Verhofstadt: Full political union is the answer

"By now it must be clear to every economist - and not just economists - that the euro is much too weak for northern countries and that it has become much too strong for southern ones," he said. "For me it has turned into a ludicrous export development plan for German industry. If our exports have it relatively easy with a weak euro then it is going to be up to tax payers and their kids to pay for the financial effect in the South. It's crazy."

Once a strong supporter of the common currency, Henkel said he has gown to accept the idea of the EU splitting into a pair of entities split by geography.

Inflation across Europe

When it comes to inflation in the euro countries, Brussels economist Zsolt Darvas sees a dividing line between North and South. In the North, inflation is too low, and, in the South, it is too high, he said. Money inflows from the North caused the excessive inflation in the South, and those investments also led to the housing bubble in Spain, Darvas told DW.

"In the future, that should be reversed because the southern states at the moment are not competitive. That means that they cannot export enough to export to pay off their debts abroad. There should thus be higher inflation in the North and lower inflation, or even deflation, in the South," he argued.

Bulgaria fares much less well on the buying power scale

Preventing enmity

For decades, the wealthy countries of the EU have transferred billions of euros in structural aid to the less wealthy countries. That's because the equalization of the economic situation is one of the fundamental tasks of the Union. The community's principle of solidarity has yet to be questioned, although there have often been sharp disagreements in the budget negotiations between net payers and net recipients.

Over the years, Greece has been one of the largest net aid recipients. In an interview with the news magazine "Der Spiegel" this week, Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti lamented the mutual prejudice - even enmity - between North and South that has reappeared.

"This is very troubling, and we must fight it. I'm sure that most Germans have an instinctive sympathy for Italy, just as the Italians admire the Germans for their many qualities," he said.

Preparing for a post-Assad Syria

Syria's President Bashar Assad is still clinging to power. But many governments are expecting his regime to fall - and are planning for what comes next.

It was only eighteen months ago that the US government sent an ambassador back to Syria. But Robert Stephen Ford did not stay long. In October 2011, after only ten months, the American envoy left again - for safety reasons, Washington said. The peaceful protests of the Syrian population against their government had turned into a violent conflict. Meanwhile, Syrian President Bashar Assad has come under heavy international pressure for sanctioning brutal attacks against his own people.

Invitation from Paris

Sarkozy welcomes Assad to Paris for a national holiday

Until violence broke out, there were strong indications that the Syrian regime had moved closer to the West - and vice versa. Politicians from Germany, France and the United States traveled to Damascus in order to develop their contacts with the Syrian government. At the invitation of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Bashar al-Assad and his wife Asma visited Paris in 2008. Many experts argued peace in the Middle East was not possible without Syrian involvement.

Western politicians also wanted to loosen Syria's close alliance with Iran. A previous Saudi attempt to do so had failed. In 2002, the Turkish government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan began to intensify its relationship with the formerly hostile Syrian regime. Bashar Assad became an important Erdogan ally.

The Western politicians' policy shift was remarkable because it was assumed that Syria, together with the Shiite Hezbollah militia, was responsible for the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005 - one reason why the United States withdrew its then-ambassador from Syria. For five years, the US diplomatic post remained vacant in Damascus. In late 2010, the US, with its new ambassador, tried to jumpstart Syrian-American relations. The attempt failed.

Coordinated approach

Clinton (center) and Davutoglu (right) are planning together

That's because for the Americans - like for many other governments - Bashar Assad cannot leave the political stage quickly enough.

"No one can predict how soon this regime will finally be brought to an end. But we know the day will come," US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in Istanbul on Saturday (11.08.2012).

At a press conference with her Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu, she announced the formation of a joint US-Turkish working group on Syria. The US and Turkey, which broke off ties with Syria in 2011, intend to strengthen their coordination. The intelligence agencies of both states and armed forces should play an important role, Clinton said.

Clinton added that the two countries had worked together closely over the course of the conflict in Syria.

"But now we need to get into the real details of such operational planning. It needs to be across both of our governments," Clinton said.

Davutoglu suggested the possible establishment of a safe zone in Syria to protect refugees from possible attacks by soldiers and fighter jets loyal to Assad. "We must prepare for an intervention," Davutoglu also said, without giving details.

There is speculation that in addition to weapons shipments to the rebels and the use of special forces on the ground, this could mean a no-fly zone to break the military and technical superiority of Assad's troops.

Clinton stressed that the Syrian opposition had to be helped after the anticipated fall of the regime in order to protect the institutions of the state and build a democratic and pluralistic government. Moreover, chemical weapons depots would have to be brought under control after the fall of the regime, the two foreign ministers said.

New task force

Westerwelle would like to see Assad tried at the ICC

The United States and Turkey are not the only countries that are already preparing for what comes after Assad. In early August, the German government appointed a new task force in Berlin. Under the direction of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Middle East envoy, Boris Ruge, it is intended to bring together the work of various ministries. Besides the foreign ministry, these are the ministries of defense, the interior and development.

"The German government supports a democratic, multiethnic Syria," Ruprecht Polenz, chairman of the parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee, said in an interview with Deutsche Welle. "All who wish to prepare for this course will receive support from Germany if they turn to Germany."

Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle supports putting Assad on trial before the International Criminal Court in The Hague. But to avoid further bloodshed, encouraging Assad's departure into exile is also conceivable.

"If another death can be avoided by Assad leaving the country voluntarily, punishing him would not be my priority," Westerwelle said in an interview with the newspaper "Bild am Sonntag."

An initiative from France

Rebels are clashing with government troops in Syria

France also expects the Assad regime to fall. President Francois Hollande said on Saturday that France would support the Syrian opposition and continue to support "a political transition in Syria." In the past week, France has stationed a group of physicians at the Jordanian-Syrian border. They are not only there to support the war refugees, but also fighters against the Syrian regime.

Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy, however, recently made an indirect call for military intervention in Syria, triggering a storm of indignation. Sarkozy, who had campaigned for the intervention in Libya, justified his statement with Syria's "great similarities to the Libyan crisis." The former president was also criticized because he could have made an issue of intervening while he was still in office.

A major difference to the situation in Libya is that a kind of proxy war between the Sunni camp under Saudi leadership and the Iranian-backed Shiite camp has been taking place in Syria. Numerous Sunni volunteers, including radical Islamists, are fighting on the side of the Sunni insurgents. Unconfirmed reports suggest money and weapons are coming primarily from Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

In return, Iran supports the Assad regime. As previously happened in Bahrain, the uprising in Syria threatens to become a religious conflict. Stopping a development of this sort after a fall of the Syrian regime may be the biggest challenge for the international community.

Merkel returns to a host of problems

Angela Merkel is back from her vacation. The euro zone crisis is just one of many problems waiting in the wings for her. But near the top of her agenda this week is a business trip to Canada.

In recent years, Canada has become a popular holiday destination for Germans. Angela Merkel prefers resorts closer to home. But a few days after her hiking trip to South Tyrol, the chancellor flies to the Canadian capital of Ottawa on Thursday - on a business trip, but probably a fairly relaxed one. The relationship with NATO ally Canada is traditionally problem-free; Canada's political culture is more similar to that of European neighbors than to that of the United States.

The trip to Canada can be seen as a sign that Merkel isn't letting the euro crisis get the better of her. Her hands are tied at present on many aspects of the fateful issue. Germany, the rest of Europe and the world's financial markets have to wait on decisions from Germany's Constitutional Court and the so-called troika.

Things get serious in September

On September 12, the German court will announce whether the permanent euro rescue fund (ESM) and the European fiscal pact are constitutional. If the judges say no, Europe, and above all Merkel, will have a huge problem.

The court has Germany's government on tenterhooks

Meanwhile, the troika of the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund is checking whether Greece meets the requirements for a further assistance payment. It wants to announce the results before mid-September. If the troika says no, Europe will also have a very big problem.

Government spokesman Steffen Seibert gave assurances that, in spite of everything, the chancellor is in good spirits on her first day back at work. Like others coming back from their holiday, she enjoyed the change of pace, but is returning to work with a sense of anticipation.

"There is now a great deal of energy, which you will experience in the coming days and weeks," Seibert said.

Much work ahead

She will need drive and energy. In the past few days, German media have made lists of everything the chancellor can expect apart from the euro crisis. As points of contention within Merkel's coalition, the "Süddeutsche Zeitung" listed care subsidies for parents of young children, pension supplements for low earners, the implementation of energy policy, the decision whether to try to ban the far-right NPD party, the retention of telecommunications data to fight crime, the new electoral law demanded by the Constitutional Court and the equal treatment of homosexual partnerships in taxation matters. Added to this is the controversial tax treaty with Switzerland, which has become a point of contention between the federal and state governments.

Fellow party members oppose Von der Leyen's pension plans

However, this was now Merkel's seventh summer break as chancellor, and in earlier years, it was no different. Many a politician uses the slow news time to set an agenda. That's what Labor and Social Affairs Minister Ursula von der Leyen did with her initiative for pension supplements, which promptly outraged her coalition partners, the Free Democrats, and the pro-business wing of her own party, the Christian Democrats.

What's more, all the media outlets make efforts over the summer to fill pages and airtime with interviews with politicians - often eliciting controversial statements from their conversation partners. When the boss is back, these statements must be combined into a common platform. The process generally works.

The "C question"

The summer break the year before a general election has another special feature that benefits the head of government. Many years ago, a journalist for the Süddeutsche Zeitung called it "the C question." There is a discussion as to which opposition politician would be the best candidate to take on the chancellor in the election. Every mention of a C hopeful is then interpreted as an attempt to improve that person's position in the C question. This is what is now happening to the three potential Social Democratic chancellor candidates, Sigmar Gabriel, Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Peer Steinbrück.

Sigmar Gabriel, Peer Steinbrück and Frank Walter Steinmeier want Merkel's job

The newly elected Minister President of the state of Schleswig-Holstein, Torsten Albig, has publicly endorsed Steinmeier as chancellor candidate. SPD General Secretary Andrea Nahles, who, like Merkel, is returning from her summer holiday, said after a telephone conference of the party leadership: "This form of navel gazing primarily helps Ms. Merkel and thus needs to stop immediately."

The Greens are also doing the chancellor and the governing parties the favor of publicly discussing their top candidates for the parliamentary election. This is ultimately part and parcel of a democracy, just like differences of opinion in a coalition. And the process may just lead Angela Merkel to relish getting back into the thick of things.