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.