Politics
Topics
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Germany and IraqIraqi President Seeks 'Closer Cooperation'
Iraq's president is currently visiting Germany to meet with a host of top-level politicians. Both sides want to "intensify their cooperation," but they have different ideas of what that means.
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Europe and India
EU Starts Public Relations Tour of India
In India, the European Union has an image problem, seen as both impregnable economically and shaky politically. EU officials are therefore touring the country to raise a more positive profile.
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France
Headscarf Ban Enforced in Public Schools
As French officials continued their efforts to secure the release of two journalists held hostage in Iraq, state schools started enforcing a ban on headscarves - the very issue that prompted the crisis.
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Women's Rights Strengthened
Turkey Changes Laws to Meet EU Standards
The Turkish government agreed on 348 new paragraphs to bring its 80-year-old penal code, which punished sheep theft harder than assault, up to European standard. Extending women's rights was especially controversial. By Jörg Pfuhl
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Hostage Crisis in Iraq
Reclaiming Islam from the Radicals
With two French journalists facing execution in Iraq by Islamic radicals unless France scraps an imminent headscarf ban in schools, Muslims are protesting against the hijacking of their religion by terror groups. A commentary by Rainer Sollich
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Iraq
Bernd Erbel: Germany's New Ambassador to Iraq
The diplomat and Middle East enthusiast Bernd Erbel formally assumed his duties as German ambassador to Iraq this week. As his background shows, there are few better suited for the job.
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Interview Yaacob Ibrahim
Economic Success Helps Maintain Harmony
With the Religious Harmony Act, Singapore's centralized government has tried to integrate the country's Muslim minority. In the interview with Mike Millard, Yaacob Ibrahim, Minister for Muslim Affairs, talked about economic success and religious radicalism in the city state.
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Saudi Arabia
Providing the Discourse That Attracts Terrorists
Saudi Arabia has repeatedly become the target of terrorist attacks. But regime critics say that it was government tactics that have provided a fertile feeding ground for terrorist ideology. Reinhard Baumgarten about the necessity of reforms
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German Institute for Human Rights
Study Sees Human Rights Violated in Terror Fight
A new study commissioned in Berlin and released on Wednesday concluded that the fight against international terrorism should offer no justification whatsoever for the infringement of basic human rights. By Hardy Graupner
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Opinion
Africa Is Not a Priority in the West
Darfur's rebel groups are meeting in Nigeria, but not much is expected to come of it. Heinrich Bergstresser comments on peculiarities of African diplomacy in the case of Sudan and Africa's marginal status in the world.
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Bangladesh
Germany Condemns Attack on Opposition Party
Germany's Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer has sharply condemned this weekend's attack on a Bangladeshi opposition party rally in the capital Dhaka which killed some 19 people and injured several hundred. Jennifer Macey reports
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Opinion Peter Philipp
Bush Plays Own Fiddle in Mideast
In a surprising U-turn, Washington has agreed to the expansion of several Jewish settlements in Palestinian territories. The EU, the UN and Russia now ought to take a stand. A commentary by Peter Philipp
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