Japanese companies leaving London for Germany

Buoyed by the soaring yen, Japanese businesses have also been put off the United Kingdom as a hub of their operations by Britain’s decision not to join the euro. A further black mark has been the sense of the UK’s “geographical isolation” from the rest of the continent.

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Sharing the Responsibility

He was chief of staff to Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, the leading voice behind Germany‘s refusal to fight in Iraq. Now German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier is the Social Democratic Party candidate for chancellor in next year’s elections, running against the popular Christian Democrat incumbent, Angela Merkel. In his first major interview with the U.S. press, Steinmeier sat down with NEWSWEEK’s Michael Levitin to discuss German troop engagements in Afghanistan, Russia‘s recent aggression, the global financial crisis and how Germany might work alongside the United States. Excerpts:

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Designer of new World Trade Centre to build synagogue in Munich

Notorious for its lingering sentiments about the Nazi years, Munich has been mixed up before in controversies involving Jewish remembrance, such as Mayor Christian Ude’s refusal in 2004 to allow the brass-plated Stolpersteine, or Stumbling Stones, to be installed in streets as individual memorials to Jews killed in the Holocaust. This time, members of Munich’s … Read more

A New Context for the Holocaust

With far-right anti-immigrant parties strengthening in Austria, and growing opposition to the mosques and minarets shooting up from Berlin to Cologne, xenophobia is in the air in Europe. Pending job losses from the financial fallout may soon make matters worse. That’s why, when violinist Daniel Hope got the idea of hosting a 70th anniversary concert for Kristallnacht in Berlin, he wanted it to be more than a remembrance of the Holocaust and World War II. “It’s also about now, about violence against foreigners and any kind of racism,” he said. “We’re at a time, in an unstable atmosphere, where we can’t afford to be looking away and watching again.”

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Fired in Stone: A Serbian Monk Burns Through Kosovo

Gracanica – The German peacekeeper is no older than twenty. Blond, skinny, cradling a machine gun half his size, he approaches our Jeep at the razor-wired bridge gate and tells the monk – my driver – to step out. Father Pimen curses under his breath. The only people Pimen hates more than the Americans who bombed his country are the NATO soldiers who have occupied it ever since. “No pictures,” the boy guard warns as he waves us through.

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