'Needles, Pliers, a Blunt Saw'
Rammstein has reached its goal. The band's best-selling new album "Liebe ist für alle da" ("Love is There for Everyone") has been taken off German shelves after offending government censors -- a first for the bad boys of German rock. By Tobias Rapp more...
Salivating Scoundrels
Some men will steal your heart, others will steal your wallet. But one man might soon learn that, if you plan on doing the latter, don't seal the deal with a kiss. more...
Portraits Of European Apartheid
What began as a short visit to Hungary finished seven years later with a prize-winning book documenting the lives of the Roma people, from India to Eastern Europe. The photos are now on display in Germany. And with Berlin planning to repatriate up to 10,000 Roma, they are more than just pretty pictures. more...
Dietmar's Lucky Break
A stork in the German state of Saxony had the bad luck to break his leg, resulting in an amputation. Now, though, Dietmar is being nursed back to health with the help of a prosthesis. more...
Girls for Gadhafi
Known for his quirkiness, Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi may have outdone himself this week. In Italy for a global hunger summit, the colonel requested hundreds of "beautiful girls from all of Italy," saying he wanted to "exchange views." They got a Koran for their trouble. more...
Swastikas and Tinsel
Swastika Christmas tree ornaments, "Germanic" cookies and made-up traditions: A new exhibition highlights how the Nazis tried to take Christ out of Christmas. But their attempts to hijack a festival that began with the birth of a Jewish child weren't entirely successful. By David Gordon Smith more...
To Kill or Not to Kill
Belgian police are hunting a large black cat, believed to be a panther, that has been spotted by hikers close to the border with Germany in recent weeks. Police say they may have to kill it, but a German zoo director is urging them to keep on trying to catch it alive. more...
SPIEGEL Interview with Umberto Eco
Italian novelist and semiotician Umberto Eco, who is curating a new exhibition at the Louvre in Paris, talks to SPIEGEL about the place lists hold in the history of culture, the ways we try to avoid thinking about death and why Google is dangerous for young people. By Susanne Beyer and Lothar Gorris more...
Achtung Berlin!
Irish rock stars U2 preformed a free concert at Berlin's historic Brandenburg Gate on Thursday as part of the MTV European Music Awards. The six-set gig helped kick off celebrations to mark 20 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall. more...
Where the Berlin Wall First Fell
The former border crossing at Bornholmer Strasse may have been the spot where the Iron Curtain cracked wide open, but 20 years on there is little in this drab corner of East Berlin to indicate its historic significance. That is set to change now that Berlin has commissioned a firm of architects to create a new square to commemorate the events of Nov. 9, 1989. By Siobhán Dowling in Berlin more...
