Progress Report: Terrorism Trials in Europe

Germany:

A former roommate testifying in the retrial of Mounir el Motassadeq, who prosecutors believe was part of the Hamburg-based 9/11 terror cell, testified before a German court on Tuesday that the Moroccan suspect knew about the attacks beforehand. The witness quoted Motassadeq as saying in 1999 that he was to be involved in a major terrorist plot. "They're going to do something big again," el Motassedeq allegedly told his roomy. "The Jews are going to burn, and we're going to dance on their graves." The roommate, who lived with Motassadeq for three years between 1996-2000, said he overheard Motassadeq make the comments to their Turkish roommate. Motassadeq, 30, was convicted as an accomplice in the Sept. 11 attacks by a Hamburg court in 2003. A federal court, however, later overturned his conviction citing lack of cooperation from the United States, which the court believed was withholding key evidence. A retrial was ordered.

Spain: One down, 18 to go. A Spanish court on Monday completed one of the shortest European terrorism trials yet. It convicted a 16-year-old who goes by the nickname El Gitanillo (little gypsy) to six years in youth detention for his role in the March 11 terrorist attacks in Madrid. El Gitanillo helped transport the explosive materials that were used in the al Qaida bombings of four Spanish commuter trains that left 191 people dead and 2,000 injured. (5:48 p.m.)

EU Questions its Support for Iraq

The likely assassination of CARE director Margaret Hassan has pushed European Union leaders to the breaking point -- and some are even considering withdrawing EU support for Iraq. "Such barbarian tactics make it almost impossible for aid organizations to do their job in Iraq," EU Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid Poul Nielson of Denmark said in Brussels Wednesday. "The biggest victims are the innocent and suffering Iraqis, who profit from the international aid programs." Meanwhile, French President Jacques Chirac -- the most vocal and high-profile critic of the war in Iraq -- used the likely death of Hassan to reiterate a point he has made in the past: that the Iraq war has made the world more dangerous than it was before the American-led invasion. "Without a doubt, it has led to increased terrorism," he said. Chirac flies to London Thursday to meet with Tony Blair -- America's staunchest ally in the war on terror. In the Wednesday issue of the British daily newspaper the Independent, a survey shows 64 percent of Brits think it is more important for Britain to have a good relationship with the rest of Europe than with America. (5:17 p.m. CET)

Status Quo Economic Report Cheers German Chancellor

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder appears to have fallen victim to what George W. Bush might call the "soft bigotry of low expectations." The so-called "wise men" panel of five economics experts Wednesday released its prognosis for the German economy next year. They're predicting modest growth of 1.4 percent. Growth this year is expected to be 1.8 percent, and the drop next year is attributed to 1.3 fewer working days because of public holidays. The wise men also expect the number of unemployed to exceed the 5 million mark in February and warned the chancellor that the government must make reduction of its deficit and adherence to the euro stability pact the core priority of its finance policy. Cutting €12 billion from the budget would be a good start, they suggested. Schroeder nodded his head in agreement but said doing so would be difficult. Overall, Schroeder said he was "satisfied" with what he called a "fair" report. (5:06 p.m. CET)

Signs the End is Near

Human exploitation of wildlife is taking its toll. More than 15,500 species of plants and animals could die out unless steps are taken to protect them and their environment, conservationists warned at a global meeting of the World Conservation Union Wednesday in Bangkok. Nearly a third of all amphibians and almost half of all freshwater turtles could soon be wiped out unless urgent steps are taken, scientists warned. One in eight birds and a quarter of all mammals are equally in danger. In many cases, humans have polluted or destroyed the creatures' natural habitats so dramatically that they can no longer live there. Twenty five percent of cone-bearing trees and shrubs and 52 percent of cycads -- which date back to ancient times -- could too be relegated to history books, scientists said. (5 p.m. CET)

Signs We Could Still Be Saved

A 52-year-old Florida woman insists she sees the image of the Virgin Mary on a toasted cheese sandwich she made for herself. The best part? She made the sandwich 10 years ago. The image, she says, grows stronger every year (maybe it's just the mold) Recently, she tried to sell her sacred toast on eBay. Close to 10,000 people looked the sandwich over and she was offered 11,000 British pounds for it, before eBay withdrew it as "inappropriate." "I took one bite and saw a face staring back at me," she said, describing the lunch time find a decade ago. "I called to my husband Greg and he couldn't believe his eyes. I have no doubt it's an apparition of Mary. Now I want to share it with the world."

Meanwhile, Columbia University has hit upon an astonishing form of infertility treatment that ups the odds couples using in vitro fertilization will get pregnant: prayer. In a carefully designed trial, researchers found that distant prayer by anonymous prayer groups increased the success rate of IVF by an astounding 100 percent. The study involved 199 infertility patients in Seoul, South Korea, who required in vitro fertilization. 100 patients received the treatment along with the prayers of Christians in the United States, Canada, and Australia, who were faxed photos of the hopeful moms. The other 99 just got the science. None of the patients were told if they were being prayed for or not. Remarkably, the pregnancy rate in the prayed-for group (50 percent) was almost twice as high as the pregnancy rate in the non prayed-for group (26 percent). The results, researchers said, seem to indicate that something "spectacular" had happened. (4:45 p.m. CET)

Europe Puts Up A Good Front

European politicians kept a stiff upper lip and insisted (perhaps a tad too emphatically) they were joyful that hardliner Condeleezza Rice (dubbed the "warrior princess" by the press) would soon be the face of America abroad, the US Secretary of State. For the past four years, Rice has served as US national security advisor and is one of President George W. Bush's closest confidantes. The two are so tight it is said she can finish his sentences for him (likely with fewer grammatical slip-ups.) German Foreign Minister, Joschka Fischer (who has said he will miss working with Colin Powell) Tuesday praised Rice, saying his relationship with her was "based on trust, was close and always excellent on a personal level." That's strong praise for a woman who, faced with French and German opposition to the Iraq war, famously quipped in 2003: "Punish France, ignore Germany and forgive Russia."

Karsten Voigt, coordinator of German-American relations at the German Foreign Ministry, was a little less exuberant and more academic in his assessment of Rice for the Berliner Zeitung. "She is an intellectual, conservative politician with an exemplary knowledge of Germany, Europe and Russia," he said. He didn't mention the Middle East or Iraq -- which will be the two hot points of Rice's tenure and the conflicts which will determine her historical relevance. Some Europeans fear that the Rice for Powell switch will not only mean losing the only mitigating "dove" in the US administration (Powell) but will also mean having to go head to head with one of its most stalwart hawks. "Instead of being afraid that Bush is making changes," Voigt said. "we should use the new beginning" to deepen the trans-Atlantic bond.

French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier offered a formal, diplomatic (aka frosty) response to the choice, telling radio broadcaster Europe 1, "France has had very proper relations with her. We will continue to have the same relations." Friedbert Pflueger, the foreign relations speaker for the Christian Democratic Union party in Germany, praised Rice's experience and told SPIEGEL ONLINE that, at least with her, Europe would know what to expect. (3:05 p.m. CET)

Are US Soldiers War Criminals? The United Nations has launched an investigation to determine if US and Iraqi soldiers committed war crimes during a massive offensive to capture the rebel-held city of Fallujah in Iraq. In taking the city, some of the behavior of the soldiers was questionable and may, says UN Commission of Human Rights Louise Arbor, have broken the rules of war. The main incident involves a US Marine who shot and killed a wounded and seemingly unarmed Iraqi in a mosque. The incident was recorded by an NBC cameraman embedded in the Marine's regiment. But, said Arbour, "there is a series of reports of incidents" that the UN will look at. Included in those are any instances of deliberate attacks against civilians, random and deliberately dangerous attacks, the killing of wounded and the use of human shields, she said. The US military has also initiated its own investigation. (2:30 p.m. CET)

What makes a Brit a Brit?

An average Brit is witty, traditional and even-tempered (except when sports are involved), but dresses a tad frumpy and has a serious dental hygiene problem. Those are just some of the curious results of a study ordered by Britain's Royal Society of Arts to determine just what makes the British, well ... Brits. According to its Web site, the RSA hopes to pinpoint British values and characteristics so it can come up with categories for its new Great Briton Awards. If they take the poll seriously, they'll have to include a category for tippling -- most people in Britain and abroad, believe the average Briton has an (at least) occasional drinking problem. Other descriptions bandied about include: polite, dryly humorous, snobbish, uptight, multicultural, better dressed than Americans, possessing a bulldog spirit and individualistic, but lately too sycophantic in regards to America. (2:01 p.m. CET)

Warsaw To Germany: Pay Up! Warsaw wants Germany to pay it two billion dollars in compensation for flattening the city in autumn 1944, just after the fall of the Warsaw ghetto. Nazi soldiers systematically reduced the city to rubble, obliterating the historic old town, the king's palace and numerous historic churches, museums and libraries. The cost, say its citizens in a 300-page report outlining the city's case against Germany, was over $43 billion. So asking for $2 billion is not that unreasonable. "Huh!" is Germany's likely reply. On Nov. 4, Polish Prime Minister Marek Belka and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder agreed that neither German nor Polish claims for World War II reparations have legal basis. And -- to initiate a good neighbour policy (now that Poland is in the European Union) -- both sides agreed to drop all cases officially. That, however, does not mean that individuals or cities cannot file new cases. When a case is filed, it will be handled by legal coordinators appointed by each nation. Poland, so far, has not supported the Warsaw demands. (12:00 CET)

Arafat secret illness released

The secret illness that killed Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was probably cirrhosis. It's not what you think. The famous acectic who turned wearing a checked keffiyeh (scarf) into a political statement, was not a closet boozer. In fact, the only thing Palestine's spiritual Papa really liked to drink was water. Arafat likely died of several things at once -- but the cirrhosis, a liver disorder often associated with alcohol consumption -- may have been what caused him to slip into a coma from which he never awoke, French newspapers reported. One aspect about the secretive illness remains unclear: why was it kept so secretive? (11:05 CET)