Ailing Arafat

The confusion surrounding the health of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat grew on Thursday evening. First came the conflicting reports indicating Arafat may have fallen into a coma in the Paris hospital where he is currently receiving treatment. Then the Israeli media reported doctors' claims that Arafat was clinically dead. Palestinian leaders denied the report and Christian Estripeau, head physician at the military hospital where he's being treated, said: "Mr Arafat is not dead." But his condition is clearly in serious decline, and the hospital confirmed Arafat has been transferred to another facility "more appropriate for his condition." Arafat has been in intensive care since Wednesday and no clear diagnosis of the 75-year-old has been provided. Palestinian leaders called an emergency meeting for Thursday afternoon in Ramallah, presumably to discuss who might fill the power vacuum should Arafat die. Despite his poor health, Arafat apparently felt strong enough on Wednesday to ask about the outcome of the elections in the United States. A congratulatory telegram was sent in Arafat's name to the White House. (6:33 p.m. CET)

A Dutch Dilemma

In the wake of the brutal murder of Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh, an uncomfortable intercultural debate is stirring that some fear could blow up into a culture war. Many are asking what led to Van Gogh's murder and what it means for Dutch society. The events are uncomfortably similar to the January 2002 murder of politician Pim Fortuyn, who was also shot in the street. Like Fortuyn, many believe van Gogh was also murdered over extreme views that some in Holland didn't agree with. The fact that Van Gogh was working on a film about the plot behind Fortuyn at the time of his slaying makes the tragedy even eerier. His work on the film caused a fury in Holland and Van Gogh began receiving threatening letters and telephone calls. But what drove Muslims against him was a short film called "Submission" critical of the abuse many Muslim women experience.

Almost immediately after his murder -- apparently by a Moroccan Islamic fundamentalist-- a public debate began over whether the Netherlands is doing enough to contain the country's Islamists. "Have we allowed them to gang together for too long?" asked an editorial in the newspaper De Volkskrant. Some experts have described Holland as a "land at the forefront of the conflict of civilizations." Others point to major problems with the country's immigration policies -- which have been more permissive than restrictive. With its tradition as an immigrant nation, Holland is widely considered to have a successful integration program. In contrast to other European countries, the Dutch didn't fall into a divisive debate over whether to strengthen its policies against Islamists. But Van Gogh's murder could open up a dangerous can of worms in which prejudices and calls for quick measures against the community could be stirred up.

In The Hague on Tuesday night, the first anti-foreigner demonstrations took place. Though the police broke them up quickly, they weren't fast enough to stop right-wing youths from screaming epithets like "foreigners are parasites." Dutch politicians and authorities are going all out to try to stop mass or violent riots against its minority populations. And the Muslim community has also distanced itself from the slaying and warned against general judgement of Muslims in the country. But voices from Islamic fundamentalists have also been heard, like the radical Internet site al-Qalem. "We're not demonstrating," it wrote. "The death of 40,000 Chechen children is far worse than the death of Theo van Gogh." Eight men have already been arrested in connection with the killing, but whoever goes on trial will likely have less significance than the societal trial Holland's liberal traditions may soon be facing. (With reporting by Matthias Gebauer in Amsterdam. Also read SPIEGEL ONLINE's interview  with Dutch author Leon de Winter about the slaying.)(5:46 p.m. CET)

Cold War History, Up for Sale

Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin has made a lot of headlines in its history. And they keep coming. Last Sunday, the empty lots adjacent to the checkpoint were transformed into a temporary memorial -- complete with a rebuilt piece of the Berlin Wall -- dedicated to the victims who died trying to cross the border to freedom. It's temporary because the land is actually for sale by the city. On Thursday, the German tabloid Bild is reporting that a potential buyer for the property has finally been found -- Sergei Khrushchov, 69-year-old son of former Soviet Union leader Nikita Khrushchov, who allowed the Berlin Wall to be built in 1961. He and the head of the Wall Museum, Alexandra Hildebrandt, have established an initiative for the express purpose of buying the land so the current memorial may become permanent. Sergei Khrushchov has been living in the United States since 1991. (5:15 p.m. CET)

George W. Bush's Body Politic

What the editors of Germany's left-leaning Tageszeitung newspaper lack in money, they ooze in creativity. In Thursday's edition, they explore the US body politic, literally prescribing a part of the human anatomy or a motor function for each ailment the second Bush presidency will bring. Here are some highlights:

The brain: Four more years of Bush will bring depression to the left and concerns about world peace will cause headaches.

Language: Because the US president serves as a role model, his continual introduction of Bushisms -- that is his strange adeptness at creating non-existant words -- will lead to a global increase in syntax and usage errors.

The heart: Bush's re-election will break the hearts of homosexual couples because their chances of getting married sank yesterday.

The stomach: Under Bush, the number of genetically modified food products will increase.

The womb: The stomach doesn't belong to women or Bush -- the Supreme Court has the last word on abortions. But with justices named by the president and the Senate, he will have an indirect say in what happens in the abdomen.

The finger: Under the Bush administration's anti-terror strategy, anyone who wants to travel to the US will have to get a finger print and a passport with further biometric data. Trouble is -- fingerprints are easy to fake.

The genitals: As in the past, Bush won't be supporting any anti-AIDS projects (not in Africa, not in Asia and not in Eastern Europe). Instead he'll reject funding for AIDS prevention work and projects that promote safe sex through condoms.

The knee: This is the most imperilled limb in the American body politic. Every member of the US military who wants to ensure themselves of never having to participate in another military adventure will have to shoot themselves in the knee.

The skin: Even the US Environmental Protection Agency says global warming is real and that people are causing it. But without supporting the Kyoto Protocol, the second Bush administration will ensure an increase in skin cancer cases.

The feet: Since 2001, every person traveling to the US has literally gotten cold feet. You have to take your shoes off in customs due to security measures. But more and more visitors are getting indignant about this kind of treatment from Bush.

(16:47 p.m. CET)

OSCE Says Elections Smooth But Reforms Still a "Work-in-Progress"

Election observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) issued their report  Thursday on the freeness and fairness of the US elections. And for the most part, it's a positive one. The US elections "were conducted in an environment that reflects a longstanding democratic tradition, including institutions governed by rule of law, free and professional media and an active civil society involved in all aspects of the election process," the organization wrote Thursday. Nevertheless, head of the US mission Rita Suessmuth says that there is room for improvement. Specifically she singled out changes made under the auspices of the Help America Vote Act, saying that important improvements were made, but that delays in the Act's implementation mean that it is still "a work in progress." She said that observers didn't have access to some polling places because local laws didn't allow it. While the OSCE has sent election observers to the United States before, never before were they so strongly represented. 92 observers from 34 countries made the trip. (4:33 p.m. CET)

European Bear Update

France's population of bears native to the western Pyrenees mountains has been reduced by 33 percent. And that with one shot. Hunters, who were looking for other game, claim they were acting in self-defense when they shot and killed the only female brown bear left living in the region. Hunting was suspended in the region on Wednesday out of concern for the female bear's 10-month-old cub. President Jacques Chirac says the killing represents a "great loss to biodiversity."

In other bear news, the conservation group German Game has declared brown bears to be the wild animal of the year for 2005. That's because the bear population in neighboring Austria is slowly growing -- after 15 years of reintroduction work an estimated 30 animals live in the wild. Germany is expecting that the first bears will cross over into the German Alps soon. Bears completely disappeared from the Alps due to over hunting in the 19th century. (4 p.m. CET)

New EU Commission Almost Ready for Primetime

Just over one week after in-coming European Commission President Jose Maria Barroso withdrew his planned Commission team as a result of heavy criticism surrounding some of his appointees, he is almost ready to try his luck again. The only thing holding him back is the lack of an Italian representative -- perhaps not surprising given that it was Italy's original candidate, the deeply Catholic and anti-gay Rocco Buttiglione, who derailed the Commission's confirmation by the European Parliament in the first place. Another controversial candidate, Latvia's Ingrida Udre, who was criticized for possible connections to a corruption scandal, has already been replaced by Riga. Barroso had hoped to present his new Commission at Thursday evening's fall summit of European Union leaders in Brussel, but with Italy still undecided, that isn't going to happen. (3:25 p.m. CET)

Germany to Cancel Reunification Day?

Imagine the United States getting rid of the Fourth of July. Or France cancelling Bastille Day. That is more-or-less what Germany's Finance Minister Hans Eichel is proposing. In order to increase German production and thus, to increase tax revenues, he wants to move Germany's October 3rd Day of Reunification to the first Sunday of October. The plan, confirmed by Eichel on Thursday, has received sharp criticism from the opposition. "It is a totally false signal for the German reunification process," said one opposition politician. Criticism has also come from within Eichel's own party, the Social Democrats. Despite complaints from a number of quarters, the proposal is not terribly surprising. Since World War II, the country has shown distinct discomfort in marking any sort of holiday celebrating the German nation. As such, October 3rd celebrations tend to be quite subdued. Add to that the frustration felt by millions of Germans brought on by the aftermath of reunification -- which brought the disappearance of industry in the east and high unemployment -- and it's easier to understand why some may not be crying if the holiday goes away. (2:45 p.m. CET)

Dressing the Queen