Spiegel online

With the German army pulling out of Afghanistan in 2014, hundreds of Afghan workers fear they will become victims of revenge by the Taliban, who have already condemned them as traitors. German authorities are already preparing for a wave of visa applications.

Following the downgrade of 16 Spanish banks by Moody's, the focus in the euro crisis is back on the banking sector. Greeks are withdrawing hundreds of millions from their accounts, with reports that the same is happening in Spain. Experts are calling on the European Central Bank to step in and prevent full-scale bank runs.

In recent months, China has begun to invest more heavily in Central and Eastern Europe. The new initiative reflects both Beijing's desire to develop beyond the production of cheap goods and its goal of establishing a presence in the European market for those products. The investments could also deepen political ties with countries like Poland and its neighbors.

Angela Merkel isn't known for her brutality. But her firing of her environment minister has German editorialists taking a new look at the chancellor. They see a leader desperately trying to keep her party, and all of Europe, from falling apart at the seams.

The Samwer brothers are among the most successful businessmen on the web -- and the most unpopular. Oliver, the leader of the trio, has only one goal: to capture an even greater share of the world's online marketplace.

Germany may be Europe's driving force in the euro crisis, but a prominent US think tank has accused the country of shirking its defense duties. In a report released ahead of the NATO summit in Chicago, a group of experts criticizes Germany for threatening the future of the whole alliance through its weakness.

During the election campaign, French President François Hollande threatened to slap an income tax rate of 75 percent on high earners. Since then, wealthy French have been looking for ways to get themselves and their money out of the country. And nowhere looks more attractive than millionaire-friendly London.

Most people consider Oktoberfest to be the biggest drinking celebration in Germany. Often overlooked are the country's Father's Day celebrations, which involve oddly dressed men pulling wagons filled with beer into parks and drinking until they pass out.

With the planned Nabucco natural gas pipeline in southern Europe hitting snag after snag, Russian natural gas giant Gazprom is considering the construction of a second Baltic Sea pipeline to go with the just-finished Nord Stream. With unconventional natural gas from the US flooding the market, however, the strategy is not without risk.

Headhunters in Lisbon are currently lining up highly skilled Portuguese workers for good paying jobs in Angola, an African country currently experiencing enviable growth. There is no economic crisis in the former Portuguese colony and it offers something that is currently scarce in Portugal: jobs.

The mayor of Berlin has confirmed that the city's new international airport will not open until March 17, 2013, nine months after its planned June opening. The operators need additional time to complete a fire safety system.

Ahead of the NATO summit in Chicago, Germany's standing in the alliance has reached a low point. The country's abstention in the UN vote on military action in Libya has done lasting damage to its reputation. The Germans are now seen as unreliable partners who don't know what they want.

Responding to her party's massive defeat in elections in Germany's most populous state last weekend, Angela Merkel has fired Norbert Röttgen, the federal environment minister who was also the CDU's leading candidate in North Rhine-Westphalia. The move was an extraordinarily rare one in Germany and showed a cold side of Merkel that is seldom visible.

According to German calculations, the new French president's call for an even lower retirement age and more public workers should not add up to economic growth. But despite violating established economic principles, the French economy works surprisingly well.

Chancellor Angela Merkel has shown her tough side by firing Environment Minister Norbert Röttgen after he lost a key state election for her conservative party. The demise of the former political star is yet another sign of the ongoing disintegration of Merkel's government. Röttgen is the latest in a long line of senior conservatives who has met with a sticky end.

Greece is on the verge of economic collapse and yet the country's left wants to jettison austerity measures. Would this leave any alternative other than exiting the euro? SPIEGEL ONLINE invited the leader of Greece's pro-business Drasi party and an anti-austerity Syriza parliamentarian to debate the issues.

Chancellor Angela Merkel sacked Environment Minister Norbert Röttgen on Wednesday, replacing him with her close aide Peter Altmaier. Röttgen, a former protege of the chancellor, lost a major election for Merkel's conservative party on Sunday.

The cost of modernizing US nuclear weapons, including those stationed in Germany, has risen sharply, according to estimates. Several independent experts told SPIEGEL ONLINE that the bill for renewing the B61 atomic bomb will rise to $6 billion. The project will also upset Russia, they say.

All across crisis-hit Europe, voters are disillusioned with mainstream politicians and are turning to populist and radical parties. In Italy, the new rising force is comedian Beppe Grillo's grassroots Five Star Movement. But can the charismatic agitator supply real solutions to the country's problems?