Managers, politicians and civil servants can often boost their career or gain extra prestige with the help of a doctorate. Investigations have uncovered a roaring trade in PhDs in Germany, trading cash for titles. Academic pretenders have in some cases paid 50,000 euros to dealers and ghost writers to enable them to put a "Dr." in front of their names. More than 100 university lecturers have already admitted being involved in this more than dubious business.

Dramatic losses for the CDU, gains for the Left Party and the Social Democrats are talking about a tailwind. That, in a nutshell, is the result of the parliamentary elections in Thüringen, Saarland and Saxony. These elections were the barometer of public opinion for the Bundestag elections on September 27. The chancellor will most likely not be able to stay with the soft strategy she has been following. The SPD can breathe out a little bit, but they still have to deal with the big gains the Left party are making. Are we going to see the parties battle it out along the lines of their core beliefs?

Twenty-seven-year-old Ska Keller is the youngest member of the European Parliament in Brussels. Her area of expertise is migration. The Green Party member’s rise to success has been meteoric. She has successfully made the transition from ex-punk to rising political star. She speaks six languages and presides over the Green party in the eastern German state of Brandenburg. Many fellow party members are already predicting a long and successful career.

At the start of the year Chancellor Merkel and Finance Minister Peer Steinbrück launched the economic stimulus package II. The 10-billion-euro federal government scheme was intended to help German states and parishes to improve schools, pre-schools and roads and support the German economy. Now it is emerging that many states and parishes haven’t even tapped into the money. We visit two local communities, in particular, to see how the package can be used quickly, bringing profits to local companies, and where its weak points lie.