In this edition: Struggle for Survival - Germany’s Free Democratic Party | Flight Cancelled - The Berlin Airport Fiasco | Battling the Bikers - The Struggle Against Organized Crime in Germany | Patients in Peril - Western Pharmaceuticals Firms in the Former East Germany
The new Berlin-Brandenburg International Airport was a landmark project that has turned into major debacle. After a fourth delay in its scheduled opening, Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit has stepped down as chairman of the supervisory board. The delay will cost billions of euros, and taxpayers will be left footing the bill. But who is to blame?
The Free Democratic Party and its chairman Philipp Rösler are struggling as they head into the electoral campaigns of 2013. Many in the FDP party are critical of Rösler’s leadership, and surveys show the party could garner less than the five percent it needs to retain any seats in parliament.
In the battle against organized crime, German police have stepped up their crackdown on biker gangs. Large-scale raids have led to dozens of arrests across the country. But the campaign has done little to thin the bikers’ ranks, and German law makes outlawing the criminal gangs difficult.
During the 1980s, Communist East Germany allowed more than 50 Western pharmaceutical companies to carry test medications on patients. Several thousand patients are believed to have been used as guinea pigs in drug trials, often without their knowledge or consent
