Die Tageszeitung, 28.09.2005

In an interview, British writer Kazuo Ishiguro discusses his new book "Never Let Me Go" which deals with human clones and the question of what it means to be human – which after all is no different from being a clone. "I wanted them (the clones) to ask themselves the same questions we ask ourselves. That's why in a strange way they accept their fate, because we also accept the fact that we are mortal, that there's no real way out. We can hold onto religion or try to leave something behind, children or art. ... We like to think vaguely that love and the like can help to make us suffer less in the face of certain death. We cling onto the idea that love can overcome death. The teenagers in the book have a myth that if two of them truly love each other, they can postpone the final organ donation that ends in death. It's a myth, no more. But I wanted to express that love and to a lesser extent art do make a difference. They give meaning to their lives. They make them human."

Political scientist Aleksander Smolar, president of the Polish Batory Foundation, allays the fears of interviewer Gabriele Lesser, saying that "the Law and Justice Party of the Kaczynski brothers is neither fundamentally Catholic nor anti-Semitic, and that he shares their criticism of Russia. "There is widespread consensus in Polish society that Russia has still not abandoned its imperial pretensions. This became clear recently when the elections were rigged in Ukraine to push through a Putin-friendly candidate. Poland backed the Orange Revolution, in other words democracy. Russia was against it because it maintains imperial interests in Ukraine. Germany however, simply avoided all mention of the events in Ukraine."


Süddeutsche Zeitung, 28.09.2005

Klaus Lüber reports on a fake with which Maurizio Cattelan, Massimiliano Gioni and Ali Subotnick, the curators of Berlin Biennale which is due to start in March 2006, duped the Berlin art world and caused a wave of panic. They opened the Biennale prematurely with a fake opening of a Berlin subsidiary of the famous New York Gagosian gallery. "'There are Prada fakes, Gucci fakes, and now we're making a gallery fake', explained Gioni simply. (...) For all the show effect, the 'guerilla franchising' does seem to be more than just a marketing gag. At least this label appropriation fits with the artistic concept of the curator trio, which is to divert attention to lesser known artists."


Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 28.09.2005

High ranking Chinese military leaders are visiting Berlin on the invitation of the General Inspector of the German army at the Federal Academy for Security Policy (BAKS). The purpose of the mission is to "look far into the future with German strategists", reports Christian Schwägerl. The whole thing is slightly eerie. Whereas the Americans see in China a serious competitor harbouring possible expansion ambitions, the Germans seem to see nothing but advantages in their relations with the Chinese. "The scenario of a military threat from Asia been given little heed until now. Even the question of weapon supplies is primarily addressed along economic lines. That these weapons could in the extreme case be used against their suppliers is not given any thought. Much faith seems to be placed in statements like that of Major General Qian Lihua: 'China has not attacked any foreign country, and we are not going to attack any foreign country. What we seek is harmonious development.'"

Rainer Hermann reports on how the Turkish government is ruining its largest research institute Tubitak, the Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey. Since 1963 the institute has been autonomous and has elected its own science board and president. "Tubiak has been functioning this way for four decades, and has gained a strong international reputation. This is all being jeopardised now, because Erdogan's government has disregarded four court judgements and dismissed the current president and the science board. In their place it has appointed people loyal to the government. It doesn't seem to care that leading academics in the country, among them the law professor Erdogan Tezic, chairman of the Council of Higher Education YOK, are denouncing the new Tubiak make-up as 'unlawful'."


Die Welt, 28.09.2005

Alan Posener has no patience for Hany Abu-Assad's film "Paradise Now", nor for all the critics who praise it for its "subtle" portrayal of two suicide bombers. "Certainly, 'Paradise Now' is 'subtle' in comparison to the hate-filled anti-Semitic propaganda films that play every night on television in all Arab countries. Certainly, it is 'subtle' in comparison with the videos produced by Hamas, Hisbollah et al." But, writes Posener, a small detail is missing in this fairytale about these two essentially good men: the consequences of Said's attack: "Women without bodies, men without heads, children without arms or legs, blood and guts on the seats, burned bits of flesh everywhere. Nothing of all this. The camera pans in on Said's eyes and the screen fades to pure white."