Die Welt, 10.02.2006

Die Welt prints an interview with Günter Grass from El Pais on the cartoon conflict. The writer, who at the time of the Rushdie affair was of a very different opinion, believes the West is entirely to blame and recommends that Islamic taboos be heeded. "We have lost the right to seek protection under the right to the freedom of expression. The days of lese-majeste are not so far behind us and we should not forget that there are places in the world where there is no of separation Church and State. Where does the West get this arrogance to want to decree what one can and can't do? I recommend that everybody take a closer look at the caricatures: they are reminiscent of the famous newspaper of the Nazi era, the Stürmer, which published anti-Semitic cartoons of a similar style."


Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 10.02.2006

Islam scholar Ralph Ghadban sees in the cartoon dispute primarily a demonstration of power on the part of Islamicists. "A marked retrogression is observable in the Islamic world. The result of progressive Islamisation has been that stricter blasphemy laws are being introduced in an increasing number of countries. The aim of these laws is less to protect Islam than to combat and displace other religions. Fanaticised Muslims are attempting to use terror and violence to export their norms for blasphemy beyond the borders of the Islamic countries, and to gag or even kill people. Salman Rushdie, Theo van Gogh and now the Danish paper Jyllands-Posten are the best-known examples. This throws a shadow over the Islamic world, and the blame for this is often laid on Islam as a religion. But those who think that way, especially the Muslims, forget that a flourishing, open civilisation prospered for centuries under the rule of Islam. And much that falls under today's blasphemy laws was discussed openly."


Süddeutsche Zeitung, 10.02.2006

Tobias Kniebe was at the start of the Berlin International Film Festival, and has little good to say about this year's opener, Marc Evan's "Snow Cake", or star Sigourney Weaver. Only male lead Alan Rickman comes out unscathed, although "even the Rickman effect, the movie's sole entertainment factor, is destroyed by director Marc Evans, a Welshman with experience in the psychological genre. He has seen his chance to pull out all the emotional stops and send an application straight off to Hollywood. There are no end of hugs, insights into life, hands stretched in forgiveness, dead people smiling from the hereafter, poetry before sunset and other stuff that can only be labelled 'hardcore' in the context of the Berlinale. Like with last year's flop "Man to Man", all you could do was shrug, cross it off your list and look ahead – but it will take at least three brilliant rape dramas to wash down this sugary snow cake."
See our feature "Breathless" for a daily Berlinale update.


Süddeutsche Zeitung, 10.02.2006

After the collapse of a number of flat-roofed buildings in Bavaria, Gerhard Matzig is bent on an exhaustive examination of the issue despite the fact that now local authorities have started pulling down faulty pitched-roof houses too. He is convinced that the problem has nothing to do with either flat roofs or the architects responsible for them. "Basically there are really only two possible causes of collapse that come into question. Too much faith in standard snowfalls and standard burden may well have prevented supermarket managers or local authorities from reacting appropriately to this transgression of the norms. This sort of thing is costly. And the other possible contributing factor is the tendency to create the greatest amount of storage space in the cheapest possible way."


Die Tageszeitung, 10.02.2006

Christian Kortmann is delighted that the brown bear is returning to the Alps: "The bear's return is not only a great thing for tourists and snapshot hunters, it's also a joyous phenomenon for our whole understanding of ourselves and our society. Just knowing the bears are there lends a pleasant contour to reality. That wild, dangerous life out there really does exist after all!"