Sigmar Gabriel is campaigning for his party ahead of September's general election by paying a visit to Chernobyl. After recent incidents at a northern German nuclear power plant,the Social Democrats are promoting their vision of a nuclear-free Germany.A visit to Chernobyl goes down well with voters. Almost 25 years ago Europe experienced its worst nuclear accident there. Now the concrete casing around Chernobyl has cracks in it and is soon to be replaced by a steel casing. Sigmar Gabriel hopes his visit to Chernobyl will help underscore his party's goal of closing Germany's nuclear power plants.

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Many children hardly play with their peers and instead sit in their rooms on the computer. More and more young people are becoming computer addicts.Now a government drugs and addiction report has focussed on the issue. Experts and politicians are sounding the alarm bells. Drugs commissioners from Germany,South Korea and China have met in Germany to discuss the topic. Increasingly,children's addiction to computers is becoming a problem in many countries.

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Eat in a restaurant with a long history!Saddle of Rabbit on Chanterelle-Leek Fondue with Pasta
The chefs the chefs at Weinhaus Neuner in Munich -- Andreas Feuerstein and Nino Esposito - have prepared one of their traditionial meals for us.
Ingredients

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Udo Kittelmann made his name as director of Frankfurt's Museum of Modern Art. Now he's the most important person on Germany's museum scene. He is the new director of Berlin's Nationalgalerie and is thus responsible for six renowned museums and collections in the city. ARTS.21 met Udo Kittelmann to discuss his plans for the capital and his thoughts on private collections. How will he attract visitors in these straightened times? The ARTS.21 interview.

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"Art Basel Miami Beach" is THE place for those who regard art buying as a way of life... or it was up to last year. But collectors are unlikely to be popping champagne corks this week in Miami. Prices in the art market have recently fallen some 30 percent and Berlin gallery owner Gerd Harry Lybke fears many galleries will close in 2009. Tobias Meyer, Sotheby's contemporary art auctioneer predicts that the credit crunch will cool down and regulate the overheated art market. ARTS.21 will be testing the mood in Miami.

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Götz Diergarten spent a year disappearing underground, taking photographs of metro stations in European capitals. Diergarten's work shows unfamiliar aspects of familiar places... bathed in almost surreal artificial light. Now Diergarten, who specialises in architectural photography, has an exhibition of his work in Berlin – "METROpolis". ARTS.21 on Götz Diergarten and his wonderful, almost ghostly, subterranean world.

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more: http://www.dw-world.de/english

For 28 years, a nearly insurmountable barrier kept people from fleeing East Germany. But then, the dramatic night of November 9, 1989, saw the fall of the Wall that divided Germany. Today, it is difficult to imagine what was bitter reality just a few decades ago.

For the first time, a realistic computer animation reveals the vast security system of Germany's inner border and the Berlin Wall, both of which were recreated virtually in the greatest detail.

The animation is part of the DVD "Walled in! What the Cold War frontier in divided Germany was really like" which can be purchased at DW's online store http://store.dw-world.de.

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more: http://www.dw-world.de/english

For the first time, a realistic computer animation reveals the vast security system of Germany's inner border and the Berlin Wall, both of which were recreated virtually in the greatest detail.

The animation is part of the DVD "Walled in! What the Cold War frontier in divided Germany was really like" which can be purchased at DW's online store (http://store.dw-world.de).

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Ghent is introducing a weekly veggie day in canteens serving the city's schoolchildren and public service employees. Thursdays will now feature a meat-free dish as the default option on their menus,while new city maps highlight the dozens of vegetarian restaurants in the city.Reducing meat consumption,say the initiators of the scheme,will decrease greenhouse gas emissions. Famous chefs have also been recruited to promote the idea - although it may be an uphill struggle in this traditionally meat-loving part of the world.

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The Berlin Zoo and the zoo in Neumünster are quarreling over the marketing rights for the popular polar bear,Knut. Images of the cute animal who was fed from a bottle by his caretaker went around the world.The Berlin Zoo earned a lot of money with tickets,stuffed animals,and key rings. The Neumünster zoo wants a share of the profits. After all,Knuts father was borrowed from the Neumünster zoo to mate with his mother. And part of the deal was that the first-born offspring would belong to Neumünster and thats Knut. Now the two zoos are haggling over payment.

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The Sami,Europes only indigenous people,are famous for their folklore

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A person's home says a lot about their lifestyle and cultural background. We sent out our reporters to take a look behind closed doors across the world.The first part in our new series Global Living Rooms took us to the German city of Regensburg.

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Ten years ago the Ottawa Treaty on the prohibition of anti-personnel mines came into force. Although it has since been signed and ratified by most UN member states,landmines still account for thousands of deaths every year. With the help of rats,social entrepreneur Bart Weetjens wants to reduce this number.Traditionally dogs have been used to detect mines,but their training is costly and many struggle to cope with the climate in Africa. Five years ago the Tanzania-based organisation Apopo began training rats to do the task,and its founder Bart Weetjens is proud of the project's success.

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Devi Shetty is a surgeon,a businessman and a philanthropist rolled into one. He counts among India's most famous heart specialists,and in 2001 used donations to build the country's largest private heart clinic,with 450 beds and 8 operation theaters in continual use.There he pursued an unusual low-cost business model - aiming to make cost-intensive heart operations accessible to India's lower income classes. Smart management and mixed sources of finance have enabled Shetty to reduce costs dramatically,more than half of his patients are treated at cost or even for free. Shetty's work earned him the Schwab Foundation's Social Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2005.

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