Pardon, please, the double reply, but I found that the article I was looking for in der Spiegel is in fact available in English (http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,557723,00.html) (and it was linked in the blog post I linked above -- it was silly of me not to check). I thought you and danalwyn might find it interesting. There is also another related article (http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,642310,00.html), and some very worrying news which is exactly counter to what would help (http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,639224,00.html).

My apologies if you've seen these before, but I thought you might find them helpful.