Psycho-drama + Berlin logjam + Russia plot

Dear Reader,

• The psycho-drama engulfing Germany's most powerful media empire has just gone to the next level. Axel Springer is suing one of its former editors for millions in compensation.  The company has filed legal papers against former Bild Zeitung editor Julian Reichelt for breaking the terms of his dismissal agreement. Reichelt was sacked 18 months ago over allegations of sexual misdeeds and is widely believed to be the source of leaked emails from Axel Springer's CEO, Matthias Döpfner, which were published recently by a rival newspaper. In the emails Döpfner says a bunch of politically incorrect things like calling east Germans "either communists or fascists" and saying “fuck the intolerant Muslims". An ex-Springer journalist has also brought out a thinly disguised me-too ‘novel’ about a narcissistic, sex-obsessed editor and his clueless CEO. Needless to say, rival outlets are chewing over every gory detail of the story. For Germany’s Bildungsbürgertum, Springer is a dirty word …