German Chancellor Angela Merkel (C) chats with Ukraine’s opposition leaders Vitaly Klitschko (L) and Arseny Yatsenyuk in Berlin on February 17, 2014. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has met with two Ukrainian opposition leaders just hours after the Ukrainian government granted amnesty to jailed protesters. Merkel held the meeting with Ukrainian opposition leaders Vitali Klitschko and Arseni Yatsenyuk... 

The European Commission is set to authorize the growing of genetically modified maize on European soil, despite 19 member states voting against the move, highlighting the “absurd” rules of weighted votes in the EU. In a debate on Tuesday, 19 EU member states indicated that they would vote against the authorization of genetically modified maize because of health and environmental concerns and opposition... 

Many see German policy in the European Union as a forceful advancement of Germany’s interests at the expense of other countries – EU members. There are even suspicions that the crisis in the EU is a project of Germany designed to secure the economic recovery (the European Commission even started an investigation). Berlin is not going to stop in its plans. In late 2013 the European Commission... 

German media outlets say that the US National Security Agency (NSA) spied on former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder over his opposition to the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq. In 2002, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s predecessor was placed on the NSA’s list of the people who were under surveillance, Munich’s daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung and public broadcaster NDR reported on Tuesday, based... 

Countries spying on their allies sow distrust that could result in less, rather than more security, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has warned. She particularly referred to the surveillance and spying activities by the US and the UK. “But does that make it right for our closest allies, like the United States or Britain, to access all imaginable data – arguing that it helps their own security... 

The cemetery in Bavaria, Germany (A). The skeleton of a victim of the Plague of Justinian (C). Objects (E) from the grave (B) that helped scientists to estimate the plague victim’s death as occurring between 525 AD and 550 AD. A tooth from which the genome of the plague was extracted (D). Scientists have reconstructed the genome of the first recorded bubonic plague and compared it to two later pandemics.... 

The NSA agency is not preoccupied solely with national security, but also spies on foreign industrial entities in US business interests, former American intelligence contractor, Edward Snowden, has revealed in an interview to German TV. Edward Snowden chose the German ARD broadcaster to make his first TV interview ever since he became a whistleblower. The interview was made in strict secrecy in an... 

Over 80,000 people in southern Germany have signed an online petition against a plan to teach children about LGBT lifestyles in school – an initiative put forward to promote tolerance towards sexual minorities. A new education plan, which should come into force in 2015, has sparked a bitter dispute in the state of Baden-Württemberg in the southwest of the country. Thousands of parents and teachers... 

Washington has warned Moscow not to destabilize the region after Russia announced the deployment of missiles on its western borders with some Baltic countries. “We’ve urged Moscow to take no steps to destabilize the region,” US State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf said on Monday. “We’ve made that point with them.” On Monday, the Russian Defense Ministry... 

German Ambassador Peter Witting The UN human rights committee unanimously passed a ‘right to privacy’ resolution sponsored by Germany and Brazil that protects the right to privacy against illegal surveillance, following revelations about NSA spying. The resolution states that surveillance and data interception by governments and companies “may violate or abuse human rights.” This... 

The rising unemployment rate in Germany has forced an increasing number of people to permanently move to campgrounds in an attempt to save money. According to a report published by Spiegel Online International on Wednesday, thousands of people have transformed campsites from holiday spots to residential communities. They say they cannot afford living in urban areas. “Over the last 10 years, more... 

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says Iran’s right to enrichment has been recognized in the nuclear deal between Tehran and the Sextet. After more than four days of intense negotiations, Iran and the P5+1 group, the US, Britain, Russia, France, China and Germany, sealed an interim deal in Geneva on Sunday morning to pave the way for the full resolution of the West’s decade-old dispute... 

In a mission statement last year the US National Security Agency described how it would continue to expand its power and assert itself as the global leader in clandestine surveillance, according to a new report based on the Edward Snowden leaks. The five-page document brought to light Friday by the New York Times reveals the intelligence agency’s intention to “aggressively pursue legal authorities... 

FIFA President Joseph Blatter has backed calls from the EU Parliament condemning the exploitation of migrant workers in Qatar, but he also said Europe bears responsibility for the working conditions at the 2022 World Cup sites. Blatter said on Friday that there is a need to investigate what has happened in Qatar regarding the alleged abuses of the migrant workers, who are preparing venues for the... 

German Chancellor Angela Merkel uses her mobile phone before a 2011 meeting at a European Union summit in Brussels. German politicians have agreed on measures to keep their internal communications safe in light of the recent reports about spying by the US National Security Agency (NSA) on top German officials. On Thursday, the interior ministry of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and their Social...