A neo-Nazi trial in which a German woman is accused of involvement in 10 murders was adjourned for a week on its opening day Monday over a defense complaint about the judge.
The case against Beate Zschaepe, 38, who is accused of being part of a far-right killer cell, and four alleged accomplices who face lesser charges, will resume on May 14 at the court in the southern city of Munich, the judge said.
Full StoryGermany's most high-profile neo-Nazi trial begins Monday after 10 mostly racially motivated murders by a long-hidden far-right gang which Chancellor Angela Merkel has called a "disgrace" for the country.
The trial opens amid tight security in the southern city of Munich after a three-week delay over an outcry about media access which has further undermined Germany's image on top of security flaws exposed by the murder spree.
Full StoryGerman prosecutors said Monday they had charged four men with breaching sanctions against Iran by delivering equipment for an atomic reactor that the West suspects is part of a covert nuclear weapons program.
Three men with joint Iranian-German nationality, identified only as Kianzad Ka., Gholamali Ka. and Hamid Kh., and German national Rudolf M. were arrested last August in police raids involving 90 officers.
Full StoryA gunman shot and killed a top official of the northern German town of Hamelin Friday before turning the firearm on himself, police said.
"The perpetrator killed district administrator Ruediger Butte and then killed himself," a police spokesman said.
Full StoryPolish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Wednesday he has "a problem" with his justice minister, who sparked a row by accusing Germany of embryo traffic and experimentation.
"Regarding Minister (Jaroslaw) Gowin, I admit there's a problem," Tusk told reporters, saying he was annoyed by the remarks.
Full StoryGerman authorities said Monday they had fined Google for illegally collecting massive amounts of personal data including emails, passwords and photos while setting up its disputed Street View service.
The data protection office in the northern city of Hamburg said it had slapped the U.S. Internet giant with a 145,000-euro ($189,000) penalty for privacy violations on what it called a nearly unprecedented scale.
Full StoryA wide-scale rise in wages in Germany would not benefit other eurozone members, but would actually harm the single currency area as a whole, Bundesbank president Jens Weidmann said Monday.
"Given the relatively weak trading relations with peripheral European countries, they would barely profit from the reduced price competitiveness and increased consumption in Germany," Weidmann told the daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in an interview.
Full StoryGerman Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle on Sunday said Berlin will have no choice but to accept the lifting of an EU arms embargo on Syria if other European countries push for it.
Germany up to now has opposed providing military support to Syria's rebels, but Britain and France are pushing for the embargo to be allowed to expire at the end of May.
Full StoryA German police bomb squad Friday destroyed a letter containing an explosive substance that was sent to the Berlin residence of President Joachim Gauck, his office and security sources said.
Gauck, whose post as head of state is largely ceremonial, was not at the Bellevue Palace residence at the time, and no staff were endangered, an office spokeswoman said.
Full StoryGermany's offer to station 600-800 troops in Afghanistan after NATO's combat role ends next year could encourage others to step up to the plate, the head of the military alliance said Friday.
"I warmly welcome the German commitment ... to contribute in such a significant way," NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said.
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