BERLIN (Reuters) – There will be no celebrations on Thursday when Chancellor Angela Merkel’s centre-right coalition marks its first year in power. No post-war German government has lost so much public support so quickly.

Even though the economy is surging and unemployment has fallen steadily, Merkel’s coalition has suffered a sharp erosion in public backing over the last year due to infighting, unpopular decisions and a perception it lacks clear direction.

BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s Foreign Office played a far more active role in the Holocaust than previously known and remained a haven for former Nazi diplomats for decades after the war, according to a new book to be released on Thursday.

“Das Amt und die Vergangenheit” (The Office and the Past) chronicles how the foreign ministry was aware of the Nazi mass murder of Jews and was “actively involved,” debunking a myth that most diplomats had managed to keep their hands clean.

BERLIN (Reuters) – The German government tried to paper over cracks within the ruling coalition on Friday about a Franco-German agreement to jettison demands for automatic enforcement of European Union budget rules.

Chancellor Angela Merkel said she and Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, head of her Free Democrat coalition partner, agreed that changing the EU treaty is an “important goal.”

BERLIN (Reuters) – Chancellor Angela Merkel’s criticism that multiculturalism has failed sparked an open row in her government on Tuesday over whether Germany should take in more skilled immigrants that industry says it needs urgently.

Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere dismissed calls from three other cabinet ministers who had argued that Germany should relax its rules on immigrants because the country is facing a worsening shortage of skilled labor.

BERLIN (Reuters) – Chancellor Angela Merkel’s criticism that multiculturalism has failed sparked an open row in her government on Tuesday over whether Germany should take in more skilled immigrants that industry says it needs urgently.

Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere dismissed calls from three other cabinet ministers who had argued that Germany should relax its rules on immigrants because the country is facing a worsening shortage of skilled labour.

BERLIN, Oct 11 (Reuters) – The United States believes
reports about secret talks between the Taliban and the Afghan
government are exaggerated, a senior U.S. official said, after
President Hamid Karzai described them as “unofficial contacts”.

Ambassador Richard Holbrooke said in Berlin on Monday that
Karzai has made it clear his government has been in contact with
members of the Taliban on a continuing basis, but warned against
over-emphasising those contacts.

BERLIN (Reuters) – The United States welcomes Afghan reconciliation efforts but believes recent reports about secret talks between the Taliban and Afghan government are exaggerated, the senior U.S. official for Pakistan and Afghanistan said.

Ambassador Richard Holbrooke said in Berlin Monday that Afghan President Hamid Karzai has made it clear his government has been in contact with people in the Taliban on a continuing basis. But he warned against over-emphasizing those contacts.

BERLIN (Reuters) – A French terrorism alert about Britain and attacks on Europeans in Yemen added to Western security concerns on Wednesday, but Germany sought to calm nerves, saying too much public talk of risks would stir fear.

Suspected al Qaeda militants attacked two Western targets in Yemen, firing a rocket at a senior British diplomat’s car and killing a Frenchman at a gas and oil installation.

BERLIN (Reuters) – A French terrorism alert about Britain and attacks on Europeans in Yemen added to Western security concerns on Wednesday, but Germany sought to calm nerves, saying too much public talk of risks would stir fear.

Suspected al Qaeda militants attacked two Western targets in Yemen, firing a rocket at a senior British diplomat’s car and killing a Frenchman at a gas and oil installation.

BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s interior minister sought on Wednesday to calm public concerns amid a spate of warnings about the risk of a terrorist attack in Europe.

France became the latest country to issue a security alert, telling citizens heading to Britain to exercise caution due to a very high risk of terrorist action there that could target public transport and tourist sites.