Vladimir Putin's first big interview of the year was with Germany's leading newspaper Bild. Nikolaus Blome, Bild's deputy editor-in-chief who spoke to the Russian president, told Deutsche Welle that he was "happy with the result" and shared what impressed him the most. "Although I was aware of that, I was still surprised by how well [Putin] speaks German and understands the subtleties of the la [...]

After the shock of the New Year’s Eve assaults, and the subsequent backlash, some migrants are trying to teach refugees about the challenges of life in Germany and about mutual tolerance. Skinny-dipping, gay relationships and parenting all form part of Magdi Gohary’s crash-course introduction to a strange new home [...]

The proposal comes two weeks after hundreds of women were attacked by aggressive men of allegedly Arab and North African origin in a number of German cities. After the attacks on women in Cologne and a number of other German cities, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble has called to consider the deployment of Bundeswehr forces within the country. [...]

On New Year's Eve the German city of Cologne witnessed mass organized sexual assaults on hundreds of German women. For five days following the assaults the German media failed to report them. When under public pressure they eventually did, it turned out that a string of similar assaults had also happened simultaneously in various other German cities. [...]

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's migration policy has brought into question the German leader’s political future. What if Angela Merkel steps down? Experts weigh the pros and cons of the potential move. Angela Merkel's "open-door" refugee policy has already prompted fierce debate among the Chancellor's political opponents and ordinary Germans; the violent massive sex assault on women in Colo [...]

A German court has ruled Facebook’s ‘friend finder’ function, which allows the social network to market services to non-users, illegal. The court said the promotion is “intrusive” and that Facebook had not adequately informed its members about it. [...]

The head of a Bavarian district has sent a bus with 30 refugees aboard on a 550km trip to Angela Merkel’s Berlin office – fulfilling a threat made in October, when he said he would act if the number of refugees exceeded housing capacity in his area. Peter Dreier, head of the Landshut district in Bavaria, reportedly had an angry phone conversation with Chancellor Angela Merkel to discuss the [...]

This has to be seen to be believed. The Young Turks really need to get a non-progressive on to bring some reason to their echo chamber.   /* */ [...]

While the liberal media is working on damage limitation as the fairy dust on its childlike delusions is blown away by the harsh winds of reality in places like Cologne, it is time for European nations to ask themselves whether they believe in their own right to exist. Just because post-WWII European liberals have been culturally neutered doesn’t mean that the armies of young men pouring in fr [...]

German Chancellor Angela Merkel made neither public nor personal statements about the terror alert in Munich or the violent attacks on women in Cologne. Both events occurred five or six days ago and left the German population in the state of shock. [...]

In Cologne, protests turned into a gruesome scene when a crowd of about 1000 young men attacked police with fireworks and committed robberies and sexual assaults. The men were of north African or Arabic appearance. This is the thanks immigrants give to those who welcome them with open arms. COLOGNE EYEWITNESS: POLICE DESCRIBED SITUATION AS “CIVIL WAR” POLICE: MOST OF COLOGNE SEX ATTACK [...]

The EU has been storing up problems for years, which brings to mind the popular cliche, 'when it rains, it pours'. Could 2016 be the year the levee finally breaks? As the 20th century concluded, I was a Dublin cub reporter. There was an older journalist I greatly admired. [...]

Cologne police were not ready to deal with the mass sexual assaults committed during New Year’s celebrations, the city’s police chief told RT, adding that they have never experienced such incidents before. "Eventually we had a situation where a large group of men were going after women. We did intervene and help. But I'll admit that we were totally bewildered by it all. [...]

In an interview with newspaper Die Welt, a German economist argues that the ruble has the potential to become a currency of global significance and strengthen by about 20% by the end of 2016. Experts making forecasts for 2016 should take into account such currencies as the Russian ruble because the currency markets may soon face surprising developments, the newspaper wrote. [...]

For years, a sense of disillusionment has been growing on the right. Now, the refugee crisis has magnified that frustration. Increasingly, people from the very center of society are identifying with the movement -- even as political debate coarsens and violence increases. By SPIEGEL Staff [...]

Germany’s Initiative Group wants to provide up to ‎€2 billion to finance the Moscow-Kazan high-speed railway, according to the Vice President of Russian Railways (RZD) Aleksandr Misharin. "We have a proposal from our German colleagues on signing a similar [Russia-China – Ed.] memorandum on cooperation, where they make commitments on financing of up to €2 billion in the project on vari [...]

An annotated version of Hitler’s infamous “Mein Kampf,” banned in Germany for decades, will hit the bookshelves in January. Now it will become part of the school curriculum to “immunize” teenagers against fascist ideas, the German Teachers’ Association says. [...]

Some years ago, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said a multicultural society is an illusion, but she is doing everything to bring about this multicultural society, which is why I can’t believe her, says Hansjorg Mueller of the Alternative for Germany party. [...]

Greece has signed its first major privatization deal granting control of over a dozen regional airports to a German company. The agreement is part of international creditors’ demands to privatize state assets to secure €86 billion in bailout funds for Athens. The €1.23 billion contract gives a 40-year lease to the Frankfurt airport operator Fraport. [...]

Germany has publicly warned Saudi Arabia against further financing religious radicals globally. German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel’s demand to cut money flowing to the Wahhabis comes as some lawmakers are growing weary of Saudi-funded radical mosques. Gabriel stressed that the Saudi regime has been funding mosques known for radicalizing the Muslim population, including in various communiti [...]

The tragedy of Paris seems to have accelerated long-awaited political changes: "the United States can no longer play its self-declared hegemonic, or only super-power, role in the world, and Russia has returned to the center stage of world affairs", according to NYU political science professor Stephen Cohen. [...]

After announcing that Germany would not place limits on the number of asylum-seekers it accepts, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is now considering a quota system. The turnaround wasn't her choice. In early September, German Chancellor Angela Merkel issued an order to bring thousands of refugees who were stranded in Hungary to Germany. Germany's basic right to asylum has no upper limits, she said [...]