'Big Data' report touches on privacy concerns raised by EU Obama due to meet with Germany's Angela Merkel on Friday The White House has ordered that US data privacy protections will soon be extended to non-Americans in an announcement that seems timed to take some of the heat out of Friday's meeting with German chancellor Angela Merkel. Though separate from the administration's earlier review of intelligence...
Officials say a personal invitation for US whistleblower to attend hearing would put 'grave strain' on US-German relations UK slips down global press freedom list due to Snowden leaks response The German government has blocked Edward Snowden from giving personal evidence in front of a parliamentary inquiry into NSA surveillance, it has emerged hours before Angela Merkel travels to Washington for a...
In phone call with Angela Merkel, Russian president says military withdrawal and national dialogue are key issues in Ukraine Vladimir Putin has called for Ukrainian troops to pull out of the south-east of the country, in a conversation with Angela Merkel on Thursday. The Russian president said military withdrawal, an end to violence and a national dialogue were the key issues in Ukraine, according...
Alstom makes concession by agreeing to consider rival bid from Siemens after accepting 12.4bn offer for energy division French industrial group Alstom has accepted General Electric's 12.4bn (£10.2bn) offer to buy its energy division despite a government outcry over the deal. Alstom made a concession to ministerial pressure, however, as it said it was still prepared to consider a counter-bid from...
Pragmaticism is likely to prevail, leaving France to concede that GE wouldn't be such a bad owner after all Thanks for your input President Hollande, but we really like this offer for our power business from General Electric. That seems to the view from the boardroom of Alstom. The directors have ignored a prod from the French government not to be hasty and to consider what Siemens of Germany has to...
German company submits offer after Paris encourages EU firms to do so to head off $13bn GE bid for France's Alstom Germany's Siemens has formally entered into a takeover battle with the US's General Electric for Alstom, the French company that makes Eurostar trains. Siemen's official offer on Tuesday came after the French government encouraged European firms to submit rival bids to head off GE's $13bn...
Special report : parties demanding everything from reform to withdrawal are riding high on wave on discontent The Foire aux Fromages et aux Vins in Coulommiers, an attractive town on the undulating Brie plateau an hour east of Paris, is a fabulously French affair: a monumental marquee, hordes of happy visitors and more than 350 stalls laden with Gallic bounty. Among the cheeses are tomme from Savoie,...
German chancellor in first meeting with president since revelation that US intelligence services tapped her mobile phone Angela Merkel should ask Barack Obama to destroy her NSA file when she meets the American president in Washington this week, a leading German opposition politician has told the Guardian. The Greens warn that failure to address the intelligence monitor scandal would risk undermining...
Surprise move comes after French economy minister said he would actively seek 'other solutions' to GE's $13bn offer Siemens entered the battle for French engineering group Alstom on Sunday, after the French government encouraged a European counterbid following a $13bn (£7.7bn) offer last week by the US company General Electric. The German industrial group said it had written to the Alstom board...
Wembley or Munich will find out Uefa decision in September Nineteen nations submit bids to host tournament games England and Germany will continue their great football rivalry in a contest to host the 2020 European Championship final and semi-finals. Uefa said yesterday Saturday on Saturday that 19 countries are bidding to host games in the tournament being played across Europe, and the final stages...
A compassionate memoir about a collapsed country and a lost home The night the Berlin Wall came down, Maxim Leo's parents watched an item about new travel regulations on East German news, decided there would be nothing happening at the Wall, and went to bed. "When they wake up the next morning," writes their son, who was at that moment joining the celebratory west-ward surge, "the GDR...
Trial in Bavaria shows great promise in spotting fawns hiding in tall grass and alerting farmers doing spring mowing A German wildlife rescue project is deploying small aerial drones to find young deer hiding in tall grass and protect them from being shredded by combine harvesters cutting hay in spring. According to project spokesman Rolf Stockum, the pilot scheme has shown great promise in spotting...
Formula One chief claims $44m of payments were result of banker threatening to supply false information to tax officials Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone has launched his defence against charges of bribing a public official in the first of at least 26 days of hearings at a Munich court. Ecclestone has denied the bribery charges, claiming he was the victim of a blackmail scam. Continue reading......
Deloitte appointed receivers to landmark tower completed 10 years ago, which houses Sky News and insurer Swiss Re The landmark Gherkin building in London's Square Mile has been put into receivership 10 years after its completion transformed the capital's skyline. Deloitte has been appointed receiver to the 41-storey landmark tower in the City of London, whose first 15 floors are occupied by insurer...
The EU project has never been less popular. Berlin and Paris must deal with the economic and security crises together Never has it been so important for the nations of the European Union to be united. But never has the European project been more endangered by indifference, hostility and even open rejection. Can we bridge this gap and where would the impulse to do so come from? With one...
Unions call for employers to show leniency towards football-supporting workers after Germany's late-night matches German union bosses have called on employers to show leniency towards their football-supporting workers by allowing them to start work later the day after Germany's games in the World Cup . Because of the time difference, many matches in Brazil will kick off after midnight German time....
Thursday will see the opening of a case that may end with the 83-year-old F1 billionaire being imprisoned for 10 years Bernie Ecclestone, the driving force behind Formula One for almost 40 years, is to stand trial in a bribery case that opens in Munich on Thursday and could result in him being imprisoned for up to 10 years. The 256-page indictment against the 83-year-old billionaire paints a picture...
Online campaign launched to save Alt Berlin, which opened in 1893 and is known for its familial atmosphere Opened in 1893 and claimed by some to be the oldest bar in the German capital, Alt Berlin is a favourite haunt of artists, bohemians and lowlifes. But with rents rising at an unprecedented rate, "Berlin's last village local" may soon be no more: unless a petition can change the landlord's...
Sigmar Polke is the experimental trickster of postwar German art, from his wall-tower paintings that evoke concentration camps to his trippy photography phase after he travelled around Afghanistan in the 70s. His art is 'unceasingly inventive and often hilarious', and he's the focus of one of the largest ever exhibitions at MoMA in New York. Here is a selection of the best works on show Sigmar Polke...
Workers at distribution centres in Leipzig and Bad Hersfeld have been told to strike by labour union Verdi in long-running pay dispute German labour union Verdi has called on workers at online retailer Amazon in Germany to go on strike on Thursday as a long-running pay dispute continues. "Amazon is refusing talks about a wage agreement," Verdi negotiator Joerg Lauenroth-Mago said in a statement,...