An important new release - just off the press!

More Swiss banks are turning down business from potential customers in the United States fearing legal problems and a mass of red tape.

By Matthew Allen

Gay and lesbian couples in Bavaria may now officially register for civil unions, according to a bill approved by the State Parliament in Munich this week, the German Press Agency (dpa) reported.

Citizens of a village in central Germany can use their mobile phone to switch on a street lamp  as part of an effort to save energy.

Congressional junkets at taxpayer expense are perks that haven't been cut back in these financially-trouble times. To the contrary, traveling is up and the costs continue to rise, a study by The Wall Street Journal shows. Kuwait, Germany and Austria are the most favored destinations followed by France.

Nearly six months into his presidency, President Obama reportedly has picked the next envoy to Berlin. He is Phil Murphy, national finance chairman for the Democratic National Committee and a former investment banker at - you guessed it - the Goldman Sachs Group.

Germany ranks tops among the eight industrial nations in the fight against climate change followed by the UK. Canada fell to the bottown of the heap, replacing the US which moved to seventh spot.

Since mid-May, the Texas-based Bandidos have been trying to get a foothold in Germany’s northern-most territory in which nine Hells Angels clubs and crews are located. Now German police are bracing for what could become a bloody gang war.

Germany's Under 21 players won the European soccer crown on Monday after crushing archrivals England 4:0 with an impressive performance in Malmo, Sweden.

Hollywood actress Sandra Bullock  is trying to get German citizenship, she said on Monday during a press conference for the premiere of her new film The Proposal in Munich.

German government agencies are planning to beef up the country's security in the run-up to the September election, the online edition of Der Spiegel magazine reported. Berlin fears that terrorists might seek revenge for Germany's mission in Afghanistan.

The arch conservative Catholic Pius Brotherhood defied the Vatican again on Saturday by announcing it would ordain three new priests in a chapel near Fulda.

German sports car maker Porsche rejected Saturday an "ultimatum" issued by rival Volkswagen to accept by Monday a proposal for cross-ownership leading eventually to a merger.

Forty years after the landmark "Stonewall uprising," German politicians and gay rights activists are demanding changes to the constitution to include equal rights for gay people. follwing is a report by Deutsche Welle's writer Kateri Jochum.

Dresden, once one of the world's most beautiful cities, has had its share of bad luck. The place was virtually flattened during two consecutive air raids in the final days of World War II,  killing between 60,000 and 200,000, depending on whom you ask.

Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Germans and Americans on Thursday to uphold and defend "our common values" and pledged to work toward strengthing the alliance between the two nations. 

By Walter Pfaeffle

The Klimahaus, or Climate House, in Bremerhaven opened on Thursday, with city planners hoping it will become an environmental tourist draw for the northern city.

If you are planning a trip to Austria or Bavaria, take along rubber boots. Heavy rains have caused flooding and closed roads there.  As much as six inches are set to fall over the next few days.

A German bank must compensate a retired teacher for his investment in Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. certificates that became worthless with Lehman's collapse, a court ruled on Tuesday.

Four months after Werner Faymann became Chancellor, he seems to be following in the footsteps of his predecessor Alfred Gusenbauer to
becoming a footnote in Austria’s post-war history.

By Thomas Hochwarter

As the number of Muslims in Germany is rising swelling, religious and civic leaders are stepping up pressure on the Berlin government to grant Islam the same legal status as Christianity and other religions. The Islam Conference meets on Thursday to take up the matter.

OECD finance ministers agreed to step up the fight against tax evasion, focusing on countries such as Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Luxembourg.

Germany will no longer oppose the sale of meat from the offspring of cloned animals, a German newspaper has learned. But  cloned meat won't be making it to the American dinner plate just yet.

Germany has toughened her rhetoric against the Iranian government, while US President Obama is facing conservative criticism for his perceived weak response to the crackdown against opponents.

British-German philosopher Ralf Dahrendorf has died, the  Freiburg-based Badische Zeitung reported today. He was 80 years old. The press office of Laterza, Dahrendorf's publishing house in Italy, confirmed the report.  The philosopher had fallen ill in May.  

One of the most famous photographs by German-American Alfred Eisenstaedt showing a sailor kissing a young woman in 1945 is now hanging in Houston's Michael E. DeBakey Center. In a ceremony on Tuesday the center accepted the photo from Houstonian Glenn McDuffie.

Tens of thousands of students across Germany took to the streets this week demanding a reform of the education system and putting pressure on politicans ahead of national elections.

EU Industry Commissioner Guenter Verheugen has warned that the plan to rescue German automaker Opel would ultimately benefit Russian investors most. Verheugen said the plan must offer a genuine long-term perspective.

An Egyptian antiquities expert said he has "documentary proof" that Germany stole the fabled bust of Egyptian Queen Nefertiti nearly a century ago and should return it.