The proposed mosque near ground zero drew hundreds of fever-pitch demonstrators Sunday, with opponents carrying signs associating Islam with blood, supporters shouting, "Say no to racist fear!" and American flags waving on both sides. An American Islamic expert takes a look at the debate.

Turkish politician Serkan Toeren calls for a ban on the full-body veil worn by Muslim women. Toeren wants to follow France and Belgium.

Roped together, eight young Jews and Arabs have just climbed Europe’s highest mountain in a bid to further peaceful coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians.

The French parliament voted to ban the burka, taking France one step closer to becoming the second nation after Belgium to pass this law.

A councillor from the Polish city of Poznan has taken an art gallery to court for displaying a swastika in a poster announcing the opening of the art venue.

The poster, based on the work of Italian artist Max Papeschi entitled Nazisexymous, shows a naked woman with the head of Mickey Mouse and a Nazi swastika in the background.

Smokers heading to Germany's famous annual beer festival, Oktoberfest later this year will be forced to light up outside. Voters supported a total smoking ban in Bavaria this weekend for restaurants, bars, cafes and beer tents.

The problem of European pension funds has long been known: more people are retiring and fewer people are working. But trying to convince the people to retire later in life is a non starter. 

Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf will lead his daughter, Crown Princess Victoria, to the altar at her wedding to Daniel Westling on June 19th.

Heidi, the quintessentially Swiss mountain girl who lived with her grandfather in the Alps, may in fact have been German. Heidi was the brainchild of author Johanna Spyri.

The designated social minister in Lower Saxony – Germany’s first woman Muslim state minister – has called for crucifixes to be removed from state schools, saying they have as little place there as headscarves.

Conservative bishop Richard Williamson has been fined $13,000 for "partial denial" of the Holocaust. He made the comments while on German soil. He is not expected to pay.

Vienna Mayor Michael Häupl said he could imagine Turkish schools in Austria following Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's call for such schools in Germany.

The current debate about Turkish schools in Germany shows how politicians in Berlin and Ankara like to treat German Turks as if they were children.

A German TV movie about Scientology that claims to reveal the dark side of the organization was a huge ratings hit for public broadcaster ARD, with 8.7 million viewers tuning in Wednesday night, a 27% market share.

Photo: Scientology Center in Berlin

Imagine a gay vice-president occupying the White House and leading the annual gay and lesbian parade on New York Christopher Street. Not a problem in Germany.

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle has agreed to be the official patron of the eighth annual Gay Games in Cologne this summer, the organization reported on Thursday.

Imagine a gay vice-president occupying the White House and leading the annual gay and lesbian parade on New York Christopher Street. Not a problem in Germany.

Prince Frederic von Anhalt, the eccentric eighth husband of Hollywood diva Zsa Zsa Gabor, vows to make prostitution and marijuana legal in California. He has formally registered as a candidate for governor.

It has not been easy for Germans in Switzerland of late – right wingers think there are too many of them, and furthermore, Berlin may well buy stolen Swiss bank data. Paola Carega reports.

The Vienna Opera Ball opened Thursday in a year dedicated to composer Frederic Chopin. But Austrian billionaire Richard Lugner's celebrity date, Hollywood starlet Lindsay Lohan, did a no show.

The global economic crisis has reignited interest in Karl Marx's signature work, "Das Kapital," written more than 140 years ago. Sales in Germany soared last year.

Veteran Viennese playboy Richard Lugner has defended his decision to invite Lindsay Lohan to the upcoming Opera Ball after the Austrian press branded the actress a "fallen princess".



Parents and children in the southwest German city of Trier are taking part in a “Christmas Academy” to perfect their skills at singing carols, reading aloud and making a good impression at the yuletide feast.

Largely unnoticed by English speakers, Europeans are sullenly suffering the colonization of their native languages by Anglo-American terms. (

Thousands of Austrians are seeking a ban on the U.S-style Santa Claus in favor of the "Christkind." Working through social platforms like Facebook they protest the commercialization of the Christman tradition.

Germany's new foreign minister Guido Westerwelle is not only openly gay, he prefers wine to vodka -- a no-no in the eyes of any macho Muscovite. He and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrow (right) held a joint news conference in Moscow.

McDonald's is changing its look in Europe. The classic yellow-on-red design is being changed to yellow-on-green, in a move that aims to signal the fast food chain's eco-friendly attitude.

A mounting crisis at German universities, where the government and professors blame one another for overcrowding and student stress, boiled over Tuesday into street demonstrations. They are protesting new education reforms.

The wife of the former leader of East Germany celebrated the 60th birthday of the communist regime in exile in Chile. Her husband, Erich Honecker, died in exile in 1994.

The Berlin Wall is being re-created just in time for the 20th anniversary of its fall. But this time it will divide not East and West Berlin, but downtown Los Angeles.