The United States and fellow Paris Club members Russia and Germany agreed Wednesday, July 18, to provide additional debt relief to Afghanistan under the terms of the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative.

Gerhard Schroeder will stay in the German chancellery - golden this time. Former Chancellor Schroeder returned to the seat of power on Tuesday for the presentation of his official portrait, which took its place alongside the likenesses of his six predecessors.

Barbra Streisand shed her decades-long aversion to performing in Germany with a riveting concert in Berlin at the weekend. The concert drew repeated standing ovations from the sell-out crowd.

German Minister of Defense Jung: Successful EU-presidency
On 27 June the German Minister of Defense Franz Josef Jung travelled to Lisbon in order to hand the baton of the EU-presidency symbolically to his Portuguese counterpart Nuno Severiano Teixeira

Germany has increased security measures as the country's interior minister warned Friday of a direct threat of Islamist terrorist attacks in the country.

On the eve of a two-day European Union summit in Brussels, the bloc's quest for a new treaty to improve the bloc's functioning hangs in the balance. Poland says it will block the talks unless it is given more power in EU votes -- and Germany less.

In 2006, the European Patent Office (EPO) received a record total of around 207 300 patent applications, 5% up on the previous year (2005: 197 400). There was also a rise of 5%, from 128 000 to 135 200, in the number of new grant proceedings instituted before the EPO. The proportion of filings originating from the 32 member states of the European Patent Organisation fell by over 1%, from 49.6% to 48.5%.

"Climate Change as a Security Risk"

Frost & Sullivan Commends Geratherm for its Noteworthy Contribution to the Field of Vital Signs Monitoring

Frost & Sullivan has recognized Geratherm Medical AG with the 2007 European Frost & Sullivan Award for Product Innovation for developing a unique solar-powered clinical thermometer that offers an ecofriendly alternative to standard temperature measurement methods.

The IT Service Provider PC-WARE (DAX: PCW) wins the Pan-European tender of the Procurement Office of the German Federal Ministry of the Interior. As announced today by the Procurement Office, PC-WARE thus is the confirmed Select trading partner for the next two to three years. The contract regulates the Microsoft software licensing procurement according to public procurement law for the entire federal administration with a volume of EUR 30-50 million per year.

This week Eosta has launched two new varieties of organic cucumbers on the German-speaking market: the Frühlingsgurke and the Urgurke. Successful shop tests at different Alnatura shops in Germany have shown that the new varieties are popular with the consumer.

German police say they have arrested more than 250 protesters Thursday near a security fence outside the Baltic sea resort hosting world leaders at the Group of Eight summit.