Germany | featured news

Angela Merkel reassured Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras on Friday that she wanted his country to stay in the euro zone, but gave no sign of ceding to his pleas for more time to meet the tough terms of Athens' international bailout.

Hundreds of videogames are being unveiled during the annual Gamescon festival in Cologne, Germany, but we take a look at five in particular that should be popular with diehard players.

Best known for its budget flat-pack furniture, Scandinavian retailer Ikea is planning to launch a chain of budget hotels in Europe. The property division of Inter Ikea - the company that owns the Ikea intellectual property rights - is planning hotels in 100 locations across Europe. The first two hotels are expected to open in Germany in 2014. Other locations earmarked for hotels include Belgium, the Netherlands, the Nordic countries, Britain and Poland.

The euro zone's two largest economies avoided shrinking between April and June, but the resilience of Germany and France wasn't enough to prevent the currency bloc's economy as a whole from falling back into contraction.

Spain has for the first time conceded it might need a full EU/IMF bailout worth 300 billion euros ($366 billion) if its borrowing costs remain unsustainably high, a euro zone official said.

German leaders have a message for their anxious neighbors: Perhaps the euro crisis isn’t so dire after all. A growing chorus of German policymakers say they have years to resolve the euro zone’s problems, even as Italy and Spain press for urgent action to bring down their borrowing costs, which are approaching new heights.

Deutsche Bank, Germany's biggest lender, is to cut 1,000 jobs in its investment banking division, the business daily Handelsblatt reported Thursday, quoting "well-informed financial sources".

Despite an embarrassment of rested riches, Germany came up short against Italy, who moves on to the final in Kiev against Spain.

The Euro 2012 match went to a shootout that Spain won, 4-2, heading to Kiev for the final against the winner of Germany’s match against Italy on Thursday.

Greece's new government should stop asking for more help and instead move quickly to enact reform measures agreed to in return for previous bailouts from its European partners, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said on Sunday.