Steffen Seibert

Tens of thousands of people thronged an anti-racism concert Monday in protest against xenophobic mobs that ran rampage in the city of Chemnitz, as Angela Merkel urged Germans to stand up against the far right's message of hate and division.

The Guardian - The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, has condemned two days of far-right street violence that has left several people injured, which flared up after a Syrian and an Iraqi were accused of killing a German man on Sunday.

Chancellor Angela Merkel is set to meet Russian president Vladimir Putin this weekend to discuss the conflicts in Syria and Eastern Ukraine.

The two leaders will meet at Schloss Meseberg outside Berlin on Saturday for talks on Ukraine and Syria, as well as the controversial gas pipeline Nord Stream II, government spokesperson Steffen Seibert confirmed on Monday.

Berlin welcomes an agreement between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) on the longstanding name row between the two Balkan neighbors, a spokesman said Wednesday while congratulating the two prime ministers and the UN's special envoy Matthew Nimetz for their diplomatic efforts.

Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the Syrian crisis in a telephone conversation with his French counterpart Emmanuel Makron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the Kremlin press service said.

Israeli says it has signed an agreement with the German government to receive three new submarines that would go into service from 2027.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that his government signed a memorandum of understanding with the German government earlier in the day.

Berlin has dismissed Warsaw's demands for paying massive World War II reparations, saying the bitter historical issue was fully resolved sixty years ago and that there are no grounds to revive it.

"Poland made a binding decision in August 1953… to relinquish demands for further war reparations," said German government spokesman Steffen Seibert as quoted by AFP.

All politicians now have Twitter accounts - unless their name is Angela Merkel, DPA writes.

The German Chancellor is one of the most famous international politicians who have not yet joined the social media. Merkel, who will fight for the fourth term in the September 24th election, told the media group Editorial Research Deutsche Welle that she was considering joining Twitter.

Two more German citizens have been detained in Turkey "for political reasons", Berlin said Sept. 1, bringing the total number of German political prisoners in Turkish custody to 12 amid badly frayed ties between the countries.

German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel on Aug. 28 sharply condemned a leader of the right-wing populist AfD party who called for an official with Turkish roots to be "dumped" in Anatolia, saying such comments recall Germany's "worst memories."