Germany

(Newser) - It’s hard to make a name for yourself when you share a name with your father, harder when the father was a famous Nazi architect and friend of Hitler. Urban planner Albert Speer constantly battles the association, keeping a low profile, and, though he has made his mark worldwide, avoiding Berlin. Now, he has his sights on bringing the 2018 Winter Olympics to Munich. More »

(Newser) - Germany blasted Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe today as the EU began a historic trade summit with Africa, Reuters reports. Mugabe listened as German Chancellor Angela Merkel declared Zimbabwe’s human rights crisis “damaging the image of the new Africa.” Such issues loom on the first day of the summit, which aims to open trade with the commodity-rich continent. More »

(Newser) - German ministers accused Scientology of being unconstitutional today and took steps to ban it from the country, Der Spiegel reports. They ordered spies to assemble a dossier on the group, based on 10 years of surveillance, to support the ban. Scientologists were outraged, and called themselves victims of "on-going and never-ending discrimination," the BBC reports. More »

(Newser) - World Cup finalists Italy and France will meet again: this time in Group C, the "Group of Death" of the Euro 2008 soccer championship. For Romania, it could be called "unluck of the draw" as it was selected for that group today along with another powerful squad, Holland, reports the Guardian . "I think there are coaches who are happier today," said France's manager. More »

(Newser) - Six decades and $100 billion in reparations later, tens of thousands of Jews say Germany still owes them for Holocaust crimes, the Washington Post reports. A 2002 law promised pensions for ghetto dwellers forced to work for little pay, but officials denied benefits to 60,000 for lack of documentation, leading many to decry bureaucratic stinginess. More »

(Newser) - On the second anniversary of her taking office, the German media reports on new troubles for Angela Merkel's increasingly fractious grand coalition, which has two years to go but seems unlikely to push through the difficult reforms the chancellor promised. With last week's resignation of Franz Müntefering, the government's No. 2, Merkel has lost her closest partner from the other side of the aisle, and cooperation is giving way to squabbling. More »

(Newser) - France isn't the only country suffering a railway strike this week. In Germany, millions of commuters are stranded as a dispute over pay hikes enters its third day. The strike, which began on freight services, has now expanded to commuter trains, reports the Telegraph . It's the most serious strike in Germany's history and comes at a critical moment for Chancellor Angela Merkel's increasingly fractious government coalition. More »