Former enemies united to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the start of the First World War, with Belgium, France, Britain and Germany standing together in a spirit of reconciliation.

Former enemies during the First World War have united for ceremonies surrounding the 100th anniversary of the start of the conflict.

British Private John Parr set off on his reconnaissance bike on the lookout for German troops amid the rolling farmland and woods south of Brussels in August 1914.

German-US relations are facing a new test over a German intelligence employee who reportedly spied for the US, with Germany’s president saying if the allegations are true, that kind of spying on allies must stop.

An 88-year-old former SS soldier has been charged in Germany over the Second World War massacre of an entire French village in which 642 men, women and children were slaughtered.

A EUROPE badly shaken by a faltering economy and rising populism is set to commemorate the centenary of the First Word War, the conflict still known as the “Great War” that scarred the continent and shaped the 20th century.

Germans sleep better, Bismarck once said, when they don’t know how sausages and laws are made.

Germany’s president is appealing to Britain not to turn its back on the European Union, while voicing understanding for its frustration with the EU.

An attempt to block to block the eurozone’s permanent rescue fund and Europe’s new fiscal discipline treaty will be heard by Germany’s high court next week.

Facing deepening Western criticism, Ukraine’s president today ordered a thorough probe into the alleged beating by prison officials of jailed former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.

Angela Merkel’s coalition seemed dangerously close to rupture when her Free Democrat (FDP) partners defied the chancellor and backed an opposition candidate for the German presidency, centre-right coalition sources admitted.

A special assembly of the German parliament will vote on March 18 for a successor to former president Christian Wulff, who resigned abruptly on Friday over growing allegations that he had received favours from friends.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel bowed to pressure yesterday and agreed to back popular opposition candidate Joachim Gauck to become president, averting a political fight that might have distracted her government from solving the eurozone crisis.

The government of German Chancellor Angela Merkel is facing a tough test with today's election of the country's new president.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev today crossed a former fortified border to cheers as Germans recalled the night 20 years ago that the Berlin Wall gave way to their desire for freedom and unity.