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Berlin Rejects Israeli Pressure Over Subs Sale to Egypt

German Defence Minister Thomas de Maiziere dismissed Israeli pressure not to sell two submarines to Egypt, while acknowledging the country was "not as stable" as he would like in an interview published Saturday.

"No country in the world has the right of veto to decisions taken by the German government," the minister told the Frankfurter Rundschau when asked to comment on the probable sale of two Type 209 attack submarines.

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Germany Seeks To Calm Fears About Euro Rescue Fund, Ecb

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble on Friday sought to allay fears that Europe's top economy would have to pick up the tab if other countries could not pay their share of the eurozone's rescue fund.

Speaking to Deutschlandfunk public radio, Schaeuble said that if a member country could not stump up its proportion of the cash for the massive 500-billion-euro firewall known as the ESM, then Germany -- already Europe's effective paymaster -- would not be left to pay the difference.

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German Inflation above ECB Limit in August

Rising energy prices pushed inflation in Germany, Europe's top economy, above the threshold set by the European Central Bank in August, official data showed on Wednesday.

Inflation stood at 2.1 percent year-on-year last month, national statistics office Destatis said in a statement, slightly revising higher its initial estimate made on August 29.

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Portugal Wins Crisis Reprieve Ahead of German Court Decision

Bailed out Portugal won a precious reprieve from its creditors Tuesday, a day before a crucial court decision in Germany that could bring a painful end to a summertime lull in the eurozone debt crisis.

The EU and IMF agreed to relax Portugal's deficit targets for 2012 and 2013, rewarding the Portuguese for pushing through reforms and drawing a marked contrast with the little patience shown by creditors to Greece.

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80 Policemen Hurt after Riot at Kurdish Festival in Germany

Eighty police officers were injured, one seriously, after riots erupted at a Kurdish festival in Germany that attracted around 40,000 Kurds from around Europe, authorities said on Sunday.

Rioters hurled stones, bottles and fireworks at police and damaged 13 police vehicles as violence spun out of control in the western city of Mannheim. Authorities responded with pepper spray. There were 31 arrests.

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Westerwelle: Nuclear-Armed Iran 'Not an Option'

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said on Sunday that a nuclear-armed Iran was "not an option", as he called on Tehran for "substantial negotiations" over its controversial atomic program.

"We share the Israeli concerns about Iran's nuclear program," Westerwelle said at the beginning of a meeting with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak in Jerusalem.

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Spain Wants to Know Conditions for any Bailout

Spain wants to know the conditions it must submit to before requesting any sovereign bailout, Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo said Friday.

"We have to know the conditions, analyse them and then it will be decided," he said in Paphos, a coastal resort in Cyprus where European Union foreign ministers are gathering.

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Germany Warns Against Expecting Too Much From ECB

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble warned Monday against expecting too much from the European Central Bank at its meeting this week, as markets hope for a raft of new anti-crisis measures.

"We must be very careful not to nurture too many false expectations," Schaeuble told Deutschlandfunk public radio in an interview.

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German Leftist MP Visits Assange at Ecuador Embassy

German far-left MP Sevim Dagdelen on Sunday visited Julian Asange, who has been holed up at Ecuador's embassy in London since June, and afterwards expressed her solidarity with the Wikileaks founder.

"I have sent solidarity regards to Julian Assange from the left in Germany and the online community in Germany," said Dagdelen in a statement issued after the visit.

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Germany Says Lebanon Paying Price of Syria War

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle warned on Sunday that Lebanon was paying the price of the war in Syria and reiterated his country’s support for the Lebanese people.

In remarks to the Kuwaiti al-Rai daily, Westerwelle said: “We are watching the developments in Lebanon with concern and preserving our intense contacts with our Lebanese partners.”

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