Two brothers wanted for a bloody attack on the offices of French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo were killed on Friday when anti-terrorist police stormed their hideout, while a second siege ended with the deaths of four hostages.
Police are hunting three French nationals, including two brothers from the Paris region, after suspected Islamist gunmen killed 12 people at a satirical magazine on Wednesday, a police official and government source said.
Germany cast doubt on whether a four-way summit on the Ukraine crisis in Kazakhstan's capital Astana on Jan. 15 would take place on Monday and France's president said the meeting would depend on the likelihood of "new progress" being made.
Ukraine's President said on Monday he would meet the leaders of Russia, France and Germany on Jan. 15 in an attempt to restore peace to Kiev's eastern territories and acknowledged Kiev lacked the resources to regain control by military means.
Germany's top public prosecutor said an investigation into suspected tapping of Chancellor Angela Merkel's mobile phone by U.S. spies had so far failed to find any concrete evidence.
British Prime Minister David Cameron will set out plans on Friday to limit immigration from the European Union as he seeks to woo disgruntled voters less than six months ahead of a national election.
After nine months of non-stop German diplomacy to defuse the crisis in Ukraine, Chancellor Angela Merkel decided in mid-November that a change of tack was needed.
A senior ally of German Chancellor Angela Merkel has warned the foreign minister and his fellow Social Democrats (SPD) against pursuing a more friendly approach towards Russia in the Ukraine crisis, according to Spiegel magazine.
Russia President Vladimir Putin said in a German television interview on Sunday that he is convinced it should be possible to find a way to resolve the crisis in Ukraine but added he was concerned about the threat of ethnic cleansing.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Russian President Vladimir Putin on the phone that Sunday's planned elections in eastern Ukraine were illegitimate and would not be recognized by European leaders, a Berlin government spokesman said on Friday.
German prosecutors dropped a two-year investigation into possible breach of trust by a former regional politician and an ex-Morgan Stanley (MS.N) banker over a state's purchase of a stake worth 4.7 billion euros ($6 billion) in utility EnBW (EBKG.DE).
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble renewed a call for a core group of European Union countries to move ahead faster with economic and political integration, 20 years after his ground-breaking proposal fell on deaf ears in key partner France.
