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Britain has just a 50-50 chance of remaining in the European Union, Sir John Major has warned, saying that opposition to continued membership of the European Union has reached “a critical mass”. In a speech in Berlin on Thursday Sir John warned that Britain’s frustration was “no game”, adding: “There is a very real risk of separation that could damage the future of the United Kingdom—and Europe as a whole.” Sir John—who was a pro-European during his time as Prime Minister from 1990 and 1997—also said that it was time officials in the European Union recognized real concern in the...

Anti-racism activists in Norway have refused to participate in a Holocaust commemoration because members of the Jewish community were also invited to it, according to a Norwegian blog cited by the International Business Times (IBT). According to blog “Norway, Israel and the Jews,” Norwegian organization New SOS Racisme – which claims to act against racism – demanded that the "Zionist Jews of Bergen" be banned from attending the Kristallnacht memorial event held earlier this week. They "refused to participate in the Kristallnacht commemoration since a representative from the Mosaic Congregation [a conservative Jewish Congregation ] was invited. Yes, they balked...

The European Central Bank on Thursday (6 November) formally made public a letter showing that the eurozone bank threatened to pull emergency bank funding if Ireland did not enter a bailout and undertake austerity measures in 2010. The letter, signed by the then-ECB president Jean-Claude Trichet, speaks of “great concern” about the solvency of Irish lenders—which had loaned heavily to the overheated construction sector—and the extent to which the whole eurosystem was exposed. It then says that the ECB would cut off emergency funding to Irish banks unless Ireland meets four conditions, including getting a bailout and undertaking “fiscal consolidation,...

Market researchers GfK found that Germany has knocked the USA off the top spot for global image for the first time since 2009. The pollsters asked 20,000 people in 20 countries their opinion of 50 leading nations across six categories: exports, government, culture, people, tourism, and immigration and investment. Germany’s biggest gain over 2013 was in the “Top sporting performance” category, as people had become familiar with the grinning faces of the World Cup-winning football team over the summer. But GfK found other key factors helped put Germany on top, including its leading role in European politics, strong economic performance...

He survived the savagery of the Holocaust, made it to America with barely a penny and became a world-famous tailor in Brooklyn, dressing celebrities and presidents. In his new memoir, “Measure of a Man,” Martin Greenfield tells the story of his extraordinary life. In this excerpt, he explains how the concentration camps nearly stripped him of his humanity at age 16 — and the day he got it back. While at Buchenwald, the SS assigned me to work in the munitions factory. But early one morning after roll call, a soldier placed me on a 12-prisoner team to perform repairs...

Editors' note: this column is a reprint from Jeff Jacoby in 1999.They used to tell a joke in West Berlin: "What are you going to do when the Wall comes down?" "Find a tree and start climbing." "Why?" "Because there won't be any room to stand in the streets." Like a lot of jokes told on the front lines of the Cold War, that one contained more than a grain of truth. There really wasn't any room to stand — well, not much — when, on that breathtaking night 10 years ago this week, the Central Committee of the East...

Chess legend Garry Kasparov was once the pride of the Soviet Union. But 25 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall he lives in exile, accusing Russian leader Vladimir Putin of “strategic failure” and the EU establishment of “ignorance” in its dealings with Moscow. […] “What we are seeing in Russia is a resurgence of imperialism and nationalism in its most dangerous form,” he said, comparing Russia’s actions in Ukraine and Putin’s domestic propaganda to Nazi Germany on the eve of World War II. “Just read what Putin has been saying in his [anti-West] speeches in the past year....

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his associates think slanders recently published against him in the name of a senior White House official were intended to soften public opinion toward a developing major US agreement with Iran, Israel’s NRG News reported Tuesday. Netanyahu believes that the Obama administration wants to minimize Israel’s visibility in the United States, in order to muffle attempts to delegitimize such a deal, one that Israeli officials fear would allow Teheran a “breakout” ability to quickly assemble a nuclear weapon. However, at this point, Netanyahu plans to work behind the scenes and is not planning an overt...

A quarter of a century after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the border between West and East has been lit up by 8,000 glowing balloons. The bright orbs are part of the Lichtgrenze - or lightborder - art project, which has seen the balloons mark the dividing line that separated West and East Berlin for nearly 30 years. An eight-mile stretch of the former border will be lit up until dusk on Sunday, when the orbs will be untethered and released into the sky. The balloons pass landmarks such as Checkpoint Charlie, Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag as they...

COLOGNE, Germany — With its wood-paneled piano bar and luxurious spa, the four-star Bonotel assures visitors paying up to $300 per night that it meets the "international standard of a first-class hotel." But starting next year, the hotel's marble-and-mirrored lobby and "quiet, peaceful ambience" will play host not to indulgent travelers but desperate asylum seekers. Germany's fourth-largest city spent almost $7 million to buy the Bonotel this summer. Its doors will soon be shut and its 93 opulent rooms filled with asylum seekers, a move underscoring how Europe's economic powerhouse has been overwhelmed by an influx of people seeking a...

Vladimir Putin has said there was nothing bad about the Nazi-Soviet Pact, the non-aggression treaty which led to the carve-up of Poland at the outset of the Second World War, suggesting Britain and France were to blame for Adolf Hitler's march into Europe. […] Mr. Putin said that Western historians today try to “hush up” the 1938 Munich Agreement, in which France and Britain—led by Neville Chamberlain, the prime minister—appeased Adolf Hitler by acquiescing to his occupation of Czechoslovakia’s Sudetenland. […] Mr. Putin appeared to think Moscow’s own agreement with Hitler—the 1939 Nazi-Soviet or Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact—was fine, however. “Serious research...

Lech Walesa: Putin declares war on world. We must give proper answer Former Polish president Lech Walesa said in the European Parliament that Russian president Vladimir Putin had declared war on the world, UNN reports with a link to Polskie Radio. He raised his concerns about the situation in eastern Ukraine. “When Ukraine handed over its nuclear weapons, powerful states guaranteed Ukraine's territorial integrity, but he [Putin] violated the agreements. He declared war on the world,” the ex-president said. He is confident that Putin “uses illegal methods”. “Europe and the world bear responsibility and try to prevent confrontation, while he...

Assistant Spokeswoman for the German Foreign Ministry Susan Shibley said on Friday that her country would not follow in the footsteps of Sweden and recognize a Palestinian State, Anadolu news agency said. She was speaking at a press conference held in Berlin. She said that her country has been supporting a solution for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict based on the two-state plan via a deal between the Israeli and the Palestinians. …

'People who tried to escape from East Germany during the Cold War could be shot, jailed and tortured. But the government was so short of money that some ended up being secretly sold - to West Germany, the country most of them had been trying to reach in the first place.'

Oil prices tumbled to their lowest point in more than two years after Saudi Arabia unexpectedly cut prices for crude sold to the U.S., likely paving the way for further declines and adding to pressure on American energy producers. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia raised the prices for its oil in other locations, including Asia, where the country had cut its prices for four consecutive months.

Iran might be willing to ship much of its uranium stockpile out of country to Russia as part of a comprehensive agreement with world powers over its nuclear program, US officials said this week. Quoted in The New York Times, officials said that much of the 28,000 pound stockpile would be converted to fuel rods by the Russians for peaceful use in Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant. Russia is engaged in talks with Iran alongside the US, United Kingdom, France, China and Germany, working toward a November 24 deadline for a final agreement. "There's no doubt that the talks have...

Germany has moved closer to getting its first state governor from a party with communist roots as the 25th anniversary of the Berlin Wall’s fall approaches. Germany’s main center-left party, the Social Democrats, said Tuesday a party ballot in eastern Thuringia state showed 70 percent favoring negotiations to join a regional government led by Left Party candidate Bodo Ramelow. […] Ramelow himself wasn’t a communist, but his party is descended partly from East Germany’s communist rulers. …

On Wednesday, October 29th, the Defense Minister was a honorary guest of Bundeswehr commanding cadre and management conference chaired by German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen. “A strong democratic Europe needs a strong Germany and strong Poland. The power does not only mean economic power, economic links. It is not only about certainty that our values are right. Power also includes ability of defense, it is also a military power, the power of Bundeswehr and Polish Armed Forces,” said Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense Tomasz Siemoniak in Berlin. […] Moreover, Defense Ministers talked about the situation in Ukraine,...

Chancellor Angela Merkel has warned British Prime Minister David Cameron he is approaching a “point of no return” with the European Union over his immigration proposals, according to a report on Sunday said. News weekly Der Spiegel writes in its latest edition that Merkel told Cameron on the sidelines of an EU summit last month that his moves to limit an influx of EU migrant workers undermined core principles of the bloc. If he continues, Germany would no longer fight to keep Britain in the EU. …

Austria is a tiny, politically neutral country with no nearby enemies. And yet the Austrian air force possesses 15 high-performance Typhoon jet fighters. Not only are the twin-engine, supersonic warplanes arguably unnecessary in light of Vienna’s defense needs—they’re also too expensive for the government’s modest military budget. The 15 Typhoons rarely fly. And when they do, they carry only a tiny fraction of the weaponry that other Typhoon operators—the U.K., Germany, Spain, Italy and Saudi Arabia—routinely hang on the high-tech fighters. And in stark contrast to other countries—which usually employ twice as many pilots as they have fighters, thus ensuring...