Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that German-supplied submarines were "very important" for his country's defense, after a media report that Israel was fitting the vessels with nuclear warheads.

"Germany has underlined its commitment to Israel's security in particular with the sale of another submarine," Netanyahu told the daily Bild. "It is a very important addition to our national security."

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle is scheduled to arrive in Lebanon on Thursday in the first of a series of visits by European officials aimed at voicing support for Lebanon, reported the daily An Nahar on Tuesday.

A European diplomat told the daily that the visits are a “show of support for Lebanon given the deteriorating Syrian crisis.”

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle will visit Syria's neighbors this week in a bid to help stop the bloody strife threatening regional stability, a spokeswoman said Sunday.

Westerwelle will leave Monday on a tour that will take in Turkey and Lebanon as well as Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, the foreign ministry spokeswoman told Agence France Presse, without giving a detailed itinerary.

Clashes between neo-Nazi demonstrators and far-left counter-protesters overnight in the northern German port city of Hamburg left 38 police officers injured, police said Sunday.

Security forces were pelted with rocks, bottles and fireworks and responded by turning water cannon and pepper spray on the rioting groups who turned out at a march by the far right.

With Toyota and Honda leading the way, U.S. car sales rose by more than 20 percent in May from a year ago, juiced up by increased incentives amid a slow U.S. economy, industry figures showed Friday.

In total, 1.33 million new cars and trucks were sold in the United States last month, according to market researcher Autodata.

Germany and Russia agreed on the need for a political solution to end the bloodshed in Syria, their leaders said after talks here Friday, as Vladimir Putin warned the country could be on the brink of civil war.

The Russian president said the situation in strife-wracked Syria was "extremely dangerous" but underlined his opposition to military intervention, after meeting German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the second leg of his first foreign tour since returning to the Kremlin.

Germany on Friday urged Russia to curb its support for Damascus, ahead of President Vladimir Putin's visit to Berlin and Paris that is set to be dominated by the escalating Syria crisis.

"In our view Russia should recognize that we are not working against Russian strategic interests when we want to stop the violence in Syria," Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle told Die Welt ahead of Putin's arrival.

Beyond the cliches of Bratwurst, beer festivals and discount supermarkets, Germany has built up a world class haute cuisine, even if many Germans still prefer to spend cash on their car rather than eating out.

Second only to France at the European level since 2007 in terms of distinctions in the prestigious Michelin guide, Germany boasted nine restaurants with three stars in this year's guide.

German prosecutors on Thursday charged a Turkish man on suspicion of being a member of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party and taking part in guerrilla operations in northern Iraq.

The federal prosecutors said in a statement they indicted the 46-year-old, named only as Ali Ihsan K., on charges of "belonging to the foreign terrorist organization Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)".

Iran is using commercial aircraft to smuggle weapons and explosives to Syria and Hizbullah in Lebanon, the German broadcaster ZDF reported Wednesday.

Citing Western security sources, ZDF said that Iran Air and Yas Air have repeatedly used aircraft designated as passenger planes to transport weapons to the Assad regime and Hizbullah.