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Minister Fears for Germany's Image after Asylum Building Blaze

Germany's foreign minister voiced fears Sunday that the country's reputation could be harmed after a building earmarked to house asylum seekers was set ablaze.

"The events in Troeglitz are a disgrace," Germany's Welt am Sonntag newspaper quoted Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier as saying.

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Lufthansa Doctors Recommended Continued Treatment for Crash Pilot

Doctors at Lufthansa had recommended that pilot Andreas Lubitz, who is suspected of deliberately crashing a plane in the French Alps, be given psychological treatment after he suffered a bout of depression, a German newspaper reported.

Citing documents found by Germany's air transport authority, the Bild am Sonntag said the doctors wrote that "Lubitz should continue to receive psychological treatment, even though he was deemed fit to fly" by an independent expert in 2009.

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Germany Owes Greece 278 bn Euros in War Payments

Germany owes Greece more than 278 billion euros ($306 billion) in war payments, including some 10 billion for a forced loan taken by Nazi occupation forces, a junior minister has told parliament.

"According to our calculations, the debt linked to German reparations is 278.7 billion euros, including 10.3 billion for the so-called 'forced loan'," junior finance minister Dimitris Mardas told the chamber on Monday.

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German Regulator was Unaware of co-Pilot's Depression

Germany's aviation regulator said Sunday it had no previous knowledge of Germanwings co-pilot Andreas Lubitz's struggle with severe depression before the disaster in the French Alps.

A spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Office (LBA) told Agence France Presse that parent company Lufthansa had given it "no information about the medical background" of Lubitz, who prosecutors allege deliberately crashed the plane last month, killing all 150 people on board.

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'Too soon to Celebrate' Iran Nuclear Deal, Say Germany, France

EU heavyweights Germany and France on Friday cautiously welcomed the framework nuclear agreement struck with Iran but Berlin's chief diplomat warned there was "no guarantee" it would ultimately succeed.

"It's good, but at the same time it's too early to celebrate. We laid the corner stone yesterday," German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said following talks with his French and Polish counterparts in Wroclaw, Poland.

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Storm Kills at Least Nine in Central Europe

At least nine people lost their lives as a powerful storm barreled through central Europe, causing traffic chaos and leaving thousands without electricity, the authorities said Wednesday.

Seven people perished on Tuesday in Germany, where Storm Niklas strengthened into a hurricane in some areas, packing winds of more than 190 kilometers (120 miles) an hour.

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Alps Crash Pilot's Hidden Illness Sparks Privacy Debate

Findings that the co-pilot believed to have deliberately crashed a Germanwings plane hid psychological problems from his employer prompted a charged debate in Germany on Monday on patients' right to privacy.

Still reeling from last Tuesday's disaster that killed 150 people, half of them German, many in the country asked whether the potential to neutralize threats to public safety should not trump doctor-patient privilege.

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French PM Cancels Germany Trip after Election Defeat

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls announced Monday he was canceling a trip to Germany in the wake of his party's drubbing in local polls.

The Socialists suffered a major defeat in Sunday elections, losing around half the local councils they controlled.

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Hunt Resumes for Alps Plane Crash DNA, Black Box

Investigators searching through the wreckage of the doomed Germanwings plane in the French Alps were forced Monday to resume the hunt on foot as bad weather hampered helicopter flights.

"The teams will get to the site via the path that is already in existence," said Yves Naffrechoux of the local mountain police.

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Road Being Built to Germanwings Crash Site, DNA from 78 Victims Found

Forensic teams have isolated 78 distinct DNA strands from body parts at the Germanwings crash site in the French Alps, while investigators continued their grim task in the arduous mountain terrain.

As well as trying to identify and return bodies to their families, search teams were also hunting for a second "black box" that has yet to be found six days into the search.

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