Christmas

Santa's post office opens its doors for 2015

Is it too early to get excited about Christmas? Not if you live in the east German town of Himmelpfort – where, on Tuesday, Santa's official post office began sorting through thousands of wishlists from children across the world.

cannabis

Greens, conservatives want weed legalized

MPs from the Green party and Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) have joined forces to say that cannabis should be regulated and legalized.

ursula von der leyen

Von der Leyern defends welfare changes

German Labour Minister Ursula von der Leyen on Thursday defended her proposed changes to the country’s Hartz IV welfare benefits against criticism from the opposition, which has said the plans are still too vague.

Education

MPs rush new gun law but back down from paintball ban

Germany’s grand coalition government wants to rush a new gun control law through parliament, but has apparently ditched unpopular plans to ban paintball.