Amid the tumultuous political developments in trans-Atlantic and European affairs over the last decade, Germany has been a bedrock of stability, with Chancellor Angela Merkel a key global leader.
On December 6, 1987, 30 years ago, more than 250,000 people gathered in Washington to call on the Kremlin to open the gates and let Soviet Jews emigrate.
The worst terror atrocity in Egyptian history and among the bloodiest worldwide in the last decade was carried out during Friday prayers on November 24 at the Sufi mosque of al-Rawdah near Bir al-'Abd in northern Sinai.