This week, seven EU countries - including Germany - decided to accelerate development and production by companies from EU member countries of these highly controversial weapons systems. The production is scheduled to begin by 2020. The SPD can therefore announce that the next government, in which it will participate, will not formally purchase combat drones.

The decision to waive the purchase of US-American and Israeli drones shows that Berlin aims at the EU securing its own independent arms industrial base - the prerequisite also for an independent global military policy. Germany is increasing its arms exports to countries outside of the EU and NATO, to counterbalance cuts in the European and North American military budgets and to secure its national defense industrial base. This increase has been documented by the recent government's Arms Exports Report.

Now, it looks as if they have been pitched back almost a century, to the period after the first world war when the Arab territories of the Ottoman Empire were dismembered. Then, it was the imperial machinations of Britain and France that carved up their lands and future. Now, a raging civil war in Syria that is spilling over into neighbouring countries threatens to bulldoze post-Ottoman borders.

Are the states of the Near East coming apart – especially along faultlines between Sunni and Shia Muslims that run from Beirut to Baghdad? Are the frontiers in the Levant about to shatter, spawning the Arab equivalent of a post-Soviet jigsaw?

The driving force is the overarching struggle between Sunni and Shia, which knows no boundaries and is bursting through the arbitrary borders drawn by the British and French. Some see this as primarily an interstate struggle for regional power between Saudi Arabia and Iran. That is part of the story but hardly explains the ferocity of ethno-sectarian bloodletting, which rivals anything seen in the wars that succeeded the break-up of Yugoslavia.

The document emphasized the need to maintain Germany’s competitiveness – as well as that of Europe. But it was definitely Germany first: in several sections – from health care to education to media and culture – it stressed, albeit in a confident tone, the urgent need for Germany to adapt to the primacy of the digital world. “The part played by Europe in the 21st century depends decisively on whether we succeed in keeping up with the digital realm, set European standards and thus preserve our European social model,” the accord said.

Particularly when referring to the recent rift with the United States over eavesdropping and data privacy, the accord said German or European standards of protection should apply where possible. A new trade deal with the United States is vital, the accord said, but should embrace European standards in protecting data, consumers, the environment and food standards. It also says that German should become a working language of the European Union, alongside French and English. That reflects the electoral program of Ms Merkel’s conservative bloc and also seemed to show that Germany is comfortable asserting its interests in Europe.

In that vein, the accord confidently reiterates Germany’s financial policies and particularly its frequently voiced belief that weaker European economies are entitled to “solidarity” but must also take responsibility for their own affairs. Many in struggling southern Europe read this as continued austerity prescribed and administered by Berlin. German officials insist they are no stricter with others than with themselves, and have so far shrugged off demands from Brussels and Washington to spend more of their surplus.

The accord reiterates that taxpayers should not pay for any bank failures or closures and that funds from the European Stability Mechanism should not be directly available for closing banks. Similarly, it rejects all mutualization of debt in the euro zone, and foresees a renewed German push for a financial transactions tax.

The Defence Ministry released a map and geographical co-ordinates for the zone, which covered areas very close to Japan and South Korea, and included the skies over islands that China claims as Diaoyu, and the Japanese claim as Senkaku. The ministry said aircraft entering the airspace must report a flight plan and respond to identification inquiries.

"China's armed forces will take defensive emergency measures to respond to aircraft that do not co-operate in identification or refuse to follow orders," Defence spokesman Colonel Yang Yujun said, adding it was not "directed at any specific country or target". "The objective is to defend national sovereignty and territorial and air security, as well as to maintain orderly aviation," he said.

Japan swiftly lodged a strong protest over what it called a "dangerous escalation" of the dispute. The eight uninhabited islands had been a source of tension for decades, but flared after Japan bought three of the islands from a private owner last year.

China set up its "air defence identification zone" on Saturday insisting that aircraft obey its rules or face "emergency defensive measures". A Pentagon spokesman said the planes had followed "normal procedures".

The islands, known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, are a source of rising tension between the two nations. Japan has dismissed the Chinese defence zone as "not valid at all" and two of its biggest airlines announced on Tuesday they would heed a request from the government in Tokyo not to implement the new rules. US Colonel Steve Warren at the Pentagon said Washington had "conducted operations in the area of the Senkakus".

"We have continued to follow our normal procedures, which include not filing flight plans, not radioing ahead and not registering our frequencies," he said. There had been no response from China, he added.

Minister of Energy and Infrastructure Silvan Shalom told Arutz Sheva Tuesday that the world powers negotiating with Iran over its nuclear weapons program were motivated to strike a deal because of a will to bring down oil prices.

Both sides to the negotiations had financial considerations on their mind, he said. The P5+1 powers were concerned about their own economies, because sanctions of trade with Iran caused a dramatic rise in oil prices. This created "massive pressure" on western politicians to strike a deal "at any price," he explained.'

Iran, too, was under severe pressure because of western sanctions, with its currency becoming extremely weak and unemployment at 30%. "The economic interest is what led to the deal, and security was cast aside," Shalom said.

His comments were made to Iranian state TV in an interview marking his first 100 days in office. When asked about the deal regarding Iran’s nuclear program, Rouhani gloated, “Now, our enemies are isolated.” He did not refer to Israel by name, but used terminology such as “occupier regime” which Iranian leaders have often used to refer to the Jewish state.

Iran’s deal with the “P5+1” nations will lead to a partial removal of sanctions. Iran agreed to allow UN inspectors access to its nuclear facilities, and to cap its level of uranium enrichment. Rouhani and other Iranian leaders have declared that they plan to continue uranium enrichment, which they view as a national right.

A spokeswoman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that a fact sheet on the deal on the White House website was inaccurate, and that the deal with western powers left Iran with more leeway on its nuclear program than the sheet had implied. Israeli leaders have been critical of the deal, which they argue left Iran dangerously close to obtaining a nuclear weapon.

This was the first time that any British diplomatic bag has ever been searched by any European Union or Nato member. The Vienna Convention of 1961 guarantees the immunity of these communications. The last occasion on which a British diplomatic bag was searched was in Zimbabwe in March 2000, when Robert Mugabe’s regime broke into a shipment at Harare airport.

The searching of the diplomatic bag is the latest in a series of incidents. Last week, the Foreign Office summoned the Spanish Ambassador to protest about a violation of British Gibraltar Territorial waters by a Spanish research vessel, which loitered for 20 hours, defying warnings by the Royal Navy.

The diplomatic bag was opened as it left Gibraltar on Friday. Since then, the Foreign Office has chosen not to summon the Spanish ambassador. So far, a spokesman said the only response had been to seek an “urgent explanation” from the Spanish foreign ministry. “We are still waiting for Madrid to reply formally,” he added.

Video footage shows ash and small pieces of volcanic rock falling from the sky and blanketing roads and cars. The eruption of Mount Etna, in southern Italy, did not force any evacuations, but a motorway was closed for half an hour as a precaution. Authorities also briefly closed two of four air corridors serving the nearby Catania airport but air traffic was not interrupted.

A geyser-like vent, known as a fumarole, opened up near a road crossing in the Italian capital on Saturday morning. The small opening in the Earth's crust has been filmed ejecting mud, water and steam near Fiumicino. Italian geologists are currently examining the phenomenon. According to local media, the vent is thought to be naturally occurring.

The nearest possibly active volcanic system is the Monti Albani, which lies 12 miles south-east of Rome, although its last known activity took place around 20,000 years ago.

The new offices will be in a separate building on the property, Breitbart reported. And while US officials are touting the relocation as a security measure that’s a cautionary reaction to last year’s attacks on America's facility in Benghazi, several former American envoys are raising the red flag.

It’s a “massive downgrade of US-Vatican ties,” said former US Ambassador James Nicholson in the National Catholic Reporter. “It’s turning this embassy into a stepchild of the embassy to Italy. The Holy See is a pivot point for international affairs and a major listening post for the United States, this is an insult to American Catholics and to the Vatican.”

“That’s like saying people get killed on highways because they drive cars on them,” he said in the report. “We’re not a pauper nation … if we want to secure an embassy, we certainly can.” Moreover, the existing facility has “state of the art” security, he said.

And Mr Nicholson went on, as Breitbart reported: “It’s another manifestation of the antipathy of this administration both to Catholics and to the Vatican — and to Christians in the Middle East. This is a key post for intermediation in so many sovereignties but particularly in the Middle East. This is anything but a good time to diminish the stature of this post. To diminish the stature of this post is to diminish its influence.”

Called “Evangelii Gaudium,” (the Joy of the Gospel), the document offers the Roman Catholic Church a road map of sorts for navigating the complexities of the modern world, with the Gospel as a compass for what the pope called “a new phase of evangelization, one marked by enthusiasm and vitality.”

The document, a papal pronouncement known as an apostolic exhortation, was the first major written work Francis has created since he was chosen eight months ago to lead the 2,000-year-old church. It challenges the church to “abandon the complacent attitude that says: ‘We have always done it this way,'” to find novel, “bold and creative” ways to speak to the faithful and to make the church more meaningful.

An apostolic exhortation does not define Church doctrine, and the document makes clear that some issues – like abortion or the ordination of women – are not up for discussion. But there is an acknowledgment too, that the world has changed, and that the church must change with it. It is time, Pope Francis said, for “still broader opportunities for a more incisive female presence in the Church,” in particular “in the various other settings where important decisions are made.”

The local church must have greater say in decision-making, and the renewal of the church can only gain strength if it begins from the bottom up, the pope said.

The 84-page document, known as an apostolic exhortation, was the first major work he has authored alone as pope and makes official many views he has aired in sermons and remarks since he became the first non-European pontiff in 1,300 years in March.

In it, Francis went further than previous comments criticizing the global economic system, attacking the "idolatry of money", and urged politicians to "attack the structural causes of inequality" and strive to provide work, healthcare and education to all citizens.

He also called on rich people to share their wealth. "Just as the commandment 'Thou shalt not kill' sets a clear limit in order to safeguard the value of human life, today we also have to say 'thou shalt not' to an economy of exclusion and inequality. Such an economy kills," Francis wrote in the document issued on Tuesday. "How can it be that it is not a news item when an elderly homeless person dies of exposure, but it is news when the stock market loses 2 points?"

He also warns that rising global economic inequality is bound to explode in conflict. Since becoming Pope in March, Francis has struck a markedly different tone to his predecessor on several issues. In his "apostolic exhortation", Pope Francis said he preferred a Church that was "bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a Church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security".

The document suggests major changes are on the way, with Francis noting that the Church has to get over an attitude that says: "We have always done it this way," the BBC's David Willey reports from Rome. It represents an ambitious programme to try to rekindle his church's missionary zeal, our correspondent says. However, the document reiterates the Church's opposition to the ordination of female priests, saying this is "not a question open to discussion".

That was the message conveyed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to President Barack Obama in a private telephone call Sunday to discuss the interim deal on Iran's nuclear program, according to a senior Israeli lawmaker in Netanyahu's ruling coalition, as reported by the Jerusalem Post.

The White House's own official statement on the telephone call made no mention of any disagreement being aired, merely referring to "their shared goal of preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon." Meanwhile, Netanyahu said that he would send a high-level diplomatic team to the US to lobby for a tough final agreement with Iran that sees that country's entire nuclear enrichment program dismantled.