A Russian physicist who worked for a top German research institute is suspected of spying for Moscow between 2009 and 2011, according to a report in German weekly Der Spiegel to be published Saturday.

The 28-year-old specialized in quantum optics and nanophotonics -- used to make high-powered computers -- and worked for the Max Planck Institute for several months between 2009 and 2011.

EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini will visit Iran and Saudi Arabia next week following the agreement she helped broker with Tehran on its contested nuclear program, her office said Thursday.

The talks in Saudi Arabia on Monday will cover "regional issues, in the aftermath of the agreement reached on 14 July on the Iranian nuclear issue, as well as international issues of common interest," a statement said.

Germany said Wednesday it was "demanding answers" from the United States over fresh allegations of official U.S. espionage, this time against the German foreign minister.

Berlin "confronted" Washington with German media reports based on Wikileaks documents indicating that the National Security Agency (NSA) "systematically" spied on Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, a ministry spokesman said.

Germany believes Iran should rethink its stance on Israel as last week's nuclear deal means it must "bear new responsibilities, at home and abroad", a top German official said Monday.

The comments from Sigmar Gabriel, Germany's economy minister and Chancellor Angela Merkel's deputy, came during a trip to Tehran aimed at rebuilding badly affected trade ties.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday defended her treatment of a crying teenage Palestinian refugee following a storm of protest on social media.

Merkel told public broadcaster ARD that she had been honest and sympathetic with 14-year-old Reem, whom she met last week at a public discussion under the banner "Living Well in Germany."

German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel flew to Iran Sunday, becoming the first top Western official to visit the country since world powers and Tehran reached a historic nuclear deal.

Gabriel, who is also Chancellor Angela Merkel's deputy and energy minister, embarked on the three-day trip with a "small delegation of representatives from companies, industry groups and the sciences", his ministry said in a statement.

Britain's royal family suffered a high-profile embarrassment Saturday after a newspaper published images showing Queen Elizabeth II giving a Nazi salute as a young child in the 1930s.

Buckingham Palace voiced disappointment after the front page of The Sun carried a black-and-white image of the queen, then aged around six, raising her right hand in the air as her mother, the late Queen Mother, does the same.

A teenage Palestinian asylum seeker, who burst into tears in front of Chancellor Angela Merkel during a televised debate, will be allowed to stay in Germany, officials said Friday.

Merkel's encounter with the teenager named Reem -- who speaks perfect German -- has gone viral. The debate entitled 'Good Life in Germany' took place in the northern city of Rostock.

Germany's Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier met in Havana on Friday with Cuba's President Raul Castro, on a visit meant to pave the way for better diplomatic and trade ties.

The daily Granma reported that the two leaders had a "cordial" meeting on the second and final day of the German diplomat's stay in Cuba -- the first visit by a German foreign minister to the communist-ruled island nation since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1990.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Thursday kicked off an two-day visit to Cuba aimed at relaunching full ties with Havana, against the backdrop of the thaw in U.S.-Cuban relations.

Steinmeier -- the first German foreign minister to visit the communist-ruled island nation since German reunification in 1990 -- signed a series of political and economic agreements on day one of his trip.