Germany's foreign minister on Wednesday saw a tentative "sign of hope" after a ceasefire announcement by Ukraine but warned that Kiev, and especially Moscow, needed to show they meant it.

Frank-Walter Steinmeier said reports of talks between the Ukrainian and Russian presidents and "cautious" discussion of a ceasefire "is perhaps a small sign of hope" but that the next few days would reveal if it signified more.

Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday pledged further economic support for Myanmar if it holds fair elections next year and does more to protect ethnic minorities.

After talks with Myanmar's President Thein Sein, Merkel told a joint news conference that Germany was ready to boost investment and development aid but would keep a close eye on human rights in the country, which is still emerging from decades of military rule and international isolation.

Iraqi forces regained control on Tuesday of part of a key highway linking Baghdad to the north where Amnesty International said jihadists had carried out a wave of ethnic cleansing.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday defended a watershed decision to send arms to Iraqi Kurds battling jihadist militants, saying Europe's own security was at stake.

Merkel told parliament that Germany's decision to break with its post-war tradition of refusing to send weapons into conflict zones was crucial in strife-torn Iraq, the scene of "inconceivable atrocities" against civilians.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel dismissed on Monday an anti-euro party's success in a weekend state election as a "protest vote" but admitted her party must do more to address constituents' frustrations.

Speaking at her conservative Christian Democratic Union's headquarters about the poll in the eastern state of Saxony on Sunday, Merkel said voters gave the Alternative for Germany (AfD) a nearly 10-percent result to send the mainstream parties a message.

Germany's anti-euro party on Sunday won its first seats in a state parliament where Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives retained a clear lead, according to preliminary results.

Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) won more than 39 percent of the vote in eastern Saxony state, according to preliminary results, meaning it will need to find a new coalition partner.

Germany's fledgling anti-euro party looks set to win its first seats in a state parliament on Sunday, gaining a political foothold in opposition to Chancellor Angela Merkel's grip on power.

Voters in eastern Saxony state will be the first to vote in regional legislative elections since Merkel's triumphant return for a third stint at the helm of Europe's top economy in last September's general election.

Germany warned Friday that the Ukraine crisis was spiraling "out of control", as European Union foreign ministers grappled with how to respond to what some termed a Russian invasion.

"The situation in Ukraine is entering a new dimension," German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told reporters on the sidelines of talks with his EU counterparts in Milan.

Police in the Netherlands and Germany have arrested two men for allegedly recruiting jihadi fighters to go to Iraq and Syria, Dutch police said Thursday.

A woman was also held with the man arrested in Germany as part of a long-running investigation, police said in a statement.

The average income of German women is around half that of their male counterparts, a new study showed on Wednesday.

In the first-ever gender-specific analysis of income and tax distribution in Germany, the DIW think tank found that the average income of women "is only half that of men".