Germany

A new study finds the most people around the world see the United States' role as a global power diminishing. Meanwhile, though almost half of Germans see their country as a world player, they also see that role shrinking over time.

MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti commentator Dina Lyakhovich) - American troops attract terrorists like magnet attracts metal. African and Asian countries have made this conclusion four and a half years after the Iraqi campaign began. U.S. Africa Command, or AFRICOM, started functioning as the Pentagon's newest regionally focused headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany, because Liberia was the only country to offer its territory for AFRICOM's headquarters.

BERLIN (AP) -- The U.S military's contentious new command covering Africa began operating on Monday from a base in Germany, and will be gradually brought to full capacity over the next year, a military spokesman said. But several African leaders have expressed doubt about the command's necessity, saying they want to avoid foreign troops on their soil.

N A laboratory in Germany, a tiny worm dances to flashes of light. A flash of yellow and it darts forward. A flash of blue and it jerks back. Yellow, forward, blue, back right on cue every time.