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Berlin police say 20 people forced their way into Syria’s embassy in the German capital and damaged offices there.

Police say the men — all of them Syrian or of Syrian origin — destroyed furniture in the building Friday afternoon and sprayed slogans on the facade.

They were briefly detained as they left the embassy.

France and Germany are both considering the reintroduction of stamp duty on stock exchange transactions – along the lines of the tax that already exists in the UK – as a first step towards a fully-fledged financial transaction tax in Europe.

Although Berlin and Paris insist that they are set on eventually introducing a tax covering a much wider range of financial trading, including derivatives and high-frequency trading, officials in both capitals confirmed on Friday that the levy on share trading alone might be a sensible first step.

Pistol duelling in print and energetic postings of “applause” accompanied the Facebook premier of Theodor Fontane’s “Effi Briest”, which organisers said was the first live staging of a play on the social networking site.

Fontane’s classic work, first published as a serial novel in 1894, was specially adapted to be performed on the Maxim Gorki Theatre’s “online Facebook stage” on Monday.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti will travel to Berlin next Wednesday to hold talks on the euro zone crisis with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the German government announced. More >

Germany and the US have expressed great concern over Egyptian raids on non-government organizations. Human rights groups are describing the raids as a campaign against them by the country’s military rulers.

Berlin has summoned Egypt’s ambassador over raids carried out by Egyptian police on offices of pro-democracy and human rights groups in Cairo.

FRANCE AND Germany have revived their clamour for the alignment of Europe’s corporate tax systems, an initiative long resisted by Dublin.

In a joint proposal for a toughening of Europe’s budget rules, the two countries called for the escalation of efforts to forge a common corporate tax base and other measures to deepen economic co-ordination among single currency countries.

British director Mike Leigh will chair the jury of next year’s 62nd Berlin film festival, one of Europe’s top cinema showcases, organisers said on Friday.

The 68-year-old veteran film-maker, a master of bittersweet realism in hits such as “Secrets and Lies” and “Happy-Go-Lucky”, will lead a panel vetting contenders from around the world for the Golden and Silver Bear top prizes.

Britain and Germany are talking to heal a rift over the eurozone troubles as renewed worries loom over a developing debt crisis in Spain and continuing problems in Greece and Italy. More >

A dissident Iranian cleric said Friday he is confident of a resurgence of the protest movement in his country, calling Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s presidency the most “destructive” in Iran’s history.

Hassan Yousefi Eshkevari, an outspoken middle-ranking cleric who was jailed for four years in Iran, told a conference of Iran scholars and experts in Berlin that Ahmadinejad’s administration has “crossed almost all political and religious lines.”