German team prior to kick-off in Moscow Photo: picture-alliance

German shouts and celebrations punctuated the night in the frigid Moscow air. A close 1-0 victory had just seen Germany beat Russia in this crucial World Cup qualifier. While the German players exchanged high-fives, Russian heads drooped and the players withdrew into the bowels of the Luzhniki stadium to rue their missed opportunities.

Swiss referee Massimo Busacca denied the Russians a clear cut penalty in the dying minutes of a hard-fought match. In the 88 minute, substitute Arne Friedrich slid into a tackle, taking Bystrov down while the ball bobbled out of play. The referee, despite being only a few meters from the incident, failed to award the spot-kick for the Russians.

On July 11, 1992, Young Germany editor Alex Handcock was picked as one of several children to sing “Heal the World” on stage with Michael Jackson in Cologne. With Jackson’s untimely death, he remembers the day he took to stage with the King of Pop.

The anticipation had been building all week. Our teacher had told us we were going to Cologne to sing at a Michael Jackson concert. Our class talked of nothing else – we were going to sing “Heal the World” with the King of Pop.

There’s urban art and graffiti all over Germany’s capital. Some better than others… have a look at some impressions from the streets of Berlin:

Click through more urban art pictures on Young Germany here:

http://www.young-germany.de/yg/picturegalleryoverview/urban-art.html

Or look at the set on Flickr here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/young-germany/sets/72157619144846209/

Following the infamous Winnenden school massacre on March 11, 2009, in which a 17-year-old shot dead 15 people in the southwestern town in Germany, before killing himself, the German government has agreed to tighten gun laws. According to media reports,  random checks for gun owners will be implemented and paintball and laser tag will be banned.

This has lead to a debate erupting in the paintball and laser tag scene. Paintball is a sport in which players use air guns and rifles to shoot small paint pellets at opponents; whilst in laser tag, players wear vests with sensors and shoot at each other with an infrared-emitting gun.

Young Germany headed to the Rhineland and soaked up some of the carnival atmosphere, have a look at some photos from a village carnival parade here