Berlin takes reports about U.S. spying attacks seriously: spokesman

BERLIN (Reuters) - The German government is taking the latest reports on U.S. spying attacks on senior government officials seriously and authorities are analyzing their contents, a government spokesman said on Thursday. Chancellor Angela Merkel's chief of staff told the U.S. ambassador in Berlin during a meeting that German law had to be respected and violations must be punished, Steffen Seibert said in a statement. He added that such practices were putting strains on security cooperation between Germany and the United States. In the latest twist in an ongoing scandal over U.S. spying in Germany, media reported that the National Security Agency (NSA) bugged several senior government members in addition to Merkel, including the economy and finance ministers. (Reporting by Michael Nienaber; Editing by Michelle Martin)