Chancellor of Germany

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In Germany, the Beginning of a New Era

Olaf Scholz took over for Angela Merkel on Wednesday

(Newser) - Olaf Scholz became Germany's ninth post-World War II chancellor Wednesday, opening a new era for the European Union's most populous nation and largest economy after Angela Merkel's 16-year tenure. Scholz's government takes office with high hopes of modernizing Germany and combating climate change but faces the...

Goodbye, Angela Merkel. Hello, Olaf Scholz

3 German parties reach deal on new government, with Social Democrat now at the helm as chancellor

(Newser) - Three German parties have reached a deal to form a new government that will end the era of longtime Chancellor Angela Merkel, according to Olaf Scholz, who's poised to replace her. Scholz, of the center-left Social Democrats, said he expects that members of the parties will give their blessing...

Tight German Election Means Haggling Comes Next
By a Hair, Germans
Dump Merkel's Bloc
UPDATED

By a Hair, Germans Dump Merkel's Bloc

Social Democrats eke out a narrow victory in Germany's elections

(Newser) - Update: Germany's center-left Social Democrats won the biggest share of the vote in a national election Sunday, narrowly beating outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel’s center-right Union bloc in a closely fought race that will determine who succeeds the long-time leader at the helm of Europe's biggest economy, the...

As Merkel Exits, German Voters Mull Big Decision

Chancellor is saying goodbye after 16 years, and a national election looms

(Newser) - Germany's political parties prepared to rally their supporters and win over undecided voters Friday, two days before a national election that will determine who succeeds Chancellor Angela Merkel after 16 years in power. Merkel's center-right Union bloc, with Armin Laschet as its candidate for chancellorship, has made small...

Merkel Breaks Pelvis in 'Low-Speed' Ski Mishap

Has canceled visits, will rest for 3 weeks

(Newser) - Angela Merkel's posterior is making headlines this morning after she suffered "severe bruising linked with a partial fracture on the left, rear part of the pelvis" after a "low speed" cross-country skiing accident while on holiday in Switzerland, a spokesman said, per the BBC and the AP...

Merkel Leads Exit Polls, Hails 'Super Result'
 Merkel Leads 
 Exit Polls, Hails 
 'Super Result' 
GERMAN ELECTIONS

Merkel Leads Exit Polls, Hails 'Super Result'

But looks like she'll have to forge a coalition

(Newser) - Chancellor Angela Merkel says her conservatives will do everything to make the next four years successful for Germany after what appears to be a triumphant election win. ARD and ZDF television projections today showed a wide lead for Merkel's conservative Union bloc over challenger Peer Steinbrueck's Social Democrats....

Silvio Berlusconi Has Some Really Nasty Things to Say About Angela Merkel
 Berlusconi: Merkel 'Unf***able' 

Berlusconi: Merkel 'Unf***able'

Italian PM recorded dissing German chancellor in phone call

(Newser) - Maybe Silvio Berlusconi mistook Angela Merkel for a lady on the prowl instead of the leader of one of the globe's more stable economies: The cringe-inducing Italian PM's latest involves a phone conversation—with a newspaper editor, not a fraternity brother—in which he reportedly refers to the...

Immigrants, Learn to Speak German: Merkel

She says attempts to form a harmonious multicultural society have failed

(Newser) - Talk about a downer of a speech: German Chancellor Angela Merkel recounted yesterday how, in the 1960s, "our country called the foreign workers to come to Germany and now they live in our country" ... but attempts to build "a multicultural [society] and to live side-by-side and to enjoy...

German President Steps Down
 German President Resigns 

German President Resigns

Horst Koehler resigns after controversial military remarks

(Newser) - In a surprise move, German President Horst Koehler resigned today after being criticized for reportedly linking military deployments abroad with the country's economic interests. The resignation, effective immediately, came only a year into Koehler's second term as the largely ceremonial head of state, and creates a new headache for Chancellor...

Merkel Addresses Congress, Wants Climate Pact

German chancellor speaks to joint session

(Newser) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel marked the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall by exhorting the world in a speech to Congress to "tear down the walls of today" and reach a deal to combat global warming. Merkel, frequently interrupted by robust applause, also reiterated her country's...

Merkel Wins Re-Election, New Coalition

 Merkel Wins 
 Re-Election, 
 New Coalition 
GERMAN VOTE

Merkel Wins Re-Election, New Coalition

Germany's chancellor will form new bloc with center-right

(Newser) - Angela Merkel was headed to re-election today, and German voters were sending her along with enough votes to cobble together a center-right coalition and ditch the Social Democrats she has been allied with since 2005. Exit polls on German television showed Merkel's conservative bloc with 33.4% of the vote,...

A Frosty Merkel Arrives in DC
 A Frosty Merkel Arrives in DC 

A Frosty Merkel Arrives in DC

Economy, Afghanistan cloud chancellor's talks with Obama

(Newser) - Angela Merkel arrives in Washington today for a two-day visit, where the German chancellor will hold talks with President Obama before a rare joint press conference in the Rose Garden. Yet despite the smiles, the two leaders have a strained if not frosty relationship, with both sides carping about economic...

Merkel Rips the Fed for Deepening Crisis

German chancellor says central banks have made economy worse

(Newser) - World leaders rarely criticize central banks in public, but yesterday Angela Merkel laid into the Fed, the European Central Bank, and other institutions for deepening the global economic crisis. In a tough speech, the German chancellor claimed that the banks were too powerful, had acted too aggressively, and, in the...

Merkel Emerges as Obama's Main Rival

German chancellor emphasizes friendship, but opposes stimulus

(Newser) - Angela Merkel stresses that she is a friend of the United States and wants Washington to play "a strong role in the world"—but ahead of the G20 summit this week, the German chancellor has emerged as the strongest and most unwavering opponent of Barack Obama's call for...

Germany Moves to Rein In Future Borrowing

Constitution will be changed to ban excess borrowing: Merkel

(Newser) - As Berlin rolls out a record $65 billion stimulus package, it's also making excessive government borrowing a constitutional crime. The new amendment—which will limit the national deficit to .5% of GDP "in normal economic times"—is a sign of the government's discomfort with its new stimulus, which...

German Opposition Leader Quits
German Opposition Leader Quits

German Opposition Leader Quits

Party had tapped rival foreign minister to challenge Merkel

(Newser) - The leader of Germany's Social Democrats has resigned after the party leaked that it had chosen another leader to face Angela Merkel in next year's general election, reports Der Spiegel. The party's candidate will be Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the current foreign minister in Merkel's grand coalition government. Kurt Beck, who has...

Germany Is Crux of Russia Talks
 Germany Is Crux of Russia Talks
Analysis

Germany Is Crux of Russia Talks

Merkel could be valuable go-between

(Newser) - A fretful Eastern Europe is hoping Germany can play a key diplomatic role in its stare-down with Russia, the New York Times reports. Until recently, relations between Moscow and Berlin were too cozy for the Caucasus’ tastes, but East German-born Angela Merkel has distanced herself from Russia just enough to...

Germany Pledges Billions for Rainforest Protection

Funds tripled by 2012, add $785M a year after

(Newser) - Germany will spend billions of euros protecting tropical rainforests in an effort to halt global warming. Chancellor Angela Merkel said today at the United Nations' biodiversity conference that Germany will increase its funding for the conservation of rainforests from $330 million to $1.1 billion in the next three years...

Helmut Kohl, 78, Marries Girlfriend in Hospital

Health fears mount for architect of German reunification

(Newser) - Helmut Kohl, the chancellor first of West Germany and then of a reunified Federal Republic, has married at the age of 78. But the wedding, to an economist 30 years his junior, took place in a hospital amid fears that he is in deteriorating health. As the Independent reports, Kohl's...

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