Time magazine named German Chancellor Angela Merkel as its person of the year for 2015, hailing her leadership during debt and refugee crises that threatened to tear the European Union apart. In power for a decade at the helm of Europe's biggest economy, the world's most powerful woman beat runners-up, the leader of the Islamic State extremist group and Donald Trump as Time's dominant personality of the year.
Helmut Schmidt, who served as West German Chancellor from 1974 to 1982, has died aged 96, his office says. Mr. Schmidt, who was a Social Democrat, was an architect of the European Monetary System, which linked EU currencies and helped pave the way to the euro. He also helped to consolidate Germany's post-war economic boom.
Russia's President Vladimir Putin (No. 1) takes the top spot out of 73 on Forbes’ seventh annual ranking of “The World’s Most Powerful People” for the third year in a row. German Chancellor Angela Merkel (No. 2) moved up 3 spots from last year, while President Barack Obama (No. 3) dropped 1 spot, making it the first year a sitting U.S. President has not made it into the top 2 spots.
Germany said it could take half a million refugees annually over several years as Greek islands struggled on Tuesday to process a huge backlog of migrants desperate to travel to western Europe. Reflecting deepening concern, the European Union's president warned the EU faced a years-long refugee crisis, while the UN urged countries worldwide to help tackle the problem.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel pressed Brazil's government on Thursday to further open its markets to foreign companies, and said she saw an opportunity to reach a free-trade deal between the European Union and the Mercosur trade bloc. Merkel is on a two-day visit to Brazil with a large delegation of government officials and representatives from German companies.
Chancellor Angela Merkel, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and several other high-ranking German politicians touched down in Brazil's capital, Brasilia late Wednesday. The German delegation set off on its 12-hour flight immediately after a Bundestag vote approving a new bailout package for Greece.
Journalists have been accused of treason; a chief prosecutor fired; and we have witnessed the unedifying spectacle of government ministers scrambling to get out of the firing line after popular outrage. But the scandal rocking Germany's political establishment isn't about sleaze or corruption but rather whether a little-known website can publish documents already publicly discussed.
Germany's justice minister has sacked the country's top prosecutor, who had accused the government of interfering with a treason investigation. Heiko Maas said he no longer had confidence in Harald Range, dismissing his statements as “incomprehensible”.
Euro zone members announced on Tuesday that they have given Greece until the end of the week to come up with a proposal for sweeping reforms in return for loans that will keep the country from crashing out of Europe's currency bloc and into economic ruin.
President Barack Obama on Tuesday analyzed the Greek situation in separate telephone calls to Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the White House said. Obama began his day with a phone conversation with Merkel, followed by another call to Tsipras.