Germany

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s closely fought election on Sunday will set the direction of the European Union’s most populous country after 16 years under Angela Merkel, whose party is scrambling to avoid defeat by its center-left rivals after a rollercoaster campaign. The environmentalist Greens also are eyeing at least a share of power.

BERLIN (AP) — 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 gains in the polls in recent weeks. But it remains narrowly behind the center-left Social Democrats, headed by Finance Minister Olaf Scholz.

DUISBURG, Germany, Sept 23 (Reuters) - German Social Democrat (SPD) candidate for chancellor Olaf Scholz promised on Thursday to help the steel industry convert to climate-friendly production if his party, clinging to a narrow lead in polls, wins Sunday's federal election.

Trying to shore up support in the industrial heartland of the Ruhr, Scholz campaigned at a steel plant as a poll showed support for the SPD down one point at 25%, its lead over Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives now just four points.

BERLIN (AP) — Ana-Maria Trasnea was 13 when she emigrated from Romania because her single, working mother believed she would have a better future in Germany. Now 27, she is running for a seat in parliament.

“It was hard in Germany in the beginning,” Trasnea said in an interview with The Associated Press. “But I was ambitious and realized that this was an opportunity for me, so I decided to do whatever I can to get respect and integrate.”

BERLIN, Sept 21 (NNN-Xinhua) — Germany would likely offer COVID-19 vaccines to children under 12 in early 2022, Federal Minister of Health Jens Spahn said.

Spahn said he expected authorization to use the vaccine in this age group to come in the first quarter of next year. “Then we could also protect the younger ones even better,” he told the newspapers of the Funke Mediengruppe.

BERLIN, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Germany's Social Democrats (SPD) saw their lead over Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives narrow in a poll published on Tuesday, pointing to a tightening race just five days before a federal election.

The SPD, whose candidate for chancellor Olaf Scholz is currently vice chancellor and finance minister in Merkel's grand coalition, remained stable at 25%, according to the Forsa poll for RTL/n-tv television.

Support for the conservative CDU/CSU alliance, whose chancellor candidate is Armin Laschet, edged up one percentage point to 22%.

BERLIN, Sept 19 (Reuters) - The conservative candidate aiming to succeed German Chancellor Angela Merkel remained under pressure on Sunday ahead of a televised election debate that will be one of his last chances to catch up with Social-Democrat rival Olaf Scholz.

The latest INSA poll for Bild am Sonntag puts the Social Democrats (SPD) at 26% support, stable from a week ago, while the conservative bloc of Merkel's centre-right Christian Democratic Union and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union, added half a percentage point to come in at 21%.

BERLIN, September 17. /TASS/: Germany’s Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur) will take into account the opinion of the European Commission when making the final decision on registering Nord Stream 2 AG as an independent transport operator, the agency’s representative told TASS on Friday.

Nord Stream 2 AG is the operator of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project.

BERLIN, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Call it the Angela Merkel effect. Less than two weeks before a national election many German voters still seem unable to get over the fact that the four-term chancellor is not running.

A survey by Allensbach institute for Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper showed this week that a record 40% of those planning to vote on Sept. 26 have not yet decided how, with most saying they were just not drawn to any of the contenders.

GOLSSEN, Germany (AP) — A mill owner in eastern Germany hopes the next government will restore supply chains disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic. A brewer in the country’s south wants a more predictable strategy for responding to the virus and a better cellphone network. A hotel owner in the west wants money, fast, to clean up after devastating floods.