Germany

BERLIN (Reuters) - Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s protegee and leader of their conservative Christian Democrats (CDU), will not run for chancellor in Germany’s federal election next year, a source in her party said on Monday.

Kramp-Karrenbauer, 57, won a vote in December 2018 to succeed Merkel as CDU leader, but then struggled to stamp her authority on the party. Last week, a regional branch defied her by backing a local leader helped into office by the far right.

Berlin, Feb 8 (AP/PTI) German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday fired a government official whose congratulating of a state governor elected with a far-right party's help angered Merkel's coalition partners.

Christian Hirte, a member of Merkel's Christian Democratic Union who was the government's commissioner for the formerly communist east and a deputy economy minister, tweeted that he resigned after Merkel told him he could no longer do the job. Merkel's spokesman, Steffen Seibert, confirmed his dismissal.

BERLIN (AP) — A German state governor installed with the help of a far-right party said Saturday he is resigning with immediate effect, three days after his election shook the country’s politics and stoked new tensions in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government.

Thomas Kemmerich’s announcement came as leaders of Merkel’s governing coalition, meeting in Berlin to discuss the fallout, demanded that he go and the legislature of the eastern state of Thuringia “promptly” choose a successor. They called for that to be followed quickly by a new regional election.

BERLIN (Reuters) - Senior figures in Germany’s governing coalition will hold crisis talks on Saturday in response to growing outrage after a state premier was elected with support from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) and Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives.

The election of Thomas Kemmerich, a little-known liberal Free Democrat (FDP) in the eastern state of Thuringia, was the first in which a state premier won with the support of the AfD, shattering the post-war consensus among established parties of shunning the far right.

BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday she would be prepared to back changes to the European Union’s Lisbon Treaty, the bloc’s legal cornerstone if need be, adding that the EU27 must become more competitive now that Britain has left.

“I could well imagine treaty changes should this be necessary,” Merkel said during a news conference with visiting Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz. “We are required in view of Britain’s exit to strengthen our competitiveness and to act more quickly.”

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany’s current account surplus remained the world’s largest last year despite trade tensions, the Ifo economic institute said on Monday, in an estimate likely to renew criticism of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s fiscal policies.

The Ifo calculations, reported exclusively by Reuters ahead of publication by the economic institute, put Germany’s current account surplus — which measures the flow of goods, services and investments — at some $293 billion in 2019.

28 Jan 2019; MEMO: Germany on Monday urged UN Security Council members to adopt a resolution on Libya to stop continuing military attacks and violations of arms embargo in the war-torn country, Anadolu Agency reports.

Speaking at a news conference in Berlin, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas deplored violations of the cease-fire despite pledges made by conflict parties and regional actors at the Berlin Conference on January 19.

BERLIN, Jan 27 (NNN-AGENCIES) — German charity Sea-Eye said it had rescued 78 migrants off the Libyan coast and accused Libyan authorities of harassing rescuers and acting illegally.

The Alan Kurdi, named after a Syrian child whose drowning in the Mediterranean in 2015 brought global attention to the migrant crisis, received distress calls and rushed to aid migrants stranded on two boats.

BERLIN, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Six people were killed and two were seriously injured after a shooting on Friday in southwestern German town of Rot am See.

A 26-year-old gunman fired several shots in a building near the local train station and surrendered to police, according a local police spokesperson.

The victims were said to be related to the gunmen, his 65-year-old father, 56-year-old mother, two men aged 36 and 69, two women aged 36 and 62. In addition, a man and a woman were heavily injured by gun fire.

21 Jan 2019; MEMO: The European Union (EU) has stressed the need for a political process, led and owned by Libya itself, at the Berlin conference yesterday.