Angela Merkel
chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021 (born 1954)
Photo: Armin Linnartz, CC BY-SA 3.0 de (Wikimedia Commons, cropped)
- Sep 21
AfD wins Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Die Linke takes Berlin as CDU falls below 5% threshold
Alternative for Germany won Mecklenburg-Vorpommern with 38.2% while Die Linke secured Berlin with 25.7%, causing the Christian Democratic Union to drop out of a regional parliament for the first time.
- Sep 14
CDU leads Lower Saxony exit polls at 27.7% as AfD rises after Saxony-Anhalt win
Exit polls in Lower Saxony place the CDU ahead with 27.7% of the vote, while the AfD climbs to 16.5% following its earlier victory in Saxony-Anhalt.
- Sep 1
Angela Merkel visits Bucharest to meet President Dan and urge political compromise
Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel met Romanian President Nicușor Dan at Cotroceni Palace and addressed the country's government crisis during a memoir launch at the Romanian Athenaeum.
- Aug 29
Angela Merkel urges Germans to defend democracy ahead of Saxony-Anhalt election
Former Chancellor Angela Merkel called on citizens to actively support democratic institutions as Alternative for Germany led polls ahead of the 6 September vote in Saxony-Anhalt.
- Aug 28
German President Steinmeier visits Gamescom as industry excludes AfD politicians
German Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier opened the Gamescom congress in Cologne, where industry group Game excluded AfD figures and debated gaming regulations.
- Aug 28
Australian court grants parentage in rare case of surrogate delivering biologically unrelated twins
The Children's Court of Queensland has approved separate legal parentage for twins born to a surrogate mother after she conceived naturally while carrying another couple's IVF embryo.
- Aug 26
Thorsten Frei rejects Merz resignation speculation amid low approval ratings
CDU/CSU parliamentary leader Thorsten Frei dismissed talk of Chancellor Friedrich Merz resigning, while acknowledging weak polling numbers and pushing to pass federal pension reforms.
- Aug 25
US judge rejects Ghislaine Maxwell bid to overturn 20-year prison sentence
A federal judge in Manhattan dismissed a habeas corpus petition filed by Ghislaine Maxwell, leaving her 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking in place.
- Aug 23
Putin attributes Tusk remarks on Nord Stream sabotage suspect to economic convenience
Russian President Vladimir Putin responded to Donald Tusk after the Polish prime minister defended a Ukrainian suspect detained in Croatia over the 2022 Nord Stream pipeline blasts.
- Aug 22
Friedrich Merz visits Hürtgenwald wildfire site and links disaster to climate change
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz visited emergency crews in Hürtgenwald following a wildfire that burned up to 400 hectares, facing resident protests over the timing of his arrival.
- Aug 20
Four European powers demand Israel scrap E1 West Bank settlement tender
Germany, France, the UK, and Italy issued a joint declaration demanding Israel cancel tenders for more than 1,200 housing units in the E1 corridor of the West Bank.
- Aug 20
French prosecutors open new investigation into convicted surgeon Joël Le Scouarnec over 50 offenses
Prosecutor Laetitia Mirande announced a judicial inquiry covering 40 sexual assaults and 10 rapes against 48 victims between 1987 and 2017.
- Aug 19
Israel opens criminal probe into the 2024 Gaza killing of five-year-old Hind Rajab
The Israeli military ordered a criminal investigation after admitting its forces fired on a family car carrying five-year-old Hind Rajab and shelled an arriving ambulance in Gaza City in January 2024.
- Aug 13
Germany commemorates 65th anniversary of Berlin Wall construction as Klöckner warns of persistent divisions
German leaders commemorated the 65th anniversary of the Berlin Wall's construction at a ceremony on Bernauer Straße, with Bundestagspräsidentin Julia Klöckner warning that the Wall still persists in people's minds and Kulturstaatsminister Wolfram Weimer cautioning against trivializing the DDR dictatorship.
- Aug 11
Five years of Taliban rule: women confined, humanitarian crisis deepens in Afghanistan
On the fifth anniversary of Kabul's fall, the Taliban celebrate in the capital while UN Women reports 52% of Afghan women leave home only twice a month or less and 47% of children are undernourished.
- Aug 7
Former Thai MP kills official in Nonthaburi days after school shooting left nine dead
A 71-year-old former Thai lawmaker shot dead a senior provincial official in Nonthaburi on Monday over a financial dispute, just three days after a 14-year-old student killed his grandparents and six people at a school in the same province before taking his own life.
- Jul 27
Merz reshuffles CDU and cabinet: Franziska Hoppermann to become party general secretary, Linnemann moves to health ministry
Chancellor Friedrich Merz proposed the current party treasurer to the CDU presidium on Monday, part of a wider personnel package triggered by Jens Spahn's resignation as parliamentary group leader.
- Jul 22
Azerbaijan's president confirms secret German-Russian talks in Baku, says territory used without consent
Ilham Aliyev said flight records show former German and Russian officials met in Baku on 12–14 July, but neither Berlin nor Moscow informed his government.
- Jul 18
AfD launches Saxony-Anhalt election campaign with CDU donation claim and Wendler video message
At a rally in Magdeburg, AfD lead candidate Ulrich Siegmund said a CDU district councillor donated €5,000 to his party, while Schlager singer Michael Wendler sent greetings from Florida.
- Jul 17
Dresden court gives NSU supporter Susann E. a two-year suspended sentence for aiding neo-Nazi terror cell
A Dresden court gave a suspended two-year sentence to Susann E., a close friend of NSU terrorist Beate Zschäpe, for lending her identity and helping rent the motorhome used in the group's final robbery.