By JAKE COYLE, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW YORK An impromptu back rub that President Bush gave German Chancellor Angela Merkel is now massaging millions of funnybones.

Excerpt from report by German news agency ddp on 22 November Berlin: Chancellor Angela Merkel (Christian Democratic Union, CDU) is officially in office.

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder Friday lost a confidence vote in parliament by a 296-to-151 vote as he had hoped to force early elections.