Latest Chancellor Stories

Text of report by independent German news agency ddp on 23 July Berlin: After the arrest of suspected war criminal Radovan Karadzic, Chancellor Angela Merkel (Christian Democratic Union) favours Serbia's rapprochement with the EU. Speaking in Berlin on Wednesday [23 July], Merkel said, "We must give Serbia European prospects." However, the country must fulfil all necessary conditions before joining the EU, she added. At the same time, the chancellor stressed that Karadzic's arrest was an...

By O'Neil, Robert M; Cook, Norma C; Finkin, Matthew W; Henry, Myron S; Et al I. INTRODUCTION The devastation that Hurricane Katrina inflicted on the universities of New Orleans in late August 2005 is undoubtedly the most serious disruption of American higher education in the nation's history.1 This was hardly the first time that collegiate facilities had been destroyed and academic programs halted; one need only recall the savage tornadoes that leveled buildings at Central State University...

By Peter Graff LONDON (Reuters) - Tony Blair will leave office on July 26, the Sun reported in its Wednesday edition, as the increasingly unpopular prime minister faced growing pressure to quit from within his own Labour Party. The report comes a day after a top Blair ally said the prime minister would probably leave office within a year. The Sun said Blair would step down as head of Labour on May 31, less than a month after his tenth anniversary in office. He would resign as prime...

By Noah Barkin BERLIN (Reuters) - When Chancellor Angela Merkel first broached the idea of inviting President George W. Bush to her voting district in Germany's flat, barren northeast, local officials wondered openly what she could possibly show him. "Don't worry," Merkel reassured them. "He's from Texas. He'll feel at home." In reality, the coastal town of Stralsund and the former communist showcase village of Trinwillershagen, where Bush will visit Merkel on Thursday, bear little...

By Katherine Baldwin LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's House of Lords ushered in a new era on Tuesday, abolishing the 1,400-year-old post of Lord Chancellor and for the first time electing a speaker to preside over parliament's upper house. The election of Baroness Helene Hayman, a former Labor government minister, is a staging post in a constitutional shake-up that outraged traditionalists when British Prime Minister Tony Blair announced the plans in 2003. It spells the end of the line for...

By Claudia Kade BEIJING (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel raised divisive issues of Iran and human rights at meetings in Beijing on Monday after her trip got off to an unexpectedly relaxed start strolling in the park with Premier Wen Jiabao. In her first visit to China as chancellor, Merkel is also expected to witness a series of deals between the two countries, whose bilateral trade reached $63.2 billion last year, making Germany China's largest trading partner in the...

By Claudia Kade BEIJING (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel raised divisive issues of Iran and human rights at meetings in Beijing on Monday after her trip got off to an unexpectedly relaxed start strolling in the park with Premier Wen Jiabao. In her first visit to China as chancellor, Merkel is also expected to witness a series of deals between the two countries, whose bilateral trade reached $63.2 billion last year, making Germany China's largest trading partner in the...

BEIJING (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday she and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao agreed at talks in Beijing that Iran should not have nuclear weapon capabilities. "We talked about Iran and both agreed Iran should not have the capability to make nuclear weapons and shouldn't proliferate weapons of mass destruction," Merkel told reporters on her first visit to China as chancellor. "We agreed that Iran should not be allowed to gain possession of nuclear weapons."...

By Tabassum Zakaria and Noah BarkinWASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush said on Thursday the United States would not waver in its commitment to the security of Israel and would have no contact with Hamas leaders of the Palestinian government until the militant group recognizes the Jewish state.Bush and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, speaking at the 100th-anniversary gala of the American Jewish Committee, presented a united front on Hamas and Iran -- both of which have refused to...

By Noah Barkin BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel heads to the United States this week for the second time in four months, intent on mapping out a strategy for confronting Iran that will not splinter the West as Iraq did three years ago. Merkel, whose visit in January opened a new warmer chapter in ties following her predecessor Gerhard Schroeder's damaging clash with the White House over Iraq, arrives in Washington on Wednesday for talks and dinner with President...