merkel's

This setback did not, however, dampen Merkel's mood, as she showed when Ireland and Greece sought an easing of their bailout terms.

Brown was no doubt aiming for a casual kiss on Merkel's cheek, but the kiss instead appeared to fall on the German leader's nose.

Mr von Beust is the sixth state premier from Mrs Merkel's Christian Democratic Union to step down in less than a year.

But although all this was troubling, Angela Merkel's attempt to fix it has been spectacularly clumsy.

Ms Merkel's contribution was to move swiftly to return the perception to what it had been.

Mrs Merkel's personal ratings have held up better; voters prefer her to any likely rival as chancellor.

In a way, the NRW result plays to Mrs Merkel's strengths. The new alignment of the Bundesrat will call on her mediating skills.

Final details were expected to be worked out in a meeting Monday of Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet.

Mrs Merkel's allies are not satisfied but, for now at least, are probably stuck with her.

To what must be Merkel's consternation, it now appears that the entire German Bundestag will vote yea or nay on the rescue package.

Ms Merkel's vagueness seemed clever when the crisis was at its peak and Germans appeared to crave stability above all.

Health reform is one of the big projects of Germany's coalition government, led by Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU).

Mrs Merkel's advocacy of Germany as an "education republic" began to ring hollow.

Merkel's pathological hesitations have raised the cost of each rescue by legitimising doubts about Berlin's political resolve.

ANGELA MERKEL'S political credibility has not yet been downgraded to junk status, but the past few days have done it no good at all.

In the months before the election, Ms Merkel's knack of avoiding controversy by steering clear of any awkward policy issues seemed adroit.

A bank manager who asks not to be named describes the reaction to Ms Merkel's statement as: "Ouch! I'd better look into this crisis thing. "

That would be a rebuff to Mrs Merkel's government and perhaps a fatal blow to Mr Westerwelle's transformation agenda.

The Free Democrats, the junior partner in Angela Merkel's coalition government, were trounced in a state election in Berlin.

When Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition government came to power in 2005, ministers promised to do something about this.

Yet Ms Merkel's resolve appears to have been strengthened by her party's strong showing in European elections last week.

Traditional attitudes have found a home in Ms Merkel's CDU.

What Ms Merkel's generation has left behind is the intuitive belief that Germany's national interest is inextricably bound to Europe.

Many German bosses, say those close to them, have lost faith in the ability of Angela Merkel's government to steer Europe out of trouble.

But Bruederle, from the pro-business Free Democrats, Merkel's minority coalition partners, wanted an extension of up to 20 years.

Ms Merkel's summary statement did indeed smack of reorganising the fire brigade while the blaze is still out of control.

Germany's economy is booming, but Angela Merkel's government has become a hapless prisoner of its own fearfulness.

Polish leaders have also made friends with Germany, seeing in Angela Merkel's leadership an opportunity for a powerful friendship.

Its hesitation about euro bail-outs and decision to shut down the nuclear industry are a measure of Ms Merkel's domestic troubles.

A number of lawmakers in Ms. Merkel's own center-right coalition, as well as opposition parties, have also criticized the rescue plan.

Although unpopular, the mercurial Mr Sarkozy faces none of Mrs Merkel's problems of public opposition to bail-outs.

Weber, 54, thought to be Chancellor Merkel's preferred choice, is an inflation-fighting monetary "hawk" .

The defeat of Angela Merkel's coalition in 2013 came as no surprise following the German banking crisis of the previous year.

Three days earlier Angela Merkel's coalition government got a drubbing in state elections in Mecklenburg-West Pomerania.

Resistance, much of it from Mrs Merkel's coalition, is stiffening.

Bernd Lampe, a spectator who has belonged to Mrs Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) for 45 years, admits to "a little angst" .

Chancellor Angela Merkel's predecessor Gerhard Schroeder had decided to mothball the reactors by around 2020.

That also reflects a fourth explanation for Mrs Merkel's lack of reformist zeal, which is the mood of her country.

There is little immediate threat to Mrs Merkel's hold on power, in part because the CDU has no leaders with the stature to challenge her.

Voters have not forgiven the party for the cuts in unemployment benefits made under Ms Merkel's predecessor, Gerhard Schr? der.

The decision will affect Mrs Merkel's political standing and the public finances, as well as Germany's energy future.

A package of proposals that the European Union's executive arm is expected to present Wednesday could help resolve Merkel's dilemma.

The magazine noted Merkel's resolve in preserving the European Union and her influence over the euro zone's ongoing debt crisis.

Merkel's government has yet to say whether it will fund the tax cuts with debt or cut spending elsewhere.

It was difficult for Angela Merkel's government to accept the need for a major fiscal stimulus.

It has its own quarrels with some of Ms Merkel's proposals.

Deutsche Bank AG and Banco Santander SA led financial shares lower as German Chancellor Angela Merkel's government rattled investors.

The FDP needs to express its own personality, which sometimes means challenging Mrs Merkel's line.

Ms Merkel's economic orthodoxy is no substitute for Mr Kohl's political insight.

But Ms Merkel's panic has not made life easy for those who take a different view.

Mrs Merkel's hoped-for crescendo of trust could be interrupted in two ways.

Mrs Merkel's allies are awkwardly positioned between backing her diplomacy and setting limits on German concessions.

So Merkel's sherpa argued that any mention of linking the so-called Robin Hood tax to aid should be removed from the text.

That's what Chancellor Angela Merkel's government and much of corporate Germany plan to do.

That would hugely change the make-up and policies of Angela Merkel's government.

Mrs Merkel's coalition might lose control of the state legislature and Germany's upper house.

The allegation, dubbed the "dinner-for-Jo" affair by Ms Merkel's rivals, has been vigorously denied by the chancellery.

Mrs Merkel's coalition is slumping in part because voters dislike giant German-backed rescues of shaky euro members.

Chancellor Angela Merkel's objection, that "treaties don't allow it" , is not insurmountable.

A solid majority of German voters oppose Chancellor Angela Merkel's commitment to come to Greece's rescue.

Ms Merkel's other proposal to deprive deficit countries of their voting rights is even less realistic.

Ms Merkel's hostility to eurobonds certainly resonates with the public.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, a master ofpsychological diplomacy, has repeatedly attemptedto take advantage of Merkel's fear.

Merkel's ban infuriated European finance chiefs for its unilateral and non-consultative nature.

Even members of Mrs Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) found it hard to justify the abstention.

Mrs. Merkel's advisers insist that she is doing what the German people want.

In the end, Mrs Merkel's distinction between exemplary minister and corner-cutting doctoral candidate collapsed.

Ms Merkel's new government will court controversy in two areas.

To Ms Merkel's mind, the problem is America's borrowing and spending rather than China's exchange rate policy.

It is these divisions that explain Mrs Merkel's attempts to dampen expectations ahead of the summit.

Two decades after reunification Ms Merkel's Germany is more inclined to make up its own mind.

The report was quickly rejected as wrong by several officials in Merkel's centre-right coalition.

Of the big European countries, Angela Merkel's Germany has been the firmest advocate of ostracising dictators.

Seven state elections, and the ongoing euro-zone crisis, will test Angela Merkel's government this year.

But Mr. Sarkozy's desire for symbolism foundered on Ms. Merkel's practical objections.

Mr Westerwelle became foreign minister and Mrs Merkel's deputy as vice-chancellor.

Merkel's coalition can reject the compromise in the lower house, or Bundestag, which will debate the amended bill on July 8.

The issues of contention with Germany run much deeper than Merkel's recent comments.

Details of Merkel's diplomatic channel to Rome haven't previously been reported.

Indeed, Angela Merkel's Frauenbonus has made her at times the most popular of post-war chancellors .

This may not be Angela Merkel's own personal preference.

Mrs Merkel's rhetoric was oddly empty and detached from events across Europe.

The slumping fortunes of Angela Merkel's CDU in Hamburg indicate a rough road to the federal elections in 2013.

Ms Merkel's statement was relatively mild by the standards of some colleagues.

Hence Mrs Merkel's hasty retreat from the nuclear-deadline extension.

Sarkozy and Merkel's Hou Sake will also consult with the Greek leaders meet to promote the rescue plan as soon as possible.

But Mrs Merkel's hopes of conquering green markets are optimistic.

Ms Merkel's leftward tilt has irked liberals among CDU supporters.

The damage to Ms Merkel's credibility among Germany's allies has been considerable.

The outcome will traumatise Mrs Merkel's coalition in Berlin.

Like many dreams, Mrs Merkel's is nebulous and contradictory.

The address capped Merkel's three-day visit to Israel to mark the 60th anniversary of Israel's founding.

Mrs Merkel's comeback plan relies more on action than ideology.

Further in the future looms another big challenge for his party, one that could have a bearing on Mrs Merkel's future.

In this context, Ms Merkel's visits to Asia this week, and later to Africa, "will need to lead to more concrete results" , she added.

The CSU's lost clout may be more obvious under Mr. Huber, who spurned a chance to head Ms Merkel's chancellery in 2005.

Details of Ms. Merkel's proposal were not immediately clear.

Since then, Mrs Merkel's room for manoeuvre has narrowed.

Supporting Merkel's approach, the G-20 endorsed a halving of budget deficits by 2013 as the target.

The other is Greece, which is not part of Mrs Merkel's virtuous group.

But Ms Merkel's views are pretty mainstream in Germany.

Given Angela Merkel's central role, perhaps we should not have been surprised at the vacillation.

But there are serious doubts about Merkel's deal with Sarkozy.

From 2005 to 2009, De Maiziere served first as Minister for Special Assignments and then as Merkel's Chief of Staff.

That was in part a slap at Mrs Merkel's seven-month-old government.

For all these countries, Ms Merkel's move is surprising for several reasons.

The doll, which will sell for about EUR20, has Merkel's blonde short hair.

Ms. Merkel's continued opposition showed a deal hadn't been struck.

So will resistance from voters and some members of Mrs Merkel's coalition.

Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman said Merkel attention to this incident, the school will release the results until after the comment.

This is Mrs Merkel's natural territory, quiet and conservative and prosperous.

A big sticking point will be Merkel's insistence on renegotiating the Lisbon treaty.

There are perfectly good reasons for Ms Merkel's low profile.

Despite Ms Merkel's popularity, it won just 33. 8% of the vote, its smallest share in 60 years.

Mrs Merkel's hope is that trust will build up gradually from the groundwork already laid.

I know that observers have become cynical, in particular about Ms Merkel's public expression of resistance.

Little has gone right for the liberals since they joined Angela Merkel's coalition in 2009, after winning a record 15% of the vote.

He is also sanguine about the impact of disputes such as that sparked by Ms Merkel's meeting with the Dalai Lama.

Angela Merkel's clear plan for closer union will not appeal to all, but there is no substance to the British government's alternat

Electoral defeat at home and the euro-zone rescue package have rocked Angela Merkel's chancellorship. She now faces some tough decisions

A Review on German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Domestic and Foreign Policy