Angela Merkel

The 66-year-old took her first dose of AstraZeneca's vaccine in April, more than two weeks after German authorities then recommended use of the jab only for people aged 60 and over.

Merkel urged other EU countries to follow Germany's example in giving any left-over vaccines to countries that lack their own supplies.

Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday urged Germans to stick to tougher rules imposed in areas with high infection rates, saying measures imposed at the weekend were needed to break a third wave of infections.

The government said cinemas, theatres and concert venues will also be allowed to readmit guests from Monday, April 19, although visitors will have to wear masks and keep a safe distance apart.

Coronavirus infections have increased steadily in Germany as the more contagious variant first detected in Britain has become dominant, and the country’s daily number of cases per capita has passed that of the United States.

Members of the parliamentary committee set up to investigate the Wirecard scandal said on Wednesday that the long-time chancellor will be summoned to testify on April 23, a day after Scholz, the center-left Social Democrats’ candidate to succeed Merkel in this fall’s national election.

Nikolas Loebel, a member of Germany's lower house said on Sunday he would resign as member of Merkel's parliamentary group with immediate effect and no longer seek a new term in the lower house in federal elections scheduled for September.

Armin Laschet, the premier of the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia - Germany’s most populous - won a runoff vote against Friedrich Merz, securing 521 votes against 466 for his arch-conservative rival, according to a ballot of 1,001 party delegates.

German voters will elect a new government September 26, and Angela Merkel’s conservative Christian Democratic Union remains the country’s most popular party, according to a survey

Alarmed by the high infection rate and bracing for the spread of more transmissible variants of the virus, Merkel told top officials from her party on Thursday that she wanted "very fast action".

Asked about Twitter's decision, Merkel's spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said the operators of social media platforms “bear great responsibility for political communication not being poisoned by hatred, by lies and by incitement to violence.”

For what is almost certainly her last New Year’s Eve speech as the government’s leader, as she is expected to leave office in 2021, she focuses on a single topic: the coronavirus.

Germany is struggling with a rise in coronavirus infections and deaths. Praise for Merkel for having tamed the first wave has turned to criticism of her perceived failure to tackle the second.

Schools will also be basically closed during the period, and employers will be asked to close operations or have employees work from home, according to the draft.

US Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, who became the first woman, first Black American and first Asian American to be elected vice president, is ranked third on the Forbes list.

The accusation from Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov appears to be the first time the Russian authorities have directly accused Putin's highest-profile critic of working with a foreign intelligence agency.

The 27 leaders, all masked up, greeted each other with elbow bumps rather than their customary cheek kisses and handshakes, and there were birthday gifts for German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa.

Merkel, a Christian Democrat who had long resisted quotas, said she is talking to Family Minister Franziska Giffey, who proposed legislation on the issue in February, but saw the topic sidelined during the coronavirus lockdown.

The EU's economies, like those of countries around the world, have slumped dramatically since the start of the outbreak.

"The World Health Organization is the legitimate, global institution where all the threads come together. Because that is the case we have to keep looking at how we can further improve its functioning," Merkel said in a video message at a WHO meeting, adding that this included ensuring it has sustainable financing.