Word: germanics
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...German Chancellor Angela Merkel won over German voters in a federal election on Sept. 27. Can she now be won over by a French charm offensive aimed at repairing the relationship that was once at the heart of Europe? That's the question being asked in Paris, where top government officials are openly talking about their desire to rekindle closer ties with their neighbors across the Rhine. Since the end of World War II the Franco-German relationship has been the motor of European integration, the driving force behind the creation of the European Union and, more recently, the introduction...
There are signs his counterparts in Berlin agree. Merkel made a point of mentioning Sarkozy in her final campaign appearance on the eve of the election, and there's a growing belief that new joint initiatives could now follow. "There is a desire for a new spring in French-German relations - even if it's autumn," says Claire Demesmay, a France expert at the German Council on Foreign Relations in Berlin. Even the personal aspect of the relationship seems to be improving. In France, Pascale Joannin, general manager of the Robert Schumann Foundation, a think tank, says that while "Merkel...
...Gaddafi's suggestion that Switzerland be carved up like a wheel of Swiss cheese. During the G-8 summit in Italy in July, Gaddafi said Switzerland "is a world mafia and not a state," adding that the Italian-speaking part of the country should be returned to Italy, the German-speaking part to Germany and the French-speaking part to France. In an attempt to defuse the tension between the countries as well as to win the release of the two Swiss nationals being held in Libya, Swiss President Hans-Rudolf Merz traveled to Tripoli in August to apologize...
...advance its nuclear program, which by now has enough low-enriched uranium to enable it to produce sufficient highly enriched uranium for one nuclear weapon. It seems as if the Iranian leadership may have pulled the same trick again. Perhaps Merkel really did have a more pressing engagement - the German embassy did not immediately return calls requesting an explanation. But for all the positive spin U.S. officials had put on Russia's hints of greater willingness to support new sanctions, Medvedev's absence from the podium on Friday spoke far more loudly of the difficulty the U.S. faces in mustering...
...Afghanistan shook up an otherwise tame election campaign when reports emerged that a Sept. 4 air strike ordered by a German commander in Kunduz province resulted in high civilian casualties. But even on such a contentious issue as the war, there's precious little disagreement between the parties most likely to form a new government. Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the current Foreign Minister and the SPD's candidate for Chancellor, at one point appeared to suggest a timetable for German troop withdrawal, then beat a swift retreat from anything so radical. Steinmeier, Merkel and Guido Westerwelle, the leader of the Free...