BOTH houses of the German parliament voted to contribute €22.4 billion to the €110bn joint eurozone IMF aid package for Greece after a stormy debate in the lower house.

German President Horst Koehler has won a second five-year term, a victory that gives a symbolic boost to Chancellor Angela Merkel’s hopes of forming a centre-right government after a national election this September.

ONE of the last members of the left-wing Red Army Faction (RAF) that terrorised Germany in the 1970s and is still in prison will walk free in January after 26 years behind bars, a Stuttgart court ruled.

President Mary McAleese will hold talks tomorrow with German Chancellor Angela Merkel during an official visit to Germany.

An insurgent group in Iraq last night posted a video showing a kidnapped German man who has been held for over six months, as the group gave Germany 10 days to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan or the hostage would be killed.

International Monetary Fund managing director Rodrigo de Rato will step down in October, following upheaval at the helm of sister institution, the World Bank.

A state funeral for Gerald Ford will return him to the US Congress that he served on his way to an unplanned and unelected presidency.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's popularity has dropped significantly as she nears the end of her first year in office, according to a poll published today that found her ratings slipping behind those of her potential opponent at the next election.

Germany’s supreme court today ruled that a law allowing the government to order hijacked airliners to be shot down as a last resort in the event of a terror attack violates the nation’s constitution.

Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and conservative rival Angela Merkel head into a third round of talks today on forming a possible coalition to resolve a deadlock over who should lead Germany.

A leader of Germany’s Greens today knocked down conservatives’ hopes the party would help opposition leader Angela Merkel become chancellor in a coalition government, citing major differences with her Christian Democrats and their pro-business ally.

Germany’s opposition leader Angela Merkel and the chairman of Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder’s party made the first contacts with potential coalition partners in a scramble for power after Germany’s inconclusive election.

POPE Benedict XVI arrived yesterday for the World Youth Day in Cologne to cheers from youthful pilgrims on his first foreign trip as Pope.

Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Germany today for his first foreign trip as Pope, a journey that will emphasise outreach to Jews and Muslims and evangelising a Europe that has drifted from its Christian heritage.

German President Horst Koehler gave Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder the early election he sought tonight, agreeing that the government no longer had the support it needed to rule after a vote of no confidence.

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder today called for new elections, asking Parliament to bring down his government to enable him to seek a new mandate in a vote expected in September.

German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder faces a confidence motion he hopes to lose today, in a bid to bring down his own government and seek a new mandate for stalled economic reforms in early autumn elections.

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder met today with his party and legislative leaders to smooth out a strategy for tomorrow’s vote of confidence – a tricky constitutional manoeuvre intended to bring about early national elections.

German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder plans to hold a parliamentary confidence vote by the beginning of July, the chairman of his Social Democratic Party said today, a move that would mean new elections must be held by September 18.

Solemn commemoration services and street parties drew huge crowds today as Europe celebrated the 60th anniversary of Nazi Germany’s defeat and the end of the continent’s most devastating war.

John O’Callaghan, Manila

German president Horst Koehler bowed his head in shame before the victims of the Nazi Holocaust today and promised Germany will wage a determined battle against anti-Semitism.

AS candles flickered in the snowy, winter gloom, world leaders and Auschwitz survivors yesterday remembered victims of the Holocaust on the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi death camp.

World leaders and death camp survivors mourned victims of the Holocaust on the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp, gathering today at the spot where Nazi doctors once sent new arrivals to the gas chambers.

Germany will live up to its “moral obligation” to keep alive the memory of the Nazis’ crimes as part of the nation’s identity, Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said today.

Horst Koehler, a former head of the International Monetary Fund who has called for bolder economic reforms in Germany, was elected today as the country’s ninth postwar president.

FINANCE Minister Charlie McCreevy will host his EU colleagues and central bank governors at a meeting in the controversial Punchestown Exhibition Centre in his Kildare constituency tomorrow.

The EU's Irish presidency played down hopes of a decision on a new IMF leader at informal talks this weekend among EU finance ministers.

Germany and France want another European to be named head of the International Monetary Fund to replace Horst Koehler, according to German finance minister Hans Eiche.

The decision by the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) managing director, Horst Koehler, to quit has sparked speculation that UK Chancellor Gordon Brown may replace him.

EUROPEAN Central Bank president Wim Duisenberg said the key to boosting the pace of economic recovery lies in boosting consumer and business confidence, and it is not interest rate cuts that will do this.

IMF managing director Horst Koehler said yesterday that the world's policymakers are ready to shield a global economic recovery, which faces risks and uncertainties.

IMF managing director Horst Koehler said a team will be sent to Argentina in May to negotiate the letter of intent.

Europeans and others who oppose US plans to reform the World Bank's aid program for the world's poorest countries are ignorant of basic finance principles, said US Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill.

For the first time in its troubled post-Soviet history, Russia is prepared to start repaying loans to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) ahead of schedule, President Vladimir Putin has said.