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Merkel was credited with raising Germany's profile and influence, working to hold a fractious European Union together, managing a string of crises and being a role model for women.
With neither major bloc commanding a majority, and both reluctant to repeat their awkward "grand coalition" of the past four years, the most likely outcome is a three-way alliance led by either the Social Democrats or Merkel's conservatives.
Recent storms across parts of western Europe made rivers and reservoirs burst their banks, triggering flash floods.
The DFL said the season would resume under the terms of a strict health protocol that bans fans from the stadium.
The US President Donald Trump has lambasted the WHO as being slow to react to the outbreak and being "China-centric" and announced a suspension of funding.
Germany opened on Monday a week of festivities marking three decades since the fall of the Berlin Wall, but a hint of a return of the Cold War and the rise of nationalism is dampening the mood.
Merkel said agreements signed between Germany and India prove that ties are marching ahead in the areas of new and advanced technology.
In a sign of France's ambition to be a leading modern military power under Macron, the French president announced the creation of a national space force command that will eventually be part of the air force.
After an emotional debate pitting environmental against farming concerns, the government decided that wolves can now be shot if they cause "serious damage" to livestock farmers.
Sometimes dubbed 'mini Merkel,' Kramp-Karrenbauer is admired by the CDU upper echelons for her appeal across the party.