Christian Democratic Union (CDU) candidate Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer
Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, leading polls to succeed Angela Merkel as head of Germany's Christian Democrats, said she would consider legislation to ensure better representation of women in parliament, unless her party changed its approach.
A new poll conducted for public broadcaster ARD showed 46 percent of CDU supporters backed Kramp-Karrenbauer for the post, compared to 31 percent for businessman Friedrich Merz and 12 percent for Health Minister Jens Spahn.
Among women, support for Merz dropped to around half the level achieved by Kramp-Karrenbauer, ARD said.
The number of women CDU lawmakers fell in the 2017 elections to one-fifth of the party's parliamentarians, and better representation of women is essential to shore up the party's support in future elections, Kramp-Karrenbauer said.
Despite the first indictments in Saudi probe, many questions remain unanswered in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Germany’s Foreign Ministry said on Friday.Speaking at a news conference in Berlin, Christofer Burger, deputy spokesman for Foreign Ministry, said Germany was still waiting for a full disclosure and accountability from Saudi Arabia.“There has been some developments yesterday. That was a first step. However, many questions remain open, as it has been before,” he said.The Saudi public prosecutor's office announced on Thursday that 11 suspects had been indicted for murdering Khashoggi inside Saudi Arabia’s Istanbul Consulate. It called for death penalty against five suspects.The prosecutors absolved Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of any blame for the murder.Burger underlined that Germany expected a full and transparent investigation in line with the international standards.“The murder of Khashoggi must be completely and thoroughly investigated. We expect that those responsible for the killing would be held accountable,” he added.Khashoggi, a Saudi national and columnist for The Washington Post, was killed on Oct. 2 inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.After weeks of denying involvement, the kingdom admitted that Khashoggi had been killed at the consulate but claimed that the Saudi royal family had no prior knowledge of a plot to murder him.So far, 21 people, including security officers, have been arrested in Saudi Arabia in connection with the murder.
Germany says many questions in Khashoggi case remain open
She told broadcaster Suedwestrundfunk (SWR) that many in the party had failed to take seriously a 1996 CDU rule reserving a third of party list candidates for women and said she would try to enforce the rule if elected leader.
She said she would also consider legal measures to ensure better representation of women in Germany's parliament.
New legislation to adopt a female quota was "a last resort", she said. "But it would be naive to think we can just let the issue run its course."
In another interview with Der Spiegel magazine, Kramp-Karrenbauer also took aim at dual citizenship rules, accusing Turkey's leadership of trying to split the loyalties of German-Turkish dual nationals living in Germany.
Alice Weidel, co-leader of Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), on Friday accused media that uncovered evidence of large, unexplained donations to her party of seeking to discredit her.The AfD, which is Germany's largest opposition party but suffered lacklustre results in two regional elections last month, has been reeling since an investigative media consortium alleged Weidel's local party had received 130,000 euros ($147,251.00) from a Swiss firm in 2017.The party later also said it had received 150,000 euros from a Belgian - later revealed to be a Dutch - foundation. The AfD returned both sums after concerns were raised about a lack of clarity over funding, party officials told German media.The affair threatens to overshadow an AfD congress this weekend that some had seen as an opportunity for a relaunch after a difficult period for the anti-immigrant party.Donations from non-German citizens living in non-EU countries such as Switzerland are illegal in Germany, while all gifts of more than 50,000 euros must be declared in a parliamentary register - something the AfD did not do for either the Swiss or the Dutch donations.Weidel criticised the media treatment of her role."The accusations made against me regarding apparently illegal party donations are known to me only from the media," she said. "They lack any basis in fact and are an attempt to discredit me personally and politically."She did not say which details in the media reports she was contesting, adding that she would not say anything further while a planned investigation by prosecutors was under way.The AfD did not immediately respond to a request to clarify precisely what allegations she was rejecting in her statement.PARLIAMENTARY IMMUNITYProsecutors have asked for Weidel's parliamentary immunity to be lifted, an indication that they wish to carry out a preliminary examination of the affair.The party's other co-leader, Alexander Gauland, has so far stood by her, but the head of the party in her home state of Baden-Wuerttemberg told the Frankfurter Allgemeine newspaper she should resign if the donations turned out to have been illegal.The party is holding a congress this weekend to choose its candidates for next year's European Parliament elections, the next major test of whether it has managed to recover the momentum that saw it burst into parliament with 13 percent of votes cast in last year's national election.The AfD made little progress in elections in Bavaria and Hessen in October, which were both marked by surging support for the pro-immigration Greens, their ideological antithesis. ($1 = 0.8828 euros) 
German far-right leader attacks media over donations scandal
"If that continues, then dual citizenship is missing its sense and purpose, and we must talk about how we end this system," she said.
The former premier of the western state of Saarland, said she supported a plan under which the children of immigrants received a second passport, but their children would not.
The CDU voted in 2016 to end dual citizenship, but Chancellor Merkel subsequently said she did not feel bound by the vote.
Merkel, now in her fourth term, has said she will step down as leader of her Christian Democrats, but plans to remain chancellor through 2021.
Turkey has sent dozens of countries extradition files on over 450 suspected members of the terrorist group behind the 2016 defeated coup, said Turkey’s foreign minister on Wednesday."We continue to pursue a resolute fight with FETÖ both at home and abroad,” Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu told parliament’s Planning and Budget Commission, referring to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization or FETÖ.“We are pursuing FETÖ terrorists wherever they are in the world. We will bring the FETÖ members to Turkish justice to hold them accountable."He added: "We prepared files on 452 FETÖ-linked figures as part of investigations of senior members of the terror group's overseas presence. We sent files to 83 countries where these figures are living."74 FETÖ-linked suspects arrested across TurkeyÇavuşoğlu said that with the cooperation of 21 countries, a total of 104 FETÖ members have been extradited to Turkey to date.On Turkey's successful cross-border counter-terrorism operations, Çavuşoğlu said that over 260,000 refugees had returned to areas of Syria cleared of terrorists during Turkey’s operations.Turkish troops -- backed by the FSA -- liberated large swathes of northwestern Syria from terrorist groups during Operation Euphrates Shield in 2016-2017, while Operation Olive Branch liberated Afrin, Syria from YPG/PKK and Daesh terrorists in early 2018.Turkey has also succeeded in closing FETÖ-linked schools abroad, he said.Turkey running ex-FETÖ-linked schools in Afghanistan"FETÖ schools and language schools have been closed in 21 countries," said Çavuşoğlu, adding that Turkey's Maarif Foundation has assumed administration of the schools in 16 countries.FETÖ and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, which left 251 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.Ankara also accuses FETÖ of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the security forces, judiciary, and schools.FETÖ also has a considerable presence outside Turkey, including private educational institutions that serve as a revenue stream for the terrorist group.FETÖ poses risk to Pakistan: Turkish parliament speakerÇavuşoğlu said Turkey is trying to minimize the effect of sanctions imposed on Iran."[For this] We are in close coordination notably with both the U.S. and EU, and even with Asian countries," he said.The U.S. administration announced Friday, Nov. 2 that it would temporarily allow eight importers to continue trading oil with Iran.Çavuşoğlu also hailed Turkey-Russia relations, saying: "There is a strong will and a close dialogue between our leaders. We can find a way out even in hard times."He also spoke about Turkey’s cooperation with the Central Asian countries. "Our relations with Uzbekistan has revived with the new administration [in the country]. Our relations with Turkmenistan have also strengthened," he added.Turkey making efforts to get U.S. Congress to remove bills against AnkaraTurkey is making efforts to get the U.S. Congress to drop bills targeting Ankara, according to the text of Çavuşoğlu on Wednesday.The U.S. Senate has demanded a block on sales of F-35 jets to Turkey unless U.S. President Donald Trump certifies that Turkey is not threatening NATO, purchasing defence equipment from Russia or detaining U.S. citizens.Çavuşoğlu also said in the text of his speech, which he is delivering to a parliamentary commission on Wednesday, that Turkey is working to keep economic ties with the United States from being impacted by political issues.
Germany not meeting Turkey's demands on FETÖ: FM
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said a European Union digital tax would be proposed at a meeting of EU finance ministers in December at the latest."We are talking about it with France. But note: We are not talking about whether to tax digital companies, we are talking about how to do that," Merkel told German online portal t-online.de in an interview published late on Tuesday."There will be a proposal by December," she said.France has long been the main supporter of the tax but has grown increasingly frustrated with German hesitation over the details after Berlin agreed in principle to the idea in June.Germany's Merkel calls for a European Union militaryAfter months of tough lobbying, the French government has said that only Denmark, Sweden and Ireland remain opposed.Germany said this week it favoured the proposed EU plan to tax big internet firms such as Google and Facebook on their turnover, which EU officials say unfairly pay less tax than other companies.Merkel's comments came as Germany's cabinet prepares to present an artificial intelligence (AI) strategy to help Europe's biggest economy adjust to the digital era.Germany fails to condemn Israel’s aggression in GazaAccording to a draft paper seen by Reuters, the German government has set aside around 3 billion euros ($3.39 billion) for AI research and development."Our future prosperity depends very much on this, as does the question whether and how we can defend our European values regarding the dignity of individuals and protection of privacy in a digital age," Merkel told t-online.de.Germany has been at the forefront of industrial innovation for decades but policymakers have been late to realise that its export model, based on traditional manufacturing, is vulnerable and it is struggling to catch up.Solid growth - the economy is in its ninth year of expansion - has left many businesses too busy meeting orders to have time to plan for a digital future.Germany cannot accept China’s camps for Uighur Muslims
Germany's Merkel sees digital tax proposal by December