InfoAnda - Anti-Communist pastor Gauck elected German president |

Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case
Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They

Taiwan denies boycotting Australian film festival
Thursday, August 6, 2009

AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e

Merkel's support dips, regional ally resigns International
Thursday, September 3, 2009

By Sarah Marsh and Noah Barkin

BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German

Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who

Asian markets mixed after Wall Street rally
Wednesday, March 18, 2009

By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an

China Web giants promise to fight rumors: Xinhua | | 10 April 2012
Two British soldiers killed in Afghan assault | 5 July 2009
U.S. targets North Korea missile proliferation network | 1 July 2009

Oil prices rebound in post-Christmas trade | 26 December 2008

Forum Views () Forum Replies ()

Read more with google mobile : Anti-Communist pastor Gauck elected German president |

Edition: U.S. Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Home Business Business Home Economy Technology Media Small Business Legal Deals Earnings Social Pulse Business Video The Freeland File Markets Markets Home U.S. Markets European Markets Asian Markets Global Market Data Indices M&A Stocks Bonds Currencies Commodities Futures Funds peHUB World World Home U.S. Brazil China Euro Zone Japan Mexico Russia India Insight World Video Reuters Investigates Decoder Politics Politics Home Election 2012 Issues 2012 Candidates 2012 Tales from the Trail Political Punchlines Supreme Court Politics Video Tech Technology Home MediaFile Science Tech Video Tech Tonic Social Pulse Opinion Opinion Home Chrystia Freeland John Lloyd Felix Salmon Jack Shafer David Rohde Bernd Debusmann Nader Mousavizadeh Lucy P. Marcus David Cay Johnston Bethany McLean Edward Hadas Hugo Dixon Ian Bremmer Mohamed El-Erian Lawrence Summers Susan Glasser The Great Debate Steven Brill Jack & Suzy Welch Breakingviews Equities Credit Private Equity M&A Macro & Markets Politics Breakingviews Video Money Money Home Tax Break Lipper Awards 2012 Global Investing MuniLand Unstructured Finance Linda Stern Mark Miller John Wasik James Saft Analyst Research Alerts Watchlist Portfolio Stock Screener Fund Screener Personal Finance Video Money Clip Investing 201 Life Health Sports Arts Faithworld Business Traveler Entertainment Oddly Enough Lifestyle Video Pictures Pictures Home Reuters Photographers Full Focus Video Reuters TV Reuters News Article Comments (0) Full Focus Photos of the week Our top photos from the past week. Full Article Images of February Follow Reuters Facebook Twitter RSS YouTube Read Dozens arrested at Occupy's 6-month anniversary rally 1:47am EDT UPDATE 1-Chevron executives barred from leaving Brazil over spill 17 Mar 2012 Oman warns on military confrontation with Iran 10:19am EDT "Man vs. Wild" star Bear Grylls fired by TV network 14 Mar 2012 Blast hits Aleppo; clashes and protests across Syria | 12:02pm EDT Discussed 151 Exclusive: U.S., Britain to agree emergency oil stocks release 128 Sixteen Afghan civilians killed in rogue U.S. attack 124 UPDATE 4-Obama defends energy policies amid gas price pain Watched Soccer star critically ill Sat, Mar 17 2012 NASA images show Aurora Borealis over North America. Sat, Mar 17 2012 Kate celebrates St Patrick's Day with Irish Guards Sat, Mar 17 2012 Interactive Euro zone bank stress test calculator Use the Reuters Breakingviews stress test calculator to calculate how the Target core Tier 1 capital ratio and sovereign haircut levels affect the amount of capital banks need to pass the stress test. Full Coverage Anti-Communist pastor Gauck elected German president Tweet Share this Email Print Related News Anti-Communist pastor set to become German president Sat, Mar 17 2012 Analysis: Eastern activist tilts Germany's political landscape Thu, Mar 15 2012 German presidency row shakes Merkel's coalition Mon, Feb 20 2012 Merkel backs East German activist for president Sun, Feb 19 2012 Analysis & Opinion India’s democratic tempest Do we need a referendum on referendums? Related Topics World » Germany » German presidential candidate Joachim Gauck and his partner Daniela Schadt chat during Germany's Federal Assembly in Berlin, March 18, 2012. Credit: Reuters/Fabian Bimmer By Gareth Jones and Alice Baghdjian BERLIN | Sun Mar 18, 2012 11:31am EDT BERLIN (Reuters) - Germans resoundingly elected Joachim Gauck, a former Lutheran pastor and human rights activist from communist East Germany, as president of the European Union's largest country on Sunday, posing a potential headache for Chancellor Angela Merkel. In the largely ceremonial office of president, Gauck presents no threat to Merkel's domination of national politics. But his moral authority, independence of mind and lack of party affiliation could make him an awkward partner for her government as it struggles to overcome Europe's economic crisis. Gauck, 72, won 991 votes in the federal assembly comprising members of parliament and regional delegates. His main rival, veteran anti-Nazi campaigner Beate Klarsfeld, got 126 votes. Germans hope Gauck, a prominent player in the peaceful protests that led to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, can restore dignity to the presidency, tarnished by financial scandals that felled his predecessor Christian Wulff. "I take up this post with the endless gratitude of a person who, after a long trek through the political desert of the 20th century, has finally and unexpectedly found his home again and was able to witness in the last 20 years the joy of shaping a democratic society," he said after taking the oath of office. His victory was never in doubt after all the main political parties, including Merkel's centre-right Christian Democrats, threw their weight behind his candidacy. Merkel played down suggestions that the feisty theologian would use his office as a pulpit to harangue Germany's politicians or that they might clash over policy issues. "He may well disapprove of something, so might I, but we are all adults and this isn't about methods of education but about expressing opinions, which for the most part strengthens democracy," she told reporters after Gauck's election. "GOOD COLLABORATION" "I think there will be good collaboration," she said. Merkel can ill afford disputes with the president as she tries to build cross-party support for tighter fiscal rules to tackle the euro zone's two-year sovereign debt crisis that has forced Berlin to assume greater leadership in Europe. Merkel only reluctantly accepted Gauck for the top job after her liberal coalition ally, the Free Democrats, joined opposition parties last month in backing him to replace the disgraced Wulff. Unlike career politician Wulff, Gauck - who describes himself politically as "a left-leaning, liberal conservative" - likes to speak his mind on controversial issues, and he does so with an eloquence forged in the pulpits of East Germany. "The new president will polarize the republic with his views about freedom," the weekly newsmagazine Der Spiegel said in an article stressing his deep attachment to individual liberty. "Unlike his predecessor, Gauck does not intend to kowtow to political conventions. He will thereby inevitably become an antagonist of the chancellor," said Spiegel. Eighty percent of Germans trust Gauck, according to an opinion poll by Infratest, yet two thirds said they thought he would be an "uncomfortable" president for the political parties. "The president of the federal republic must be the guardian of the soul of our nation," said Sunday's edition of the top-selling daily Bild which also backed Gauck for the job in 2010. "Gauck's most important task is to restore dignity to this considerably tarnished office." COLOURFUL PAST Merkel and Gauck both hail from old East Germany where her father was also a clergyman. They are said to have a good personal rapport, but she blocked a bid to install him as president in 2010 in favor of the ill-fated Wulff. Gauck has a rich life story shaped by the Cold War. When he was 11 his father was sent to the Siberian Gulag for alleged espionage and did not return for four years. That experience fostered an abiding aversion to totalitarianism, and he has said freedom will be the leitmotif of his presidency. After the fall of Communism and Germany's reunification, Gauck oversaw the archives of the dreaded Stasi, the East German secret police, earning recognition for exposing their crimes. He ensured that the sprawling files were used to root out former Stasi employees and collaborators in public service and to understand the country's past. More recently, he has had to defend his decision to keep former Stasi employees working at the archives, workers whose insider knowledge made them, he thought, "indispensable". Gauck has four children with his now-estranged wife. Some conservative German politicians have said that, as president, he should marry his longtime partner, a journalist 20 years his junior, to set a good moral example. The speaker of the Bundestag, the lower house of parliament, Norbert Lammert, said on Sunday he hoped Gauck would serve out his full five-year term, bringing stability back to an institution shaken not only by Wulff's premature resignation but also by the sudden departure of Wulff's predecessor, Horst Koehler. Koehler quit in 2010, early into his second five-year term as president, after making comments about Germany's involvement in Afghanistan deemed inappropriate. (Additional reporting by Hans-Edzard Busemann; Writing by Gareth Jones; Editing by Mark Heinrich and Andrew Heavens) World Germany Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (0) Be the first to comment on reuters.com. Add yours using the box above. Edition: U.S. Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Back to top Reuters.com Business Markets World Politics Technology Opinion Money Pictures Videos Site Index Legal Bankruptcy Law California Legal New York Legal Securities Law Support & Contact Support Corrections Advertise With Us Connect with Reuters Twitter Facebook LinkedIn RSS Podcast Newsletters Mobile About Privacy Policy Terms of Use AdChoices Copyright Our Flagship financial information platform incorporating Reuters Insider An ultra-low latency infrastructure for electronic trading and data distribution A connected approach to governance, risk and compliance Our next generation legal research platform Our global tax workstation Thomsonreuters.com About Thomson Reuters Investor Relations Careers Contact Us Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests. NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.

Other News on Sunday, 18 March 2012
Iraq militia frees U.S. hostage after 9 months |
U.S. fighter in Somalia says threatened by fellow militants |
Russian opposition stages new protests, over 20 held |
Belarus executes metro bombing convicts |
S.American group rejects UK oil exploration in Falklands |
Soldier suspected in Afghanistan massacre to meet with lawyers |
Defiant North Korea says rocket launch to go ahead |
Militants kill American teacher in Yemen: police |
Japan's majority favor phasing out nuclear power: poll |
Egypt Coptic Christian Pope Shenouda dies |
Venezuela detains police in killing of consul's daughter |
Rosie O'Donnell's TV show canceled by OWN |
Blast hits Aleppo; clashes and protests across Syria |
Oman warns on military confrontation with Iran |
UK says Iran blocking website in censorship battle |
Australian resource-rich region unscathed after cyclone |
Libya seeks Gaddafi spy chief handover by Mauritania |
Turkish police fire tear gas on Kurdish festivities |
Anti-Communist pastor Gauck elected German president |
Militants kill American teacher in Yemen |
Christians gather to bid farewell to Egypt's Pope |
Comedy '21 Jump Street' rules weekend box office |
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time
AMD to Start Production of piledriver
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights

USD EUR - 1 year graph		BlogMeter 1.01