- Hungary Danube waters reach decade high after Storm Boris
- Bagnaia cuts Martin's MotoGP lead with Emilia-Romagna sprint win
- Jackson double fires Chelsea to victory at woeful West Ham
- Fiji beat Japan to lift Pacific Nations Cup
- Kasatkina to face Haddad Maia in Korea Open final
- S.Africa snowfall closes roads, strands motorists overnight
- Lawyers of women alleging Al-Fayed sex abuse receive over 150 new enquiries
- President Museveni's son backs Ugandan strongman for 7th term
- Norris quickest as Verstappen bounces back in Singapore practice
- Wallabies lament All Blacks' fast start
- Germany's Oktoberfest opens under tight security after attacks
- Environmental protesters block French cruise liner port
- No place like home: Biden hosts 'Quad' leaders
- Zelensky says no UK, US go-ahead to use long-range missiles
- New Zealand edge Australia 31-28 in Bledisloe Cup thriller
- Japan orders evacuations as heavy rains trigger floods in quake-hit area
- New Zealand pilot freed in Indonesia after 19 months in rebel captivity
- Hezbollah in disarray after Israeli air strike kills top commanders
- Leading climate activist released from Vietnam jail
- Ethiopians struggle with bitter pill of currency reform
- Sri Lanka votes in first poll since economic collapse
- Feminist author warns of abortion disaster if Trump wins US election
- US city of Flint still reeling from water crisis, 10 years on
- Arsenal's mean defence faces acid test to shut out Man City again
- Late surge lifts Thailand's Jeeno to LPGA Queen City lead
- DeChambeau says PGA's Ryder Cup decision 'just the start'
- Alcaraz defeated on Laver Cup debut
- Postecoglou embraces 'struggle' to make Spurs a success
- Nice hand 'ashamed' Saint-Etienne 8-0 Ligue 1 mauling
- Boeing CEO says ending strike 'a top priority'
- Harris slams Trump for hypocrisy on abortion as US starts voting
- Academy to host first overseas ceremony to honor young filmmakers
- No doctor necessary: US okays nasal spray flu vaccine for self-use
- Former delivery man Baldwin leads star names at PGA Championship
- Trump shooting: Secret Service admits complacency
- Can an ambitious Milei make Argentina an AI giant?
- Haiti, its suffering growing, in 'race against time': UN expert
- Ibrahim Aqil, the Hezbollah elite unit commander wanted by the US
- Chinese forward Cui signs NBA contract with Brooklyn Nets
- US Fed dissenter calls for 'measured' pace of rate cuts
- Guardiola tells players to lead change over workload as Kompany demands cap on games
- Norway limits wild salmon fishing as stocks hit new lows
- Top Hezbollah commander killed in Israeli strike on Beirut
- Rotterdam fatal knife attacker suspected of 'terrorist motive'
- First early votes cast in knife-edge US presidential election
- Top-ranked Swiatek out of Beijing due to 'personal matters'
- Hard-right Reform UK looks to the future after vote success
- Embiid agrees to NBA contract extension with 76ers
- Joshua aims to complete road to redemption in Dubois bout
- World champion Bagnaia sets pace with lap record at Misano
Merkel given Germany's top honour despite criticism
Former chancellor Angela Merkel received Germany's highest honour on Monday despite facing continued criticism of her legacy since leaving office, especially over her policy towards Moscow.
Merkel, who led Europe's biggest economy from 2005 to 2021, was presented with the special class Grand Cross by President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Monday evening.
The longtime leader thanked her family and several former aides for supporting her through her years in power, recalling "many very, very good experiences".
"People often say what a snake pit politics is. I may say that I would not have survived if it were not for the other side of politics, and that is why I have always been able to enjoy it," she said.
In a speech before handing over the award, Steinmeier praised Merkel's "extraordinarily long time in office and... extraordinary political life".
"For 16 years you served Germany with ambition, with wisdom, with passion," he said.
Guests at the ceremony included Chancellor Olaf Scholz, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen and Merkel's husband, Joachim Sauer.
The special class Grand Cross has been handed out only twice before, to former chancellors Konrad Adenauer and Helmut Kohl.
- Ukraine crisis -
Though hugely popular through most of her time in power, Merkel, 68, has seen her star fade since she retired in December 2021.
The long-time leader has in particular faced criticism of her policy towards Russian President Vladimir Putin and for leaving Germany dependent on Russian energy -- a weakness laid bare by the war in Ukraine.
"At the end of her time in office, our country was not in good shape," Bijan Djir-Sarai of the pro-business FDP party told the RND broadcaster.
Steinmeier, who served as foreign minister twice under Merkel, has also faced criticism for his stance on Russia.
He said Moscow's invasion of Ukraine had "not only changed Europe (but) changed the world and thus also our view of previous German and European politics".
"It is important that we learn our lessons from this," he said.
Some commentators have questioned the logic of Merkel receiving the award from Steinmeier.
"She is being honoured by a man whose political role is far less significant than Merkel's," said Der Spiegel magazine.
- 'Great merits' -
Merkel has also been criticised for her decisions in 2011 to exit nuclear power and in 2015 to welcome hundreds of thousands of refugees from Syria and Iraq.
The former chancellor had "great merits, particularly at an international level", Carsten Linnemann, vice-president of Merkel's own conservative CDU party, told the NTV news channel.
But she "also made mistakes, some of them glaring," he said.
The nuclear exit, agreed after the Fukushima disaster, was "a mistake" because it was decided "without establishing how we were going to supply ourselves with energy in a reasonably self-sufficient way", Linnemann said.
Errors had also been made with regard to the decision to leave Germany's borders open in 2015, he said.
But Merkel, who has been writing her memoirs since she retired, has also continued to win praise, even from her Social Democrat (SPD) and Greens rivals.
"I particularly appreciated her diplomatic skill and empathetic wisdom, thanks to which she always succeeded in forging viable coalitions and compromises on the national and international stage," SPD co-leader Saskia Esken told RND.
Greens leader Omid Nouripour said Merkel had "shaped our country with her chancellorship like few others".
"You do not have to agree with everything she did to recognise her great merits," he said.
Steinmeier praised her hand in strengthening Germany's economy.
"We can look back on 16 years of almost uninterrupted economic growth, during which the scourge of unemployment increasingly lost its horror for most Germans," he said.
O.Salvador--PC