Profile: Angela Merkel and the Talent of Seeming Ordinary
THE TELEGRAPH: Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, has the gift of making Germany seem routine, and worthy of little apprehension

Angela Merkel's studied ordinariness hides a ruthless and effective politician. Photo: The Telegraph
When the Berlin Wall came down, Margaret Thatcher was not the only person who worried that Germany might be about to become too interesting again. The reunited Germany, celebrating the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Wall this week, is a very powerful country, the most powerful in Europe. Yet under the leadership of Angela Merkel, the scientist from the East, it arouses very little apprehension.

This week, Mrs Merkel, who successfully regained the office of Chancellor in recent elections, chose not to dwell on the fall of communist eastern Europe and the events that led to a reunified Germany. Instead of grandstanding and gladhanding she warned instead in a big speech that the country's economic problems would "get bigger before they get better". She added that the growing budget deficit would not prevent the government from pressing ahead with cuts in income tax in an effort to stimulate growth.

The focus on economics and tax cuts highlighted the qualities of Europe's latest superstar woman politician: she is a ruthless power player who does what is needed, yet she conveys an impression of magnified ordinariness, right down to the determination to continue doing her own shopping and to queue in her local supermarket.

Nobody can read Mrs Merkel's mind, a talent she developed while growing up in East Germany as the daughter of a Lutheran pastor. To be allowed by the regime to build a successful career as a scientist, without actually joining the ruling Party of Socialist Unity (though she was active in its youth wing), required a prodigious capacity to veil her own opinions, to seem unthreatening and to concentrate in a pragmatic way on the task in hand.

Mrs Merkel has an excellent sense of humour and often smiles, but people no more know what lies behind her smile than what lies behind the Mona Lisa's. >>> Andrew Gimson | Friday, November 13, 2009

Nicolas Sarkozy Tells Carla Bruni to Take Lower Profile
THE TELEGRAPH: Nicolas Sarkozy has asked his wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy to lower her public profile after complaints about her political influence on the French president, it has been claimed.

Mr Sarkozy's approval ratings are at their lowest since his 2007 election - just 39 per cent according to one poll. Photo: The Telegraph
Last week France's leading society magazine described Mrs Bruni-Sarkozy, 41, as the new Marie-Antoinette. Now it transpires the president has asked her to take a back seat amid a growing chorus of disapproval from his own Right-wing allies about her "luvvy" Left-wing influence.

One alleged in l'Express magazine on Thursday that she was responsible for "most of the head of state's woes in this turbulent autumn".

Mr Sarkozy's approval ratings are at their lowest since his 2007 election - just 39 per cent according to one poll - and he is desperately trying to woo back his core conservative electorate ahead of regional elections next March.

Many voters are appalled by a series of scandals, from nepotism allegations concerning Mr Sarkozy's 23-year-old son, Jean, to the furore over a book by Frédéric Mitterrand, the culture minister, about his past as a sexual tourist. Mrs Bruni-Sarkozy, a friend of Mr Mitterrand, is attributed with advising her husband to nominate him to the post.

Colleagues also blame her for encouraging ministers to give outspoken support to Roman Polanksi, the film-maker detained in Switzerland and awaiting extradition to the US for having unlawful sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old girl in 1977.

Mr Sarkozy this week sought to regain the upper hand by launching a nationwide debate on "national identity" and a plan to impose a curfew on delinquents.

A friend of Mrs Bruni-Sarkozy quoted by the 20minutes.fr website said: "Her husband has asked her not to intervene on [political] subjects. And this doesn't bother her." >>> Henry Samuel in Paris | Thursday, November 05, 2009

20 MINUTES: Le mea culpa de Nicolas Sarkozy au sujet de la candidature de son fils à l'Epad >>> | Jeudi 05 Novembre 2009

Guido Westerwelle Profile: FDP Leader
THE TELEGRAPH: Guido Westerwelle, the German liberal leader who is poised to become the country's new foreign minister, has led his Free Democratic party to its best result in 60 years, triumphantly returning the party to power after 11 years in the political wilderness.

The 47-year old from Bonn will become Germany's first openly homosexual vice-chancellor and could win more than the normal three cabinet positions traditionally reserved for the junior partner in a coalition government.

The FDP leader is best known at home for his espousal of Thatcherite economic reforms. But it is his position on Afghanistan that will make him the welcome face of Germany's foreign policy among the country's allies.

While Germany's deployment to Afghanistan has become increasingly unpopular, Mr Westerwelle has emerged as the most powerful and articulate proponent of sustained involvement in the war.

The Free Democrats' support for nuclear energy means that the country is likely to reverse an isolationist decision to mothball the industry within the decade.

A permanent tan and close fitting suits tailored to a well-preserved physique belie the scars accumulated in eight years as leader of Germany's third political force. As he celebrated victory on Sunday night, he reminded supporters of challenges of holding government office.

He said: "We are pleased with this exceptional result but we know that above all else, this means responsibility."

The 47-year old from Bonn does not disguise that his flamboyance has frequently endangered the credibility of the FDP, an economically liberal force that represents the interests of the urban middle class.

Mr Westerwelle had his official coming-out when he attended Angela Merkel's 50th birthday party in 2004 with his partner, businessman Michael Mronz, and has said he would like to have a family. >>> Damien McElroy in Berlin | Sunday, September 27, 2009

Profile: Michael Savage, the US Shock Jock Banned from Britain
THE TELEGRAPH: Michael Savage has a winning way with annoying callers to his talk show.

Radio talk show host Michael Savage. Photo courtesy of The Telegraph
"Get Aids and die, you pig," the American radio "shock jock" told a purportedly homosexual man who once badmouthed his teeth.

He has plenty more vitriol to go around. Latinos "breed like rabbits" , Muslims "need deporting" and as for autistic children, "in 99 per cent of cases it's a brat who hasn't been told to cut the act out".

Quite what he might say to Jacqui Smith if she called in is unclear, but it might just be: "Thank you very much".

Shock jocks thrive on controversy and notoriety, and the Home Secretary must have exceeded Savage's wildest dreams this week when she included him on a list of undesirables banned from entering Britain.

The 16 names were people who "fomented hatred, of such extreme views and expressing them in such a way" as to cause violence if they were allowed into the country, she told the BBC.

The story in half a dozen forms has been plastered over Savage's official website and alluded to liberally on Savage Nation, his nationally syndicated radio show. Even before the hullabaloo, the San Francisco-based show boasted 10 million listeners a week, the third most popular (behind Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity) in US news talk radio. >>> By Tom Leonard | Thursday, May 7, 2009