Angela Merkel has faced three American presidents, plus four leaders apiece from France and Britain during her time as German chancellor.
It would take a full-scale data project to figure out how many European counterparts she has gladhanded since 2005, when her tenure began.
Last week, Mrs Merkel announced the first stage in a phased retirement plan. She will give up the leadership of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union at a congress in December. While she has held out the prospect of remaining chancellor until 2021, when the next German election is due, few believe she can hang on that long.
The sheer number of European leaders Mrs Merkel has outlasted illustrates beyond all doubt that her stepping down marks the end of an era. Indeed, her demise highlights the ongoing collapse of European centrism. This moment is only likely to accelerate the chaos within the continent's politics.
Already, even while she has acted as the stolid heart of Europe’s leadership, much has fractured.
When France elected the moderate leader Emmanuel Macron last year, it did so at the cost of destroying the franchise of both its main political parties, the Republican right and the Socialist left. Italy has installed a new populist coalition government. The Spanish political scene has splintered badly. Very few countries in Europe still have the political stability that was taken as a given when she came to power.
The explanation lies in an event that Mrs Merkel’s biographers are likely to debate for decades to come − her decision to open Germany’s borders in 2015.
In time, a consensus is likely to find that her real failure was not the decision to allow hundreds of thousands of people from Iraq and Syria to find refuge from ISIS. The problem lay in her pledge “Wir schaffen das” (“We can do this”), which was palpably not fulfilled by her or her government. Social tensions within Germany have grown steadily since this moment, as can be seen in a growing far-right presence and last week’s announcement that refugees seeking asylum are to receive mandatory classes on sexual ethics and equality rights in Germany.
The failure of Mrs Merkel’s government to provide an adequate framework for asylum seekers who made their way to Germany was felt around Europe. Growing disquiet within the country contributed to the idea that the EU was becoming a migratory free-for-all, which, in turn, proved an important factor in the British Brexit vote in 2016. Other resentments festered too, most notably the long nightmare of austerity in Greece.
Mrs Merkel’s economic legacy is surprisingly fragile. Germany’s recent multi-coloured governments made little pretence at reform. The chancellor coasted nicely on cuts to social welfare made by her predecessor Gerhard Schröder. The country’s competitive advantage within the Eurozone has been greatly assisted by the European Central Bank. As Europe’s largest economy, it has been able to sway the regulator’s monetary policy.
The most powerful country in Europe has seen its position steadily entrenched, its own good fortune boosted at the expense of the rest. Difficulties predominate, even in countries with industries capable of competing with the German powerhouse.
A day after Mrs Merkel’s announcement, President Emmanuel Macron announced that he would take a four-day break from Paris to recharge his batteries. Once the object of great fanfare, the Macron reform agenda appears stalled. His labour and welfare reforms, introduced last year, have caused his popularity to plunge to record lows. Then Berlin squashed his plans to reform and further centralise the EU.
Things are no better in Rome, where a legacy of state debt has defeated successive governments. The country’s new populist government is trying to kickstart growth with extra spending. Brussels is standing firm against any and all departures from its orthodoxy, warning Rome of swingeing penalties if it proceeds with its budget proposals.
A style of consensus-building that has for years advanced European integration on a slow but steady path is no longer working. It has no greater proponent than the outgoing German chancellor, but now nationalist politicians have risen up in revolt in country after country. Meanwhile, those jockeying to succeed Mrs Merkel include members of a new cadre, with a far more strident outlook than hers.
Europe faces fundamental decisions in the next few years. It must either follow the logic of the currency union that created the euro, or regroup into a looser confederation of economic partners.
The outgoing German leader lacked the political will to take on that challenge, but time is pressing. Other leaders, perhaps her successor or even the bruised Mr Macron, must show the appetite to reshape the project.
Expect the pace to pick up only when Mrs Merkel vacates the chancellor’s residence in Berlin once and for all.
The five pillars of Islam
The view from The National
KEY DATES IN AMAZON'S HISTORY
July 5, 1994: Jeff Bezos founds Cadabra Inc, which would later be renamed to Amazon.com, because his lawyer misheard the name as 'cadaver'. In its earliest days, the bookstore operated out of a rented garage in Bellevue, Washington
July 16, 1995: Amazon formally opens as an online bookseller. Fluid Concepts and Creative Analogies: Computer Models of the Fundamental Mechanisms of Thought becomes the first item sold on Amazon
1997: Amazon goes public at $18 a share, which has grown about 1,000 per cent at present. Its highest closing price was $197.85 on June 27, 2024
1998: Amazon acquires IMDb, its first major acquisition. It also starts selling CDs and DVDs
2000: Amazon Marketplace opens, allowing people to sell items on the website
2002: Amazon forms what would become Amazon Web Services, opening the Amazon.com platform to all developers. The cloud unit would follow in 2006
2003: Amazon turns in an annual profit of $75 million, the first time it ended a year in the black
2005: Amazon Prime is introduced, its first-ever subscription service that offered US customers free two-day shipping for $79 a year
2006: Amazon Unbox is unveiled, the company's video service that would later morph into Amazon Instant Video and, ultimately, Amazon Video
2007: Amazon's first hardware product, the Kindle e-reader, is introduced; the Fire TV and Fire Phone would come in 2014. Grocery service Amazon Fresh is also started
2009: Amazon introduces Amazon Basics, its in-house label for a variety of products
2010: The foundations for Amazon Studios were laid. Its first original streaming content debuted in 2013
2011: The Amazon Appstore for Google's Android is launched. It is still unavailable on Apple's iOS
2014: The Amazon Echo is launched, a speaker that acts as a personal digital assistant powered by Alexa
2017: Amazon acquires Whole Foods for $13.7 billion, its biggest acquisition
2018: Amazon's market cap briefly crosses the $1 trillion mark, making it, at the time, only the third company to achieve that milestone
EMIRATES'S REVISED A350 DEPLOYMENT SCHEDULE
Edinburgh: November 4 (unchanged)
Bahrain: November 15 (from September 15); second daily service from January 1
Kuwait: November 15 (from September 16)
Mumbai: January 1 (from October 27)
Ahmedabad: January 1 (from October 27)
Colombo: January 2 (from January 1)
Muscat: March 1 (from December 1)
Lyon: March 1 (from December 1)
Bologna: March 1 (from December 1)
Source: Emirates
Company Profile
Name: HyveGeo
Started: 2023
Founders: Abdulaziz bin Redha, Dr Samsurin Welch, Eva Morales and Dr Harjit Singh
Based: Cambridge and Dubai
Number of employees: 8
Industry: Sustainability & Environment
Funding: $200,000 plus undisclosed grant
Investors: Venture capital and government
Herc's Adventures
Developer: Big Ape Productions
Publisher: LucasArts
Console: PlayStation 1 & 5, Sega Saturn
Rating: 4/5
SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
EA Sports FC 24
Developer: EA Vancouver, EA Romania
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4&5, PC and Xbox One
Rating: 3.5/5
RESULTS
Bantamweight:
Zia Mashwani (PAK) bt Chris Corton (PHI)
Super lightweight:
Flavio Serafin (BRA) bt Mohammad Al Khatib (JOR)
Super lightweight:
Dwight Brooks (USA) bt Alex Nacfur (BRA)
Bantamweight:
Tariq Ismail (CAN) bt Jalal Al Daaja (JOR)
Featherweight:
Abdullatip Magomedov (RUS) bt Sulaiman Al Modhyan (KUW)
Middleweight:
Mohammad Fakhreddine (LEB) bt Christofer Silva (BRA)
Middleweight:
Rustam Chsiev (RUS) bt Tarek Suleiman (SYR)
Welterweight:
Khamzat Chimaev (SWE) bt Mzwandile Hlongwa (RSA)
Lightweight:
Alex Martinez (CAN) bt Anas Siraj Mounir (MAR)
Welterweight:
Jarrah Al Selawi (JOR) bt Abdoul Abdouraguimov (FRA)
Mental health support in the UAE
● Estijaba helpline: 8001717
● UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention hotline: 045192519
● UAE Mental health support line: 800 4673 (Hope)
More information at hope.hw.gov.ae
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Haltia.ai
Started: 2023
Co-founders: Arto Bendiken and Talal Thabet
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: AI
Number of employees: 41
Funding: About $1.7 million
Investors: Self, family and friends
The specs
Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo flat-six
Power: 650hp at 6,750rpm
Torque: 800Nm from 2,500-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto
Fuel consumption: 11.12L/100km
Price: From Dh796,600
On sale: now
Bookshops: A Reader's History by Jorge Carrión (translated from the Spanish by Peter Bush),
Biblioasis
Red Joan
Director: Trevor Nunn
Starring: Judi Dench, Sophie Cookson, Tereza Srbova
Rating: 3/5 stars
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The "miners" use computers to make complex calculations that verify transactions in Bitcoin. This uses a tremendous amount of energy via computers and server farms all over the world, which has given rise to concerns about the amount of fossil fuel-dependent electricity used to power the computers.
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