Berlin - Germans cannot be indifferent to anti-Semitism, Chancellor Angela Merkel said Sunday at a Berlin ceremony to recall a 1938 pogrom against Jewish residents of Germany.

"Indifference is the first step towards endangering essential values," Merkel said during Germany's national memorial ceremony at the old synagogue in Berlin's Rykestrasse.

"Germany needs a climate that encourages moral courage," Merkel said. "Xenophobia, racism and anti-Semitism must never be given an opportunity in Europe again."

She said this was just as true in Arab nations and in other parts of the world.

Berlin - Germans must act against racism in general and anti-Semitism in particular, Chancellor Angela Merkel said Saturday, a day before Germany marks a 1938 pogrom against Jewish residents.

Ceremonies were to be held Sunday to recall Kristallnacht, or the Night of Broken Glass, when Nazis smashed up Jewish-owned shops, burned or ransacked synagogues and killed 91 people throughout Germany, according to the official toll.

Berlin  - German Chancellor Angela Merkel and US president-elect Barack Obama agreed in a telephone call to work together to help solve global challenges, a Berlin government spokesman said Friday.

The stabilization of Afghanistan, the global financial crisis, climate change and Iran's controversial nuclear programme require closer cooperation, the spokesman said in a statement following Thursday evening's telephone call.

Merkel also congratulated Obama on his "historic" election victory, the statement said.

Berlin - German Chancellor Angela Merkel and US president-elect Barack Obama agreed in a telephone call to work together to help solve global challenges, a Berlin government spokesman said Friday.

The stabilization of Afghanistan, the global financial crisis, climate change and Iran's controversial nuclear programme require closer cooperation, the spokesman said in a statement following Thursday evening's telephone call.

Merkel also congratulated Obama on his "historic" election victory, the statement said.

Wiesbaden, Germany - Chancellor Angela Merkel's governing conservatives in the German state of Hesse called Thursday for fresh elections, three days after the failure of a bid to topple them.

The state's Christian Democrat (CDU) leadership said it would present a resolution at the next sitting of the regional legislature, calling for the dissolution of the assembly and new elections on January 18.

Berlin - Germany's government on Wednesday approved an anti- recession package of tax cuts and grants that supporters predict will secure up to 1 million jobs over the next two years.

Chancellor Angela Merkel said the move showed her coalition could beat the economic problems expected in the near future.

"We are going to build a bridge toward the possibility that it will get better again in 2010," she said.