Algiers  - German Chancellor Angela Merkel used the occasion of her 54th birthday Thursday to express support for the women of Algeria in their fight for equal rights.

Berlin - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Saturday she was hoping for new movement in the Middle East peace process from the pending launch of a Mediterranean Union between members of the European Union and other littoral states.

A resolution of the Middle East conflict would bring stability to the region, Merkel said in her weekly broadcast.

"Naturally we will talk in Paris about reaching a two-state solution creating a Jewish state for Israel and a Palestinian state, and about who can make a contribution to his aim," she said.

Berlin - Chancellor Angela Merkel is to visit Algeria next week at the head of a German business delegation, her spokesman announced Friday.

Berlin - German Chancellor Angela Merkel Tuesday gave strong backing to continuing the ratification process for the European Union's Treaty of Lisbon, in the face of the negative position taken Pol