SIMON WALTERS: More pragmatic voices close to Johnson would urge the PM to grab any olive branch with both hands as the best way to pull himself out of his - and Europe's - Brexit nightmare.

European Council chief Donald Tusk (pictured) raged at Mr Johnson and claimed 'you don't want a deal' after the PM's hopes of a Brexit agreement with Brussels were left hanging by a thread yesterday.

The Brexit campaigners posted the image on social media yesterday following a phone conversation between the German leader and Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Leo Varadkar broke the ice as the pair sat down in Thornton Manor on the Wirral where Coleen Rooney had her birthday party. Boris Johnson joked that they get on better than her and Rebekah Vardy.

Jacob Rees-Mogg - who was a thorn in the side of Theresa May before joining Mr Johnson's government - said there were 'positive' signs an agreement could be struck with the EU.

Boris Johnson told his senior team there was a 'good way forward' as he updated them on progress in a conference call.

Mahamadou Issoufou has blamed Niger's explosive birth rate on a misreading of Islam which has led people to believe girls as young as 12 can be married instead of continuing education.

HENRY DEEDES: The very people who only recently were insisting no new Brexit deal was available, were now queuing to touch Johnson's cloak as if he was a latter-day prophet.

Emmanuel Macron on Friday night led EU leaders in warning that they might block any further Brexit extension, while Merkel is understood to have argued the EU can not push out the UK without a deal.

CRAIG BROWN: As his girth attested, Helmut Kohl liked his food. In fact, he could be called something of a glutton. His favourite dish was Saumagen, which literally means 'sow's stomach'.

Merkel's decision to welcome a million Syrian migrants in 2015 has tarnished her political standing, but the idea of a 'safe zone' could reduce the outflow of refugees from the war-torn country.

While popular premier far-left Die Linke party easily retained the top spot with about 30 per cent, the Alternative for Germany scored at least 23 percent - more than doubling its result in 2014.

Björn Höcke's party surged to 23 per cent of the vote in Thuringia, a state in the former East Germany, beating Chancellor Angela Merkel's ruling CDU into third place.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel (pictured) has told her fellow EU leaders that the projected rise would make Germany the largest per-capita contributor, overtaking the Netherlands.

Authorities in New Delhi have declared a public health emergency Friday as air pollution in the city hit its worst level this year. It comes as German Chancellor Angela Merkel visits the region.

Angela Merkel has urged Europe to defend 'democracy' and 'freedom' as Germany is today marking 30 years since the Berlin Wall fell.

The fall of the Berlin Wall changed the world. It brought an end to Communist regimes right across Europe, and finished Russia as a superpower

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier urged the United States to be a 'mutually respectful partner' and reject nationalism as Germany marks 30 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Merkel, who was forced to sit down during national anthems after a series of health scares over the summer, fell over as she took to the podium at a business event in Berlin on Wednesday evening.

President Donald Trump sat down with Turkish President Recep Erdogan at NATO meetings Wednesday shortly before cancelling his own scheduled press conference.

President Trump defended his lawyer Rudy Giuliani between NATO meetings for his contacts with the White House as revealed in phone records, saying: 'What difference does that make?'

Yale Medical School Professor Dr Bandy Lee, George Washington University Professor Dr John Zinner, and former CIA profiler Dr Jerrold Post sent off their letter on Thursday.

Footage showed her turning around after laying wreaths at a former execution wall at Auschwitz when she appeared to stumble and almost fall backwards.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been crowned Forbes' most powerful woman for the ninth year running, closely followed by ECB head Christine Lagarde and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Ursula von der Leyen was under investigation for doling out millions of euros on consultants for defence contracts. The German defence ministry has been accused of sabotaging investigation attempts.

So it meant all the more when burly Nessa, the seafront tattoo artist with forearms like glazed hams and the scowl of Angela Merkel in a bad mood, finally spoke her heart in Gavin And Stacey (BBC1).

Saskia Esken, a new left-leaning leader of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), has proposed setting a national speed limit of 80mph in a move to appease climate-conscious voters.

Angela Merkel has warned the UK's decision to leave the European Union must act as a 'wake up call' for the bloc.

EXCLUSIVE: John Baird, who steered Canada's foreign policy from 2011 to 2015, believes the Prime Minister can spearhead the Western push-back against Iran.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel was presented with a mirror as she met with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul on Friday.

ALEXANDER VON SCHOENBURG (Editor at large for BILD): For years, EU leaders insisted Brexit would be a disaster. But that narrative is starting to look like a delusion.

Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (pictured) announced she would not seek the top job when Merkel stands down at next year's German election.

The swing towards right-wing ideology began as a backlash to the 2015 migrant crisis, when Chancellor Angela Merkel threw opened Germany's borders to some one million migrants.

Horst Seehofer rebuffed the chancellor's outstretched hand at a summit in Berlin this morning - refusing to make an exception to a self-imposed handshake ban.

MARK ALMOND: Turkey's president announced that his country would no longer enforce the deal struck with the EU in 2016 to prevent millions of refugees from leaving for Western shores.

It came as Erdogan jetted into Brussels for a high-level meeting aimed at shoring up the 2016 migrant deal, where the EU agreed to hand over €6bn in exchange for migrants being held back.

The Robert Koch Institute, a German government agency responsible for disease control, made the claim on Tuesday as it strengthened the threat risk for Germany from 'moderate' to 'high'.

Angela Merkel urged Germans to heed the stringent confinement measures imposed this week as the number of infections soared over 11,000 today, including 28 deaths.

In Foreign news pages of The Times on January 30, 1933, was a report that the President of the German Republic, Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg, had asked Adolf Hitler.

Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel will quarantine herself at home after being treated by a doctor who has since tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

Angela Merkel went into quarantine just hours after she rolled out tough measures across Germany to stop the spread of coronavirus.

Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research in Braunschweig is carrying out blood tests in order to identify antibodies associated with Covid-19 (pictured, medics treat a patient in Hamburg).

Angela Merkel's government wants to test all suspected cases in Germany and the entire circle of people who have come into contact with a confirmed patient.

Movie lovers in their hundreds turned up at a drive-in cinema in Essen, west Germany, to enjoy a film from their car - while all other movie theatres in the country are closed.

Chancellor Angela Merkel's government has ordered people not leave their homes unless they have an exceptional reason. A distance of at least five feet must be kept from others at all times.

The league's chief Christian Seifert did suggest last week that the current plan is for games to return to all 36 grounds in the top two divisions by the start of May.

Tories have suggested Boris Johnson is 'frightened' of taking chances after his own close call with coronavirus, despite fears the economic havoc might prove even more damaging.

Germany has begun reopening schools and non-essential shops while Spain has announced children will be allowed out of the house as lockdowns ease, as their leaders urged caution.

Clubs in the German top flight have returned to training in the hope that the rest of the season can be finished off - providing Chancellor Angela Merkel gives the green light for action to resume.

A restart of the Bundesliga could be pushed back a week to May 16 as clubs nervously wait for Chancellor Angela Merkel's verdict.