Horst Koehler, former German president from 2004 to 2010 and a respected global policymaker with a particular interest in Africa, died on Saturday after a short illness at the age of 81, the federal presidential office said in a statement.
Born in 1943 in German-occupied Poland, Koehler spent most of his early years living in refugee camps with his family before settling in Ludwigsburg, Baden-Wuerttemberg.
A trained economist and member of the Christian Democrats, Koehler rose to the position of deputy finance minister under ex-Chancellor Helmut Kohl, playing a key role in bringing the West German mark to East Germany after communist rule collapsed in 1990.
Koehler became managing director of the International Monetary Fund in 2000, a post he held for four years before being nominated for president in 2004.
As president, he was not afraid to defy the government, dissolving parliament in 2005 to call new elections and accusing then-Chancellor Angela Merkel in 2007 of not preparing the country sufficiently for globalisation.
But he stepped down a year into his second term after he was criticised for stating in a radio interview that foreign military action by the German army also served the country's economic interests.
Still, despite being a largely unknown figure before assuming the presidency, Koehler quickly proved himself in opinion polls to be one of Germany's most popular political figures.
"It was his belief in the strength of our country and in the energy and creativity of its people that allowed him to win so many hearts," German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in a statement on Saturday.
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Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called on Beijing and Moscow to prevent Washington from continuing to abuse the United Nations Security Council. He made the comment during a phone conversation with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi according to state-owned IRNA news agency.
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Chinese President Xi Jinping and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz agreed on Wednesday in Beijing to strengthen economic cooperation while addressing trade imbalances, market access concerns, and the war in Ukraine, during Merz’s first official visit to China since taking office.
Fears of wider escalation grow despite President Donald Trump saying U.S. strikes on Iran could end within weeks. Meanwhile missile attacks, tanker incidents and rising casualties across Israel, Lebanon and the Gulf heighten risks to regional stability and energy routes.
There are fears of an oil spill after a drone strike hit a Kuwaiti oil tanker near Dubai on Tuesday, while U.S.-Israeli strikes in Iran reportedly killed at least two people. A loud explosion was heard in Beirut in southern Lebanon early Wednesday, as oil prices climbed above $100 a barrel.
Russian-flagged tanker carrying approximately 700,000 barrels of crude oil docked at Cuba's Matanzas oil terminal on Tuesday, shipping data confirmed, marking a vital and controversial delivery to an island paralysed by severe energy shortages and a suffocating U.S. blockade.
A Russian military An-26 aircraft has crashed in Crimea, killing all 30 people on board, Russia’s Defence Ministry has confirmed.
Explosions were heard in the Syrian capital Damascus as Israeli air defences intercepted Iranian missiles, Syrian state television reported on Tuesday.
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American President Donald Trump threatened on Wednesday to pull the United States out of NATO after European nations refused to join a U.S.-led naval mission to unblock the Strait of Hormuz.
France has unveiled a delayed wave of renewable energy tenders to boost energy independence and strengthen domestic and European industry.
China is emerging as one of the more stable economies amid the latest global oil shock, thanks to years of planning, diversified energy sources and a steady shift towards renewable power.
In a major policy reversal, the U.S. Treasury has removed Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, from its sanctions list, signalling a sharp shift in Washington’s approach to Caracas.
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