Schroeder

President Bush and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder moved beyond nearly two years of acrimony and agreed during an Oval Office meeting Friday to cooperate in promoting democracy and development in the Middle East. Schroeder effectively endorsed a Bush plan to seek European and Group of 8 support for a broad Middle East democracy initiative, officials of both nations said. But they did not agree on whether it would become part of an existing European initiative or operate separately.

In a sign of how much his economic reforms have angered the liberal core of his party, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder surprised the nation Friday by taking a political gamble and resigning as leader of the Social Democratic Party. The abrupt move marked the widening divide between one of Europe's oldest political parties and Schroeder's attempts to overhaul the nation's generous welfare state.

Moving to further repair a rift over the Iraq war, President Bush has invited German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder for a White House visit Feb. 27, officials announced Friday. Schroeder will visit during a U.S. trip and the two leaders will discuss events in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Middle East, a German Foreign Ministry spokesman said. The White House announcement didn't mention Iraq but praised Germany as "a long-standing ally" and a "key partner in forging closer U.S.

Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder will become the first German leader to attend a commemoration of the 1944 D-day landings in June, after being invited by France. Ten years ago, Paris did not ask Chancellor Helmut Kohl to the high-profile 50th anniversary. French President Jacques Chirac's invitation marks a gesture of reconciliation contrasting with that apparent snub. "Mr.

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's proposals for tax cuts and long-contemplated welfare reforms -- known as Agenda 2010 -- were scaled back Friday by political parties unwilling to enact more sweeping legislation in an attempt to enliven Europe's largest economy. What Parliament approved the day before Christmas recess could be termed Agenda 2010 Lite. The $19 billion in income-tax cuts Schroeder proposed for 2004 were reduced to about $10 billion.

Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder claimed a symbolic victory Friday when German lawmakers approved tax cuts worth about $21 billion and agreed to begin overhauling an entrenched welfare state that many say has weakened the world's third-largest economy. The votes by the lower house of Parliament were a boost to Schroeder's politically dangerous plan to scale back Europe's most generous welfare system.

President Bush and Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder formally ended their feud over the war in Iraq on Wednesday, as Germany offered to train police and aid in the reconstruction of the struggling country. The move helped isolate France and opened the door a crack for other antiwar nations to join in rebuilding. But there were no other offers of assistance, a day after an unapologetic Bush told the 191-nation U.N.

The leaders of France and Germany criticized the Bush administration's new proposal for a greater international role in occupied Iraq on Thursday, saying the U.S. must speed up the transfer of power to an Iraqi government and give the U.N. more authority. Although their words sounded like a reprise of their alliance in opposition to the war earlier this year, French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder did not completely reject the U.S. plan.

Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder scrapped a planned vacation in Italy after a series of diplomatic spats with Rome, opting Wednesday to rest at home in Germany instead. The Italian prime minister's laconic response: "I'm sorry for him." Schroeder's decision to ditch a trip to the Marche region next week followed an Italian official's assertion that German tourists were "stereotyped blonds with a hyper-nationalist pride."

Pinning his hopes on consumers to revive Europe's largest economy, Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder announced plans Sunday to accelerate a tax cut to send a "signal of revival" to citizens unsettled by reductions in Germany's generous welfare state. Schroeder, whose Cabinet approved the tax proposal during a three-day retreat to discuss the weak economy, said the program would spur growth by returning $28.5 billion a year to taxpayers.