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Merkel backs Gauck for president
German chancellor Angela Merkel agreed yesterday to support former East German rights activist Joachim Gauck for the country’s presidency, averting a fight with opposition parties that might have distracted her from tackling the Eurozone crisis. Merkel confirmed her support for Gauck, 72, two days after Christian Wulff, her hand-picked choice for president in 2010, resigned in a scandal involving financial favours.