{"id":646854,"date":"2019-06-28T15:20:20","date_gmt":"2019-06-28T15:20:20","guid":{"rendered":"
\"German<\/p>\n
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\"German
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The German government insisted Friday that Chancellor Angela Merkel was in robust health, after a second episode of uncontrolled shaking sparked concerns about the wellbeing of the EU\u2019s longest-serving leader.<\/p>\n

Asked about how Merkel, who is in Japan for a G20 summit, was faring after her second trembling spell in as many weeks, government spokeswoman Martina Fietz said she was fine.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe images you can see from Osaka show that the chancellor is very active and healthy \u2014 doing her job and keeping her planned appointments,\u201d Fietz told reporters.<\/p>\n

The long-serving leader, who turns 65 next month, sparked renewed fears for her health Thursday when she began to tremble at a ceremony with the German president at his Berlin palace.<\/p>\n

A previous, more severe bout of uncontrollable shaking last week was blamed on dehydration at an outdoor event on a hot summer\u2019s day.<\/p>\n

Officials sought to play down the fears over her health.<\/p>\n

Her spokesman Steffen Seibert said she would not cancel any of her engagements in the coming days, which promise to be gruelling.<\/p>\n

Merkel, who has been in power for nearly 14 years, is to participate in the two-day G20 gathering and is holding a number of bilateral meetings including with US President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n

She flies from Osaka straight to a crunch EU summit on Sunday where leaders will seek to break a post-election deadlock on who will lead the bloc\u2019s institutions.<\/p>\n

Merkel has said she will leave politics at the end of her term in 2021.<\/p>\n

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