BERLIN (Reuters) - A 99-year-old Holocaust survivor said on Thursday he would return his federal order of merit award to the German state in protest over a parliamentary vote in which support from the far-right was used for the first time to secure a majority.

Friedrich Merz’s hard-line shift on migration is a calculated gambit by the German conservative leader to neutralize the far right and deliver a breakthrough with wavering voters, according to people familiar with his thinking.

Six German endurance track cyclists have been seriously injured after an 89-year-old drove a car head-on into the group.

Friedrich Merz, the leader of Germany's CDU/CSU conservative bloc which is leading polls ahead of the Feb. 23 vote, is keen to seize the initiative on migration policy, which has shifted sharply back into focus after an Afghan asylum seeker was arrested over deadly stabbings last week.

Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel has issued rare public criticism of her successor as the country’s center-right leader, the front-runner in Germany’s election next month, for putting to parliament proposals for tough new migration rules that only passed with the help of a far-right party.

Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel criticised the leader of her Christian Democrats (CDU), Friedrich Merz, for drawing on support from the far-right to pass a motion in parliament, in a statement on Thursday.

German election frontrunner Friedrich Merz succeeded on Wednesday in getting a motion passed in parliament that calls for a migration crackdown including the rejection of asylum seekers at the country's land borders.

A golden retriever and a German shepherd challenged each other to a spaghetti eating competition, and the results have left users across the internet in hysterics.

Germany’s parliament has narrowly approved a call by Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s main challenger to turn back many more migrants at the country’s borders, with the help of a far-right party.

Elon Musk told a rally the German far-right AfD party, just before Holocaust Remembrance Day, that Germany should get over "past guilt."

German industry has for years called out high energy prices and poor economic policies for making them uncompetitive. A coalition of SMEs is now saying enough is enough.