BREAKING NEWS

Germany: Close Merkel ally quits for Ph.D plagiarism

BERLIN - German Education Minister Annette Schavan resigned on Saturday after being stripped of her doctorate for alleged plagiarism, in an embarrassing blow to her ally Angela Merkel.
The move came four days after the University of Duesseldorf ruled Schavan, a close confidante to the chancellor, had "systematically and intentionally" copied parts of her thesis, and withdrew her Ph.D, granted more than 30 years ago.