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German chancellor Angela Merkel stands in front of a Christmas tree as she leaves a press conference at her party's headquarter in Berlin, Sunday Dec. 15, 2013. Germany will get its first female defense minister in Chancellor Angela Merkel's new government, while the country's influential finance minister will stay in his job. Merkel confirmed Sunday that Ursula von der Leyen, currently labor minister, will become defense chief. The 55-year-old mother of seven inherits the job of modernizing the German military and overseeing its deployment in Afghanistan. Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, Merkel's co-pilot in fighting Europe's debt crisis, will stay on. (AP Photo/dpa,,Rainer Jensen)