"Wegner, from the conservative Christian Democratic Union party of the chancellor, Friedrich Merz, had told reporters on Sunday that he had been working round the clock to mitigate the impact of the blackout and get the power back on. I was neither bored nor putting my feet up, but was on the phone all day trying to coordinate and get as much information as possible, he said,and had literally locked myself in my office at home."
"Wegner confirmed a report by the public broadcaster RBB that he had been on a tennis court that day with his partner, the Berlin education minister, Katharina Gunther-Wunsch, between 1 and 2pm. Late on Wednesday he acknowledged his choice of words had been sub-par. Looking back, I should have said on Sunday what I did on Saturday, he said."
An arson attack claimed by leftwing militants cut electricity to about 45,000 households and more than 2,000 businesses across south-west Berlin, producing the longest power outage since the second world war and raising questions about preparedness for sabotage. Mayor Kai Wegner initially said he had been coordinating response efforts and working round the clock, but later confirmed he had been on a tennis court between 1 and 2pm with the education minister and acknowledged he had not been entirely forthcoming. He said he took a short sporting break to clear his head. Growing calls for his resignation emerged ahead of a regional election, and the far-right AfD criticized his conduct.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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