The Latest: Germany's Merkel pays tribute to Sen. McCain
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on the death of Sen. John McCain (all times local):8:45 a.m.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is paying tribute to Sen. John McCain as "one of the great political personalities of our time."
The 81-year-old Republican senator died at his ranch in Arizona on Saturday after a yearlong battle with brain cancer. Merkel offered her condolences in a statement tweeted Sunday by her spokesman, Steffen Seibert.
She says that McCain was "a tireless fighter for a strong trans-Atlantic alliance; his significance went well beyond his own country."
Merkel says, "John McCain was led by the firm conviction that the sense of all political work lies in service to freedom, democracy and the rule of law.