/ Source: The Associated Press
Chancellor Angela Merkel says Germany is suspending for three months a decision to extend the life of its nuclear power plants.
Merkel's Monday announcement follows opposition calls to scrap the extension altogether in the wake of explosions at a nuclear plant in Japan.
Her government last year pushed through a decision to extend the life of the country's 17 nuclear power stations by an average 12 years. A previous government decided a decade ago to shut them all by 2021.
Germany has no plans to build new nuclear plants but Merkel says it needs to keep using nuclear energy as it speeds up development of renewable power sources.
Monday's announcement comes ahead of three German state elections in the next two weeks.