Germany lurched into a brief panic Friday as several media outlets fell for a satirical tweet that claimed Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition had collapsed in a bitter row over immigration. The fake news that rebellious Interior Minister Horst Seehofer would end his Bavarian CSU party's seven-decade partnership with Merkel's CDU was described as a "bombshell" by the apparently verified Twitter account. Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert, receiving live updates during a press conference, was able to quickly shoot down the claim -- but not before it had been cited as breaking news on the website of top-selling Bild tabloid and other media.
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