Prominent German journalist killed by falling tree in storm

Sylke Tempel, a prominent German journalist and author, was killed when a tree struck her during a storm, the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) and media reports said Friday.

Tempel, the 52-year-old editor-in-chief of DGAP publications Internationale Politik and Berlin Policy Journal, was killed in Berlin on Thursday while returning from a meeting also attended by German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel, the BZ newspaper reported.

"We are mourning a good friend and a passionate foreign policy advocate," Gabriel said in a statement.

"Those who have followed [her] path, her analyses, and her contributions to debates and discussions over the years, hugely treasured her brilliance and her warmth, her subtlety and her political acumen," he said.

The storm, named Xavier, swept across northern Germany on Thursday, killing a total of seven people.