BERLIN: Chancellor Olaf Scholz will call on Germany’s parliament on Monday to declare it has no confidence in him, taking the first formal step toward securing early elections following his government’s collapse.
The departure last month of the neoliberal Free Democrats from the three-way coalition left Scholz’s Social Democrats and the Greens governing without a parliamentary majority just when Germany faces its deepest economic crisis in a generation.
Rules drawn up to prevent the series of short-lived and unstable governments that played an important role in helping the Nazis rise to power in the 1930s mean that the path to new elections is long and largely controlled by the chancellor.
“If legislators follow the path I am recommending, I will suggest to the President that he dissolve parliament,” Scholz told reporters on Wednesday after requesting the motion.
President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has said he will act accordingly after Monday’s vote and agreed with parliamentary parties on Feb. 23 as the date for early elections.
Assuming the no-confidence vote passes, Scholz and his ministers will remain in office in an acting capacity until a new government is formed, which could take months if coalition negotiations prove lengthy.
Scholz has outlined a list of measures that could pass with opposition support during that period, including 11 billion euros ($11.55 billion) of tax cuts and an increase in child benefits already agreed on by former coalition partners.
Measures to better protect the Constitutional Court from the machinations of a future populist or anti-democratic government, to cut energy prices and to extend a popular subsidised transport ticket are also under discussion.
The outcome of the vote is not certain, with Scholz’s SPD likely to vote that they have confidence in their Chancellor, while opposition conservatives, far ahead in the polls, and the Free Democrats expected not to.
The far-right Alternative for Germany, with whom all other parties refuse to work, could surprise legislators by voting that they do have confidence in Scholz.
If both the SPD and the Greens also back Scholz, that would leave him in the awkward position of remaining in office with the support of a party that he rejects as anti-democratic. In that case, most observers expect he would resign, which itself would trigger elections.
To avoid that scenario, many legislators expect the Greens to abstain from the vote.
German Chancellor Scholz to ask parliament to clear way for new elections
https://arab.news/nbxyy
German Chancellor Scholz to ask parliament to clear way for new elections
- Lost confidence vote opens path to snap elections
- Scholz hopes to be acting chancellor until new government formed
Violent Togo protest crackdown must be investigated: Amnesty
At least six people are still reported missing after the protests, said Amnesty
ABIDJAN: Amnesty International called Thursday for an independent investigation into allegations that Togo’s security forces killed, tortured and kidnapped people in a violent crackdown on anti-government protests last month.
Ruled for 58 years by leader Faure Gnassingbe and his late father, Togo has been rocked in recent weeks by rare protests in the capital, Lome, against electricity price hikes, arrests of government critics and a constitutional reform consolidating Gnassingbe’s grip on power.
At least seven people have been killed, dozens wounded and more than 60 arrested, according to civil society groups.
Amnesty International said it had interviewed victims and witnesses who described a series of abuses by security forces at banned protests in late June.
According to witnesses, “men identified as security forces carried out unlawful killings, arbitrary arrests and detentions, acts of torture and other ill-treatment, and several cases of abduction,” said Marceau Sivieude, the rights group’s interim director for west and central Africa.
“These cases must be independently and transparently investigated as a matter of urgency,” he said in a statement.
At least six people are still reported missing after the protests, said Amnesty, which also condemned the alleged torture of protesters at another series of demonstrations in early June against Gnassingbe, 59, who took power in 2005 after the death of his father.
Authorities said Sunday that two bodies found in a lagoon after the protests were victims of drownings.
A lawyer for victims, Darius Atsoo, told the rights group the number of people detained in connection with the protests was unknown.
As of Monday, at least 31 were still in custody, he said.
Republicans muscle Trump’s sweeping tax-cut and spending bill through Congress
- Republicans overcome internal divides to pass massive tax-cut and spending bill
- Bill to add $3.4 trillion to US debt over a decade
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump’s tax-cut package cleared its final hurdle in the US Congress on Thursday, as the Republican-controlled House of Representatives narrowly approved the massive bill and sent it to him to sign into law.
The 218-214 vote amounts to a significant victory for the Republican president that will fund his immigration crackdown, make his 2017 tax cuts permanent and deliver new tax breaks that he promised during his 2024 campaign.
It also cuts health and food safety net programs and zeroes out dozens of green energy incentives. It would add $3.4 trillion to the nation’s $36.2 trillion debt, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
Despite concerns within Trump’s party over the 869-page bill’s price tag and its hit to health care programs, in the end just two of the House’s 220 Republicans voting against it, following an overnight standoff. The bill has already cleared the Republican-controlled Senate by the narrowest possible margin.
The White House said Trump will sign it into law at 5 p.m. ET (2100 GMT) on Friday, the July 4 Independence Day holiday.
Republicans said the legislation will lower taxes for Americans across the income spectrum and spur economic growth.
“This is jet fuel for the economy, and all boats are going to rise,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said.
Every Democrat in Congress voted against it, blasting the bill as a giveaway to the wealthy that would leave millions uninsured.
“The focus of this bill, the justification for all of the cuts that will hurt everyday Americans, is to provide massive tax breaks for billionaires,” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said in an eight-hour, 46-minute speech that was the longest in the chamber’s history.
Trump kept up the pressure throughout, cajoling and threatening lawmakers as he pressed them to finish the job.
“FOR REPUBLICANS, THIS SHOULD BE AN EASY YES VOTE. RIDICULOUS!!!” he wrote on social media.
Though roughly a dozen House Republicans threatened to vote against the bill, only two ended up doing so: Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, a centrist, and Thomas Massie of Kentucky, a conservative who said it did not cut spending enough.
Marathon weekend
Republicans raced to meet Trump’s July 4 deadline, working through last weekend and holding all-night debates in the House and the Senate. The bill passed the Senate on Tuesday in a 51-50 vote in that saw Vice President JD Vance cast the tiebreaking vote.
According to the CBO, the bill would lower tax revenues by $4.5 trillion over 10 years and cut spending by $1.1 trillion.
Those spending cuts largely come from Medicaid, the health program that covers 71 million low-income Americans. The bill would tighten enrollment standards, institute a work requirement and clamp down on a funding mechanism used by states to boost federal payments — changes that would leave nearly 12 million people uninsured, according to the CBO.
Republicans added $50 billion for rural health providers to address concerns that those cutbacks would force them out of business.
Nonpartisan analysts have found that the wealthiest Americans would see the biggest benefits from the bill, while lower-income people would effectively see their incomes drop as the safety-net cuts would outweigh their tax cuts.
The increased debt load created by the bill would also effectively transfer money from younger to older generations, analysts say. Ratings firm Moody’s downgraded US debt in May, citing the mounting debt, and some foreign investors say the bill is making US Treasury bonds less attractive.
The bill raises the US debt ceiling by $5 trillion, averting the prospect of a default in the short term. But some investors worry the debt overhang could curtail the economic stimulus in the bill and create a long-term risk of higher borrowing costs.
On the other side of the ledger, the bill staves off tax increases that were due to hit most Americans at the end of this year, when Trump’s 2017 individual and business tax cuts were due to expire. Those cuts are now made permanent, while tax breaks for parents and businesses are expanded.
The bill also sets up new tax breaks for tipped income, overtime pay, seniors and auto loans, fulfilling Trump campaign promises.
The final version of the bill includes more substantial tax cuts and more aggressive health care cuts than an initial version that passed the House in May.
During deliberations in the Senate, Republicans also dropped a provision that would have banned state-level regulations on artificial intelligence, and a “retaliatory tax” on foreign investment that had spurred alarm on Wall Street.
The bill is likely to feature prominently in the 2026 midterm elections, when Democrats hope to recapture at least one chamber of Congress. Republican leaders contend the bill’s tax breaks will goose the economy before then, and many of its benefit cuts are not scheduled to kick in until after that election. Opinion polls show many Americans are concerned about the bill’s cost and its effect on lower income people.
Russia becomes first country to recognize Taliban government of Afghanistan
Russia becomes first country to recognize Taliban government of Afghanistan
- Russian foreign ministry says Moscow will support Kabul in counterterrorism and combating drug crime
- The Taliban administration in Kabul calls it a ‘courageous step’ that will serve as an example for others
MOSCOW: Russia said on Thursday it had accepted the credentials of a new ambassador of Afghanistan, making it the first nation to recognize the Taliban government of the country.
In a statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Moscow saw good prospects to develop ties and would continue to support Kabul in security, counterterrorism and combating drug crime.
It also saw significant trade and economic opportunities, especially in energy, transport, agriculture and infrastructure.
“We believe that the act of official recognition of the government of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan will give impetus to the development of productive bilateral cooperation between our countries in various fields,” the ministry said.
Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said in a statement: “We value this courageous step taken by Russia, and, God willing, it will serve as an example for others as well.”
No other country has formally recognized the Taliban government that seized power in August 2021 as US-led forces staged a chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan after 20 years of war.
However, China, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan and Pakistan have all designated ambassadors to Kabul, in a step toward recognition.
The Russian move represents a major milestone for the Taliban administration as it seeks to ease its international isolation.
It is likely to be closely watched by Washington, which has frozen billions in Afghanistan’s central bank assets and enforced sanctions on some senior leaders in the Taliban that contributed to Afghanistan’s banking sector being largely cut off from the international financial system.
COMPLEX HISTORY
Russia has been gradually building relations with the Taliban, which President Vladimir Putin said last year was now an ally in fighting terrorism.
Since 2022, Afghanistan has imported gas, oil and wheat from Russia. The Taliban were outlawed by Russia as a terrorist movement in 2003, but the ban was lifted in April this year.
Russia sees a need to work with Kabul as it faces a major security threat from militant groups based in a string of countries from Afghanistan to the Middle East.
In March 2024, gunmen killed 149 people at a concert hall outside Moscow in an attack claimed by Daesh.
US officials said they had intelligence indicating it was the Afghan branch of the group that was responsible.
The Taliban say they are working to wipe out the presence of Daesh in Afghanistan.
Western diplomats say the Taliban’s path toward wider international recognition is blocked until they change course on women’s rights.
The Taliban have closed high schools and universities to girls and women and placed restrictions on their movement without a male guardian.
The administration in Kabul says it respects women’s rights in line with its strict interpretation of Islamic law.
Russia has a complex and bloodstained history in Afghanistan. Soviet troops invaded the country in December 1979 to prop up a Communist government, but became bogged down in a long war against mujahideen fighters armed by the United States.
Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev pulled his army out in 1989, by which time some 15,000 Soviet soldiers had been killed.
Stranded UK F-35 jet becomes unexpected star in Indian tourism campaign
NEW DELHI: India’s southern state of Kerala has found a unique ambassador to promote its coconut palm-lined beaches, backwaters and vibrant culture to tourists — a British F-35 fighter jet that has been stranded there since mid-June.
The Royal Navy aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing at the airport of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram on June 14 and has been grounded ever since, despite efforts to repair it. An AI-generated image of the stealth aircraft parked on the tarmac surrounded by coconut trees has gone viral after it was shared by Kerala’s Tourism Department on Wednesday.
“This was part of our tourism campaign. It has been one of the most innovative and eye-catching ones ... It’s all in good humor and creativity,” Biju K., Kerala’s tourism secretary, said.
In the viral social media post, originally created by entertainment website The Fauxy, the jet can be seen giving the state of Kerala five golden stars, calling it “an amazing place.”
“I don’t want to leave. Definitely recommend,” the image quotes the jet as saying.
“Though tourism is under the government, it has moved out of government space in promoting the destination,” said Roy Mathew, director of Stark Communications, the tourism department’s brand promotion agency.
Kerala is among India’s most popular tourist destinations, and markets itself with the tagline “God’s own country.” Last year, 22.2 million tourists visited the state.
It boasts natural beauty along India’s south-western coastline and a rich heritage of classical dances, temple festivals and vibrant cuisine.
The Indian Air Force said last month it would help in the repair and return of the F-35, which made an emergency landing on June 14 when it was flying over the Arabian Sea off Kerala’s coast.
A British High Commission spokesperson told Reuters the UK had accepted an offer to move the aircraft to the Maintenance Repair and Overhaul facility at the airport. The jet will be moved to the hangar once engineering teams arrive from the UK with specialist equipment, the spokesperson added.
The Royal Navy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
UK’s Minister for the Armed Forces Luke Pollard said in Parliament on Monday that a Royal Air Force crew were in Thiruvananthapuram and working with Indian counterparts.
