Dushanbe hosts key regional summits amid shifting geopolitical landscape
Dushanbe is preparing for one of its busiest diplomatic weeks in recent memory. From 8 to 12 October, the capital of Tajikistan will host two major in...
Friedrich Merz has been elected as Germany’s new chancellor after surviving a dramatic first-round defeat in parliament, raising fresh questions about the stability of his coalition and the far-right’s growing influence.
Friedrich Merz secured his position as Germany’s 10th postwar chancellor on Tuesday, winning 325 votes in a second-round ballot after a surprise failure in the first round earlier the same day.
Needing 316 votes to pass, Merz fell short with just 310 votes in round one — despite his coalition controlling 328 seats. The secret ballot left open the question of who defected. His second-round victory, however, ensured no constitutional crisis would follow.
Merz leads a coalition made up of his Christian Democratic Union, the Christian Social Union, and the Social Democrats, led by outgoing chancellor Olaf Scholz.
The vote, held on the eve of the 80th anniversary of Nazi Germany’s surrender, was seen as symbolic amid war in Ukraine and rising far-right support at home.
The conservative’s shaky first-round showing was seized upon by opposition leader Alice Weidel of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), who called it proof of a “weak foundation” and pushed for new elections.
AfD, now Germany’s largest opposition party, was excluded from coalition talks due to a longstanding political firewall against the far right. The party was recently classified as a “right-wing extremist” group by the domestic intelligence agency, prompting backlash from U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Germany’s Foreign Ministry defended the classification, insisting it remains within constitutional law. Merz has yet to comment on the decision.
The chancellor faces immediate pressure: to sustain support for Ukraine as Trump’s White House questions NATO commitments, to confront economic stagnation after two years of shrinkage, and to modernise a country increasingly divided over migration and globalisation.
Merz’s coalition promises tax cuts, economic stimulus, and tougher migration controls — while aiming to preserve European unity as Trump allies amplify voices from Germany’s far right.
Germany remains the EU’s largest economy and a major military spender, ranking fourth globally. It passed a €100 billion defence upgrade in 2022 and continues to support Kyiv with substantial military aid.
But with the far right rising and transatlantic tensions deepening, Merz’s narrow win may be just the beginning of a difficult term.
Video from the USGS (United States Geological Survey) showed on Friday (19 September) the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii erupting and spewing lava.
At least eight people have died and more than 90 others were injured following a catastrophic gas tanker explosion on a major highway in Mexico City’s Iztapalapa district on Wednesday, authorities confirmed.
At least 69 people have died and almost 150 injured following a powerful 6.9-magnitude earthquake off the coast of Cebu City in the central Visayas region of the Philippines, officials said, making it one of the country’s deadliest disasters this year.
A powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck off Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula on 13 September with no tsunami threat, coming just weeks after the region endured a devastating 8.8-magnitude quake — the strongest since 1952.
Authorities in California have identified the dismembered body discovered in a Tesla registered to singer D4vd as 15-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, who had been missing from Lake Elsinore since April 2024.
Germany will grant police the power to shoot down rogue drones like those that have disrupted airports across Europe and that some European leaders have attributed to a hybrid war being waged by Russia.
Czech Republic election winner ANO hopes to conclude negotiations with two small parties on forming a new government by the beginning of November, party leader Andrej Babis said on Wednesday (8 October).
Türkiye on Wednesday slammed an intervention by Israeli forces against a flotilla attempting to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza as an act of piracy and a violation of international law.
Caretaker French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu struck a cautiously optimistic tone on Wednesday (8 October), saying a deal could potentially be reached on the country's budget by year end, making the risk of a snap election more remote.
Four people have been confirmed dead after a six-storey building collapsed in central Madrid while being converted into a hotel, authorities said, following a 15-hour rescue effort involving drones and sniffer dogs.
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