German lawmakers on Friday approved speeding up a 20 billion euros (US$18 billion) tax cut by a year and trimming jobless benefits in the battle to revive Europe's largest economy, giving German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder a boost as he seeks unpopular changes in the welfare state.
Schroeder, who left a EU summit a day early for the debate in parliament's lower house, said the result was evidence his squabbling center-left coalition "stands together when it comes to modernizing Germany."
"We need the ability to take action demonstrated here in order to give our country a good future," he told reporters.
In a tense buildup to Friday's vote, Schroeder softened some of the proposals to break dissent among left-wing defenders of the welfare state inside his Social Democratic party and secure his coalition's majority in parliament.
Schroeder launched the limited overhaul of cherished social programs in March with unemployment soaring, the economy in a third year of near-zero growth and his approval ratings in a slump.
Schroeder faces resistance in the opposition-dominated upper house, where his conservative foes have said they will seek changes to toughen the measures.
With its bill to move up the tax cut to Jan. 1 from 2005, the government aims to give the economy an immediate boost.
The lower house also approved measures to increase pressure on the unemployed to take jobs or risk a cut in benefits, changes designed to lower payments for the long-term jobless, and an overhaul of the government's nationwide network of job placement offices to cut bureaucracy and improve job placement.
All are meant to combat a jobless rate stuck above 10 percent, and Schroeder has staked his future as chancellor on winning final approval for the package by Christmas.
Economics and Labor Minister Wolfgang Clement told parliament he hoped the government's overall labor reform efforts would cut the number of jobless by as much as a fifth.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was