Germany's second most powerful politician, Vice Chancellor Franz Muentefering, has announced that he will resign from office. His departure is likely to destabilize the already shaky power-sharing coalition between the country's two biggest parties.
The announcement that he would step down to care for his ailing wife, who he said last week had her fifth cancer operation, surprised the nation.
While Muentefering insisted in a news conference that the move was based entirely on "personal and private" motivations, he is leaving at a time of growing dysfunction in both the coalition led by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and his own party.
Muentefering helped form that coalition of traditional rivals of the center-left and center-right parties in negotiations after the close election two years ago. Since that time, he has often seemed like the glue that held it together, a stalwart of his left-wing Social Democratic Party but at the same time a confidant and trusted adviser to the conservative Merkel.
That has been an increasingly difficult balance to strike as Muentefering's party has shifted back toward its traditional base among voters on the left. That in turn has meant trying to roll back economic reforms made under the former chancellor -- and fellow Social Democrat -- Gerhard Schroeder, reforms that Muentefering helped enact and had recently tried to defend.
His departure will test Merkel's strength as a leader and consensus builder. While she remains very popular, with approval ratings hovering around 70 percent, her successes have only encouraged her coalition partners to differentiate themselves by challenging her policies that much more.
Following Muentefering's announcement on Tuesday, the Social Democrats swiftly named Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier as his replacement as vice chancellor. Olaf Scholz, a leading member of parliament from the party, will take over Muentefering's other post as labor and social affairs minister. In contrast to Muentefering, Steinmeier has been sharply critical of Merkel on foreign policy recently. He is considered a possible challenger for chancellor in future elections.
"There are situations in life which are more important than politics," Merkel said on German TV. "I wish Franz Muentefering and his wife all the best. It is a pity that we cannot continue to work together."
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
‘DELUSIONAL’: Targeting the families of Hamas’ leaders would not push the group to change its position or to give up its demands for Palestinians, Ismail Haniyeh said Israeli aircraft on Wednesday killed three sons of Hamas’ top political leader in the Gaza Strip, striking high-stakes targets at a time when Israel is holding delicate ceasefire negotiations with the militant group. Hamas said four of the leader’s grandchildren were also killed. Ismail Haniyeh’s sons are among the highest-profile figures to be killed in the war so far. Israel said they were Hamas operatives, and Haniyeh accused Israel of acting in “the spirit of revenge and murder.” The deaths threatened to strain the internationally mediated ceasefire talks, which appeared to gain steam in recent days even as the sides remain far
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of