Author: EU News

The leadership bodies of the SPD as well as the CDU and CSU decide on the drafts of their election programs. The Green Party leadership presents its draft election program. Watch this and other news on WELT TV.© Axel Springer Germany GmbH. All rights reserved. Now live: After the vote of confidence – Germany in the election campaign – Video

Private health insurance will be up to 40 percent more expensive. Financial expert Dieter Homburg has been comparing premium developments for 25 years. These are his tips for you. Private health insurance: Who increases the premiums – and what you can do

  TikTok on Monday asked the US Supreme Court to temporarily block a federal law requiring its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to sell the platform or face a ban. The divest-or-ban law is set to go into effect on January 19 and could see the app banned from one of its biggest markets. President Joe Biden signed the law in April in a bid to address TikTok’s potential national security risks, including its ties to China. The US Justice Department said TikTok poses a national security threat because it has sensitive data about US users. TikTok argues law is unconstitutional TikTok has argued the new law would infringe on…

As Christmas 2024 approaches, Archbishop Luc Terlinden embodies a spirit of hope and renewal that resonates deeply with Belgium’s Catholic community. With a background rooted in humility and action, Terlinden’s reflections and leadership signal a transformative vision for the Church, steeped in mercy, inclusivity, and faith. A Leader of Renewal Appointed Archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels in 2023, Luc Terlinden was an unexpected yet welcomed choice, rising from a simple priesthood to the helm of Belgium’s Catholic Church. Guided by his motto, Fratelli tutti (“All brothers”), his ministry has focused on fostering fraternity, modernizing Church practices, and addressing societal challenges head-on. In…

  Donald Trump no longer dares to go to his golf club. Like many other Americans, he fears that unidentified drones are spying on the country. The current US government wants to allay concerns. What’s behind the alleged drone sightings on the US West Coast? The US government is weighing it down. The data and tips from concerned citizens are being checked as thoroughly as possible, said John Kirby, the communications director of the National Security Council. But the analyzes so far have shown that there was a “combination of legal commercial drones, hobby drones and law enforcement drones as…

Authorities in Wisconsin have released new details about the gun attack at a Christian school: Three people died, including the suspected shooter. It is said to be a 15-year-old. Following the shooting attack at a school in the US state of Wisconsin that left three people dead, police have named a 15-year-old student as the suspected perpetrator. “The shooter has now been identified as a 15-year-old,” Police Chief Shon Barnes said on Monday. “She was a student at the school and there are indications that she died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.” The other two fatalities are reportedly a teacher and a…

Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland announced Monday that she was quitting her job and resigning from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet. She said she differed with Trudeau over charting the best path forward for the country on questions of addressing US President-elect Donald Trump’s tariff threats against Canadian goods. “Our country today faces a grave challenge,” Freeland said in her resignation letter to Trudeau, pointing to Trump’s planned 25% tariffs on imports from Canada. “For the past number of weeks, you and I have found ourselves at odds about the best path forward for Canada,” she added. What caused Trudeau and Freeland to…

Tbilisi – During yesterday’s demonstrations at the parliament, some citizens have brought diplomas – to mark the fact that the “Georgian Dream” presidential candidate, ex-footballer Mikheil Kavelashvili, is just a puppet of the pro-Kremlin party and lacks the needed education to bear the title of “President of Georgia.” The protesters stated that the ongoing presidential elections in the Parliament of Georgia are an illegitimate process. Protesters marching to the Georgian Parliament from various locations in Tbilisi on Monday 16 December President Salome Zurabishvili has also arrived at Parliament, and police and special forces have been mobilized. Ministry of Internal Affairs personnel are…

On Monday afternoon the time had come it was due to be a hard but fair day for Olaf Scholz. Who asked the question of trust one he lost it emphatically, clearing the way for new elections in Germany. He took care of the first campaign images in the plenary hall of the German Bundestag. SPD parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich shook Scholz’s hand, SPD party leader Saskia Esken approached from the side. Scholz looked in her direction, then turned pointedly away from her and left the meeting room with Mützenich. Then Esken who was left behind just raised her…

The spokesperson for the Government of Extremadura, Victoria Bazaga, hopes that Vox will propose the partial amendments that it “needs” to the regional Budgets (PGEx) for 2025 and that these adjust “to the issues that can be made from the territory.” Thus, he has delved into the fact that the regional Executive hopes that Vox with its partial amendments “does not think more than about the territory” and about what the people of Extremadura are “waiting for”, which is, as he has indicated, that the community will “move forward with a good budget”. After recalling that, now that the period…

Five people were killed in a series of shootings in northern France, including near a migrant camp in Loon-Plage, close to Dunkirk. A 22-year-old man has surrendered to police and confessed to the attacks, according to French media.

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Chancellor Olaf Scholz faces a confidence vote in the German parliament on Monday that he is expected to lose.Defeat would pave the way for the European Union’s most populous member and biggest economy to hold an early election in February.Mr Scholz’s notoriously rancorous three-party government collapsed on November 6 when the chancellor fired his finance minister in a long-running dispute over how to revitalise Germany’s stagnant economy and the minister’s pro-business party quit the coalition.That left the remaining two centre-left partners without a majority in parliament.Leaders of several major parties agreed that a parliamentary election should be held on February…

It’s election season. After the SPD and the Union, the Greens are now also disseminating details of their election program to the public. One point: In the future, the Greens want to use the capital market, similar to the FDP, to stabilize the pension fund and slow down the increase in contributions.The health insurance companies should be relieved of the burden by financing non-insurance services more through taxes, so that the contribution increases for employers and insured persons are mitigated.Various media report on the draft election program; excerpts from it are also available to the dpa agency. What’s inside?Pension –…

SPD chancellors have already asked the vote of confidence twice to clear the way for new elections. In the parliamentary debates, the government and opposition showered each other with accusations. A look at the logs. Question of confidence in 1992 and 2005: “The most embarrassing election campaign opening this country has ever seen”

Broadly positive Chinese economic data for November released on Monday also showed slower-than-expected growth of 3.3% in retail sales, much slower than in October and well adrift of the 4.6% forecast.  The slowdown came as a surprise because Beijing has been working to boost stimulus programs and encourage consumption, as it braces for possible headwinds as Donald Trump returns for a second term as US president, threatening increased tariffs.  China had implemented major online shopping promotions and government-subsidized trade-in programs boosting sales in things like cars, which were expected to buoy growth. Markets in Shanghai and Hong Kong dipped as the news was…

Israel announced on Sunday it would shut its mission in the Irish capital because of what Israel’s Foreign Minister called ‘extreme anti-Israel policies.’ ADVERTISEMENTIreland’s Prime Minister Simon Harris has called Israel’s decision to close its embassy in Dublin “deeply regrettable” but said his government would not change its position on how the war in Gaza is being fought.Israel announced on Sunday it would shut its mission in the Irish capital because of what Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar called “extreme anti-Israel policies.””I will push back very strongly against any attempt by any country to misrepresent Ireland’s position. Ireland is not…

Historic moment in the Bundestag: Chancellor Scholz is asking the question of confidence today. The expected defeat clears the way to early elections at the end of February. Watch this and other news on WELT TV.© Axel Springer Germany GmbH. All rights reserved. Now live: Chancellor Scholz asks the question of confidence in the Bundestag – all developments – video

Many restaurateurs no longer want spontaneously set-up workstations in their restaurants. Two owners explain why they took action – and how guests react to bans. Offices in transition: Why café operators ban laptops

South Korea’s Constitutional Court said on Monday that it was holding its first meeting on President Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment case that same day, with all six of its judges participating. After parliament voted for the investigation on Saturday, it falls to the court to decide whether to remove Yoon from office or reinstate him.  Yoon is being investigated following his short-lived attempted imposition of martial law on December 3. Lawmakers voted this down within a matter of hours, even as military personnel tried to enter the National Assembly.  Yoon’s presidential powers are suspended pending the verdict. The court has up to six…

This photo plays with history: Markus Söder had himself photographed kneeling in Warsaw on Wednesday – almost like Willy Brandt once did. Shortly afterwards, the CSU boss posted a photo with a bratwurst. Politicians from the SPD and the Greens find this tasteless.CSU boss Markus Söder is clearly criticized for his kneeling in Warsaw. “This is one of the greatest bad tastes that I have experienced from a German politician in recent years,” said former Finance Minister Peer Steinbrück (SPD) on Sunday evening on the ARD program “Miosga”.A few days ago, Söder knelt in front of the monument to the…

The police found a weapon on the dining table and four bodies in the house: A teenager in the western United States apparently shot four family members. He then allowed himself to be arrested without resistance.

Rescue workers, including reinforcements hustled in from France, rushed to deal with widespread damage from Cyclone Chido on the French Indian Ocean island territory of Mayotte on Sunday. The territory’s prefect, Francois-Xavier Bieuville, warned on local media that the numbers of casualties seemed sure to be high. “I think there will certainly be several hundreds, maybe we will reach a thousand, even several thousands,” Bieuville said on local channel Mayotte La 1ere. Officials warned it could take time, or prove difficult, to ascertain how many had diedImage: Etat Major des Armées via AP/picture alliance The French Interior Ministry, meanwhile, warned “it will…