Worldcrunch
The Left (Die Linke) and the far-right AfD party scored big in Germany’s federal election on Sunday. But their success has less to do with the fact that they offer more or less radical alternatives to other parties than in their style of political discourse — and more moderate parties would be wise to learn a thing or two from this.
The multi-faceted Friedrich Merz promises to be a most indecipherable head of government. Only one thing’s for certain: He is willing to take risks. It comes with serious perils, but may be exactly what Germany (and the world) needs right now.
Having long been the driving force of the European Union, France and Germany are facing multiple crises simultaneously, threatening the balance of their relationship. It couldn’t have come at a worse time.
A shocking political assassination, a middle-eastern country gaining its independence, and the election of the most powerful woman of the 2000s.
Following the collapse of Germany’s governing traffic light coalition on Wednesday, Chancellor Olaf Scholz and former Finance Minister Christian Lindner are pointing fingers at each other — hardly a wise move as Donald Trump’s reelection sends a chill through democracies worldwide.
Olaf Scholz has refused to dissolve Germany’s parliament, even though his coalition suffered a major defeat at the European elections. The Chancellor’s weakened position comes at a bad time for Europe, where the union’s other major power, France, is also in a fragile state.
In Germany, support for the far-right AfD party is dwindling while its French counterpart, the Rassemblement National of Le Pen, is leading the polls. Opposed trajectories that stem from very different approaches: German radicalization vs. French “dédiabolization.”
Olaf Scholz took over for Angela Merkel a year ago, but for many he remains a mysterious figure through a series of tumultuous events, including his wavering on the war in Ukraine.
Having long articulated a strong pro-European stance, Emmanuel Macron’s reelection comes on the heels of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Angela Merkel’s departure. It is a clear opportunity for the French president to take a key leadership role in the world. How should he approach it?
Economic stagnation, a polarized society, politicians losing the plot – German citizens’ opinion of their country seems to be going downhill, and we’re warned that many are planning to emigrate. However, the facts paint a very different picture.
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The unusual public remarks by Germany’s First Husband comes as the country faces a new wave of COVID-19 infections and trails European neighbors in vaccination rates.
Approaching Angela Merkel’s final days in office, we take a look back at the major chapters in her reign as German Chancellor and an unlikely political icon on magazine covers around the world.
Germany’s anti-immigrant far-right party has so far been unable to benefit from the decline of the Merkel’s CDU party and find new voters.
How have 16 years of Chancellor Angela Merkel changed Germany? The Chancellor accompanied the country’s rise to near economic superpower status — and then progress stalled. On technology and beyond, Germany needs real reforms under Merkel’s successor.
The Syrian refugee crisis in 2015 ignited a bitter rivalry between Germany’s Angela Merkel and Austria’s Sebastian Kurz. Merkel was in favor of a “culture of welcome,” while Kurz argued for border protection. But with the current Afghan refugee crisis, the German leader is shifting course.
The German leader’s aloofness on the collapse of Afghanistan has surprised many. For the past few months, her government has taken the issue too lightly and failed to debate it properly. This could prove a big mistake in her last weeks as German chancellor.
Germany has made the airing out of closed spaces a centerpiece of its recommendations for limiting contagion. Others, including the CDC, are also touting the benefits.
Although the coronavirus pandemic is dominating global politics, Swedish environmentalist Greta Thunberg and her peers are hoping to turn their activism into tangible policy change.
Which leaders will be remembered from this moment in history? So asks Catherine Chatignoux.
German elections will see the results of a seismic change within the German political landscape, as Merkel’s moderate policies have opened space on the right for extremists.
Macron seemed to save the EU all on his own with his bold pro-European victory over Le Pen. But he needs Germany to make a stronger Europe a reality. And Angela Merkel has her own elections to worry about now.
After Brexit and Trump, Europe is forced to fight back. The precious Transatlantic Alliance may be at risk.
Viktor Orban is the only leader in the European Union who has benefited from the refugees crisis. But his ambitions know no boundaries.
British Prime Minister Theresa May is just the latest female world leader who’s not a mother. A hard look at a gender double standard that reaches all the way to the top.
Die Tageszeitung, Sept. 19 Another election, another humbling defeat for German Chancellor Angela Merkel. In a Berlin state vote, Merkel’s CDU party polled 17.6% — its lowest showing since 1990, figures from public broadcaster ARD showed on Monday. It’s the second poll drubbing as CDU got crushed just two weeks before in an eastern German […]
-OpEd- PARIS — In the northern German state of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, the far-right party Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) defeated Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union in local elections. In the United States, the Republicans chose Donald Trump as their candidate for the White House. The British voted for Brexit. Italians elected as mayors of Rome and […]
Beyond the Middle America stump speeches and coast-to-coast pancake breakfast stops, a U.S. presidential elections is also very much a global event. All the talk of the decline of the economic, political and cultural might of the American empire starts sounding a bit premature every four years, as November approaches. So this morning, it’s no […]
The weakening power of the “Mother of Europe” comes at a bad time for both Germany and the rest of the continent.
The crew here at Worldcrunch is busy scouring the best foreign-language journalism in search of untold local stories and points of view from different countries: like this German story from deep in Bavaria or a Chinese op-ed about China’s Olympic performance. Sometimes, though, it’s also useful to zoom back out, and weave together the whole […]
From Madame Gaga’s infamous meat dress to Chancellor Merkel’s boxy blazers, women are setting new standards in feminine fashion, whether men like it or not.
BERLIN — It’s been a year since German Chancellor Angela Merkel made a Palestinian refugee teen burst into tears live on national television. Reem Sahwil was 14 years old, and living on a temporary residence permit, when she was invited with others for a townhall-style public encounter with Merkel on July 15, 2015, in the […]
Die Tageszeitung, July 20th Monday’s gruesome axe attack on a commuter train in southern Germany left many unanswered questions on the Wednesday front page of German daily Die Tageszeitung, as evidenced by its enigmatic headline made of just four question marks. On Monday evening, a 17-year-old man armed with a knife and an axe wounded […]
Now that two of the world’s five biggest economies – Germany and Britain – are headed by women, and the biggest one of all, the U.S., has a woman front-runner in its presidential election, the glass ceiling in politics can probably be declared broken, and it’s time to consider what kind of change this brings to the world. The overall statistics of female leadership do not look particularly encouraging. There are fewer women heads of government today than there were last year. Not even 5% of government leaders are women. Yet they are winning where it matters: If there were […]
i, July 12 Tuesday’s edition of the British daily the i features new Conservative Party leader Theresa May, with the headline “May Day.” Outgoing Prime Minister David Cameron is expected to present his resignation to the Queen on Wednesday, which will make Theresa May will the UK’s new leader. On Monday, Andrea Leadsom, the final […]
PARIS — For more than three years now, the French startup Qwant has been trying to prove that a search engine can be efficient and profitable while respecting the privacy and anonymity of users. After a slow and difficult start, Qwant is finally taking off. Six months ago the search engine had 8 million visitors. […]
BERLIN — When exactly should the British leave? How should the European Union react? Following the initial horror at the UK vote in favor of Brexit, the search is now on, from Brussels to Berlin and beyond, to find practical solutions to pick up the pieces and set Europe on a new path forward. Here […]
“This has implications for absolutely everything,” political editor for BBC News Laura Kuenssberg declared of the prospect of Britain leaving the European Union. And now that Brexit camp has won, and the UK prepares to bid farewell to the EU, the parties and the gawkers have begun to gauge the fallout of ending the 43-year-long […]
The German Chancellor has made many mistakes: She has isolated Germany, inside Europe. But it is hardly her fault alone in a continent unable to see the stakes at hand.
MINSK — Belarus’s President Alexander Lukashenko has been dubbed “Europe’s Last Dictator,” and ties between Brussels and Minsk have been virtually frozen since a new series of sanctions were imposed in 2010. But now, it appears, Lukashenko and his country will be welcomed back into the continent’s fold as the European Union is set to […]