A majority of the German population believes that Chancellor Angela Merkel will not see out the current parliamentary term that ends in 2021, in spite of ongoing talks to breathe new life into the grand coalition that has ruled for the past four years.
According to the poll conducted by the Infratest institute and published by the business daily Handelsblatt on Thursday, 56 per cent see Merkel departing early, should she be re-elected chancellor by the Bundestag.
Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU), along with their long-term allies, the Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU), are engaged in talks with the Social Democrats (SPD) to revive the coalition following the September elections, even though all three parties lost ground.
According to the report, 23 per cent of those polled in early January were critical of what they saw as indecisiveness on the part of the 63-year-old leader, who has been chancellor since 2005 and is currently serving in a caretaker capacity.
Merkel stands accused by many of those polled of sitting out problems rather than confronting them, but 20 per cent saw her calmness and composure as Merkel’s greatest asset.
Asked about possible successors to the CDU leader, 37 per cent put Interior Minister, Thomas de Maiziere in the lead, followed by Peter Altmaier, who heads the chancellor’s office, on 31 per cent.
The representative telephone poll of 1,012 eligible voters put Defence Minister, Ursula Leyen in third place on 28 per cent, and the Prime Minister of the western state of Saarland, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, in fourth on 24 per cent.
US President Donald Trump responded on Tuesday to criticism from German Chancellor Angela Merkel with a new attack on German trade tactics and defense spending.
Trump’s spokesman Sean Spicer insisted that the leaders “get on very well” but — as is often the case — his warm words from the White House podium were overshadowed by the president’s intemperate tweets.
When Trump returned over the weekend from the first foreign trip of his presidency, his aides hailed the tour as a success and a sign of renewed and bolder US leadership on the world stage.
But, while Trump received a warm welcome in Saudi Arabia and Israel, he left behind a bitter taste in Europe after the NATO summit in Brussels and the G7 get-together of the world’s richest powers in Sicily.
European leaders were especially dismayed by Trump’s refusal to reaffirm US support for last year’s Paris climate change accord and his failure to publicly endorse NATO’s mutual defense pledge.
Germany, until recently Washington’s closest partner in Europe, was particularly discomfited, and Merkel wasted no time in warning German voters that the United States can no longer be relied upon as before.
Trump’s response came in the early hours of Tuesday when he took to Twitter to once again demand that Germany renegotiate the terms of transatlantic trade and boost its defense spending.
“We have a MASSIVE trade deficit with Germany, plus they pay FAR LESS than they should on NATO & military,” Trump wrote, in his flamboyantly undiplomatic style. “Very bad for US. This will change.”
– ‘Trump was not aggressive’ –
German officials have repeatedly insisted that, as a member of the European Union, they cannot conduct bilateral trade talks with the US and that they are not ready to dramatically increase military spending.
In January, the White House accused Germany of exploiting an undervalued euro to boost its trade advantage, despite Berlin’s long opposition to the European Central Bank’s loose monetary policy.
And, even after he held a frosty meeting with Merkel in Washington in March and heard her explain Germany has no independent, non-EU trade policy, Trump continues to complain about Germany’s surplus.
According to the German weekly Der Spiegel, Trump told European officials in Brussels last week that “the Germans are bad, very bad.”
Spicer gamely tried to deny the report, insisting that European Commission chairman Jean-Claude Juncker had confirmed that “Trump was not aggressive on German trade surplus.”
But after Merkel and other senior German officials, who are campaigning ahead of September national elections in their own country, spent the weekend attacking Trump, the US leader returned to the theme.
Germany’s foreign minister launched a scathing criticism of Donald Trump on Monday, claiming the U.S. President’s actions have “weakened” the West and accusing the U.S. government of standing “against the interests of the European Union.”
Just 24 hours after German Chancellor Angela Merkel declared that Europe could no longer completely rely on traditional allies such as the U.S. and Britain, the country’s top diplomat, Sigmar Gabriel, went a step further.
Donald Trump and Angela Merkel: Managing U.S.-Germany relationship
“Anyone who accelerates climate change by weakening environmental protection, who sells more weapons in conflict zones and who does not want to politically resolve religious conflicts is putting peace in Europe at risk,” Gabriel said.
“The short-sighted policies of the American government stand against the interests of the European Union. The West has become smaller, at least it has become weaker.”
Germany and other European nations were unimpressed with Trump’s performance at both the NATO and G7 summits last week, where he refused to endorse NATO’s collective defense principle or the Paris climate agreement.
Speaking on the sidelines of the third Berlin roundtable discussion on refugees and migration, Gabriel called on Europe to stand up to the current U.S. administration and not shy away from offering criticism.
“The Trump administration wants to terminate climate agreements wants to enforce military action in crisis regions and won’t allow people from certain religious circles to enter the U.S.,” Gabriel added.
“If the Europeans are not resolutely opposing to this right now, the migration flow to Europe will continue to grow. Those who do not oppose this U.S. policy are guilty.”
French President Emmanuel Macron has said his clenched handshake with Donald Trump was “not innocent” and was a “moment of truth”.
The awkward encounter saw each grip the other’s hand so firmly that their knuckles turned white.
Mr Macron told French media he had wanted to “show he would not make small concessions, not even symbolic ones, but also not overdo things”.
The leaders met in Brussels on Thursday ahead of a NATO summit.
As their vigorous handshake continued over several seconds, Mr Macron and Mr Trump also looked each other fixedly in the eyes until the US president attempted to disengage.
Mr Macron told the Journal du Dimanche newspaper his approach to the encounter had been about getting respect.
“Donald Trump, the Turkish president or the Russian president see things in terms of power relationships, which doesn’t bother me,” he said.
“I don’t believe in diplomacy through public criticism but in my bilateral dialogues I don’t let anything pass. That is how you get respect.”
Mr Trump’s hand contact with foreign leaders has been closely scrutinised since he took power.
In January he held UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s hand as they walked together – Mrs May later said he was “being a gentleman”
He then yanked Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s hand towards him in one of his signature moves
But Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau prevented this by gripping Mr Trump’s shoulder during their encounter
And in March Mr Trump appeared simply to ignore the offer of a handshake from German Chancellor Angela Merkel
Europe can no longer “completely depend” on the US and UK following the election of President Trump and Brexit, German Chancellor Angela Merkel says.
German Chancellor, Angela Merkel
Mrs Merkel said she wanted friendly relations with both countries as well as Russia but Europe now had to “fight for its own destiny”.
It follows the G7’s failure to commit to the 2015 Paris climate deal, talks Mrs Merkel said were “very difficult”.
President Trump has said he will make a decision in the coming week.
“The times in which we could completely depend on others are on the way out. I’ve experienced that in the last few days,” Mrs Merkel told a crowd at an election rally in Munich, southern Germany.
The BBC’s Damien McGuinness, in Berlin, says the comments are a sign of growing assertiveness within the EU.
The relationship between Berlin and new French President Emmanuel Macron had to be a priority, Mrs Merkel said.
Earlier the German leader had described the “six against one” discussion about the Paris Accord during the G7 summit in Sicily as “very difficult, not to say very unsatisfactory”.
Mr Trump said he would abandon the Paris deal – the world’s first comprehensive climate agreement requiring countries to cut carbon emission – during his election campaign and has also expressed doubts about climate change.
Speaking in Brussels last week, Mr Trump also told Nato members to spend more money on defence and did not re-state his administration’s commitment to Nato’s mutual security guarantees.
BBC Defence and Diplomatic Correspondent Jonathan Marcus says the mere fact that this is even in question shows just how uneasy the relationship is between Mr Trump and the organisation of which his country is the leading member.
While in Belgium Mr Trump also reportedly described German trade practices as “bad, very bad”, complaining that Europe’s largest economy sells too many cars to the US.
The US president has described his visit to Europe as a “great success for America” with “big results”.
Polls in Germany say Mrs Merkel is on course to be re-elected for a fourth term as German chancellor at elections in September.
France President, Emmanuel Macron swerved to avoid the President of the United States, Donald Trump and embraced German Chancellor, Angela Merkel instead, in what seems to be Snub of the Year, in Brussels.
The newly elected French President tweeted the video of himself walking up the red carpet towards the group of NATO leaders, seemingly headed straight towards the US President. But at the last second President Macron ducks to the right and shares a warm embrace with Angela Merkel, leaving Trump to lower his hands awkwardly back down to his sides.
Macron then proceeds to greet other leaders including Trump, who grabs his French counterpart’s hand with a characteristic fiery action.
The not-so-subtle power play may be read as a show of support for Merkel, after Trump previously refused to shake hands with her when they first met, according to The Telegraph.
The incident also comes after Macron and Trump shared another power handshake on Thursday morning at the pair’s first face-to-face meeting in Brussels.
“Each president gripped the other’s hand with considerable intensity, their knuckles turning white and their jaws clenching and faces tightening,” according to a report by the White House correspondents’ pool.
Philip Rucker of the Washington Post said: “Trump tried twice to release and Macron held on tight… It was quite a handshake, two alphas.”
Trump is known for his habit of pumping people’s hands and then yanking them forcefully towards him in a gesture that psychologists believe is intended to demonstrate dominance. Quite literally, Trump likes to have the upper hand.
Macron, who at 39 is France’s youngest leader, may have been well-prepared for his American counterpart’s strong-arm handshake and simply held on tighter than Trump, 70.
President Donald Trump is never far from controversy; watch him shove fellow NATO leader, Dusko Markovic aside to take front spot in a photo shoot.
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II has responded to the suicide bomb attack at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, northern England that killed at least 22 people and injured around 59 on Monday evening.
In a statement published on the Royal Family’s official website, the Queen described the terrorist incident as a “dreadful event” and thanked the emergency services for the way in which they responded. Read the full statement below:
The whole nation has been shocked by the death and injury in Manchester last night of so many people, adults and children, who had just been enjoying a concert.
I know I speak for everyone in expressing my deepest sympathy to all who have been affected by this dreadful event and especially to the families and friends of those who have died or were injured.
I want to thank all the members of the emergency services, who have responded with such professionalism and care.
And I would like to express my admiration for the way the people of Manchester have responded, with humanity and compassion, to this act of barbarity.
The Queen is one of the many heads of state around the world to have weighed in following the tragic incident. Earlier today, U.S. President Donald Trump condemned the “evil losers” who attacked the city and German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Britons that “Germany stands by your side.”
Since entering office, President Donald Trump has used Twitter to issue declarations on everything from America’s geopolitical rivals to his personal feuds with the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger.
As Trump prepares to mark 100 days in office this weekend, AFP looks back at 10 Tweets that have characterized the opening phase of his presidency:
“We will follow two simple rules: BUY AMERICAN & HIRE AMERICAN” — setting out his governing mantra on January 20 after his inauguration.
“We must keep ‘evil’ out of our country!” — justifying his ban on travellers from a group of mainly Muslim countries, on February 3.
“What is our country coming to when a judge can halt a Homeland Security travel ban and anyone, even with bad intentions, can come into U.S.?” — reacting after the ban was subsequently blocked.
Friend or foe?
“North Korea is behaving very badly. They have been ‘playing’ the United States for years. China has done little to help!” — voicing frustration with both Pyongyang and Beijing over North Korea’s nuclear program on March 17.
“Why would I call China a currency manipulator when they are working with us on the North Korean problem? We will see what happens!” — Trump has an apparent change of heart towards Beijing on April 16.
“Germany owes vast sums of money to NATO & the United States must be paid more for the powerful, and very expensive, defense it provides to Germany!” — Trump takes aim at German leader Angela Merkel, a traditional US ally, after a frosty summit in Washington on March 18.
The other guy
“Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my ‘wires tapped’ in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!” – Trump accuses his predecessor Barack Obama on March 4 of wiretapping his Manhattan skyscraper during the elections.
“Don’t believe the main stream (fake news) media. The White House is running VERY WELL. I inherited a MESS and am in the process of fixing it” — defending his performance on February 18 after his first four weeks in office
Enemies of the people
“The FAKE NEWS media (@nytimes, @NBCNews, @ABC, @CBS, @CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!” — letting rip at some of the biggest names in the US media landscape on February 17.
Hasta la Vista
“Arnold Schwarzenegger isn’t voluntarily leaving the Apprentice, he was fired by his bad (pathetic) ratings, not by me. Sad end to great show” –– Trump reacts on March 4 to the departure of the “Terminator” star, an outspoken critic of the president and his successor as host of the former reality TV show.
Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man, founder and chair of Dangote Group, has been announced in the list of world’s most powerful people in 2016 by Forbes magazine.
Aliko Dangote, Founder and CEO of Dangote Group.
59 years old Dangote who emerged 71st world’s most powerful person in 2015, emerged 68th world’s most powerful person in the recent ranking alongside Russian President, Vladimir Putin; United States (US) President-elect, Donald Trump; German Chancellor, Angela Merkel and 71 other world’s most powerful people who made the list.
To compile the list, Forbes said they considered hundreds of candidates from various walks of life all around the globe, and measured their power along four dimensions: power over lots of people, financial resources controlled by each person, powerful in multiple spheres and active use of power.
Forbes said, “To calculate the final rankings, a panel of Forbes editors ranked all of our candidates in each of these four dimensions of power, and those individual rankings were averaged into a composite score,” adding that this year’s list, comprised of 74 world shakers and movers, “comes at a time of rapid and profound change, and represents our best guess about who will matter in the year to come”.
In 2015 Dangote Cement launched new plants in Cameroon, Ethiopia, Zambia and Tanzania. The company produces more than 30 million metric tons annually, and plans to double capacity by 2018.
Dangote, whose net worth is towering more than $12 billion as of December 15, 2016 according to Forbes, owns about 90% of publicly-traded Dangote Cement through a holding company; this percentage exceeds the 80% ownership ceiling set by the Nigerian Stock Exchange. A spokesman for Dangote told Forbes that the company has until October 2016 to lower Aliko Dangote’s stake and plans to do so by then.
Russian President, Vladimir Putin.
Other companies in the Dangote Group, which is active in 15 African countries, include publicly-traded salt, sugar and flour manufacturing companies.
Vladimir Putin is emerging the world’s most powerful person for the fourth consecutive year, with the German Chancellor clinching number one spot for world’s most powerful woman and world’s third most powerful person.
“Russia’s president has exerted his country’s influence in nearly every corner of the globe,” the US business magazine wrote, adding that “From the motherland to Syria to the US presidential elections, Putin continues to get what he wants”.
“In second place, President-elect Donald Trump has a seeming immunity to scandal, both houses of Congress on his side, and a personal net worth in the billions.
“And the third most powerful person in the world also happens to be the most powerful woman, Angela Merkel, the chancellor of Germany and the backbone of the European Union,” Forbes announced.
Forbes said there are new names on the list this year, including Theresa May, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (#13); Travis Kalanick, CEO of Uber (#64); Bob Iger, CEO of The Walt Disney Company (#67); Mike Pence, Vice President-Elect of the United States (#69), Rodrigo Duterte, President of the Philippines (#70); and Sheldon Adelson, CEO of Las Vegas Sands (#72).
“Any ranking of the world’s most powerful people is going to be subjective, so we don’t pretend ours is definitive,” Forbes said.
“So tell us what you think: Is the CEO of Facebook really more powerful than the CEO of Apple? Is the Prime Minister of Japan more powerful than the Prime Minister of Canada? Who did we miss? What did we get wrong? Join the conversation by commenting below,” Forbes demanded.
