Category: Leaders

The former U.S. president suggests that the leader of the Republicans in the Senate should be removed. Mitch McConnell is being shown up by the Democrats.

If it were up to him, Mitch McConnell would have to go: Former U.S. President Donald Trump Photo: Evan Vucci/dpa

An open power struggle has broken out among US Republicans: Former President Donald Trump attacked his party’s powerful leader in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, with sharp words on Tuesday, suggesting his ouster. "The Republican Party can never be respected or strong again with political ‘leaders’ like Senator Mitch McConnell at its helm," Trump declared. "If Republican senators stand by him, they will never win again."

Do the Greens recently like the bomb? Statements by their chairwoman suggest so. On closer inspection, things look somewhat different.

In criticism from the left: Green Party leader Annalena Baerbock Photo: Kay Nietfeld/dpa

From the left, the Greens are under constant fire this week. On Monday, Green Party leader Annalena Baerbock outlined to the Suddeutsche Zeitung, just in time for the NATO foreign ministers’ summit, the broad outlines of a defense policy with which she would like to enter a federal government in 2021. The Left Party responded with dozens of press releases, tweets and posts in which it accused the Greens of warmongering, permanent rearmament or government lust.

Under protest from the opposition, the CDU and Greens in Hesse want to push a controversial package of laws through the state parliament this week.

No Trojan, just the Hessian state emblem animal Photo: dpa

Tumultuous scenes, mutual insults, reprimands from the presidium. After a turbulent debate in the state parliament on Tuesday evening, Hesse’s governing parties, the CDU and the Greens, cleared the way for the controversial package of laws that would allow Hesse’s state police to hack into smartphones and computers using state Trojans. In the future, the Hessian Office for the Protection of the Constitution will be allowed to spy on private homes, even without a court order if there is imminent danger.

After the resignation of Ralph Saxe, Hermann Kuhn is applying for the vacant position in the dual leadership of Bremen’s Green Party.

Even rhymes: Hermann Kuhn – wants to do it again Photo: dpa

Hermann Kuhn is doing it. "The gap created by the resignation of Ralph Saxe must be closed quickly," the 73-year-old politician announced to run for the vacant seat next to 25-year-old Alexandra Werwath in the dual leadership of the Bremen Green Party state association. "I see myself thereby as transitional solution", he specified.

In a symbolic act, dozens of members of the Bundestag stand behind the Turkish HDP. It is a declaration of war against Erdogan.

Solidarity from Germany no longer comes only from the streets, but also from the Bundestag Photo: dpa

With a clear announcement, dozens of members of the German Bundestag on Friday stood behind the members of the opposition party HDP who are being persecuted in Turkey. Parliamentarians from the SPD, the Left Party and the Greens said in Berlin this morning that 60 German members of the Bundestag had taken on so-called sponsorships for HDP deputies in recent days. This is likely to cause new tensions in the relationship between Germany and Turkey.

At the presentation of the new candidate for chancellor, Thomas Oppermann found clear words for Sigmar Gabriel – on the open stage.

Only a supporting role, but he fills it loudly and conspicuously: Thomas Oppermann (right) Photo: dpa

He has only a supporting role in the current intrigue of Germany’s Shakespearean party. But SPD parliamentary group leader Thomas Oppermann fills it loudly and conspicuously. Thus, in this memorable SPD week, memorable scenes occurred during the presentation of the new candidate for chancellor, Martin Schulz.

A street in Madrid remains dedicated to a right-wing militia. The members of the division had sued against a name change.

Madrid is struggling with its history. For a moment, the fascists have won Photo: dpa

Los CaIdos de la Division Azul" – "The Fallen of the Blue Division" – will continue to be the namesake of a street in Madrid. This has now been decided by a court in the Spanish capital. The 15,000-strong fascist volunteer force supported Hitler’s Wehrmacht against the Soviet Union. Although it was founded during the Franco dictatorship, "it operated outside our borders and did not serve to glorify the dictatorship," according to the judge’s ruling. Therefore, Madrid’s mayor Manuela Carmena is not allowed to remove the name. The relatives of those Spanish militiamen filed the complaint.

In Mali, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita enters his second term in office weakened as the winner of the presidential election. The country is becoming more unstable.

A country in high tension: Securing the vote count in Bamako Photo: reuters

It’s official: The victory of Ibrahim Boubacar Keita (IBK) in the presidential election in Mali has been confirmed by the Constitutional Court. With 67.17 percent, the 73-year-old will remain in office for another five years.

Despite the pandemic, the AfD wants to hold its party conference this weekend as an attendance meeting. Will the 600 delegates adhere to the hygiene rules?

Opposes the corona rules: the AfD parliamentary group in the Bundestag Photo: Fritz Engel/archiv agentur zenit

Wunderland Kalkar is a pretty special place. On the site of a nuclear power plant that never went into operation – the "fast breeder reactor" – on the Lower Rhine in North Rhine-Westphalia, a Dutch investor built a convention center complete with amusement park in the 1990s. Outside the cooling tower is now a climbing wall, inside a huge chain carousel. Both, like the amusement park as a whole, are currently closed for corona reasons; they are advertising a "drive-in Christmas market" in December.

After the botched election in May, Poles are to elect their head of state at the end of June. This vote is also not constitutional.

Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski collects signatures Photo: Kacper Pempel/reuters

"Back to start!" is the motto in Poland after the spectacularly failed presidential election in May 2020. Time is pressing, as President Andrzej Duda’s term ends on August 6. By then, a successor, or Duda again, should have been elected as the candidate of the national populist ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party.