World
Conservative leader Friedrich Merz secures German government coalition after months of political drift
- Friedrich Merz of the CDU is expected to become the next chancellor, replacing Olaf Scholz after Germany’s center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and center-left Social Democrats agreed to form a coalition government.
- The coalition has already advanced plans for increased defense spending and infrastructure investment, marking a shift in CDU’s fiscal stance.
- The deal was hastened by international tensions, including U.S. tariffs and doubts about transatlantic alliances, as well as domestic political pressure from rising far-right support and economic stagnation in Germany.
Conservative and center-left parties reached a deal to form a new German government on Wednesday after weeks of negotiations, paving the way for new leadership in Europe’s biggest economy after months of political drift.
Friedrich Merz, the leader of the center-right Christian Democratic Union, is expected to become Germany’s next leader under the agreement, replacing outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz. The parties involved sent an invitation to a news conference on the coalition deal at 3 p.m. (1300 GMT).
Merz’s two-party Union bloc emerged as the strongest force from Germany’s election on Feb. 23. Merz turned to the Social Democrats, Scholz’s center-left party, to put together a coalition with a parliamentary majority.
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The wait isn’t quite over yet
It’s still going to be a little while before parliament can elect Merz as chancellor, perhaps in early May. Before that can happen, the coalition deal will need approval in a ballot of the Social Democrats’ membership and by a convention of Merz’s CDU.
Details of the agreement weren’t immediately available.
Friedrich Merz is expected to become Germany’s next leader after the center-right Christian Democratic Union and the center-left Social Democrats reached a deal to form a new German government. (Michael Kappeler/dpa via AP)
But already last month, the two sides pushed plans through parliament to enable higher defense spending by loosening strict rules on incurring debt and to set up a huge infrastructure fund that’s aimed at boosting the stagnant economy.
That was an about-turn for Merz, whose party had spoken out against running up new debt before the election without entirely closing the door to future changes to Germany’s self-imposed “debt brake.”
The election took place seven months earlier than planned after Scholz’s unpopular coalition collapsed in November, three years into a term that was increasingly marred by infighting and widespread discontent. Germany, the 27-nation European Union’s most populous member, has been in political limbo since then.
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Pressure from abroad and at home
The market turbulence caused by U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement of sweeping tariffs added to pressure for Merz’s Union and the Social Democrats to bring their coalition talks to a conclusion.
The tariffs threaten to add to the woes of an export-heavy economy that shrank for the past two years, and generating growth will be a central task for the new government.
Increasing doubts about U.S. commitment to European allies also played into the prospective coalition’s decision to enable heftier defense spending. Merz said last month that Germany and Europe must quickly strengthen their defense capability and that “‘whatever it takes’ must also go for our defense now.”
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Another factor in the haste to reach an agreement was a decline for the Union in the opinion polls, showing support slipping from its election showing, while the far-right Alternative for Germany, which finished a strong second in February, gained as the political vacuum persisted.
The prospective new coalition brings together what have been post-World War II Germany’s traditional big parties, but the Union’s election-winning performance in February was lackluster and the Social Democrats dropped to their worst postwar showing in a national parliamentary election.
Together, they have 328 seats in the 630-member lower house of parliament, the Bundestag.
World
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World
Landlords allegedly posting ‘Muslim-only’ apartment ads in violation of country’s equality act: report
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Some landlords in England are apparently advertising “Muslim-only” apartments online, according to a local media report.
An investigation by The Telegraph found that alleged listings posted in London on Facebook, Gumtree and Telegram feature phrases such as “only for Muslims,” “for 2 Muslim boys or 2 Muslim girls,” and “Muslims preferred.”
Other ads appeal to Punjabi and Gujarati speakers, while some job vacancies on the platforms are advertised for men only.
Some listings specify “Hindu only,” in addition to posts that likely use religious subtext by stating: “The house should be alcohol and smoke-free.”
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On Facebook, a company called Roshan Properties posted dozens of listings stating “prefer Muslim boy,” “one double room is available for Muslims,” and “suitable for Punjabi boy.” A Meta spokesman told Fox News Digital that Facebook then removed the company’s page “for violating the platform’s policies on discriminatory practices.”
Apartment buildings in Westminster, London, U.K. (John Keeble/Getty Images)
The ads run afoul of Britain’s Equality Act 2010, which prohibits discrimination based on religion or belief, race and other protected characteristics.
“These adverts are disgusting and anti-British. It goes without saying that there would be a national outrage if the tables were turned,” Robert Jenrick, Reform UK’s economic spokesman, told The Telegraph. “All forms of racism are unacceptable, and no religious group should get a special exemption to discriminate in this way.”
Houses and properties line Cheyne Walk in Chelsea, London, U.K. Some landlords in the city are illegally advertising for “Muslim only” tenants across the city, an investigation by The Telegraph has found. (Richard Baker/In Pictures via Getty Images)
One landlord told The Telegraph to “go away” when asked about an ad for a “Muslims only” room for $1,150, and whether it was available to renters of other faiths.
A spokesperson for Gumtree told the newspaper that the company has clear policies in place that prohibit unlawful discrimination.
On Facebook, a company called Roshan Properties posted dozens of listings stating “prefer Muslim boy,” (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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“We take reports of inappropriate listings very seriously,” the spokesperson said. “The ads referenced appear to relate to private rooms within shared homes, where existing occupants may express preferences about who they live with. This is different from renting out an entire property, which is subject to stricter rules under the Equality Act.”
Telegram did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
World
Is Europe too late to the metal recycling game?
Europe’s critical raw materials crisis has a partial answer sitting in the waste stream — but the continent has been too slow to see it.
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Dorota Włoch, CEO of Eneris Surowce, was direct: recycling is no longer optional.
Unlike plastics, metals can be recovered and reused indefinitely, making urban mining — the recovery of raw materials from existing products and waste — increasingly valuable, particularly for batteries.
“From recycling, we recover metallic aluminium and so-called black mass, which is a concentrate of metals, mainly cobalt-nickel. These are some of the most valuable battery metals. And batteries are crucial today, not only in the automotive sector, but also in storing energy from renewable sources such as wind and solar,” she said.
‘Europe is 25 years late’
Włoch put the scale of the problem plainly. “Deposits are critical — any machine can be bought, but natural resources are not. They are non-transferable and non-renewable. If we use them, they simply disappear,” she said.
Europe’s belated recognition of that reality has cost it dearly.
“The regulation of critical raw materials came 25 years after other regions of the world had invested heavily in deposits. Europe was too passive. Today we are catching up, but the regulations are often so demanding that countries like Poland have difficulty implementing them.”
Who benefits most from extraction?
Poland holds significant reserves of raw materials critical to the modern economy, such as copper, coking coal, nickel, platinum group metals, helium, rhenium, lead and silver.
But the minerals needed most for the energy transition, such as lithium, cobalt and graphite, exist only in limited quantities, forcing imports.
Arkadiusz Kustra, dean of the faculty of civil engineering and resource management at AGH University of Science and Technology in Kraków, told a panel at the European Economic Congress that awareness of the full supply chain, and who profits from it, was now essential.
He pointed to Serbia as a case study.
“Serbia has lithium deposits and is already in talks with Mercedes or Stellantis,” he said. Belgrade is using that leverage to attract investment in battery factories and car plants, keeping more of the value chain at home.
The goal, Kustra argued, should be regional supply chains that retain added value locally.
“You can earn the least at the beginning and the most from the end customer,” he said.
The bigger obstacle is Chinese dominance.
“Margins in critical raw materials largely go to the Chinese, who control more than 90% of processing and trading, even though they do not own most of the deposits,” he said.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo — among the world’s most resource-rich countries — Chinese entities control around 90% of deposits.
The panel also pointed to growing interest in new supply partnerships, with Poland eyeing assets in the Congo region and the Americas.
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