Friedrich Merz
German leader faces tough time ahead after election defeats, but no sign of leadership challenge
BERLIN | German Chancellor Friedrich Merz stood by his vow to stay in office Monday after his party suffered two more regional election defeats and was voted out of a state legislature in a humiliating first. But he faces a struggle to keep his reform agenda intact. Minutes after polls closed on Sunday, the unpopular […]
Landslide victory for Germany’s far-right AfD in state election piles pressure on Chancellor Merz
BERLIN | German Chancellor Friedrich Merz was facing pressure Monday after the far-right Alternative Germany (AfD) party swept to a landslide victory in a regional election, possibly paving the way for the first right-wing populist state government since the Nazi era. AfD, classified by Germany’s domestic intelligence agency as an extremist group in some regions […]
Trump deepens the dustup with Italy’s Meloni, who says his ‘unprovoked attacks are senseless’
WASHINGTON | President Donald Trump on Saturday lashed out at Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, insisting that she asked “over and over” for a photo with him at the recent Group of Seven summit and criticizing what he said was Italy’s lack of cooperation during the Iran war. The remarks deepen the spat that began […]
G7 leaders back Trump’s plan to end Iran war that faces skepticism at home
EVIAN-LES-BAINS, France | Leaders at the Group of Seven summit on Wednesday threw their support behind U.S. President Donald Trump’s tentative agreement with Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz and further extend a shaky ceasefire — even though he’s offered scant specificity about how that would be implemented. In a declaration issued overnight, the […]
G7 allies scramble to put Ukraine back atop Trump’s agenda as war drags on
EVIAN-LES-BAINS, France | U.S. allies at the Group of Seven summit of major industrialized democracies worked Tuesday to push the war in Ukraine back up the agenda of President Donald Trump after more than four years of fighting sparked by Russia’s full-scale invasion. The Iran conflict has in recent weeks overshadowed Ukraine, but following his […]
European leaders voice ‘urgent need’ to bolster Ukraine’s defenses against ballistic missiles
LONDON | The leaders of the U.K., Ukraine, France and Germany discussed the “urgent need” to ramp up production of weapons to combat Russia’s powerful hypersonic Oreshnik ballistic missiles in a meeting in London on Sunday. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer hosted Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz […]