United News of Bangladesh

Conservative and centre-left parties reached a deal to form a new German government on Wednesday after weeks of negotiations. The agreement paves the way for new leadership in Europe’s biggest economy after months of political drift. Friedrich Merz, the leader of the centre-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 3pm. (1300 GMT). Merz’s two-party Union bloc emerged as the strongest force from Germany’s election on February 23. Merz turned to the Social Democrats, Scholz’s center-left party, to put together a coalition with a parliamentary majority. 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. 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.” Iran’s president pledges no nuclear bomb, invites U.S. investment talks 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. The market turbulence caused by US 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. So have polls showing support for the Union slipping from its election showing and that of the far-right Alternative for Germany, which finished a strong second in February, gaining 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.

The German government agreed Tuesday to provide 58 billion euros ($68 billion) to help rebuild regions hit by devastating floods last month. Chancellor Angela Merkel and the heads of Germany’s 16 states approved the state flood aid package, which still needs parliament’s endorsement. “This is significantly more than we had for previous floods,” Merkel told reporters in Berlin. More than 180 people died in Germany and hundreds more were injured in the July 14-15 floods, which also claimed lives in neighboring Belgium. Heavy rainfall turned small streams into raging torrents, sweeping away houses, bridges and cars. A United Nations science panel released a report this week predicting that such extreme weather events will become more frequent as the planet heats up further. READ: 30-metre span of flood control dam collapses into Jamuna The cost of the German aid package — agreed just weeks before the country’s national election on Sept. 26 — will be shared evenly by the federal government and states, with the latter’s payments spread over 30 years. The two sides also agreed to establish a nationwide siren network and introduce a system that will allow authorities to send push messages to people’s cellphones to warn them of possible disasters. Prosecutors are investigating whether officials failed to adequately alert residents on the night of the floods. READ: Flood-affected people in Cox’s Bazar cry for food and drinking water The government will also examine the possibility of introducing a compulsory insurance for floods and other weather-related damages.

Thousands of people marched in Berlin on Sunday demanding that the government do more to help migrants stuck in Greece, many of whom have been made homeless since fires ravaged the country's largest refugee camp.