A New Yorker planned a sybaritic summer in a Turkish village by the sea, but didn't consider that she might have trouble fitting in.

JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu called a vote in parliament on his new government for Thursday Dec. 29, the speaker of the Knesset said on Monday, after almost two months of coalition wrangling.  Netanyahu's bloc of right-wing and religious parties won a clear victory in parliamentary elections last month, but the veteran leader has had a harder time than expected in finalizing deals with his partners.  Despite campaigning together, Netanyahu has struggled to meet the demands of his allies, who have demanded a significant slice of power in exchange for their support.   Ahead of the vote in parliament and a formal swearing in of the new government, Netanyahu will have to officially present the members of his cabinet.  Israel's longest serving prime minister has vowed to govern for all Israelis but he will head one of the most right-wing governments in the country's history with key ministries in the hands of hardliners.  Itamar Ben-Gvir, head of the Jewish Power party will have authority for police as security minister while Bezalel Smotrich's Religious Zionism party will have broad authority to allow the expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank.  Both oppose Palestinian statehood and support extending Israeli sovereignty into the West Bank, adding another obstacle to a two-state solution, the resolution backed by Palestinian leaders, the United States and European governments.  The finance ministry is expected to be shared by Smotrich and Aryeh Deri, from the religious Shas party, with each man serving for two years. Deri's appointment will depend on parliamentary support for a legal amendment allowing him to serve despite a conviction for tax fraud.  Liberal Israelis have also been alarmed by statements from a number of other members of coalition parties against gay rights and in favor of allowing some businesses to refuse services to people based on religious grounds.  President Isaac Herzog, the head of state who stands outside day-to-day politics, said on Sunday that any threat to the rights of Israeli citizens based on their identity or values would be counter to Israel's democratic and ethical traditions. 

Through his increasingly belligerent position toward Palestinians and Iran, Netanyahu has managed to incense the United States, Israel's one indispensable ally.

The British government has banned the stimulant khat, which will have consequences for Kenyan farmers who had been fetching inflated prices for the crop.

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Netsky said he thinks the Yiddish theater music in the archive files is particularly valuable because it was maligned by the classical composers as shund (trash) and neglected.

Moreover, the IDF said that it marked the start of Germany building the next submarine, the Dakar, which is due to be delivered sometime in the next decade.

Netanyahu urged Iranians to imagine their free lives without 'the tyrants of Tehran' in an unusual English message.

It is still unclear if Eliezer Feldstein, the PM's media team advisor suspected of leaking the documents, did so at the prime minister's orders.

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[The Conversation Africa] It's two years since Kenyan president William Ruto, in what seemed like a political gamble, rolled out a government-run microcredit scheme popularised as the Hustler Fund. Worth 50 billion shillings (US$409 million) a year over a five-year period, the low-interest loans were touted as the "magic formula" to start or grow micro, small and medium businesses. Now the fund faces an uncertain future owing to a high default rate. Eric Magale, who studies the complex relationship between finance, livelihoods and

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Bronisław Malinowski (1884 – 1942) did for several years conduct socio-anthropological research in the Trobriand Islands. Returning to England after World War I, he wrote several ground breaking books, among them Magic, Science, and Religion in which he assumed that people’s feelings and motives are crucial for understanding the way their society functions. Malinowski considered […]

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[Shabelle] Germany and Somalia are to cooperate on stepping up the deportation of migrants from the East African country.

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Wednesday will be mainly sunny in most areas with a chance of isolated afternoon rains, mainly in the mountains and in the south. Temperatures will rise to 25C inland and on the coasts and 14C in the higher mountains. Winds will be mainly south-to north-westerly, light to moderate, up to 4 Beaufort. The sea will […]

BERLIN: Germany is headed for snap elections on February 23, the main parties agreed on Tuesday, aiming to form a stable government after Chan­cellor Olaf Scholz’s three-party coalition collapsed last week.

The country’s two biggest parties agreed on the early timetable, which will see centre-left leader Scholz seek a vote of confidence on December 16, said the parliamentary leader of Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD), Rolf Muetzenich.

This would pave the way for the February vote in a compromise hammered out with the conservative opposition Christian Democrats (CDU) and their Bavarian allies CSU.

The agreement seeks to quickly restore political stability at a time when Europe’s biggest economy is set to shrink for a second year in a row and amid heightened geopolitical volatility, with wars raging in Ukraine and the Middle East.

As per agreement between two biggest parties, Chancellor Scholz will seek trust vote on Dec 16

The election date would mean Germany will be ruled by a lame-duck chancellor and stuck in the middle of its campaign period when Donald Trump is inaugurated as US president on January 20.

Embattled Scholz, who wants to run again despite poor poll ratings, initially suggested an election in late March but came under heavy pressure from all other parties to speed up the process.

The CDU is riding high in the polls and its leader Friedrich Merz had pushed strongly for an election as early as possible — a demand backed by two thirds of voters, according to a recent survey.

“We don’t have unlimited time to elect a new government in Germany, regardless of who leads it… because the world around us is not waiting,” Merz said on Tuesday.

“It’s not as if everyone is holding their breath and watching Germany in fascination, as decisions are taken in Europe, Asia and the United States.

“The world expects a Germany that is capable of taking action.”

Winter election campaign

The February 23 date would force politicians to run their campaigns in the dark and cold of winter, when voters will be less enthusiastic to flock to outdoor events than during the usual summer campaign seasons.

Scholz is expected to lose the confidence vote in the lower house of parliament, after which President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will have 21 days to dissolve the Bundestag.

Elections have to be held within 60 days of the dissolution.

Scholz took office in late 2021, taking over from the CDU’s Angela Merkel, in a three-way coalition with the left-leaning Greens and the liberal and pro-business Free Democrats (FDP).

But mounting differences over economic and fiscal policy came to a head last week when Scholz fired the rebellious FDP finance minister Christian Linder, prompting the small party to leave the government.

Since then, Scholz’s SPD and the Greens have carried on in a minority government that would need opposition support to pass any laws — something the CDU/CSU had rejected in the absence of clarity on an election date.

Future scenarios

Scholz’s coalition marked the first time a tripartite alliance has ruled at the federal level, and it may not be the last, given Germany’s increasingly fragmented political party landscape.

Fears about immigration have driven the rise of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. It is now polling at close to 20 per cent, but other parties have pledged to shun it as a coalition partner.

The latest polls put the centre-right CDU/CSU alliance firmly in the lead at 32pc.

To win a majority, however, the conservatives would likely need the future backing of the SPD, which is currently polling at 15.5pc, in a so-called grand coalition, plus a third party.

Contenders for that spot, according to current polling, would be either the FDP, with five percent support, or possibly the Greens, who are polling at 11pc.

Lindner, who has said he wants to be finance minister again, on Tuesday welcomed the date for new elections, saying:“Happily we now have clarity on this question.” He earlier said that he thought Merz “will almost certainly be the next chancellor of Ger­many. The only question is: Who will chancellor Merz govern with?”

Published in Dawn, November 13th, 2024

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A species of leaf chameleon newly named Brookesia nofy was discovered in a patch of coastal rainforest, a highly threatened habitat in Madagascar

Colossal, a US firm that is aiming to revive lost species such as the woolly mammoth, says it now has a near-complete genome of the extinct thylacine

Surrounding ourselves with greenery can do wonders for our physical and mental wellbeing. Kathy Willis reveals just what kinds of plants are best for our brains and bodies, and why

A new equation shows a surprisingly simple relationship between pressure and the temperature needed to melt any solid substance into a liquid

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A set of mathematical equations can help turn apparently random observations into a clock – and then measure its accuracy

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Alan Turing's theories about computation seem to have a startling consequence, placing hard limits on how fast or slow any physical process in the universe can grow

From a sea turtle and diver swimming in harmony in Malaysia to a red-eyed tree frog in its Costa Rican rainforest home, take a peek at some of the winning entries in one of the most prestigious photography competitions

Alan Turing's theories about computation seem to have a startling consequence, placing hard limits on how fast or slow any physical process in the universe can grow

Reaching net-zero emissions is essential for halting climate change - but even after we achieve this goal, parts of the planet will continue to warm. Delaying net zero will worsen these effects

An AI-assisted robot can listen to spoken commands and assemble 3D objects such as chairs and tables out of reusable building blocks

Rock art is a truly global phenomenon, with discoveries of cave paintings and etchings on every continent that ancient humans inhabited – but how many times was it invented over human history?

Ancient weaponsmiths combined bronze and iron to fashion swords during the early Iron Age – but modern forgers glue together elements from different weapons, making it difficult for researchers to study the ancient technology

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