World
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2021
B7
mst.daydesk@gmail.com
Scholz sits as PM as Merkel era ends
B
ERLIN— Germany’s parliament will officially elect Olaf Scholz on Wednesday as the country’s next chancellor, bringing the curtain down on Angela Merkel’s 16-year reign and ushering in a new political era with the centre-left in charge.
Scholz led his Social Democrats to victory against Merkel’s conservative CDU-CSU bloc in an epochal election in September, as the veteran chancellor prepared to leave politics after four consecutive terms in office. Together with the Greens and the liberal Free Democrats, Scholz’s SPD managed in a far shorter time than ex-
pected to forge a coalition that aspires to make Germany greener and fairer. “I want the 20s to be a time of new beginnings,” Scholz told Die Zeit weekly, declaring an ambition to push forward “the biggest industrial modernization which will be capable of stopping climate change caused by mankind”. The center-left’s return to power in
Europe’s biggest economy could shift the balance on a continent still reeling from Brexit and with the other major player, France, heading into presidential elections in 2022. But even before it took office, Scholz’s “traffic-light” coalition—named after the three parties’ colors—was already given a baptism of fire in the form of a fierce fourth wave of the coronavirus pandemic. ‘No red lines’ With intensive care beds running out in some regions and a rampant rise in infection numbers showing no signs of abating, Scholz and his new team have been pressed—including by Merkel—to
agree new curbs even before they are sworn in by parliament. After Austria set the example and with Germany struggling to boost stagnating vaccination numbers, the parties also came under pressure to make an about-turn on a pledge made earlier in the pandemic not to make vaccinations compulsory. Scholz has since spoken out in favour of mandatory vaccination, saying he wanted MPs to vote on the issue before year’s end with a view of implementing it in February. “For my government, there are no red lines on what must be done. We’re ruling nothing out,” he told Die Zeit. “That’s not something we can do dur-
Putin to land in India with eye on ties
Gov’ts help arms firms avoid COVID slump: report STOCKHOLM—The world’s biggest weapons manufacturers largely avoided the economic downturn caused by COVID-19 and recorded a growth in profits last year for the sixth year in a row, according to a report published on Monday. Governments around the world have continued to buy arms during the pandemic and some also passed measures to help their big weapons firms, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). Overall, the 100 top weapons firms saw their profits rise by 1.3 percent on 2019 to a record $531 billion, despite the global economy contracting by more than three percent. “Military manufacturers were largely shielded by sustained government demand for military goods and services,” said SIPRI researcher Alexandra Marksteiner in the institute’s annual assessment of arms companies. “In much of the world, military spending grew and some governments even accelerated payments to the arms industry in order to mitigate the impact of the Covid-19 crisis.” The top five arms firms were all from the United States, LockheedMartin—which counts F-35 fighter jets and various types of missiles among its bestsellers—consolidating its first place with sales of $58.2 billion. Britain’s BAE Systems, in sixth position, was the highest-placed European firm, just ahead of three Chinese groups. “The rise of China as a major arms producer has been driven by its aim to become more self-reliant in weapons production and by the implementation of ambitious modernisation programmes,” the report said. AFP
France prexy bet hurt amid rally marred by brawl PARIS—French far-right presidential candidate Eric Zemmour was left lightly injured after being assaulted at his first campaign rally on Sunday where fighting also broke out during his speech in front of thousands of supporters. The 63-year-old author and television commentator suffered a wrist injury when a man grabbed him violently as he made his way towards the stage at a giant exhibition centre northeast of Paris on Sunday afternoon, an aide told AFP. The rally was his first official campaign event since his announcement on Tuesday that he would seek to unseat centrist President Emmanuel Macron in next April’s election. “The stakes are huge: if I win it will be the start of winning back the most beautiful country in the world,” Zemmour told the crowd in Villepinte which cheered his anti-immigration rhetoric loudly. Shortly after he started speaking, fighting broke out and chairs were thrown at activists who stood up with “No to Racism” written on their Tshirts. “We wanted to do a non-violent protest,” Aline Kremer from the group SOS Racisme, which organised the stunt, told AFP. “People jumped on them and started hitting them.” A crew from the popular but critical Quotidien nightly TV news show was also booed and briefly removed by security, with hostility to the media a feature of Zemmour’s and other speeches at the event. AFP
ing a huge natural disaster or a health catastrophe like a pandemic.” Balancing act Dubbed “the discreet” by left-leaning daily TAZ, Scholz, 63, is often described as austere or robotic. But he also has a reputation for being a meticulous workhorse. An experienced hand in government, Scholz was labor minister in Merkel’s first coalition from 2007 to 2009 before taking over as vice-chancellor and finance minister in 2015. Yet his three-party-alliance is the first such mix at the federal level, as the FDP is not a natural partner for the SPD or the Greens. AFP
BURIED ALIVE. Members of a search and rescue team dig for victims at the Sumberwuluh village on December 6 in Lumajang, Indonesia following a volcanic eruption from Mount Semeru that killed at least 14 people. AFP
Bob Dole—WWII hero, veteran US solon—dies at 98 WASHINGTON—Bob Dole, who battled back from being severely wounded in World War II to become a five-term US senator and the Republican Party’s 1996 presidential nominee, died on Sunday at the age of 98. As tributes poured in for the veteran politician, President Joe Biden paid respect to his “friend” and “an American statesman like few in our history” by ordering flags to fly at half-staff on federal grounds through Thursday. Dole died in his sleep early Sunday morning, according to the Elizabeth Dole Foundation, which is named after his wife. The longtime senator had disclosed in February that he was being treated for stage four lung cancer. “America has lost one of its heroes, our family has lost its rock,” his family said in a statement. “Our grief is soft-
In this file photo taken on October 16, 2007, former US Senator Bob Dole speaks in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, DC. AFP
ened by our gratitude for having shared in so vibrant a life.” Dole captured the Republican White House nomination on his third attempt in 1996, but went on to lose the race to Democrat Bill Clinton—20 years after losing the 1976 election as Gerald
Ford’s running mate. A conservative and fiercely partisan Republican who campaigned for reining in government, Dole also had a pragmatic streak and sponsored bipartisan legislation during his 35 years in Congress. He played a key role in the expansion of the food stamp program in the 1970s, the extension of the Voting Rights Act in 1982 and the adoption of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990. Dole was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest US civilian honor, by Clinton in 1997. Born July 22, 1923, Robert Joseph Dole grew up in the prairie town of Russell, Kansas, and presented himself as a plain-spoken, unpretentious man of action, rather than one of lofty ideals and soaring rhetoric. AFP
NEW DELHI—Russian President Vladimir Putin will arrive in India on Monday for just his second overseas trip since the pandemic, seeking to bolster military and energy ties with a traditional ally being courted by Washington. In its efforts to address a rising China, Washington has set up the QUAD security dialogue with India, Japan, and Australia, raising concerns in both Beijing and Moscow. India was close to the Soviet Union during the Cold War, a relationship that has endured, with New Delhi calling it a “special and privileged strategic partnership”. “The friendship between India and Russia has stood the test of time,” Modi told Putin at a virtual summit in September. “You have always been a great friend of India.” It is only the Russian leader’s second trip abroad since the coronavirus pandemic began—he skipped both the G20 and COP26 summits this year— after a June summit with US President Joe Biden in Geneva. “It’s hugely symbolic,” said Nandan Unnikrishnan from New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation think tank. “It’s indicative how they do not want the relationship to stagnate or slow down for want of something from the Russian side.” But Putin has to contend with complex regional dynamics, with tensions mounting between India and Russia’s traditional ally China following deadly clashes in a disputed Himalayan region. “Russia’s influence in the region is very limited,” said Tatiana Belousova of OP Jindal Global University in Haryana, “mostly because of its close ties with China and unwillingness to act in dissonance with the Chinese regional interests.” AFP
13 civilians killed by security forces in India’s northeast Nagaland state NEW DELHI—Indian security forces killed 13 civilians in the northeastern state of Nagaland after firing on a truck and later shooting at a crowd that gathered to protest the attack, police said Sunday. Troops shot dead six laborers returning to their homes on Saturday afternoon in Mon district, near the Myanmar border, after setting up an ambush for insurgents they believed were operating in the area. Family members and villagers later went looking for the missing men and confronted the troops after finding the bodies. “This is where a confrontation happened between the two sides, and the security personnel fired, killing seven more people,” Nagaland police officer Sandeep M. Tamgadge told AFP. Tamgadge said the situation in the district was “very tense right now”,
with nine other civilians wounded in the second incident being treated in local hospitals. The Indian army said in a statement one of its soldiers had died during the confrontation, with an unspecified number of troops wounded. It added soldiers were acting on “credible intelligence” that insurgents were operating in the area and had laid an ambush to intercept them. “The cause of the unfortunate loss of lives is being investigated at the highest level and appropriate action will be taken as per the course of law,” the statement said. Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio appealed for calm and announced an investigation into the event. “The unfortunate incident leading to killing of civilians at Oting, Mon is highly condemnable,” he said on Twitter. “Appeal for peace from all sections.” AFP
MATCHING THE SKY. Students from National Dong Hwa University paint a wall outside an air force base in Hualien, Taiwan on December 6. AFP
ROYAL PRESENCE. Japan’s Emperor Naruhito takes part in the opening ceremony of the Extraordinary Diet session in Tokyo on December 6. AFP
Media: Former FARC leader killed in Venezuela BOGOTA—A dissident former leader of the FARC guerrillas was shot dead in Venezuela by other rebels, Colombian media reported Sunday. Citing Colombian and Venezuelan intelligence sources, several newspapers said Hernan Dario Velasquez, nicknamed “El Paisa” (“The Peasant”), had been ambushed in the state of Apure, on the border with Colombia. Neither the Colombian nor the Venezuelan government have confirmed the reports. The Colombian military also told the media it had no knowledge of the reported killing. Feared during his years at the head of an elite armed team in the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), Velasquez moved away from the rebel group in 2018, two years after the signing of a peace deal with the Colombian government.
He was infamous for his armed attacks, including a car bombing that killed 36 people and wounded dozens of others in February 2003 in Bogota. Some 13,000 guerrillas have surrendered their arms since the signing of the peace pact in 2016, and the FARC has since transformed into a minority political party. Violence nevertheless persists in many regions of Colombia where FARC dissidents, more than 5,000 of whom rejected the deal, continue to fight paramilitary and rebel groups and drug traffickers in the world’s largest cocaine-producing country. Velasquez had been one of the accord negotiators. After leaving the FARC, he reappeared in 2019 alongside former FARC leaders Ivan Marquez and Jesus Santrich to announce he was taking up arms once more. AFP
