Politics

Friedrich Merz visited Paris and Warsaw, a day after the German Bundestag officially voted to approve him as Germany’s new chancellor. It took two rounds of votes among MPs to confirm Mr Merz in the job, a setback that may dent his authority. He is the first person in the country’s modern era not to attain the support needed to become chancellor in the first round, underlining the tensions in his coalition of Christian Democrats and Social Democrats.

Raining on his parade

Ukraine launched a big drone attack on Russia, which caused Moscow’s four airports to close temporarily. The attack came shortly before a smattering of world leaders arrived in Russia to attend Vladimir Putin’s military parade to mark 80 years since the end of the second world war in Europe. Xi Jinping was “guest of honour”. China’s leader was starting a four-day visit to Russia, which includes talks with Mr Putin.

The European Commission laid out a road map to remove all imports of Russian oil, gas and nuclear energy from EU markets. The plan envisages stopping all imports of Russian gas by the end of 2027, with new contracts halted by the end of this year. Legislation will be introduced next month.

George Simion, a hard-right Eurosceptic, took 41% of the vote in the first round of Romania’s presidential election, well ahead of Nicusor Dan, the liberal mayor of Bucharest. They will contest a run-off on May 18th. Following the result Marcel Ciolacu resigned as prime minister and pulled his Social Democrats from the coalition, saying the government was no longer legitimate. The election is being held five months after December’s ballot was cancelled amid claims of Russian interference.

Israel’s cabinet announced that it would expand military operations in Gaza (some ministers demand that the entire strip be occupied). It also said that it would put in place a new way of distributing aid to the civilian population. Israel has kept Gaza under a total blockade since March 2nd and Israeli officials admit that food will run out in a matter of weeks. Israel plans to set up aid hubs with security provided by both Israeli troops and American mercenaries. Palestinians would travel to the hubs to collect food and basic items.

A missile fired by the Houthis, a rebel group in Yemen backed by Iran, struck close to the main airport in Tel Aviv. In response, Israel hit Houthi targets in Yemen that included the airport in Sana’a, the capital, and a port. But soon after, Donald Trump announced a deal with the Houthis in which America would stop bombing the group in return for a cessation of the rebels’ attacks on shipping in the Red Sea. The rebels have said that Israel is not covered by the ceasefire.

On a visit to France, Ahmed al-Sharaa, the president of Syria, confirmed that the country was holding indirect talks with Israel. Intelligence sources have said that the negotiations are focusing on security issues so far.

The government of Peru imposed a curfew in the province of Pataz following the murder of 13 mineworkers. The authorities say the men were killed by illegal miners and criminal gangs after they had tried to regain control of a mine.

Members of Venezuela’s political opposition managed to leave the country after spending more than a year holed up in the Argentine embassy in Caracas. America’s secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said that a “precise operation” had brought all of the five to United States’ soil. He condemned the regime of Nicolás Maduro, saying it had “violated human rights, and endangered our regional security”.

Fresh from his turnaround election victory, Canada’s prime minister, Mark Carney, visited Donald Trump in the White House. The president spoke warmly about Mr Carney in front of the press assembled in the Oval Office. Mr Carney reiterated his well-worn campaign message, telling Mr Trump that Canada “won’t be for sale, ever”, to which Mr Trump shrugged, “Never say never.” No new policies or agreements were announced. The pair are due to meet at the G7 summit in Alberta in June.

Mr Trump said that Stephen Miller, his deputy chief of staff, was a front-runner to be national security adviser. The president has sacked Mike Waltz, who accidentally added a journalist to a policy chat group, from the job and nominated him as ambassador to the UN. Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, is the national security adviser on an interim basis, the first person to hold both positions simultaneously since Henry Kissinger. Meanwhile, Pete Hegseth, the defence secretary, announced a streamlining of the military’s most senior officers, which may involve the merging of some operational commands.

Sudan’s government cut diplomatic ties with the United Arab Emirates. It said the country was a “state of aggression” that supplied strategic weapons to the Rapid Support Forces, the Sudanese army’s adversary in the civil war. This followed several days of drone strikes against Port Sudan, a city on the Red Sea that has become Sudan’s de facto capital since the war began.

Rwanda claimed it would sign a peace deal with the Democratic Republic of Congo next month, following consultations over an agreement between the two countries brokered by America. The details were yet to be worked out. Tensions between Congo and Rwanda have been high ever since M23, a rebel group backed by Rwanda, took control of swathes of eastern Congo earlier this year. Previous attempts at a peace deal have gone nowhere.

India struck back at Pakistan in retaliation for a terrorist attack in Indian-administered Kashmir that India claims had cross-border involvement from Pakistan. India carried out air strikes in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and deep inside Pakistan that it said targeted terrorist camps. Pakistan claimed that civilian areas had been hit and that it shot down five Indian military aircraft. It vowed to hit back at India. Other countries in the region appealed for calm.

Labor was re-elected to power with an increased majority in Australia’s general election, a stunning comeback for a party that was trailing in the opinion polls earlier this year. As with Canada there was a Trump effect; voters listed the turmoil of Donald Trump’s trade policies as a big concern. And again like Canada, the leader of the conservative opposition lost his seat in Parliament. After his victory Anthony Albanese, the prime minister, said he had a “warm and positive conversation” with the American president.

Ahead of a trade agreement with America over tariffs, Britain and India struck a trade deal that will slash export duties between the two countries. It is Britain’s biggest such pact since leaving the European Union. Bilateral trade with India is expected eventually to rise by £25.5bn ($34bn), or roughly 40% from 2024, but will add just £4.8bn to British GDP, or 0.1%, by 2040, according to the government.

End of the two-party system?

In Britain politicians from the governing Labour Party and the main opposition Conservative Party spent the week pondering just how they would tackle the rise of Reform UK. The populist party led by Nigel Farage came first in local elections held in mostly non-urban areas of England, taking control of ten councils and winning two mayoral contests. Reform also won a by-election for Parliament in Runcorn, hitherto one of Labour’s safest seats. It now leads national opinion polls.