EU Must Get 'Act Together': Fmr. Ambassador Ischinger on Germany, Ukraine, Trump
Former German Ambassador to the US Wolfgang Ischinger says the European Union "needs to get our act together," amid defense spending and migration concerns in the bloc ahead of the German election. Ischinger says Germany holding an election after "fundamental policy changes" by US President Trump is unfortunate. He hopes the next German Chancellor would join France in projecting a more united European voice to Donald Trump in the future. Ischinger spoke on "The Pulse with Francine Lacuqa" on Bloomberg TV on Feb. 21, 2025. (Source: Bloomberg)
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Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Senate Readies Tax Bill for Vote as Holdouts Threaten Delay
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Finessing a deal to line up the votes will require focus — and a bit of arm-twisting — from Trump, who is juggling both a pivotal week for his domestic agenda alongside a highly uncertain situation in Iran following the US strikes. Trump on Sunday, as US officials and foreign leaders were still digesting what the attacks on Iranian nuclear sites will mean for Middle East stability, urged members of his party to swiftly pass the tax bill. 'Great unity in the Republican Party, perhaps unity like we have never seen before. Now let's get the Great, Big, Beautiful Bill done. Our Country is doing GREAT,' Trump said on social media. Senate Republicans plan to begin the multi-step process to vote on Trump's tax and spending cut bill mid-week, setting up final passage in the latter half of the week or over the weekend. That timeline would allow the House to vote on the latest version next week and meet Trump's goal of enacting his signature bill by July 4. Meeting that ambitious deadline will require senators to quickly negotiate resolutions to a series of thorny policy issues that have divided Republicans for weeks. Senate Majority Leader John Thune must balance demands by fiscal conservatives for deeper spending cuts with qualms from moderate Republicans concerned the bill goes too far in making people ineligible for Medicaid and cutting funding for rural hospitals. Renewable energy incentives continue to divide the party as well, with some conservatives pushing for a faster phase-out of tax breaks for wind, solar, nuclear, geothermal and hydrogen. Other senators are angling to keep the breaks in place for projects that have already begun. Lisa Murkowski, a GOP holdout in the Senate, told MSNBC on Monday she would prefer to focus on good policy rather than meeting an 'arbitrary' deadline. Florida Republican Byron Donalds, a key Trump ally in the House, also suggested the July 4 date could slip. 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2 hours ago
Czech court cancels for second time ruling that acquits former Prime Minister Babiš of fraud charges
PRAGUE -- Prague's High Court canceled for the second time on Monday a lower court ruling that acquitted former Prime Minister Andrej Babiš of fraud charges in a $2 million case involving a European Union subsidy. The court returned the case for retrial to Prague's Municipal Court to deal with it, saying the lower court, which acquitted Babiš for the second time last year, did not properly assess evidence. Babiš had pleaded not guilty and repeatedly said the charges against him were politically motivated. The prosecution had originally requested a suspended sentence and a fine to be paid by the populist billionaire who left the courtroom before the verdict was announced. The municipal court acquitted Babis for the first time in 2023. Prague's High Court later canceled that decision and ordered the case to be retried at the same court. Babiš' former associate Jana Nagyová, who signed the subsidy request, will also face retrial. The case centered around a farm known as the Stork's Nest, which received EU subsidies after its ownership was transferred from the Babiš-owned Agrofert conglomerate of around 250 companies to Babis' family members. Later, Agrofert again took ownership of the farm. The subsidies were meant for medium- and small-sized businesses, which Agrofert wouldn't have been eligible for. The conglomerate later returned the subsidy. The lower court previously said what Babiš did was not considered criminal. Babi has become part of the country's opposition after his populist ANO (YES) centrist movement lost the 2021 parliamentary election. He also contended for the largely ceremonial post of president in January 2023 but lost to Petr Pavel, a retired army general. Monday's verdict comes just months before October's parliamentary election in which Babiš and his movement are predicted to win the vote.
New York Times
2 hours ago
- New York Times
Live Updates: Israel Pounds Tehran Amid Growing Calls for De-Escalation
Preparing bread in Gaza in April. Many bakeries were forced to close and flour supplies ran low after Israel imposed a blockade on food and fuel supplies that ended last month. Relations between Israel and the European Union have become even more fraught after the bloc found that Israel's actions in Gaza, including the blockade of aid to the enclave, may have violated human rights obligations. A review by the European Union's diplomatic service investigated whether Israel had violated a provision in a treaty that came into force in 2000 and underpins relations between the two sides. Critics of Israel have called for the bloc to suspend the treaty, accusing the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of violating the rights of Palestinians en masse. Israel has rejected the accusations. The review referred to a number of issues that could have constituted a breach of Israel's obligations. Those included Israeli restrictions of essential goods and food into Gaza, attacks that the report said had caused a 'significant number of casualties,' and military strikes on hospitals and medical facilities. Under the terms of the treaty, the European Union and Israel agreed that their relationship 'would be based on respect for human rights and democratic principles.' European Union member states are sharply divided on Israel, meaning that a major shift in policy may be hard to pass. But the report's conclusions underscored growing frustrations, including among some of Israel's closest allies, over the handling of the war in Gaza. Kaja Kallas, the European Union's foreign policy chief, was expected to present the findings of the review to a meeting of the bloc's foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday. The conclusions from the review were circulated among member states on Friday. Image A pharmacy at the Kuwait Hospital in Gaza City in April. Medicines were in short supply under the Israeli blockade. Credit... Saher Alghorra for The New York Times Israel strongly rejected the findings. The Israeli Foreign Ministry said in a response to the European Union, shared with The Times, that the review was 'a complete moral and methodological failure,' and pointed out that it 'opens with an admission that it lacks the ability to verify its own statements.' Israeli officials defended the restrictions on aid as security measures intended to prevent Hamas from smuggling weapons or diverting aid supplies. The United Nations and other international aid agencies have criticized some of the measures as a form of collective punishment, and they say that Israel has not provided evidence that Hamas systematically diverted international aid. The back-and-forth underscored how tense relations between the European Union and Israel have become. The situation has become more complicated after Israel launched a major assault on Iran last week, one that now involves the United States. Israel and the United States say the military attack was intended to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear bomb. Iran says that its nuclear program is for civilian purposes only, and has denied building a weapon. Image A body is carried out of a health clinic in Jabaliya, Gaza, on May 15. The European Union review cites attacks on hospitals as one issue of concern. Credit... Saher Alghorra for The New York Times E.U. officials have spoken about the conflict with Iran cautiously. Some have spoken more positively about the Israeli and American attacks, while others have held off. Many have urged a return to diplomacy to resolve the crisis. 'Everybody agrees that Iran should not have a nuclear weapon,' Ms. Kallas said on Monday as she headed into the foreign ministers' meeting, before explaining that officials would talk both about Iran and about the report on Israel. 'And then, of course, the discussion is, what more can we do?' Ms. Kallas said of the Israel review. Finding Israel in violation of its human rights obligations under its agreement with the European Union would be symbolically important, but it is not clear what it would mean in practical terms. Imposing sanctions, for instance, would require unanimity among member states — which is unlikely to be reached. The prime minister of Hungary, Viktor Orban, for example, is an ally of Mr. Netanyahu and would almost certainly not agree to impose restrictions on Israel. The review has also been overshadowed by events in Iran. Some European officials and diplomats have said that the conflict with Tehran should not distract from what is happening in Gaza, but the combination of events has left Brussels struggling to agree a unified stance toward Israel. Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, the European Union's executive arm, announced on Sunday that officials would hold a special meeting on Wednesday to discuss the 'escalating situation in the Middle East and its effects on Europe.'
