A firestorm of far-right fury ignited around Europe on Friday night after a driver crashed into festive revelers killing at least two people at a Christmas market in eastern Germany. Leading right-wing figures from Geert Wilders in the Netherlands to Nigel Farage in Britain to Marine Le Pen in France seized on the harrowing smash to push an anti-immigrant and anti-Islam agenda, as hard-right parties gather momentum around the continent. Beyond Europe, Elon Musk — the tech billionaire and key adviser to U.S. president-elect Donald Trump — weighed in with withering criticism of German authorities, urging Chancellor Olaf Scholz to…
Author: Giselle Ruhiyyih Ewing
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday, agreeing on the phone to work toward a “fair, just and sustainable peace” in Ukraine as soon as possible. According to German government spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit, Scholz and Trump “agreed that the Russian war against Ukraine had gone on for far too long and that it was important to get on the path to a fair, just and sustainable peace as soon as possible.” Hebestreit added that the Chancellor recommitted his support for the defense of Ukraine. The phone call happened while Scholz was in Brussels on Thursday for…
X owner Elon Musk took aim at the newly approved European Commission on Wednesday, calling the body “undemocratic,” the latest of a series of his public critiques of European Union institutions and policymaking. “The EU parliament should vote directly on matters, not give up authority to the EU commission,” Musk, a close adviser to United States President-elect Donald Trump, posted to social media after members of the European Parliament green-lit the new Commission cohort. But the Parliament does get the chance to vote directly on the European commissioners. Together with national government representatives in the EU Council, members of the…
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, a trained medical doctor, put her skills to use mid-flight on Wednesday after a passenger suffered an emergency during her return to Brussels from the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro. The Commission president stepped in to provide medical assistance to a passenger who “needed medical attention,” after airline staff called for help on a flight from Zurich to Brussels, Commission spokesperson Arianna Podesta confirmed. “As happens in these cases, the airline personnel onboard asked if any passenger had medical knowledge,” Podesta said. “The president therefore assisted the passenger in need until we…