Morning bird: Friedrich Merz will become the new German chancellor. 133 cardinals will start choosing a new pope tomorrow
Members of the Federal Parliament will today proceed to elect a new chancellor. It will be Friedrich Merz, who will thus lead the new German coalition government of the conservative union CDU/CSU and the Social Democrats (SPD). From tomorrow, 133 cardinals will elect a new pope. The quorum for election is 89 votes.
A new coalition will begin to govern in Germany
The German Bundestag will today elect the chairman of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) Friedrich Merz as the new Chancellor. He will replace Olaf Scholz, who took office in December 2021. Merz will lead the coalition government of the conservative union CDU/CSU and the Social Democrats (SPD). The Vice Chancellor and Minister of Finance will be the co-chair of the SPD Lars Klingbeil, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will be led by Johann Wadephul (CDU), Defence by Boris Pistorius (SPD), Interior by Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) and Economy by Katherina Reiche (CDU).
On Wednesday, Merz will embark on his first foreign visits: in Paris, he will meet with French President Emmanuel Macron, in Warsaw with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, reported the server Ceskenoviny.cz.
Preparations continue in the Vatican ahead of the conclave
All 133 cardinal electors are already in Rome, who from Wednesday will be choosing a new pope. People who come into contact with the cardinals during the conclave have sworn to maintain strict secrecy regarding the election. The quorum for the election of the pope is 89 votes, said the server Ceskenoviny.cz. The names of the favorites, who could take over the leadership of the Catholic Church after the late Francis, are not changing too much, however, some of the cardinals reportedly still do not have a clear regarding the election of the next pope.
Rwanda confirmed negotiations with the USA on accepting deported migrants
Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe confirmed that his country has begun negotiations on accepting immigrants deported from the United States, as reported by the television Al Jazeera. This happened less than a year after the United Kingdom wanted to organize a similar plan. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last week that he is looking for more countries that would accept immigrants who entered the US without papers and other persons without citizenship.
Armed men killed three policemen in Dagestan in southern Russia
Three policemen were killed and at least another four were injured after armed men opened fire on police in the southern Russian republic of Dagestan, regional authorities reported. The attack occurred in the capital city of Makhachkala, when police tried to stop a car. Two of the attackers were shot dead on the scene. Others escaped. There has been extensive searching for them. This Muslim region bordering the Caspian Sea has been the scene of a number of deadly attacks in recent years, noted Al Jazeera.
Sources: Ceskenoviny.cz, Al Jazeera
