Germany's economic and political difficulties are well documented going into snap elections on Feb. 23 that offer a chance for a fresh approach to tackling the challenges in Europe's dominant power. This piece shows where the main parties stack up on core issues including the economy, energy, debt, defense and migration that will determine whether Germany can climb out of its torpor. Clockwise from top left, German chancellor candidates Olaf Scholz (SPD), Alice Weidel (AfD), Robert Habeck (Greens) and Friedrich Merz (CDU/CSU). Source: AFP/Getty China's economic growth was exactly in line with the government's goal last year after an 11th-hour stimulus blitz and export boom turbocharged activity, although looming US tariffs threaten to take away a key driver of expansion. Gross domestic product expanded by 5% in the world's second-largest economy, official data showed today, after President Xi Jinping said on New Year's Eve that China was expected to meet the target. TikTok is poised to win a reprieve from a law that would ban the popular social-media app in the US from Sunday, thanks to a holiday weekend and a pledge from Trump's incoming administration to give its Chinese owner more time to divest. Two Biden administration officials said Monday's Martin Luther King Jr. federal holiday essentially leaves enforcement to the new president. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen's computer and those of two of her lieutenants were infiltrated and unclassified files were accessed as part of a broader breach of the agency by Chinese state-sponsored hackers, sources say. In the latest hack attributed to the government in Beijing, the attackers appeared to focus on Treasury's role in sanctions, intelligence and international affairs, but didn't penetrate the department's email or classified systems, according to a report we previously reviewed. Between the thicket of the Darien Gap on Panama's border with Colombia and the treacherous ganglands of Mexico, there's a stretch of Central America where the trek northward for migrants is normally done by bus, encouraged by governments that don't want them to linger. This represents a challenge for Trump, who needs the cooperation of other countries to achieve his goal of stopping the flow of undocumented immigration. Migrants cross illegally into Nicaragua from Costa Rica. Photographer: Glorianna Ximendaz/Bloomberg South Korean investigators sought a new warrant to extend for as long as 20 days the detention of impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol over his short-lived martial law declaration. Former central banker Mark Carney kicked off his bid to replace Justin Trudeau as both the head of Canada's Liberal Party and the country's prime minister, saying he has the experience to deal with Trump's return to the White House. Nigel Farage said Reform UK isn't anti-immigration and advocated a mixture of tax and spending cuts as he sought to put a more moderate face on his insurgent party. Kenya plans to reinforce policing of social media amid a vicious online onslaught chiefly targeting President William Ruto, as criticism mounts of government efforts to stifle dissent. Trade tensions between the US and China, the two biggest economies, are already heating up; the question now is how quickly things escalate once Trump takes office. Sign up for the Washington Edition newsletter for news from the US capital and watch Balance of Power at 1 and 5 p.m. ET weekdays on Bloomberg Television. |
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