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Extreme German dependence on Russian oil and gas that happened under the administration of Angela Merkel and the high oil prices today from a a lack of development of alternative renewable energy resources created the situation that provided the financing for Russia's war in Ukraine. This is now unwinding as the European Union and the US set a price cap of $60 for Russian oil. This cap will in future reflect the cost of production of oil in Russia among other factors, and the lower demand for fossil fuels as renewable energy production is accelerated quickly, and the inflation fighting efforts of the US central bank. Gradually the mechanisms and environment is being created for an end to the conflict in Ukraine.

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A decade of warnings were ignored by Geran regulatory agency BaFin about wrongdoings at Wirecard. The company went bankrupt after about $2 billion was missing in accounts that did not exist in the Philippines.This comes after the VW emissions cheating scandal, and the troubled Deutsche bank behaviours leading to fines, showing Germany's poor record in action against corporate wrongdoing. Germany's Ba Fin repeatedly played down the questions about wrongdoing, kicked the ball to other agencies, and delayed examining the Wirecard accounts, says this WSJ report. A parliamentary investigation is being called for by opposition parties. In January 2019 Financial Times reported fraud allegations at Wirecard Singapore, yet Angela Merkel supported its acquisition of a company in China in talks in 2019.

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What will the first days of Keir Starme be like after July 4, election day in Britain? On July 5 he will go to meet King Charles and address the British nation.  On July 5 and 6 he will appoint  top ranking ministers. On July 9  Tuesday he will go to the new parliament. This will be followed by meetings of NATO and in Europe. Rachel Reeves the first female chancellor, or minister of finance. 

Angela Raynor  as Deputy Prime Minister        David Lammy as Foreign Secretary.                   Wes Streeting  Health and Social Care.          Bridget Phillipson  Education

 

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German chancellor Angela Merkel took a lot of criticism during the height of the euro crisis in 2010-2012, but maintained her composure, sense of direction, and flexibility to a changing environment. She emerges from the leadership test more confident than ever during the 2013 elections for chancellor. Relations with Greece under president Samaras are also being mended after the riots in Athens during 2011-2012. She has also shown flexibility coupled with firmness in the setting of deficit targets for eurozone countries, and the courage to address issues of equity and fairness by calling for setting minimum wages industry by industry. On social and womens issues members of her cabinet have pushed for fairness. She will be remembered for her leadership, ability to learn from mistakes as time progressed during the eurozone crisis and taking firm action when needed, as the eurozone recovers from its financial crisis.

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As Chancellor Scholz sets anew direction for Germany reminiscent of the days of Adenauer and Brandt following the Berlin Airlift in 1948, two previous chancellors offer a stark contrast. Policies of Gerhard Schroder of the SDP and Angela Merkel of the CDU created some aspects of the situation where China and Russia are able to act in the manner they are acting today. Schroder made CDU policies under Merkel look acceptable even as they actually strengthened the position of both Russia and China in relation to the US. Both Schroder by joining the boards of Russian oil companies and Merkel with her policy towards China integrating German economy with China's, have created a situation where the American and European, Indian and other Asian, Latin American, African views of the free world are being challenged. 

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Britain faces the most acute housing crisis in living history says Angela Rayner, Secretary of Housing. The shortage of homes- 4 million. Private rents have jumped, eroding living standards and creating homelessness. Rayner has introduced a plan to build 370,000 homes a year. This is the first time in decades that this problem is being tackled on this scale, after Tories neglected to do much to address this problem. A similar situation of rising rents exists in the US putting 25% of apartment renters into a situation where over 50% of the household income goes to apartment rental. US president Biden has called for price increases for home rental to be limited to 5%, and Harris has plans for the government to help families where the rental exceeds 30% of household income.

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Patricia Kowsmann provides this picture of life in a town on Portugal's northern coast, Viana do Castelo, with a population of 87,000, as Portugal struggles to make a recovery. Viana do Castelo has shipyards and companies making metal bridges for highways. The money losing state owned shipyard was privatized and sold to Martifer SGPS SA to run till 2031. 600 workers at the shipyard were laid off. The new company plans to rehire 400 workers by 2016 but jobs will not be permanent. Companies making the bridges now sell to former Portuguese colonies of Angola, Mozambique, Brazil. 200,000 people have left the country to look for jobs or higer education, including the mayor's daughter in London. Exports are up and now make up 40% of Portugal's GDP, up from 27% in 2009. The economic growth is 0.9% in 2014, after declining 6% 2011-2013. Portugal accepted the last instalment of the bailout loan of 78 billion euros in 2014. It will auction 1.25 billion euros of bonds on July 22, 2015. Unemployment is now declining dropping to 14% from a high of 17%, and higher than the pre crisis level of 11%. Here in this coastal town the mayor Jose Maria Costa cut public employee salaries 15%, and also cut sports and cultural programs. Two food centers provide free lunch and dinner, and half of the 4000 children in school get subsidies for food and transport. A shipyard worker Antonio Gomes Barbosa 64, is one of the laid off workers. His son's architecture company closed and he left Portugal for Angola. Some of his co-workers now work at a shipyard in neighboring Spain....

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Three members of Angela Merkel's political bloc, the CDU and CSU, were made to step down after taking hundreds of thousands of euros from mask manufacturing companies with business before the government. New rules for CDU and CSU for ethics are drafted in a paper, "Strengthen Trust, Follow Rules, Sanction Infractions." Members of parliament are expected to act as role models in society. The mask scandal has angered Germans frustrated with poor performance in the vaccination drive. It hurt the CDU in 2 state elections with its vote dropping to 24-28%. Now the CDU will ask all candidates to swear to uphold the ethics rules before running for office.

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Exxon has increased spending on exploration and production projects to $37 billion per year through 2016, up from $20 billion in 2009, in an effort to reverse declining production. Exxon's 2012 production will be down 5.7% in 2012, compared to 2.9% decline for Chevron, 2.7% decline for BP, and 2.2% increase for Royal Dutch-Shell, according to UBS analysts. A number of new projects, from Indonesia and Papua New Guinea to the deep waters of Angola are planned to start in 2014. Canada is working on the Kearl oil sands processing facility to generate 170,000 barrels a day. The Kizomba project in offshore Angola will give Exxon 40,000 barrels a day. And the Banyu Urip offshore project in Indonesia 75,000 barrels a day as a 45% owner. Exxon estimates are that these and other projects could increase production by about 880,000 barrels a day, or 22% of current daily output after 2014. The cost of completing projects is going up. The Kearl oil sands project is now estimated to cost $19 billion, an increase of 21% from previous estimates....

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Africa's Harrison Mwillima looks at Geman reunification from an African perspective of regional integration, and says unity should be an everpresent endeavour. Visiting cities in East and West Germany organized by DW's Africa department he is struck by how much East Germans feel left behind. Merkel herself grew up in East Germany but like many young people in 1990 left for the west and seemed to forget the east where they came from. He remembers the time when people from Angola , Mozambique and other African countries studied at universities in the German Democratic Republic, former east Germany,  and the sense of socialist solidarity that aroused much enthusiasm.  Mwillima says a sense of unity can only go so far if there is a lingering sense of inequality  between the two parts. He sees a distinct hunger to achieve unity among regions and peoples or countries. Yet 31 years later in Germany its not only worth pursuing this ideal but remembering that it has to be done as a natural and ever growing endeavor that is not just an event. ...

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India is a major partner for Africa in the areas of energy and healthcare. India is a critical partner for Africa during the coronavirus pandemic in providing medical supplies and maintaining the critical supply chain. Indian oil and gas firms have invested $7 billion in Mozambique. India is Africa's third largest export market and India has $54 billion in investments in Africa. Foreign minister Jaishankar called India a reliable partner for Africa interested in developing the region. In fact Gandhi first started his nonviolent struggle in South Africa on behalf of miners in the region and fought for rights of African and Indian people in British South Africa. As a leading member of the British Commonwealth of nations India has a long history of ties with South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria, Ghana and other former parts of the British Empire. Indian workers and merchants played a large role in development in Africa after and during British rule. There are also older ties with Portuguese ruled Africa (Mozambique and Angola) with Portuguese settlements on the east coast of India. The Indian Ocean ties go back to the 15th century. ...

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A call from German chancellor Angela Merkel to the Greek president to hold a referendum on Greece's participation in the eurozone. Political parties in Greece denounced it as considering Greece a "protectorate" coming from the Syriza party, to calling it "unacceptable from the New Democracy party. Karel De Gucht, trade commissioner of the EU, and Olli Rehn commissioner of economic affairs, issue conflicting statements. Gucht says the EU and ECB are working on preparations for Greece's exit, and Rehn says that this in not the case, that Greece is staying in.

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Saudi Arabia needs current oil price of $60 a barrel to move up to $80 a barrel to balance its national budget. To do this OPEC needs to coordinate its oil production cuts with a group of 10 countries led by Russia that includes Mexico. These countries include countries in the former Soviet Union.  In December cuts of 1.2 million barrels a day were coordinated between the 2 groups to push up oil prices. Now the OPEC cartel plans regular meetings with the Russian led group to push up oil prices. Under a draft document an alliance between the 2 groups would last 3 years and include regular meetings. Earlier Prince Salman led Saudi government proposed replacing OPEC with a new group combining Russia and Saudi Arabia and the other countries in OPEC, yet giving most of the decision making power to Russia and Saudis. This was rejected by Russia and was received poorly by Iraq, Iran  Nigeria, Angola, Algeria. The Iraqis reminded Saudis that OPEC was started in Baghdad. ...

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The most striking aspect of the "Freedom" memoirs of Angela Merkel is the lack of regret. The lack of regret for leaving Germany hamstrung with overdependence on one country for oil and gas leaving Habeck of the Greens as Economy Minister little time to find alternatives for Russian oil and gas. The lack of regret for not investing in childcare, not investing in digitization of the German economy, not investing in transportation (Deutsche Bahn is late most of the time and the Frankfurt train station is a relic from the 20th century), not investing in renewable energy technologies such as EV's, not investing in infrastructure.

The worst part leaving Germany with hands tied unable to invest even modest sums of money because of a clause in the Constitution that limits deficit spending to 0.35% of GDP. A clause put in by Merkel in 2009 called Schuldenbremse or debt brake.

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A loss for the Christian Democrats and Angela Merkel in Hamburg. Coming regional elections in other states will determine the future of the ruling coalition.

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Only 1 year after getting 412 seats in parliament Labor party under Keir Starmer a public defender, and Angela Rayner is seen as having lost much of it's support in Britain. So have the Conservatives who fare even worse. Only the Liberal Democrats and SNP in Scotland hang on. Outlandish You.gov poll June 26 2025 shows Reform UK with 271 seats in British parliament, Labor at 178 seats, Conservatives 46 seats in hung parliament. Nigel Farage led the fight for Brexit, and voters are having second thoughts about the value of Brexit. On immigration Nigel Farage led the fight, both parties have failed to stop migration. On welfare cuts by Labor this could lead to it doing better than Conservatives, yet Farage taking a position to avoid harsh cuts gets him Labor support. Britain sees the two main parties ineffective in meeting cost of living goals for the British people. But does Reform UK have the answers, and has it been getting the scrutiny it should be getting? Is Kemi Badenoch the right leader for the Conservatives, and how popular is Keir Starmer, how good is his stewardship of the economy?  ...

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Public opinion in Germany now senses that politicians including Angela Merkel are reluctant to tell Germans that debt reduction has to be part of the solution for Greece, that some of the billions are lost and never coming back. They sense that Merkel and the Christian Democrats are waiting till after the elections in 2013 to bring this up directly. Even people on the street in Berlin know that Greece can never get back on its feet on the basis of spending cuts without debt reduction. The loan instalment approved in Nov. 2012 reflects the new approach of debt reduction but the German government is reluctant to talk about it. Opposition parliamentary leader Frank-Walter Steinmeier of the Social Democrats told ZDF German television: "The debt cut has not been avoided, it has been postponed to a time after the parliamentary elections. We are realistic and try to tell the people honestly and sincerely whats going on. Schauble and the present government try once more to finagle their way around the truth." Greece's debt has already reached 170% of GDP and can only go up as the economy shrinks further in year after year of recession. Norbert Barthle, a senior Christian Democrat, says if the debt reduction takes place today it sends the wrong signal to all the program countries, reducing the pressure for reforms and changes....

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The US Senate races in 2024. See if you can connect the names to the state in US where the contest is being decided November 5. Bob Casey Jon Tester Tammy Baldwin Angela Alsobrooks Jacky Rosen Ruben Gallego Colin Allred Which is the big upset race? Who are the Independent Senators who retired? Answers- Casey- Pennsylvania, Tester- Montana, Baldwin- Wisconsin, Alsobrooks-Maryland,  Rosen- Nevada, Gallego- Arizona Colin Allred- Texas The big upset US Senate race in Texas, Colin Allred to unseat Republican Ted Cruz. Independent Senators retiring Joe Manchin- West Virginia, Krysten Sinema-Arizona. With their support Biden passed the Inflation Reduction Act, other major legislation to invest in the renewal of America's infrastructure, American manufacturing,  CHIPS and Science.   ...

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The appreciation of the U.S. dollar and depreciating currencies in Africa in 2015 makes it costlier to import manufactured goods to African countries. Quality Supermarkets in Kampala, Uganda, struggles to fill its shelves with imported packaged foods and manufactured goods. The lack of financing for $30 million in crude supplies leads to the closure of a refinery in Lusaka, Zambia, and long lines at gas stations. The Zambian currency kwacha has depreciated by 17% against the U.S. dollar in 2015. Uganda's currency the shilling, Angola's currency the kwanza, and Nigeria's currency the Naira, all depreciated in 2015. This means larger trade deficits to finance consumer imports or upgrade infrastructure. In Uganda this means delays in upgrades to power lines and transformers. In oil producing countries such as Angola and Nigeria, and oil producers at the early stage such as Uganda and Ghana, there is a double whammy with lower oil prices leading to lower revenues to finance costlier imports. This is likely to slow growth in Africa from about 5% in recent years to 3.7%, according to Capital Economics forecast. Countries in Africa that import oil will see lower import bill for oil, but that benefit eroded by a depreciating currency. South Africa sees benefit of lower oil prices offset by lower revenues from commodity exports of iron ore, and the higher cost of imports with a depreciating currency. ...

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The centre right parties led by Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats lose their commanding position in the European parliament, with new EU elections in May 2019. The EU parliament's 705 seats are to be filled, and the party getting the most seats gets to name the president of the European Commission. The European People's Party which includes Merkel's CDU party has dominated the parliament for two decades, and secured the top posts for European Council and European Commission. Manfred Weber is the new lead candidate of the EPP. The EPP may have to join the Centre left Social Democrats or the pro market Liberals to form a new coalition.

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Friedrich Merz quit Black Rock investment firm recently to head back into politics of the CDU. During the years after 2000 Merz was eclipsed by Angela Merkel for leadership of the CDU. He is known for jobs he has done in the finance sector including privatization of state bank WestLB.

Another candidate for leadership is Peter Altmaier, a close associate of Merkel who has assisted her throughout her terms in office. He worked for the European Union before entering the Bundestag in 1994. 

Jens Spahn, 39 years old, is health minister and entered the Bundestag in 2002. He is also a top candidate for the CDU.

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German chancellor, Angela Merkel, speaking to the German parliament, the Bundestag, in Berlin, on December 2, 2011. She talked about the need for early agreement on changes in treaties that would place strict controls on budgets. Merkel said she sees the process of resolving the debt crisis as a long one, saying "this process will take years." At the same time she continued to emphasize the future of Germany in the European Union- "The future of the euro is inseparable from European unity. The journey before us is long and will be anything but easy. But I am convinced it is the right path. It is the right path to take to reach our common goal: a strong Germany in a strong European Union that will benefit the people in Germany, in Europe." Merkel compared the process to a marathon run, with efforts being particularly difficult at the 35 kilometre mark, making it helpful to know this at the beginning of the race. She ruled out common eurozone bonds as "unthinkable." Instead of agreements, Merkel expressed the need for "legally binding regulations," saying this was the time to "fix the mistakes of construction" by founders of the eurozone....

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German chancellor Merkel and France's president Hollande meet in Notre-Dame de Reims cathderal for a service that commemorates the 50th anniversary of a mass held at Reims cathedral. That Mass was held at Reims in May 1962 with the hope for a lasting reconciliation between Germany and France in a region affected by recurring wars, and was attended by Konrad Adenauer and Charles de Gaulle. The service in July 2012 brings together two leaders after tense discussions at eurozone summit meetings on the future of the eurozone and austerity measures. It is also a reminder of the deeper ties that bring the two countries together after a century of conflict, and the resilience in the face of difficulties shown by a previous generation of leaders in building these ties. It needs to be remembered that it was German chancellor Kohl, Angela Merkel's mentor, one of the postwar leaders who promoted European unity during the period of German reunificaton, who speeded up the agenda for the creating the eurozone and euro currency without the necessary underpinnings of deposit insurance and a eurozone financial regulator with powers to examine the books of European banks and exercize financial supervision. ...

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Sir Keir Starmer is elected leader of the Labour Party in Britain with 56% of the vote. Starmer 57 years old, is a human rights lawyer who was director of public prosecutions from 2008 to 2013, and elected Labour leader just 5 years after being elected to parliament. Angela Rayner, shadow education secretary won the deputy leadership race with 52% of the vote. 

The new shadow chancellor is the MP for Oxford East since 2017 Ms. Anneliese Dodds. She is a former academic and member of the European parliament. Jo Stevens the MP from Cardiff East is the new shadow foreign secretary. He resigned from the Corbyn team in 2017 to oppose Brexit.

Corbyn sceptics swept the elections to the National Executive Committee. Starmer supports EU freedom of movement to continue, public ownership of services such as post, rail and energy, and raising income tax on the top 5% of earners.