Primary election processes bring nothing
Negotiations with the USA are stuck
North Korea has been pushing its missile program for many years. The focus is on the development of ballistic missiles, which, depending on their design, could also be equipped with nuclear warheads. That is why tough international sanctions apply. The negotiations between North Korea and the USA on the North Korean nuclear weapons program have not made any progress for months.
The isolated country is also developing other weapon systems, including guided missiles. In May of last year, the country said it had tested multiple missile launcher systems as well as tactical guided weapons.
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North Korea last undertook missile tests for the fourth time that month at the end of March. The two missiles that were shot down were, according to estimates from South Korea and Japan, probably short-range ballistic missiles.
Sources used: dpa news agency–>
The North Korean military fired two test missiles into the sea. It is still unclear which projectiles are involved. Meanwhile, the nuclear negotiations with the US are slow.
According to the South Korean military, North Korea probably fired two short-range ballistic missiles in its most recent weapons test. That said a spokesman for the Ministry of Defense.
South Korea’s general staff had initially spoken of two unidentified projectiles that North Korea had fired towards the open sea on the same day. The bullets were fired at Wonsan on the east coast and flew about 240 kilometers. UN resolutions prohibit the self-proclaimed nuclear power North Korea from testing ballistic missiles, which, depending on their design, can also carry nuclear warheads.
"New strategic weapon"
It was the first gun test flight since North Korea’s ruler Kim Jong Un threatened late last year that the world would become one in the near future "new strategic weapon" experience his country. Kim had also stated that Pyongyang was no longer bound by its moratorium on tests of atomic bombs and ICBMs. The background to this is the faltering nuclear negotiations between the communist leadership and the USA. Since the failed summit of the two countries in Vietnam in February 2019, the talks have not made any progress.
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Most recently, North Korea fired rockets at the end of November, which, according to South Korea, emanated from a large multiple rocket launcher. Since then, North Korea initially refrained from further missile tests. In South Korea, it was speculated that the interruption could possibly have to do with the fact that Pyongyang is currently focusing on preventing the introduction of the Covid-19 pathogen.
Sources used: dpa news agency–>
Markus Söder thinks that the Union is concentrating too much on the AfD. The real competitor is the Greens, said the CSU boss. He calls on his party to deal with them.
CSU boss Markus Söder has asked the Union not only to deal with the AfD. "You can lose elections in the East, but above all you have to win them in the West"he said "World on Sunday". Anyone who does not get a majority in Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg and North Rhine-Westphalia cannot be a leading force in Germany. "We have to see clearly who is our challenger here.to kill a mockingbird debate topics Therefore: No one-sided fixation on the right wing! The main competitor for first place are the Greens. We need to focus more on them."
The Bavarian Prime Minister sees the Greens as the new left-wing people’s party. "Today it’s about green-red-red, not red-red-green. That is why we have to deal with them in a more targeted manner."
"Constant self-reflection" is the real problem
The problem with the grand coalition is not bad politics, "but the constant self-reflection"said Söder. It began with the dispute between the CDU and the CSU and continued through the SPD’s strife with itself and the entire ability to govern. "The key is not to speak badly about everything. If you only complain, you won’t get any visitors in the long run." The Union will only remain number one after 2021 if it succeeds in setting new accents and developing concepts without breaking with the successful past.
When asked whether Merkel would remain Chancellor until the end of the legislative period, Söder replied: "Clear. We mustn’t allow ourselves to be infected by the SPD. Social democracy has practically perfected the process of pulling itself down."
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A primary election of the next candidate for chancellor, which was being discussed in the CDU, was again rejected by Söder. "Primary election processes bring nothing. You can see that in the SPD." He himself has no interest in running for chancellor. "I will devote all my energy to Bavaria as Prime Minister."
Sources used: dpa news agency–> –>
The Federal Ministry of Transport had external consultants for public-private partnerships in road construction cost almost 20 million euros. The costs usually rise more strongly than in purely public projects.
Since 2009, the Federal Ministry of Transport has spent a total of 19.4 million euros on external consultants to implement road construction projects in controversial partnerships with private individuals. This emerges from a report request from Sven-Christian Kindler, the budgetary spokesman for the Greens in the Bundestag, exclusively available to t-online.de. Kindler concludes: "For large law firms and management consultants, the privatization of motorways promoted by Scheuer is a real cash cow."
Kindler throws the CSU Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer "Counseling madness" also against the background that the Federal Audit Office and the European Court of Auditors have clearly criticized public-private partnerships (PPP) in construction projects in the past. These projects are collaborations with a term of 30 years or more, in which private operators receive revenue from the truck toll in return for the planning, construction and maintenance of the highways.
Cost increase greater than for conventional projects
Kindler: "The state can do this better and cheaper. This is shown by all studies by the independent Federal Audit Office. Nevertheless, Transport Minister Scheuer will continue his privatization madness in 2020." The citizens paid the bill, "because PPP projects are uneconomical".
Only last week did it become known that the costs of twelve out of fifteen PPP projects were significantly higher than the estimated costs. In addition, the costs of the PPP projects increased even more than for conventionally built roads, where the framework is often not adhered to. The left parliamentary group leader Dietmar Bartsch therefore had "Management failure" criticized.
The Central Association of the German Construction Industry has long criticized the Autobahn PPP as expensive, ineffective and disadvantageous for domestic medium-sized businesses. The numbers that Kindler has now asked for bring to light how much resources the federal government is spending on realizing the questionable partnerships that banks and insurance companies make complex financial products possible.
Ten full-time positions for privatization projects
According to the ministry, employees in at least seven and at times almost ten full-time positions have been involved there since 2009 with nothing other than the preparation and support of PPP projects. But my own strength was not enough. The law firm Norton Rose Fulbright LLP alone has a contract for the legal implementation of PPP projects, which has a volume of around 2.8 million euros from 2017 to probably 2021, according to the answer to an older request from the Greens. Kindler criticized that Scheuer wanted "apparently emulating Frau von der Leyen in his counseling mania (…) This needs to end now.”
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Under pressure: Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer. Even with multi-million dollar external consultants, he failed with the car toll. The ministry also bought external expertise for controversial street privatizations. (Source: dpa)
Scheuer is currently under great pressure because of his approach to the car toll, in which the ministry had spent around 32.2 million on external consultants and experts until 2018. The CSU minister is accused of having allowed the cost of the toll to be artificially low in order to allegedly save the CSU prestige project in order to comply with the maximum limit of two billion euros set by the Bundestag. Scheuer had stuck to the toll despite considerable legal concerns, such as the Scientific Service of the Bundestag.
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After the European Court of Justice overturned them, the ministry set up a task force. To come to terms with the own affair, external consultants are again on duty, which have cost almost 700,000 euros since the summer. Kindler demands: "Transport Minister Scheuer should trust more in his own specialists and in-house expertise and less in expensive, private business consultants from outside."
Sources used: Own research European Court of Auditors: Public-private partnerships in the EU: Widespread deficits and limited advantages haz.de: Federal Court of Auditors reprimands Scheuer’s Autobahnplanspiegel.de: Private motorway projects – Left criticizes additional costs in the billions Reply of the Federal Government: Consultancy contracts with the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure Further sources less View sources–> –>
They are only in about a year from now, but are already causing a stir in Wuppertal: the local elections. Because the staff carousel is slowly picking up speed. Now the first personnel decision has apparently been made.
Lord Mayor Andreas Mucke has already made it clear that he will definitely stand for re-election for the local elections in Wuppertal, provided that his party will put him up again. Apparently, he no longer has to fear a certain opponent.
At the beginning of September, the President and Scientific Director of the Wuppertal Institute, Prof. Dr. Uwe Schneidewind acted as a potential green OB candidate. Compared to the so-called core alliance partner CDU, the Greens finally made it clear that "the realization of the common intention to nominate a mayor for Wuppertal could only succeed with Uwe Schneidewind."
Prof. Dr. Uwe Schneidewind: He was traded as an OB candidate. (Source: Wuppertal Institute)
But Wuppertal’s Christian Democrats do not play along: The district party executive of the CDU followed suit on Wednesday "a lively and constructive discussion" pronounced against Prof. Schneidewind as a common candidate.
CDU certifies Schneidewind "renowned personality"
There is no doubt about Uwe Schneidewind’s human integrity and it is also a good sign, "that renowned personalities are ready to be available for the difficult office of Lord Mayor." But on the part of the CDU members there were great concerns "that the CDU cannot be adequately represented in fundamental questions and issues", justified the CDU chairman Matthias Nocke the decision of his party.
Also coping with the task that "Group city" Some are very skeptical about converting it into a service provider for citizens and generally getting it back on a new course. "The CDU is not convinced that under the current conditions Uwe Schneidewind can succeed in bringing people of different lifestyles together across milieu", so the CDU.
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Schneidewind is confused
In an initial statement, Schneidewind regretted the decision as he "seen in such a constellation special potential for a political awakening in Wuppertal" have. He would also have liked to take part in the discussion. However, Prof. Schneidewind was irritated that he was a former president "a public organization with over 2,000 employees" like the University of Oldenburg and as the current managing director of the Wuppertal Institute" management strengths as well as the ability to bring people of different lifestyles together would be denied.