For decades, Germany has stood squarely in Israel’s corner, its dark history of Jewish persecution shaping its modern-day policy of virtually unquestioned backing.

In the aftermath of the Hamas October 7, 2023, attacks, the question of German political and military support for Israel was raised – and reaffirmed by then-Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

But comments by new Chancellor Friedrich Merz in recent days have put Germany’s support for Israel under the spotlight.

“We are dismayed by the fate of the civilian population and the terrible suffering of the civilian population” in Gaza, the chancellor said on Tuesday while on a visit to Turku, Finland.

The question of what provoked Merz’s sharp change in tone toward Israel remains unclear. Peter Lintl, an analyst from the German Institute of International and Security Affairs who focuses on German-Israeli relations, believes Merz wanted to get into office, start conversations with Israeli leaders and get an understanding of the direction of travel before outlining his stance.

Merz followed his Tuesday comments by questioning the current actions of the Israel Defense Forces inside Gaza.

Referring to Israel’s expanded operations and the humanitarian crisis in the territory, the German chancellor said that he “no longer sees any logic as to how they serve the goal of fighting terror and freeing the hostages. In this respect, I take a very, very critical view of what has happened in the last few days.”

Tuesday’s language came hot on the heels of a thinly veiled threat from Merz in Berlin on Monday. “The Israeli government must not do anything that its best friends are no longer prepared to accept,” he said.

Merz has also done the previously unthinkable and questioned whether Israel may be violating international law.

National interest

The change of tone is particularly striking because of Germany’s long-standing stance on Israel, that is connected to a theory known as “staatsraison” or national interest.

The connection of staatsraison and Israel were made by then-Chancellor Angela Merkel in 2008.

She told the Israeli parliament, or Knesset, that the “historical responsibility of Germany is part of my country’s national interest (staatsraison). This means that, for me as German chancellor, Israel’s security is never negotiable.”

Similar words were also used by Scholz in the wake of the October 7 attacks in which Hamas militants killed more than 1,200 people in southern Israel and kidnapped some 250 others.

Since Merkel’s speech, and particularly after she stepped down as chancellor in 2021, “the term got a life of its own,” the analyst Lintl says.

“It appeared that if you want to be a respected politician, you have to use the term because it came to signal … that Israel’s security is German staatsraison. It is the minimum threshold we use to distance ourselves from the past,” Lintl says.

That “past” refers largely to the Holocaust in which the Nazis killed more than 6 million Jews.

In Finland on Tuesday, Merz was quick to reiterate he is not abandoning staatsraison entirely. “Israel’s security and existence are, as we have been saying for many years and decades, part of our German staatsraison,” but he has clearly set out to clarify it.

Lintl added: “We didn’t know how this government will conduct itself, or how this government policy toward Israel will look – right now we have more of an idea.”

It remains unclear if Merz and Germany’s relationship with Israel will shift significantly.

Merz has maintained he will continue to talk with Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu. Merz has also said he would find “ways and means” for Israel’s prime minister to visit Germany given the ICC (International Criminal Court) arrest warrant out for him.

For now, the statements from Israel seem muted, and respectful.

The Israeli Ambassador to Germany Ron Prosor told German TV Tuesday morning, “when somebody criticizes Israel, and when Friedrich Merz makes this criticism, we listen very carefully because he is a friend.”

Inke Kappler contributed reporting.

A quick shove. A split-second clip that would have dominated US news for days aired in France for just 24 hours and then it was gone.

When a viral video appeared over the weekend showing French President Emmanuel Macron’s wife, Brigitte, pushing his face just as he was about to deplane during a visit to Vietnam, not a single French newspaper front page featured it the next morning.

Was it because Prime Minister François Bayrou was speaking about the financial efforts the French would have to make under his soon-to-be-unveiled budget? Or that people were detained recently in a string of crypto kidnappings?

More likely, it highlighted a cultural divide between France and the Anglosphere – a long-standing French belief that politicians’ private lives should be protected.

This secret-keeping tradition kept President François Mitterrand’s illegitimate daughter hidden for years. It has also meant a delicate silence around other controversial personal lives, like Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s notorious womanizing.

The former International Monetary Fund chief’s arrest on sexual assault charges in New York in 2011 abruptly ended his political career just as he was emerging as a leading presidential contender.

The same unwritten rules surfaced in 2014, when Closer magazine published photos of former President François Hollande – disguised by a motorcycle helmet – arriving at the apartment of a friend, where he was reportedly meeting actress Julie Gayet.

At the time, Gayet was his girlfriend, even though he still had a live-in partner, Valérie Trierweiler.

The story caused a stir, but Hollande’s office condemned the “invasion of privacy,” and the media soon backed off.

At a press conference, Hollande faced only one question about his personal life and deflected it with the remark, “private affairs are dealt with in private,” silencing the throng of French journalists and leaving foreign reporters stunned.

So when the video of the Macrons began circulating, the initial media response was swift but short-lived. French outlets played the clip on loop, dissected it briefly, and moved on.

But that core rule is now being tested.

“Over time, these kinds of personal stories have become far more difficult to contain than they were 30 or even 20 years ago,” said Thierry Arnaud, an international correspondent and veteran journalist at BFMTV.

“It’s true we didn’t make a big deal of it, but it’s deeply embarrassing for Macron. You’re intruding on a couple’s intimate moment and it’s uncomfortable, both for him and for those watching.”

Macron’s relationship with Brigitte was always unconventional. They met when he was just 15, and she was his drama teacher at a private school in Amiens. She was 24 years older, married, and a mother of three.

What began as mentorship grew into something deeper, and by the time Macron graduated, he had vowed to one day marry her. “Whatever you do, I will marry you,” he reportedly told her as a teenager.

Their story was used as campaign material in 2017, they made a point of making their relationship public, posing in glossy French magazines and describing their marriage as a celebration of an atypical but loving modern family. Any critics were labeled misogynists.

“It was completely a badge of honor at first, a special kind of glamour that added to his (Macron’s) image of being daring both politically and personally. He fell in love with his teacher as a teenager and pursued it, come what may. Over time, that picture has eroded,” Arnaud said.

After the Vietnam shoving incident, the couple publicly displayed unity that very evening, walking hand in hand through the streets of Hanoi in a clear effort to quell any rumors of domestic discord.

But the line between public and private is blurring. Traditionally, the Élysée Palace has maintained a strict policy of never commenting on rumors or politicians’ personal lives. However, with the rise of social media and disinformation campaigns they are being dragged into these personal controversies, challenging that long-held stance.

In March, conservative commentator Candace Owens revived an absurd conspiracy theory with a YouTube video titled “Is France’s First Lady a Man?”

Promoted widely on X, Owens called it “likely the biggest scandal in political history.” Since then, Owens has produced numerous videos about Brigitte Macron for her 4 million YouTube subscribers, including a multi-part series called Becoming Brigitte.

Although the claims are completely baseless and Brigitte Macron has successfully sued two French women for spreading them it has elicited a response from the president.

At a Paris event in March 2024, Macron addressed the rumor head-on saying that the worst part of being a president is having to deal with “the false information and fabricated stories.”

“People end up believing them, and it disrupts your life, even in your most private moments,” Macron said.

His words now feel prophetic, with the world speculating on a deeply intimate exchange we may never be let into.

A judge has stepped down from the criminal proceedings regarding the death of Argentine football legend Diego Armando Maradona.

An Argentine court had removed the judge, Julieta Makintach, after one of the defendants in the Maradona trial requested her disqualification due to a possible lack of impartiality and for allegedly authorizing the filming of a documentary during court hearings.

Makintach accepted the court’s disqualification.

In a previous hearing, she had stated that her brother is a partner at the production company mentioned in the case, but it had nothing to do with a potential documentary about Maradona.

Maradona, world-famous for scoring the goal that won Argentina the 1986 World Cup, died of heart failure in November 2020. Argentine prosecutors have accused eight medical staff of “simple homicide” in the footballer’s death.

The trial for seven of the eight defendants began in March, with the eighth due to be tried by jury after the initial proceedings finish. The charges carry a possible sentence of eight to 25 years in prison.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was diagnosed with labyrinthitis Monday after suffering from vertigo, hospital officials said.

The 79-year-old leftist leader has already returned to the country’s presidential residence, where he is resting.

The Sirio-Libanes Hospital said in a statement that Lula underwent imaging and blood tests, and its results came within normal limits. Labyrinthitis is an inflammation of the labyrinth in the inner ear, which is responsible for hearing and balance.

The health scare adds to Lula’s recent medical worries, which are also part of his allies’ concerns ahead of his likely bid for reelection next year.

The most serious is a fall he had in the bathroom of the presidential residence in Brasília on Oct. 19.

Almost two months later, he was transferred to São Paulo for surgery after suffering headaches caused by new a bleeding in his head.

He was discharged Dec. 15.

Hong Kong’s first locally born giant pandas have finally been named and introduced as Jia Jia and De De.

The names of the cubs, affectionately known as “Elder Sister” and “Little Brother,” were announced Tuesday in a ceremony at Ocean Park, the theme park housing them, their parents and two other giant pandas that arrived from mainland China last year.

The names were the winning suggestions from residents in a naming contest that drew more than 35,700 entries.

The Chinese character “Jia,” from the female cub’s name “Jia Jia,” carries a message of support and features an element of family and a sense of auspicious grace. The name embodies the prosperity of families and the nation and the happiness of the people, the park said.

The Chinese character “De,” from the male cub’s name, means to succeed, carrying the connotation that Hong Kong is successful in everything. De also has the same pronunciation as the Chinese character for virtue, the park said, suggesting giant pandas possess virtues cherished by Chinese people.

Ocean Park chairman Paulo Pong said they followed tradition by using Mandarin pronunciation for the pandas’ English names. He said “Jia” sounds like a word in the Cantonese term for elder sister, while “De De” sounds a bit like the Cantonese phrase for little brother. Cantonese is the mother language of many Hong Kongers.

“It’s a very positive pair of names,” he said. “We have to be a bit creative here with the names.”

The twins’ birth in August made their mother, Ying Ying, the world’s oldest first-time panda mom. Their popularity among residents, visitors and on social media raised hopes for a tourism boost in the city, where politicians touted the commercial opportunities as the “panda economy.”

Observers are watching whether housing six pandas helps the park revive its business, especially when caring for the animals in captivity is expensive. Ocean Park recorded a deficit of 71.6 million Hong Kong dollars ($9.2 million) last financial year.

The park recorded a nearly 40% growth in visitor flow and 40% increase in overall income during a five-day holiday beginning May 1 in mainland China, said Pong, who hopes the growth momentum will continue through summer, Halloween and Christmas seasons.

Pandas are considered China’s unofficial national mascot. The country’s giant panda loan program with overseas zoos has long been seen as a tool of Beijing’s soft-power diplomacy.