French prosecutors have filed charges against far-right leader Marine le Pen over a series of tweets showing gruesome executions by the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group.

A judicial source said Thursday that Le Pen was being investigated over suspicions of disseminating violent images.

The embarrassing tweets were posted in December 2015 and contained three graphic images of Daesh beheading American journalist James Foley.

The investigation comes as Le Pen prepares to present her plans for a restructuring of her National Front party in its annual congress next week. Le Pen lost to Emmanuel Macron during last year’s presidential election despite huge anticipations for her victory.

The probe is not expected to cost Le Pen her popularity among National Front loyalists although it could further affect her approval rating among the public.

Le Pen, who had described the investigation in its earlier stages as a “political interference,” said Thursday the probe was a sign the political establishment was trying to silence her.

“If they are trying to silence me, they will not succeed,” she said.

Le Pen and her party face other investigations into their financial conduct. In one case, the National Front is accused of paying parliamentary assistants from the European Union funds. There is also a probe into how the party has financed the past election campaigns.

Under the French judicial law, if a person is placed under formal investigation, like the one Le Pen is involved in over Daesh tweets, the person could be sent to trial. If Le Pen is convicted of the charges, she could face a maximum sentence of several years in jail and a 75,000 euro fine.

Source: Presstv

Germany’s Christian Social Union (CSU), the Bavarian sister party of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives, has called for new election if the members of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) say “No” to a new coalition with the conservative bloc.

The SPD’s 464,000 members are voting in a postal ballot on whether to approve a power-sharing deal with Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union of Germany party (CDU) and the CSU. The CDU/CSU bloc and the SPD have been coalition partners since 2013.

The result of the vote will be announced on Sunday.

Merkel was forced into coalition talks with the SPD after negotiations with two lesser-known parties failed last November following inconclusive general elections in September.

“If the second attempt at a government now fails, then we should have new elections,” the leader of the CSU, Horst Seehofer, told journalists in Munich on Wednesday, stressing that he was against a minority government.

Top officials from the CDU, CSU and SPD are scheduled to meet on Thursday, before the SPD vote ends, to settle outstanding issues on the formation of a coalition government, according to party sources.

The SPD members have until Friday to submit their votes.

The coalition deal between Merkel and the SPD came earlier in February, after weeks of tough negotiations, which saw Merkel relinquish the key ministry of finance to the coalition partners while offering other concessions over issues of immigration, health and tax.

Source: Presstv

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says Edinburgh will refuse to agree to London’s planned Brexit deal with the European Union, arguing that the exit bill would undermine the whole foundation on which the UK devolution system was built.

Sturgeon made the announcement in an interview with BBC Radio 4 on Tuesday, a day after the British government said it expected to reach an agreement with the devolved nations – Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales – on how power would be shared after the Britain’s separation from the 28-member bloc.

“We are simply trying to protect the powers that the Scottish Parliament already has – things like agriculture, fishing, environmental policy, food standards, justice and health. These are all currently responsibilities of the Scottish Parliament,” Sturgeon said.

“At the moment we have to exercise those powers within the confines of European law, but after Brexit, in terms of the devolution settlement, those powers should return to the Scottish Parliament and it should be up to us how we exercise them,” she added.

The Scottish first minister criticized the settlement and said London was trying to use the issue of Brexit in order to take control of devolved powers with the consent of the parliament in Edinburgh.

“Westminster effectively wants to be able to impose uniformity in these areas and that’s not acceptable in terms of the broad sweep and fundamentals of the devolution settlement,” Sturgeon said. “What the Withdrawal Bill seeks to do is restrict and constrain the ability of the Scottish Parliament or the Welsh Assembly to legislate in these devolved areas.”

Sturgeon noted that it is “very likely” the Scottish Parliament will not give consent to the exit bill unless the UK government changes its mind.

London needs a deal before the summer in order to pass the EU exit bill in the national parliament.

Sturgeon also warned on Tuesday that she retains “a mandate” to hold a second independence referendum if London tries to impose its will on Scotland.

In the United Kingdom’s 2016 referendum, 52 percent, or 17.4 million people, voted to leave the EU while 48 percent, or 16 million, voted to stay.

The British government has faced fierce criticism both at home and by the EU for its lack of clarity on its Brexit strategy.

The uncertainty has raised fears that Britain could crash out of the bloc without a trade deal, incurring heavy costs on its domestic economy.

Last month, Sturgeon accused the British government of a “reckless and irresponsible approach” in the negotiations so far, arguing London had entered talks with unachievable aims.

London and Brussels are due to move on to the next stage of Brexit negotiations this year, after reaching agreement in December on exit terms.

Source: Presstv

German chancellor Angela Merkel has named a key opponent of her centrist ideas as a minister in her cabinet for a fourth term in office.

Merkel said she would appoint Jens Spahn as health minister in her new government if a coalition deal with center-left Social Democrats (SPD) is finalized.

The 37-year-old Spahn, a leading advocate of sharper conservative profile, is known for his fierce criticism of Merkel’s moderate centrist approach, especially the one Merkel applied in talks with the SPD to reach a coalition deal.

Merkel hopes a congress of her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) would on Monday sign off on the deal with the SPD which should also pass the major hurdle of gaining the approval of the congress of SPD members on March 4 before it goes into action.

Senior figures from Merkel’s CDU hailed the chancellor’s decision to include people like Spahn in a future cabinet, saying it was a sign Merkel had a desire to tolerate critics in her fourth term in office.

“It’s a good sign because he is a dedicated politician who has shown for years that he is acting in the interests of this country … He will certainly be a good health minister,” said Michael Kretschmer, a member of the CDU’s right wing and leader of Germany’s state of Saxony.

In a bid to quell surging discontent in the right wing of the CDU ahead of the Monday congress, Merkel also appointed newcomers like 45-year-old Julia Kloeckner as agriculture minister; 46-year-old Anja Karliczek as education minister and 45-year-old Helge Braun as her new chief of staff.

However, Merkel stood firm with loyalists like Ursula von der Leyen, the mother of seven who would be reappointed as defense minister and also close ally Peter Altmaier who would serve as minister of economy.

Based on the coalition deal reached this month, Merkel and the CDU would have six positions to fill in the future cabinet as she should relinquish the influential portfolio of finance ministry to the SPD.

Source: Presstv