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BERLIN — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Wednesday it was too early and "inappropriate" to discuss whether Berlin would in future send troops to a possible peacekeeping force in Ukraine.

He also stressed that, as Ukraine's war with Russia rages on, it was "out of the question that we would send troops or German soldiers to Ukraine in the current situation".

Scholz was addressing speculation which had followed comments by Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock at a meeting with her NATO counterparts in Brussels on Tuesday.

Asked about a possible future multinational peacekeeping force in Ukraine, Baerbock said: "We will of course also support everything that serves peace in the future with all our strength from the German side."

This was interpreted by some as leaving the door open to German participation in such a hypothetical force.

But Scholz emphasised that Baerbock was speaking about "what might happen in a future post-war period and was trying to avoid saying yes or no".

Speaking in parliament, he added that "it was totally inappropriate for us to speculate on what might happen after a negotiated ceasefire".

Foreign ministry spokesman Sebastian Fischer told a regular press conference that Baerbock's comments had been "exaggerated" in some media reports.

There was "currently no indication" that Russia was willing to enter into talks, Fischer said, meaning that discussions over what a peace deal could look like were premature.

Germany has been Kyiv's second biggest supplier of military aid since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022.

However, Scholz has refused to send long-range Taurus missiles to Ukraine, saying that this could lead to a direct conflict between Russia and NATO.

Ahead of an early parliamentary election expected at the end of February, Scholz has emphasised his cautious stance on Ukraine, in contrast to the leader of the main opposition CDU/CSU Friedrich Merz, who has advocated sending Ukraine the Taurus missiles.

PARIS — France's lower house of parliament on Wednesday started debating two no-confidence motions in a session widely expected to topple the minority government of Prime Minister Michel Barnier in a historic vote.

The ousting of the Barnier government after just three months in office would deepen the country's political crisis and present President Emmanuel Macron with the unenviable choice of picking a viable successor with over two years of his presidential term left.

The national assembly lower house debated two motions brought by the hard left and the far right in a standoff over next year's austerity budget, after the prime minister on Monday forced through a social security financing bill without a vote.

"The worst policy would be not to block such a budget," three-time presidential candidate Marine Le Pen said during the parliamentary debate, urging lawmakers to vote out the government of Macron and its "technocratic" choices.

The motion brought by Le Pen's far-right National Rally (RN) party was expected to be rejected.

But Le Pen has said her forces would back the left's motion, giving it enough numbers to pass a vote that was expected to topple a French government for the first time in more than 60 years.

The first results were expected around 19:00 GMT.

'Death knell'

Eric Coquerel, a hard-left MP, said the motion against Barnier sounded the "death knell of Emmanuel Macron's mandate".

The French president was "today an obstacle, and in no way a solution. Today we are voting to censure your government, but more than anything else, we are sounding the death knell for a mandate: that of the president," he added.

On Tuesday, Macron accused Le Pen's far-right of "unbearable cynicism" in backing the motion.

In France, Barnier said he believed his government could still survive. "I want this and it is possible," Barnier said late Tuesday.

He accused Le Pen of "trying to get into a kind of bidding war" in their talks.

The turmoil follows a snap parliamentary election called by Macron in the summer that tried and failed to halt the march of the far right.

The result left the RN as the largest single party in the National Assembly but with no faction holding a majority.

Barnier took office with Le Pen becoming a potential kingmaker, and her party saying it could topple the administration at nearly any point of its choosing.

No new elections can be called within a year of last summer's vote, narrowing Macron's options.

'His failure'

Some have suggested Macron himself should resign to break the impasse.

But Macron rejected those calls, saying such a scenario amounted to "political fiction".

"It's frankly not up to scratch to say these things," Macron said.

With markets nervous and France bracing for public-sector strikes over the threat of cutbacks that will shut down schools and hit air and rail traffic, there is a growing sense of crisis.

The unions have called for civil servants, including teachers and air traffic controllers, to strike on Thursday over separate cost-cutting measures proposed by their respective ministries this autumn.

"His failure," was left-wing daily Liberation's front-page headline, with a picture of Macron, whose term runs until 2027.

In an editorial, Le Monde said Le Pen's move risked upsetting her own supporters, such as retirees and business leaders, by toppling the government.

"In the space of a few minutes, she shattered the strategy of normalisation she had consistently pursued," the daily said.

Some observers have suggested that Le Pen, 56, is seeking to bring down Macron before his term ends by ousting Barnier.

Le Pen is embroiled in a high-profile embezzlement trial. If found guilty in March, she could be blocked from participating in France's next presidential election.

But if Macron stepped down soon, an election would have to be called within a month, potentially ahead of the verdict in her trial.

Candidates for the post of premier are few and far between, but loyalist Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu and Macron's centrist ally Francois Bayrou are possible contenders.

On the left, Macron could turn to former Socialist premier and interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve, a contender in September.

If the government falls, it would be the first successful no-confidence vote since a defeat for Georges Pompidou's government in 1962, when Charles de Gaulle was president.

The lifespan of Barnier's government would be the shortest of any administration since the Fifth Republic began in 1958.

LUANDA — President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced more than $1 billion in humanitarian assistance to Africa during a visit to Angola, where the United States is showcasing a major infrastructure project aimed at countering China's investments on the continent.

Biden, the first US president to visit the former Portuguese colony, met with his Angolan counterpart Joao Lourenco earlier in the day and was scheduled to visit the port of Lobito on Wednesday for an infrastructure summit.

Speaking at the National Slavery Museum on the outskirts of the capital Luanda, Biden -- who hands over to Donald Trump on January 20 -- said the United States was "all in on Africa" and pledged financial support.

"I'm announcing over $1 billion of new humanitarian support for Africans displaced from homes by historic droughts," Biden said.

The assistance will "address food insecurity and other urgent needs of refugees, internally displaced persons, and affected communities in 31 African countries, according to a statement from the US Agency for International Development.

Southern Africa is currently facing the worst drought ever recorded across the region.

Biden also spoke about slavery being "our nation's original sin, one that haunted America", as he was delivering remarks outside the museum that exhibits items used in the transatlantic trade of slaves from Africa to the Americas which spanned three centuries.

Angola was by the 19th century the largest source of slaves for the Americas, according to the Office of the Historian, a US State Department-affiliated website.

As he left the stage, Biden told reporters he was "just getting briefed" on South Korea where the president has declared martial law.

Future runs 'through Africa' 

The trip, Biden's first to Sub-Saharan Africa since taking office, signalled a "turning point" in the bilateral relationship with Angola, the Angolan president said.

The 70-year-old leader elected in 2017 said he wanted to increase economic and security cooperation with the United States.

Biden, whose administration has invested in a massive railway project aimed at transporting critical minerals from inland countries to Angola's Atlantic port of Lobito for export, said "the future runs through Angola, through Africa".

The two presidents also discussed Russia and concerns that weapons may "end up" in Africa, according to a senior administration official.

The 82-year-old did not respond to reporters' questions about his pardon announced on Sunday of his son Hunter, convicted in criminal cases related to tax evasion and the purchase of a firearm.

On Wednesday, he is to travel to Lobito, about 500 kilometres south of Luanda, for a summit on infrastructure investment also attended by leaders from Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Tanzania and Zambia.

The port is at the heart of the Lobito Corridor project that has received loans from the United States, the European Union and others to rehabilitate a railway connecting mineral-rich DRC and Zambia with Lobito.

It is "a real game changer for US engagement in Africa", said Kirby.

"It's our fervent hope that as the new team comes in and takes a look at this... that they see how it will help drive a more secure, more prosperous, more economically stable continent."

Chinese 'alternative' 

The Lobito project is a piece in the geopolitical battle between the United States and its allies, and China, which owns mines in the DRC and Zambia among an array of investments in the region.

A senior US official said ahead of Biden's trip that African governments are seeking an alternative to Chinese investment, especially when it results in "living under crushing debt for generations to come".

Angola owes China $17 billion, about 40 per cent of the nation's total debt.

Human rights organisations have urged Biden to raise Angola's rights record during his trip.

Amnesty International said last month that Angolan police had killed at least 17 protesters between November 2020 and June 2023. It asked Biden to demand that Angola release "five government critics arbitrarily detained for more than a year".

"Biden should stand with the Angolan people and seek a public commitment by Angola's president to investigate rights violations by the security forces and appropriately hold those responsible to account," Human Rights Watch said.

VENICE — A student who admitted murdering his ex-girlfriend in a brutal case that sparked outrage and soul searching in Italy was sentenced to life in prison on Tuesday.

Prosecutors had requested Italy's harshest penalty for Filippo Turetta, 22, over the killing of Giulia Cecchettin in November last year, just days before she was due to graduate from the University of Padua.

Cecchettin, also 22, was stabbed at least 75 times in a shocking murder that prompted protests over violence against women across Italy.

Outside court, Cecchettin's father, Gino, said the sentence had not advanced the cause.

"I think gender violence shouldn't be fought with sentences but with prevention, teaching concepts that maybe are still a bit far off," Cecchettin told reporters.

"As a father, nothing has changed versus yesterday or a year ago."

The reading of the sentence, which was broadcast live on Italian television, elicited no visible reaction from Turetta.

His lawyer Giovanni Caruso had called the request for life imprisonment excessive, saying his client was "not Pablo Escobar", the notorious Colombian drug baron.

When the trial opened in September, Caruso warned against a "media trial" and last week insisted there were no "aggravating circumstances" such as cruelty or premeditation.

But prosecutor Andrea Petroni said Turetta acted with "particular brutality", attacking Cecchettin before fleeing with her in his car.

Her body was found a week after she went missing in a gully near Lake Barcis, north of Venice.

Turetta was arrested a day later near Leipzig in Germany after his car ran out of petrol.

Gino Cecchettin said last week that nothing would bring his daughter back, but his goal was "to ensure there are as few possible cases like Giulia's, that there are fewer parents who have to mourn a dead daughter."

'Patriarchy kills' 

Cecchettin's murder is one of a string of femicides that have made headlines in Italy in recent years, but it struck a nerve, pushing the issue to the forefront of public discourse.

Thousands of people turned out to pay their respects at her funeral and her father implored men to "challenge the culture that tends to minimise violence by men who appear normal".

Giulia's sister, Elena, called for a cultural revolution, urging sympathisers to "burn everything" -- a message since scrawled on walls and protest banners, often alongside the phrase "Patriarchy kills".

Out of 276 murders recorded by Italy's interior ministry so far this year, 100 of the victims were women -- 88 killed by someone close to them, the vast majority by a partner or ex.

This compares to 110 out of 310 murders in the same period last year, with 90 killed by someone close to them. In 2022, 106 women were killed by someone close to them, and 107 in 2021.

Cecchettin's family has set up a foundation in her name, pressing for better education, more support for women facing violence and greater efforts to encourage equality and respect.

Last month, thousands of people marched through Rome and the Sicilian capital Palermo to mark an international day against femicide, many of them walking in Cecchettin's name.

Blaming migrants 

While denouncing historic discrimination against women and a lack of policies such as sex education in schools, some campaigners accused Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's hard-right government in particular of failing women.

Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara sparked uproar last month by saying that "male domination no longer exists" in law in Italy, and linking violence against women to illegal immigration.

Elena Cecchettin hit back that her sister, a biomedical engineering student, was killed by a "young white Italian".

Meloni, Italy's first woman prime minister, said last week that legislation was not lacking in Italy, but that "the challenge remains above all cultural".

The leader of the far-right Brothers of Italy party also made a link with illegal immigration -- even though official figures from 2022 show that 94 per cent of Italian female murder victims were killed by Italians.

SEOUL — South Korea's President Yoon Suk -yeol on Tuesday declared emergency martial law, accusing the opposition of being "anti-state forces intent on overthrowing the regime" amid parliamentary wrangling over a budget bill.

"To safeguard a liberal South Korea from the threats posed by North Korea's communist forces and to eliminate anti-state elements plundering people's freedom and happiness, I hereby declare emergency martial law," Yoon said in a live televised address to the nation. 

"With no regard for the livelihoods of the people, the opposition party has paralysed governance solely for the sake of impeachments, special investigations, and shielding their leader from justice," he added.

The surprise move comes as Yoon's People Power Party and the main opposition Democratic Party continue to bicker over next year's budget bill. Opposition MPs last week approved a significantly downsized budget plan through a parliamentary committee.

The opposition has slashed approximately 4.1 trillion won ($2.8 billion) from Yoon's proposed 677 trillion won budget plan, cutting the government's reserve fund and activity budgets for Yoon's office, the prosecution, police and the state audit agency.

"Our national assembly has become a haven for criminals, a den of legislative dictatorship that seeks to paralyse the judicial and administrative systems and overturn our liberal democratic order," Yoon said.

Assembly closed 

Yoon, a former prosecutor, accused opposition lawmakers of cutting "all key budgets essential to the nation's core functions, such as combatting drug crimes and maintaining public security... turning the country into a drug haven and a state of public safety chaos".

The president went on to label the opposition, which holds a majority in the 300-member parliament, as "anti-state forces intent on overthrowing the regime".

Yoon described the imposition of martial law as "inevitable to guarantee the continuity of a liberal South Korea", adding that it would not impact the country's foreign policy.

"I will restore the country to normalcy by getting rid of anti-state forces as soon as possible," he said, without elaborating further other than the martial law in place.

He described the current situation as South Korea "on the verge of collapse, with the National Assembly acting as a monster intent on bringing down liberal democracy".

With martial law imposed, all military units in the South, which remains technically at war with the nuclear-armed North, have been ordered to strengthen their emergency alert and readiness postures, Yonhap news agency reported.

The entrance to the national assembly has been sealed, and MPs have been barred from entering the building, according to Yonhap.

The imposition of emergency martial law comes as Yoon's approval rating dropped to 19 per cent in the latest Gallup poll last week, with many expressing dissatisfaction over his handling of the economy and controversies involving his wife, Kim Keon Hee.

KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine needs more weapons and stronger diplomatic backing to reach a "just peace" with Russia, President Volodymyr Zelensky argued on Monday as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited Kyiv.

Attempting to cast himself as a mediator, Scholz came to Ukraine's capital a few weeks after becoming the first major ally of the war-torn country to speak to Russian leader Vladimir Putin in more than a year.

The German chancellor vowed on Monday to prevent Russia from dictating the terms of peace, seeking to alleviate fears that US President-elect Donald Trump may soon force Ukraine to accept a deal favourable to Moscow.

In a press conference with Scholz, Zelensky said Ukraine's allies "can only ensure peace through strength, the strength of our weapons, our diplomacy, and our cooperation."

"It is fundamental for us that Germany as a leader does not reduce [support] next year, including financial support," he added, noting the importance of a "just peace".

Germany is to hold an election in February in which Scholz faces a mounting right-wing challenge.

Scholz's visit comes ahead of the January 20 inauguration of Trump, who has pledged to end the war in hours, raising fears he will try to force Ukraine to accept a deal on Moscow's terms.

Scholz himself spurred controversy and concern in mid-November with his call to Putin.

Zelensky at the time slammed the call, saying it had opened a "Pandora's box" by weakening Putin's international isolation.

In the call, Scholz condemned the war and "urged Russia to show willingness to negotiate with Ukraine with the aim of achieving a just and lasting peace", the chancellor's office said.

'Impose a dictated peace' 

In Kyiv, Scholz said Russia must not be allowed to "impose a dictated peace on Ukraine" in any negotiations.

He said that in efforts to reach "a fair, just and lasting peace", no decisions must be taken without Kyiv and all sides must adhere to the motto of "nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine".

The German chancellor highlighted military aid worth 650 million euros ($680 million) to be delivered by the end of the year -- but officials in Berlin later conceded that the aid had been previously announced.

Such aid is vital for Ukraine, facing Russia's better-resourced army across a sprawling 1,000-kilometre  frontline.

Russia made its largest territorial gains in a month since March 2022 in November, according to AFP analysis of data from the US Institute for the Study of War.

Kremlin forces advanced over 725 square kilometres, mainly in the east near the city of Pokrovsk -- up from 610 square kilometres in October.

The Kremlin said on Monday that it had no expectations from Scholz's visit.

"I would not say we have expectations from this visit. Germany is continuing its line of unconditional support to Ukraine," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, adding that Putin had not passed on a message to Zelensky through Scholz.

Scholz and Zelensky visited wounded soldiers in hospital in Kyiv, as well as an exhibition of drones, which both sides have deployed in waves of aerial attacks.

'Wants people to freeze' 

Drone and missile attacks have intensified over Ukraine in the past few weeks.

The latest wave saw Russia attack Ukraine with 110 drones overnight, killing one man in the western town of Ternopil, where strikes last month left thousands without electricity.

Scholz condemned Moscow's campaign of strikes on Ukraine's energy infrastructure, seen as a bid to knock out crucial power supplies through the winter months and sap Ukrainian morale.

"Russia continues to target Ukraine's energy infrastructure in a targeted and merciless manner. Putin wants people to freeze," said Scholz.

"We will not allow his cynical calculation to work out," he said.

Under Scholz, Germany has become the second-biggest arms supplier to Ukraine after the United States, but has refused to send Kyiv long-range missiles that could strike deep inside Russia.

In Kyiv, Scholz reiterated his opposition to giving Ukraine Germany's long-range Taurus missile system which could fire deep into Russian territory.

Berlin believes that the high-tech weapon could only be deployed with targeting assistance from German forces.

But Zelensky said he was still talking to Scholz about the possibility of supplying Taurus missiles.

The Ukrainian leader said he was "constantly working to make sure that we have more common ground on the Taurus issue," and that the missiles could help Ukraine hit more military targets in Russia.