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On Tiny Greek Island, 14 Migrants and Man’s Body Found after Dinghy Sinks

A group of Syrian refugees, who say they were walking in the woods for three days and decided to leave it because of a wildfire burning in the area, are detained by Greek authorities near the town of Soufli in the region of Evros, Greece, September 3, 2023. REUTERS/Alexandros Avramidis
A group of Syrian refugees, who say they were walking in the woods for three days and decided to leave it because of a wildfire burning in the area, are detained by Greek authorities near the town of Soufli in the region of Evros, Greece, September 3, 2023. REUTERS/Alexandros Avramidis
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On Tiny Greek Island, 14 Migrants and Man’s Body Found after Dinghy Sinks

A group of Syrian refugees, who say they were walking in the woods for three days and decided to leave it because of a wildfire burning in the area, are detained by Greek authorities near the town of Soufli in the region of Evros, Greece, September 3, 2023. REUTERS/Alexandros Avramidis
A group of Syrian refugees, who say they were walking in the woods for three days and decided to leave it because of a wildfire burning in the area, are detained by Greek authorities near the town of Soufli in the region of Evros, Greece, September 3, 2023. REUTERS/Alexandros Avramidis

Greece's coast guard found a group of 14 migrants and the body of a man on the shore of a tiny island in the eastern Aegean Sea on Tuesday morning, authorities said.

The five men, six women and three children were found on the remote island of Farmakonisi, along with the body of one man. It was not immediately clear how he died, The Associated Press reported.

The group had apparently arrived on the island from the Turkish coast in a dinghy that sank, the coast guard said. There were no reports of anyone missing. The migrants and the deceased man were taken to the nearby island of Leros, the coast guard added.

There has been a rise in sea crossings to European Union member Greece by people fleeing conflict and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Asia and seeking a better life in the wealthy 27-country bloc.

Despite the increase in migration to Greece, Italy is still the main entry point for the EU for migrants, with about 114,200 arrivals so far this year. Spain follows with more than 21,000 arrivals, according to United Nations figures, while the figure for Greece is nearly 18,600.

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Germany’s President Dissolves Parliament, Sets National Election for Feb. 23

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier dissolves the German parliament, the Bundestag, during a statement to the media, after Chancellor Olaf Scholz lost a confidence vote, at Bellevue palace in Berlin, Germany December 27, 2024. (Reuters)
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier dissolves the German parliament, the Bundestag, during a statement to the media, after Chancellor Olaf Scholz lost a confidence vote, at Bellevue palace in Berlin, Germany December 27, 2024. (Reuters)
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Germany’s President Dissolves Parliament, Sets National Election for Feb. 23

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier dissolves the German parliament, the Bundestag, during a statement to the media, after Chancellor Olaf Scholz lost a confidence vote, at Bellevue palace in Berlin, Germany December 27, 2024. (Reuters)
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier dissolves the German parliament, the Bundestag, during a statement to the media, after Chancellor Olaf Scholz lost a confidence vote, at Bellevue palace in Berlin, Germany December 27, 2024. (Reuters)

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Friday ordered parliament dissolved and set new elections for Feb. 23 in the wake of the collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz's governing coalition.

Scholz lost a confidence vote on Dec. 16 and leads a minority government after his unpopular and notoriously rancorous three-party coalition collapsed on Nov. 6 when he fired his finance minister in a dispute over how to revitalize Germany’s stagnant economy.

Leaders of several major parties then agreed that a parliamentary election should be held on Feb. 23, seven months earlier than originally planned.

Since the post-World War II constitution doesn’t allow the Bundestag to dissolve itself, it was up to Steinmeier to decide whether to dissolve parliament and call an election. He had 21 days to make that decision. Once parliament is dissolved, the election must be held within 60 days.

In practice, the campaign is already well underway. Polls show Scholz’s party trailing the conservative opposition Union bloc led by Friedrich Merz. Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck of the environmentalist Greens, the remaining partner in Scholz’s government, is also bidding for the top job — though his party is further back. If recent polls hold up, the likely next government would be led by Merz as chancellor in coalition with at least one other party.

Key issues include immigration, how to get the sluggish economy going, and how best to aid Ukraine in its struggle against Russia.

The populist, anti-immigration Alternative for Germany, or AfD, which is polling strongly, has nominated Alice Weidel as its candidate for chancellor but has no chance of taking the job because other parties refuse to work with it.

Germany’s electoral system traditionally produces coalitions, and polls show no party anywhere near an absolute majority on its own. The election is expected to be followed by weeks of negotiations to form a new government.

It’s only the fourth time that the Bundestag has been dissolved ahead of schedule under Germany’s post-World War II constitution. It happened under Chancellor Willy Brandt in 1972, Helmut Kohl in 1982 and Gerhard Schroeder in 2005. Schroeder used the confidence vote to engineer an early election narrowly won by center-right challenger Angela Merkel.