Germany to hold snap elections on February 23 after government collapse

Germany will hold snap elections on February 23, following an agreement between Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats and the opposition. This decision comes after the government collapsed last week due to a dispute over economic policy. Scholz will now conduct a confidence vote on December 16, earlier than his initial plan for mid-January. The opposition pushed for this change to avoid prolonged political uncertainty. If Scholz loses the confidence vote, the German President will have 21 days to decide on dissolving the Bundestag, which would trigger the early elections.