German cabinet seeks to lift political pressure at two-day meeting

The leaders of Germany's three-way coalition come together on Tuesday and Wednesday for talks aiming to settle tensions laid bare by fast-rising inflation and a gloomy economic outlook.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats (SPD), the Greens and the liberal Free Democrats are increasingly playing off against each other as they try to decide on how to deal with a looming energy crisis and a higher cost of living.
Four months after the last cabinet meeting at Meseberg Castle - and nearly nine months after they came to power - the cabinet will discuss further financial relief for citizens affected by high energy prices.
It is on this issue that Economy Minister Robert Habeck, from the Greens, is under particular pressure.
He was seen to have suffered his first major personal setback as minister by supporting an extra levy on energy prices for consumers, arguing that it was necessary to stop large energy firms from going bust. He's since been forced to backtrack and say that not every firm should be able to benefit.
The levy should not benefit "freeloaders" that don't financially need it, he told Deutschlandfunk radio on Tuesday. A revision of the directive may be difficult to achieve from a legal perspective.
Leaders from the SPD and FDP have notably been less than supportive of Habeck, accusing him of not carrying out his job with enough diligence.