BERLIN: The contenders to succeed Angela Merkel as Germany’s chancellor sought to mobilize voters Friday as the election campaign neared its close.
They touted their credentials to lead Europe’s biggest economy into a new era as it grapples with the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic and climate change.
Merkel is stepping down after 16 years in power, and the race is wide open ahead of Sunday’s parliamentary election. Polls show the outgoing leader’s center-right Union bloc, with Armin Laschet as its candidate for chancellor, a little behind or nearly level with the center-left Social Democrats, who have Finance Minister Olaf Scholz seeking the chancellorship.
The Greens, with Annalena Baerbock making the party’s first run for chancellor, are trailing in third place but could end up playing the kingmaker in forming a government.
Experts say one reason why this year’s German election is tighter and less predictable than usual is that the candidates are relative unknowns to most voters.
“It’s certainly not the most boring election,” University of Leipzig political scientist Hendrik Traeger said. “There were those in which Angela Merkel stood as the incumbent and it was simply a question of who she would govern with.”
This time, Merkel’s party has struggled to energize its traditional base, which has so far failed to warm to Laschet, the governor of North Rhine-Westphalia state.
“The key question is whether these voters will overcome the Laschet hurdle and vote for the Union despite Laschet” said Peter Matuschek of polling company Forsa. “Or will they abstain from the vote or even choose another party?”
Scholz, whose party has made steady gains in opinion polls during the campaign on the strength of his relative popularity, touted the outgoing government’s success in preserving jobs during the pandemic.
“What we have seen is that we are succeeding in avoiding the major economic and social crisis that otherwise would have hit us,” he said at a rally in Cologne. “We put a lot of money into bringing jobs and companies through this crisis, and today, we can say that we have succeeded. We see an upswing ahead of us.”
Scholz, who wants to raise Germany’s minimum wage and increase taxes for top earners, argued that anyone calling for tax relief for the rich now “can’t count, doesn’t understand anything about finance.”
The Union bloc, an alliance of Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union party and its Bavaria-only sister party, the Christian Social Union, contends that any tax increases would be counterproductive as the German economy recovers. Laschet said at a rally in Munich that it would be “exactly the wrong way” out of the pandemic.
“The pandemic is now in its final phase, and (the Social Democrats) are beginning again with their old socialist classics from the 80s — bureaucracy, tax increases, patronizing people,” he said.
Merkel declared that “for Germany to remain stable, Armin Laschet must become chancellor and (the Union) must be the strongest party.” She was making the second of three appearances in the final week of a campaign from which she has been largely absent.
Laschet praised Merkel’s record. “It’s up to us to carry this legacy forward,” he said. “If we get it wrong now, everything that was achieved in 16 years could be squandered.”
Baerbock, the Greens’ candidate, focused her pitch on fighting climate change, her party’s central issue.
“This election is a choice of direction,” she said in Duesseldorf. “This election is a climate election.”
“We can’t afford half-measures anymore,” said Baerbock, whose party wants to ramp up carbon prices and end the use of coal earlier than planned. “We need finally to have a climate government — with all its strength, with all its heart and with full passion.”
“Yes, it’s a risk to do something new, but where has government experience alone brought us, if that’s the standard for a parliamentary election?” asked Baerbock, the only candidate for chancellor who lacks government experience. “It has led us to a dead end.”
Tens of thousands of environmental activists staged a rally outside Germany’s parliament earlier Friday to demand that politicians take stronger action to curb climate change.
Migration has been less of a concern to many voters than in 2017. Foreign policy has not come up much during the campaign but became an issue during the final television debate Thursday, with the Greens calling for a tougher stance on China.
About 60.4 million Germans are eligible to vote for a new parliament on Sept. 26. The strongest party will be best-placed to form a governing coalition, though that isn’t automatic.
The business-friendly Free Democrats are angling for a place in government after pulling the plug on coalition talks after the 2017 election. The far-right Alternative for Germany is expected to do well in the country’s east, but other parties refuse to work with it.
The Left Party, which opposes NATO and German military deployments abroad, remains a possible governing partner for the Greens and Social Democrats, a prospect that has drawn alarm from conservatives. Friday’s center-right rally was larded with warnings that such an alliance would damage Germany’s economy and international standing.
Election officials say many more people will vote by mail this year due to the pandemic, but this isn’t expected to affect turnout significantly.
Contenders tout credentials in close vote to replace Merkel
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Contenders tout credentials in close vote to replace Merkel
- Merkel is stepping down after 16 years in power, and the race is wide open ahead of Sunday's parliamentary election
- Polls show the outgoing leader's center-right Union bloc, with Armin Laschet as its candidate for chancellor
Two Southwest flight attendants hurt after jet dives to avoid mid-air collision
- Southwest Flight 1496 sharply descended nearly 500 feet, according to flight tracking websites
- The incident appeared to be the fourth involving military aircraft since March
WASHINGTON: Two flight attendants on a Southwest Airlines flight departing Burbank, California, were injured on Friday after pilots took evasive action to dodge another aircraft on takeoff, the airline said.
Southwest Flight 1496 sharply descended nearly 500 feet, according to flight tracking websites, marking the second time in a week that a US commercial jet was forced to make abrupt flight maneuvers to avoid a potential mid-air collision.
The incident also appeared to be the fourth involving military aircraft since March.
The airline and the Federal Aviation Administration said the Southwest pilots took action after receiving cockpit alerts of other aircraft traffic being dangerously close. The Southwest Boeing 737 continued on to Las Vegas, where it landed uneventfully.
Flight-tracking service Flightradar24 identified the other aircraft as a Hawker Hunter fighter jet – British-built aircraft – that crossed in front of the Southwest flight.
The planes came within 7.82km of each other laterally and 107m vertically. The US Air Force and Defense Department did not immediately respond to inquiries regarding the military jet’s presence near Burbank.
The FAA was investigating.
Two flight attendants were treated for injuries, the airline said, without providing detail.
No injuries were immediately reported by passengers, according to Southwest. But one passenger told Fox News Digital the sharp descent stirred panic onboard.
“It was terrifying. We really thought we were plummeting to a plane crash,” Caitlin Burdi said in an on-camera interview. After the incident, “the pilot came on (the intercom), and he told us we almost collided with another plane.”
According to a statement from Southwest, the incident began when its crew responded to “two onboard traffic alerts” while taking off from the Hollywood Burbank Airport north of Los Angeles, “requiring them to climb and descend to comply with the alerts.”
Three earlier close calls
In a separate incident one week ago, a SkyWest Airlines jet operating as a Delta Connection flight from Minneapolis reported taking evasive action to avoid a possible collision with a US Air Force bomber during a landing approach over North Dakota on July 18.
The FAA said on Monday it was investigating last Friday’s near-miss incident involving SkyWest Flight 3788, an Embraer ERJ-175 regional jet, which landed safely at Minot, North Dakota.
The Air Force confirmed a B-52 jet bomber assigned to Minot Air Force Base had conducted a ceremonial flyover of the North Dakota State Fair last Friday around the time of the SkyWest incident.
The Air Force said the bomber cockpit crew was in contact with local air traffic control before, during and after the flyover, and that the Minot International Airport control tower “did not advise of the inbound commercial aircraft” as the B-52 was departing the area.
The FAA has said that air traffic services were provided by the Minot air traffic control tower, which is run by a private company and not FAA employees.
The National Transportation Safety Board and FAA are investigating a March 28 close call involving a Delta Airbus A319 jet and a group of Air Force jets near Reagan Washington National Airport. The four Air Force T-38 Talons were heading to nearby Arlington National Cemetery for a flyover at the time.
There has been intense focus on military traffic near civilian airplanes since an Army helicopter collided with an American Airlines regional jet on January 29 near Reagan National, killing 67 people.
In early May, the FAA barred Army helicopter flights around the Pentagon after another near miss.
Democrats and advocates criticize Trump’s executive order on homelessness
- Many of the concepts in Trump's order have been tried in Democrat-led cities in California to get people off the streets and into treatment
- What's problematic in the new order is forcibly locking people up, which is not the right approach to dealing with homelessness, say advocates
SAN FRANCISCO, California: Leading Democrats and advocates for homeless people are criticizing an executive order President Donald Trump signed this week aimed at removing people from the streets, possibly by committing them for mental health or drug treatment without their consent.
Trump directed some of his Cabinet heads to prioritize funding to cities that crack down on open drug use and street camping, with the goal of making people feel safer. It’s not compassionate to do nothing, the order states.
“Shifting these individuals into long-term institutional settings for humane treatment is the most proven way to restore public order,” the order reads.
Homelessness has become a bigger problem in recent years as the cost of housing increased, especially in states such as California where there aren’t enough homes to meet demand. At the same time, drug addiction and overdoses have soared with the availability of cheap and potent fentanyl.
The president’s order might be aimed at liberal cities such as San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York, which Trump views as too lax about conditions on their streets. But many of the concepts have already been proposed or tested in California, where Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democratic mayors have worked for years to get people off the streets and into treatment.
Last year, the US Supreme Court made it easier for cities to clear encampments even if the people living in them have nowhere else to go.
Still, advocates say Trump’s new order is vague, punitive and won’t effectively end homelessness.
Newsom has directed cities to clean up homeless encampments and he’s funneled more money into programs to treat addiction and mental health disorders.
His office said Friday that Trump’s order relies on harmful stereotypes and focuses more on “creating distracting headlines and settling old scores.”
“But, his imitation (even poorly executed) is the highest form of flattery,” spokesperson Tara Gallegos said in a statement, referring to the president calling for strategies already in use in California.
San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie has also emphasized the importance of clean and orderly streets in banning homeless people from living in RVs and urging people to accept the city’s offers of shelter. In Silicon Valley, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan recently pushed a policy change that makes a person eligible for jail if they reject three offers of shelter.
Trump’s executive order tasks Attorney General Pam Bondi and the secretaries for health, housing and transportation to prioritize grants to states and local governments that enforce bans on open drug use and street camping.
Devon Kurtz, the public safety policy director at the Cicero Institute, a conservative policy group that has advocated for several of the provisions of the executive order, said the organization is “delighted” by the order.
He acknowledged that California has already been moving to ban encampments since the Supreme Court’s decision. But he said Trump’s order adds teeth to that shift, Kurtz said.
“It’s a clear message to these communities that were still sort of uncomfortable because it was such a big change in policy,” Kurtz said.
But Steve Berg, chief policy officer at the National Alliance to End Homelessness, called parts of the order vague. He said the US abandoned forced institutionalization decades ago because it was too expensive and raised moral and legal concerns.
“What is problematic about this executive order is not so much that law enforcement is involved — it’s what it calls on law enforcement to do, which is to forcibly lock people up,” Berg said. “That’s not the right approach to dealing with homelessness.”
The mayor of California’s most populous city, Los Angeles, is at odds with the Newsom and Trump administrations on homelessness. Mayor Karen Bass, a Democrat, opposes punishing sweeps and says the city has reduced street homelessness by working with homeless people to get them into shelter or housing.
“Moving people from one street to the next or from the street to jail and back again will not solve this problem,” she said in a statement.
Cambodia calls for ceasefire with Thailand after deadly clashes
- More than 138,000 people have been evacuated from Thailand’s border regions, its health ministry said, reporting 15 fatalities — 14 civilians and a soldier — with a further 46 wounded, including 15 troops
UNITED NATIONS, United States: Cambodia wants an “immediate ceasefire” with Thailand, the country’s envoy to the United Nations said Friday, after the neighbors traded deadly strikes for a second day, with Bangkok also signaling an openness to talks.
A long-running border dispute erupted into intense fighting with jets, artillery, tanks and ground troops on Thursday, prompting the UN Security Council to hold an emergency meeting on the crisis Friday.
“Cambodia asked for an immediate ceasefire — unconditionally — and we also call for the peaceful solution of the dispute,” said Phnom Penh’s UN ambassador Chhea Keo following a closed meeting of the Council attended by Cambodia and Thailand.
A steady thump of artillery strikes could be heard from the Cambodian side of the border Friday, where the province of Oddar Meanchey reported one civilian — a 70-year-old man — had been killed and five more wounded.
More than 138,000 people have been evacuated from Thailand’s border regions, its health ministry said, reporting 15 fatalities — 14 civilians and a soldier — with a further 46 wounded, including 15 troops.
Fighting resumed in three areas around 4 am on Friday (2100 GMT Thursday), the Thai army said, with Cambodian forces firing heavy weapons, field artillery, and BM-21 rocket systems, and Thai troops responding “with appropriate supporting fire.”
Thai Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nikorndej Balankura told AFP that fighting had begun to ease off by Friday afternoon, however, adding that Bangkok was open to talks, possibly aided by Malaysia.
“We are ready, if Cambodia would like to settle this matter via diplomatic channels, bilaterally, or even through Malaysia, we are ready to do that. But so far we have not had any response,” Nikorndej told AFP, speaking before the UN meeting had been held.
Malaysia currently holds the chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) regional bloc, of which Thailand and Cambodia are both members.
Earlier, acting Thai Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai had warned that if the situation escalated, “it could develop into war.”
“For now, it remains limited to clashes,” he told reporters in Bangkok.
Both sides blamed each other for firing first, while Thailand accused Cambodia of targeting civilian infrastructure, including a hospital hit by shells and a petrol station hit by at least one rocket.
At the UN, Cambodia’s envoy questioned Thailand’s assertion that his country, which is smaller and less militarily developed than its neighbor, had initiated the conflict.
“(The Security Council) called for both parties to (show) maximum restraint and resort to a diplomatic solution. That is what we are calling for as well,” said Chhea Keo.
None of the other attendees of the UNSC meeting spoke to reporters.
The fighting marks a dramatic escalation in a long-running dispute between the neighbors — both popular destinations for millions of foreign tourists — over their shared 800-kilometer (500-mile) border.
Dozens of kilometers in several areas are contested and fighting broke out between 2008 and 2011, leaving at least 28 people dead and tens of thousands displaced.
A UN court ruling in 2013 settled the matter for over a decade, but the current crisis erupted in May when a Cambodian soldier was killed in a new clash.
Fighting on Thursday was focused on six locations, according to the Thai army, including around two ancient temples.
Ground troops backed up by tanks battled for control of territory, while Cambodia fired rockets and shells into Thailand and the Thais scrambled F-16 jets to hit military targets across the border.
In the Cambodian town of Samraong, 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the border, AFP journalists saw families speeding away in vehicles with their children and belongings as gunfire erupted.
“I live very close to the border. We are scared,” Pro Bak, 41, told AFP.
He was taking his wife and children to a Buddhist temple to seek refuge.
Ukraine facing fierce fighting around eastern city of Pokrovsk, Zelensky says
- Russian forces have for months been trying to close in on Pokrovsk
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday that Ukrainian forces were facing fierce fighting around the city of Pokrovsk in the east, a logistics hub near which Russia has been announcing the capture of villages on an almost daily basis.
Zelensky, speaking in his nightly video address, said Ukraine’s top commander, Oleksandr Syrskyi, told a meeting of senior officials that the situation around Pokrovsk was the current focal point of its attention in the war, which began when Russia invaded in February 2022.
“All operational directions were covered, with particular focus on Pokrovsk. It receives the most attention,” Zelensky said.
Ukrainian forces, he said, were also “continuing to act” in border areas in the northern Sumy region, where Russian troops have gained a foothold in recent weeks.
Syrskyi, in a separate report on the Telegram messaging app, described Pokrovsk and five other sectors as among the most difficult theaters along the 1,000-km (620-mile) front.
“The Russian Federation is paying the maximum price for attempting a ‘summer offensive,’” Syrskyi wrote.
Russian forces have for months been trying to close in on Pokrovsk, a road and rail hub whose pre-war population of about 60,000 has been all but evacuated.
Syrskyi in May reported that Kyiv’s troops had stabilized the situation around the town, also the site of the only colliery in Ukraine producing coking coal for the country’s steel industry.
Russia’s Defense Ministry on Thursday announced the capture of two villages on either side of Pokrovsk — Zvirove to the west and Novoekonomichne to the east. A third village near the city — Novotoretske — was declared by Moscow to be “liberated” earlier in the week.
Ukrainian officials have made no acknowledgement that the villages have changed hands. The General Staff of Ukraine’s military said in an evening report that two of them — Zvirove and Novoekonomichne — were in areas where Russian troops were trying to penetrate Ukrainian defenses.
In Sumy region, where Russian troops are trying to establish what Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin calls a “buffer zone,” the popular Ukrainian military blog DeepState said Kyiv’s forces had retaken a previously lost village.
DeepState, which relies on open source reports to track the presence of Russian forces, said Ukrainian troops had restored control over the village of Kindrativka. There was no official comment from either side.
Trump arrives in Scotland for golf and bilateral talks as EU trade deal nears
- Trump and Starmer to discuss US-UK trade deal and Ukraine war
EDINBURGH/LONDON: US President Donald Trump, dogged by questions about his ties to disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, arrived in Scotland on Friday for some golf and bilateral talks that could yield a trade deal with the European Union.
Trump told reporters upon his arrival that he will visit his two golf properties in Scotland and meet with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, whom he called a “highly respected woman.”
As hundreds of onlookers cheered his arrival, Trump repeated his earlier comment about a 50-50 chance of securing a deal with the EU, adding it would be his administration’s biggest trade agreement thus far, if it came together.
However, he said there were still “sticking points” with Brussels on “maybe 20 different things.”
Trump said his meeting with Starmer would be more of a celebration of the trade deal already reached than continued work on it, adding, “It’s a great deal for both.” Before he left Washington, Trump said his administration was working hard on a possible trade deal with the EU, and Brussels was keen to make a deal. Von der Leyen said later she would meet Trump in Scotland on Sunday.
EU diplomats say a deal could result in a 15 percent tariff on EU goods, mirroring a framework accord with Japan reached this week and half of the 30 percent Trump is threatening to impose by August 1.
Trump has sought to reorder the global economy after imposing a 10 percent tariff on nearly all trading partners in April and threatening sharply higher rates for many countries to kick in a week from now. Trump says the moves will reduce the US trade deficit and bring in extra revenue, but economists warn the new trade policies could drive up inflation.
Trump, facing the biggest domestic political crisis of his second term, expressed frustration about ongoing questions about his administration’s handling of investigative files related to Epstein’s criminal charges and his 2019 death in prison.
“You make it a very big thing over something that’s not a big thing,” Trump told reporters in Scotland, urging them to focus on other prominent Americans with ties to Epstein, including former President Bill Clinton.
“Talk about Clinton. Talk about the former president of Harvard. Talk about all of his friends. Talk about the hedge fund guys that were with him all the time. Don’t talk about Trump,” he said. “What you should be talking about is the fact that we have the greatest six months in the history of a presidency.”
The Epstein issue has caused a rare breach with some of Trump’s most loyal Make America Great Again supporters, and majorities of Americans and Trump’s Republicans say they believe the government is hiding details on the case, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling.
White House officials are hoping the controversy dies down while Trump is abroad, two people familiar with the matter said.
Trump will stay at his Turnberry property on Scotland’s west coast this weekend, before traveling on Monday to a golf property in Aberdeen, where he will open a second 18-hole course named in honor of his mother, Mary Anne MacLeod. MacLeod was born and raised on a Scottish island before emigrating to the US
As he left the White House, Trump said he looked forward to meeting both Starmer and Scottish leader John Swinney, who had publicly backed Democratic candidate Kamala Harris in the 2024 US presidential election. The trip gives Trump and Starmer a chance to deepen their already warm ties, with key issues on the agenda to include ending Russia’s war in Ukraine, British and US sources said. The deteriorating situation in Gaza is also likely to come up. Starmer on Thursday said he would hold an emergency call with France and Germany over what he called the “unspeakable and indefensible” suffering and starvation being reported there, and called on Israel to allow aid to enter the Palestinian enclave.
Gaza health authorities say more than 100 people have died from starvation, most in recent weeks. Human rights groups have said mass starvation is spreading even as tons of food and other supplies sit untouched just outside the territory. Since being elected last year, Starmer has prioritized good relations with Trump, stressing the importance of Britain’s defense and security alliance with the US, while working to clinch the first tariff-reduction deal with the US in May.
The framework agreement reaffirmed quotas and tariff rates on British automobiles and eliminated tariffs on the UK’s aerospace sector, but left steel tariffs in place.
Starmer is expected to press for lower steel tariffs, but sources close to the matter said it was unclear if any breakthrough was possible during Trump’s visit.
Trump has described Scotland as a “very special place” and made a similar trip there in 2016 during his earlier run for the presidency, but he will not necessarily get a warm welcome. About 70 percent of Scots have an unfavorable opinion of Trump, while 18 percent have a favorable opinion, an Ipsos poll in March found.
Scottish police are girding for protests on Saturday in both Aberdeen and in Edinburgh, the country’s capital.
Trump will return to Britain from September 17-19 for a state visit hosted by King Charles. It will make Trump the first world leader in modern times to undertake two state visits to Britain. The late Queen Elizabeth hosted him at Buckingham Palace for a three-day state visit in June 2019.
