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Appeals judges on Monday ordered the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor to reconsider again her refusal to open a formal investigation into the 2010 storming by Israeli forces of an aid flotilla heading to the Gaza strip. Presiding Judge Solomy…
September 2, 2019Read More
(Bloomberg Opinion) — There are two ways to look at the results of Sunday’s elections in two eastern German states. One is to focus with alarm on the success of the nationalist, anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which came second in both Saxony and Brandenburg. The other is to point out that the governing centrist parties came first in both states. I’m with the optimists: The centrists’ victory is both a tactical and a strategic success on which they can build.These ex-Communist states are an important battleground. The Christian Democratic Union and the Social Democrats, the two major parties that have ruled Germany since reunification 29 years ago, have failed to eliminate the east-west prosperity gap. When Chancellor Angela Merkel speaks of the whole country doing well after unification, she strikes only a discordant note with left-behind voters in the east. For them, the AfD’s election slogan, “The East Rises Up,” sounds more relevant.In previous years, the eastern protest vote went to Die Linke, the radical left political force with roots in East Germany’s ruling Socialist Unity party. Now, it has clearly switched to the AfD — but on Sunday the party failed to reach Die Linke’s earlier highs in Brandenburg.In the traditionally more nationalist Saxony, the AfD did better than Die Linke had ever done – in part at the expense of the leftist party. That’s a sign some voters were switching radical flanks simply to express their discontent with the complacency of the establishment.Despite the strong protest vote, now largely consolidated by the AfD, the parties that have governed the two states for almost three decades have eked out narrow wins.For Brandenburg Minister President Dietmar Woidtke, who leads the SPD in the state, this is a major success: The party has been rudderless as a national force for months, bereft of strong leadership and locked into a joyless governing coalition with Merkel’s CDU. Polls indicated he easily could have lost to the AfD. But Woidtke fought the election like a wrestling match, launching an unusual personal attack on the AfD’s lead candidate. That showed the center-left party can still compete if it runs on its strong record in government and doesn’t shy away from fighting rhetoric.CDU Minister President Michael Kretschmer’s relatively narrow victory in Saxony was expected, but it’s a decent result both for him and for the party leader, Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer. Had the CDU won less than 30% of the vote, her leadership would have been in question. As it is, she looks to be holding on to the support of the party’s conservative base, which Kretschmer represents, but the CDU is still bleeding support to the AfD and, on its liberal flank, to the Greens. Both Woidtke and Kretschmer will probably have to broaden the governing coalitions in their states, likely adding the Greens, which have never performed well in the east but are riding a nationwide wave of increased support. That, however, isn’t necessarily a reflection of the center’s weakness but rather of German voters’ growing environmental awareness.Strategically, the SPD and CDU victories mean the country’s governing coalition will likely survive. That gives both parties time to rebuild their strength before the 2021 election. In the remaining two years, they will be able to help their cause by showing greater generosity to voters: Almost certainly, there will be more spending and investment to overcome the economic slowdown triggered by President Donald Trump’s trade wars. In the east in particular, tens of billions of euros have been earmarked to aid the transition from coal to greener energy sources.At the same time, both the CDU and the SPD need to do more to win the support of younger voters. Exit polls in Brandenburg and Saxony on Sunday showed that voters over the age of 60 were key to their victories. The AfD’s protest electorate comes from younger age groups, and if the establishment parties fail to woo them more effectively, they will face a greater threat down the road.It’s obvious from the exit polls that continuing problems with the integration of the 1.5 million mostly Muslim immigrants who entered Germany during the refugee crisis of 2015 and 2016 are feeding the AfD’s popularity. Voters consider it more competent than the government parties in immigration policy. Many migrants are still struggling with the German language, and the government has failed to provide them with a clear path to the job market. At the same time, the support they get from the state is unpopular with east Germans, who feel they are getting less attention than the newcomers.The government’s failure to speed up the migrants’ inclusion in society is a long-term drag on the centrist parties’ popularity; the two need to realize that a bigger investment in training, coupled with more political will to expel those who fail to integrate, are important to their political destiny.Both the CDU and the SPD have enough intellectual resources and political savvy to build on their narrow victories, now that it’s clear they can no longer take their place at the top for granted, in the east or elsewhere. The Merkel era has exhausted the center’s capacity for business as usual, and the Brandenburg and Saxony votes are more evidence of that.To contact the author of this story: Leonid Bershidsky at [email protected] contact the editor responsible for this story: Edward Evans at [email protected] column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Leonid Bershidsky is Bloomberg Opinion’s Europe columnist. He was the founding editor of the Russian business daily Vedomosti and founded the opinion website Slon.ru.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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(Bloomberg) — Follow @Brexit, sign up to our Brexit Bulletin, and tell us your Brexit story. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s plan to take Britain out of the European Union with or without a deal on Oct. 31 will be tested in a crunch battle in Parliamen…
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(Bloomberg) — A day after only a narrow victory in state elections, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition realized once again that it needs to do far more to effectively stem the rise of populism in Germany.Yes, the Christian Democrats and their junior…
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Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has warned that politicians face a critical juncture in history as they prepare to consider legislation meant to prevent the country from leaving the European Union without a deal. Blair’s comments come as the …
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Rachel Martin speaks with CNN’s Patrick Oppmann reporting from Freeport in the Bahamas, and Bahamanian Minister of Health Dr. Duane Sands talks about rescue and recovery during the Category 5 storm.
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The San Francisco FogCam, believed to be the longest-running public webcam, was supposed to be turned off at the end of August. It has been running since 1994.
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New research has found that eating nuts at least twice a week appears to help lower the risk of death from cardiovascular disease. Carried out by researchers at the Isfahan Cardiovascular Research Institute, Iran, the new study set out to investigate …
September 2, 2019Read More
“Two years after the Trump administration’s first punishing acts towards China, the United States still faces a forever escalating trade war without clear strategies, goals, and endgames,” write Dingding Chen and Tiffany Chen.The pair of analysts from …
September 2, 2019Read More
(Bloomberg) — Follow @Brexit, sign up to our Brexit Bulletin, and tell us your Brexit story. Boris Johnson is planning for a general election on Oct. 14 if he loses a crucial vote over a no-deal Brexit in Parliament this week, a senior U.K. official s…
September 2, 2019Read More
(Bloomberg) — Want to receive this post in your inbox every day? Sign up for the Balance of Power newsletter, and follow Bloomberg Politics on Twitter and Facebook for more.If anyone thought Israel’s main focus ahead of the Sept. 17 repeat election would be campaign debates, then missile barrages and rhetorical firebombs put that assumption to rest.With just two weeks before voters deliver their referendum on Benjamin Netanyahu’s rule for the second time in five months, violence flared along Israel’s border with Lebanon and the prime minister started talking again about annexing more than 120 Jewish settlements in the West Bank. That long-shunned notion has gained currency in nationalist circles in recent years, eclipsing the land-for-peace mantra that once reigned.On Sunday, antitank missiles from Iran’s Lebanese Hezbollah proxy, following a suspected Israeli attack on group operatives in Syria last month, touched off an exchange of fire with the Israeli military but stopped short of a major escalation. The Trump administration, whose long-promised peace plan is on hold until after the Israeli vote, voiced support for Israel as the threat of war loomed.It’s not clear whether Netanyahu’s annexation talk is more than a campaign ploy: He’s scrambling for votes as polls suggest he’s no better able to form a coalition today than when he failed after winning May’s election.But with the Israeli military accusing Iran of helping Hezbollah build precision-guided missiles, expect to hear more reports of unrest along that combustible frontier.Global HeadlinesGerman relief | In the end, it could have been much worse. Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats beat off a challenge by the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) in a regional election in Saxony, while her Social Democratic coalition partner squeezed out the same party in Brandenburg. The AfD surged in both eastern states but the establishment prevailed as voters defaulted to the safer option. For now the coalition lives on.Death spiral | Argentina’s President Mauricio Macri imposed capital controls Sunday in a bid to contain an escalating financial crisis eight weeks out from what looks like a doomed bid for re-election. It’s a desperate act for Macri, who’s been forced to reintroduce the kind of interventionist policies he once excoriated. It may not be enough to defeat his challenger, Alberto Fernandez, but might just help Macri serve out the rest of his term.Kashmir anger | All is quiet in Kashmir, but it’s far from peaceful. Businesses, schools and shops have been closed in the restive state since Aug. 5, when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government revoked almost seven decades of autonomy, Archana Chaudhary reports. With a heavy Indian military presence in the valley, the anger is palpable and Modi’s stated aim of bolstering Kashmir’s economy by taking direct control looks to be a tall order.Hurricane Dorian | The sheer violence of the Category Five storm that slammed Bahamas and is headed to the U.S. East Coast has surprised President Donald Trump. “I’m not sure that I’ve ever even heard of a Category Five,” Trump said. Three Category 5 hurricanes have hit the mainland U.S. or U.S. territories, including Puerto Rico, during his term, causing about $165 billion in damage.Summer’s over | British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is locked in a fight with the country’s parliament over Brexit, and no one knows how it could end with Oct. 31 looming as the deadline for the U.K.’s departure from the European Union. One thing is certain: The rules of the U.K.’s unwritten constitution are being stretched to the limit. Lawmakers return on Tuesday with Johnson’s opponents expected to push their plan to stop the U.K. from leaving the bloc without a deal — an option the government is keeping firmly on the table.What to Watch This WeekU.S. Vice President Mike Pence will today meet with Polish President Andrzej Duda, after attending a ceremony in Poland on Sunday marking 80 years since the start of World War II. Hong Kong gets back to business after a weekend that saw some of the worst violence since anti-China protests began almost three months ago. Italy’s acting Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte is due to present his government lineup to the president by Wednesday as he forges an unlikely coalition of political rivals.And finally… Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has been in the news a lot of late, from the burning of the Amazon rainforest to an acrimonious fight with France’s Emmanuel Macron. This time it’s over an operation to his knee that will take him out of action for 10 days. He’s had three operations since he was stabbed in the stomach while campaigning in September 2018. To contact the author of this story: Amy Teibel in Jerusalem at [email protected] contact the editor responsible for this story: Alan Crawford at [email protected], Flavia Krause-JacksonFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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