As Merkel bows out, Germany’s election race remains unclear with just hours left to run
The Hofbrauhaus in the heart of Munich is a huge building dedicated to the art of beer.
It’s been welcoming drinkers for 432 years, during which time Bavaria has been ruled variously by princes, emperors, kings, dukes, dictators and, latterly, a load of democrats.
The walls here have heard every grumble and every political aspiration. And now they seem to reverberate to a desire for…something.
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“We need a lot of change because over the last 16 years, even though lots of things have happened, not a lot has changed in the culture of the country,” one drinker told us.
“Germany needs to think about lots of things, like climate change.”
Climate change is one of those topics you hear mentioned a lot in this election.
Ever since the floods that wreaked such damage a few months ago, the topic has crept up in every interview and every debate.
But the curiosity is that, for all the discussion, it’s still not clear whether voters really, truly care about climate change as much as they do about, say, income tax, the minimum wage or rent controls.
The Greens, for instance, are likely to enjoy the best result they’ve ever had in a federal election. But far from capitalising on the angst created by the floods, their polling is actually worse now than when water was cascading through so many houses.
The Danube overflowed during the summer’s devastating flooding. Pic: AP
Back in May, the Greens, and their young leader Annalena Baerbock, were the most popular party; now they’re running in third place.
So what’s going on? Michael Pahle is a working group leader at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. He has watched the election with interest.
“The Green Party stands for change so when the election was a few months away, Germans embraced change as a concept and offered their support,” he told Sky News.
“But the closer we came to the election, it’s clearer that voting is actually a decision about what their lives will look like in the next four years so then they kind of stepped back into this old comfort zone of having stability and not embracing change as much.”
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Is Germany as green as it would like to think?
Mr Pahle told Sky News it was wholly predictable that, at a time of economic stability, people would think of stability. But he also raised the prospect that the Green Party might actually benefit from not winning, but instead playing a significant role in a coalition government.
“That’s definitely not their worst option,” he said. “They would have more responsibility, of course, if they led the government, but then they also have to make concessions.
“If they are in a coalition then they can push through their agenda, probably more than if they were the head of the government.”
A climate rally in Berlin on Friday attended by Greta Thunberg
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Greta: We must take to streets to demand climate action
Back in Munich, and we move across town.
Angela Merkel is back in Bavaria for a rally of her party, the CDU. Her successor as leader, Armin Laschet, arrives alongside her, but it’s obvious who carries the star quality.
Ms Merkel has the presence of someone who has bestrode the global stage; Mr Laschet, by contrast, looks slightly edgy and awkward.
When he took over as head of the CDU, Mr Laschet inherited a political golden ticket. The party’s alumni include some of the great names from German politics – Adenauer, Kohl, Schauble and, of course, Merkel.
And yet his campaign has stuttered. He was pictured, horribly, chuckling during a presidential speech to recognise victims of the floods. His performances during debates have sometimes seemed wooden.
Candidates Annalena Baerbock, Armin Laschet (right) and Olaf Scholz (left) at a TV debate on 12 September
Were it not for the fact that his chief rival, the social democrat Olaf Scholz, is another uncharismatic white man in his 60s, Mr Laschet’s failings may have appeared even more acute.
Yet it is Mr Scholz who leads, narrowly, as this race enters the home straight. We are bound to end up with another coalition, but the winner of the popular vote will probably end up as chancellor. Probably, but not definitely.
The bottom line is that nobody has really grasped this election, like a long-distance race where none of the runners wants to hit the front.
We are just hours from the end and, truly, we don’t know what’s going to happen. Mr Scholz and Mr Laschet, so often criticised for being dull, may just combine to create a thrilling denouement.
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South Korea’s parliament has voted to impeach acting President Han Duck-soo.
The move could deepen a constitutional crisis triggered by a short-lived period of martial law declared by Mr Han’s predecessor, Yoon Suk Yeol.
After the vote on Friday, Mr Han said he will step aside to avoid more chaos.
The opposition brought impeachment proceedings against him over his refusal to immediately fill three places on South Korea’s Constitutional Court – where the former president is on trial.
Three justices had been approved by parliament – where the opposition Democratic Party has a majority – but Mr Han said he would not formally appoint them without bipartisan agreement.
South Korea’s constitution says that six justices on the nine-member Constitutional Court must agree to remove an impeached president, meaning the current justices must vote unanimously to remove Mr Yoon.
The court has said it can deliberate without the full nine-member bench.
Leader of the opposition Lee Jae-myung had vowed to go ahead with the impeachment, accusing Mr Han of “acting for insurrection”.
A man waves a South Korean flag at an anti-Yoon Suk Yeol protest. Pic: AP
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Now that Mr Han – who is also prime minister – has been impeached, his finance minister Choi Sang-mok is set to take over as acting president.
Politicians in the 300 parliament voted 192-0 to impeach him. Governing party politicians boycotted the vote.
Following the vote, Mr Han said he would respect the decision and will await a ruling from the Constitutional Court on the impeachment motion.
Mr Han will be stripped of the powers and duties of the president until the Constitutional Court decides whether to dismiss or reinstate him – the same as with Mr Yoon.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he would be open to peace talks with Ukraine in Slovakia “if it comes to that”.
Mr Putin said Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico, who this week visited the Kremlin, had offered his country as a location for negotiations as the war in Ukraine nears the three-year mark.
The Russian president said the Slovakian authorities “would be happy to provide their own country as a platform for negotiations”.
“We are not opposed, if it comes to that. Why not? Since Slovakia takes such a neutral position,” Mr Putin said, adding he was resolved to end the conflict in Ukraine, which started with a land, air and sea invasion of Russia’s smaller neighbour in February 2022.
Follow the latest updates on the war in Ukraine
Ukraine is yet to comment on Slovakia’s offer but President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly criticised the country, which borders Ukraine, for the friendly tone Mr Fico has struck towards Russia since his return to power after an election in 2023.
Mr Fico has been critical of EU support for Ukraine, where millions have been displaced since Mr Putin’s decision to launch a “special military operation” to “denazify” and “demilitarise” the 37 million-strong country.
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Mr Zelenskyy on North Korea and Slovakian PM in Moscow
Mr Putin has repeatedly said Russia is open to talks to end the conflict with Kyiv, but that it would nevertheless achieve its goals in Ukraine.
He has previously demanded Ukraine withdraw its bid to join NATO and asked it to recognise Russia’s gains. Both Kyiv and the West have rejected those demands.
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But while Mr Zelenskyy had for most of the conflict insisted Ukraine would keep fighting until it regained control of its territories, his position on negotiations now appears to have shifted.
In an interview with Sky News, Mr Zelenskyy suggested a ceasefire deal could be struck if the Ukrainian territory he controls could be taken “under the NATO umbrella”.
This would then allow him to negotiate the return of the rest later “in a diplomatic way”.
The Ukrainian leader admitted last week his forces would be unable to recapture any territories occupied by Russia in the east of Ukraine and the Crimean peninsula.
While Kyiv would never recognise Russia’s rule, he said diplomacy is the only option to get Mr Putin to withdraw his army.
The war in Ukraine has taken a devastating toll on Russia too. UK government and military analysis estimates that Russia has lost around half a million troops killed or wounded in Ukraine.
Such is the pressure on manpower that The Kremlin turned to one of its remaining allies, North Korea, to provide additional forces.
It’s thought 10,000 to 12,000 troops were sent in October to fight alongside the Russian military in the fighting in the Kursk region.
However it’s suggested their lack of combat experience has resulted in heavy losses, with Mr Zelenskyy saying earlier this week that 3,000 North Korean troops have already been killed and wounded.
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