iPhone | iPad
Android
Huawei
More vertiports will be set up in strategic locations across Abu Dhabi, including major business hubs and tourism destinations
KT APPDOWNLOAD
3 parties to deepen talks on forming next German government
Social Democratic Party candidate for chancellor Olaf Scholz leaves after talks with the SPD, FDP and Green party in Berlin. — AP
Berlin - Social Democratic Party holds talks with Free Democrats and Green Party
Germany’s centre-left Social Democratic Party and two smaller parties said on Thursday they would deepen their talks next week on forming a new government, as the leader of outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel’s bloc indicated his willingness to step aside following an election defeat.
The general secretary of the pro-business Free Democrats, Volker Wissing, said that a first round of talks between his party, the Social Democrats and the environmentalist Greens had gone “very well”.
His Green party counterpart Michael Kellner told reporters it had been a “good day” for the discussions.
“I had the feeling in the talks that we can create something together,” Lars Klingbeil, the Social Democrats’ general secretary, said.
None of the three divulged details of their negotiations, which if successful would push Merkel’s Union bloc into opposition after her 16 years of leading Europe’s biggest economy. The bloc consists of the chancellor’s centre-right Christian Democratic Union and the Bavaria-only Christian Social Union.
The head of the Christian Democrats, North Rhine-Westphalia state governor Armin Laschet, said on Thursday that he would propose calling a party conference in the coming weeks to determine its future leadership.
Laschet, who was the Union bloc’s candidate for chancellor, didn’t say whether he would run to keep his party leadership post but spoke of the need to have “new personalities to make a fresh start”.
His campaign to succeed Merkel as chancellor failed to win over voters, and the bloc took 24.1 per cent of the vote on September 26, its worst-ever result, coming in second behind the Social Democrats.
The 60-year-old Laschet has already said he will not continue as governor of North Rhine-Westphalia.
More news from
Kerala will decide the fate of 194 candidates as polling on all 20 parliamentary constituencies will be held in the second phase
Pecker is a key witness in the case against the former US president, who is accused of falsifying business records to cover up hush-money payment
The oil and gas conglomerate and Fifa, the world governing body, sign major sponsorship agreement
Toomaj Salehi risks being hanged after the conviction on the Shariah charge of "corruption on Earth" by a Revolutionary Court
Aid groups warn any invasion would add to already-catastrophic conditions for Gaza's 2.4 million people
The American they will face Australia and Serbia on July 15 and July 17 as part of their preparation for the Paris Olympic Games
The leaders emphasise that the deal to release the hostages would bring an immediate and prolonged ceasefire in Gaza
