Polish ruling populists take most seats in regional councils

October 25, 2018

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland's ruling populist party, Law and Justice won 254 of the 552 seats in regional councils in local elections last weekend, with 194 going to the key opposition coalition, the state electoral commission said Thursday.

The official results indicate that Law and Justice, which won the national elections in 2015, remains the most popular party despite conflicts with the European Union and accusations of eroding the democratic system of checks and balances. Its approval has been boosted by generous welfare spending, its emphasis on Poland's traditional values and a booming economy.

However, the pro-EU opposition coalition, a block led by Civic Platform, which ruled for eight years until 2015, won much greater support in the cities. The bloc, which also includes the smaller Modern party, won several mayoral posts, including in Warsaw, in Sunday's first round of voting. It holds leads in several races to be decided in the Nov. 4 runoffs.

Having won 46 percent of seats nationwide, the ruling party has control of six of 16 regional councils, mostly in the southeast, but will have to seek coalition partners in three others. So far, no political force has announced its readiness to cooperate with Law and Justice.

The main opposition bloc won 35 percent of the seats and opened coalition talks with the agricultural Polish People's Party, which got 13 percent. Jointly, they could control many regional councils when they take office in November.

Exit poll: Polish populists lead local votes, support down

October 22, 2018

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — The governing populist party, which has repeatedly clashed with European Union institutions, was the top vote winner in local elections Sunday, according to an exit poll, but it was headed to lower support than it got in Poland's 2015 parliamentary elections.

The Ispos survey said that in lower level elections for provincial assemblies, the ruling conservative Law and Justice party received the highest backing, with 32.3 percent. In the 2015 national elections it had almost 38 percent support.

Party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski said it was a "good result that bodes well for the future. It's a good sign." But he stressed that the exit poll result might differ from the official returns expected Tuesday or Wednesday.

In many ways it was a disappointing showing for the party, which has at times received more than 40 percent support in opinion polls and had hoped to increase its hold on power. Instead, it may have difficulty finding coalition partners, an obstacle to exercising real power.

Commentators noted the party was supported in villages and small towns, where its policy of social benefits has had the most effect, while big cities backed the pro-EU opposition party. "Disappointing result for Law and Justice despite total control on state media and unprecedented resources invested by the government," political analyst Marcin Zaborowski said.

Its drop in support comes despite generous government handouts and a booming economy and it suggests some Poles do not like the constant tensions with the EU, which has condemned an overhaul of the justice system by Law and Justice, calling it a systematic threat to the rule of law and inconsistent with democratic European values.

Opposition supporters said they hope this is a sign the tide is turning. Some commentators also suggested that this indicates the ruling party will not be able to win majority support in Poland and will have to find a way to coexist with the opposition.

A pro-EU opposition candidate won Warsaw's mayoral race outright in the first round, according to the exit poll. Rafal Trzaskowski, a former European lawmaker and member of the Civic Platform party, garnered 54.1 percent support, which would mean he would become Warsaw mayor without having to take part in a Nov. 4 runoff. Civic Platform also won races in some other cities like Poznan, Lodz and Lublin, giving the party a boost for more elections next year.

"We are very happy," said party leader Grzegorz Schetyna. "We can be a real hope to the Poles in next elections." Trzaskowski, whose party governed Poland for eight years before Law and Justice came to power in 2015, ran against the ruling party's candidate, Deputy Justice Minister Patryk Jaki. Jaki had attracted attention by heading a special commission for reversing housing decisions by the city's Town Hall under Civic Platform.

In Gdansk, one of the sons of democracy icon Lech Walesa, Jaroslaw Walesa, had a disappointing result, only taking third place, and leaving two others to face off in the runoff Nov. 4. Lech Walesa, the founder of the Solidarity movement that helped topple the communist regime in the 1980s, voted wearing a T-shirt with the word "Konstytucja" — or constitution — a popular sign of opposition to the ruling party.

Sunday's elections were the first nationwide test of support for Law and Justice since it gained control of the national government. Its policies have produced street protests and repeated clashes with EU leaders.

Nationwide turnout was 51.3 percent, higher than in 2014, according to the exit poll, which questioned voters as they were leaving polling stations in 1,160 locations across Poland. The election was for offices ranging from city mayors to village councilors. Law and Justice party was hoping to strengthen its firm grip on power, which has been buoyed by handing out social benefits and questioning how much authority the EU should have over member nations.

Campaigning targeted Poland's largest cities — such as Warsaw, Poznan, Krakow, Wroclaw and Gdansk — which are traditionally pro-EU, and where the opposition is in control of local governments. In Warsaw, in a rare sight, voters had to stand in lines at many voting stations to get their ballots. They said voter mobilization was very high in the race between the EU-skeptic and pro-EU main political forces.

"I have never seen so many people voting, this is a good thing. The question is will this be enough for (pro-EU Civic) Platform to keep power" in Warsaw, Aneta Benedyk said as she stood in line in southern Warsaw.

Poland's local elections kick off a string of crucial votes that include the European Parliament vote in May, the national parliament vote in the fall of 2019 and Poland's presidential election in the spring of 2020.

Schools closed on quake-hit Greek island; damage surveyed

October 26, 2018

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Schools were closed and officials surveyed damage on the Greek island of Zakynthos Friday after a powerful earthquake that was felt as far as Libya jolted western Greece. The magnitude-6.5 undersea quake overnight caused many island residents to spend the night in their cars and triggered a tsunami warning that ended several hours later. No serious damage or injuries were reported, although the main harbor for the island of Zakynthos in the Ionian Sea was damaged, and the sidewalk near moored boats cracked and warped.

More than 15 aftershocks occurred before dawn. "It was a powerful and shallow earthquake that was felt throughout western Greece, up to Athens, the Western Balkans, even in Italy and Libya," said seismologist Gerasimos Papadopoulos of the Geodynamic Institute in Athens.

Power was lost in the island capital and main town, also called Zakynthos, for several hours and outages were also reported elsewhere. "We're checking out the villages on the island, where there are several older buildings," civil protection agency press spokesman Spyros Georgiou told The Associated Press. "The lack of electricity is a problem, but technicians are trying to restore power."

The fire service said rockfalls were reported in another part of the island, and part of a church wall collapsed on the mainland town of Pyrgos, in the southern Peloponnese area. A couple of people were treated for minor injuries.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the undersea quake was magnitude 6.8 and its epicenter was 33 kilometers (20 miles) southwest of Mouzaki in the southern part of the island. It had a depth of 14 kilometers and struck just before 2 a.m. local time (2300 GMT Thursday).

Greece's main earthquake monitoring center, the Geodynamic Institute, measured the magnitude at 6.5, and said it had a depth of 5 kilometers. Measurements of quake strength can vary due to the equipment each institution uses and other factors.

The village of Mouzaki is near the popular tourist resort of Laganas. The quake rattled the whole of western Greece and was strongly felt in the capital, 280 kilometers (174 miles) to the northeast of Zakynthos.

Greece lies in one of the world's most earthquake-prone regions, with thousands of quakes recorded every year. But few cause injuries or significant damage. In 1999, a magnitude 5.9 quake on the outskirts of Athens killed 143 people.

Zakynthos has had severe earthquakes in the past, and as a result has a very strict building safety code.

Derek Gatopoulos in Athens contributed.

Cry me a river: Low water levels causing chaos in Germany

October 27, 2018

BERLIN (AP) — A new island in Lake Constance. A river in Berlin flowing backward. Dead fish on the banks of lakes and ponds. Barges barely loaded so they don't run aground. A hot, dry summer has left German rivers and lakes at record low water levels, causing chaos for the inland shipping industry, environmental damage and billions of euros (dollars) in losses — a scenario that experts warn could portend the future as global temperatures rise.

The drought-like conditions have hit nearly 90 percent of the country this year. In Magdeburg, the Elbe River has been so low that no ships carrying goods south to Leipzig or on to the Czech Republic have been able to pass through since the end of June, said Hartmut Rhein of the city's waterways and shipping department.

The river's down to a depth of about 50 centimeters (less than 20 inches) there, when at least double that level is needed for normal shipping traffic, he said. "At the moment the only possibility is to completely unload ships and transfer their cargoes to other means of transportation," he said.

The situation is similar across Germany. The mighty Rhine has hit its lowest water levels ever at several points, and other major rivers like the Danube, the Weser and the Main are all far below normal.

On the waterways that are still navigable, the lower water levels have actually led to increased shipping traffic, as companies pack less weight onto boats so they don't ride so low in the water. That means they must send more vessels out to carry the same amount of freight.

"All the ships on the Rhine are going around the clock to transport goods that would normally be on fewer ships," said Rolf Nagelschmidt of Cologne's waterways and shipping office. "At the moment, everything that can float is being loaded up."

That has sent freight prices skyrocketing, and some costs are already being felt by consumers, with higher prices at gas pumps and for home heating oil. Chemical giant BASF has been forced to cut production due to a lack of transportation. On Friday the company lowered its yearly profit forecast after a slowdown in the third quarter partly from the extra costs incurred due to the low levels of the Rhine, which flows past its headquarters in Ludwigshafen.

Germany's Economy Ministry said Friday it had taken the unusual step of authorizing temporary access to Germany's strategic fuel reserves in areas where supplies have not been able to get through due to the shallow waters.

With such widespread drought, Germany's agricultural industry is also struggling. There have been shortages of feed for livestock and the country's grain harvest is forecast to drop to 36 million tons this year compared to an average of 47.9 million tons over the last five years, according to the Center for Disaster Management at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology.

"If you look at the overall economic effects, we're talking certainly in the double-digit billions," said the center's Michael Kunz. Northern and eastern Germany saw their warmest summer ever recorded in 2018, and central Germany had its lowest rainfall ever, according to the German Weather Service, or DWD.

"Climate change means not only an increase in average temperatures, but also in the increase of extreme events," said DWD Vice President Paul Becker. "This year's summer has been exceptional with its intensive drought and prolonged heat, but we expect an increase in such extreme periods in the future."

From April through August, a high-pressure zone sat over northern Europe and a low-pressure zone blanketed the south. That created a "blocking situation" that produced the unusual weather, said Freja Vamborg, a senior climate scientist with Copernicus Climate Change Service, a European Union information service.

"During that whole time, most of northern Europe was warm and dry and the Mediterranean was wet," she said. Most of Germany has been right in the middle of the dry zone. While there has been some relief from the drought in the British Isles and Scandinavia, the drought is still plaguing Germany.

Sandbanks have appeared on the Rhine River that have not been seen before in modern history. On the Austrian part of Lake Constance, which is shared by Germany, Austria and Switzerland, a 10,000 square meter (108,000 square foot) silt island has appeared.

Unexploded World War II munitions are also popping up, most recently with a 1,000-kilogram (2,200-pound) American bomb being found on the exposed bottom of the Rhine near Neuwied this week. Experts say some 3,000 bombs were dropped in the area as the allies sought to destroy a railway bridge, but only a few actually hit their target.

In Berlin, the Spree River, which normally flows into the Havel River in the western part of the city, has been taking water in from the Havel instead, said Derk Ehlert, with the city's environment department.

"It's flowing backward, so to speak," he said. A family of beavers living in the German capital's central Tiergarten park has attracted a lot of attention for taking matters into their own paws. They built a new dam about six weeks ago to keep the area wet — but that just dried other areas up.

"They wanted their old water level back," Ehlert said. Other wildlife has been less able than the beavers to cope. Hundreds of tons of fish and countless freshwater mussels have been dying as waters have receded, said Magnus Wessel, head of nature conservation policy for the environmental group BUND.

Causes for the die-offs include greater concentrations of pesticides and other toxins due to the lower volume of water, boat traffic riding closer to the riverbeds, the increased number of boats on the rivers and less oxygen in the water, Wessel said.

And, of course, the obvious. "If you live underwater and you don't have water above you, you're dead," he said.

Frank Jordans in Berlin and Daniel Niemann in Cologne contributed to this story.

German economy minister visits Turkey to expand trade ties

October 25, 2018

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Germany's economy minister started a two-day visit to Turkey on Thursday, bringing with him a 30-person business delegation in a bid to boost trade ties between the two countries.

Germany is a top trading partner for Turkey. The visit comes as the NATO allies are trying to mend ties after clashing over numerous issues in recent years, including Turkey's jailing of German journalists. Last year, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused German officials of acting like Nazis after Turkish politicians were barred from holding election campaign rallies in Germany.

The visit by German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier also comes months after Turkey faced financial turmoil with a slump of the Turkish currency.  "Germany has an interest in a stable and dynamic economic relationship with Turkey," Altmaier said ahead of the trip.

Altmaier and Turkish Trade Minister Ruhsar Peskan will convene for the first time the Joint Economic and Trade Commission, which seeks to improve trade, industry, tourism and infrastructure projects between the two countries.

Altmaier on Friday is opening the second session of the German-Turkish Energy Forum with Turkish Energy Minister Fatih Donmez.

10,000 protest in German city against anti-migrant group

October 21, 2018

BERLIN (AP) — German police say about 10,000 people have taken part in a protest against the anti-migrant group PEGIDA in the eastern city of Dresden. Mainstream parties, labor unions and civil society groups staged a march with the slogan "heart not hatred."

PEGIDA, whose name stands for Patriotic Europeans against the Islamization of the West, celebrated its fourth birthday Sunday. German news agency dpa reported that the group held a separate rally in Dresden, attended by about 5,000 people.

Royals Harry and Meghan dedicate forest reserves in Tonga

October 26, 2018

NUKU'ALOFA, Tonga (AP) — The Duke and Duchess of Sussex on Friday dedicated two forest reserves in Tonga as they continued their trip of the South Pacific. Prince Harry said Tonga is leading by example and "understands deeply" the impact of environmental changes because the islands of the archipelago are directly affected.

Harry and wife Meghan visited Tupou College to make the dedication. The high school was founded in 1866 and is believed to be the oldest in the region. It's home to the last remaining forest on Tonga's main island, Tongatapu. The other reserve is on the island of Eua.

"Planting trees and conserving forests helps us in so many ways," Harry said. "It is a simple but effective way to restore and repair our environment, clean the air and protect habitat." The couple dedicated the two reserves to the Queen's Commonwealth Canopy environmental initiative, which was started in 2015 and has been signed on to by 42 of the Commonwealth's 53 countries.

Earlier in the day, the royal couple visited an exhibition celebrating Tongan handicrafts, including traditional mats and tapa cloth. They also met with political leaders. Tonga, home to just 106,000 people, is also known as the friendly islands. It was a British protectorate before gaining independence in 1970 and remains a part of the Commonwealth group of nations.

On Friday afternoon, the couple left Tonga bound for Australia, where they began their 16-day tour of four nations. They are returning to Australia to catch the final days of the Invictus Games, which Harry founded in 2014. The games give sick and injured military personnel and veterans the opportunity to compete in sports such as wheelchair basketball.

After Australia, the couple will finish their trip with a four-day visit to New Zealand.

Perry reported from Wellington, New Zealand.