Fownhope’s Heart of Oak Society traces its roots to the age of friendly societies, when communities provided their own safety net. Its anniversary celebrations reveal a tradition still very much alive, says MARK SEDDON
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September's elections: a letter from Germany
The next administration will have to wrestle with the thorny topic of a crumbling EU and the demands from the US for a new Cold War — and sadly, the new government is unlikely to be left wing, reports JOHN GREEN
Long goodbye: Angela Merkel is to leave office after 16 years
ANGUS REID explains the significance of Cuba’s egalitarian in letter and spirit Family Code and the pertinent lessons it holds for democracies anywhere in the world
Special report by PEOPLE’S WORLD
NICK WRIGHT considers how the isolation of Israel and a new film on the controversial Italian communist leader are creating new reference points for Italy’s left
CARLOS MARTINEZ says Cuba’s achievements in the face of a criminal blockade are startling, but the island’s future if the United States succeeds in crushing it looks bleak
AMNON BROWNFIELD STEIN reports that far-right MPs who mobbed the event organised by Hadash may have helped raise awareness of the brutality of the Israeli right
THE forthcoming Bundestag — German parliament — elections on September 26 will be a nail-biting affair and the outcome will have repercussions not only for national politics but also for Germany’s role internationally.
The new Bundestag’s first task will be to elect a Chancellor. Since her election to the chancellorship in 2005, Angela Merkel has been a conciliatory and stabilising figure.
Although her party — the Christian Democratic Union (CDU-CSU) — was the largest in the Bundestag, it never had an overall majority. Throughout her chancellorship Merkel has been obliged to rule in coalition with one or two of the other parties. Her decision to resign this year, after 16 years in the post, has left a gaping hole, with no obvious successor to fill it.
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NICK WRIGHT returns to Berlin and finds a city in darkness and political turmoil
The cancelled China trip of the German Foreign Minister marks a break with Helmut Schmidt’s China policy and drives Germany further into Washington’s confrontation course, warns SEVIM DAGDELEN
Every Starmer boast about removing asylum-seekers probably wins Reform another seat while Labour loses more voters to Lib Dems, Greens and nationalists than to the far right — the disaster facing Labour is the leadership’s fault, writes DIANE ABBOTT MP
