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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses the 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, Tuesday, Sep 21, 2021 at UN headquarters. (Photo: AFP/Eduardo Munoz) - 

Turkey’s president has said he would consider buying a second Russian missile system in defiance of strong objections by the United States.

In an interview with American broadcaster CBS News, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey would have to decide its defence systems on its own.

Speaking to correspondent Margaret Brennan in New York this past week, Erdogan explained that Turkey was not given the option to buy American-made Patriot missiles and the US had not delivered F-35 stealth jets despite a payment of US$1.4 billion. Erdogan's comments came in excerpts released in advance of the full interview being broadcast on Sunday (Sep 26).

NATO member Turkey was kicked out of the F-35 programme and defence officials were sanctioned after it bought the Russian-made S-400 missile defence system. The US strongly objects to the use of Russian systems within NATO and says it poses a threat to the F-35s. Turkey maintains the S-400s could be used independently without being integrated into NATO systems and therefore pose no risk.

The US also sanctioned Turkey in 2020 for its purchase under a 2017 law aimed at pushing back Russian influence. The move was the first time that the law, known as CAATSA, was used to penalise a US ally.

But Erdogan has remained defiant. “Of course, of course, yes,” Erdogan said after stating Turkey would make its own defense choices, in response to Brennan’s question on whether Turkey would buy more S-400s.

The issue is one of several sticking points in Turkish-American relations that also include US support for Syrian Kurdish fighters who Turkey considers terrorists, and the continued US residency of a Muslim cleric accused of plotting the failed coup attempt against Erdogan’s government in 2016.

Erdogan is scheduled to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sep 29//CNA

An Evergrande sign is seen at the Evergrande Automotive R&D Institute Headquarters of China Evergrande Group in Shanghai, China, Sep 24, 2021. (Reuters/Aly Song) - 

Several local governments in China have set up special custodian accounts for property projects of its most indebted developer, Evergrande, to protect funds earmarked for housing projects from being diverted, media outlet Caixin said.

Reeling under US$305 billion of debt, Evergrande missed a payment deadline on a dollar bond last week, and its silence on the matter has set global investors wondering if they will have to swallow large losses when a 30-day grace period ends.

The special accounts have been set up since late August in at least eight provinces where Evergrande has the most unfinished projects, the Chinese outlet said on Sunday (Sep 26), citing a source close to the developer's management team.

These include Anhui, Guizhou, Henan, Jiangsu and cities in the southern Pearl River Delta, it added.

The custodian accounts aim to ensure homebuyers' payments are used to complete Evergrande's housing projects, and not diverted elsewhere, such as to creditors, Caixin said.

In some southern cities, such as Zhuhai and Shenzhen, the offices of the housing regulator, the Ministry of Housing and Urban‑Rural Development, were also involved in overseeing and reviewing fund use by Evergrande's projects, it said.

Evergrande and the housing ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In recent months, the cash-strapped developer, which epitomises the borrow-to-build business model, has stopped repaying some investors and suppliers and halted building work at many projects across China.

The housing regulator has also set a Sep 24 deadline for regional offices to report on the funding gaps facing Evergrande's unfinished projects, Caixin said, but it was not immediately clear if this had been met.

By the end of June, Evergrande still had 1,236 projects for sale, it said in a semi-annual report, including those completed and under construction.

Last week, the Wall Street Journal newspaper said Chinese authorities had asked local governments to prepare for a possible collapse of Evergrande, urging them to prevent unrest and mitigate ripple effects on the rest of the economy//CNA

(From left) Billboards with election campaign posters showing the three chancellor candidates in the the Sep 26 federal election, co-leader of Germany's Greens (Die Gruenen) Annalena Baerbock, German Finance Minister and Vice-Chancellor of the Social Democratic SPD Party Olaf Scholz and Christian Democratic Union CDU leader Armin Laschet are seen in Berlin. (Photo: AFP/John Macdougall) - 

Germany votes on Sunday (Sep 26) in one of the most unpredictable elections in its recent history, with Angela Merkel's conservatives and the centre-left Social Democrats in a tight race for her crown as she prepares to leave the political stage.

The epochal election ushers in the end of 16 years in power for Merkel and places Germany, a byword for stability, in a new period of uncertainty.

Opinion polls show the race for the chancellery headed for a photo finish, with Merkel's CDU-CSU conservative alliance on about 23 per cent, just behind the centre-left Social Democrats on 25 per cent -- well within the margin of error.

"We will certainly see some surprises on Sunday," said Nico Siegel, head of the Infratest Dimap polling company.

Despite the SPD's lead in the polls, a victory for the conservatives "can't be ruled out", he said.

"The race for first place is wide open."

About 40 per cent of Germany's 60.4 million eligible voters have said they are undecided, while the same proportion have already cast their ballots by post -- including Merkel herself.

The battle for the chancellery has boiled down to a contest between two men: Finance Minister and Vice Chancellor Olaf Scholz, 63, of the SPD, and Armin Laschet, 60, of the CDU-CSU.

But with both parties likely to fall well short of the majority needed to govern alone, there could be weeks or even months of fraught coalition negotiations.

After Germany's last election in September 2017, it was February before the CDU-CSU formed a coalition with the SPD.

Laschet, an affable but gaffe-prone centrist and longtime Merkel ally, was for some time the clear favourite to take the reins after the veteran chancellor leaves the stage.

But his popularity began to wane after a series of blunders over the summer, including being caught on camera laughing in the background during a tribute to the victims of devastating floods in Germany.

In the meantime, Scholz, who at the start of the year had looked down and out in the race, saw his ratings begin to rise as he avoided making such embarrassing mistakes.

Often described as capable but boring, Scholz has positioned himself as a safe pair of hands and the true Merkel continuity candidate, despite hailing from a different party.

Along with social justice, climate change has been one of the top concerns among voters in the run-up to the election.

The Green party enjoyed a surge in support earlier this year after naming 40-year-old Annalena Baerbock as its chancellor candidate, at one point even briefly taking the lead as the most popular party.

But after a series of missteps by Baerbock, including a plagiarism scandal, the Greens are now polling well behind the two leading parties on about 17 per cent.

While the chancellery may be out of reach for the party, it will likely have a role in Germany's next government.

All bets are off on the composition of the next coalition, as the SPD and the conservatives could each try to cobble together a ruling majority if there is little to divide their score.

On the eve of the polls, Scholz voiced his preference for a partnership with the Greens, calling on voters to give him the score needed to go with a two-way coalition.

If those numbers don't add up, he may have to also rope in the liberal FDP, which is not a natural bedfellow with the SPD or the Greens.

Laschet has signalled he could still try to form a coalition even if the CDU-CSU do not come first, most likely calling on the FDP and the Greens for support.

But coming second would be a devastating blow for the party, which has dominated German politics since World War II and has never won less than 30 per cent of the vote in federal elections//CNA

Shoppers wearing protective face masks line up to scan a QR code before entering a store on the first day of eased COVID-19 restrictions for the state of Victoria following an extended lockdown in Melbourne, Australia, on Jun 11, 2021. (Photo: Reuters/Sandra Sanders) - 

Australia's Victoria state reported 779 new COVID-19 infections and two deaths on Sunday (Sep 26), off the previous day's record high as the country's prime minister presses state leaders to be ready to reopen once they meet vaccination targets.

The daily increase was still the state's second-highest, after the 847 cases logged on Saturday, as officials battle to contain a Delta variant outbreak that has taken root since mid-year.

Australia's two most populous states, Victoria and New South Wales, have been struggling to contain the highly infectious variant while they ramp up vaccinations to 80 per cent of the population, a threshold that will allow officials to ease strict lockdown measures.

Three-quarters of Australians have had a first dose of vaccine, while just half have had both doses.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said in an interview aired on Sunday that he expects states to open up borders and ease restrictions once the 80 per cent vaccination threshold has been met.

"We each have a personal responsibility for looking after our own health. And so it's important that we do move forward," he told Channel 7's Sunrise program.

"There comes a time when you just got to move on and get on with it," he said from Washington, where he held a summit with his counterparts from the United States, Japan and India.

Morrison said his message to Australians was "that what I'd like them to have for Christmas is their lives back. And that's within the gift of governments. And that's a gift I'd like to see us give them."

New South Wales recorded nine deaths, according to government data on Sunday, while new locally acquired infections fell for a third day to 961, the lowest daily number in nearly a week, raising hopes that cases may have peaked, originally expected in mid-September, as vaccination rates climb.

"Whilst we are extremely encouraged by the downwards trend that we have seen, with Delta you cannot be complacent," said state Premier Gladys Berejiklian.

The state's first dose rate has risen to 85.2 per cent of people over 16 years of age, while 59.1 per cent of the population has had their second dose.

New South Wales has recorded 288 deaths in the Delta outbreak, accounting for nearly a quarter of the country's approximately 1,230 deaths.

State government officials are to finalise a roadmap this week for what to do when the 80 per cent target is met, as focus shifts to when to reopen community activities to the unvaccinated.

Sporting events, regional travel, pubs, restaurants and other functions may remain off limits to unvaccinated people until as many as 90 per cent of the state's adults have had two doses//CNA