World

Steinmeier is new German president

BERLIN: Billed as Germany’s “anti-Trump”, former foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier was elected on Sunday as the new head of state, vowing to stand up to simplistic populist rhetoric. The 61-year-old, who regularly polls as Germany’s most popular politician, will represent the EU’s top economy abroad in the largely ceremonial post and act as a kind of moral arbiter for the nation. Steinmeier said he would promote dialogue and democracy in the current “stormy times.”