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Sep 7, 2026 - World

The far-right Alternative for Germany party thanked the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, after decisively winning a key regional election on Sunday, sparking alarm across Europe and around the globe.Ulrich Siegmund, AfD’s lead candidate in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt, praised Musk—who has openly advocated for the far-right, xenophobic party—for his support and “clear and highly important perspective on the political developments of our time—including here in Germany.” Siegmund wrote that if AfD ends up leading the state government, the party “would very much welcome the opportunity for strong and constructive cooperation,” adding that “Germany would once again be a place worth investing in.”Siegmund’s post on the social media platform X, which Musk owns, came after AfD won just over 44% of the vote in the Saxony-Anhalt election, trouncing the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), led by Chancellor Friedrich Merz. CDU finished a distant second with 17.1% of the vote.“Well done!” Musk wrote, in German, following AfD’s election win. The mega-billionaire has called AfD “the only hope for Germany.”US President Donald Trump, a political ally of Musk, posted to Truth Social a screenshot of exit polls showing AfD leading the regional election on Sunday afternoon.“Leave it to Trump to celebrate the victory of a far-right German party that shows sympathy for the Nazis, downplays the Holocaust, and flirts with Putin,” Kenneth Roth, the former executive director of Human Rights Watch, wrote on social media in response to the US president.The Associated Press noted that “to win an absolute majority, AfD needed to clinch 42 of the 83 seats in the state parliament, but the party appeared on track to win 39. Depending on the ultimate make-up of parliament, it could still end up leading the state government.” Siegmund would be the first far-right leader to govern a German state since 1945.But other German parties have refused to work with AfD, raising doubts about its ability to form a government in Saxony-Anhalt, which has a population of around 2.1 million people.David Adler, co-general coordinator of the Progressive International, wrote that the election “sent a clear message, to Germany as to all of Europe, that the far-right rampage is not slowing down, but accelerating instead.”AfD focuses heavily on immigration, vowing “deportation from minute one” and calling for abolition of “the fundamental right to asylum.”“In addition to deporting immigrants, the party has proposed cutting funding for public broadcasters, banning gay pride flags in schools, and teaching more Russian, as well as tax breaks for large families and free childcare,” The New York Times reported. The newspaper noted that Siegmund declined to condemn supporters who “chanted his surname... in the style of the Nazi salute, ‘Sieg Heil.’”European officials voiced deep concern about AfD’s surge in the regional election, with France’s Europe minister calling the results “a serious moment.”“Nationalism and xenophobia will never be a solution,” said Benjamin Haddad. “We must listen with humility to the anger, the concerns, the fears, and respond to them. We cannot forget our history. That is the meaning behind the choices made by France and Germany.”Spanish Julen Bollain wrote on social media that “the far-right is managing to turn discontent, economic insecurity, and disaffection into votes.”“AfD is doing something that should especially worry the left: transforming precarity, frustration, and disaffection into political identity and votes,” Bollain added. “And if we don’t manage to give a collective response to the existing social discontent, someone always shows up ready to turn it into fear, hate, and scapegoats. And there they beat us, because they move like fish in water.”This story was published in partnership with Common Dreams. Read the original here.

Sep 7, 2026 - World

President Donald Trump's ongoing war in Iran is costing Americans $1 million every two minutes in higher energy prices, according to a Brown University analysis. That's a total of $100 billion in added costs. "Yes," Brown University confirms to its viewers, "that's $100.0 Billion."The Iran War Energy Cost Tracker from Brown's Watson School calculates in real time the extra cost paid for gasoline and diesel Americans have paid since the conflict began on Feb. 28."We use actual prices that are updated daily," the Watson School states on its website. "Fuel costs are just one part of a war's consequences, but they come directly out of Americans' pockets. These costs are rising."According to Axios, first to report on the tracker, a recent surge in diesel prices threatens to seriously spike freight and travel prices in the months to come.Diesel hit an all-time record high on Friday and it continued to rise every day, hitting $5.90 a gallon on Monday morning — up 60% from a year ago, according to Axios."Voters consistently say inflation is their most important issue, and on that subject they give the president substantial negative marks," the report notes. "With less than two months until the midterm elections, it'll be hard to temper their anger."

Sep 7, 2026 - World

Russia’s Foreign Ministry has announced the closure of the German consulate in St. Petersburg

Sep 7, 2026 - World

The Serbian government has proposed dissolving Parliament, setting in motion a procedure for scheduling a high-stakes early parliamentary election

Sep 7, 2026 - World

North Korea says leader Kim Jong Un has put his second naval destroyer into service and called for building a more reliable nuclear deterrent