As the AfD elects its chancellor candidate, the far-right party looms large over German politics
And so now it is certain. Alice Weidel will lead her far-right party into Germany’s general election next month.
She was overwhelmingly backed at the Alternative for Germany (AfD) conference and was greeted with a standing ovation.
Weidel will fight the election with a manifesto that follows a familiar pattern from other successful populist campaigns in Europe and beyond – contempt for mainstream politicians, anger over levels of irregular immigration, a desire to rein in the power of the European Union and dismay over the spread of so-called woke values.
Alice Weidel looks on after she was elected as top candidate for chancellor of the AfD.
Pic: Reuters/Matthias Rietschel
A participant at the AfD national party conference.
Pic: AP/Sebastian Kahnert/picture-alliance/dpa
“Thank you for your trust,” she told the audience.
“I am excited to lead our campaign. For our people, for our future.”
Who is Weidel?
Weidel is an unusual figure to lead a German hard right-wing party – a gay woman with a PhD in economics, a Sri Lankan partner, two children and a home in another country – she commutes from Switzerland.
Admittedly there is an awkward history – her grandfather was a Nazi judge appointed to the job personally by Adolf Hitler, but she has maintained that she did not know that fact growing up and has angrily distanced herself from accusations of racism.
Indeed, Ms Weidel maintains that her party is not on the far right, but is simply conservative.
Pic: AP/Sebastian Kahnert/picture-alliance/dpa/
And that is part of her attraction – she is perceived as uncompromising on the things that the AfD’s supporters hold dear – migration, Euroscepticism, the greatness of German culture – but she’s also perceived as more palatable to the wider public.
Or, at least, that’s the idea.
Thousands of protesters
Outside the sports centre, where the AfD’s convention was being held, thousands of protesters gathered to raise their fears that the country was going back to the politics of the past.
“They are fascists,” said a man called Gabriel, who was helping to blockade the road that ran past the venue.
“I don’t know if we have learnt anything in the past hundred years but now we do have to stand against fascism.”
Protesters against the AfD during their national conference.
Pic: AP/Jan Woitas/picture-alliance/dpa/
Many of the delegates would angrily decry that label.
However, there was a rousing reception for Bjorn Hocke, a long-standing AfD politician who is from the right wing of this right-wing party.
His grouping, Der Flugel, was declared a suspected extremist organisation but he remained the party’s leader in Thuringia.
In 2019, a court ruled that it was not libellous to refer to Hocke as a fascist.
He has twice been found guilty of using Nazi slogans but last year, under his leadership, the AfD won the state election.
Emotions often run high when the AfD is involved. The protests here were, at times, heated.
Police officers during the protest that blocked a road near the venue for the AfD party congress.
Pic: Reuters/Thilo Schmuelgen
Police had to clear the road in front of Ms Weidel’s car as some protesters sat down and others began to surround it.
Later, the party’s MPs were called to gather together for a sudden security briefing.
The sports centre where this meeting was held once hosted the World Sumo Wrestling Championship.
Here, the heavyweights were political, and the prize at stake was far more consequential.
Barring a quite astonishing movement in the polls, the AfD is unlikely to win the election next month, but the party may well come second with more than 20% of the vote.
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That probably won’t equate to power – Germany’s major parties have all said they won’t go into coalition with the AfD – but it will mean momentum.
It will mean a loud voice in the Bundestag, the German federal parliament, and the ability to pressure the next chancellor into reflecting the opinions of the millions who vote for Ms Weidel’s vision.
Long term, if Ms Weidel can prove that her party is palatable, as well as popular, then she knows the political dam will one day break.
If enough people back the AfD, it will eventually become impossible to shun the party forever.
Around 14 million people could die across the world over the next five years because of cuts to the US Agency for International Development (USAID), researchers have warned.
Children under five are expected to make up around a third (4.5 million) of the mortalities, according to a study published in The Lancet medical journal.
Estimates showed that “unless the abrupt funding cuts announced and implemented in the first half of 2025 are reversed, a staggering number of avoidable deaths could occur by 2030”.
“Beyond causing millions of avoidable deaths – particularly among the most vulnerable – these cuts risk reversing decades of progress in health and socioeconomic development in LMICs [low and middle-income countries],” the report said.
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March: ‘We are going to lose children’: Fears over USAID cuts in Kenya
USAID programmes have prevented the deaths of more than 91 million people, around a third of them among children, the study suggests.
The agency’s work has been linked to a 65% fall in deaths from HIV/AIDS, or 25.5 million people.
Eight million deaths from malaria, more than half the total, around 11 million from diarrheal diseases and nearly five million from tuberculosis (TB), have also been prevented.
USAID has been vital in improving global health, “especially in LMICs, particularly African nations,” according to the report.
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Established in 1961, the agency was tasked with providing humanitarian assistance and helping economic growth in developing countries, especially those deemed strategic to Washington.
But the Trump administration has made little secret of its antipathy towards the agency, which became an early victim of cuts carried out by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) – formerly led by Elon Musk – in what the US government said was part of a broader plan to remove wasteful spending.
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What is USAID?
In March, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said more than 80% of USAID schemes had been closed following a six-week review, leaving around 1,000 active.
The US is the world’s largest humanitarian aid donor, providing around $61bn (£44bn) in foreign assistance last year, according to government data, or at least 38% of the total, and USAID is the world’s leading donor for humanitarian and development aid, the report said.
Between 2017 and 2020, the agency responded to more than 240 natural disasters and crises worldwide – and in 2016 it sent food assistance to more than 53 million people across 47 countries.
The study assessed all-age and all-cause mortality rates in 133 countries and territories, including all those classified as low and middle-income, supported by USAID from 2001 to 2021.
Thailand’s prime minister has been suspended after a leaked phone call with a senior Cambodian politician caused outrage.
An ethics investigation into Paetongtarn Shinawatra is under way and she could end up being dismissed.
The country’s constitutional court took up a petition from 36 senators, who claimed dishonesty and a breach of ethical standards, and voted 7 to 2 to suspend her.
Protesters gathered in Bangkok at the weekend. Pic: Reuters
The prime minister’s call with Cambodia’s former leader, Hun Sen, sparked public protests after she tried to appease him and criticised a Thai army commander – a taboo move in a country where the military is extremely influential.
Ms Shinawatra was trying to defuse mounting tensions at the border – which in May resulted in the death of one Cambodian soldier.
Thousands of conservative, nationalist protesters held a demo in Bangkok on Saturday to urge her to step down.
Her party is clinging on to power after another group withdrew from their alliance a few weeks ago over the phone call. Calls for a no-confidence vote are likely.
Deputy prime minister Suriya Juangroongruangkit will take over temporarily while the court looks into the case.
The 38-year-old prime minister – Thailand‘s youngest ever leader – has 15 days to respond to the probe. She has apologised and said her approach in the call was a negotiating tactic.
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The popularity of her government has slumped recently, with an opinion poll showing an approval rating of 9.2%, down from 30.9% in March.
Ms Shinawatra comes from a wealthy dynasty synonymous with Thai politics.
Her father Thaksin Shinawatra – a former Manchester City owner – and aunt Yingluck Shinawatra served as prime minister before her – in the early to mid 2000s – and their time in office also ended ignominiously amid corruption charges and military coups.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be meeting Donald Trump next Monday, according to US officials.
The visit on 7 July comes after Mr Trump suggested it was possible a ceasefire in Gaza could be reached within a week.
On Sunday, he wrote on social media: “MAKE THE DEAL IN GAZA. GET THE HOSTAGES BACK!!!”
At least 60 people killed across Gaza on Monday, in what turned out to be some of the heaviest attacks in weeks.
Benjamin Netanyahu, left, with Donald Trump during a previous meeting. Pic: Reuters
According to the Hamas-run health ministry, 56,500 people have been killed in the 20-month war.
The visit by Mr Netanyahu to Washington has not been formally announced and the officials who said it would be going ahead spoke on condition of anonymity.
An Israeli official in Washington also confirmed the meeting next Monday.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the administration was in constant communication with the Israeli government.
She said Mr Trump viewed ending the war in Gaza and returning remaining hostages held by Hamas as a top priority.
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The war in Gaza broke out in retaliation for Hamas’ 7 October 2023 attacks on southern Israel that killed 1,200 people and saw a further 250 taken hostage.
An eight-week ceasefire was reached in the final days of Joe Biden’s US presidency, but Israel resumed the war in March after trying to get Hamas to accept new terms on next steps.
Talks between Israel and Hamas have stalled over whether the war should end as part of any ceasefire.
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