Germany’s spy agency has officially classified the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party as an “extremist” organisation. 

The party has been growing in popularity and came second in February’s general election.

The country’s domestic intelligence agency said on Friday that it was an extremist entity which threatens democracy.

Its 1,000-page internal report claimed views around ethnicity held by the AfD aim to exclude certain groups from equal participation in society.

“The party’s prevailing understanding of the people based on ethnicity and descent is incompatible with the free democratic basic order,” the agency said in a statement.

“Specifically, the AfD considers, for example, German citizens with a migration background from predominantly Muslim countries not equal members of the ethnically defined German people.”

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AfD’s co-leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla described the decision as a “serious blow to German democracy”.

In a joint statement on Friday, they said: “The AfD is now being publicly discredited and criminalised as an opposition party shortly before the change of government.

“The associated, targeted interference in the democratic decision-making process is therefore clearly politically motivated. The AfD will continue to defend itself legally against this defamation that jeopardises democracy.”

The party leaders have consistently denied the party is either far right or extremist.

Local branches of the party in the east German states of Thuringia, Saxony, and Saxony-Anhalt had already been classified as extremist by regional spy chiefs.

The entire party was also previously designated “suspected” far-right extremist.

However, the announcement allows intelligence agencies to increase surveillance on the group.

It may also embolden opponents to try to get the party banned.

The decision was welcomed by the country’s interior minister, Nancy Faeser, who said in a statement that the new assessment was “clear and unequivocal”, adding that the party “discriminates against entire segments of the population and treats citizens with a migration background as second-class Germans”.

She underlined that “there has been no political influence on the findings” but said the new classification was likely to be subject to judicial review.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that although the intelligence agency has provided a “very detailed justification” for the decision, “ban proceedings must not be rushed”.

Anton Baron, a regional politician in the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, described the decision as “politically questionable”.

While the ruling is a blow for the party, it is unlikely to influence hardcore supporters, many of whom live in states where the party was already designated extremist at a local level.

Emergency crews in Israel are battling a wildfire that sent smoke drifting over Jerusalem and forced drivers to run from their cars.

About 5,000 acres (20 square kilometres) have been scorched since the blaze started in the hills outside the city on Wednesday.

The ambulance service said at least 12 people had been treated in hospital, mainly for smoke inhalation, but the fire service said “miraculously” no homes had been damaged.

Ten firefighting planes were dropping fire retardant material on Thursday and authorities said eight more were due to arrive.

Spain, Italy, France, Croatia, Ukraine and Romania are among those sending aircraft.

People celebrating Israel‘s independence day on Thursday were advised to be exceptionally careful if holding barbecues and told to avoid forests and parks.

Most official celebrations were cancelled as security forces were diverted to the fire effort.

The blaze is the most significant the country has seen in the past decade, according to Tal Volvovitch, from the fire and rescue authority.

However, an evacuation order for about 12 towns near Jerusalem has been lifted and the main highway linking Jerusalem to Tel Aviv also reopened on Thursday.

A day earlier, drivers had to abandoned their vehicles when flames encroached on the road.

Firefighting is continuing but the blaze has now been mostly contained, said the Jewish National Fund, which manages forests in the country.

It said conditions had been perfect for fires to spread – hot and dry, little rain over winter, and strong, shifting winds.

“Of course when there’s a series of drought years, it’s a fertile ground for fires,” said the fund’s Anat Gold, adding that climate change was the likely cause.

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Israel often gets wildfires in the summer but it’s unusual for them to break out this early in the year.

In 2010, a forest fire burned for four days on Israel’s Mount Carmel, claiming 44 lives and destroying around 12,000 acres.

This is a significant moment in this war.

It strengthens ties between Ukraine and the US which have been fraying to the point of disintegration.

But will it increase the chances of a diplomatic breakthrough to find peace? Possibly not. Without that, this agreement will have changed little in this pointless grinding war.

But it does give Donald Trump a personal political investment in a conflict he has always seemed to have regarded as someone else’s fault, someone else’s problem and a money pit for US resources.

On the face of it, it is a purely economic agreement.

Ukraine had wanted to tie in explicit guarantees of continuing US military support. The details are scant but they appear to be absent.

But reaching agreement is a considerable diplomatic achievement on both sides.

The negotiations have been painful.

Ukraine war latest: Follow live updates

The idea of a minerals deal was initially proposed by President Zelenskyy but at times he must have regretted it as acrimonious talks threatened to torpedo US support for Ukraine entirely.

It was meant to have been signed in February before the infamous Zelenskyy-Trump-Vance bust up in the Oval Office.

At one point it looked like an act of extortion. Like gangsters running a protection racket, the US seemed to be demanding all Ukraine’s mineral wealth in return for continued support.

But the terms now look less onerous. Most importantly it seems the Trump administration is not asking retrospectively for the return of billions given by the Biden administration, by means of this minerals extraction agreement.

The turning point in negotiations appears to have been the meeting engineered between Mr Trump and Mr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the Pope’s funeral in Rome on Saturday. Mr Zelenskyy appears to have persuaded Mr Trump it was a deal worth signing.

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The terms are vague and not detailed but the agreement appears to be more of a long term proposal for joint cooperation over Ukraine’s economic future.

America will invest in exploiting Ukraine’s mineral wealth but also share the profits years down the line.

The signing comes at a crucial time for Ukraine. Its forces are losing ground on the battlefield. And Mr Trump’s efforts to broker peace look decidedly one-sided against them.

Falling in line on this deal was essential for Ukrainians. Whether it saves them from President Trump walking away and ending military support for them anyway, is by no means certain.