Monday briefing: Merz will be Germany’s chancellor – but extremists are waiting in the wings

<p>In today’s newsletter: The far-right AfD may have come second, but at 20% they have been held off by the performance of mainstream parties, with the CDU leader Friedrich Merz on course to be the new chancellor</p><p></p><p>Good morning. Germany’s elections always matter far beyond the country’s borders – but yesterday’s vote <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2025/feb/19/the-rise-of-the-far-right-global-trade-and-ukraines-future-why-the-german-election-matters-visual-explainer">could be the most important in a generation</a>.</p><p>After decades as the stable linchpin of European liberal democracy, Germany has found itself sucked into the same crises that are erupting all over the continent – over its economy, attitudes to immigration and the war in Ukraine. And after the shocking interventions of JD Vance and Elon Musk in favour of the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party, the election became a symbol of a wider struggle for ideological supremacy – and posed a serious question over whether the centre can hold across the continent.</p><p><em><strong>Ukraine </strong></em>| Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he is not willing to cave in to intense pressure from the Trump administration to sign a $500bn minerals deal – adding that that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/23/zelenskyy-refuses-trump-demand-to-give-500bn-of-ukraine-minerals-to-us">he was ready to quit as president</a> if it meant “peace for Ukraine” or membership of Nato.</p><p><em><strong>Catholicism </strong></em>| Pope Francis, who is battling pneumonia and a complex lung infection, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/22/pope-francis-now-in-a-critical-condition-after-respiratory-crisis-vatican-says">remains in a critical condition</a>, the Vatican has said. Archbishop Rino Fisichella, a senior Vatican official, told participants at a mass in St Peter’s Basilica on Sunday morning they should make their prayers for Francis “stronger and more intense”.</p><p><em><strong>Afghanistan </strong></em>| The Taliban <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/feb/23/british-couple-in-their-70s-arrested-by-the-taliban-in-afghanistan">have arrested a British couple in their 70s</a> for “teaching mothers parenting with children”. Peter Reynolds, 79, and his wife, Barbie, 75, have been running projects in schools in Afghanistan for 18 years.</p><p><em><strong>Farming </strong></em>| Hospitals, schools and prisons are to be urged to buy more British food, as part of a government push <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/feb/23/labour-hopes-to-heal-rift-with-farmers-with-public-sector-food-targets">to heal a rift with farmers over changes to inheritance tax</a>. The environment secretary, Steve Reed, will set a target of sourcing at least half of public sector food from farms with the highest welfare standards, which should benefit British producers.</p><p><em><strong>Green economy </strong></em>| The net zero sector is growing <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/feb/24/britain-net-zero-economy-booming-cbi-green-sector-jobs-energy-security">three times faster than the overall UK economy</a>, analysis has found, providing high-wage jobs across the country while cutting climate-heating emissions and increasing energy security. 22,000 net zero businesses generated £83bn in gross value added last year.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/24/monday-briefing-merz-will-be-germanys-chancellor-but-extremists-are-waiting-in-the-wings">Continue reading...</a>