{"id":839507,"date":"2026-09-07T13:20:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-07T13:20:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/839507\/"},"modified":"2026-09-07T13:20:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-07T13:20:09","slug":"first-thing-german-far-right-leader-thanks-elon-musk-after-landmark-election-win-praised-by-russia-us-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/839507\/","title":{"rendered":"First Thing: German far-right leader thanks Elon Musk after landmark election win praised by Russia | US news"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning. A far-right leader who has won an important state election in Germany has thanked Elon Musk for his support<\/a>, as voices in Europe warn the result is a serious moment for the continent. No far-right party has led or formed a government in Germany since the defeat of nazism at the end of the second world war.<\/p>\n

Ulrich Siegmund, the Alternative f\u00fcr Deutschland\u2019s lead candidate, thanked Musk on X after the tech billionaire said \u201cWell done!\u201d in German to the AfD co-founder Alice Weidel. The populist, far-right, anti-immigration party won the vote in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt.<\/p>\n

During its campaign, the AfD sought to capitalise on a mood of nostalgia for the communist East Germany and discontent among east Germans. The party has promised a remigration and deportation offensive, to ban rainbow flags in schools and halt the building of new windfarms. It wants to change the slogan of the state from \u201cThink Modern\u201d to \u201cThink German\u201d, and reintroduce the singing of the country\u2019s national anthem in schools.<\/p>\n

Will the AfD be able to form a state government? Despite its resounding victory, the party fell just short of a majority. It was seeking an absolute majority in the state legislature to govern alone and overcome the so-called \u201cfirewall\u201d of the mainstream parties, which refuse to work with it. The final results showed the AfD falling three seats short, with 39 lawmakers in an 83-member legislature.<\/p>\n

What has been the reaction in Washington and Moscow? Donald Trump posted a screenshot of the election projection without comment on his Truth Social site. The Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev took a screengrab of Trump\u2019s post and praised a \u201chistoric win for the pragmatic AfD\u201d. The AfD is pro-Kremlin, urging a stop to support for Ukraine and pushing for Ukrainians in Germany to no longer receive refugee status.<\/p>\n

Iran war likely to drag on for another six months, former US defense secretary warnsLeon Panetta said the Iran conflict risked becoming another \u2018forever war in the Middle East\u2019. Photograph: Paul Buck\/EPA<\/p>\n

Donald Trump\u2019s war with Iran is likely to drag on for another six months<\/a>, the former US defense secretary Leon Panetta has said, adding that it risks becoming another \u201cforever war in the Middle East\u201d, with no clear end in sight.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s no mystery that the United States and Iran are caught in a terrible stalemate, in which there really are very few options available to bring this war to an end,\u201d said Panetta, who also served as CIA director under Barack Obama. \u201cI think the likelihood is this war is going to continue for another six months without being resolved,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Who else has been saying Trump\u2019s war may not achieve its aims? The US energy secretary, Chris Wright, said on Sunday morning Washington might not be able to reach an agreement with Tehran<\/a> that would prevent Iran from having nuclear weapons. \u201cWe are strangling their economy to try to bring either a change in policy from the existing regime or a new regime,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Lindsay Clancy murder trial ends in dramatic deadlockThe case against Lindsay Clancy has ceased for the moment, but the legal wrangling is not over and a second trial could now be on the horizon. Photograph: Greg Derr\/Reuters<\/p>\n

Lindsay Clancy, prosecutors, defense lawyers, the judge and the millions watching on were back where they started<\/a> after her five-week trial over the murder of her three children ended in a mistrial. The case has ceased for the moment, but the legal wrangling is not over and a second trial could now be on the horizon, prolonging and repeating an agonizing spectacle that has gripped the US and the world.<\/p>\n

What will Clancy\u2019s defense team most likely do? They will almost certainly push to have the charges against their client dropped, aggressively lobby against another trial and make a case to the district attorney\u2019s office along the lines of: \u201cWhy are you doing this to this poor woman? She\u2019s still clearly obviously suffering. She\u2019s been punished with her paralysis and, worse than that, the loss of her three children.\u201d<\/p>\n

Flock surveillance cameras spur rare bipartisan backlashThere are about 120,000 Flock cameras across the US, which conduct roughly 2bn scans a month. Photograph: Brian Snyder\/Reuters<\/p>\n

Growing factions from both sides of the political aisle in the US are pushing back against surveillance cameras made by a single company<\/a>, a rare response in a sharply divided country with a president pushing an unwaveringly pro-tech agenda.<\/p>\n

There are about 120,000 Flock cameras across the US, which conduct roughly 2bn scans a month. The company is staring down controversy after reports of abuses of its cameras by police officers in multiple states, who have used them to stalk former lovers and track people seeking abortions. The network the cameras feed into is also frequently used by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.<\/p>\n

In other news \u2026This satellite image shows three storms, from left, Hurricane Lowell, Hurricane Karina and Tropical Storm Marie in the Pacific Ocean. Photograph: CIRA\/NOAA\/APStat of the day: At least five dead after Amazon cargo plane crashes at Miami airportThe Amazon car plane overshot the runway at Miami, striking several vehicles. Photograph: Lynne Sladky\/AP<\/p>\n

An Amazon cargo plane crashed<\/a> at Miami international airport in Florida after the flight overshot the runway, striking several vehicles and resulting in at least five deaths. Three people were left in critical condition and two more were hospitalized as operations at the airport were brought to a halt.<\/p>\n

Building Power: Even in safe-haven Massachusetts, trans care is at risk, but young people are fighting to protect itYoung trans activists protest in the building containing the office of Massachusetts\u2019 state attorney general in Boston Photograph: Alexa B Wilkinson\/courtesy of Gender Liberation Movement<\/p>\n

Organizers with the youth-led group Protect Trans Futures (PTF) have staged an occupation<\/a>, refusing to leave without a commitment to protect civil rights for trans children.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t miss this: Tennessee says child rapists deserve to die \u2013 now it prepares to execute one of their victimsOn Wednesday, Christa Pike\u2019s lawyers filed a 226-page clemency petition with Tennessee\u2019s Republican governor, Bill Lee. Photograph: AP<\/p>\n

Aged just 18, Christa Pike was sentenced to death for murder. But what if the jury knew she had suffered years of sexual abuse as a child? Ed Pilkington reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2026 or this: Graphic novel aims to remember the history and horror of genocidePortraits in the Holocaust Memorial Center for the Jews of North Macedonia, Skopje. Photograph: Georgi Licovski\/EPA<\/p>\n

Dana Mashoian Walrath\u2019s The Book of Genocides is an audacious and personal new look at genocides from Germany to Palestine. David Smith speaks to the author<\/a>, who expects to get banned from Israel as a result of her work.<\/p>\n

Climate check: The heat crisis has mayors of major cities all facing the same questionThe mayor of Phoenix, Arizona, is working with her counterparts in other parts of the world. Photograph: John Sirlin\/Alamy<\/p>\n

Writing for the Guardian, the mayors of Paris, Milan and Phoenix explain how they are<\/a> working jointly to find solutions that protect vulnerable residents, communicate risk, and redesign neighborhoods in preparation for hotter summers.<\/p>\n

Last Thing: How the Muppets rocked the world with anarchy, nonsense and the inimitable Miss PiggyElton John performs on The Muppet Show, which first hit screens in September 1976. Photograph: David Dagley\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

Who doesn\u2019t love the The Muppet Show, which first hit our screens 50 years ago? Darren Richman looks back<\/a> at that incredible burst of creativity from Jim Henson and company.<\/p>\n

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