The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) on Saturday unanimously elected party co-chair Alice Weidel as its candidate for chancellor in February's parliamentary elections. The motion was carried to thunderous applause by almost 600 party delegates gathered for a conference in Riesa in the eastern state of Saxony.

Planned protests organized by an alliance of activists have begun ahead of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) two-day party conference, which kicks off Saturday morning in the eastern German town of Riesa in Saxony.

Chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz, leader of Germany's center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), firmly rejected any cooperation with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) in an interview with public broadcaster ARD on Friday evening.

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Political leaders have shunned the Alternative for Germany. But on his social media platform X, Mr. Musk is pitching the party as mainstream.

Elon Musk and a German far-right leader appeared to come to a truly bizarre agreement during a livestreamed X chat Thursday: Adolf Hitler was a communist. Musk had been plugging the chat with the AfD (Alternative for Germany) co-leader Alice Weidel for days,