“Germans headed to the polls on Sunday to vote in the 2025 federal election, which is all but guaranteed to result in a new chancellor taking over from Olaf Scholz to lead Europe’s largest economy,” CNBC reports.

“The Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its affiliate the Christian Social Union (CSU) have been polling in first place in the lead-up to the election, putting their lead candidate Friedrich Merz in line for chancellorship.”

“The far-right Alternative fuer Deutschland (AfD) is expected to come second in line, ahead of Scholz’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the Greens, which have also been part of the most recent ruling coalition that collapsed late last year.”

New York Times: “The German election has in part focused on hot-button issues like immigration and more recently on the threat to the Atlantic alliance presented by President Trump. But the overriding concern in daily German life, according to interviews and polls, and the thing most likely to drive the choice of voters, is the nation’s anemic economy.”

“Business executives, workers and politicians alike agree that the next German chancellor must move quickly to repair the country’s ailing industrial sector, or risk economic and political disaster for years to come.”

Wall Street Journal: Why Germany’s confidence is shattered and its economy is kaput.

Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro “was charged Tuesday with overseeing a vast scheme to try to undermine his nation’s trust in the 2022 elections and then overturn that vote when his allies could not find evidence of fraud,” the New York Times reports.

“Brazil’s attorney general, Paulo Gonet Branco, indicted Mr. Bolsonaro and 33 other people for a series of crimes against Brazil’s democracy. The charges essentially accepted recommendations from Brazil’s federal police in November.”

“The case will now go before Brazil’s Supreme Court, which will analyze the charges and decide whether to arrest Mr. Bolsonaro and have him face trial.”

“J.D. Vance has met with the leader of Germany’s far-right Alternative für Deutschland party, breaking a taboo in German politics as the Trump administration continues to court and promote far-right populist parties across Europe,” The Guardian reports.

“Vance met with Weidel just weeks before a German election in which the anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim party appears poised to take second place on a wave of growing anti-establishment sentiment.”

Axios: Vance takes MAGA to Munich with speech scolding European leaders.

Bloomberg: “He’s had an uneasy relationship from the get-go with Trump, starting with a fateful 2019 phone call. The US leader, then in his first term, urged Zelenskiy to investigate claims against rival Joe Biden in return for military aid. Trump never warmed to him.”

“Now he’s making it obvious he wants Zelenskiy out. A person close to Zelenskiy said US officials were pressing in private that it was time to hold elections. Those intimations are no longer subtle as Trump makes digs at the president’s popularity.”

Said Trump: “He’s going to have to do what he has to do. But, you know, his poll numbers aren’t particularly great, to put it mildly.”

“The man likely to become Germany’s next leader warned that Elon Musk would face consequences for boosting the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD, through his X social-media platform,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

Said frontrunner Friedrich Merz: “What happened in this election campaign cannot go unchallenged.”

He added: “It can be a political response. It can be a legal response. I want to analyze this calmly after this election campaign.”

“Greenland on Tuesday passed a law banning foreign contributions to political parties, an assertion of self-governance amid concern over President Donald Trump’s calls for the United States to acquire the island,” the Washington Post reports.

“The move comes ahead of a general election, which Greenlandic Prime Minister Mute Egede on Tuesday proposed would take place March 11.”

Anne Applebaum: “He and other tech oligarchs are making it impossible to conduct free and fair elections anywhere.”

“It’s really insane that he can destabilize the political situations in countries… I mean, this is insane shit.”

— Bill Gates, quoted by the Daily Beast, on Elon Musk supporting right wing parties in Germany and the U.K.

Elon Musk made a virtual appearance at a rally for the far-right Alternative for Germany party on Saturday, reiterating his support ahead of the country’s Feb. 23 snap election and telling the crowd that it’s time to “move on” from “past guilt,” Politico reports.

The first YouGov/Times voting intention survey since the 2024 general election shows a close contest for the top spot between Labour (26%) and Reform UK (25%).

The Conservatives are in a close third place (22%), with the Lib Dems much further back on 14% and the Greens taking 8% of the vote.

“Elon Musk urged Germans to vote for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) in an upcoming election in a conversation with its leader on his social media platform X that highlighted the U.S. billionaire’s growing ambition to sway European politics,” USA Today reports.

Bloomberg: “The discussion, which ranged from Hitler and Stalin to aliens and a human settlement on Mars, lasted for just over an hour. Musk has more than 211 million followers on X and 105,000 people were listening in before the event kicked off.”

“The holiday period is over and Canadian politics is gripped by a single question: when will the country hear from Justin Trudeau?,” Bloomberg reports.

“The prime minister has largely disappeared from public view since Dec. 16, when Chrystia Freeland — his finance minister and once his most powerful ally in cabinet — resigned in devastating fashion, with a public letter that criticized him.”

“Elon Musk called for fresh UK elections in the latest sign of how Donald Trump’s incoming U.S. administration could be a thorn in the side of Keir Starmer’s government,” Bloomberg reports.

“With a majority of his caucus now calling on him to resign, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is on a ski holiday, reflecting on whether to stay or go,” Politico reports.

“Trudeau is way down in the polls and facing challenges from within his party about whether he’s the right leader to unite Canadians. His decision comes as Canada braces for a tariff war when Donald Trump returns to the White House in three weeks.”

Britain’s ruling Labour Party would lose nearly 200 seats if elections were held today as the populist Reform UK Party surges, according to a Sunday Times poll.

“Elon Musk reiterated his support for the far-right Alternative for Germany party, or AfD, in an opinion piece published by the Welt am Sonntag newspaper less than two months before Germans go to the polls,” Bloomberg reports.

Wrote Musk: “The AfD, even though it is described as far-right, represents a political realism that resonates with many Germans who feel their concerns are ignored by the establishment. It addresses the problems of the day — without the political correctness that often obscures the truth.”