“Social Democrat Leader Magdalena Andersson is on course to become Sweden’s next prime minister as her left-wing bloc holds an unassailable lead over the right and far right with 99.9% of results declared,” Politico reports.

Wall Street Journal: “For years, Musk has used his social-media megaphone to boost antiestablishment parties outside the U.S. railing against ‘woke’ politics, immigration and tech industry-regulation across Europe, South America and Africa. But no other foreign nation has drawn such frequent, sustained attention from the world’s richest man as the U.K.”

“Musk has twice exceeded 200 monthly posts about British politics and culture wars, though the volume waxes and wanes with the news cycle. In June alone, Musk posted more than 160 times on the topic—over 10% of his posts that month. By July, he was back to his baseline, with just a few dozen tweets.”

Bloomberg: “The debate reflects bigger questions about where the country sees itself in a world of increasingly fractured international relations. For many on the right, it’s lost much of what made it special, and can’t afford to let neutrality be weakened.”

“It’s a head-to-head between two competing visions. One points to sovereignty, neutrality and distance from larger powers — particularly the EU — as the foundations of Switzerland’s success. The second sees international cooperation as essential for a small economy which can steer its own fate only so far.”

“Sweden’s high-stakes general election is heading for a tight finish in a contest to decide whether a new center-left prime minister takes over or the far right enters government for the first time,” Politico reports.

“With 95% of results now declared, the left-wing bloc of Social Democrat opposition leader Magdalena Andersson has a three-seat lead in the 349-member parliament — ahead of conservative Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson’s four-party right-wing alliance.”

“The outcome of Sunday’s vote may not be known until Wednesday. The two candidates for prime minister will now seek talks with other party leaders as they attempt to solidify their blocs into governing majorities.”

“President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva edged ahead of Flávio Bolsonaro in a new poll ahead of October’s vote, as the latest twist in Brazil’s Supreme Court crisis renewed scrutiny of the right-wing challenger’s ties to a disgraced executive at the center of a multibillion-dollar banking fraud,” Bloomberg reports.

“Lula would lead a runoff 47%-46%, according to a BTG/Nexus survey published Monday, after gaining 2 points from the previous poll. The movement was within the survey’s 2-point margin of error, leaving the race in a statistical dead heat.”

“Chancellor Friedrich Merz is determined to hold on to power in Germany in defiance of the growing numbers within his party seeking to push him out of office,” Bloomberg reports.

“The German leader is facing a wave of frustration over communication missteps and his failure to gain traction with the public as he struggles to revive economic growth. The far-right’s stunning victory in a state election on Sunday, putting the party within reach of leading a right-wing state government for the first time since World War II, has thrown Merz’s leadership into more disarray.”

“A far-right electoral victory in a small eastern state has plunged Friedrich Merz, the German chancellor, into a fight for his political survival with no surefire paths to prevail,” the New York Times reports.

“Mr. Merz was not on the ballot in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, where the Alternative for Germany party, or AfD, won nearly 44 percent of the vote and now sits on the cusp of becoming the first far-right party to govern a German state since the end of World War II. But Mr. Merz, a mainstream conservative, was very much on voters’ minds, post-election analyses show — and not fondly.”

“Now, with two more key regional elections set for this month — in Berlin and in the coastal state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania — Mr. Merz is struggling to reassure restless party stalwarts that he remains the leader that they and Germany need.”

For members: Germany Takes a Hard Right Turn

“Germany’s Alternative for Germany scored a historic victory at a regional election on Sunday but was just short of the majority needed to form the country’s first far-right government since World War II, according to preliminary results,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“The result will present other parties on the right and the left with a stark choice: continue banding together to keep the AfD out of power despite deep political differences—a decades-old strategy known as the firewall—or let the AfD form a minority government for the first time.”

“Now the ball is with Chancellor Friedrich Merz and his center-right Christian Democratic Union. The path he takes could decide his fate and that of his government.”

Axios: Far-right win in state election tests Germany’s political firewall.

“The far-right Alternative for Germany decisively won the state election in Saxony-Anhalt amid growing public discontent with the political establishment, but is expected to fall short of an outright majority to form a government,” Bloomberg reports.

“The AfD secured 44.5% of the vote on Sunday in the eastern state, well ahead of the long-governing Christian Democratic Union with 18.5%.”

“During the coronavirus pandemic, a little-known German state lawmaker with an upbeat patter and a telegenic smile started railing on TikTok against pandemic regulations. Complaining about masks, vaccinations and other government requirements that he deemed ‘crazy,’ the lawmaker attracted millions of viewers with his videos by using an affable tone to deliver an anti-establishment message,” the New York Times reports.

“Now, that lawmaker, Ulrich Siegmund, has harnessed his online popularity to come closer to power than any other far-right politician in Germany since the Nazi era ended in 1945.”

“Germany’s anti-immigration, nationalist AfD looks set to emerge as the dominant party in key state elections this weekend, cementing its rise and reshaping of the country’s politics. Recent polling published by Die Zeit showed, however, that the party will fall short of winning an absolute majority in Saxony-Anhalt,” Semafor reports.

“Sunday’s vote kicks off a spate of major elections worldwide in the coming months that each have the potential to drastically alter domestic — and global — politics.”

“Just days before the far-right AfD clinches a possible election triumph, German executives are warning of the economic damage that its extremism might wreak,” Bloomberg reports.

“The party is on track to win the vote in Saxony-Anhalt on Sunday, and could even potentially achieve an absolute majority. Such an outcome in the eastern German state would augur the first far-right government taking power at that level since 1945, a prospect that is openly alarming some business leaders.”

“Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) on Sunday renewed his call for free and fair elections in Venezuela, just two days after the Trump administration announced that the U.S. would take over 65 billion barrels of oil from the South American nation,” NBC News reports.

Said Cruz: “There need to be democratic, free elections in Venezuela.”

“Chancellor Friedrich Merz warned that Germany’s eastern Saxony-Anhalt region will suffer economic damage if the far-right AfD party wins control of the state’s government next Sunday,” Bloomberg reports.

Said Merz: “If things turn out the way the polls suggest, this federal state will face significant problems. I cannot imagine international investors showing up for a groundbreaking ceremony with an AfD state premier to establish new plants or set up new businesses in Saxony-Anhalt.”

“Iceland’s voters rejected a proposal to restart negotiations on joining the European Union more than a decade after previous talks ended, the national broadcaster reported Sunday,” the Associated Press reports.

“The vote will put the long-debated issue to rest more than a decade after a euroskeptic government ended EU talks.”

“The far-right One Nation party has secured its first lower house seat in the state parliament of Western Australia, defeating the ruling Labor Party to win a special election,” Bloomberg reports.

“The election was watched as an indicator of One Nation’s strength after the party surged in the polls over the past year.”