https://www.scmp.com/rss/522602/feed The latest news and top stories on Alternative for Germany. A prominent Germany-based far-right political party, Alternative for Germany (AfD) is dedicated to a platform of Euroscepticism, German nationalism and anti-immigration policies. Headquartered in Berlin, its main areas of activity include advocating for direct democracy and opposing the influence of Islam. The AfD has significantly disrupted German politics, becoming the largest opposition party in the Bundestag following the 2025... en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Reuters Reuters When US President Donald Trump ⁠asked countries to join a global effort against Iran and deploy ships to prise open the Strait of Hormuz, whose near closure has held the global economy in a vice, he was rebuffed by some of America’s closest allies. Using unusually blunt language, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz told his country’s lawmakers on Wednesday that he agreed Iran must not be allowed to pose a threat to its neighbours but expressed doubts about the rationale behind the US-Israeli... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3347086/europe-says-no-trumps-iran-demands-not-our-war?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3347086/europe-says-no-trumps-iran-demands-not-our-war?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Mar 2026 20:12:55 +0000 Reuters Reuters Jurgen Habermas, best known for his theory of political consensus-building, shaped the discourse of post-war ⁠Germany more than any other popular intellectual. He died on Saturday, aged 96, in Starnberg, ⁠Germany, the publisher Suhrkamp said. Over the course of seven decades, his public interventions – from searing critiques of fascist thought in the 1950s to more recent warnings against resurgent militarism and nationalism in Germany – steered the country at critical junctions. Not only his... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3346630/jurgen-habermas-philosopher-who-shaped-germanys-post-war-conscience-dies-96?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3346630/jurgen-habermas-philosopher-who-shaped-germanys-post-war-conscience-dies-96?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 Mar 2026 18:30:03 +0000 Peter T. C. Chang Peter T. C. Chang Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s landslide electoral victory on Sunday signals a troubling shift: Japan’s unsettling turn to the right. In a post-US-led world order, safeguarding Japan’s security will require reaffirming, not abandoning, its post-war pacifist constitution. At the recent World Economic Forum annual meeting at Davos, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney made a telling admission about the US-led international rules-based order: it was never truly fair. Canada benefited from... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3343064/takaichis-anti-china-stance-wont-bolster-japans-security?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3343064/takaichis-anti-china-stance-wont-bolster-japans-security?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 13 Feb 2026 21:30:08 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Thousands of demonstrators gathered in the western German town of Giessen on Saturday as the far-right Alternative for Germany’s (AfD’s) new youth organisation was set to kick off its founding convention. Groups of protesters blocked or tried to block roads in and around the university town of some 93,000 in the early morning. Police said they used pepper spray after stones were thrown at officers at one location. At a rally at the railway station, protesters chanted “All together. Against... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3334622/thousands-protest-germany-far-right-afd-party-starts-youth-convention?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3334622/thousands-protest-germany-far-right-afd-party-starts-youth-convention?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 29 Nov 2025 10:36:50 +0000 Finbarr Bermingham Finbarr Bermingham A German man who used to work for a far-right member of the European Parliament has been jailed for spying for China. Jian Guo was sentenced to four years and nine months on Tuesday, according to the news agency dpa. The Higher Regional Court of Dresden found the former aide to Maximilian Krah, a controversial but high-profile member of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, guilty of passing information about parliamentary negotiations and decisions to contacts in China’s intelligence... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3327426/far-right-german-politicians-former-aide-jailed-spying-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3327426/far-right-german-politicians-former-aide-jailed-spying-china?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 30 Sep 2025 12:27:26 +0000 Reuters Reuters Allied talk of sending European peacekeeping forces to protect Ukraine as part of a possible peace deal with Russia has sparked a backlash in Germany, a country still scarred by its militaristic Nazi past, even if the prospect remains remote. Chancellor Friedrich Merz has signalled openness to German participation in a possible peacekeeping mission in Ukraine while emphasising that such a decision would require coordination with European partners and his own coalition. He also noted that any... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3322633/germany-divided-over-sending-troops-post-war-ukraine?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3322633/germany-divided-over-sending-troops-post-war-ukraine?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 21 Aug 2025 07:37:08 +0000 dpa dpa Germany is moving to the right again. This was not only made evident by February’s election results, but it’s also becoming more visible among ordinary folks, especially young people. February’s snap vote, brought after the collapse of a centre-left administration, saw the conservative bloc come out on top ahead of the far-right, anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD), which garnered its best-ever result in a federal vote amid discontent over immigration and the economy. The soaring... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3319826/being-nazi-hip-germanys-youth-increasingly-embrace-far-right-ideology?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3319826/being-nazi-hip-germanys-youth-increasingly-embrace-far-right-ideology?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 28 Jul 2025 07:52:17 +0000 dpa dpa Top politicians and civil society representatives on Sunday commemorated those behind a failed attempt to assassinate Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler 81 years ago, and warned against historical amnesia amid a rise of the far-right. “July 20 became a symbol of resistance against injustice, for justice and conscience, for a better Germany,” said Defence Minister Boris Pistorius in front of around 250 recruits in the Bendlerblock, the headquarters of the Defence Ministry in Berlin. Claus Schenk Graf von... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3318934/better-germany-leaders-mark-failed-hitler-assassination-plot-81-years-ago?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3318934/better-germany-leaders-mark-failed-hitler-assassination-plot-81-years-ago?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 20 Jul 2025 21:26:05 +0000