VATICAN - Twelve years after being elected Pontiff in 2013, Pope Francis remains very controversial, with his leftist ideas alienating the conservatives both inside the Church and in the wider field of Catholic faithful. He is regarded as having packed the College of Cardinals with men with his own political pedigree to ensure that the next head of the Church would be a leftist like him. Out of 138 Cardinals eligible to vote for the next Pope – under the age of 80 – no less than 110 were appointed by Pope Francis – about 80 percent.

SCOTLAND - Pagans and humanists were prevented from participating in an event celebrating the 850th anniversary of Glasgow after Catholic and Protestant leaders joined forces to silence them, it has emerged. Representatives of a number of faiths gathered at Glasgow Cathedral last month to mark the anniversary of Scotland’s largest city gaining burgh status in 1175. However, representatives of the Scottish Pagan Federation (SPF) and the Humanist Society of Scotland (HSS) were prevented from speaking after Christian figures expressed strong opposition.

GERMANY - The leader of Alternative for Germany (AfD) has said it will be the largest party in Germany by the next election after the far-Right movement finished second to the mainstream conservatives in Sunday’s federal election. Alice Weidel said her party could “overtake the CDU [Christian Democratic Union] within the next few years for the next election... to become the strongest force” in Germany. Her claims were backed by Elon Musk, who called her to offer his congratulations after it was announced her party had won 20 per cent of the vote.

GERMANY - The German elections have taken place and the Bundestag is looking a lot more right-wing than it was this time yesterday. The centre-right CDU (Christian Democratic Union) led by Friedrich Merz will take power having won just over 28 percent of the vote. But in second place and surging to just over 20 percent of the vote was the AfD (Alternative for Deutschland). Having drawn controversy and even comparisons to the Nazi party for promoting the closure of Germany’s borders as well as the mass deportations of migrants, they are now set to be the official opposition. But with a coalition required to make a working majority, is it undemocratic of the CDU to refuse to go into partnership with the AfD when they won so many votes?

GERMANY - As of Monday, the election results show that the AfD and the hard-Left Die Linke party should have enough combined MPs to block legislation in the Bundestag. This is known as a “blocking minority”. Mr Merz now needs to build a coalition government, a process that could take several months and involve a fair few hurdles. That should not be an issue for Mr Merz’s most urgent policy area, migration, as the AfD is unlikely to oppose any measures that improve border security. But in areas like energy policy, the new government could struggle to pass laws if it ends up upsetting both Alice Weidel, the AfD leader, and Heidi Reichinnek, the leader of Die Linke.

GERMANY - Germany’s mainstream parties have ruled out negotiations with the AfD but the Trump administration is piling on the pressure to allow them into government. “There’s no room for firewalls,” Vice-President JD Vance said at the Munich Security Conference this month after the party was endorsed by Elon Musk. The vice-president met Alice Weidel, the AfD leader, straight after that speech - having snubbed Chancellor Scholz for a similar meeting. German coalition talks typically take months before an agreement is reached. But this round could be even more complicated as German politics fragments. Reinhard Bütikofer, a former Green MEP, said he believed Mr Merz would not breach the firewall but it could be undermined with pacts struck at regional levels of government. “I would say that there’s more volatility with regards to the democratic system altogether than we’ve seen in many years,” he said.

GERMANY - Enjoying strong support among younger voters who are worried about job security and rapid cultural change, AfD could form Germany’s government after the next scheduled federal elections in 2029. Whether that happens depends in large part on Germany’s ability to stage a dramatic economic recovery. For the last quarter century, Germany has been fuelled by cheap energy from Russia and lucrative exports to China. That model is now broken, just as a resurgent Donald Trump is upending Nato and threatening tariffs on the EU, leaving the world’s fourth-largest economy mired in stagnation and angst about the future. Above all, Merz must kick-start an ailing economy, possibly by loosening the constitutional brake on borrowing, but most definitely by launching supply-side reforms encouraging competition. That involves cutting through Germany’s notorious red tape.

GERMANY - Violence erupted on the streets of Germany on Sunday evening as left-wing demonstrators clashed with far-right activists in Gelsenkirchen, just hours after the country’s latest election results sent shockwaves through the political establishment. The unrest came as police oversaw a rally and march under the slogan: "Solidarity is our choice. Against the shift to the right, war, and crisis". Meanwhile, violent scenes also played out in Berlin, where a protest against the AfD's election party in Wittenau, north-west of the German capital, Berlin, left multiple people injured.

GERMANY - The man expected to be Germany’s next chancellor has said Europe must act swiftly to increase its defence capability in the face of a US administration whose motto is moving towards “America alone”, adding: “This is really five minutes to midnight for Europe.” In a wide-ranging press conference after his conservative alliance’s victory in Sunday’s federal election, Friedrich Merz made it clear his focus was on the turbulent geopolitical landscape, saying that although he would seek good ties with the US he was also ready for “the worst-case scenario”. Asked about the doubling of support for the far-right Alternative für Deutschland, which came second with 20% of votes, he urged Germany’s political mainstream to recognise it as “the last warning”. Effective leadership was urgently needed to combat the AfD’s further rise and solve the problems that had helped fuel its popularity, he told journalists. “This is really the last warning to the political parties of the democratic centre in Germany to come to common solutions.”

GERMANY - Germany must gain real independence from the US, Friedrich Merz, the projected winner of Sunday’s parliamentary elections, has said. According to German media, Merz’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), are projected to receive 28.5% of the vote, which means that he will likely become the next chancellor. Speaking to reporters on Sunday night, Merz criticized US President Donald Trump’s handling of the Ukraine conflict.

GERMANY - Addressing his supporters shortly after polling stations closed, Merz hinted at the scale of the task ahead in coalition talks: “I will meet with the greatest respect and I know it will not be easy.” This was an indirect acknowledgment of the substantial risk that his new ruling alliance will turn out to be just as fractious and rudderless as its predecessor under Olaf Scholz. Thorsten Frei, Merz’s chief whip, conceded as much, saying the vote had splintered to such a degree that it would be an “enormous challenge” to form a stable government.

GERMANY - The conservative Christian Democrat Union (CDU) political party won the national elections with 29.0 percent of the vote. The Populist-Pro-Germany AfD roared into second place with 19.5 percent of the vote. It is likely that the CDU will join with the failed Social Democrats (SPD) to form a government. The SPD is currently in power and is destroying the country. It would make more sense for CDU to join with the AfD to rule Germany but that is not how it works in the globalist Western Europe. The AfD had its strongest showing in decades. AfD leader Alice Weidel told supporters she would reach out to the CDU to form a government.

GERMANY - By the time you read this, the result of the German general election should be clear. Nevertheless, what this means for the German economy could still be shrouded in uncertainty. German elections are often difficult to assess immediately because they usually result in a hung parliament. The consequence is invariably some form of coalition government, sometimes between parties with widely different policy programmes. On this occasion, the polls have consistently predicted that the CDU/CSU (the conservatives) would win the largest number of votes and seats, with the far-Right AfD coming second.

GERMANY - Friedrich Merz, who is poised to become Germany’s next chancellor, has warned Nato could be finished and Europe must prepare to build an alliance “independent” from the US. In stark comments, Mr Merz, 69, leader of the centre-Right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), suggested the continent may have to “quickly” establish an “independent European defence capability”. After exit polls predicted Mr Merz would win the election, Donald Trump hailed the result as a “great day for Germany and for the United States of America”.

VATICAN - Pope Francis remained in critical condition Sunday and blood tests showed early kidney failure but he remains alert, responsive and attended Mass, the Vatican said, as the 88-year-old pontiff battles pneumonia and a complex lung infection. In a late update, the Vatican said Francis hadn’t had any more respiratory crises since Saturday night but was still receiving high flows of supplemental oxygen. Some blood tests showed “initial, mild, kidney failure,” but doctors said it was under control. “The complexity of the clinical picture, and the necessary wait for drug therapies to provide some feedback, dictate that the prognosis remains guarded,” Francis’ doctors concluded.