Social Democrats celebrate victory in Brandenburg
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats narrowly beat the far-right AfD in the Brandenburg state election on Sunday, providing a rare bit of good news for his party.
However, the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany and the left populist Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) made huge gains.Â
Scholz's centre-left SPD won around 30.9 percent in the former communist eastern state, while the AfD scored 29.2 percent, projections by public broadcasters said. The BSW came third with 13.5 percent.Â
The result offers some respite for Scholz's embattled coalition government, which has sunk in opinion polls a year ahead of national elections.
The vote in Brandenburg has been closely watched because the SPD has ruled there ever since Germany's 1990 reunification. The chancellor's own electoral district is in the state capital Potsdam. However, State Premier Dietmer Woidke, the SPD's lead candidate, is being credited for the success, rather than Scholz and the federal government.Â
The AfD, which rails against asylum-seekers, multiculturalism, Islam and Scholz's three-party government, had hoped to replicate its recent electoral success in the east.
Three weeks ago, it stunned the political establishment by winning its first-ever parliamentary vote - in the eastern state of Thuringia - and coming a close second in neighbouring Saxony.
Despite its ballot box success, the AfD is unlikely to take power in any state, as all other mainstream parties have so far ruled out entering into a governing alliance with the party.
READ ALSO: 6 articles to help you understand Germany's eastern state elections
Number of refugees in Germany reaches record highÂ
New government figures have revealed that the number of refugees living in Germany has hit record levels in 2024.
There were almost 3.48 million refugees in Germany on different types of residency permits by the end of June - around 60,000 more than the figure at the close of 2023.
The impact of Russia's invasion of Ukraine has boosted numbers, with around one-third of arriving refugees in that time coming from Ukraine.
Germany says 'urgent need' for measures in Middle East
Germany says there is an "urgent need" for measures to calm tensions in the Middle East as Israel's war on Hamas in Gaza threatened to spread to Lebanon.
Attacks carried out by Israel or blamed on the country, including air strikes and the explosions of hand-held communications devices, have killed dozens and injured thousands in Lebanon since Tuesday.
The country's Iran-backed Hezbollah militia and Israel have also intensified cross-border fire that has raged since the Gaza war broke out on October 7th last year.
"We have an urgent need for concrete measures in the Middle East to defuse the situation and avoid more civilian victims," the German foreign ministry wrote on X.
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has been in contact with her Israeli and Lebanese counterparts to discuss the next steps, it added. The German federal government said it was "deeply concerned" by the recent escalation in the region but added that it was not "inevitable".
Butter prices expected to rise further
Consumers have been warned to expect the cost of butter to continue to rise this year.Â
Inflation has hit households in Germany since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and the subsequent energy crisis.
According to the Bavarian Milk Producers' Association, butter could become more expensive than ever before in German shops by Christmas.
Referring to the current price of €2.09 for 250 grams of branded butter, Hans-Jürgen Seufferlein, Managing Director of the Bavarian Milk Producers' Association, told the Mitteldeutsche Zeitung newspaper: "This will certainly not be the end. We will probably see new record prices by the end of the year."
According to the paper, the previous record butter price was set in autumn 2022 at €2.29 for 250g. By August 2023, it had fallen to €1.39 - and has since risen again.
Seufferlein cited a decline in production as the reason for the increase. He said numerous farms had given up dairy farming, while demand is currently rising.
Inflation has eased in Germany due to stable energy costs but the price of some items - including certain foods - have remained high.Â
READ ALSO: Cost of living - what's getting more expensive (or cheaper) in Germany
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