Elon Musk endorsed AfD, an anti-immigration party that just won the most support of any far-right party since World War II.

Germany heads to the polls on February 23. Immigration and the economy topped the agenda during the campaign. The conservative CDU/CSU is leading the polls, promising political change.

The frontrunner in the race to run Germany is Friedrich Merz, whose Christian Democrats (CDU) are up to 10 points ahead in the polls. He was chosen as candidate for chancellor ahead of Markus Söder, the leader of their sister party in Bavaria the Christian Social Union.

Candles, one of them with the message "Our thoughts are with you", sit at a makeshift memorial at the scene where a 24-year-old Afghan asylum seeker drove a car into a crowd, in what the Bavarian Premier Markus Soeder said was probably an attack, in Munich, Germany, February 13, 2025. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay

Friedrich Merz, the 69-year-old conservative leader, is in pole position to become Germany's next chancellor, in a vote closely watched in Europe and the US. He promises to fix most problems in four years - a tall order for Europe's biggest economy and a creaking infrastructure.

A driver drove a car into a labor union demonstration in central Munich on Thursday, injuring 30 people including children, authorities said. Officials said it was believed to be an attack.