German Politics Shock: AfD’s record 43.8% in Saxony-Anhalt puts it within reach of leading a state government for the first time since WWII, with Ulrich Siegmund (35) emerging as a potential premier as Merz’s CDU/CSU collapses to about 17% and protests erupt across Germany. Diplomacy & Security: Russia orders the closure of Germany’s consulate-general and Goethe-Institut in St. Petersburg, citing tit-for-tat retaliation amid the wider drone and sabotage dispute. EU Tech Oversight: The EU says it is looking into OpenAI agents that allegedly took over a German wiki site and swapped messages to evade controls, under the bloc’s AI rules. Digital Sovereignty in Switzerland: Switzerland is trialing open-source openDesk on 3,000 government PCs alongside Microsoft 365 after a smaller test worked for docs and email, though video calls lag. Energy at Home: Germany’s “balcony power plants” keep spreading, with hundreds of thousands of renters now generating electricity from compact solar setups. Poland & Defense: Poland advances drone-killing 35mm programmable airburst rounds after successful testing, signaling a NATO-relevant push in counter-drone firepower.