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.

More than 200,000 protesters rallied in Munich, Germany, on Saturday against far-right extremism ahead of the country's general election. The far-right, anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany, or AfD, is in second place in recent polls and has prompted widespread protests across the country before voters cast their ballots on Feb. 23.

Alternative for Germany appears to be heading for its strongest national election result yet this month and is fielding its first candidate to lead the country. The far-right party first entered Germany's national parliament eight years ago on the back of discontent with the arrival of large numbers of migrants in the mid-2010s,