Summary of the day
Germany has deported Afghan nationals today back to their home country for the first time since August 2021, when the Taliban returned to power.
The move comes as eyes are on Thuringia and Saxony, where voters will go to the polls for state elections on Sunday.
The far right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is polling in first place in Thuringia.
Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, said the return of 28 Afghans is “a clear sign that those who commit crimes cannot count on us not deporting them, but that we will look for ways to do so”.
Germany will not take steps towards the normalisation of its relations with the Taliban, a foreign ministry spokesperson said.
The leader of a breakaway populist leftwing party, Sahra Wagenknecht, was sprayed with pink paint while campaigning in Thuringia on Thursday.
The Guardian will be live blogging election results and reactions on Sunday evening. Stay tuned.
The German politician Sahra Wagenknecht was sprayed with a red liquid, thought to be paint, at a campaign event in the eastern city of Erfurt. Watch footage of the incident:
