A German state premier elected with the help of the far-right AfD says he is resigning to pave the way for fresh elections. The election of liberal leader Thomas Kemmerich in the eastern state of Thuringia prompted national outrage.

“Resignation is unavoidable,” he said. For years Germany’s main parties have shunned Alternative for Germany (AfD). Chancellor Angela Merkel – whose own party also backed Mr Kemmerich – called Wednesday’s election “unforgivable”.

The AfD has grown in popularity in recent years but has been condemned for its extreme views on immigration, freedom of speech and the press. Wednesday’s vote was described as a political earthquake as it was the first time the AfD helped form a government in Germany, breaking a consensus among the main parties to never work with extremist parties.(BBC)…[+]

Utah Republican Senator Mitt Romney is facing a backlash from Republicans angered by his decision to vote against Donald Trump in his impeachment trial.

The failed 2012 presidential candidate made history on Wednesday as the first US senator to vote to remove a president from their own party. Republican figures, including Mr Trump himself, have slammed him as a “sore loser” and a secret Democrat. Mr Trump was acquitted in the Senate, despite Mr Romney’s lone dissent vote.

Influential figures in conservative media called on Mr Romney to step down from the Republican Party, with one claiming that she would move to Utah to run to unseat him in 2024. And on Thursday morning, President Trump took a swipe at him when addressing the National Prayer Breakfast, criticising people who use their faith to justify “wrong” actions. Holding up a newspaper headline with “Acquitted” emblazoned across the front page, the president also decried “corrupt” Democrats as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sat four seats from the podium.(BBC)…[+]

A notorious murderer who worked for Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar has died of stomach cancer, Colombian officials say. Jhon Jairo Velásquez, who boasted of killing 300 people for Escobar, was 57. Known as “Popeye”, he was released from prison in 2014 after more than 20 years and launched a YouTube channel, attracting more than a million followers.

Velásquez died at the National Cancer Institute in the capital Bogotá, where he had been receiving treatment for stomach cancer since December. He was a close associate of Escobar, who ran a drug trafficking empire from the Colombian city of Medellín that sent thousands of tonnes of cocaine to the US. Velásquez gave himself up to the authorities in 1992 and spent 23 years in prison, reportedly gaining a reputation for the stories he told about his life of crime.

After his release he started a YouTube channel called Repentant. He was re-arrested for extortion and was taken into custody at a party hosted by Colombia’s top drugs trafficking investigator. Escobar’s drug empire made him one of the world’s richest men during the 1980s and 1990s. He was killed by Colombian police in 1993 as he attempted to avoid extradition to the US.(BBC)…[+]