Germany’s Merz vows to stay course despite new election defeats

BERLIN: Germany’s embattled Chancellor Friedrich Merz vowed to stay the course on Sunday despite stinging election defeats in two states at the hands of the far-right AfD and the far-left Die Linke party. “What needs to be done now requires backbone, steadfastness and patience,” Merz said at a Berlin crisis meeting of his center-right CDU. “I will demonstrate this as CDU party chairman and, above all, as chancellor of our country.” The AfD had a narrow lead of about 37 percent in the northeaster