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Germany’s Merz
doubles down
BERLIN (AP) -- German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has doubled down on pushing through unpopular reforms to Europe’s largest economy after a far-right party surged to a landslide victory in a regional election, with a very good chance of forming the first far-right state government since the Nazi era.
Merz said his center-right Christian Democratic Union was “deeply shocked” by what he called “the most serious election defeat that the CDU has had for years, for decades.” But he indicated that he’s determined to stay at the helm and said that “giving up is not an option for me.”
The anti-migration and Russia-friendly Alternative for Germany, or AfD, fell just short of a majority in Sunday’s vote in Saxony-Anhalt.
Airstrikes
hit Lebanon
KFAR RUMMAN, Lebanon (AP) -- Lebanon’s Health Ministry says Israel’s air force carried out two strikes early Monday on a southern Lebanese village, killing at least nine people, including children.
The ministry says one of the strikes hit a building, killing 11 people and wounding eight. The ministry says another strike on a car in the village killed a paramedic with the Lebanese Islamic Risala Scout Association and wounded two others.
The strikes come amid a new round of escalation between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. A U.S.-brokered truce between Israel and Hezbollah has been repeatedly violated, with Israel carrying out airstrikes in Lebanon and Hezbollah firing drones at Israeli troops.
Troopers
thwart attack
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Ohio State Highway Patrol says an armed assailant charged toward the Democratic candidate for Ohio governor, Amy Acton, during a campaign stop at the Canfield Fair, injuring several people before he was stopped by troopers. The highway patrol said in a statement that a man it identified as Patrick Havas forced his way through a crowd, knocking over multiple members of the audience as he moved toward Acton, the state’s former public health director.
The statement said he had a taser and two pistols. Acton is facing Republican Vivek Ramaswamy, who called Sunday’s incident unacceptable.
Some housing
sits empty
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- The poorest people in the U.S. face the most acute shortage of affordable homes. That’s partly because the majority of low-income housing financed in recent years has been for those earning at least 50% of an area’s median income.
Now, some cities are seeing an uptick in vacancies in these units as their rents approach those of market-rate apartments. As a result, some people who qualify are opting for market-rate apartments with less income-verification requirements and a faster chance of approval. It’s creating a paradoxical situation where some affordable units sit empty because the poorest people still can’t afford to rent them.
Experts say more federal funding for housing vouchers is needed to bridge this gap.