Merz insists he will stay as German chancellor despite heavy losses in state elections – Europe live

CDU suffered heavy losses in two regional elections, including in home state of former leader Angela Merkel, where it polled just 4.9%Also rolling in this morning are the numbers from Russia’s orchestrated lower-house election, where Vladimir Putin’s party has retained a huge majority against token opposition. Electoral officers say the ruling United Russia party is on track to gain 355 of the 450 seats in the State Duma - even larger than the previous 2016 record. It’s the first election since the Kremlin launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine four-and-a-half years ago and parties critical of Putin were excluded from