Morning Bird: Merz's CDU won in the German municipal elections. Czech helicopters arrived in Poland
German local elections won by CDU, AfD improved
The party of Chancellor Friedrich Merz finished first in the local elections in the most populous German federal state. The far-right Alternative for Germany, which almost tripled its gain compared to five years ago, became another winner of the first election test since the advent of Merz's government to power.
Final results on Monday showed that Merz's center-right CDU garnered 33.3% of the votes in Sunday's municipal elections in North Rhine-Westphalia, a western region where approximately 18 million people live. Its partners in the national government, who so far were unable to improve the mood in the country, the center-left Social Democrats, who long considered this federal state a reliable heartland, received 22.1%. Both parties thus slightly fell below their results from the last local elections in 2020. However, the Alternative for Germany or AfD gained 14.5% of the votes, which represents a gain of 9.4% points, according to the AP agency:
Czech helicopters have arrived in Poland
Three Mi-17 helicopters from the Czech army have arrived in Poland to strengthen the local airspace after an incident involving its violation by Russian drones. Overall, the Czech ally in NATO will receive a contingent of 150 soldiers who will mainly operate the helicopters.
"We are fulfilling the promise we made to our close ally. Our soldiers are already in Poland and are ready to contribute to the strengthening of the air defense on the eastern border of Poland," said the Czech army minister of defense, Jana Černochová (ODS), according to CTK.
American journalist fired for criticizing views of murdered Charlie Kirk
Longtime Washington Post editor Karen Attiah said she was fired from the opinion section of the newspaper for "standing against political violence, racial double standards, and American apathy towards guns". The Post, which is restructuring the entire department, declined to comment on personnel matters. The newspaper's unions consider her dismissal unjustified. The cause, according to Attiah herself, was her comment on the murder of Charlie Kirk, in which she criticized his racist views, which, in her opinion, incited violence, reported CNN.
Starmer criticized Musk for his incitement to violence during protests by the local far-right
Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday condemned Elon Musk's "dangerous" statements after the owner of cars X and Tesla said at an anti-immigration rally that violence is coming to Britain and that one must fight or die. However, the British government resisted opposition calls to sanction Musk for these statements. Starmer condemned the violence accompanying Saturday's hundred-thousand "Unite the Kingdom" demonstration in London, organized by far-right activist Tommy Robinson.
The police stated that 26 officers were injured, four of them seriously. 25 individuals were arrested at the event and the metropolitan police stated that further arrests will follow, reported the agency AP.
