Merz abandons UN trip amid sinking approval – Reuters

German Chancellor Freidrich Merz has reportedly canceled his planned trip to the UN General Assembly in New York, as his political future hangs in the balance after a landslide loss to the right-wing AfD in state elections.Merz was scheduled to travel to New York next week, where high-level meetings between world leaders kick off at UN headquarters. However, a German government source told Reuters on Tuesday that the trip had been canceled, as the chancellor’s “presence is required in Berlin.”According to another source, Merz’ Christian Democrats (CDU) have called a special meeting for Sunday.The CDU is reeling from its state election loss to the AfD in Saxony-Anhalt last week. The AfD secured 43.8% of the vote, with the CDU a distant second at 17.2%. Merz’ party has been trailing the AfD in opinion polls for over a year, and an equally dismal performance is expected in elections in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Berlin this weekend, where the CDU is polling at 7% and 20%, respectively. Just over a year into his chancellorship, CDU members and the German public are losing confidence in Merz. Both Merz and his center-left predecessor, Olaf Scholz, have presided over a country in rapid i...