{
  "id": 8868580,
  "title": "Under-fire Merz vows to show 'patience' and 'backbone'",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/21/under-fire-merz-vows-to-show-patience-and-backbone",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-21T06:58:19.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "RTE News",
    "slug": "rte-news",
    "url": "https://www.rte.ie/news/world/2026/0921/1592300-germany-politics/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has started the week more damaged than ever after his centre-right CDU party suffered two bruising regional election defeats at the hands of far-right and far-left parties.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 3,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Bernama",
        "title": "World : German Far-Right AfD Wins Second State Election, Dealing Merz Major Blow",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/21/world-german-far-right-afd-wins-second-state-election-dealing-merz",
        "published": "2026-09-21T03:14:43.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "KahawaTungu",
        "title": "German Chancellor Merz calls state election a ‘disaster’ for his party, vows to stay on",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/21/german-chancellor-merz-calls-state-election-a-disaster-for-his-party",
        "published": "2026-09-21T03:34:25.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}