| Open vote | Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union fell to record lows in two state elections yesterday that saw the Greens and the Social Democrats retain power in their respective regions. The vote showed a clear backlash against the CDU's poor vaccine rollout nationally and a party scandal over profiting from medical supplies. With Merkel standing down, September's federal election looks more open than ever. Blame game | Republicans are visiting the U.S.-Mexican border to highlight a surge in child migrants they blame on President Joe Biden's easing of his predecessor's hardline policy. Laura Litvan and Billy House report that both parties are honing their messages on the perennial political flashpoint for the 2022 midterm elections to decide control of the House and Senate. - Biden is planning the first major federal tax hike since 1993 to help pay for the long-term economic program designed as a follow-up to his pandemic-relief bill, sources say.
- A new congressional map based on the 2020 Census may aid former President Donald Trump's plan to target Republicans who voted for his impeachment by backing candidates challenging them in primaries.
Hitting back | China accused the U.K. of "groundless slanders" after the British government said Beijing's crackdown on dissent in Hong Kong wasn't in compliance with a 1984 treaty that paved the way for the city's return to Chinese control. "The U.K. has no sovereignty, jurisdiction or right of 'supervision' over Hong Kong after the handover," China said in a statement posted yesterday on its London embassy's website. Vaccine woes | Once expected to be a key to protecting much of the world from Covid-19, AstraZeneca's vaccine is facing a spate of suspensions by governments following reports of serious blood clotting after inoculation. While the company and regulators from Europe to Asia said there was no indication of any direct link with the shot, the scare comes against a backdrop of supply problems.  Climate dilemma | No major power risks as much as Russia from a successful global transition to green energy, after President Vladimir Putin built the nation's post-Soviet revival on being an oil and gas giant. While Russia's strategy is to be among the last producers standing, the Kremlin has made less effort to develop a renewable energy industry. What to Watch This Week - Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin head to the U.S.'s two key allies in Asia, Japan and South Korea, as Washington seeks to counter security threats from China and North Korea.
- The European Commission plans to begin legal action against the U.K. today over the government's decision unilaterally to change parts of the Brexit deal relating to Northern Ireland, said a person familiar.
- Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte is forecast to hold on to his job after Wednesday's election, but the question is how long it will take to form another coalition among the 37 parties contesting the vote.
- Brazilian Health Minister Eduardo Pazuello may be replaced as President Jair Bolsonaro comes under pressure over the explosion of the pandemic and the slow vaccination campaign.
- Myanmar's junta today extended "full martial law" to additional areas in Yangon following a weekend of nationwide protests that left at least 50 people dead amid a brutal crackdown by security forces.
Thanks to the nearly two dozen people who correctly answered our Friday quiz, and congratulations to Sebastian Ahlstich, who was the first to identify Ivory Coast as the African nation whose prime minister died last week of cancer less than a year after being appointed following the death of his predecessor. And finally ... Beijing has been engulfed in an orange fog as a sandstorm sweeping across northern China helped push air quality levels in the capital to the worst since 2017. The city's government issued a yellow alert and the thick haze limited visibility to less than 1,000 meters (3,280 feet).  A woman cycles along a street today during a sandstorm in Beijing. Photographer: Noel Celis/AFP/Getty Images | 
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