内容摘要：TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel has recovered the bodies of two Israeli-American hostages taken in Hamas’

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel has recovered the bodies of two Israeli-American hostages taken in Hamas’

develop its own long-range missile systems that would be free of any range limits.At home, Merz’s government is intensifying a drive that Scholz started to bolster the German military after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In Trump’s first term, Berlin was a target of his ire for failing to meet the current NATO target of spending 2% of gross domestic product on defense, and Trump is now demanding at least 5% from allies.

The White House official said the upcoming NATO summit in the Netherlands later this month is a “good opportunity” for Germany to commit to meeting that 5% mark.Scholz set up a 100 billion euro ($115 billion) special fund to modernize Germany’s armed forces — called the Bundeswehr — which had suffered from years of neglect. Germany has met the 2% target thanks to the fund, but it will be used up in 2027.Merz has said that “the government will in the future provide all the financing the Bundeswehr needs to become the strongest conventional army in Europe.” He has

for all allies to aim to spend 3.5% of GDP on their defense budgets by 2032, plus an extra 1.5% on potentially defense-related things like infrastructure.Another top priority for Merz is to get

, Europe’s biggest, moving again after it shrank the past two years. He wants to make it a “locomotive of growth,” but Trump’s

are a potential obstacle for a country whose exports have been a key strength. At present, the economy is forecast to stagnate in 2025.Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wisc., defended the parade spending, saying “you cannot put a price tag on patriotism.”

House members on both sides of the aisle pressed the Army about a recent request to shift money from across the budget to support the southern border. The biggest concern, they said, is that it takes money away from base housing, which has been plagued with persistent problems, including mold, rodents and raw sewage in barracks.Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., agreed the nation needs a strong border, but said lawmakers worked for the past year on a broad effort to address the housing problems. “I feel like a decision was made that undermined this whole effort that we spent the last year doing.,” he said.

Pressed on the issue by Carbajal, George acknowledged that redirecting the money has an impact on the barracks.“If we took $1 billion out of barracks, we would be able to fix less barracks,” he agreed, but also said, ”“You have to make choices, congressman.”