Merkel in election setback amid discontent on euro-crisis

The opposition Social Democrats have won the regional elections in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the home state of German chancellor Angela Merkel, whose popularity is dwindling amid growing discontent over the euro-crisis and the Greek bailouts.

Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) won 23.1 percent of the vote in the north-eastern state on Sunday (4 September), down from 28.8 percent in 2006, while her junior coalition party, the Liberal Free Democrats (FDP) plummeted to 2.7 percent, be...