German Chancellor, Angela Merkel's party easily win state election in Saarland

   German Chancellor, Angela Merkel's party easily won a state election in Saarland, which was closely watched ahead of September's national vote.

   Her centre-right Christian Democrats, CDU, took 40.7%, comfortably seeing off a challenge by the Social Democrats, SPD, who secured 29.6%.
   Merkel is hoping for a fourth term as chancellor but is under pressure.
   The centre-left SPD has seen a recent surge in popularity under new leader Martin Schulz.
Saarland - a small south-western state with one million inhabitants, is currently governed by a coalition of the CDU and SPD as junior partner, mirroring the national government.
  The outcome of yesterday's election in Saarland was being watched for signs of voter sentiment ahead of the 24 September general election.