The German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative Christian Democrat Party has suffered a major
setback
in regional elections in Germany's most popular state, North Rhine-Westphalia. It was the worst result ever for the CDU in the state. From Berlin, here's Stephen Evans.
Support for Chancellor Merkel's party fell from about a third of voters to a quarter. The Social Democrats and Greens, in contrast, maintained their share of the vote after campaigning for public spending. At the end of it all, the signal sent can't be anything but worrying for Chancellor Merkel as she tries to maintain her coalition in the national parliament, the Bundestag.
Protesters have gathered again in the Spanish capital Madrid following big anti-austerity rallies around the country on Saturday. The crowds are much smaller than the tens of thousands that gathered in several Spanish cities the previous day. The demonstrators are marking the anniversary of the protest movement, known as the 'indignados', or 'outraged'.
At least two people have been killed in clashes in Lebanon between groups from rival districts in the city of Tripoli. The fighting broke out after Lebanese security forces arrested a Sunni cleric, who's reported to have been helping Syrian refugees.
President Obama's counter terrorism advisor, John Brennan, has arrived in Yemen for talks as the two sides
step up
their offensive against al-Qaeda-linked