Excerpt:
The far-right AfD party's success in a state election over Angela Merkel's CDU at the weekend have some declaring it "the beginning of the end of Merkel". But were the results really that big of a blow to the Chancellor?
Sunday's election in the northeast state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, where Merkel still holds a national parliament seat, was called the "beginning of the end of Merkel's era" by members of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).
The AfD certainly beat out Merkel's CDU, gaining more than 20 percent of the vote, compared to 19 percent for the CDU, which lost two of its seats in the 71-seat parliament.