DUESSELDORF, Germany (Reuters) – Voting began on Sunday in Germany’s most populous state where Angela Merkel’s conservatives face a defeat that could give the left momentum before next year’s federal election and fuel criticism of the chancellor’s European austerity drive. North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), an industrial state in western Germany with an economy and population roughly [...]

BERLIN (Reuters) – Angela Merkel’s conservatives face defeat in a vote in Germany’s most populous state on Sunday that could give the left momentum before next year’s federal election and fuel criticism of the chancellor’s European austerity drive. North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), an industrial state in western Germany with an economy and population roughly the size [...]