German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is facing his first major electoral test, just four months after taking office. On Sunday, voters in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany's most populous state at its western border, headed to the polls for local elections. Merz's conservatives and their coalition partner the Social Democrats, are expected to stay on top. But polls suggest they could lose ground to the far-right AfD and the Left Party. North Rhine-Westphalia's mix of vibrant university cities, post-