Polls open in crucial eastern German state vote as AfD eyes power

The view outside a polling station in Germany's Saxony-Anhalt as voting starts in a regional election that could see the far-right Alternative for Germany win its first state government. More than 1.7 million voters have until 6:00 pm (1600 GMT) to elect state lawmakers in a vote seen as a key test for Chancellor Friedrich Merz's increasingly unpopular federal coalition. IMAGES