In boost for AfD, a German city elects a far-right mayor

Voters in eastern Germany on Sunday elected a far-right city mayor, a reflection of the surging popularity of the nationalist party Alternative for Germany, or AfD. Tim Lochner, 53, an independent backed by the party, will lead Pirna, a city of 38,000in the state of Saxony, where the party was recently labeled an extremist organisation by the state authorities. "It's very important for AfD," said Benjamin Hohne, a political scientist. "It allows them to show they can take responsibility at a municipal level."