#north-rhine-westphalia

#north-rhine-westphalia

Safe-deposit boxes have been broken into again at a bank branch in the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, marking the third such case in recent days. After an incident in Bonn and a major vault break-in in Gelsenkirchen, police have now confirmed a third suspected bank robbery in Halle, near Bielefeld. The Halle incident happened around midday on Tuesday during regular business hours, police confirmed on Friday.

As polls closed in the municipal vote across North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany's most populous state, initial forecasts showed the center-right party of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz set for victory but the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) also has reasons to celebrate. Merz's CDU is set to take around 34% of the vote, followed by center-left SPD, with 22.5%, and the far-right AfD, with 16.5% over three times more than the 5.1% the party secured in 2020.