Merkel coalition easily passes EU rescue-fund vote

In a major domestic victory German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the Bundestag - the country’s lower house of parliament - has robustly backed a strengthening of the eurozone’s multi-billion euro rescue fund.

With Merkel’s free-market-liberal coalition allies in the Free Democrats increasingly taking a critical line on Europe and its series of bail-outs for peripheral states, fears were widespread ahead of the vote that the chancellor might not be able to win enough votes within her own coa...