GREECE: New Democracy suffered a setback in Sunday’s run-off elections for regional governors and mayors, losing the country’s two largest cities and five of the six regional contests.

In the capital Athens, socialist-backed academic Haris Doukas beat incumbent Kostas Bakoyannis with nearly 56 per cent of the vote. 

In Thessaloniki, socialist Stelios Angeloudis, who was not his party’s official candidate, because of fighting among local party officials, easily defeated incumbent Konstantinos Zervas, 67 per cent to 33 per cent.