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Merkel sees popularity drop in poll rating BERLIN, Aug. 10 (Xinhua) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) has seen a fall in her popularity levels while on holiday, an ARD-DeutschlandTrend survey released on Wednesday night suggests. A total of 59 percent of respondents said they were happy or very happy with Merkel's work, a 10 percentage point drop compared to last month. However, Merkel's main rival, SPD leader Martin Schulz, was unable to benefit from the development, as he witnessed his approval rating among voters fall to by four percentage points to a personal record low of 33 percent. The highest ratings in the category were achieved by Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble (CDU) with 64 percent (minus 1 percentage point) and Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel with 63 percent (minus 3 percentage points). Merkel also lost support in the "direct election" category with 52 percent of respondents saying they would chose to elect Merkel as chancellor directly if

China combs through quake region for victims China on Thursday ramped up its response to an earthquake that killed 20 people and injured hundreds, sending supplies and personnel into the mountainous zone as rescuers fanned out to search for more victims. AFP journalists in Jiuzhaigou, a popular tourist destination near the epicentre of Tuesday night's 6.5-magnitude quake, saw dozens of relief and military trucks rolling through the remote corner of Sichuan province. Locals took refuge in blue relief tents in several makeshift camps or out on streets in towns as more than a thousand aftershocks jolted the region and landslides kept nerves on edge. Jiuzhaigou is an area populated largely by ethnic Tibetans and Qiang people. Its scenic landscape is popular with mainly Chinese tourists who flock to its national park, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Nearly 60,000 people -- around half of which were tourists -- were evacuated from quake-hit towns and villages Wednesd