German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats narrowly beat the far-right AfD in a state election on Sunday in the formerly communist east, a rare bit of good news for his party. Scholz’s centre-left SPD won around 31 percent in the state of Brandenburg against the anti-immigration, pro-Russian Alternative for Germany, which scored about 29 percent, projections by public broadcasters said. The result offers some respite for Scholz’s embattled coalition government, which has sunk in opinion polls a year ahead of national elections. The vote in Brandenburg has been closely watched because Sch…