Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and conservative challenger Angela Merkel square off today in a live televised debate – a crucial encounter that gives both candidates a chance to impress undecided voters two weeks before Germany’s September 18 election.

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder hopes to quell persistent dissent over his efforts to trim the generous welfare state by handing over the leadership of his governing Social Democratic Party today.

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and his conservative challenger Edmund Stoiber were running neck-and-neck today in one of the country’s closest post-war elections.