Voters in Germany’s most populous state strengthened a centre-left regional government which chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives sought to portray as irresponsibly spendthrift, and inflicted an embarrassingly heavy defeat on the German leader’s party, projections showed.

Representatives from 35 countries are meeting in Germany to discuss how to overcome disputes over reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

THE German cabinet signed off yesterday on a bill phasing out nuclear power in Europe’s biggest economy by 2022, prompted by the disaster in March at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plant.

Climate change delegates were today privately admitting hope was running out for a comprehensive deal today, even as world leaders began flooding into Copenhagen.