Merkel defeat

GERMANY’S Social Democrats beat Angela Merkel’s conservatives in a regional vote in Berlin yesterday, handing the chancellor her sixth election defeat this year ahead of a key eurozone vote in parliament in two weeks’ time.

Exit polls showed Merkel’s centre-right coalition suffered a further setback when their junior coalition partners at the national level, the Free Democrats (FDP), failed to clear the 5% threshold needed to win seats — for the fifth time this year.