Merkel and rival clash on eurozone in German election debate

Angela Merkel and her centre-left rival sparred over Europe’s debt crisis and how best to keep Germany’s economy strong in a televised debate, with the the chancellor’s challenger insisting that it made no sense to apply a “deadly dose” of austerity to eurozone strugglers.

Peer Steinbrueck went into the 90-minute debate – the pair’s only direct TV encounter of the September 22 election campaign – facing a daunting poll deficit and needing a strong performance after a summer in which the opposition has struggled to land blows on popular conservative Mrs Merkel.