Merkel’s conservatives hold coalition talks

BERLIN: Twelve days after German elections, Chancellor Angela Merkel was on Friday set to hold exploratory talks with her defeated center-left rivals on whether they can jointly govern Europe’s biggest economy.

Although Merkel triumphed at the polls, she fell just five seats short of a majority, kicking off a process of coalition haggling and political poker that, smaller parties have warned, could drag on into next year.