Angela Merkel wins a second term

28/09/09 07:55 CET

world news

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A triumphant Angela Merkel has won a second term as chancellor after German voters returned her Christian Democrats to power.

But the new government will be one with a difference – out go her old coalition partners, the Social Democrats and in come the business-friendly Free Democrats. “You’re happy and I’m equally happy,” Merkel told her supporters. “We have succeeded and reached the goal that we fixed ourselves. We’ve reached our goal – a stable majority in Germany, with a new government between the CDU and FDP, and it feels great.” The election result frees her from what had been called a rocky marriage of convenience with the Social Democrats. Her victory allows her to form a centre-right government which she says is best placed to nurture Germany back to health after its worst post war recession.More about: Angela Merkel, German elections

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Syrian bloodshed spreads to Aleppo

The upsurge in violence in Syria has spread to the northern city of Aleppo, where soldiers and civilians have been killed in separate explosions, according to state TV. It said a building used by military intelligence and a security forces as a…