Merkel and SPD leaders back coalition talks

Leaders from German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives and the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) agreed at a meeting on Thursday to recommend to their parties that they enter full-blown coalition negotiations, two participants told Reuters. The move comes a day after the environmentalist Greens ended exploratory talks with Merkel's conservatives, leaving a 'grand coalition' with the SPD as the only real alternative for the chancellor.