German Social Democrats narrowly beat CDU in race to succeed Merkel

Germany's Social Democratic Party has claimed victory in Sunday's general election, edging out the conservative bloc led by Chancellor Angela Merkel, according to the preliminary final results.The results released Monday by the German election committee showed the Social Democrats, or the SPD, won 25.7 percent of votes, narrowly beating Merkel's conservative bloc of the Christian Democratic Union and the Christian Social Union, which received a record low 24.1 percent.Merkel is stepping down after 16 years in power and the focus now is on coalition talks ahead of the formation of a new gove…READ FULL ARTICLE