Exploratory talks about forming a new coalition government in Berlin - REUTERSBERLIN – 31 October 2017: Parties seeking to form Germany's next government found common ground in areas of social policy and digital infrastructure on Monday, but remain far apart on issues that provoked stormy clashes last week.Talks between conservatives, Greens and Free Democrats (FDP) resumed on Monday after Chancellor Angela Merkel convened a weekend meeting to clear the air between ideologically diverse parties forced by electoral arithmetic into awkward partnership. "The weekend pause for thought did us good," said Andreas Scheuer, a leader in the conservative Christian Social Union (CSU), the Bavarian sister party to Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU). Der Spiegel magazine reported the FDP might head a weakened finance ministry, with key European affairs functions hived off to another ministry. "The finance ministry is a strong ministry and should remain so in future," Altmaier told Die Zeit. If successful, the parties can then begin formal coalition talks.

Source: Egypt Today October 31, 2017 01:30 UTC