Germany's centre-left backs formal coalition talks with Merkel

Germany's centre-left Social Democrats voted Sunday to begin formal coalition talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives, bringing Europe's top economy a step closer to a new government after months of deadlock.At a special party congress in the western city of Bonn, 372 out of 642 delegates (56 percent) backed SPD chief Martin Schulz's appeal to approve a preliminary coalition deal painstakingly hammered out with Merkel's CDU/CSU bloc.The veteran chancellor, in power for more than 12 y