Centre punch: Germany's state-election shocker

单集文稿 ...

• 00:03

  The Economist.

• 00:10

  Hello and welcome to The Intelligence from The Economist.

• 00:13

  I'm Jason Palmer.

• 00:14

  And I'm Rosie Blau.

• 00:19

  Today on the show, why African stockmarkets are having a field day,

• 00:23

  and the truth about blue light before bed.

• 00:34

  But first,

• 00:45

  Another set of results are in from elections to state parliaments in Germany,

• 00:49

  and it's not looking good for Chancellor Friedrich Merz

• 00:53

  and his Christian Democratic Union.

• 00:57

  In the city state of Berlin and in the northern state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern,

• 01:01

  the CDU again got a kicking,

• 01:04

  this time from both ends of the political spectrum.

• 01:07

  In Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, it was the same story

• 01:16

  as in Saxony-Anhalt a couple of weeks ago.

• 01:19

  The far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD party, surged.

• 01:24

  But in Berlin, it was the populist left that made a surprising showing.

• 01:28

  All that puts Mr. Merz on thin ice, but he put on a brave face.

• 01:43

  He says he'll press ahead with a package of reforms

• 01:46

  that he reckons can fix what ails Germany.

• 全部文稿