MERKEL’S PARTY LOSES IN TWO GERMAN STATE ELECTIONS

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) has suffered historic losses in two key state elections, Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) reported.

While the CDU vote slumped to a record low of 23 percent in the south-western state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, the party's support in neighboring Rhineland-Palatinate dropped to 26.5 percent, also its worst result in the state, according to an exit poll by public broadcasters ZDF and ARD.

Sunday's state elections resulted in the environmental Green Party's Winfried Kretschmann securing a third term as Baden-Wuerttemberg's premier.

The center-left Social Democratic leader Malu Dreyer also returned to power in Rhineland-Palatinate.

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