already seen in the past general elections that may well be on the horizon particularly for them ackles junior coalition partner the social democrat s.p.d. who have been having waves of nervous breakdowns politically over the past couple of years and who are very much struggling to actually somehow stay within this coalition if they get another slap in the face at the ballot box and that could well set off a chain of events that would see them ackles self declared final term in office come to hold so that's what's at stake nationally let's just spell that out the s.p.d. has been governing in fact ever since reunification as the leading party in brandenburg here telling us if they lose that status this coming sunday we could well see what them pull out of the federal coalition early elections i don't think one single event will be enough i think it's just as interesting to see whether they actually how far below the double digits they go in the neighboring state of saxony because if they in the worst case scenario fail the 5 percent threshold and that would be complete catastrophe is suc

. >>> kellogg's shares go snap, ackle and pop.ere we begin tonight's market focus with thel cer making topping estimates thanks to an increase in popular brands ke rice crispies treats, pringles and pop tarts. shares rose more than 9% tod to 63.63. clorox posted mixed results. they beat earnings expectations but fell short on revenue. the household products maker saw increased sales in its cleaning products division but iued weak full-year guidance due to challenges in its charcoal bags and wraps businesses. shares fell nearly 4% to 156.14. >>> cigna's quarterly results were better than expected thanks to its health services unit. even thoh the health insurer said that costs were higher than expected, it did raise ts full-year forecast. shares fell more than 1% to 167.56. >>> dunkin' brands saw mixed in the u.s.ales with an increase at its dunkin' stores, but then aecline at its bass kin & robbins locations. the company raised full-year earnings guidance. dunkin''s shares dropped 1 1/2% to 78.96. >>> taco bel pizza au and kfc help

is no longer getting through to their core voters in the east not a good sign for them ackles grand coalition. the likely winners of the state elections apart from the f.t. will be the greens their forecast to get record results in both saxony and brandenburg. decisive regional elections this weekend in germany let's bring in our political correspondent simon yeah good morning simon what makes these 2 elections important for germany as a whole i think is a couple of things is the continuing decline of the traditional parties and the continuing roy of the far right a f d c you and the s.p.d. the 2 parties that make up the national government in berlin and finding it harder and harder to appeal to their traditional base we saw that in the european elections earlier this year in the polls around these regional elections suggest that support is going to drop again this weekend and incidentally as at the euro elections a lot of that support is going to the greens now the other thing is that the far right a f d r on the evolve. there was thought that they could be the strongest party in both of the

of saxony also a key state expected to become the strongest posse of potentially dethrone ingham ackles conservative c so that is a warning sign to the big 10 parties here in germany they know they are already on the whole in decline and the a 50 is benefiting from that they themselves want to be the party of the people they put on their purses we are the people. the slogan from 30 years ago of those people who bravely brought down the wall so they're trying to catch on to that positive history and change their profile from this one issue party against migration to actually having a much wider appeal so appropriating actually. have a completely different context but really they expected showing have in picky. as for the government at the national level yes they will it will make it give the far right if to an even stronger voice after the last elections we saw them into the parliament for the very 1st time makes a difference in the odds germany's upper house of course if they end up becoming stronger but it's unlikely that they will actually be in government because they're still trying

is no longer getting through to their core voters in the east not a good sign for on them ackles grandoalition. the likely winners of the state elections apart from the f.t. will be the greens their forecasts to get record results in both saxony and brandenburg. and we can say to our political correspondent simon young for more on the story hi simon what does make these 2 state elections so important for germany on a national level. well i think the elections this weekend are going to reflect the national trends that is to say the declawing in support for the 2 parties that make up chancellor merkel's national government in berlin and the rise in support for the far right a f t and also for the greens and we've seen a drop in support for the conservatives the christian democrats and the social democrats for instance at the european elections earlier this year the polls suggest that's what's going to happen at the weekend again and at the same time the a.f.d. the alternative for germany very strong in both these eastern states. and so you know some people have suggested they might even

ambassador to germany has criticized going to ackles government for refusing to join a naval mission in the gulf the u.s. says it is to help protect vessels as they pass through the strait of hormuz repos all the british government has agreed to but germany's foreign ministry has rejected that request saying that priority should be given to diplomatic efforts and to deescalating the situation richard grinnell the u.s. ambassador says germany's economic strength brings with it responsibility to act here's how germany's foreign minister heiko must explained his position and doubt with the german government will not participate in the si mission proposed and planned by the united states we are in close agreement with our french partners in this regard we think the strategy of maximum pressure is wrong if we do not want to military escalation we will continue to work with diplomacy to promote 2 sets. through his foreign minister speaking there well the governor of the u.s. territory of puerto rico ricardo seo is due to resign to morrow following. massive protests as many as 500000 people