Merkel defends record as Germany's tense governing coalition hits 2-year mark

Chancellor Angela Merkel defended her government's record on Wednesday as it approached its two-year anniversary, even though tension simmers in her right-left "grand coalition" on issues from foreign policy to a proposed minimum wage.

"We have tackled a lot of things and implemented a lot successfully," Merkel was quoted as telling the mass-circulation daily Bild. "Since October 2005, the number of people without work has decreased by 1.1 million; we must continue along this road."

Merkel, a conservative Christian Democrat, took office on Nov. 22, 2005, at the head of an awkward alliance with the center-left Social Democrats _ …