Germany’s conservative leader Friedrich Merz unexpectedly fell short of a majority in a parliament vote to become chancellor on Tuesday.

His failure was unprecedented in modern German political history and members of the Bundestag convened for a second vote on Tuesday afternoon.

Merz needed 316 votes in the 630-seat Bundestag but only secured 310, in a significant blow to the Christian Democrat leader, two and a half months after winning Germany’s federal elections.

His coalition with the centre left has enough seats in parliament but it appears 18 MPs who had been expected to back him dissented.

Under Germany’s constitution, there is no limit to how many votes can be held, but if no absolute majority of more than half the Bundestag’s members is reached within 14 days, then a candidate can be elected by a simple majority.

There was a prevailing mood of confusion in the parliament in the hours after the vote.

Bundestag President Julia Klöckner was initially said to be planning a second vote on Wednesday, but Christian Democrat General Secretary Carsten Linnemann said it was important to press ahead.

“Europe needs a strong Germany, that’s why we can’t wait for days,” he told German TV.

Parliamentary group leader Jens Spahn appealed to his colleagues’ sense of responsibility: “all of Europe, perhaps the whole world, is watching this ballot.”

Merz’s defeat was seen by political commentators as a humiliation, possibly inflicted by a handful of disaffected members of the Social Democrat SPD, which signed a coalition deal with his conservatives on Monday.

The Bundestag president told MPs that nine of the 630 MPs were absent, three abstained and another ballot paper was declared invalid.

Conservative colleague Johann Wadephul: “I’m sure [Merz] will be the next chancellor”

Not everyone in the SPD was happy with the deal, but party officials were adamant their party was fully committed to it.

“It was a secret vote so nobody knows,” senior Social Democrat MP Ralf Stegner told the BBC, “but I can tell you I don’t have the slightest impression that our parliamentary group wouldn’t have known our responsibility.”

Party leader Lars Klingbeil, who is set to become Germany’s next vice-chancellor, said it was his assumption that Merz would win a majority in Tuesday’s second vote.

The historic nature of Merz’s failure will be difficult for him to move on untarnished. No candidate has failed in this way in the 76 years of Germany’s post-war republic.

The embarrassment undermines Merz’s hopes of being an antidote to the weakness and division of the last government, which collapsed late last year.

Far-right party Alternative for Germany, which came second in the February election with 20.8% of the vote, seized on his failure and called for fresh elections.

Joint leader Alice Weidel wrote on X that the vote showed “the weak foundation on which the small coalition has been built between the [conservatives] and SPD, which was rejected by voters.”

Merz’s choice for foreign minister, Christian Democrat colleague Johann Wadephul, told the BBC the vote was “an obstacle but not a catastrophe”.

“We will have a second attempt, of course, with Friedrich Merz again as candidate from the coalition. And I’m sure he will be elected and he will be the next chancellor.”

Germany’s handover of government is carefully choreographed. On the eve of Tuesday’s vote, outgoing chancellor Olaf Scholz was treated to a traditional Grand Tattoo by an armed forces orchestra.

Merz, 69, was expected first to win the vote and then visit President Frank-Walter Steinmeier to be sworn in, fulfilling a long-held ambition to become German chancellor.

His rival and former chancellor Angela Merkel had come to the Bundestag to watch the vote take place.

Caretaker ministers from Germany’s outgoing government were all planning to hand over to their successors on Tuesday afternoon.

Former chancellor Angela Merkel had come to the Bundestag to see the vote

His defeat threatens to cause splits within the coalition.

Political correspondents in the Bundestag said the failure to back Merz indicated that even if the coalition did come to power eventually, there was a potential issue lurking within its ranks.

AfD MP Bernd Baumann said the CDU had promised a string of policies similar to his own party’s, such as limiting migration, and then went into an alliance with the centre left: “That doesn’t work. That’s not how democracy works.”

“This isn’t good,” warned Green politician Katrin Göring-Eckardt. “Even though I don’t want this chancellor or support him, I can only warn everyone not to rejoice in chaos.”

Less than 24 hours earlier, the messaging had been very different, of Germany under a stable government putting six months of political paralysis to an end.

“It’s our historical duty to make this government a success,” Merz had said as he signed the coalition document.

Despite having a narrow majority of 12 seats, the agreement between the conservatives and centre left was seen as far more stable than the so-called traffic-light coalition of three parties which fell apart last November in a row over debt spending.

The SPD, which had been the biggest party in the old coalition slumped to its worst post-war election result in third place, but Merz had promised that Germany was back and that he would boost its voice on the world stage and revive a flagging economy.

After two years of recession, Europe’s largest economy grew in the first three months of 2025. However economists have warned of potential risks to German exports because of US-imposed tariffs.

Germany’s services sector contracted last month because of weaker demand and lower consumer spending.

The chancellor-in-waiting’s conservatives have reached a coalition agreement with Germany’s Social Democrats, five months after the last government collapsed.

The move alters the German constitution, allowing the country to increase its military spending.

Hamas says ‘no point’ to truce talks as Israel plans to capture all of Gaza

A senior Hamas official has said there is “no point” in further talks on a new Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal, after Israel approved an expanded offensive that may include seizing all of the Palestinian territory indefinitely.

Bassem Naim told the BBC the armed group would not engage with new proposals while Israel continued its “starvation war”.

On Monday, the Israeli military said the aim of the “wide-scale” operation was the return of hostages held by Hamas and its “decisive defeat”.

Israeli officials said it would involve “capturing” Gaza, displacing the majority of its population, and taking control of aid after a two-month blockade the UN says has caused severe food shortages.

The officials also said the offensive would not begin until after US President Donald Trump’s visit to the region next week, giving Hamas what they called a “window of opportunity” to agree to a deal.

But Bassem Naim’s comments on Tuesday seemed to counter that.

UN Secretary General António Guterres warned that expanded Israeli ground operations and a prolonged military presence would “inevitably lead to countless more civilians killed and the further destruction of Gaza”.

UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron expressed deep concern at recent developments and agreed that “a renewed peace process was required”, Downing Street said.

In Washington, President Trump said the US would help supply food to people in Gaza, without going into details.

“People are starving and we’re going to help them get some food. A lot of people are making it very, very bad,” he said. “Hamas is making it impossible because they’re taking everything that’s brought in.”

Israel cut off all deliveries of aid and other supplies on 2 March and resumed its offensive two weeks later after the collapse of a two-month ceasefire, saying it was putting pressure on Hamas to release hostages.

It also accused Hamas of stealing and storing aid – an allegation the group has denied.

Aid agencies have warned that with no change in policy, mass starvation is imminent.

They have also condemned Israel’s proposal to deliver aid through private companies at military hubs, saying it would be a breach of basic humanitarian principles and that they would not co-operate.

The UN has said Israel is obliged under international law to ensure food and medical supplies for Gaza’s population. Israel has said it is complying with international law and there is no aid shortage.

The Israeli military launched a campaign to destroy Hamas in response to an unprecedented cross-border attack on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

At least 52,567 people have been killed in Gaza since then, including 2,459 since the Israeli offensive resumed, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.

UK and India agree ‘landmark’ trade deal

After three years of on-off negotiations, the UK and India have agreed a trade deal that will make it easier for UK firms to export whisky, cars and other products to India, and cut taxes on India’s clothing and footwear exports.

The deal does not include any change in immigration policy, including towards Indian students studying in the UK, the British government said.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer described it as a “landmark deal” which would boost growth and “deliver for British people and business”.

Last year trade between the UK and India totalled £41bn and was already forecast to grow, but the government said the deal would boost that trade by an additional £25.5bn a year by 2040.

India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, described the deal as an historic milestone that was “ambitious and mutually beneficial”.

The pact would help “catalyse trade, investment, growth, job creation, and innovation in both our economies”, Mr Modi said in a post on social media platform X.

Once it comes into force, which could take up to a year, UK consumers are likely to benefit from the reduction in tariffs on goods coming into the country from India, the Department for Business said.

That includes lower tariffs on cothing and footwear, oodstuffs including frozen prawns and ewellery and gems.

The government also emphasised the benefit to economic growth and job creation from UK firms expanding exports to India.

Tariffs on gin and whisky, which was a key sticking point in negotiations previously, will be halved to 75%, with further reductions taking effect in later years.

The deal includes provisions on the services sector and procurement allowing British firms to compete for more contracts.

UK Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said the benefits for UK businesses and consumers were “massive”.

Mr Reynolds met his Indian counterpart Piyush Goyal in London last week to put the final touches on the deal.

The British government said the deal was the “biggest and most economically significant” bilateral trade agreement the UK had signed since leaving the European Union in 2020.

Sudan paramilitary attacks leave key city without power  

Drone strikes have hit a major power station in the Sudanese city of Port Sudan causing a “complete power outage”, the country’s electricity provider said.

Explosions and huge fires have been reported near the city’s main international airport as a paramilitary force targeted the key city for the third consecutive day.

Flights have been cancelled after drones hit the international airport and a hotel near the current presidential palace, reports say.

“I see a huge cloud and fire going like all around the city… and I heard also now that they were like two more loud bangs. It looks quite apocalyptic,” a journalist, Cristina Karrer, told the BBC’s Newsday programme.

Thick black smoke could be seen at dawn on the skyline of the previously safe city where thousands of people fleeing the two-year civil war have sought refuge.

On Tuesday, Sudan’s electricity company said it was assessing the damage on its substation, which has disrupted supply of water, health and other services.

One drone targeted the civilian section of the Port Sudan airport and another one hit the main army base in the centre of the city, witnesses told AFP news agency.

A third drone struck “a fuel depot near the southern port” in the densely populated city centre, where UN officials, diplomats, aid agencies and the Sudan’s army have relocated from the capital Khartoum, AFP reported.

A major hotel located close to the residence of army chief Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan was also hit in the attack, the witness said.

Following the attacks, the UN has temporarily suspended aid flights to Port Sudan but regular aid operations continue, said Farhan Haq, the UN deputy spokesperson.

“None of our offices, premises or warehouses have been impacted, and we continue to carry out our regular operations,” Mr Haq added.

On Tuesday, Sudan’s government spokesman Khaled Al-Aiser said the military was guarding the affected fuel depots “to the fullest extent possible”, adding that the “will of the Sudanese people will remain unbreakable”.

The military has blamed the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for the drone attacks which started on Sunday. The RSF is yet to comment on the attacks.

In a  statement, the African Union warned that the attack on Port Sudan represented “a dangerous escalation” in the Sudanese civil war and “a direct threat to the lives of civilians, humanitarian access and regional stability”.

Prior to the attacks on Sunday, Port Sudan had avoided bombardment and was regarded as one of the safest places in the war-ravaged nation.

The paramilitary group has increasingly relied on drones to reclaim its lost territories, including Khartoum which was taken back by the army in March.

The two years of fighting between the army and the RSF has killed thousands, forced millions from their homes and created the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

Both the army and RSF have been accused of war crimes.