After weeks of negotiations, the conservative CDU/CSU bloc and center-left SPD presented a coalition deal to form a new government. Talks took on a sense of urgency amid a host of global and domestic challenges.

Germany's conservatives under chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz on Tuesday reached a deal with the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) to form a government, NTV reported. Two people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters,

Germany's chancellor-in-waiting and leader of the Christian Democratic Union party (CDU) Friedrich Merz, Christian Social Union (CSU) leader and Bavarian Premier Markus Soeder, co-leaders of the Social Democratic party (SPD) Saskia Esken and Lars Klingbeil walk to attend a press conference after reaching an agreement on their coalition government in Berlin,