One-quarter of men aged 18-24 voted for the far-right AfD compared with 14 per cent of women in the same age group. There was a bigger gap in support for hard-left Die Linke, which was backed by 34 per cent of young women but just 15 per cent of young men.

German stocks rallied on Monday and the euro reached a one-month high after Germany’s election result put centrist parties on track to form a coalition. European shares more broadly held steady, while Wall Street futures rose after a U.

Friedrich Merz, a man who has never held a government role, is preparing to take the reins in Germany just as the country faces its biggest economic and diplomatic crises in decades and Europe looks urgently for a new generation of leaders for an era of transatlantic tension.

Friedrich Merz is on course to become post-World War II Germany’s 10th chancellor, the culmination of a yearslong political career that was once sidelined by his party’s iconic leader

Merz, a man who has never held a government role, is preparing to take the reins in Germany just as the country faces economic and diplomatic crises.