International from Tuesday, May 6th, 2025

German conservative leader Friedrich Merz was elected chancellor by parliament on Tuesday in a second round of voting after a humiliating and unprecedented defeat on the first attempt, getting his coalition government off to a wobbly start.

The Israeli military said it fired on Yemen's main airport on Tuesday and witnesses said there were four strikes in the capital Sanaa, the latest hostilities as tensions rise between Israel and Yemen's Houthi rebels.

Cardinals who will take part in the secret conclave to elect a new pope began checking into two Vatican hotels on Tuesday, where they will be barred from contact with the outside world as they decide who should succeed Pope Francis.

German conservative leader Friedrich Merz failed to secure enough parliamentary votes to become chancellor on Tuesday in a major blow that threw politics in Europe's largest economy once more into disarray.

Kyiv forces attacked a power substation in Russia's western Kursk region, the regional governor said on Tuesday, after Russian war bloggers reported a new Ukrainian land-based incursion into the area backed by armoured vehicles and drones.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday an expanded offensive against Hamas would be "intensive" after his security cabinet approved plans that may include seizing the Gaza Strip and controlling aid.

At least three people died and seven others were missing after a small boat capsized in choppy seas off the California coast in a suspected migrant smuggling attempt north of San Diego, US officials said on Monday.