Friedrich Merz became Germany’s 10th postwar chancellor on Tuesday after a historic stumble that could complicate his efforts to revive the nation’s slumping economy, tighten its borders and rebuild its military, at a time when an isolated Europe is hungry for strong German leadership.

After 10 weeks as the nation’s leader-in-waiting following his party’s victory in February elections, Mr. Merz initially fell six votes short in the parliamentary vote for chancellor on Tuesday morning — a defeat without precedent in modern Germany’s history.

The votes were conducted on secret ballots, leaving the reasons for the failure murky; the parties in the new governing coalition held more than enough seats to elect him. But some lawmakers speculated that a series of individual protest votes had, possibly by accident, added up to an embarrassing setback.

Mr. Merz, 69, rebounded to win on a second ballot in the afternoon. Still, rival parties and outside analysts warned that his credibility had suffered at home and abroad, and his opponents on Germany’s far left and far right alike said that Mr. Merz had lost legitimacy.

Political observers said the brief setback could make it more difficult than expected for the new chancellor to project strength on the world stage and to pass critical legislation to advance his agenda. Mr. Merz had hoped for a clear vote of confidence in Parliament as he seeks to confront President Trump’s tariff threats against Germany’s export-heavy economy, reverse his country’s economic malaise and counter an aggressive Russia to the east.

“Germany and Europe need to serve as anchors of stability in a volatile global environment,” said Cathryn Clüver Ashbrook, the senior vice president for Bertelsmann Stiftung, a nonpartisan foundation based in Gütersloh, Germany. But Mr. Merz’s unexpectedly delayed election “could signal rocky times ahead.”

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Some schools in Russia are preparing fake schedules to conceal their efforts to shun patriotic education classes. Some parents school their children at home. Others try to help young people navigate a school system in which they say propaganda is pervasive.

Faced with what they say is an ever-growing flood of misinformation about the war in Ukraine in Russian schools, parents and teachers who oppose the conflict say they are waging a desperate battle for the minds of their children.

“You constantly have to play cat-and-mouse with the school: New things keep coming up like rounds of gunfire,” said Varvara, 42, a mother of four. Like other people across Russia reached by telephone, Varvara asked that her surname not be used in this article to avoid retribution from the authorities.

She cited activities that she saw as bolstering the war effort: a music teacher who held a contest to perform Russian military songs; her teenage son’s school outing to hear a pro-war talk by a veteran of the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan; classes that portray Russia as a victim and the West as an enemy.

When President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia introduced “patriotic education” in schools near the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, many critics saw it as a marginal endeavor that would work only in economically depressed regions, where schooling was already poor.

Three years on, the Kremlin’s efforts to indoctrinate children have taken deep root in most schools across Russia, parents and analysts say.

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Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada had one key goal in his high-stakes meeting with President Trump on Tuesday. He needed to say, in no uncertain terms, that Canada is not going to become the 51st U.S. state, while avoiding a public fight.

And he succeeded.

“As you know from real estate, there are some places that are not for sale,” Mr. Carney said solemnly. “It’s not for sale. It won’t be for sale, ever,” he added.

“Never say never,” Mr. Trump replied. But the moment’s potency had been defused, and Mr. Trump clearly was not interested in having a fight with Mr. Carney, whom he praised for his stunning electoral victory just a few days ago.

The relationship between the neighbors, allies and top trading partners has been at a historic low since Mr. Trump’s re-election because of his decision to impose tariffs on Canadian goods and his constant refrain that he wants to make Canada part of the United States.

Less than an hour before Mr. Carney arrived at the White House, Mr. Trump unloaded on Canada in a bellicose post on Truth Social, repeating his frequent criticisms that the country was too dependent on the United States.

“We don’t need ANYTHING they have, other than their friendship, which hopefully we will always maintain,” Mr. Trump wrote. “They, on the other hand, need EVERYTHING from us!”

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A Ukrainian drone attack halted flights at airports across a wide swath of Russia overnight on Tuesday, Russian officials said, showing Kyiv’s ability to strike deep into Russian territory before a planned parade in Moscow to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe.

Air defenses responded to the drone volley in at least 11 regions, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported. The attack closed 13 airports, including all four major airports serving Moscow, according to a Russian aviation agency. Flights resumed Tuesday morning.

The Ukrainian authorities have not commented on the strikes.

It was unclear whether the barrage was intended to threaten the parade, because Kyiv has been routinely shooting at Russia with long-range drones, answering the nightly Russian bombardments of Ukraine. Russian drones on Tuesday hit the cities of Sumy, Kharkiv and Odesa, killing four people and wounding at least another 24, according to local officials.

Russia has said about 20 heads of state including China’s president, Xi Jinping, have accepted invitations to the parade, in Red Square, on Friday; President Vladimir V. Putin has asked for a three-day truce in the war for the occasion.

President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine has rejected that proposal unless Russia agrees to extend any cease-fire for at least 30 days, calling the shorter truce too limited. He has also said that the cease-fire was offered only to put guests of the parade at ease.

India’s government has ordered officials to carry out civil defense drills in much of the country on Wednesday as it prepares for a potential military conflict with Pakistan, its neighbor and archrival.

Tensions between the nuclear-armed countries, which have fought several wars, have escalated since a terror attack late last month killed 26 people in the India-controlled part of Kashmir, the Himalayan region long-disputed between the two neighbors. India accuses Pakistan of being involved in the terror attack, which Pakistan denies.

India has been making a case for carrying out military strikes on what it calls havens for terrorists in Pakistan, and has threatened a series of punishing acts. Pakistan has promised to respond in kind to any military action by India.

In recent days, exchanges of small-arms fire have broken out along the countries’ border, and a flurry of activity in New Delhi has suggested that an Indian strike could be imminent. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has met repeatedly with his military leaders, and his officials have continued to talk in public about taking action against Pakistan.

Antonio Guterres, the United Nations secretary general, said the tensions between India and Pakistan “are at their highest in years.”

“Targeting civilians is unacceptable, and those responsible must be brought to justice through credible and lawful means,” Mr. Guterres said on Monday. “It is also essential, especially at this critical hour, to avoid a military confrontation that could easily spin out of control.”

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Families are reinforcing their bunkers and confirming evacuation plans. Hospitals have stocked up on essential medicines. Schoolchildren are being trained on the essentials of first aid.

All across the Pakistani-held section of Kashmir, there is an air of emergency, a persistent trepidation as the threat of military confrontation looms.

“God willing, nothing will happen,” said Azeem Gilani, a baker in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani-administered Kashmir. “We have seen this before. But if, God forbid, the situation worsens, Kashmiris on both sides will suffer.”

Since a terrorist attack two weeks ago on the Indian-administered side of Kashmir left 26 innocent people dead, Kashmiris have tried to prepare for what seems like an inevitable military escalation between India and Pakistan. Both countries claim Kashmir in its entirety, but each controls only a section. The beautiful Himalayan territory has been the main flashpoint of conflict between the archrival nations for almost 80 years.

Large plumes of black smoke billowed over Sudan’s de facto wartime capital on Tuesday, as attacks on a city that had become a haven for civilians fleeing civil war stretched into a third day.

The Sudanese paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces has launched a series of drone attacks on the military-controlled Red Sea city of Port Sudan, in recent days, targeting key civilian facilities, including the airport and a hospital.

On Tuesday, drones hit a fuel depot near the port and the airport, according to multiple eyewitnesses, rattling the city and leaving its streets nearly deserted. Khalid Ali Aleisir, Sudan’s minister of information and the official government spokesman, accused the group, known as the R.S.F., of carrying out a “criminal and terrorist attack” in a post on social media.

“ The will of the Sudanese people will remain unbreakable,” Mr. Aleisir said in another post that showed him standing in front of a giant plume of smoke.

Mr. Aleisir accused the United Arab Emirates of arming the R.S.F. with the drones used in the attacks. Hours later, the Sudanese military said it was severing the country’s diplomatic relations with the U.A.E. and would recall staff from its embassy in Abu Dhabi, Sudan’s news agency reported.

A day earlier, the International Court of Justice dismissed a case accusing the U.A.E. of fueling genocide in Sudan by supporting the R.S.F., an accusation the Emirates has denied. In March, Sudanese leaders linked to the military asked the court to investigate the claims.

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Israeli authorities are floating a new plan to allow desperately needed international aid into Gaza, under their control, after blocking the deliveries for more than two months.

But many of the humanitarian groups that would have to work under the proposed system say Israel’s conditions would turn aid into a military pressure tactic and violate the groups’ principles of neutrality.

The idea for the new aid mechanism surfaced just as Israeli leaders were threatening to significantly escalate their offensive in Gaza, even though more than a year and a half of war has failed to either defeat the territory’s Hamas rulers or bring home all of the hostages still held there.

Israel’s barring of food and medicine shipments into Gaza has prompted calls from the international community — including allies — to end the blockade.

But Israeli officials have dug in, arguing that they are pressing Hamas to free the remaining hostages. They have also repeatedly accused Hamas of diverting aid for its own fighters rather than allowing it to reach hungry Palestinian civilians, which Hamas denies.

What is Israel proposing?

The Israeli military said that its coming escalation would involve the displacement of most of Gaza’s population to zones “clean of Hamas,” which would be filtered by Israeli forces to weed out any members of the militant group.

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