Germany's Greens say a three-party agreement, to form the next government,
will be presented today.

The center-left Social Democrats have been negotiating with the Green party
and the pro-business Free Democrats, since narrowly winning a national
election on September 26th.

If approved by party members in the coming weeks, the three-way alliance
would replace the current grand coalition of Social Democrats and outgoing
Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats.

Merkel, who didn't run for a fifth term, is likely to be succeeded by
Germany's current Finance Minister, Olaf Scholz, of the Social Democrats.

The negotiations over the unprecedented three-way alliance were relatively
harmonious and speedy, compared to previous coalition talks.

Meanwhile,

Germany is set to mark 100,000 deaths from COVID-19 this week.

Teutonic discipline, a robust health care system, and the rollout of multiple
vaccines were meant to stave off a winter surge like last year's...

Yet a national election, followed by a drawn-out government transition, saw
senior politicians dangle the prospect of further lifting restrictions, even
as Germany's infection rates rose steadily this fall.

Resistance to getting the shot remains strong, with vaccination rates stalled
at 68% of the population.