Germany’s would-be next chancellor, Friedrich Merz, won lawmakers’ approval Tuesday for ambitious plans to loosen the nation’s strict debt rules for higher defense spending as doubts mount about the strength of the trans-Atlantic alliance,

Germany's lower house of parliament is set to vote on Tuesday on a massive surge in borrowing that could boost Europe's largest economy and stimulate growth across the region, even as it faces trade tensions with top partner the United States.

Germany's parliament approved plans for a massive spending surge on Tuesday, throwing off decades of fiscal conservatism in hopes of reviving economic growth and scaling up military spending for a new era of European collective defence.