German Chancellor Angela Merkel's attempt to put together a previously untried government with two smaller and ideologically diverse parties has collapsed. Germany's election on Sept. 24 left only two politically plausible combinations with a majority in parliament, and the breakdown of coalition talks Sunday night appears to have removed one of those—a coalition of Merkel's conservative Union bloc, the pro-business Free Democrats, and the traditionally left-leaning Greens. Her partners in the outgoing government, the center-left Social Democrats, said Monday they would not join a new Merkel administration, per the AP, a stance the party has repeated since it slumped to a disastrous defeat in Germany's Sept. 24 election. No other politically plausible combination of parties has a majority in parliament. More on the unprecedented situation: