Germany's president will host a meeting between the leaders of the country's three major parties, in an attempt to avoid an election rerun, Al Jazeera reports.
President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will lead the gathering in the capital Berlin on Thursday at 19:00GMT (8pm local time).
Chancellor Angela Merkel of Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Social Democratic Party (SPD) chief Martin Schulz and Horst Seehofer, the head of Christian Social Union (CSU) - CDU's ally in Bavaria are expected to meet, despite SPD's initial rejection of renewing partnership with the CDU/CSU alliance.