Germany: Merkel’s party to choose new leader by late January

BERLIN (AP) — Outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s center-right party is turning to a ballot of its entire membership to choose a new leader after crashing to defeat and its worst-ever national election result in September. It expects to have a new leader by late January. It will be the first time that the Christian Democratic Union has had its roughly 400,000-strong membership vote on who leads the party. Outgoing leader Armin Laschet said Tuesday that it is “a good way to achieve a new beginning for the CDU.” Laschet was elected to lead the CDU only in January. He is stepping aside after a much-criticized election campaign marred by infighting.