Germany’s ruling party chooses Merkel protégé as new chairman

It’s the end of an era in Germany. The Christian Democrat party has chosen a new leader after 18 years with Angela Merkel at the helm. Her successor is a close ally and very much in the same mould. Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer narrowly defeated Friedrich Merz, a one-time Merkel rival, in a run-off at the party congress in Hamburg.