Merkel to step down as party leader, quit as chancellor in 2021

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Monday she will not seek re-election as party leader in December and that her fourth term as chancellor, ending in 2021, will be her last.Merkel made the announcement at a news conference in Berlin after her conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party suffered a regional election setback for the second week in a row this month."As the chancellor and the chair of the Christian Democrats, the buck stops here, both for successes and failures," Merkel was quoted as saying by Deutsche Welle. "The time has come to open a new chapter."Merkel, who has do…READ FULL ARTICLE