BERLIN: Germany's Christian Democrats elect a new chairman on Saturday, aiming to unite their conservative party behind a new leader who they hope can succeed Angela Merkel as chancellor when she steps down after federal elections in September.At stake is the leadership of Europe's biggest economy in the era after Merkel, who has vowed not to run again after becoming Europe's predominant leader since taking office in 2005 and proving a winner with German voters.The new CDU leader will be elected by 1,001 delegates at a digital congress. By tradition, the leader is usually - though not always - the chancellor candidate for the CDU's "Union" with its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU).Centrist Armin Laschet, arch-conservative Friedrich Merz and foreign policy expert Norbert Roettgen are vying for the CDU leadership.However, polls show Markus Soeder, the CSU leader, is voters' choice conservative. Some CDU lawmakers want dynamic health minister Jens Spahn to run for chancellor, though he has backed Laschet for the party leadership.The three declared CDU candidates all contrast with Merkel.Roettgen, 55, the eloquent chairman of parliament's foreign affairs committee, wants Germany to take a firmer stance with Russia and China. Merz, 65, has targeted European Central
WASHINGTON: The chairman of the right-wing Proud Boys group was arrested Monday in Washington over the torching last month of a Black Lives Matter banner taken from a church during violent protests, police said.Enrique Tarrio, 36, was taken into custody as the US capital braces for demonstrations against lawmakers' certification this week of Joe Biden as the next US president.Tarrio, who had just arrived in the city from Florida, was charged with destruction of property at the Asbury United Methodist Church, a mainly African American church where he and others allegedly burned the banner during violent protests on December 12.He was hit with additional charges of possessing two illegal high capacity firearm magazines at the time of his arrest, police said.In a parallel court case unveiled Monday, Tarrio and other members of the Proud Boys were accused by the historic Metropolitan AME church, also mainly African American, with tearing down and burning its banner during the protests last month."The conduct of the Proud Boys in Washington, DC on December 12, 2020, amounted to a new and dangerous chapter in the long and terrible history of white supremacist mob violence targeting Black houses of worship," the church said in its filing.The
WASHINGTON (REUTERS) - Despite growing pressure from President Donald Trump to help overturn his election loss, Vice-President Mike Pence plans to stick to his ceremonial duties when presiding in Congress on Wednesday, advisers said. Trump ramped up pressure on Pence on Tuesday (Jan 5) to block Congress' certification of the November election results in an ongoing attempt to stay in power, after dozens of lawsuits by his campaign challenging election results had failed in US courts. But the vice-president, a loyal lieutenant during the four years of Trump's often chaotic presidency, has no plans to attempt to do so, even as he seeks to show support for the Republican president's quest. Pence is set to preside over the US Senate on Wednesday as it receives the results of the state-by-state Electoral College that determines the winner of presidential elections. President-elect Joe Biden, a Democrat, beat Trump 306-232 in the Electoral College and in the popular vote by more than seven million ballots. Trump has declined to concede the election. US states have already certified the results, and Pence's role on Wednesday as president of the Senate is to "open all
