Merkel won't seek a 5th term as German chancellor

BERLIN (AP) — Angela Merkel set off Monday on what could be a three-year countdown to the end of her leadership of Germany, a stint that has made her the European Union's longest-serving leader and a key figure in facing the continent's many crises.

Merkel announced that she will give up the leadership of her conservative Christian Democratic Union in December and won't stand for a fifth term as chancellor — signaling the beginning of the end at the helm for the woman many had labeled the "leader of the free world."

That's a title she herself objected to, saying leadership is never up to one person or country.