Germany's Merkel re-elected as conservative party leader
BERLIN (AP) -- Chancellor Angela Merkel has won a new two-year term as leader of Germany's main conservative party after stressing her determination to prevent a repeat of last year's huge migrant influx.
Merkel ran unopposed Tuesday for the leadership of the Christian Democratic Union -- the springboard for her run for a fourth term as chancellor in next year's German election. She won 89.5 percent of delegates' votes at a congress in the western city of Essen -- solid though short of the 96.7 percent she won two years ago.
The vote came after a speech in which Merkel struck a decidedly conservative note, telling members that she wants to stem the influx of migrants, speed up deportations and ban face-covering veils where possible.
