Merkel re-elected party head

German chancellor Angela Merkel was re-elected leader of her conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) on Tuesday with a record 97.9% of delegate votes, a strong sign that her party is unified behind her ahead of next year's federal election. Merkel's previous top score was 95.9% in 2000, the year she took over as the head of the party following a campaign financing scandal that dragged down Helmut Kohl and his designated successor Wolfgang Schaeuble.

‘Those who know me know that I am touched by this,’ Merkel told delegates at a CDU congress in Hanover after the result of the vote was announced.