German Chancellor Angela Merkel's heir apparent unexpectedly threw in the towel Monday, plunging her conservative party into an even deeper crisis as it struggles to agree on its future political direction after losing votes to the far right.
Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer told leading members of the Christian Democratic Union, or CDU, that she won't be seeking the chancellorship in next year's general election, upending Merkel's plans to hand her the reins after more than 15 years in power.
