The leader of Germany's main governing party, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, is standing down and will not put herself forward to replace Angela Merkel as chancellor, reports say.
Ms Kramp-Karrenbauer took over as head of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party in December 2018.
She was seen as the favourite to take over as German chancellor in 2021.
The CDU was recently criticised over a contested regional election result in the eastern state of Thuringia.
