Scholz elected by Germany's Parliament to take charge as Chancellor

He'll take over after Merkel asserted Germany's status as the paramount power broker in the European Union and one of the leading countries in the West

Olaf Scholz was approved by Germany’s parliament to become chancellor, clearing the way for the Social Democrat to take charge amid a worsening pandemic crisis and a raft of geopolitical challenges including the standoff over Ukraine.
 

The vote in the Bundestag wasn’t in doubt because of his three-party coalition’s majority, and he’ll be sworn in later on Wednesday, ending Angela Merkel’s 16-year tenure and becoming the country’s ninth chancellor since World War II. 

The 63-year-old, Merkel’s vice chancellor for the past four years, represents renewal at the top -- but not too much. Voters who awarded him a narrow victory in