German Chancellor and Christian Democratic Union (CDU) leader Angela Merkel arrives for talks between the leaders of the conservative CDU/CSU union and the social democratic SPD party on forming a new government on January 11, 2018 at the SPD headquarters in Berlin. Chancellor Angela Merkel embarks on January 11 on last-ditch talks with Germany's second biggest party to form a government, in what is also a battle to rescue her political career. September's inconclusive elections left the veteran leader without a majority and struggling to find partners to govern Europe's biggest economy. / AFP PHOTO / John MACDOUGALL