Berlin’s first conservative mayor in 22 years takes office

BERLIN (AP) — Berlin’s first conservative mayor in 22 years has taken office following a state election in which he capitalized on discontent in the German capital. Amid divisions in his own coalition, Kai Wegner had a rocky start on Thursday. Wegner’s center-right Christian Democratic Union, Germany’s main opposition party, emerged as the biggest party in the February rerun election that was ordered by a court because of serious glitches in the previous vote in 2021. The party celebrated winning in a big city, which it has struggled to do in recent years, while the three parties in Berlin’s outgoing left-wing government all lost supporters. The center-left Social Democrats of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had led Berlin since 2001.