Ex-leader Merkel decorated with highest German honor

BERLIN (AP) — Former Chancellor Angela Merkel has been decorated with Germany’s highest possible honor in recognition of her near-record 16 years at the helm of the country. Germany’s president on Monday bestowed the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit for special achievement on the four-term chancellor. Merkel became only the third ex-leader to receive that level of distinction and was the first woman to lead Germany. She stepped down in December 2021 with a well-regarded record of leading Europe’s biggest economy through a series of crises. Her legacy has attracted increasingly critical scrutiny since her departure, largely because of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.