German lawmakers meet to mull fallout from election

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s newly elected lawmakers are holding their first meetings as their parties digest the fallout of the election that reduced outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel’s bloc to its worst-ever result. The lawmakers on Tuesday will start the process of putting together a new government. The narrow winner of Sunday’s parliamentary election was the center-left Social Democratic party of Olaf Scholz. It has underlined its hopes of a quick start to talks with the likely kingmakers in a new government. And several prominent figures in Merkel’s Union bloc questioned an initial push by election loser Armin Laschet to lead a new administration.