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From Washington, this is VOA news. I'm Jonathan Smith reporting.
Angela Merkel has won a fourth term as Germany's chancellor in a federal election whose outcome seemed inevitable since the start of campaigning three months ago. Pollsters had expected her CDU/CSU to win between 36 and 39 percent of the vote, but it got 32.5 percent share, putting her on course to become one of only three postwar chancellors elected to a fourth term. With the lower CDU vote and a stronger showing than expected by Germany's controversial far-right populist party Alternative for Germany, the AfD easily cleared the five percent threshold needed to secure seats in the Bundestag. Merkel is blamed indirectly by some in Germany for the rise of the party, which until her 2015 open-door policy for war refugees from the Middle East appeared to be moribund. Dozens of players, coaches and owners throughout the National Football League defied President Trump on Sunday by kneeling and linking arms in solidarity instead of standing when the national anthem was played at the beginning of their games. Trump has angrily denounced players taking part in the protest, which began last year as an individual action by one football player who said he was protesting against disparities in the treatment of racial minorities by U.S. society. The protests began to spread this year, and the salvo of tweets the president has fired off since Friday night appear to have greatly swelled the numbers of players who are willing to speak out on the issue. The AP reported that more than 130 football players took part in protests during their games Sunday. This is VOA news. Police in Zimbabwe have arrested activist and pastor Evan Mawarire for broadcasting a message on social media calling for people in Zimbabwe to demonstrate against the shortage of fuel and the price hikes of commodities in shops. Sebastian Mhofu reports from Harare for VOA. ... service Sunday, Zimbabwe police were waiting for Evan outside. The leader of His Generation Church had broadcast a video Saturday calling for Zimbabweans to protest against fuel shortages and recent price increases of most commodities. Attorney Harrison Nkomo of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights is representing the clergyman who is also the leader of #thisflag movement that last year led several anti-government protests. "Evan was arrested and he is facing a charge of subverting a constitutionally elected government. It is emanating from a video he published yesterday concerning fuel queues and price hikes in the shops." Pastor Mawarire is expected to appear in court Monday. Saturday, the U.S. government issued a statement asking Harare to allow a fair trial for Mawarire, who is facing a separate charge of trying to subvert President Robert Mugabe's government. Sebastian Mhofu, for VOA news, Harare. Thousands of residents have been evacuating from areas surrounding a rumbling volcano on the resort island of Bali, Indonesia. Officials say an eruption could be imminent. Indonesia's disaster mitigation agency said Sunday that the number of people fleeing their homes had tripled since Friday as the magnitude of tremors has increased, prompting fears that Mount Agung could erupt for the first time in more than 50 years. The volcano is about 75 kilometers from the tourist site of Kuta. It's been rumbling since August. And one person was killed and seven wounded when a masked gunman opened fire in a church just after the service ended Sunday in the southern U.S. state of Tennessee. The shooter is described by police as a 26-year-old man from Rutherford County. He was also shot but it's not clear if the shooting was accidental or intentional. The gunman and the victims were being treated at local hospitals. Police did not release details of their conditions. All but one of the victims [was] were more than 60 years old. There is more on these and other late breaking and developing stories, from around the world, around the clock, at voanews.com and on the VOA news mobile app. I'm Jonathan Smith reporting from the world headquarters of the Voice of America in Washington. That's the latest world news from VOA. |