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This is VOA news. I'm David Byrd.
Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives submitted a list of witnesses they want to testify in the Democratic-led House impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump. AP's Ben Thomas has more. GOP members of the committees conducting the hearings have released a list of at least eight people they want to hear from. Among them: former Vice President Joe Biden's son, Hunter, and the anonymous whistleblower. But Republicans need the committee's approval to summon their witnesses and Democrats are in the majority. Chairman Adam Schiff offered a quick response, saying he won't let the hearings serve as a vehicle to conduct "sham investigations" into the Bidens or the 2016 election. Nor will he let the hearings aid what he called Trump's "effort to threaten, intimate and retaliate against the whistleblower." Ben Thomas, Washington. At least six people were killed and more than one hundred others wounded when Iraqi security forces opened fire on protesters in central Baghdad. Edward Yeranian reports from Cairo. Amateur video showed Iraqi security forces driving crowds of hundreds of mostly young protesters off three key Baghdad bridges Saturday as the fire volleys of tear gas to push them back. Young men wearing surgical masks and head scarves to cover their faces skirmished with security forces on several major thoroughfares. The advance of security forces in Baghdad coincided with reports of a political agreement among top Shiite parties to support the government of Prime Minister Adil Abdul Mahdi in return for political reforms. Meanwhile, Iraqi security forces fired tear gas overnight to disperse protesters camped out in front of government headquarters in the southern port city of Basra. Edward Yeranian, for VOA news, Cairo. For more on these stories, be sure to visit our website voanews.com. You can also follow us on the VOA mobile app. This is VOA news. German Chancellor Angela Merkel led a series of commemorations on Saturday in Berlin to mark the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the barrier which divided the city during the Cold War until it was breached and torn down on November 9, 1989. Merkel, who grew up in Communist East Germany, said "The Berlin Wall is gone and that teaches us that no wall that excludes people and restricts freedom is so high or so wide that it cannot be broken through." Leaders from Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic also attended a ceremony at Bernauer Strasse, one of the sites of the last remaining sections of the Berlin Wall. They placed roses between gaps in the barrier that divided the city for 28 years. A concert at the famous Brandenburg Gate, involving several German and international performers, capped a weeklong celebration of the anniversary. Hong Kong protesters held a vigil Saturday night for "martyrs" after a student died in the hospital this week following a high fall. As Reuters Emer McCarthy reports, that's fueling anger among pro-democracy demonstrators who have been protesting since June. The lights from thousands of cellphones lit up Hong Kong's theme park on Saturday night as protesters held a vigil for, who they call, "martyrs. It comes after 22-year-old university student Chow Tsz-lok died in hospital this week following a high fall from a multi-story park during a protest. "Although we feel sad, we need to continue our movement. So we need to get together and here voice out something to the government and police force." Protesters secured rare permission from the police to hold the evening rally. That's Reuters Emer McCarthy. India's Supreme Court awarded a bitterly contested religious site to Hindus on Saturday. Reuters Lauren Anthony reports. The decision paves the way for the construction of a Hindu temple in the northern town on a site of a ruined mosque destroyed by a Hindu mob 1992. A proposal Prime Minister Narenrdra Modi's ruling Hindu-nationalist party has long supported. In light of the result, Modi appealed for peace. "There should not be any place of fear, bitterness and negativity in new India. The message of today is of uniting, is to unite and is of living together." Representatives of the Muslim group involved in the case criticized the judgment as unfair and said it was likely to seek a review of the verdict. I'm David Byrd, VOA news. |