Germany's Merz faces tricky talks with potential coalition ally
Voice of America
FILE - German opposition leader and Christian Union parties floor leader Friedrich Merz speaks at the the beginning of a debate about migration at the German parliament Bundestag in Berlin, Germany, Jan. 29, 2025.
Germany's likely next chancellor Friedrich Merz will start trying to form a coalition government on Monday after his conservative bloc won a national election that saw far-right and far-left parties hoover up support from disaffected voters.
FILE - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during a high-level Security Council meeting on Ukraine, Sept. 20, 2023, at United Nations headquarters.
FILE - Young men use their mobile phones in Naypyidaw on March 16, 2021, as Myanmar military authorities ordered telecommunication companies to restrict services on their mobile data networks.
FILE - Sudan's army soldiers celebrate the army's liberation of an oil refinery, in North Bahri, Sudan, Jan. 25, 2025.
A trailer carrying the coffins containing the bodies of Hezbollah's former leader Hassan Nasrallah and his cousin and successor Hashem Safieddine enters the Sports City Stadium during a funeral procession in Beirut, Feb. 23, 2025. A boy holds a flower during the funeral procession of Hezbollah's former leader Hassan Nasrallah and his cousin and successor Hashem Safieddine, in Beirut, Feb. 23, 2025. A woman gives a military salute as a trailer carrying the coffins containing the bodies of Hezbollah's former leader Hassan Nasrallah and his cousin and successor Hashem Safieddine drives through the crowd in Beirut, Feb. 23, 2025.
This photo provided by Woven by Toyota shows the square at the center of the apartment complexes of Woven City in Susono city, Shizuoka Prefecture, Feb. 2025. This photo provided by Woven by Toyota shows the square at the center of the apartment complexes of Woven City in Susono city, Shizuoka Prefecture, Feb. 2025. This photo provided by Woven by Toyota shows the sign of Toyota Woven City in Susono city, Shizuoka Prefecture, Feb. 2025. Reporters see one of the underground passageways that connect all the buildings in Toyota’s Woven City, Japan, Feb. 22, 2025. Toyota executives in charge of Woven City, from left to right, Woven by Toyota CFO Kenta Kon, CEO Hajime Kumabe and Head of Woven City Management Daisuke Toyoda speak to reporters about the first phase construction of the project in Susono, Feb. 22, 2025.
Former members of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo and police officers who allegedly surrendered to M23 rebels arrive in Goma, Congo, Feb. 23, 2025. President Felix Tshisekedi said he is going to launch a unity government.
FILE - Station director Saba Chaman, right, and her colleague work in a studio at Radio Begum in Kabul, Afghanistan, Nov. 28, 2021.
French convict and drug trafficker Mohamed Amra (R) is escorted by policemen out of the Court of Appeal in Bucharest on Feb. 23, 2025, after a hearing one day after his arrest under European arrest warrant.
Nadeen, who was waiting for the release of her brother, Ahamd al-Seifi, after he served 15 years in Israeli jails, is comforted by a relative, Feb. 23, 2025.
Students talk in Chinguetti, Mauritania, Feb. 4, 2025. Books line the shelves of one of the libraries in Chinguetti, Mauritania, Feb. 3, 2025. Sand surrounds a hut in Chinguetti, Mauritania, Feb. 4, 2025. A child rides his bike in Chinguetti, Mauritania, Feb. 4, 2025. Animals roam near homes surrounded by sand in Chinguetti, Mauritania, Jan. 13, 2025. Farmer Med Mahmoud works in his palm tree farm in Chinguetti, Mauritania, Feb. 4, 2025.
FILE - Station director Saba Chaman, right, and her colleague work in a studio at Radio Begum in Kabul, Afghanistan, Nov. 28, 2021.
A European and German flags wave at the Reichstag building, the house of German parliament Bundestag at the eve of the national election in Berlin, Feb. 22, 2025.
This photo taken on Feb. 21, 2025 shows an aerial view of apartment blocks in the Kai Tak district of Hong Kong.