内容摘要："We would not support any measure that fails to condemn Hamas and does not call for Hamas to disarm and leave Gaza," she said.

"We would not support any measure that fails to condemn Hamas and does not call for Hamas to disarm and leave Gaza," she said.

Voters in Burundi are heading to the polls amid a backdrop of surging inflation, fuel shortages and complaints of political repression.Seats in the National Assembly and local councils are up for grabs but Évariste Ndayishimiye is safe in his role as president as he is serving a seven-year term that ends in 2027.

The elections will test the popularity of the governing CNDD-FDD party, a former rebel group which has been in power for the past 20 years.The East African nation was already one of the world's poorest countries, but residents there have been put under further pressure by a recent spike in the price of goods such as food.Opposition parties have complained that their supporters have been harassed and intimidated by members of the CNDD-FDD's youth league, the Imbonerakure.

Gabriel Banzawitonde, leader of the APDR party, said: ''People are so intimidated that they tell you they cannot wear any party colours other than the ruling ones'.But he said they were not giving in and "once in the voting booth, they promise to vote for you".

Several political analysts approached by the BBC declined to talk about the elections for fear of repercussions. One expert, who did not want to be named, said: "To avoid unnecessary trouble, you keep quiet."

''We pointed out from the start that everything was being tailor-made [to fit the ruling party]," they said, suggesting that a CNDD-FDD win was a done deal.Tariffs, defence spending and the war in Ukraine will be high on the agenda when Merz meets Donald Trump on Thursday at the White House.

There's also speculation that Trump's team - which repeatedly has weighed in on Germany's domestic politics - could subject him to an Oval Office "ambush".It would not be the first time.

Both South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky found themselves in awkward, tense or even fiery exchanges as the world's cameras rolled, capturing every moment. Those moments have turned once cosy, diplomatic moments in the Oval Office into potentially fraught, tight-rope walks for visiting leaders.Ahead of the visit, Berlin expressed confidence that the German side is ready. "I think he's well prepared for this meeting," Friedrich Merz's spokesman told reporters this week.