ask w. your questions about germany but again i had a medicare scare they were not a plan for him to. write to us on facebook we'll answer your questions. this is news live from berlin north korea steps up its threats against the u.s. pyongyang's foreign minister tells the un an attack on the u.s. mainland is not inevitable this after u.s. bombers and fighter just fly near north korea in an unprecedented show of force

against isolated state also coming up. with germany's election just hours away chancellor angela merkel makes a last minute push for votes she has a strong lead in the polls but with a main challenger martin schultz a distant second all eyes are on which party will come. and iran says it has launched a new missile a new ballistic missile that can carry multiple warheads over two thousand kilometers is a sign of defiance against the u.s. . welcome to the program the u.s. has flown ball most close to north korea's east coast and what the pentagon called a demonstration of its military options in the face of threats the u.s. said the fight flight went to the furthest north of the dividing line between the

two koreas but any u.s. fighter jet has flown this century the show of force comes amid heightened tensions between the two countries over pyongyang's nuclear program and heightened rhetoric . for the second time this week the united nations podium was used to ratchet up the rhetoric between the u.s. and north korea john young's top diplomat slammed the u.s. president as a mentally deranged maglev maniac child how you on your words learned wasn't out of money president trump himself is the one on a suicide mission and then. in the case that innocent u.s. lives are lost because of this suicide attack trump will be held totally responsible. navy and asian. just hours earlier a u.s. air force b. one b. bombers flew further north along the korean coast than ever before the century the pentagon described the flight in international air space as

a show of resolve and the military options at hand on friday trump said no one has the right to threaten the u.s. . rocket man should have been handled a long time ago the we're going to do it. because we really have no choice we really have no choice. the u.n. north korea's foreign minister defended his country's nuclear program as a necessary response to u.s. aggression. the only response to violence is violence we will oppose the nuclear weapons of terror any with a nuclear weapons of justice. also had harsh words for china and russia he accused the nuclear powers of offering irresponsible support for the us with the economic sanctions hitting ordinary north koreans hard. he said these powers only want to defend their monopoly on nuclear weapons. meanwhile of two hundred thousand

people joined an anti american rally in the north korean capital on their banners a pledge to defend their leader with their lives. german chancellor angela merkel and her main challenger martin chills well out on their final day of campaigning before germans go to the polls on sunday and while marco has a comfortable lead in the polls not taking any chances meeting vote as a home district in north eastern germany to pause to pound home the message one last time. chancellor angela merkel doesn't have to worry about keeping her campaign alive as she practiced the c.p.i. . and reid's voters image that are so and her constituency in eastern germany after all her conservatives have a healthy lead in the polls and merkel looks set to become chancellor for the

fourth time. i think she has done a good job so far and that the results are tomorrow's general election will be pretty clear. but it's almost certain that the christian democrats might get enough votes to govern on their own with. one possible coalition partner the free market free democrats their leader christian in the last campaign day pitching for a comeback the f.t. pay failed to make it into the bundestag in the last federal elections. merkel could also renew the current coalition with the social democrats who trail far behind merkel's party in opinion polls their leader martin schultz made a final push to sway voters at an energetic rally in african in germany's west on the eve of the rally schultz urged germans not to vote for the populist alternative

for germany party nine by its german initials a f t arly founded four years ago the party has seen a last minute boost in the polls it could end up being the third largest party in the bundestag the split be the first time a nationalist party has sent in germany's parliament since a nine hundred sixty s. . i find it very worrying in light of germany's history. i simply find it terrible. and although angle americal is confident of winning the actual make up of the government still remains wide open. well joining us for loys political correspondent christopher spring gate good to have you with us so the latest polls continue to put. in the lead with double digits actually is this trust for macular is a trust for this it is it's a bit of both merkel's conservatives the christian democrats are ahead in the polls as you say they're polling around thirty six thirty seven percent. which is the

most popular party at the moment in germany they're doing better in surveys in all sorts of areas voters say they have a greater economic competence they trust them more in areas like security and foreign policy and the social democrats are just not doing as well as the christian democrats it is also the. anglo-american herself the chancellor she is even more popular than her party her popularity was damaged during the micro crisis it dipped quite dramatically she's recovered from that if you ask germans now who they want as the next chancellor one and two a good fifty percent will say so what happened to much in this campaign very strong with the schultz effect as it was called but somewhere along the line the numbers started going down what happened i think two things happened first of all a strategic mistake he based his campaign on the issue of social inequality. unfortunately for him germany the german economy is in robust health unemployment

is low wages are rising even if it's just a slight rise at the moment people are pretty content with life at the moment and you know with an issue such as social inequality you managed to attract ten percent maybe fifteen percent of the metrics just not an issue that you can win an election on so that was a major mistake and the other thing is that he just didn't manage to put forward a convincing vision of how to address some of the big threats that germans are facing the world of work is going to change when it gets digitized globalization all those things. people are worried about he didn't manage to put forward a convincing vision of what he would do this chance and did they if do manage to do this because the polls seem to be placing the right wing populist party a strong third what happens when they join the bundestag. the buddhist time arc the tone of debate in the buddhist top will change radically it will be much more

polarized much more fractious. the the. you know we expect many of the candidates many of the f.t. candidates who do win seats in the german parliament to be from the far right wing of the party you're going to have revisionists anti semites racists hardline nationalists conspiracy theorists all in the german produced they will change the tone of the debates in that parliament the mainstream democrats in parliament will have to do their work. they'll have to put much more effort into convincing people and beating the far right populist well christopher springeth thanks for that analysis as we look to the elections the coming hours actually you're welcome. well here in berlin voters heading to polling stations will have to compete with tens of thousands of affiliates taking part in the berlin marathon city officials

say they've made arrangements to make sure that everything goes smoothly for both runners and voters. the forty fourth berlin marathon meets the german elections. forty four thousand competitors will be running through the german capital on sunday. plans had to be made to ensure that berlin voters could reach their polling stations without problems. since the well together there are thirty polling stations affected that is when the voters have to cross the marathon route to reach their polling station. the voters were already informed of this when they received their polling card. and they also received another card that shows them how to reach their polling station. crossing points have been set up to help people get to the polls on time. we have

staggered starts around fifteen thousand runners at a time take off and leave spread out the groups a bit more so that they'll be more space on the route to allow voters going to the polls to be able to cross. security is also a concern more than fifteen hundred police will be on duty for the marathon and election on sunday authorities say they have no indications of any possible terror attacks the marathon should be able to retain its usual festive character. this is the first time both of vents are happening at the same time but we think we're well prepared to get it all sounds like a pretty normal marathon clearing the finishers hanging out on the lawn in front of the german parliament. so the marathon is just a few hours away and so too is the election so why not join our conversation online you can get all our coverage on our web site that's. there's plenty of content on

off and on all you need to do is look out for the hash tag. germany decides don't hesitate to get involved tell us what you think. another quake has struck mexico the tremors were centered in the region of one in the southeast of the country there were also felt in mexico city rescue workers suspended their search through buildings destroyed by the larger quake that rocked the country earlier this week the official death toll now stands at over three hundred. after hurricane maria ravaged puerto rico earlier this week the island is now facing a possible new disaster officials are scrambling to evacuate tens of thousands of

people from near a dam in the country's west experts say it's buckling under the strain of the rainwater brought by the hurricane and could collapse at any time the runoff from the nearly one hundred year old. has already failed causing flash flooding officials fear residents may not hear their warnings because communication has been cut off. iran claims it has successfully tested a new medium range missile now it's not clear where exactly the launch took place but the announcement came just days after u.s. president donald trump sharply criticized iran's government and threatened to demand changes to the international agreement on iran's nuclear program. iran claims its latest medium range ballistic missile can carry several warheads as far as two thousand kilometers state t.v. showed footage of the launch from an unspecified location within iran. a day

earlier the new missile was the star attraction of the military parade in the capital tehran a defiant president rouhani insists iran does not need permission to develop its missile program to have a look at whether the western powers want it or not the rant will defend the world's innocence we will increase our defense power in any form we deem necessary as well as upgrading the missile systems we will also strengthen naval ground and air forces o.e. . us president donald trump has already threatened to pull out of the existing u.n. agreement limiting iran's nuclear program earlier this week at the un trump delivered a scathing criticism of iran. tehran says its rockets are not designed to carry nuclear weapons but the challenge is their trump will announce next month whether the u.s. is pulling out of the iran nuclear deal. and here's

a reminder of the top stories we're following for you germany heads to the polls on sunday to elect a new parliament and america is tipped to win a fourth term as chancellor but the populist alternative for germany party is expected to enter the bundestag for the first time. this hour in the men in the meantime you should check out our website that's t w dot com for all the latest updates and more information you can also find us on twitter and facebook but we are at the new thank you for watching. where i come from we have to fight for a free press and was born and raised in a military dictatorship with just.