sions pin one will come to deduce africa the program tonight from phone in germany from own use of these eat our website d w that comes to much africa join us on facebook that t.w. africa. and. this is the w. news the live from berlin germany begins voting to a leftist new government will it be four times in a row for angela merkel as chancellor her main challenger martine schultz is hoping to pull off a shock victory but the chances are slim after a lackluster campaign. and what about the a.f.d.

polls predicts the far right party will enter parliament for the first time look at this mean for german politics we will have all of the analysis. plus in other news north korea upped the ante against the united states pyongyang's foreign minister tells the un that an attack on the u.s. mainland is now inevitable this after u.s. bombers and fighter jets fly you're in north korea in an unprecedented show of force against the isolated state. and fortress dortmund undefeated at home for more than two years and yet to concede a goal this season they topped the table as they boasted much and lot did the folds maintain their on beaten run. i'm sorry kelly welcome to our special coverage of the german elections the polling . asians are open and germans are deciding whether angela merkel serves

a fourth term as chancellor voting began just an hour ago and will continue for the next nine hours more than sixty one million people are eligible to cast their ballots polls indicate that merkel's on course for a clear victory but could a surprise be in store like greggs it or trump for example if merkel wins as expected the big question is who will she end up governing with will it be another grand coalition with the social democrats or will she joined forces with potentially another party. so a lot of big questions ahead as we get things under way going on election day let's bring in holmes brown tired of political correspondent who as you see is joining me on the set right now so hans just remind us what is at stake today well obviously a every election is important what's at stake for

a lot of parliamentarians is whether they're going to continue doing that work as parliamentarians it seems very likely in fact that many of them will lose their place in palm and especially from the social democrats but probably also from the christian democrats the two main parties that have been rooting together in the grand coalition so far. but really the big question in this election is who's going to end up in third place and that is the question about the right wing populist the alternative for germany a of who are very likely for the first time to enter parliament and. as most recent polls show seem to be set to become so good largest party in this parliament let's talk a little bit more about those polls are they reliable this time around you know can we really expect things to shake out that way well polls always slightly unreliable obvious there's always a margin of error and the polls here in germany that's about two percent so if we say that the christian democrats are somewhere around thirty six percent of the

vote it could be thirty four could be thirty eight the social democrats the second largest party somewhere around twenty twenty two percent of the vote and the f.t. and most recent polls the right wing populous have been to thirteen percent of the vote then there's a handful of smaller parties that are all at around ten percent and that's really where the race is going to be decided. for the future you know what that will decide what kind of government is possible off this election how well or how badly the various small parties do how are we expecting germans to participate in this decision are expecting many of them to turn out because i mean normally the participation rate is about seventy percent we have to mention but this campaign has been called boring in lackluster people motivated. that is a big question this really concerns especially the supporters of the two largest parties the christian democrats the conservatives and the social democrats both of both of those parties have to. say that they have been in power to gether for four

years it's very clear that these two parties will be the two largest party so this supporters may feel that it's not necessary to go and vote because their parties are doing well or reasonably well in any case and then there's the question of how many people can be called out actually to vote. for the smaller parties because that's really the decisive race there's been quite a lot of push to get young people to vote who are traditionally not quite as prepared to go and vote as older people are and they have obviously been calls really from oprah to tickle parties for everyone to go and that one factor is always the way that it's been raining quite strongly in many parts of germany in the last twenty four hours that means that the participation may well be lower than mine one might hope for but it's very important to legitimate what. comes out of this through the you know participation of all the churches phosphors rain though

something we have to mention germans many of them already accustomed to. we want to dig down a little bit deeper now you going to stick around for us but when you dig down a little bit deeper into the dynamics of the various parties here in germany because the conservative c.d.u. c.s.u. led by angela merkel and the social democrats led by martine schultz they are widely predicted as we heard to be the two largest parties in parliament they may be an election mode now but both have been in a coalition since twenty thirty and that means that it has become difficult to tell them apart when it comes to their stand on major issues. the. two parties do many festivals at least in theory because in fact the conservative c.d.u. c.s.u. and the social democrat as. party have more common ground then differences. one of the most pressing issues in german foreign policy is their relationship with turkey both parties agree on a tougher stance against turkish president. at the t.v.

duel the two candidates had only slightly differing standpoints on turkey while s.p.d. front runner martin schulz called for ending economic and financial relations the customs union and e.u. accession talks see deals angle americal supports freezing accession talks but stresses that diplomatic relations need to continue. the differences between the parties are slim in many areas but not when it comes to defense. c.d.u. agrees with the us president and nato who want to raise defense spending to two percent of gross domestic product the social democrats are opposing such plans by saying that will not happen with the s.p.d. . after years of crisis and political turmoil things are looking up in europe but the e.u. reforms are urgently needed and expectations are high for germany to take the lead

. the s.p.d. has a progressive stance on europe and calls for a european constitution the c.d.u. states rather vague by calling for further development of the euro zone. it's hard to find real differences on key issues like the migration crisis but both s.p.d. and see do you agree that it was right to open the borders in two thousand and fifteen and that migrants should be redistributed within the e.u. . the s.p.d. made a broad statement distribution has to happen in a coordinated way the conservatives agree but in directly appealed to eastern european countries to fulfill their responsibility. for years and government have led to the cd un s.p.d. closing their ranks if surveys proved to be right they might soon govern again in

yet another grand coalition. let's get more now on the prospects of another grand coalition hans practice with us here in the studio so four years of these two parties governing together as we just heard there that the lines between these two parties have become a bit blurred what has that meant for germany. it's specially well it's meant in some sense you could say it's meant a lot of stability in the last four years because the two got biggest parties have basically government together have basically seen to it that the conflict between them or the lines between them don't become too contradictory. but it's also meant that there has been a sense of. a lessening of political debate and especially it's been especially detrimental to the social democrats they have brought forward a lot of their issues things like minimum wage or. you know the minimum wage was introduced in this in this election period of the one that's just passed on the

initiative of the social democrats but i'm going to machall in her usual way has said in recent days well that's her project so the social democrats have been losing their. unique profile in this coalition which is why they are a little reticent about having another issue a real issue of this grand coalition of after these coming elections so perhaps the moral of the story as a coalition with angela merkel is not necessarily one that is to your advantage if you're on the other side one of the key issues that mean time for most voters in the polls. the major issue that most polls have shown up is the question of how refugees and immigration handled in germany this is a result of hundreds of thousands of refugees coming into germany in the last couple of years and that's something that really does concern voters across the political spectrum apart from that it's what one would might might expect the things that affect people's daily lives things like unemployment benefits pension

benefits questions of spending on infrastructure on roads bridges school buildings that sort of thing which has been neglected to some extent in germany over the past few years and these kinds of interest. infrastructures are not in a good show in this country so really the things that concern people's daily lives is what is important to them is another really big issue is of course it has been migration that something that we're to drill down a little bit deeper into now and then get your reaction because we know that the c.d.u. c.s.u. in the social democrats they are as we have heard slated to be the two largest parties in the race for third place is on now that is really something that many people are focusing on that third place the latest opinion polls indicate that that position could go to the far right alternative for germany or. it's on course to become the first far right party voted into german parliament since world war two

and it's likely to shake up the political consensus with its opposition to migrants and. f.t. election posters leave little to the imagination new germans will make those ourselves reads this one because past this slogan we're going to bikini's if there were any down to about the alternative on offer it's islamophobia and anti immigrant stop islamification photo you have to be reads this poster to suppose a threat posed by islam in migrants has been a key campaign message for the have to lead candidates. politicked often and by the policy of open borders the indiscriminate admission of people from other religions and cultures poses a grave threat to my civil liberties to the civil liberties of homosexuals and above all to the civil liberties of our still free society. vitalism economist who lives with a lesbian partner a swiss woman of sri lankan origin together they've adopted two children although i

have to be policy clearly states that a family needs a mother and a father vital even criticised the german government for introducing same sex marriage. running mate alexander gallant is a founding f.t. member he's drawn condemnation for racist statements about what tank a black soccer player who helped clinch the twenty fourteen world cup for germany people think he's a good footballer down and set last year but they don't want to what tang as a neighbor. the a.s.d. hasn't always been a far right populist party and you come into the german political scene it was founded just four years ago back then it was a single issue set up campaigning against the euro and germany's contribution to the e.u. bailout fund for greece it's almost got elected to the bundestag in twenty thirteen it ended up just shy of the five percent needed. but the f.t.c. electoral fortunes changed when chancellor merkel declared germany's borders open

at the height of the migration crisis. the party has transformed itself at an incredible speed into a right wing extremist party with nationalist elements so in that respect it's a challenge for all democrats for a fellow democrat. wherever merkel went during the campaign she was booed by a f.t. heckler as with the party in the bundestag she'd be facing vocal far right opponents from the opposition benches. they have to really tapping into some discontent there in the country as we can see has brought to joins us now with more salons we heard that this party founded about four years ago how did it get so popular so quickly well some political scientists say that this is just the kind of normalize ation in europe if you look at all the neighboring countries of germany they all have populist right wing parties in some countries even in power such as in poland for instance and so this kind of party

has not been able to establish itself in germany for many many years because in germany there's been a took against the right wing parties. of germany's nazi past this to booze seems now to have dragged no longer to exist and so for some it's a kind of normalization the fact that this party has grown so strongly really has to do with the migration issue because of the large number of migrants and refugees that came into germany in two thousand and fifteen and two thousand and sixteen the party picked up on this issue and picked up on the discontent that was very widespread and the fears amongst people widespread among voters in germany and that's really what's pushed it into a large number of regional parliaments in the last few years and is now a very likely to push it possibly even into third place in the in the start the german central part of and what how does that change the dynamic then in the bundestag in the parliament given the fact that this is a far right party isn't it i mean it's already changed the tone of german politics

their campaigning has been very very vociferous very. raucous. and in some senses racist it's changed the political political dialogue substantially in germany and that's likely to be the case in parliament as well there will be these rabble rousers you might call them in parliament and there's some question about their commitment to parliamentary process and domestic democratic process they asked quite large numbers of members in this party that don't really seem to believe that country should be government in this way fascinating stuff hans branch with the very latest political correspondent thank you so much for telling us a little bit more. and don't forget we will be live throughout the day bringing you all of the latest developments as they happen you kind of course follow them online on our website w dot com there's also plenty of content on our facebook page and on

twitter just look for the following hash tag germany decides don't hesitate to get involved and to tell us exactly what you think. let's turn now to some other news of the day because north korea's foreign minister has said that an attack on the u.s. mainland is inevitable just hours after the u.s. flew bombers close to north korea's east coast both sides have been increasing the tensions over p.r. yang's nuclear program this week using the u.n. general assembly in new york to deliver some remarkable verbal blows earlier in the week u.s. president donald trump took to the podium and threaten to destroy a north korea and now pyongyang has addressed the gathering of the world leaders. before and of for the second time this week the united nations podium was used to ratchet up the rhetoric between the u.s. and north korea pyongyang's top diplomat ri young who slammed the u.s. president as a mentally deranged megalomaniac. president trump himself

is the one on a suicide mission. in the case that innocent u.s. lives are lost because of this suicide attack. will be held totally responsible. just hours earlier u.s. air force b. one b. bombers flew further north along the korean coast than ever before this century the pentagon described the flight in international airspace as a show of resolve and the military options at hand. for north korea all the more reason to pursue its nuclear program at the un foreign minister read defended it as the necessary answer to us aggression. the only response to violence is violence we will oppose the nuclear weapons of terror any with a nuclear weapons of justice. president trump took to twitter in response to reserve dress writing that really

a north korean leader kim jong un whom trump calls little rocket man won't be around much longer trump didn't spell out the substance of this threat at the u.n. really also had harsh words for china and russia he accused the nuclear powers of offering irresponsible support for the u.s. with their economic sanctions hitting ordinary north koreans hard. these powers only want to defend their monopoly on nuclear weapons. meanwhile up to one 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. and for more on the situation on the korean peninsula let's bring in jason strother correspondent in the south korean capital seoul good morning to you jason harsh words there from both sides that we've just heard how is the growing tension perceived there in the region.

well as south korea has condemned north korea's foreign minister re young ho's words at the u.n. . both opposition and ruling parties here in seoul have said that his words were only lead to more tensions and that north korea essential needs to return to dialogue. meanwhile the south korean government has reaffirmed its commitment to defend. to defend itself with the help of the united states you have to remember south korea is in a difficult position if there were hostilities to break out here the u.s. takes control of the south's military so south korea is going along with what washington has done flying these bombers nearby north korea i want to talk a little bit more about those bombers of course on u.s. president donald trump given the order to send those bombers flying close to north korean territory just how big a deal is this move really. it is something different

off even you know under the administration of barack obama the u.s. would fly fighter jets stealth bombers over south korean territory toward the d.m.z. the demilitarized zone that the border between north and south korea but to fly these jets in international waters but that far north of the d.m.z. that's unprecedented and many decades jason strother putting it all into context for us from the south korean capital seoul thank you so much for your reporting thank you let's get a quick check now of some other stories making news around the world six people are reported to have been injured in a suspected acid attack outside of a shopping center in london police say that a group of males sprayed a noxious substance in the vicinity of the center causing the injuries one person has been arrested. in new zealand's general election no party has secured enough votes to form a government alone the vote was one of the closest in recent history with the

governing national party securing forty six percent and the opposition labor party almost thirty six both parties are reportedly considering coalition talks with the controversial anti immigration new zealand first party which won seven point five percent. turkey's parliament has renewed a bill that would allow the country's armed forces to intervene in iraq and syria if facing national security threats the move is being seen as a warning to iraqi kurds who want to hold an independence referendum on monday. in mexico at least one person has been killed after another earthquake struck in the south of the country the magnitude six point one quake struck the region of waka very close to an area battered by an earlier quake on september seventh. rescue workers posting their search for victims in mexico city. a fresh earthquake sent shock waves throughout southern mexico on saturday causing

a temporary halt in rescue efforts emergency crews were soon back to work but tensions are still running high. in mexico city saw a series of small protests after rumors spread online that rescue workers were calling off their search for the hundreds of victims still feared trapped in the rubble. i meet a man i know my sisters inside there they have not told us anything they come up with the same thing patients patients patients for how long do we have to be patient right now. the government has assured its citizens that the search will continue thousands of engineers and architects are currently inspecting some four thousand reports of damaged buildings in the capital alone but that's left thousands in the lurch as authorities assess the damages. and that the riyadh man we don't know if our building really has structural damage or if it doesn't. but

what we know right now is that at this moment we can't live there. the authorities are giving us the chance to go up into us. so that we can take our belongings before but i forgot it was the last bit of the news you have came out of them to believe that. and the aftershocks keep coming leaving many here on the street with only what they can carry. some sports news for you now and u.s. basketball superstar le bron james has lashed out at u.s. president donald trump over his decision to disinvite n.b.a. champions the golden state warriors from visiting the white house in a message on twitter the warriors player labeled the us president a bomb saying that he was no longer it was no longer an honor to visit the white house during his presidency the latest war of words kicked off when trump slammed several national football league players for protesting during the national anthem

against racial injustice one of the basketball players singled out by trump and mentioned in the bron james this tweet had this to say about the president's actions. president has the things that he said and the things that. he hasn't said in the rights that we won't stand for and by acting or not going hopefully that will. inspire some change when it comes to what we tolerate in this country and what is accepted and what is what we turn a blind eye eye to. i mean it's not just the act of not going there are for things that you have to do in the back and to actually push the message into motion. steph curry speaking a short while ago meantime in going to see the action dortmund faced off against clinton and saturday's late game dortmund have been flying high at the top of the standings almost scoring at will glad bok meanwhile have also had a respectable start to the campaign and have yet to lose on the road so could they

put an end to dortmund stunning form have a look. the stage was set for the big show in dortmund but it took the home team a while to get their game on track. back loaded up the back and dortmund had to wait for them to slip up. coach paid a bosch urged his troops on through a ball to be a emerick obama young who finds maximillian philip to make it one meal when the twenty eighth minute. milestone for dortmund they're eighteen hundred one just a good goal. then down the left jeremy told young philip began in position to nail the but box defense looked to shambles after thirty eight minutes. then it was obama on his turn first he made it three nil before the break then he added two more after the restart bringing his total for the season to eight goals

in six games the back. lot back meanwhile at a loss up front but finally they hit the target making it five one. hardly cause to celebrate. then dortmund were back at it again. julieann by go round it out the half dozen minutes but could only stand by and watch. six one the final score and life is good for dortmund fans young and old. show a quick reminder now the top stories that we have been following for you you have been watching special coverage of the german election polling stations have opened in germany's farleigh mentary elections polls show that incumbent angela merkel is poised to win a fourth term as chancellor they also suggest that the a.f.p. will become the first far right party to enter the parliament since world war two.

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