an exclusive peek behind one of the last iron curtain it's. a north korean diary starting december twenty eighth on t w. this is due to be induced to live from berlin britain finally gets a yes from brussels as the e.u. gives the green light for the next phase of negotiations european leaders say major hurdles house been overcome and that britain and europe can now move on to talking about their future relations with a focus on trade we made quite a can if you can program face to pain now and again but we realized that obviously

this phase of negotiation is going to be even harder for him also coming up is an end to germany's political crisis in sight the social democrats agreed to begin talks on forming a possible government with chancellor merkel's conservatives. plus the fate of young european women who married islamic state fighters one german teenager has just been reunited with her parents after running away to join the militant group but she is still facing trial in iraq. i'm sumi so misconduct to have you with us european union leaders have made the decision britain has been waiting for you council president on all says break the talks have made enough progress to move to the second phase of negotiations the two

sides will now focus on their future relationship and the issue of trade but you leaders are already warning the next phase is likely to be even tougher than the first. this is what relief looks like on the faces of european council president and commission presidential include the european union gives britain the go ahead for phase two of the brics in negotiations but it also warns that it will be dramatically difficult. for sure the. second phase should be. challenging the first face. without the british premier present the other member states signed off on the european commission's recommendation that london had given enough guarantees on the most important divorce issues germany's angela merkel and french president call in a joint press conference emphasize the importance of putting on a united front in mind that might seem we can only do well in these negotiations and build

a strong relationship with great britain if we stand together as twenty seven if we start fighting over different interests it won't end well for anyone that is what unites us is that the law and. the agreements to move talks on also came as a significant relief to british prime minister in may who responded from our home district in the south of england i'm pleased that it's been agreed we should make rapid progress on an internet period which will give certainty to businesses and individuals there's still more to do but we're well on the road to delivering a brics it. prosperous strong and secure while today's decision was pretty much a formality it is also an important milestone after moments where it looked as if negotiations between britain and the e.u. might collapse but now as many leaders today stressed comes the hard part faced two of the negotiations will focus on the nitty gritty of the transition and future trade relations and it will be conducted largely on the terms of the european union

. charlotte shell some poll was following the summit for us and we asked her what this new step in the negotiations between the e.u. and britain means what that basically says is that there's been sufficient progress on three key issues three issues that need to be decided in the so-called phase one of tools and those things are the divorce bill as it's called how much money the u.k. the e.u. on citizens rights isn't she what happens to u.k. citizens living in europe in european citizens citizens living in the u.k. and on the northern ireland border what's going to happen often breaks it between a northern island and its neighbor island which is still going to be in the in the e.u. so very complex issues it's been a very difficult road several attempts to reach an agreement on this failed in fact they were meant to reach an agreement here at the last summit in october and failed so big sighs of relief here today that finally they've done it. well britain's

impending divorce from the european union has a lot of people on edge especially in the u.k.'s financial sector our road to bragg's that series is looking at the challenges posed by britain leaving the e.u. and today we're asking the big question will they strike a deal on trade or won't they and the city of london banks and traders desperately want to deal so they can continue to trade across the whole of europe but they are working on a plan b. just in case. report. every morning it's rush hour in london bridge the gateway into the financial district the city of london the city provides over one million jobs it's at the heart of the u.k. economy we want to find out how much two people in london's financial hub fira heartbreaks it and how are they preparing for it financial services are particularly vulnerable to bracks and roughly a third of all financial transactions here in the city of london and those clients

in the e.u. that's why companies already prepare for every possible scenario lloyds of london the global insurance company have had their offices in the city for almost three hundred thirty years but now they are preparing to move more staff to the continent . below its chief executive has been preparing for the worst which would be no trade deal about four billion euros of business is written by the lloyd's market here in london at the moment across the country so that is a significant amount of business that we've run the risk of losing lloyd's already have a presence on the continent now they are increasing it by about one hundred staff mainly in a new office in brussels it's been estimated that tens or even hundreds of thousands of finance jobs might be lost in london it's not yet happening on a big scale but it is on people's minds i think it's

a terrible decision i think it's going to just be a lot of pain over the next two years it will still be right in the end there just be a lot of uncertainty until like the source now in terms or tried in terms of ideas i think now we're going to be much worse off for it yeah that's why industry leaders a lot being hard for a trade deal with the e.u. a lot of people in the city of london did not vote for brics it but now they're tom and to limit the damage too much is at stake for the u.k.'s most profitable industry. charles bauman is the political representative of the financial services industry he regularly meets with to reason me into government and desperately wants to press home his message so we want a transition arrangement as soon as possible when the proof provides for certainty for business beyond march two thousand and nine nineteen looking for. access to talent and thirdly is immigration to a trade deal

a comprehensive free trade ambitious free trade agreement the fear is that emotional arguments might win the bricks of negotiations that economic needs of the city of london might be ignored as they were in the vote for brics it itself. now to some other stories making news around the world dutch military police have shot a man at amsterdam's airport after he threaten people with a knife the incident prompted authorities to launch a partial evacuation of the airport a police spokesman said it was not being treated as a terrorist attack officers shot a man in the leg and detained him before transporting him to a hospital. judges at the international criminal court have awarded ten million dollars compensation to child soldiers recruited by congolese warlord thomas lubanga the court said he was liable to pay the full amount but acknowledge he couldn't afford it aid agencies estimate that over five million people died as

a result of the war in the democratic republic of congo between one thousand nine hundred eighty and two thousand and seven. britain's prince harry and his american fiance meghan marco will marry on may nineteenth next year kensington palace announced the date and from the ceremony will take place in st george's chapel at windsor castle the couple announced their engagement last month following a sixteen month romance. and a russian court has sentenced former economy minister elect c o u k f to eight years in jail for accepting a two million dollars bribe from an oil boss close to president vladimir putin a sentence harsher than many had expected and the cases ignited speculation that the u.k. of might have fallen victim to a kremlin power play. u.s. secretary of state rex tillerson a step back from his offer earlier this week of unconditional talks with north korea tillerson has just told a meeting of the u.n. security council that a sustained cessation of north korea's threatening behavior is needed before talks

can start between washington and pyongyang north korea must earn its way back to the table the pressure cooker campaign must and will continue until denuclearization is achieved we will in the meantime keep our channels of communication open. now here in germany signs of a possible end to the political crisis since september the country has only had a caretaker government now the social democrats have confirmed they will sit down with chancellor angela merkel's conservatives for exploratory talks on forming a coalition that they have governed together for the past four years but the s.p.d. suffered an historic defeat in september's elections and has been reluctant to join a government under uncle americal again just more it's a balancing act for martin schulz most germans want another grand coalition but the social democrat party leader knows the dysfunction is not well loved by his party

base. bigger square here is an open question whether these talks will lead to forming a new coalition i must repeat this again in all seriousness the fact that we are having exploratory talks doesn't mean we have committed to any particular coalition in fact the opposite is true. in these talks it's all about how we discuss topics and how we can push through a social democratic platform for this country because the s.p.d. agreed unanimously to continue talks leading to a repeat of a coalition with the conservatives whether the result will be a grand coalition a minority government or new elections depends on how many social democratic issues can be put into any agreement. which they start it is important to me that we talk about the topics that move people for example german families who need to be relieved of daycare fees and families who need better options to care for relatives

. and. agreeing on the subjects of free day care and family support may not be the real problem what is difficult is agreeing on topics like immigration and asylum. here the party positions diverged so much that it is hard to see how the pieces could fit together. at the c.s.u. party conference in bavaria chancellor merkel told the conservative faithful that she means business and is relieved that the s.p.d. have decided to negotiate. because i am glad that the social democrats have made the decision to begin exploratory talks. looking at the journey they have made since september twenty fourth i can say the social democrats have earned my respect. we will now focus completely on these talks and hold them in a way that is exemplary to form the basis of

a sound government and build a coalition. next week the chancellor c.s.u. leader horst the hoover and the s.p.d. chairman martin schultz will meet yet again and in mid january the s.p.d. is due to hold a party conference that will then decide whether the talks were successful enough if so they will likely vote once again to keep talking now a german teenager is awaiting trial in baghdad after being captured in a stronghold of the so-called islamic state linda wu traveled to iraq after converting to islam there she married and i a fighter who was later killed now she says she wants to come back home but even if she does make it back to germany her future is uncertain it was a cautious reunion with a family who traveled from germany to baghdad to see the seventeen year old who is in custody awaiting trial. pictures of her arrest in mosul in july were beamed

around the world. identified only as linda w. she left her home in eastern germany to join the so-called islamic state now she regrets. i don't know how i came up with such a dumb idea i've completely ruined my life. linda says she didn't take part in any fighting she says after the death of the i.a.s. member she married she stayed in various women's shelters and almost never stepped outside hundreds of women have left europe to join i.a.s. many of them are now in custody in iraq according to research by german media at least seven germans are among them until now german women who were not in combat but married to i.a.s. militants were rarely prosecuted back home now a different legal approach is likely. where of the opinion that these women are guilty of membership of a foreign terrorist organization because they helped to strengthen the internal

structure of the so-called islamic state but this question will ultimately have to be clarified by germany its federal court of justice. but. it's not clear whether linda w. would be prosecuted if and when she returns an investigation is underway but there's no warrant for her arrest in germany. that's your news for this hour we'll be back with more news at the top of the next hour thanks for watching. your homeland because of persecution at society five people who found a new home in a foreign land with their stories books and music they've built bridges to the past. and the future. after these.