to continue to fight to research the benefits. that's the power train and d.h. will making it happen. this is deja vu news live from berlin germany remembers a night of terror one year ago a failed asylum seeker drove a truck into a berlin christmas market killing twelve people injuring dozens has enough been done since that to help those devastated by that attack we'll go live to the site

at that christmas morning and also we're going to season in every action we're now putting america first of. all in the united states donald trump lays out his vision for national security the u.s. president signals that america will play hardball and pursuit of its own interests . and a german journalist was released from a turkish prison but is still on able to leave the country will all other jailed colleagues also be released. i'm brian thomas a very warm welcome to the show. one year ago today terrorists struck in the very heart of a failed to nation an asylum seeker and drove a stolen truck into a crowded christmas market twelve people died dozens were wounded in the first

major is almost attack here in germany we'll talk about the criticism german authorities have been facing in the aftermath first we have this report. christmas in central berlin and this truck races towards the market full of people but doesn't stop the driver deliberately steese into the crowd. people had been eating sausages and drinking mulled wine now dead and injured lyman the wreckage of wooden stalls. you heard glass breaking we saw people shouting and screaming. and crying and there were large people in there he's. obviously injured. and you are sitting on the ground you heard. the man who'd been behind the wheel escaped to italy police found him nearly a week later and shot him dead german politicians initially seemed reluctant to

label it a terror attack but the so-called islamic state soon claimed responsibility even then later is urged people to stick together. the perpetrators hatred will not tempt us to hate. it will not divide out togetherness. this year people have been determined to carry on as normal but precautions have been made concrete barriers set up around christmas markets now in germany show an underlying concern. and here a bright child plants there's more a makeshift memorial to the dead today it makes way for a more permanent reminder. let's go live now to. plots where that attack took place one year ago today all over a memorial is going to be on veiled in a few hours what can you tell us about that. there's

a whole lot of memorial events taking place here tonight today during the whole day really the whole area here of plots is cordoned off it's a high security zone we are now awaiting the visit of german president. who's going to deliver a speech right in the church that you can see behind me and then later as you mentioned the german chancellor angela merkel will veal the memorial saw it here it's a piece of art it's an artwork a crack in the sidewalk that is filled with gold and then the relatives of the victims are going to come here as well and they will poor in liquid gold into that crack that is supposed to symbolize that the good that the crack in society will be closed here today. so it will be a lot of solemnity for that but what about the christmas market where you are it has returned to the square there. is it business as usual now there.

well if you were to ask one year ago then many observers would have said this is going to change a lot in german society this is going in this attack is going to change even the political landscape but right now of course this christmas market is closed today but if you were to go to other markets they're all open and they're busy as usual at this time of the day and if you speak to people visiting these christmas marches than you would hear the same words in the same take on the situation that you would have heard after many of the european terror attacks there is a lot of defiance people want to carry on with their everyday lives and that applies as well to the vendors here i spoke to one that was heavily in jordan in spite of that he is here again with his stall selling like he did like he has been doing for the last twenty years this is not so much the case though if you speak to the relatives of the victims they will as you mentioned some of them be there today all over one year on the criticism of how america and her government have been

handling this attack has been mounting what can you tell us about that. well that also goes down to how she handled and how the government handled the situation with the relatives of the victims there are very unhappy about what they say is a lack of empathy they accused her of a lot of things that the government did not take really care you know put forward certain financial aid quickly enough a lot of bureaucracy involved there and it took a long time until. eventually matts relatives of the victims she did so yesterday she met eighty victims the talks lasted for three hours we do not know exactly what the contents of these talks were but we do know that she regrets that she didn't take action more quickly and did not show more empathy earlier many say this regret is coming too late. plus we're going to be covering events there

throughout the day long live all over thanks very much for now check out some of the other stories making news around the world at this hour u.s. investigators say a passenger train that derailed onto a busy highway was traveling nearly three times the speed limit three people were killed and dozens more were injured when the amtrak train left the tracks was the inaugural run of a new route linking the cities of seattle. and south africa the governing african national congress has elected a new leader deputy president rama host defeated president jacob zuma as ex-wife and close and fourth race that puts them a big step closer to south africa's top job all of the last three leaders have gone on to serve as president. protests have turned violent in argentina over the government's planned pension reforms authorities say about one

hundred people were injured dozens were arrested in clashes outside the legislature in buenos aires. the plans to rein in pension costs are part of president efforts to curb spending and bring inflation under control. and the united states president trump has laid out his foreign policy strategy in a speech that outlined a shift from past administrations a focus on protecting american interests first mirrors washington's changing role in the world the plan focuses on containing china and russia as well as dealing with threats from iran and north korea. in a wide ranging speech donald trump unveiled his new national security strategy let me begin once more he used the blunt language that his supporters love and his detractors love. with every decision and every action we're now putting america

first with the strategy i am announcing today we are declaring that america is in the game and america is going to win this dropping previous mentions of climate change trump instead focused on four main pillars. boosting homeland protection including building his wall on the mexican border promoting american prosperity by rebuilding infrastructure demonstrating military strength he said he would end mandatory defense spending limits and advance u.s. influence in the world. trim call china and russia great rivals he also said washington had no choice but to deal with the challenge posed by north korea's nuclear and missile programs. our campaign of maximum pressure on the north korean regime has resulted in the toughest ever sanctions we have united our allies in an unprecedented effort to isolate north korea however there

is much more work to do america and its allies will take all necessary steps to achieve a d. nuclear ization and ensure that this regime cannot threaten the world. but on monday it was the united states that was isolated at the u.n. security council when the us ambassador nikki haley vetoed a resolution rejecting trump's recognition of jerusalem as israel's capital after all fourteen other security council members back the measure. what we witnessed here today in the security council is an insult it won't be forgotten today for acknowledging a basic truth about the capital city of israel we are accused of harming peace the record will reflect that we reject that outrageous claim. the video highlighted

washington's isolation over trump's declaration that the u.s. embassy will be moved from tel aviv to jerusalem station a court in turkey has released a turkish german journalist pending trial for terrorism michel it's all those cases tested the already strained relations between berlin and ankara she was arrested earlier this year and what human rights groups are calling a targeted crackdown on free speech in turkey among those also arrested as another turkish german journalist and his huge l. remains behind bars. free at last. after being held in a turkish prison for seven months michelle can finally embrace her family members again back in april she was arrested in her istanbul apartment and taken to a women's prison her three year old son also spent time with her behind bars. we followed her to her lawyers office michel and told me once to say a few words to the media. i am very happy but also very exhausted

this is been a huge circus that i still have to process i believe in the coming days i will get a clearer idea of what actually happened and be able to say more. michel atolls trial is set to continue in april but going to germany is not an option for michele if she still faces charges in turkey and was only released on the condition that she doesn't leave the country she is charged with being a member of the marxist leninist communist party a group classified as a terrorist organization she believes she's being tried for another reason. we are journalists and we're a thorn in the side of the government i am free today but i'm waiting for dennis you just to be free to all i really can't see a difference between the two of us i hope you will be able to enjoy his freedom soon. dennis eugen

has been detained without charge since february michel a totals release could be a sign of hope. well just how safe is it these days to be a journalist especially an investigative journalist like michelle atoll who reporters without borders has just released its annual report looking at the risks that journalists and bloggers face around the world in some regions trying to report on certain issues can cost you your life this year sixty five journalists and media workers were killed doing their job the most dangerous countries are syria understandably followed by mexico afghanistan iraq and the philippines but what about being able to report freely without risk of repression or persecution well worldwide more than three hundred journalists are being held in prisons and jails right now a large number of them are languishing behind bars in china also in turkey as we've

mentioned today many are also being held in iran and in syria. well how far would you go for your country in siberia a group of hearty russians have braved the cold to protest the ban on russia for next year's winter olympics wearing nothing but christmas themed swimwear the flash mob skidded albums the frozen surface of the famous lake by call as if that weren't enough they even decided to go in for a dip russia was of course banned from the olympic games earlier this month four states are doping clean russian athletes can still compete under. the first winners of a japanese lottery have collected their prize in tokyo but it was not money they want instead the chance to catch a glimpse of this six month old pay and. kilograms

for appearances alongside her mother. have been limited to two and a half hours per day adding to the pandemonium at the japanese capital's you know no zoo this is. don't forget we're following events. today and throughout the day we'll have more from there all over salad and our reporting team here for now thanks for being with us. over information.