isn't it time for good news. for people and projects that are changing no one far meant for the better it's up to us to be good friends let's shut. the. parliament magazine. long d w. d w news live from berlin it's christmas day again for orthodox christians around the globe. to take you to the celebrations in

russia egypt and the west bank on a holy day for the world's estimated three hundred million orthodox christian faithful also coming up with everything the other done is one hundred percent growth profile what they do is they do see this drug trade shows that u.s. president donald trump again rejects accusations that his campaign colluded with moscow in the twenty sixteen presidential race as he pushes back against claims in a new tell all book. plus remembering an extraordinary astronaut and us space pioneer john young the nine person to walk on the moon has died at the age of eighty seven. welcome to the program i'm mary in evanston it's great to have you with us. orthodox christians around the world are observing christmas today january seventh

celebrations come thirteen days after christmas celebrations in other christian communities that's because the orthodox church retains a different calendar for its liturgical schedule christmas eve mass ceremonies have been held drawing orthodox believers as well as people of other faith. orthodox christians in the west bank turned out to attend christmas eve mass in bethlehem's church of the nativity the orthodox patriarch of jerusalem the office and third presided over midnight mass palestinian president mahmoud abbas also attended the service. in egypt president sisi made a symbolic appearance at an orthodox christmas mass amidst high security to protect egypt's minority christians from possible attacks by islamist militants cc's visit was seen as a show of solidarity. if you are our family you

are part of us they are all one christians and muslims yes and no one can ever divide us. in moscow russian patriarch kirill held christmas mass in the city's opulent christ the savior cathedral in a ceremony rich in song. like the other orthodox christian denominations the russian orthodox church also follows the julian calendar which is thirteen days behind the gregorian calendar used by catholics and protestants. russian orthodox christians celebrate christmas eve on january sixth. german chancellor angela merkel is set to host a fresh round of talks on possibly forming a new coalition government the five day exploratory talks will include anglo-american as conservatives and the center left social democrats the parties

are hoping to find some preliminary agreements on sticking points including germany's migration policies as well as its approach towards europe if the talks fail germany could face fresh elections and with them an uncertain future for chancellor merkel. how germany proceeds and its relations with turkey could also be up for discussion in the coalition talks ties between the two nato allies have deteriorated since the failed coup against turkey's president rich a type error to one in twenty sixteen but this weekend brought a meeting between germany and turkey's top diplomats at which they pledged to try and improve that your country's relationship. germany in taki scene trip struck a new year's resolution to improve ties after years of escalating tensions the mood here was cordell takis foreign minister emphasizing a hope for progress. that the yes there are differences. there have been

problems even tensions and as collisions. but we all agree and have the shared desire to overcome these tensions and differences through dialogue. touring gap players hometown the two men discussed how to steer relations onto a better course in these historic streets they focused on their country's shared experiences and common ties the flag waving crowds a reminder that some three million people of turkish origin live in germany those citizens as well as mutual economic interests forming some of the incentives to thaw relations. fun for i believe we have the responsibility to find a way to get along. that's g.-u. to our historical legacy and the wishes of our citizens. we must not forget that.

we've both made it our business to do everything we can to overcome the difficulties that they have been in german turkish relations given what you have been. about as both men have conceded key differences remain particularly over the case of denis you show he's one of several gentleman and german tactician nationals in detention in turkey for what beilin cool's political reasons reports suggest god had made his release a precondition for restarting alms sales to turkey top player now denies this though he did say the case came up in talks. and now to some of the other stories making news around the world and hundreds of venezuelans have queued outside supermarkets after the government ordered shops to slash their prices authorities in caracas and forth price cuts and response to spiraling hyperinflation the country's in the grip of an economic crisis with food and medicine shortages affecting millions. thirty two sailors have been reported missing after an iranian

oil tanker and freight ship collided off that used coast of china a tanker caught fire after the crash a search and rescue mission is underway at the scene all crew members from the cargo ship have been rescued. the u.s. east coast may be wrapped in bone chilling weather but that hasn't stopped some avid surfers in new jersey from taking advantage of good waves video taken from lined beach cams showed a few surfers paddling their boards out towards the waves and riding the frigid waters back to shore. donald trump has been stepping up his attacks on claims in an explosive new book about his presidency trump said the book called fire and fury it was a work of fiction and that is author had never stepped foot inside the oval office oh trump was speaking from the presidential country retreat camp david after meetings with republican congressional leaders. to talk party priorities instead

came questions on those tweets and the bit everyone in washington is talking about i consider it a work of fiction and i think it's a disgrace that somebody is able to have something do something like that the libel laws are very weak in this country if they were strong it would be very helpful you wouldn't have things like that happen where you can say whatever comes to your head but just so you know i never interviewed with him in the white house at all he was never in the oval office we didn't have an interview the book is speaking on n.b.c. the book's author michael wolff said he touched on reaching access inside the u.s. center of power and white house reporters have supported his account interview questions over trump's mental stability and nothing new they've been mounting over the course of his first year in office now it's emerged a professor of psychiatry at yale university briefed some members of congress on the president's mental health late last year she told the w y. o what work

thank you that much in the office of the presidency is a danger to national and international security we're trying to educate the public about the finding of instability our doubts about. the need for the evaluation as more copies of foreign fieri sell trumpet said to be frustrated that the issue of his mental fitness is gaining traction. north korea's representative to the olympic committee has said that his country is asked lance are likely to participate in the winter olympics that south korea is hosting next month the two countries are set to discuss the issue on tuesday after making overtures towards more dialogue this week u.s. president down trump has called the talks a big step. after the politicians tried and failed it's taken to figure skaters to

break the ice on the korean peninsula but all that makes up the modest north korean winter olympic team that will likely no participate in pyongyang the news went down well with south korea's major ally the u.s. with president donald trump see he hoped it was a sign of things to come i would love to see them take it beyond the olympics we have a very good relationship with south korea i would love to see it go far beyond the other things absolutely we've just had a program time we get involved but i like the idea of doing when the olympics that should be between those two countries trump statement echoed comments made on friday by north korea's main i like china the chinese will surely be delighted that their hopes of korean olympic cooperation are likely to be fulfilled we hope that all relevant parties on the korean peninsula issue will seize upon the opportunity of the winter olympics to meet each other halfway into the correct path of peacefully solving problems through dialogue and make realistic efforts to alleviate tensions on the peninsula. it's good news too for the international

olympic committee security concerns have been one reason behind sluggish ticket sales they'll be hoping the sudden thaw in the peninsula will lead to a deluge of interest in the games. brings prestigious for hill's tournaments has come to a close in austria with one name on everybody's lips cameo star was untouchable over the first three stages and with the overall victory almost in the bag he had a record in his sights it was hoping to become just the second man after germany's spend to win all four of events let's find out if he managed it. head and shoulders above the competition reigning champion and olympic gold medalist kamlesh doc was king of the four hills again after winning the first three stages the pole was equally impressive in bishops' often he said the longest

distance in the first round and held his nerve on his final jump to ensure victory again that gave him the grand slam and kept one of the most dominant for hill's performances in years. it was a really good competition for me the chance wasn't perfect today but i did my best and can i say thank you for one team team colleagues team coaches goes though they've been working so hard and i'm. after germany's best hope as a card writer crashed out of the tournament in the third stage is countryman and that is villainous stepped up with a strong performance to claim second place for the tournament. he was followed in third by norway's and those fundamental. well barcelona may have made the biggest deal of football's current transfer window by signing a liverpool midfielder philippe coty new deal to bring the brazilian to catalonia is reportedly worth one hundred sixty million euros continue spent just under five

years at liverpool scoring fifty four goals for your going club's team is long been billed as a replacement for his countryman neymar who left barcelona last summer. former astronaut john young hailed as a pioneer by u.s. space agency nasa has died at the age of eighty seven young's trailblazing began in the one nine hundred sixty s. and he was part of the first manned gemini mission by the time he commanded the first space shuttle flight in one thousand nine hundred one it was his sixth travel into orbit in the meantime he'd also joined an exclusive club. um ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah april nine hundred seventy two john young and his fellow astronaut charles duke collecting rock samples from the surface of the moon. it was an achievement that they shared with only ten others adding them to the exclusive fraternity of the moon walk as forty nine years later young would break new ground

again. or we've got to start we. commanding the maiden voyage of nasa's new space shuttle program young took on a particularly risky assignment it was the first time that nasa launched people on a rocket ship that had not first been tested in space. when we launched we'd really didn't know a lot of things and we learned a lot of things i think chris craft said it best he said when we got back he said we just got in fully smarter. over his forty two year career at nasa young became the only astronaut to go into space as part of the gemini apollo and space shuttle programs before retiring in two thousand and four he spent his last seventeen years in management focusing on safety issues john young a passed away age eighty seven at his home in houston texas. and the market will

legacy that's the news for now here on g.w. will have another update for you at the top of the hour and they're going to everything from all of us here in berlin thanks for watching. g.w. diversity.