this is d.w. news live from berlin germany tries to end its political impasse and form a new governing coalition chancellor merkel says she's optimistic as talks begin but for migration to health care to europe there's plenty of room for discord would

have potential palmists blair live to our correspondent also coming up. soaring to success so off to donating the four hills tournament ski jump are coming to talk was looking for a historic final stage when could the polish ace make it a clean sweep to bring you the action. i'm going to humphrey good to have you with us german chancellor angela merkel has embarked on a key talks about forming a new governing coalition to lead the country going into the negotiations the chancellor said she was optimistic medical's conservatives will hold an exploratory talks with the center left social democrats off to previous negotiations with other parties failed sticking points this time around are expected to include germany's refugee policies and its approach to european integration. well have

a listen to what merkel and the social democrat leader martin shots had to say as the talks got underway. because the c.d.u. is going into these talks with the aim of creating the conditions to form a stable government. that's because we believe that the tasks ahead for which we have the voters' mandate are enormous in terms of foreign policy challenges european challenges and also in domestic affairs. also. we all sensed that the challenges for a new federal government however it may be structured lie in that the new year in which we all live must also include a new kind of politics in this sense we will conduct the negotiations here constructively and with an open outcome. covering the talks for us as our political correspondent. joins us now regret chancellor merkel has

a lot of work ahead of fires these preliminary coalition talks get underway why is it so hard for the parties to find common ground. well the basic problem is that from these three parties that are negotiating it to have completely opposing objectives first of all the social democrats they have lost the last elections after governing together with the americal and the grand coalition so in order to convince his party to go into another grand coalition social democrats leader martin shultz has to push through through some key points for instance he wants to change make some reform on on health insurance he wants to cut he wants to have higher taxes for the wealthy and a more liberal stance on refugee policy and more integration into europe then on the other side within his conservative party bloc c.d.u. c.s.u. the small of the two parties you see as hugh they feel the breath of that they feel

in their neck the breath of the right wing populist have deep parties so they want to push. the c.d.u. and seize you into a more conservative direction they want to have a more tougher stance on refugee policy so they want to cut corporate taxes and they they also want to have a less integration into europe and that's the the key problem here. in the middle between these two parties is uncle americal and her c.d.u. and they know that the only chance to keep anglo-american in power as chancellor is this coalition. is this nichols last chance to form a stable government. but it is her last chance to form a government with a clear majority in parliament the only other option would be listen together with the business friendly liberals and the center left green party she already tried that one but this these talks failed already at the end of last here so the only

other option would be a minority government something the american already ruled out and then the only other thing left would be new elections something both the social democrats and the conservatives of america couldn't want because in the end this would mean to strengthen the right wing populists of the f.t. . reporting for us thank you for your work. paris has held a ceremony to mark the third anniversary of the shadowy abdo attacks french president a menu item a call on the city's mayor and it had to go laid a wreath outside the former office of the satirical magazine gunman stormed the building on the seventh of january twenty fifth danger of a morning meeting and killed twelve people the attacks stunned the country and marks the beginning of a wave of isn't a missed attacks in europe. now some of the other stories making news around the walt saudi arabia has detained eleven of its princes for protesting against an end

to state payments of their utility bills officials say the men have been sent to a maximum security prison and are awaiting trial. hundreds of venezuelans have stood in long lines outside supermarkets off to the government ordered shops to slash the prices of origins in caracas and forced price cuts in response to spiraling hyperinflation the country is in the grip of an economic crisis with food and medicine shortages affecting millions. in honduras thousands of process it against the reelection of conservative president juan orlando hernandez supporters of the leftist opposition ottoman thing that their candidate. he declared the winner of the november twenty sixth poll instead of heading up this the opposition is also calling for a nationwide strike. that as you say is all missing ofter an iranian

oil tanker and freight ship collided off the east coast of china the tank a court file off to the crash search teams have been looking for survivors all crew members from the cargo ship have been rescued. iran's parliament has held a closed door session to examine why anti-government protests broke out around the country starting more than a week ago at least twenty one people have been killed during the demonstrations that began to frustrations with corruption and economic turmoil iran's leaders have accused foreign enemies of being behind the wave of unrest which the country's revolutionary guard now claims it has defeated. orthodox christians around the world also liberating christmas today festivities come thirteen days after christmas celebrations in other christian communities because the orthodox church uses a different calendar. the darks 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. made a symbolic appearance at an orthodox christmas mass amidst high security to protect egypt's minority christians from possible attacks by is the most militants visit was seen as a show of solidarity. if you are our family you are part of us and 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. that will fans in germany currently having to make do without that week a fix as the bundesliga takes its mid-season break but they can still stay up to date with their favorite players who share snippets of their everyday lives on twitter facebook and instagram and it's not just a way to interact with fans but also big business for the pros. fans lined up to catch a glimpse of their idols but signing autographs and taking selfies isn't enough. social media is the most important point of contact for supporters posting daily updates is almost as important as training for stars like messi and cristiano

ronaldo. was different and it's fun and fans want to feel close to them to have a connection they can catch a glimpse of their lives every single day. they find out what the players are up to and also what makes them happy or sad if in fact looked at. the end manages the social media presence of footballers it's his job to help turn the football into a sustainable brand it's a massive business not just for the players. it's. big clubs don't just pay the player for his contribution on the pitch it's also his marketing value so it's also about whether the player can help sell more jerseys and merchandise attract new sponsors to the club and kinds. in germany told us is one of the biggest names in social media aside from posting about sports on his private life he uses his accounts to promote social causes. low

profile pros like daniel. also use it to build their brand eighty five percent of bundesliga players have a social media presence. social media to social media. gives those other players the opportunity to increase their media presence put themselves in the limelight and create a continuous dialogue with the fans ultimate and mom took on today's footballers need a virtual presence but for fans there's nothing quite like meeting their favorite player face to face. ski jumping is prestigious for his tournament has come to a close in austria with one name on everybody's lips stock was untouchable over the first three stages and with the overall victory almost in the back he had a record in his sights he was hoping to become just the second man off to germany. to win all four events so 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 poll 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 four hills performances in a year is. 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 because they were they've been working so hard and i'm really appreciate them after germany's best type is a coward fighter crashed out of the tournament in the third stage is countryman and it is belling as stepped up with a strong performance to claim second place for the tournament. he was followed in third by no wise and those fundamental. show master knew what john

a young hailed as a pioneer by u.s. space agency nasa has died at the age of eighty seven young's trailblazing began in it in 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 nine hundred eighty one it was his sixth travel into orbit in the meantime he had also joined an exclusive club. oh my god. a pro 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 moon walkers forty nine years later young would break new ground again. or. start.

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 reed really did 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 for a smart 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 a reminder of the top story we're following for you jenna johnson i'm going to moscow is leading a new round of talks aimed at forming

a governing coalition ackles conservatives the negotiating with the center left social democrats about possibly governing together for another term the country could see fresh elections if those talks fail. please coming up at the top of the hour in the meantime head to our website d.w. dot com i'm headed home trade in at that and see you again see. climate change. waste. pollution. isn't it time for.