massacre's. good. morning february third on d w. this is the w. news live from berlin to chancellor is hoping to connection austrian sebastian cortes meeting germany's angela merkel in a bid to find common ground on an issue that has divided them so far migration did they succeed we'll get more from our political correspondent in just a second and. also coming up catalonia as parliament reopens gearing up for further

confrontation with the spanish government could lawmakers define madrid once again and vote this man exiled leader carlos pushed him on back into power. and the irish prime minister praises the european union as the peacemaker europe continues to need him with briggs it looming he calls on the e.u. to ensure brittany onus of its pledges on northern ireland to. me with. hello and welcome my name is christopher spring a good to have you with austria's youthful chancellor sebastian cortes is in berlin for talks with german chancellor angela merkel the meetings under close scrutiny for any divisions between the two that is with courts at the head of a controversial coalition with austria's anti immigration far right vienna has adopted a far tougher stance on migrants from berlin called. himself has been

a vocal critic of man whose refugee policy was but to want to find common ground on improving the protection of europe's borders ahead of his trip the president called stressed that germany was an important partner for austria. the two leaders have been holding a press conference let's listen first to what michael had to say about the new austrian government. you know we will judge the new austrian government by its actions that's what i've also told the chancellor. i think that's what counts. and i am confident that we can cooperate on a new policy. does get on and. i will be watching everything else closely and i will personally be taking a closer look than i would usually do. well political correspondent lyndal crane has been taking a close look at that press conference belinda what sort of atmosphere did we see between macklin colts has this first meeting between the two helped to smooth

things over. both were certainly at pains to downplay their differences but the words that you just heard from the chancellor certainly were measured and implied a kind of they held warnings that germany would be watching his actions on the other hand both did say that they see a good basis for working together before he traveled to germany the chancellor of austria said that germany is a very valued partner for austria that he views americal as a very experienced politician and he said you know neighbors will always have differences and the fact is we see other e.u. move countries moving in austria's direction and the chancellor for her part said that she saw very few divisions between the two but there were a couple that were evident in relation to both policy toward the european union

they are courts would definitely like to see a lot more frugality while the chancellor said that she can imagine a need to invest more in indebted southern members of the eurozone and certainly there were a few disparity discrepancies on asylum and immigration and that's a key area of disagreement between the two courts reiterated i believe his argument that austria has been carrying a disparate just proportion of. during the migration crisis let's quickly listen to what he had to say about that. but we have contributed a disproportionately high share we have taken in the second highest number of asylum seekers after sweden per capita i don't think anyone can accuse us of not showing solidarity on the contrary. melinda immigration on refugee policy all the divisions chamberlain and vienna as strong as they have been in the post. both leaders were trying to indicate that they're not for example both

stressed to their agreement on the need for stronger protection of e.u. borders on the need for clear measures in the area of development policy to try to encourage people to stay in their own countries and not travel to europe and also on the need for resettlement of those who come to europe and perhaps don't have a right to stay to stay but where there was a clear disagreement was again on the issue of quotas that european union member countries should fulfill in terms of how many refugees they do take in of those who are entitled to stay there mr court said that he still thinks the issue is very much over emphasized whereas the chancellor said that she expects e.u. member countries to abide by their obligations so i think that is one point where germany will be watching austria's actions as she said. but again there were. clear indications that the chancellor of austria is right when he says that

other european countries are moving in austria's direction as you know germany's two biggest parties signed up last week to a paper that could provide the basis for negotiations on forming a grand coalition between them and there they agreed to an aspirational upper limit on the number of refugees that germany might be willing to accept that is exactly what austria did last year so in that respect the chancellor of austria is right when he said there is an evolution in german policy toward perhaps a more stricter look at immigration ok melinda always good to talk to you linda crane that our chief political correspondent. now catalonia is new parliament has been holding its opening session since last december. election in the region lawmakers from pro independence parties using the slim majority to elect leftwing separatists project orange as spica is a signal that the chamber of likely to continue its push for independence from

spain yellow ribbons marked the empty seats of former cattle and president carter's and other separatist figures remains in self-imposed exile in belgium three others are in jail facing charges of rebellion and sedition. and journalist stephen burgeon has been giving us more on this story from barcelona we asked him what's at stake today. well we barely should get through the first verse or electing a speaker of the house are normally pretty routine but nothing to change him over there. is there was peter committee which means the next three business go forward the nerds electing a leader this is going to be less straightforward and the only candidate moment is close which is more worse users so posers in brussels. and if he

reverts very arrested around pretty close that. he was to be made president bird video link is not clear whether this is legal the. only north whose moves policies we are here already are anyway basically about ten days. moving in order to sort itself out only suspect as will go to war. stephen merchant there reporting from barcelona time now to look at some of the other stories making the news around the world palestinian president mahmoud abbas has a lashed out at me and i can state an emotional speech in cairo he described donald trump's decision to recognize jerusalem as the capital of israel as quote sinful and also said washington had just qualified itself from the role of peace broker.

in myanmar at least seven people have been killed and many wounded in protests after officials banned a local festival police opened fire on buddhist demonstrators after they ransacked a government building in the ancient city of model in myanmar western rock on stage . that there and officials in california have described the thirteen siblings freed from prison like conditions in their home as friendly and co-operative and now receiving medical care and counseling police found the family after being alerted by a seventeen year old girl who to scape from the house the parents face charges of torture and child endangerment. now bringing europe closer to the europeans is a key priority for the european parliament at the moment and stage is a series of debates on the block future with national leaders first up to present his ideas irish prime minister live red come he said today that europe was at

a crossroads with the rise of populism and euro skepticism and with briggs it also looming he called on the european union to ensure britain owners its pledges on the future of north. correspondent in brussels has been following that debate he joins me now. varadkar offering i believe a defense of the e.u. buffeted by populism what was that defense exactly. at times when populists recently regularly challenge the idea of the european union of course we've heard a number of economic. arguments you know economic benefits of the european union but veronica really focused here on an older idea of the european union and why it is good and that is the idea that it ensures peace and now if you didn't go back as far as into history you didn't have to go back as far into the history of the second world war for instance the foes between germany and france the arch enemies

were no working together as allies but he has a more recent example in his own country how do you help to overcome the northern island conflict and here's his example let's listen to what he had to say today there is a peace bridge crossing the river foyle bringing together the divided communities in john's native city of derry in northern ireland a great ship the european union helped to build. defriended hard to imagine the good friday agreement being made with as our shared membership of the european union and its single market and in our land we are now having to contemplate our future without that foundation which underpinned it and made it possible. the irish border with north niland playing a prominent role in the irish prime minister's speech why is this so vital for him i do is of course vital first of all for economic reasons there are very close ties between the republic of ireland and northern ireland which is part of the u.k.

and so because of the internal markets basically there is no border in existence so there is free trade on a regular basis if you travel there you can't even see a border existing now secondly of course you have very close cultural ties and then there's the political issue of those people who who do not who refute the idea that there is a divide who do not accept that part of the northern part is part of the united kingdom and vice was some people in the north would say we want one island economy and the be real beauty of the european union here is that this internal market has as made this political conflict i'm necessary in daily life you don't realize that there is two states and that of course is of great value for the republic of violent ok gallup many thanks for that government just reporting from brussels.

now north and south korea have a creek agreed rather too much under one flag at the opening ceremony of next month's winter olympic games injunction at talks in the de-militarized that separates the two nations they also agreed to send a joint women's hockey team to the tournament if that is the international olympic committee approves despite the progress reactions in south korea have been mixed. delegations from north and south korea met for the third time in ten days a sign of progress but on tuesday their plans for a joint women's ice hockey team got a somewhat frosty reception from south korea's coach sara mari adding somebody in north korean or south korea having somebody ends up on the on because it's a little bit dangerous i'm just watching history with the girls have been together for so long it's not just the sporting di lemma the political implication split opinion among south koreans. really

a part that you would have here's how i am worried about how the international community will react if we were to accept the north korean proposal for the olympics get there so i personally hope that we will not agree to it nothing is a joke at that i think. i'm going to stop which it is can improve our image as the international community has been worried by the tensions that it's a. meeting then to talk about sports first provides a good platform for talks on politics and other issues that is going to be done. that sentiment is echoed by experts who feel the olympic cooperation may pave the way for comprehensive peace talks now. building trust between the two koreas can make for six party talks possible. i believe this might also have a positive influence on the denuclearization of the korean peninsula and sets a foundation for peaceful talks which are beneficial for south korea. whether or

not they join forces on the ice the talks have already provided a tentative thaw in the strained relations between the two koreas i fetch a world news update for now more from us at the top of the hour in the meantime don't forget you can always get the latest updates from our website that's dot com alternatively just follow us on twitter on facebook and watching video news involving to stay with us. you can. touch news from africa the world nor link to exceptional stories and discussions can you and welcome to devil's advocate in program life from funny to me from the news of easy to our website do deputed close most africa joined us on facebook and t.w. africa.