this is the news live from berlin chaos and destruction in europe the worst storm in a decade batters britain and the netherlands and germany train service corps and storm stranded many overnight like here in cologne the latest on the chaos also coming up jimmy social democrats get set to decide whether to partner up with angela merkel's conservatives or go into the opposition will preview sunday's vote and the potential fallout. from donald trump approaches a year in the white house and what's the verdict on depends on who you ask we speak to a u.s.

congressman who compares the start of the trump presidency to the early years of nazi germany. i'm serious i was gonna get to have you with us meteorologist say it was the worst storm to hit germany in a decade frederica killed at least nine people and caused transport delays for thousands of commuters across europe fierce gales blowing in from the west hit mainland europe in the netherlands and belgium before slipping into germany and disrupting travel at train stations and on the roads the country's main rail company has halted all long distance train services with top winds speeds of over two hundred kilometers per hour recorded on the central brooklyn mountains. the winds were just too strong for these buildings in the netherlands. top heavy longer you stay. little chance either. and there were tragic consequences

for ling trees killed several people. in scotland drivers would face to stay off the roads. plains to were affected buffeted by fierce gusts saddam ship all at port authorities that later granted all flights. that were similar scenes at train stations across the netherlands and germany. thousands of passengers were stranded as rail traffic was suspended. it took some by surprise. i was on my way to university robert i had a deadline for handing in some work fifteen minutes ago but if you met my professor and i think she'll forgive me for. standing in my local train station when i saw a huge branch falling off a tree so i knew or didn't. and i have listed just as it missed.

and i blow dried my hair that was a waste of time. a long wait for many but on the dutch coast these hearty souls that embrace the wild weather. elsewhere less fun more frustration. and the hard work is only just beginning for those involved in the cleanup it's set to be a mammoth task. as we just heard or here in germany all long distance train services were cancelled and that meant an unexpected night away from home for many travelers of berlin central station they helped bahnhof late on a sleeper train with a difference that wasn't going anywhere instead the carriages doubled up as a temporary hotel for passengers stranded in the capital. andy.

is at central station she joins us for more charlotte what's the situation there like this morning. good morning sumi yes it's a very long and a very uncertain wait for the people here standing in the key behind me at butlins central station we're estimating that some two hundred people awaiting to find out in this queue hit whether or not they will be able to get a train this morning many of them tried last night's they found the trains would counsel some people who gathered here was sent often in taxis across the country people pooled their money together to try and get to that destination others were were put off in hotels some people of course as you were just saying had to spend the night in a train hit on a platform not far from where i'm standing as i'm sure you can imagine that was a very uncomfortable sleep for them no food no beds of course in the train there no amount of free coffee that was going to being handed out was going to to appease them they now a back in this queue this morning trying to find out if they can get out of the

city now we know that some little long distance trains are starting to run not just here in ballan but in other parts of germany as well but there is still major disruption in but then with a lot of people having a very uncertain few hours ahead what about long distance rail services charlotte are they getting back to normal. some of them are as it just said there is still a lot of a lot of disruption here but i did speak to a spokesperson from gemini's a train service he told me that he thought that more more trains would start running as the morning continues he said he wants a near normal rail service by the weekend by its morrow morning that of course those tend to be very little come for the people who knew him many of whom have been here since last night who just want to get out of the city they've been stranded here for a long time it's very cold and they just want to get back to their homes because

charlotte some poll and a very busy berlin central station thank you charlotte. staying here in germany on the americans troubles in forming a new government run up against another major hurdle on sunday the social democrats are set to vote on whether to start formal coalition talks with the chancellor's conservatives as the leader martin shultz and the party executive have already agreed now the rank and file needs to endorse the decision refusal by s.p.d. delegates to hold further talks could lead to new elections or a minority government for the first time in germany's post-war era our political correspondent thomas sparrow is standing by for us with more on the story hi thomas good morning to you so how likely is it that we're going to see another grand coalition for germany or depend the century on that event on sunday that you've been talking about sumi the. conference of the social democrats where martin shows

on the party leadership will try to convince the six hundred delegates that they should support formal negotiations for an another grand coalition that is under no circumstance and in fact politicians themself themselves haven't dads to say what's going to happen on sunday because there are many delegates many members of the social democrats who are very skeptical of the possibility of a new grand coalition in particular the youth branch of the social democrats the so-called use those have been very vocal about why they believe the s.p.d. should not and to a grand coalition they have also been touring the country just as martin shows trying to present their position and those positions will certainly be discussed at length on sunday before the vote that will determine the future course of germany's coalition negotiations thomas that youth wing that's been producing a lot of headwind their leader has been particularly prominent in his criticism in

recent days let's take a closer look now at him. six months ago no one knew who he was now it seems everyone wants a piece of kevin care net. at just twenty eight the leader of the s.p.d. as youth wayne is on a mammoth mission to stop another grand coalition between the social democrats and the conservatives what germans call. we reject a renewed grand coalition because we convinced it wouldn't be right for democracy in germany and we consider it negligent to let the far right if do you become the leading opposition party with us and for the second time in two months cain it will be locking horns with s.p.d. party leader martin schultz on sunday as he bids to convince party delegates to vote no grow close to his grassroots support to not believes this is the only way for the s.p.d. to regenerate after damage in years into medical governments. to

finish prison it is to me he is the kind of politician who hopefully certainly shape the future of this party. that they try to increase a very talented upcoming politician he's still young and everything lies ahead of him i think something will become of him. even possum members who support the idea of a grand coalition have high hopes for canucks political future. composer to put in the most positive since he's a politics junkie he breathes politics but at the same time he's matter of fact stands by his opinion and he definitely has a big future. cannot became a member of the s.p.d. at just fifteen in the same year that angela merkel was first elected chancellor but units no grow coke campaign now threatens to end her twelve year reign. as the cards that i think i'm going to michael's time in office will soon end

because her policy model simply no longer works you can sit on issues forever and make new decisions but things aren't going to get into magically better when she's no longer chancellor you know america is a bit of translation is it's a classic tale of experience against youth name first is nobody but this nobody could well be the straw that breaks the camel's back in germany's chancellor. so thomas is that really true that the outcome of this vote on sunday could really spell the end of chancellor merkel's leadership i think that's too early to say i assume either vote on sunday as we mentioned earlier is particularly important if the vote is yes then formal negotiations will take place if the vote is a no then obviously it will be in a very difficult spot but she would still have option one of those options would be leading a minority government that's something that she's doesn't particularly want but it

would be an option all the other option would be fresh elections so i still think it is too early to say whether that would spell the end of anglo merkel what we can say for sure is that i'm going to merkel is now in a very difficult situation and thomas just briefly if the s.p.d. does agree to go into a grand coalition what does the party really have to lose. well for the party it's a very big moment it's all about renewal as we saw in that speech and renewal means that party members have different views on how to achieve it for some entering a new grand coalition one member of the party could not have that renewal for others they can certainly say that they would have the responsibility when they form a new government and they could pass their policies are political correspondent thomas sparrow reporting for us this morning thomas thank you. not to some other stories making headlines this morning authorities in cape town of impose new water

restrictions on households to combat an ongoing drought starting in february residents must use no more than fifty liters a day were duction of almost half the south african city has had three years of low rainfall. the u.s. congress has passed a bill to continue funding the government and avoid a shutdown but it faces a challenge in the senate where democrats have vowed to kill the measure they want republican concessions on domestic spending and protecting illegal immigrants brought to the country as children known as dreamers from being deported. a california couple who held their thirteen malnourished children captive for years in their home have pleaded not guilty to charges of torture and child abuse prosecutors say the children were shackled to go to the bathroom the pair facing life in prison if convicted of all charges. tensions are on the rise in venezuela with opposition parties calling off talks with the government opposition and government officials were due to meet in the dominican republic but opposition

leaders pulled out over government accusations they were involved in the death of a rogue x. police officer that you side have been better odds ever since a worsening economic crisis has led to shortages in food and medicine. desperate from hunger one so wealthy latin american country venezuela has been gripped by looting from the capital caracas the situation is dire thank god i still have food to eat that many don't including children now less hunger on criminality supermarket shelves are empty police are increasingly overwhelmed and a sense of chaos is taking hold shop owners are providing their own security. there's no doubt they're arming themselves. in metal pipes. even fruit stands aren't safe from the looting a leading member of the opposition says life has become a simple fight for survival. everything is too expensive or not

available this is a spontaneous protest there's nothing. it's just people who have nothing to eat. spontaneous but not yet the kind of massive demonstrations organized last year though the number of protesters is growing louder i don't see any solution with this government anymore only international intervention will keep us from a situation even worse think. meanwhile an exodus is under way in the last few months venezuelans have left their homes by the hundreds of thousands. you're watching d.w. new still the can we take a look at what donald trump's put in place done away with unchanged in his first a vengeful and mulch with year as u.s. president. but first german farmers are want to drastically call wild boars monica there when there's a reason to it there's a disease spreading possibly of course wild boars are

a common sight in many european forest they're also notorious for tearing up people's gardens but now governments are telling hunters to shoot them on sight as a new entrepreneur of african swine fever has spread into the european union pharmaceutical companies have been trying to develop a vaccine so far without success the latest outbreak appears to have begun in russia and authorities in neighboring deloris banned some imports of russian pork and meanwhile the disease is making its way into the heart of europe it already has crossed into the baltic states and into poland where in total thousands of cases have been reported and this is why the european commission is backing a coal of wild boars and it's also warning people to be careful with food waste that could contain the highly contagious disease it was first recorded in africa a century ago since then it's spread around the world and while it doesn't affect humans it's almost always deadly to pics and that could end up costing governments

millions while the financial damage to farmers can already be felt and starting today you find many farmers here in berlin where the international green week kicks off and my colleague stephen beardsley is keeping an eye for us he's on site there for us and joins us now from the green week stephen germany of course is a major european big producer how much of a topic is african swine fever where you are. monica it's a huge topic this was in the opening address from the german federal agriculture minister yesterday this was a topic he talked about efforts so far to address african swine fever to make truckers for example who are coming from eastern states travelers who are crossing the border aware by creating a pamphlet that they too can carry the pathogen so he's obviously addressing

something that is a very serious topic here he also met yesterday a cultural minister that is met with his peers across the german states they're obviously concerned about it pork production is not just a big part of german agriculture it is an enormous part of german agriculture the e.u. is the top exporter of pork in the world and germany is traditionally the top producer of pork in the use of there you can see what the consequences would be if a pathogen a wild boar with a patched pathogen was found exactly m. a dummy of the germans also like to eat pork themselves what exactly what happened if that virus was found in wild boar here in germany would it impact pork exports. it would essentially shut them down i mean this is a two to three billion dollar industry just exports alone and it could completely shut them down no one wants to import diseased pork of course because they're worried about their own stocks and of course there's the internal market as well who's going to want to eat pork that they believe is infested with this disease now

of course it can't be transmitted to humans it has no effect on humans the pathogen again can be carried by humans it can be carried in dead meat or in meat obviously in the dead carcasses so controlling it risks limiting the contamination is the big focus here we haven't had a chance to talk to people at the stands here at the events it just opens but i can guarantee it's going to be a huge topic especially among livestock livestock handlers when i can imagine that they'll be on tender hooks certainly but leaving pork aside to the green week just kicks off today what i was doesn't happen often this year. there's some things that are going to be the same as recent years including obviously climate change the effect on farmers a big win this year is also going to be animal welfare and seeing how you can increase animal welfare of your products not only are people demanding that in the products they buy but of course politically this is becoming more and more of an

issue that animals are kept in a sustainable and a humane way it's good for the farmers here for their marketing as well to be able to create that we saw at the opening already that there was protests by animal welfare activists that's a common thing here it's common pressure on these farmers they know it's and this is something that consumers also want to doesn't have a huge topic here monica and stephen basically will catch up with you later again i can just see that as well gary other sanford bulgaria behind you that's why i'm going to talk about next to thank you for the moment. that's correct all right thank you all right because bulgaria of course is the partner country of this year's green week in berlin and it also holds the e.u. presidency for the next six months gary a wants to prove how much progress it's made in one denies ing it's aquaculture a sect a lot. like this family in our next report. there are one hundred fifty dairy cows on this farm high in bulgaria is roger p. mountains it's

a family business run by. and his brother over the last few years the two have completely modernized the farm one example is the new cow shed all of it has been funded by e.u. subsidies there are around fifty thousand euros each year and not years from the subsidies from the e.u. help us a lot more and we apply for projects funding like for the new shed things wouldn't be going nearly so well without the e.u. money. we couldn't trace that i'm bishops. between. the cows provide around four thousand liters of milk each year just gone off of what the turbo cows on german farms produce. then milked twice a day by the six laborers who work in the shed. the farm is the region's biggest employer. its owners have also invested in some water buffalo

their milk can be used to make the rela and it fetches twice as much as cow's milk . but it's not quite as simple as a lapse. we'd like to do more with the buffalo but we can't find anyone willing to work with them they're tricky animals they don't allow themselves to be milked as easily as cows. the brothers farm is the local dairies most important supplier of milk hundreds of small holders used to bring them milk here but now there are just seven large farms the dairy specializes in gourmet cheeses samo with fruits of the forest of as a matured in one to six weeks. we plan to expand our range of products in the future and if possible start selling them on the european market is up on more. here one kilo costs around nine euros and in

a country where the average monthly wage is just five hundred euros that's anything but cheap. alright let's face it the last twelve months were anything but boring and that's largely thanks to one man sumi no other than one donald j. trump monica well tomorrow marks the first anniversary of trump's first term as president of the u.s. some said he wouldn't last until christmas but with the economy booming in his health reportedly good trump is holding steady his unpredictable nature as had his supporters cheering and opponents cringing a look back now a trance first year in office. it was an audacious first week in office. immigration had been a central tenet of candidate trump's campaign within days of his inauguration president trump issued the first report became known as muslim bands his supporters welcomed the move but thousands of people turned out at airports across the country

to protest the executive order legal challenges against the travel ban came almost immediately even after trump signed a second and then a third ban later in the year courts prevented them from going fully into effect the supreme court will ultimately decide their fate this year. shortly after the election the number of illegal crossings at the u.s. mexican border hit an all time low according to u.s. border officials throughout the year the government stepped up raids and arrests of suspected undocumented persons in the u.s. . the wall on the u.s. mexican border that trump promised is now part of some key immigration negotiations in washington. one clear triumph for trump was the ascension of neil course to the supreme court for many conservatives this was an affirmation of why they voted for trump course it is an arch conservative jurist at just forty nine years old and

with a lifetime appointment he is likely to shape a good portion of american law moving forward. trims only legislative success to far has been his tax bill with an estimated one point five trillion dollars in tax cuts it advances several conservative republican objectives like slashing corporate taxes and in particular lowering the rate for the richest americans he signed the bill into law even though the american public largely disapproved. the president also fulfilled a key campaign promise when he announced he'd withdraw the u.s. from the paris climate agreement over the objections of many of his advisors the u.s. is now the only country in the world. that is not signed the accord. building on strategies the obama administration put in place trump ups the numbers of u.s. troops in iraq and syria ultimately helping to defeat the so-called islamic state the prime minister of iraq declared victory over i asked last month. and the u.s.

economy has remained strong under trump u.s. stock markets have reached record highs and unemployment is at a seventeen year low over the president's behavior has been a daily flashpoint and many people still feel left behind in the economy mainstream conservatives have a lot to be happy about. so what does the rest of the world think about the trump presidency one year in it that he has been gathering opinions from around the globe but here's what our correspondent there found out in china. after harsh attacks on china during his campaign u.s. president donald trump has recently suffered through torey what's beijing on the list issues like china's trade surplus prices over north korea stupe be a considerable potential for conflict between the two powers. he's a bit tough on you he's not friendly towards china i think he's better for us china

relations but his predecessor obama. says he's trying to limit china's development . or he's backing terrorism and wants to fight a war. we should all. deal up is the most interesting president in u.s. history he's outspoken and dept in social media he's a star on the internet told to go all. these everywhere on the internet his photos on social media. he's the one with the fake news i know he won the election with fake news. all right new zealand prime minister just into art and has announced she is expecting her first child and will take six weeks of maternity leave when the baby is born in a facebook post the thirty seven year old said she and her t.v. host partner clark will be joining many parents out there who wear two hats are going to isn't the first world leader to become pregnant benazir bhutto gave birth

while serving as pakistan's prime minister in one thousand nine hundred. eighty our mind our top story at this our meteorologist a pretty reka was the worst storm in a decade to hit germany at least nine people were killed by strong gales the tour across europe the high winds also brought train travel to a halt stranding many passengers overnight. thank you for watching.

takes it personally i. don't want to see people in stories that make so special are you ready. for. quadriga the international talk show for journalists discuss the topic of the week germany is still struggling to come up with a new government after september inconclusive election will chancellor merkel manage to form a coalition or will the people of germany be sent back to the polls joining some portree got to find out just. quadriga in

sixty minutes on t.w. . chopin for the twenty first century. any interest for no injuries or unique interpretation or. a tesla in concert and the world of a young piano she in the. arts twenty one presents a tiny entry in front of a new show. starting january twentieth on d.w. . every journey begins with the first step and every language but the first word published in the. rico is in germany to learn german why not learn to tell a simple online on your mobile and free to sapps w z e learning course because fifty german meetings see.

welcome to kick off life with the new faces of fame and success. to push you off the board who have a conscience. not the case there from guinea a man who makes his father prat.