this is d.w. news live from berlin turkey and tax the kurds in syria a move that could seriously aggravate the war in the country turkish forces have launched a ground and air offensive against the northwest town of onscreen as they step up efforts to oust kurdish fighters there russia and the u.s. call for restraint also coming out. germany's social democrats speak last minute unity ahead of those that could decide the country's political future will they back coalition talks but until america votes conservatives we'll have the latest

from berlin. and a new exhibition in basel switzerland celebrates the work of georg the boss of that the german artist has turned the world the art world upside down in more ways than one. i my ass waiter thank you for joining us turkey has begun a military operation against kurdish militia in northern syria turkey's army is calling the offensive operation olive branch the move follows a week of threats from ankara and could inflame the conflict in syria especially as one of the militias that turkey is targeting is backed by the u.s. . on saturday turkey announced the beginning of operation all of branch soon after the army's offensive became visible in the mountains of syria's afrin region

turkish fighter jets carried out raids as ground forces shelled the area turkish forces are targeting positions of the y p g a mainly kurdish militia backed by washington the group controls the afrin region ankara sees it as the syrian arm of the kurdistan workers' party or p k k which it considers the terror group a the turkish military has been locked in a bloody conflict with the p k k for decades last weekend the us announced it would set up a thirty thousand strong border force in northern syria led by the y.p. gee that angered turkish president right to type everyone who accused washington of planning to form a terror army he reiterated his criticism after the first raids that the name of this organization is kurdistan workers' party and the name of the organization in syria is why p.g. the kurdistan workers' party is on the terror list so the u.s. and the e.u. the organization it works with in syria is exactly the same. turkish prime minister

banal your dream said ground forces may be deployed across the border on sunday russia says it has withdrawn its troops from the region. afghan officials say a group of gunmen has stormed a luxury hotel in the capital kabul the attack on the intercontinental hotel is understood to be ongoing officials say security forces are exchanging fire with the gunmen afghan media are reporting several casualties at least one of the attackers is believed to have been killed some residents and staff have managed to flee the raid comes days after a u.s. embassy warning of possible attacks on hotels in the city. turning to the us now it's been a year since donald trump was inaugurated despite trump's promise to bring people together the country remains wracked by political division the federal government shut down overnight after congress failed to reach a last minute deal on spending this means government workers are staying at home

halting all but the most essential operations recriminations have already begun. only what. these women are united in their opposition to. a year into the job the president has failed to deliver on his promise to bring the country together. this is been the worst year in our country we can't believe that we've gone downhill this far but we're coming back up and we're going to wipe out the republicans in the election next november but right now i trump face is a more pressing issue the midterm elections the federal government has ground to a halt after republicans and democrats failed to agree a funding deal and both parties a playing the blame game senate democrats shut down this government and now senate democrats need to open this government back up this will be called the trump

shutdown. he's been the single driving force in scuttling bipartisan deals in congress the political impasse means all federal facilities will be used to skeleton crews that includes government agencies national parks and museums some eight hundred thousand state employees will have to take forced on a day a prolonged shutdown could also rattle investor confidence and impact the economy. it's an embarrassing start to trump second year in office the republicans might hold the reins of power in washington but the softer claimed deal maker has been unable to strike one with his own government. now on to some of the other stories making news around the world two people have died and dozens more injured after a hotel caught fire and prague the fire was located at the eurostar is david hotel in the historic city center rescue officials are investigating the cause.

police in nigeria say that two americans and two canadians kidnapped in the north of the country have been freed the four were in the state of where they were seized in an ambush on tuesday two of their police escorts were shot dead in the incident one person has been arrested in connection with the kidnapping. germany is on political tenterhooks this weekend ahead of a key vote that could decide chancellor angela merkel's future six hundred delegates from the center left social democrats are due to vote on sunday on whether to enter coalition talks with merkel's conservatives social democrat leader martin schulz is in favor of forming a new so-called grand coalition but he faces resistance from the left of his party especially its youth wing former coach formal coalition talks can only begin if sold gets a yes vote from the gathering of social democrat delegates in bonn

a no vote could lead to a minority government or fresh elections. we're getting the latest now from our correspondent here in the studio show a lot of pots charlotte thank you so much for being here it looks like. let's start with what the mood is right now among the social democrats what are we seeing ahead of tomorrow's vote i mean it's not great let's start with that i think the party is really divided at that point with seeing a division between young and old in the party but also between the leadership and the grassroots the used leader of the social democrats he spent all last week i'm painting against a new grand coalition and there's several arguments for that he's saying that the results that came out of the exploratory talks are lacking social democratic ideas that the party couldn't renew itself and another grand coalition and also that if they enter that coalition with the conservatives that the right wing populist d. is the strongest opposition and probably men and that should be prevented at all costs so it's going to be very interesting tomorrow we're going to see

a party convention where those six hundred delegates will basically vote on the question of whether germany will see a new government anytime soon or not that we know that some of the s.p.d. regional groups have already given their recommendations for how the delegates should vote tomorrow so let's take a look at that five regional groups of the s.p.d. have come out in favor of launching coalition talks lower saxony has resigned and hamburg and brandenburg but three states beilin saxony on how to india have recommended voting no none of the other regional branches of the party have declared their preference the biggest question mark is north rhine-westphalia which is sending the highest number of delegates to the conference social democrats there a split on how to vote. so it's on the map the social democrats in north rhine-westphalia and hesson are calling on leaders from post certain conditions on

that merkel's conservatism for they agree to launch these full talks is there a chance of that even happening let me just say those votes are not the decisions are not binding so every deli can can vote however they want so that's why we don't know at all what the outcome will be but the conditions let's talk about those say what they want changes in employment policies refugee policies and also health policies. conservatives have already said no more conditions but i think when it comes down to the pressure on the conservatives it's going to be really big also to just finally form a government so they will become sessions also from the conservatives in possible coalition talks if the delegates say yes let's enter coalition talks to fifty and if we can gaze into our crystal ball briefly first tomorrow are you predicting a yes or a no vote it's really hard i wouldn't bet on either outcome if you ask me the delegates are going to vote yes let's take a formal coalition talks it's not the end of it because in the end all s.p.d. members four hundred thousand will decide whether this will be binding whether to

enter a new government so they do have some leverage left and the end shot of thoughts here in our studio in berlin thank you very much for having me paul book who is the most celebrated french chef of the past seventy years has died at the age of ninety one who is widely considered the leading light of the coloring movement known as novella cuisine in spite of becoming an international star the chef always remained true to his roots. paul bocuse reached the loftiest heights in the world of just. was often called the chef of the century the pope of french cuisine. his restaurants kept three stars the michelin guides highest rating longer than any other. three michelin stars for fifty years none so. his eatery was located in his father's village in near leone and southeast france and is always the region's traditional dishes just like his international celebrity

he slept in the same room where he was born. i was born here in this house i've always seen the sun river. i travel i always ask myself where's the sun that's very important to me. in the late one nine hundred sixty s. q's was one of the innovators of nouvelle cuisine which emphasized fresh ingredients lighter sauces and artistic presentation but never one to rest on his laurels he later distanced himself from the movement calling it many portions maxie plates. must be careful and i think you've succeeded you've already failed one never succeeds we must always do better. book is called his two thousand and five memoir the sacred fire saying he too would end up in the oven one day. his wish was for his ashes to be scattered in the sun river which flows past his house.

and next week will see the eightieth birthday of an artist who turned our upside down. george basil lets the rebellious painter and sculptor like to play partridge this way these days but let still love to swim against the stream an exhibition of his life's work is about to open and basel. art turned upside down an ingenious concept which paved the way for basel it's in the one nine hundred seventy s. it helped the r. displays his own path between abstraction and realism as a young artist he resisted the demands of his teachers to commit to a set style. since i couldn't do that i tried to replicate my subjects i fought against expectations and tried to do something else and ended up with the portraits of my friends which are all upside down. by the london.

bus and its works to tease and provoke he adores conformity and the mainstream works from six decades including the hero portraits from his early period are on exhibit at the foundation by law and basel in tribute to the artist eightieth birthday to show also his recent works on display fresh from his studio. i've been working on my own pictures for a lifetime and all of them are present in my mind really present and i try to improve them or continue them. so it's a focus. at eighty basel it still has boundless energy and unrestrained creative power. a shock victory for german down here scared thomas the besson as he be a host of more experience competitors at the world cup race in the austrian resort of kids and let me just remind you that he did that one of the most difficult and dangerous slopes in the world the hot and slope competitors lost themselves from a starting gate over sixteen hundred meters above sea level reaching speeds of over

one hundred kilometers per hour. the harmon company used in kids bill is daunting even for the very best out pine downhill ski areas last year's third place finisher your own clever last controller through jump and crashed into the safety net saying. the frenchman was going over one hundred thirty kilometers an hour at the time needless to say clearly was unable to finish the race but was not seriously injured. thomas jefferson had no such miss fortune the german got off to a fast start and he mastered every twist and turn on the intimidating course. the twenty four year old stayed on his skis and crossed the finish line no point two zero seconds quicker than his nearest rival. dressing was ecstatic after his maiden will cook victory on the epic on income and with the winter olympics just

around the corner. the bundesliga show follows after the break of my colleague public fully las with all of saturday's goal so don't go away there have been some surprising results today see if you try barca get the better of last season's runner up are bad like six down in the black forest that's the good as they can still coming up very shortly. and that's it is that thanks for tuning and i'm biased later. they make a commitment. they find solutions. instructor. for all the. stories from both people making a difference in shaping their nation. and their continent. w.'s new ball to me series for africa. dot com africa on the move.