this is it every news line from berlin posturing and provocation ahead of the winter olympics america's vice president arrives in south korea for the games with promises of tougher sanctions on the north meanwhile pyongyang showcases its military might for some though it's all about the spectacle excitement builds in host city john chiang as the a limp dick torch glides ever closer. and germany's would be

new government takes its the first a shaky steps forward will ask what its new look policies could mean for your. ally iraq great to have you along everyone the feud over north korea's nuclear program moves to center stage on the eve of the olympic games in south korea u.s. vice president mike pence has arrived in seoul and is promising new more aggressive sanctions against the north he met with south korean president mungy in following on his warning not to allow pyongyang to quote hide behind the olympic batter and today a kim jong only presided over a military parade a show of force after sending athletes and performers all over the border while

that move is seen as either a bit too thought relations with the south or a ploy to provoke the u.s. . north korea and the united states are still sending mixed messages a day before the twenty eighteen winter games how despite signaling it was willing to talk north korea hasn't traded the same for the olive branch quite yet pyongyang staged a massive military parade marking the founding of its armed forces. addressing his troops north korean leader kim jong un called on his military to be on the ready to repel quote invasive forces. much further south yang is trying to put its best foot forward sending kim yo jong sister of the north korean leader as part of their olympic delegation shall be the first member of the north's ruling family to cross the demilitarized zone. the u.s. response is also a mixed bag american vice president pence is meeting regional leaders ahead of the

games he's already warned the u.s. is preparing more aggressive sanctions on the north and he promised south korea's president that the u.s. wouldn't rest until pyongyang abandons its nuclear ambitions and allow me to do assure you. and the people of south korea that the united states of america will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder in our effort to bring maximum pressure to bear on north korea until that time comes when they finally sent permanently. reverse of abandon their nuclear and ballistic missile ambitions to. the world maybe coming together for the winter olympics but the gulf between washington and north korea is as wide as ever. while a pass is meeting with moon and urged during that meeting to. for him to take

a tougher line while earlier he spoke to journalist jason strother in seoul and we asked him if this puts moon in a difficult position. this was one of the hallmarks of moon's presidency ever since he took office just less than a year ago you know after a very. rhetoric filled year in two thousand and seventeen where we saw all most daily diatribes going back and forth between washington and pee on young president moon has succeeded in bringing north korea to the punch on the lympics and frankly it's been a real reprieve ever since kim jong un announced his intention to join the games however now talk of the sanctions a new sanctions we don't know what exactly the trumpet ministration might have in mind that i'm sure is not going over well here in seoul who just i believe president just wants everyone to come the pm jiang and play nice for the

next few weeks jason strother there reporting earlier away from the political posturing the athletes at the winter olympics are raring to go or some of them at least thirteen russians have failed with appeals to the court of arbitration for sport they want to compete despite a doping back on their country and additional forty seven russians will find out excuse me on friday if they can participate just as the olympic torch reaches the host city john check. the olympic torch is journey is almost over with the opening ceremony just around the corner the olympic flame took a spectacular right elizabeth while on its way to pyong chang. this stop is one of the more daring stages of its two thousand eight hundred kilometer journey around south korea not a feat for the faint hearted. at least the next leg was far easier for those

watching to stomach. at the olympic village there were some unexpected visitors russian athletes who've been banned from the games by the i.o.c. who are presenting their case of the course of arbitration for sport in the hope of having the decision overturned at the last minute the hearing concluded we presented the arguments and the fifteen athletes were here last week but had to cast ballots and thirty two hundred athletes were not invited by you see a final decision for all the athletes expected on friday with only hours left to spare before the games open but the i.o.c. aren't the only ones with a close eye on the court's decision the world and you tube and huge n c's president craig reedie made his go with respect to russia's doping scandal very clear. but from my point of you much of this is what. but it's entirely. the two crochets that she agreed and that just to try to keep the compliance

and the improvement of the russian not you don't think agency on a lighter note one spore was already on the way ahead of the games pin collecting the pins specially made for each games offer a great opportunity to meet and trade the most sought after those offered by the national teams this year the most coveted pin would be one for the north korean delegation if there is one. i want to tell you now about some of the other stories making news around the world. rescuers in taiwan are combing through the rubble following tuesday strong earthquake around fifty people are still unaccounted for are aftershocks combined with rain and low temperatures are hampering rescue efforts at least nine were killed and hundreds more injured in the six point nine magnitude quake. gumby eye has rejoined the british commonwealth after all of fifty two member states unanimously approved the move a flag raising ceremony marking the change has been held in london the west african

nation withdrew from the group back in two thousand and thirteen but new president damo barrow signalled he reversed the decision to leave the commonwealth and other international bodies. all right we're going to go back to berlin because european leaders are welcoming the deal reached by germany's two biggest parties to form a coalition government it's been more than four months now since germany held elections here european council president donald tusk is currently meeting with chants on the american called the deal good news the coalition agreement reached on wednesday would see brylin contributing more to e.u. budgets something brussels sees as a welcome change maracle is also due to meet with the commission president. later today. are right let's find out what this would be government could mean for europe with political respondent thomas farah here with me on the set and with max

hofmann brussels ver chief a very good day to you both gentlemen want to start off with you thomas if i may the e.u. is not wasting any time to v.i.p.'s in town today indeed it just stresses the importance of europe for this coalition agreement if you read the coalition agreement it's one hundred seventy seven pages long but it starts with messages that you stocks to europe and that's something that is also reinforced by the fact that the foreign ministry and the finance minister will be to have. of social democrats a foreign ministry would be in the hands of martin chose who is passionately pro european hides who has indeed stress on various occasions that he would like a strong good judgment participation within european institutions and he has a proven track record as well all right to max nobody's breaking out the champagne just yet but is this agreement a step in the right direction for germany's european partners. well i think i heard some champagne bottles over there of the european commission because of what is

does mentioned it's all over the handwriting of the include your group the president of the european commission i'm sure he's very satisfied with that and he told us as much but the real importance here is the real important message for the rest of europe germany is most likely at least back has most likely again or likely at least a functioning government and that's important for what the european union is attempting to do in the next months and years big reforms for example the eurozone reform and again as your own food you were put it we have to repair the roof of the european union as long as the sun is shining you can't do that without german government ok you can't do that without a german government thomas this is a marriage of convenience it's a day after give us a sense of how this deal is going down well it's such only not a marriage of love you can say that these are very much reluctant partners feel the need to work together in order to avoid fresh elections or avoid avoid a minority government so from that perspective there is a certain side of relief that germany at least has this coalition deal but there

has been criticism today criticism leveled against i'm going to mccall in particular about the loss of that key finance ministry alleged remember that the finance minister was held for a very long time by a vote of conscience he can seventy five year in in germany there has also been criticism leveled against not in shows who had previously said that he would never enter a merkel led government and now he's saying that he wants to be the the next foreign minister of germany on a muckle government so old though there has been some relief that germany has its coalition deal it has also been accompanied by a lot of criticism now right now max a your features prominently in this coalition deal but it's short in detail and substance does that worry brussels. and you're right it's more about the big vision for europe and a commitment to the european union but if you look at the text that it's unclear how they want to fulfill this goal just to give you an example more importance to the european parliament all right but that's this and this is treaty change for

example how do they want to do this more money into the into the e.u. budget ok but does that mean only germany or also all the others but i think the bottom line here at least for the european institutions right now is that the message is positive that the euro germany is willing to pay more that is one of the key messages as we just heard earlier so for now even if there is a lack of detail and even if we know that. michael the french president are not necessarily on the same page when it comes for example to a euro zone finance minister or euro zone budget they have proven in the last months that they're more than willing to work together to try to find some common ground thomas does this didn't deal now mean that the social democrats are out of their rut got their mojo back well it's such a really good for them that they got those three key ministries foreign ministry finance minister and labor minister they can push their european policies forward on the social justice policies forward but if you look internally in the s.t.g. there is

a very big division among the tea party members and in fact those party members will be deciding whether this goes ahead they have to vote four hundred sixty three thousand of them have to vote on whether they approve this deal than just under no circumstance sure that they will give the green knight now right thomas sparrow max hofmann thank you both gentlemen. all right to brazil and now where the country is gearing up for carnival a five day festival of decadence dancing and dressing up in rio de janeiro home of the world's biggest celebrations one group of women is using the occasion to draw attention to sexual harassment. it started as a joke an organizer announced a block party protest but when she got more than a silos and responses in twenty four hours she realized she had struck a nerve. with the message the free for all atmosphere of carnival doesn't mean that harassing women or worse is ok. but

not if i think the campaign is necessary because i have suffered harassment join convo some years ago men took my arm tried to force me to kiss them and sometimes they're stronger than you and approach you in a way that's not good to get i think how. they spend our reserves banner of respect carnival without violence against women it's a deep rooted problem using me it i'm a nurse and i work in the emergency ward and every shift i receive a woman who was raped or sexually attacked by so women from thirteen to fifty nine years old for me that's a real and cruel fia how. to outsiders the idea of throwing a party to raise awareness of such a serious issue might seem strange. but at least one man here seem to get the message. that men have to understand that they've done

wrong for a long time and now they have to do rights and not take attitudes that compromise women's integrity. organizers hope that revelers at this year's carnival will indeed get the message while still having fun. all right thanks.