it had a bit of that. this is deja vu news live from berlin calls for germany's catholic church to take responsibility for the sexual abuse of children for decades a new report reveals thousands of cases of sexual assaults and cover ups the country's justice minister wants to see criminal charges brought against those responsible also coming up never sexually assaulted anyone. brett kavanaugh his nomination to the u.s. supreme court under attack again as a second woman makes allegations of sexual misconduct protesters are calling on him

to address in detail the accusations. and it's not messy and has not been although even names true aisha's look at moderate as the best footballer in the world is this the beginning of a new year. i'm brian thomas thanks so much for being with us catholic church officials are set to release a report detailing thousands of sexual abuse cases here in germany that report will be presented later today during a meeting of the german bishops conference but some of his key findings have already been leaked to the public. the study of other priests that abused more than three and a half thousand children and teens here in germany over a period of seventy years the victims mostly male and mostly children well over one

and a half thousand priests are accused of committing these crimes critics of the study though as well as the authors themselves say the true scale of this abuse is far greater. well this internal church investigation already under fire before its publication joining me for more in the studio is our political correspondent simon young simon good morning how could this have gone on for so long undetected brown there are many on sista that first of all if just one statistic this study found that in almost two thirds of cases of abuse by priests that were investigated by the state just as authorities the charges were dropped so that's a very high proportion the question is why well a lot of people say that the real problem here is the hierarchical structure of the catholic church that means that priests have a lot of power and often members of the catholic church you've been reluctant to challenge them and

a significant number of those are key issues the study has also found were people who held office senior positions within the church another point is that in many of these cases there's little real evidence it's one person's word against another and the study is also found that in many cases documents relating to these cases have disappeared perhaps they've been destroyed by the perpetrators themselves or other people came to protect the reputation of the church so while there have been prosecutions probably haven't been enough and it's very difficult to bring people to justice within this organization of the catholic church ok victims groups are not alone in wanting to see justice for many of these cases could the publication of this report later today lead to the prosecution of some priests who assaulted children and some of the bishops even and high ranking church officials that

apparently covered all of this up well i think it will lead to prosecutions eventually but perhaps not directly this is an anonymized study cover. cases going back well into the past in some cases the incidents alleged happened before the second world war so what needs to happen now is what the justice minister has been calling for namely for the church authorities to work together with the state or thorax is to find out what happened bring people to justice and make sure it never happens again ok that'll mean delivering up the documents simon the revelations of child sex abuse in catholic diocese is literally around the world has led many catholics to question or face a reporter found that both german churchgoers and priests have been shocked by the scope of the crimes. it's getting ready for sunday mass it used to be the highlight of this week but the catholic priest feels different

now the catholic church is caught up in a major sexual abuse scandal and father worries. sometimes i wonder what people really think about me how they view my work as a priest do this sometimes think i wonder if everything is all right with him by the. revelations that more than three and a half thousand children fell victim to clergy have caused shock and outrage among germans everywhere the parishioners here are no exception. as a human been deeply shocked that the church has struck through some of the rock for decades from my point of view the guilty really must be hunted down not only in the church long but also under the criminal law. and i'm very sad and i'm still angry about it. one issue being looked at is the obligatory

oath of celibacy for catholic priests and bishops according to the study celibacy is a risk factor leading to abuse. does it say i'm in favor of abolishing cell. i think that would reduce the if he doesn't know something on does isn't the solution it's not the reason for the buz buz type of abuse also excuse outside the church to salute to see isn't imposed. by the family it understands that people are angry but he himself doesn't feel celibacy as the cause of the problem he says what's needed is a better coordinated effort by the church to prevent peace in the future. now for some of the other stories making the news today sweden's prime minister stefan lawful has been ousted in a no confidence vote about two thirds of the parliament voted against loughlin who leads the country social democrats is departure comes two weeks after general elections that saw historic gains for far right wing politicians. e.u.

foreign policy chief federica moga raney has announced a deal with russia and china to dodge u.s. sanctions and to continue doing business with iran washington has threatened to stop countries trading with tehran from doing business in the us united states or impose sanctions against iran after of pulled out of a nuclear deal with that country. new zealand's first baby has made her international debut in new york's three month old neve to ra was the star of the un general assembly as her prime minister mom is in the ardor addressed the peace summit ardern is only the second world leader to give birth while in office. here in germany chancellor although machall is addressing a gathering of the country's business elite in the wake of a damaging political crisis leading figures from german industry are evaluating the performance of the country's coalition government

a year after federal elections. this meeting comes fresh on the heels of a dispute with chancellor merkel's coalition over the fate of her domestic intelligence chief it's threatened to deadlock germany's government. our chief political editor michelle there is a german business day event here in berlin joins us now michelle up the organizer of this event said this morning that he's concerned about political stability here in germany is the concern being shared by the other business leaders where you are . certainly is something that the self heard in this room behind me that criticism that's really the german government was so busy with itself that it wasn't governing enough the german chancellor just finished speaking a couple of minutes ago and her response to that criticism that very little was being done and at the same time lot of faith really was being undermined in that

political brand of stability that angle america particularly in a so-called grand coalition always stood for well she didn't apologize like she did yesterday over the latest affair that almost brought the government to the brink of collapse but she did say that she would put all her efforts into getting this coalition to work better together well that sounds like not that terribly much change from what we've seen here so far but she said she made clear that she heard the criticism and that she understood that government needs to act faster on key areas like tax reform for instance ok michaud with the side german brand of stability dented what business leaders want to see this government doing differently now. what they want if it was up to them they would want a bold tax reform their argument is that with that tax reform that donald trump

implemented this very business friendly lowering of taxes that germany was really under pressure that there was an international competition and that the government must act foster and that it must reduce the risk for trade here in germany. and that also includes of course shielding german business from those developments a potentially new trade war growing brewing really between the u.s. and china and that's where angela merkel tried to make the point that she is very glad that germany is within the european union her argument is this isn't working germany does not stand alone if you ask of representatives from business here their concern is that the e.u. still isn't strong enough to withstand this unleashing of uncontrollable market forces this potential departs from what is known as the current world and trade

order particularly under the world trade organization whose president is here as well as shellac of her for us down at the meeting today thanks very much while it's to the us now our supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh also as he will not let what he calls false accusations drive him out of the nation process the senate plans to hear testimony this week from at least one of the two women who claim cavanagh sexually assaulted them back in the one nine hundred eighty s. cavanaugh has denied any wrongdoing here's what he said on fox news. i've never sexually assaulted anyone not in high school not ever. i've always treated women with dignity and respect i'm not going to want to false accusations try boss that out of this process and. we're looking for a fair process where i can be heard and defend the. my integrity my lifelong record of my lifelong record of promoting the dignity and equality for women starting with

the women who knew me when i was fourteen years old. not going anywhere. and staying in the u.s. scientists are reporting success helping patients with paralysis to stand and even take steps again it's all thanks to an electrical implant that literally zaps the spinal cord along with months of intensive rehab the research is giving new hope to people suffering from spinal cord injury. one step at a time jared chin ok is able to walk again five years after an accident that left him paralyzed to be able to move. my legs and. to walk even stand it means a lot. that there is hope for not only me but other people. is one of three patients taking part in two separate studies in the united states

who's managed to walk again albeit assisted. the twenty nine year old was the first patient at the mayo clinic in minnesota to have an electrical stimulation device implanted near his damaged spinal cord. the original function of the electrical stimulator was to treat chronic pain. but it's being used experimentally to try to activate dormant circuitry in the spinal cord. and allow movement. was we were able to see the malaysia wreck plea the spinal cord itself and we believe that that was very important to be able to regain volitional control or voluntary control and just one month after surgery commute his toe on his own again he underwent forty three weeks of intense physical therapy and stimulator adjustments at one therapy session managed to walk the length of a football field but for him it's not about the distance. the hopeful

side of maybe all getting that where i can leave the wheelchair behind even if it is to walk. to the refrigerator and back in his hometown you know like not very far . and hope is one given to those with spinal injuries who never thought standing up . or walking would ever be possible again. we're going to leave you now is a tale of two travelers who looked a bit out of place and very far from home to humboldt penguins were discovered wandering around a remote rural area in peru the birds of the names kabo and co all ski what else after cartoon characters in the film madagascar this species lives mainly on the pacific coast of chile but it is unclear where this pair came from they've been handed over to wildlife authorities for proper care.

this is deja vu news live from berlin don't forget you can always get more on these and other stories or a website that's good of you dot com for now though for me brian thomas and the entire team thanks so much for joining us terry martin will be with you at the top of the. story that people who rolled over information they provide the opinions they want to express g.w. on facebook and twitter up to date and in touch follow us.