this is d.w. news from berlin tonight who wants to be the next german chancellor the race to succeed. is gathering pace today for its launch of his bid to lead germany's christian democrats he was once sidelined by chancellor merkel now he's back and hotly tipped to. also coming out. to find out why so many people fear for their lives and are now walking to the united states knowing that president trump has vowed not to let them in. and pakistan's top court

frees a christian woman sentenced to death for blasphemy but it isn't us are demanding that the woman be returned to jail and they want the judges who freed her to be executed. it's good to have you with us tonight we are getting a clearer picture of who could possibly try to become the next chancellor of germany you know it's been barely two days since uncle americal announced that she will step down as leader of her party and not seek reelection as the country's chancellor today one of her longstanding critics launched his campaign to take her place his name is friedrich said he says that he has what it takes to unite a divided party. meet chancellor merkel's old rival the man she

once ousted is back to challenge her. it's good to see you needs a fresh start and renewal. needs a forward thinking political discussion and i believe that means to see that you has to be clear about its core values angle america had taken over fleet his position as parliamentary leader of the conservatives sixteen years ago many say he's never forgiven her he carried on as her second in command for a couple of years then in two thousand and nine he left politics he returned to his day job as an attorney joining an international corporate law firm he's also sat on the board of governors for several companies including the world's largest asset management firm blackrock so far is one of three contenders for the party leadership he's considered the most conservative among them and would represent a clear break with merkel style of politics. although he's been

a critic of the chancellor and her government since she took power in two thousand and five he says now they could work together he's been. convinced that angle america and i will get along under these changed circumstances. and in a way that we both see fit. mats is a business friendly conservative his close ties to the private sector are controversial and has made him a target for criticism the christian democrats will decide who will succeed chancellor merkel as their leader at a party conference in december if matz gets the job germany's conservatives will have to brace themselves for drastic change not least because his rise could spell the end of on the america as chancellor given their differences she may not want to stay in office much longer. from joined now by our chief political correspondent melinda korea i mean these events know how are taking place quickly melinda what

would a friedrich. christian democratic union party looks like he hasn't given us a lot to go on so far but what we do know is that he is business friendly always has been both when he was back when he was a politician and now as a corporate lawyer for the last nine years he was also always a big advocate of tax reform making the tax code so simple and a tax declaration so easy that could be written on the back of a coaster for a year so that probably indicates that he would implement more friendly business policies beyond that he made it clear that he wants to open the doors to let voters who have drifted away to the far right nationalist party return to the fold how exactly he would do that is unclear because they don't care about business friendly policies what they're interested in is migration stopping it. we do know that as a politician he was very much in favor of stricter measures for assimilation to

what was known as leading german cultural values so possibly we would see something along those lines but it's hard to say what i do think we can say is that what people see in him is a return to the old glory days of the c.d.u. as a mass party whether he can accomplish that i think is very much an open question and what about his foreign policy positions let's take a listen to what he had to say about the european union today or european union reform proposals that have been put forward by the french president take a listen. i am certainly concerned that we do not have enough of an answer to the suggestions of among them a call. oh. cool. i think he deserves a more substantial answer from germany. which. we have to speak of by the central questions of the future of the european union and i know

that the biggest challenge involves keeping the eurozone together. so is that good news or bad news for you what he was saying well. yes that is a question you can pose but i think the fact that he did raise it today and in fact it was the most concrete point on which he clearly voiced a discrepancy with the current policy you know essentially germany during this coalition government has been asleep at the wheel people throughout the european union feel that germany has not given the kind of leadership that it has the fact that he referenced that point indicates to me that there are at least some proposals that he does think are positive and would want to move forward on perhaps common security and foreign policy for a start so i think that is positive for france and for germany and for the e.u. now what else he would do on the foreign policy side is very hard to say he called himself

a convinced transatlantic chaps and would say the same is there something we know that he is leading in the polls right now but he does have competition doesn't mean absolutely he does at least two others have thrown their hat in the ring and who knows whether more hats may come but among those are the chancellor's own designated successor and a great calm qanbar she is currently the general secretary of the party and she would keep the party essentially in the central part of the political spectrum so not such a sharp turn to the right as i think we'd see under if matz and then there's yes he's currently the health minister significantly younger than the other two quite conservative as well sir. john boehner seem to like him but at the moment he's trailing behind the others if you look at the polls but it's early days it is over days chief political correspondent linda thank you you thank. well here's some of the other stories now that are making headlines around the world these faulty journalist jamal khashoggi was strangled to death immediately after entering

riyadh's consulate in istanbul that's according to these city's chief prosecutor he says that could show his body was then cut up in disposed of saudi arabia's attorney general has now left turkey after talks on the killing the rebel leader has returned to south sudan to celebrate a peace deal with his longtime rival president salva kiir the world's youngest nation was plunged into civil war in two thousand and thirteen when president here sacked wish our as his vice president the country has seen a string of failed cease fires in peace deals ever since as the u.s. city of pittsburgh continues to grieve and bury its dead after that synagogue shooting a grand jury has charged the suspect robert bowers on forty four different colors including hate crimes eleven people were killed in that attack on saturday. the united states says it is sending up to seven thousand troops to its border with

mexico as a convoy of central american migrants travels north and thousands of people have been walking for more than two weeks in a search for a better life in the u.s. they're leaving honduras a country plagued by poverty sexual violence and gang brutality the w.'s i tore sayas has been to the capital to use the galba to find out more about the life these people are leaving behind. every friday armed gangs forced these young barbers to cut their hair on one occasion they were caught up in a shootout with police the barbers close their salim to escape but lived in constant fear for their lives that's why they decided to abandon their homes and set off for the united states. goofy and they have. done it on the on the i had to go to the gang members to cut their hair.

but i couldn't keep doing it out of fear. i said i spoke about it with my cousin and we decided to flee. and i was more afraid and just want to work in peace. as well as violence economic problems are pushing people to migrate almost three quarters of all hundred and live in poverty according to some estimates and more than half of the self employed there live in extreme poverty. going on your capital we are searching for a better homeland and opportunities to work where we want to move our families forward people cannot bear the situation any longer the crisis has been getting worse for years and it's happening because of the political situation that's why people are fleeing now they have nothing to eat me up by i'm supporting these migrants they're fleeing because there's no work here how can donald trump treat

them as murderous. no poverty and one judas is on the rice even though the government has invested more in social programs. this woman has tried seven times to reach the united states only once did she make it across the border only to be deported but her situation is so desperate that she plans to try again. your ok your work i just can't go on like this even if i could find a job i wouldn't earn enough to support. the babies just to learn. i have three children who need to be fed. on her last journey she was fleeing an abusive husband she took her three children on the arduous trip they suffered hunger and illness eventually they were arrested by mexican authorities and deported.

this is the by two and i reported it to the police and sought protection in mexico as i fled with my three children he notified the migration authorities and we spent eight months in detention. women suffer other types of violence they are victims of domestic and sexual abuse and are threatened by gangs who try to recruit their children. that's why twenty percent more women than men are fleeing on judas according to a migration expert. say live. they are pressured into prostitution or are forced to live with people who are involved in organized crime i mean. it's a symptom of the vulnerability of women. migrants or refugees it's hard to draw a line in a country where desperation and danger go together for them escape seems the only

option. a court in pakistan has freed a christian woman who was sentenced to death for blasphemy mother of two bibi was condemned to hate in two thousand and ten for insulting islam prophet mohammad since today's ruling thousands of islamist activists have blocked roads and ransacked government property in protest with one group even calling for the death of the judges who overturned the sentence. she has spent most of the past eight years in a prison cell in solitary confinement. bibi has always maintained her innocence the christian farm worker and mother of two was convicted in two thousand and ten of blasphemy she was accused of insulting the prophet mohammed after muslim women from her village objected to her drinking water from their shared class because she was christian bibi then became the first woman to be sentenced to death by hanging

under pakistan's controversial blasphemy laws but now pakistan's highest court has decided to overturn the verdict and. the ruling was immediately met with angry protests by hard line islamists. the only punishment for a blasphemer is beheading they sound and we won't obey this oppression. the leaders of one islamist party have even called for the death of the judges who ruled in favor of us and bebe's release. her story began in a rural pakistani village but what started here has stirred intense emotions around the world. in the past islamists have murdered some of those who spoke out in her favor. today's reactions show that their anger has diminished a little since her breast nearly ten years ago.

he. joins us live from london by wilson the chairman of the british pakistani christian association mr shoulders good to have you on the program you were in contact with babies family lives in the u.k. what was the family's reaction today. the family don't live in the u.k. they are still in pakistan. and yet their reaction is one of great joy and you know elation in seeing you know that a baby is now free. maybe you know if we are aware that i see baby herself when she was asked if she when she left the cell. that they are you know she she asked. is it for real i'm actually going to see the cell it was a shock and surprised at all that she had been adamant and again that she would be released but today honestly is a huge amount it's

a huge joyful box that christian dresses across the globe and for the pakistani christian community back in the homeland. is technically now a free woman can she realistically stay in pakistan or would that be too dangerous for her it's impossible it's untenable there is no way this woman can remain in pakistan you're seeing images of the right of the protests these will soon become major riots and we've seen it before peace in the country brought to a standstill and it was over the change in the earth from a to a little mike you middle make it this is much more serious that the animosity towards a c b b is so intense two politicians were shot dead in twenty eleven in the space of three months. it's it's cannot if the countries in the west germany britain america they have to open their doors they there's no need for an assessment it's

very apparent that she is at the lead asylum seeker and do you i mean that's a grim assessment of the situation in pakistan do do you see any chance of pakistan's blasphemy laws being changed as a result of what has happen today. absolutely not but the very fact that b.b. has had to soften to supreme court appeal is appalling but it's not call him stupid other plessy christian blasphemy victims in pakistan is the bill messy is just messy to teenage as it is a social media blessedly it is she going to turn her husband accused of. saving shreds koat into sure it's this isn't going to change the best or. the prime minister in one conscious self as in dos these those saying that he supports that and to these draconian medieval rules that it moved you're never going to see peace

in pakistan they clearly used as a tool for persecution and worse still that national curriculum pakistan demonising caricature is minorities even going as far as they believe christian is a spice for the west was in charge in term of the british pakistani christian association mr jenner we appreciate you for taking the time to speak with us this evening thank you. fight over to christophe now the industrial giant siemens planning a major investment right here in berlin that is right brand it is a piece of good news for the german capital lehman's putting six hundred million euros on the table to finance and innovation center in the city of berlin is meant to be part of what some hope will become a german silicon valley and the investment would be the biggest of a single company and berlin since world war two and the announcement comes only a week after google was drew a similar proposal due to massive protests in the local neighborhood and lack of

political support. berlin pulled out all stops to get the signatures that would make this possible and bring siemens back to its birthplace in the german capital's northwest revitalizing a part of town that already bears the seaman's name. around six hundred million euros will be invested in berlin in the coming years that alone is a killer it will lead to a lot of infrastructure innovation job creation and all that will be an entirely new image for the xena study campus bringing the area into a new age in. it only took eight weeks to go from the idea to the signing the innovation center will house offices research labs and high tech production facilities for startups. and in a city currently locked in an accommodation crisis there are to be some fifty

thousand square meters set aside for affordable housing. that means we're looking at how we can build a campus that isn't elitist but inclusive and that's something we've worked on no one considered we looked at the most varied of locations around the world and said where can we really define the future of work and then we came back to have a place of origin. zeman start in berlin is already home to the industrial giants largest production site with some ten thousand employees the new innovation center is expected to be completed by twenty thirty. yes carmaker general motors has reported third quarter earnings and they are better than expected earnings stood at two point five billion dollars up from a loss of three billion dollars a year ago g.m. sold fewer cars in north america than in the previous year but benefited from sales of higher priced s.u.v.s and trucks in china and the u.s.

the company's also increasing its cost cutting efforts by offering buyouts to eighteen thousand white collar workers. let's bring in our wall street correspondent dan scored here yes g.m. is ramping up its cost cutting efforts it's reporting high profits wall street is very excited i assume you have the stock of g.m. pumped up by a good nine percent just here in the wednesday's session and the u.s. car industry in general actually did face some major headwinds with tariffs on steel and. costs increase for comic or silver all that was also true for general motors and then we are in an environment of rising interest rates meaning if. consumers want to finance their new vehicles that becomes more expensive but still general motors was able to actually achieve the highest selling prices in the

corporate history for their vehicles and that was one of the main factors and the u.s. market overall that even if g.m. sold fewer cars but for far higher price and that's why they beat estimates and the stock saw this huge increase and yes wednesday was the last day of trading in october and overall it's been a brutal month for stocks tell us why and give us an outlook. you know what a month has been so we did see especially high tech stocks under heavy selling pressure and for the months the nats that called was it was down by a good nine per cent and even if we saw a little rally on wednesday and also on tuesday it still was for the nasdaq composite the worst month since november two thousand and eight sold basically since the financial crisis of two chips also down by a good five percent being their worst months and two and a half years there was

a lot of talk about rising interest rates some companies could not fully convinced their earnings outlook and those were some factors why we saw overall pretty turbulent month of october a scary month of october drawing to close the end scored in new york thank you canada has begun issuing a new tourism card that will allow cubans to travel to the central american country as private citizens without a visa and buy goods available to cubans who own or work for small businesses the measure will benefit some thirteen percent of the country's worse. panamanian president juan carlos for raila introduced a new measure last week making it easier for cubans to travel to and buy goods in panama provided they can prove that they have ties to a private business in cuba currently there are some five hundred ninety two thousand cuban workers in the private sector. we feel that the tourism card will

strengthen the economic opening that you're seeing in cuba and permit following the country's rules and respecting the country's regulations and all their systems it will make visits to panama easier because many cubans are traveling they travel to other countries they return to their country and they're setting up their own businesses they're moving forward and this facilitates the process. if i think that it is a process of the tourism card comes at a time when cuba is seeking more international investments and credit due to a liquidity crisis and the decrease in aid from venezuela. direct foreign investment in the country has averaged in the hundreds of millions of dollars over the last few years but the government to seeking an annual two point five billion dollars in investment panama's tourism card is supposed to help entrepreneurs in cuba gain more financial freedom. it's back to brant and india thinking big does it right the world's tallest statue unveiled today christophe in

india prime minister narendra modi inaugurated the monument in a ceremony honoring set off a tell who is credited with you know any india after its break from britain back in one nine hundred forty seven but the inauguration has also been mired in controversy locals are angry at the high cost of the statue and the damage to the environment you are not going to look down on with pomp and tight security india's prime minister narendra modi inaugurated this statue of unity. one hundred eighty two meter tall bronze clad towering over western gujarat state. india's iron man sardar patel was the country's first deputy prime minister after india gained independence in one thousand nine hundred seventy patel played

a key role in bringing the country states together with the only audience that they would fit but the my brothers and sisters. this the world's tallest statute will keep on reminding the whole world and our future generations about our sins coverage capability and resolve. to do not be that. this so-called symbol of unification was nearly four years in the making now its unveiling is being overshadowed by protests and accusations of political point scoring the statue is part of the hindu nationalist parties effort to rebrand what it calls forgotten leaders but their critics see this as an effort to appropriate a national hero figure ahead of next year's national election. the four hundred million dollars project has uprooted many residents one hundred eighty five families most of them belonging to local tribes were forced to leave their homes.

ahead of the inauguration local chiefs called for modi to stay away and there are reports of activist leaders who have been detained. and despite protests authorities hope the site will be a popular tourist attraction in this remote corner of india. and they are rushing to ensure the area has enough hotels restaurants and other infrastructure to cope with the anticipated rush. after a short break i'll be back to take you through the day stick around. and.

enter the conflict zone confronting the powerful. after thirteen years in power in some damaging state election results angela merkel is the first to you is visibly waning how no i know i'm going to must cling on to college my dear do you suppose skunk choice that one of the most famous and infamous politicians in germany conflicts of. sixty minutes on g.w. .

i'm not thinking out of the gym because sometimes i am but i stand up and whip it up and the german thinks deep into german culture of looking at the stereotypes aquatics that anyone think you see from the country behind on time. needed scenes we take from this drama. it's all that. i my job join me to meet the gentleman from be happy post. scars cover and forget women in russia have to live with violence sexism and depression nothing in finance is knowing when to russia. where putin is petri our king rooms today women's rights were already gaining traction hundred years ago. people here tend to

have a clue about feminism but there are women who want to things to keep change in and free daily life for justice and equality. under the scheme russia's women starts nov thirteenth d.w. . who wants to be germany's next chancellor will ten years ago friedrich merits quit politics the loser in a merits versus merkel rivalry that was then today a would be winning merits told reporters that he's back and ready to lead where uncle americal is about to leave i bring golf in berlin this is the day.