this is. from berlin tonight a stunning announcement from the united states is withdrawing all troops from syria today president declared victory over so-called islamic state in syria state department officials will be home within twenty four hours so why are american backed troops still fighting against the. also coming up the u.s.

federal reserve expected raises interest rates yet again despite pressure from the white house to reverse course and remembering the twelve people who lost their lives two years ago marking the second anniversary of the christmas market terror attack. it's good to have you with us tonight the pentagon in the united states says it has started the process of withdrawing u.s. troops from syria it comes on the orders of president the president today hinted at the move with a tweet claiming victory over so-called islamic state says that defeating isis was the only reason for the u.s. being in syria during his presidency the two thousand american troops in the country will start leaving as soon as possible we. state department officials will

reportedly be out of the country within the next twenty four hours. or let's go now to washington and bring in our correspondent my its way to she's on the story for us tonight good evening to you my other me this is a sudden decision to begin withdrawing u.s. troops from syria it feels like a rushed decision why has it come mel. the timing is definitely questionable and seems to have caught even some of the top military brass off guard because just days ago or even last week we saw the joint chief of staff saying that it would be a naive to assume that the mission is accomplished in syria and talking about how there are still many islamic state jihadi is still on the ground they don't know know how many are still around the estimates range somewhere between two thousand and thirty thousand so even u.s. military leaders are saying we need to stay on the ground stabilisation is our main

goal here and it is at risk if we leave what we do know in terms of the timing is that u.s. troops have been working closely with kurdish forces in the north and kurds are quite the target of turkish president russia type air to one and air to one and trump have been having a series of conversations it seems over the past week including reportedly one phone call this morning just before this announcement was made and so what has been the fallout from this announcement that the troops will be coming home. well the pentagon has said that they will indeed start withdrawing their troops but there's been a lot of concern expressed from all quarters including from within the president's own party we've seen several prominent republican legislators come forward and say this is surprising we didn't know this was happening even one of the president's staunchest defenders saying i can't say whether or not this was the right call even

though he tends to stand by the president and other legislators saying this sounds like a really bad idea and may further damage our relations in the in the region especially because with the u.s. withdrawing that leaves a vacuum for our other actors in syria such as iran or russia growing their influence over the wires later on the story for us tonight in washington why i think you. well president from claims the fight against i guess is over the situation on the ground in syria is much more complicated american backed syrian democratic forces the s.d.f. are still attempting to clear the town of hygiene of islamic state finders i seen lines in the valley of the euphrates river close to the border with iraq it's the western stronghold of the jihad his militia which once controlled large swathes of syria and iraq but as the mainly kurdish forces inch closer to victory they're

facing a new danger turkey is now threatening to launch an assault against the kurds just further to the north and there will probably be no u.s. troops left to defend them reporter daniel has sent us this report from the frontline in syria. these people have escaped the clutches of the so-called islamic state. that stranded in a camp two hundred kilometers from the front lines. traumatized exhausted but free . after days of rain and cold weather the conditions are atrocious but it's better than being under the guns of the i s fighters locked in regard battle on the banks of the euphrates. use does as human shields so the warplanes can't attack from the sky. planted mines everywhere and they don't want to let anyone escape. their criminals

dirty thieves they took everything from us our money as well and then they left. the battle for the last bit of territory held by yes is a tough one. the militia has lost nearly all the land it held was around five thousand fighters are putting up fierce resistance their leader abu bakr al baghdadi is thought to be among them. dozens of members of the s.t.'s have been killed in recent weeks and that's despite support from the united states and other allies. that. they've put booby traps and mines everywhere we were advancing but slowly and we have to take care to avoid civilian casualties. this is what's left by the fighting the streets of hygene the former terrorist stronghold most of the people who live here have fled. the mainly kurdish s.d.f.

has captured the center of the town and most of the outskirts from my ass. fighting is continuing in the surrounding villages to jihadists are still managing to stay john bush is a hit and run attacks. the u.s. fighters try every day to attack our units and recapture the villages but we are pushing back with all we have. the american backed s.d.f. is now facing a potential enemy on another front. victory over the i.r.s. in the euphrates valley is within reach. but now turkey is threatening to march into kurdish controlled areas on its southern border ankara sees the kurdish fighters as terrorists. these threats help yes precisely now when we're making gains in the fight for her turkey threatens an offensive in northern syria. and that's bad news for the people still in the i ask

control not everyone has been able to flee thousands are still trapped in the last pocket of i asked territory. i want to bring in correspondent and she is tracking these fast moving developments for us from beirut good evening to you so let's start there with with what the u.s. president claimed today that islamic state is now finished and we see right there the flight four hundred can continues is that then at the beginning of the end of islamic state i mean or is it is black and white as trump claims. well islamic state has broadly dorothy been defeated in city on top of that are such that they continue to have some sort of rule boston areas and i'm successful draw laughed about it would be such a willage is under them but as d.m. is believed to be also carrying out the op which is that when presidents drop says

that isis has been defeated you can save about ninety percent right but has isis been decimated when you go about their own line campaign when you talk about the eulogy and the clear answer is no to encrypted communications i'm sister sending messages to some of us john is that they will recruit they talk about how they were huge in numbers thirty thousand forty thousand to me years ago and they say that they're not all and that be killed and they were stomped reactivity has to decide later recruits in reemerges is and then he stood aside as he should have stayed for longer any didn't then watch and is able to give you that it's a very good point and what answer is he going to give to kurdish troops you know our report suggested that turkish forces might attack kurdish troops who have been instrumental in defeating us and if that happens there may be no u.s. troops left to help them i mean what would the implications of that be. well that

is in syria i have wanted autonomy within. me the kurdish five thousand troops have wanted a contiguous steadily along the border when. claimed off and in fact forces from tsunami cleaned up and it was clear that they're not going to be getting the biggest energy but with the american forces on the ground there was still some hope that they could perhaps get some much anime as they excite some leverage but if the american troops leave then what sort of a deed have they really cracked or the sitting governor to what sort of enough tommy would. instagram be getting nothing we need would be very hard for them to have had some sort of a tacit understanding that bashar al assad the nothing that would go to the extent of giving them all three didn't even within city as a cause would have lost out despite many of the sacrifices and the stock has to be well known for quite some time than that because that's not correct. for their reporting from beirut until thank you

here's some of the other stories now that are making headlines around the world the european commission has revealed plans to handle a no deal brecht's it of these include measures to avoid disruptions and key sectors such as air traffic and financial trading british citizens residency rights in the european union would also be protected but new restrictions on trade and travel would come into force the world food program says it is cutting services to palestinians in the west bank and gaza strip due to a lack of funding two hundred thousand people will be affected by the cuts one of the program's major donors was the united states but it announced funding cuts to projects for palestinians earlier this year. well here in berlin the country is marking the second anniversary of the terror attack that left twelve people dead and dozens wounded family and friends of the victims joined

bruins mayor and other officials at a ceremony at the science of the attack exactly two years ago a rejected asylum seeker from tunisia named. hijacked a truck killed its driver and plowed into a crowded christmas market. but was shot dead by police in italy a few days later we met with a survivor of that attack whose wife has not been the same since. i think. as i turned around i saw the truck just in the nick of time it was already in the square coming towards me it passed by me within half a meter of call and it was a horrific sight. straight after the attack there was a deathly silence you could have heard a pin drop out of it was a brief moment of total silence porton. two years ago under the asphalt survived to have referred go deal islamic extremist on his armory plowed a heavy truck into

a christmas market in berlin plats killing twelve people shots was able to jump out of the way severely injuring himself in the process it with this middle east i witnessed i didn't see all twelve people die but i did see four or five die that was intense seeing people lying there injured on the ground i was injured myself the next morning i woke up in my bed in my clothes in my jacket and my shoes everything was smeared with blood. now two years later police and heavy barriers protect the christmas market. a memorial pays tribute to the dead. but rarely comes here anymore he still struggles daily with memories of the attack and is in trauma counseling shots a searching for answers to many unresolved questions he doesn't miss a single meeting of the committee investigating the attack.

so we have i want clarification i'm still looking for answers and that's important to me and to the other relatives and victims who aren't here who don't have the energy to come here so that we can at least answer their questions or if you give up now there's a danger that the subject gets forgotten and it definitely shouldn't be forgotten. shots blames the authorities saying they could have prevented the attack by keeping close tabs on them re putting him under arrest. he no longer works in his former job as a truck driver he received nine thousand euros in compensation and now lives of unemployment benefits. the attack has become part of his daily life. at one of the mexican i'm still struggling with that if it's always there at the back of my mind. i'd like to know why i had to experience something like that. what went wrong. will keep on doing what he's doing criticizing the

authorities and raising awareness so that the twelve people who died on bridge had plots will not be forgotten. and staying here in germany a school has refused to admit the child of a politician who belongs to the far right alternative for germany party a dean of that decision has triggered a debate should children pay the price for their appearance decisions. to steiner schools known in germany as volatile schools aim to produce well rounded people through art and music practical learning and social education a high minded and ambitious project but one child in berlin will not be benefiting from it since this steiner school decided not to accept him the reason his father is a politician from the far right alternative for germany party. in a press release the school said opposition from many parents had led to a conflict so that there is quote no opportunity to admit the child without

prejudice and bias. the a.f.p. has been quick to cry foul. to those who decided that should question whether they acted correctly and whether this is the climate of opinions we want to have in germany i think it's fine to argue with a political opponent but children should be left out of it. that unease has been echoed in the media and by politicians of all the parties. in them i think it's a big problem if children are being made liable for their parents' political fees it's the school's task to teach the students to be independent characters and democratic individuals and. the school which is independent of the lynn state school system also says its places are heavily oversubscribed but the moral question here is where the choices about which school a child can go to she be affected by the politics of the parents.

or the british artist banksy always creates a buzz with a new piece and that something people in the welsh telling of port talbot are experiencing now that banksy has confirmed a graffiti referencing the town's air pollution he says it's his work it's called season's greetings and the image appears on two sides of a garage the twist the snow is actually see it there falling ash from a fire locals have erected a fence to protect the mural by the artist whose identity remains a secret. art and sports news now byron munich are reportedly said to activate the eighty million euro release clause of a political madrid defender lucas hernandez spanish media outlets are saying that by are preparing to shatter the bonus league's transfer record to sign the front france world cup winner according to the reports are an end as would join the club on january first when the transfer window opens. auntie denied one is legal where by your neighbor who is in have found form with

a two one win at the fellow underachievers show in the early game and there was singing if i were you before the match as often commemorated the closure of the last coal mine in the region but last terms runner ups won't fill the fire on the pitch yet again byron munich are playing a light signal and you can see the highlights of both games in our bonus league show from just after twenty three hundred eleven p m t c. well the german astronaut alexander garrus has handed over control of the international space station to a russian colleague before returning to earth it's just been in orbit for more than six months time flies doesn't it carrying out important experiments aboard the iowa says now he's ready for the journey home we understand and should be back on the ground in time for breakfast on thursday. when the bell rang alexander guests time as captain of the international space

station came to an end protocol on the i assessed requires that he hand over a keen symbolizing the command to cosmonaut all the conan code for two and a half months guess was in charge of security and operation of the i assess the first german to hold the position i will miss this place he tweeted his twitter account is chock full of fascinating photos from space but he was also kept busy doing scientific research. i'm waiting for man's experiments with technology official intelligence materials muscles bones the land based mission leader is pleased with the results. we've completed ninety eight or ninety nine percent of our programs because that's a real accomplishment there were tense times on board the i assess a whole was discovered in the wall of a transport party guests colleagues took

a space walk to repair it the cause of the hole is still being investigated but guests mission has reached its and if all goes to plan he will land in the plains of kazakhstan early on thursday morning. and back here on earth is over to christophe now and the rate rise fed watchers were anticipating that's right just over an hour ago the u.s. federal reserve made the announcement that it has hiked is benchmark interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to a range between two and a quarter and two and a half percent u.s. fed chairman drone paul said the central bank expected the economy to continue performing well next year but it projects just two rate hikes in twenty nineteen amid concerns about the trade dispute with china and signs of slowing global trade and economic growth higher interest rates tend to weigh on economic growth because they make it more expensive for businesses and consumers to borrow money.

so for more let's cross over to our man on wall street yes korda yes the fed expects growth to slow somewhat at least a moderate why does it still raise rates. yes not that there are no growth concerns around at all but so far the federal reserve for still projects economic growth of about two point three percent that is a bit less than the originally expected two point five percent but that is still pretty solid to ron paul pointed out that. we saw this year the best economic growth since the financial crisis and we are in the midst of or at least right in the longest expansion faces that the u.s. economy has seen in history and therefore the federal reserve has the feeling that more rate hikes in twenty and nineteen are justified yes this rate hike has widely

been expected why is the dow still dropping more than three hundred points now well i would say that we've pretty much dropped like a rock we were up by about three hundred points before the news of of the fed meeting broke and then we drop by even almost four hundred points here on wall street i would think that we have a couple of factors going on one is that a lot of market participants were hoping that we might even only see one or more rate hike next year and that the federal reserve is is is not saying that they're going to be more data dependent but they're clearly hinting at two more rate hikes next year that seems to me a bit more aggressive than the market expected and yes i just checked no new tweets yet but surely president trump is not happy about the news higher interest sakes make finding seeing debt more expensive. yeah well but paul

repeatedly said that politics do not just play a role at all in the raid decisions or the do not get influenced by u.s. president donald trump but clearly higher rates could be a damper on economic growth was higher rates we might also see an increase in mortgage rates so that could be a damper on the u.s. housing industry we also might see stronger dollars that might be some negative effects of the u.s. economy if rates will increase further from this point against cota reporting from wall street in new york against thank you. the european union and the italian government have resolved their budget battle brussels accepted a revised proposal but it looks like italy's populist government came out on top here as a concession to the ears demands roll lowered its projected deficit spending however it will still pick up much more fresh debt than the previous government had promised piling on to

a already threatening the high pile of liabilities. italy's capital rome now it seems the country and the e.u. have reached a consensus the italian government promised to set new debt at two point zero four percent of g.d.p. next year instead of the two point four percent as a regionally planned brussels has agreed to this so there's no threat of sanctions italians are relieved. to get them but. it's important that italy works with the european union. but there's no sense fighting against europe. let it go i see it as a good thing i hope this government can move forward with the things they've planned or to know they can work on all their plans in the future the way i see it i don't like thinking all the time that things could go wrong. with bullshit but this is the italian government is

a coalition of the right leaning league and populist five star movement both want to finance expensive election promises including a basic income and a lower retirement age but at around one hundred thirty percent of g.d.p. italy's mountain of debt is second only to greece. let's talk about a sector in crisis in the old days everything in the creation coastal region near the city of pool revolved around ship building but because of outdated technologies and mismanagement creation shipyards have been unable to withstand foreign competition now businesses are going bankrupt and thousands of jobs are on. the harbor of pula practically a ghost town the once flourishing croatian ship building industry is slowly perishing and the decline seems unstoppable. also the situation is bad the salaries are late people are leaving i saw photos today from protests we

organize this year and half of the people in these photos are no longer here soon we won't have enough people to organize a protest let alone build a ship in the people. in recent months workers have repeatedly taken to the streets to demand their unpaid salaries. as well as aid from brussels but the protests didn't bear any fruit. in the eighty's croatia's shipyards were still some of the world's best but the collapse of yugoslavia took its toll despite financial injections from the government this year alone customers canceled contracts to have nine ships built the reason the heavily indebted shipyard can't honor its delivery agreements with this this is so with the bankruptcy is a danger that we've been facing since the start of the crisis when we received rescue aid we already knew that if it wasn't repaid on time if the restructuring program was not adopted the alternative would be bankruptcy or even liquidation

that they must go wasn't up. the yard still employs four thousand five hundred employees about a quarter of them are said to be on the verge of leaving to look for new jobs abroad. and a reminder of the top story we're following for you at this hour the u.s. military has begun course drawing from syria after president donald trump took to twitter to claim victory over so-called islamic state the news came as u.s. backed kurdish and arab forces battle to oust i asked fighters from the last stronghold as. you're watching news coming to you live from berlin after a short break france will be back to thank you susan to stick around.

and. enter the conflict zone confronting the powerful two years ago the philippines began a brutal war against the drug gangs in which thousands of people have died human rights activists and journalists charged the police with illegal killings charges which president detesting as vigorously denied for use this week here in manila is

used legal adviser salvatore cassano welcome to to come. flicks on. sixty minutes on g.w. . natural riches. precious resources. and a rewarding investment. of farmland has been called the ethiopia's gold. the country has an abundant supply and leases it to international coverage for giants the government has a dry export revenues and the corporations high profit margin. but not everyone benefits from the booming business. of giving when i saw the bulldozers clearing the land i was devastated give me how could they bulldoze the land without my permission and they knew it belonged to me. expropriation

environmental destruction starvation. the price for government and corporate greed. the selling out of a country. that donkeys fear no hyenas. starts december twenty ninth on d w. for more than two years the world has heard breaks it means bricks it in one hundred days breaks it will be a reality and yet no one can tell you what that will mean what brags it will be tonight facing a future of uncertainty britain and the european union preparing for a bright said that means disaster i'm burned off in berlin this is the day.