to become a citizen. to margaret it's your platform for reliable information. this is d w news live from berlin u.s. allies react with shock to the latest resignation from the trumpet ministration defense secretary jim matheson quits in protest over trump's a corrupt pullout from syria he says it sends the wrong message to america's friends and embolden its focus also coming up germany marks the end of an era as a closes its last underground coal mine to move in miners in our german industry

from deep below the earth. and in the bundesliga dortmund and gladbach kick off the last match date ahead of the christmas break. last. dortmund fans clearly already in a festive mood fifty thousand supporters joined the sing along at the stadium will look ahead to tonight's top of the table clay. i'm calling aspen welcome to the show u.s. allies including germany have appealed for clarity over washington's foreign policy this comes after defense secretary jim mattis resigned in protest of president trump's decision to withdraw american forces from syria that move. happened without

consultation from the pentagon or u.s. allies now the search is on for a successor to matt is widely regarded as the last check on the president's unilateral foreign policy decisions. u.s. secretary of defense james much as has been widely viewed as a stabilizing force and us president donald trump's cabinet many had hoped that the four star marine general would help the president make good policy decisions on matters of international and domestic security but now it's come to an end due to fundamental differences of opinion the defense secretary says he'll be leaving the administration by the end of february in his resignation letter the defense secretary appeared to criticize trump's america first foreign policy not to stress the importance of the u.s. maintaining strong partnerships such as nato and the international coalition fighting the so-called islamic state in syria james mattis knows the situation in syria and afghanistan well he thinks it's wrong to remove u.s.

troops from these places or to cut their numbers by half both republicans and democrats expressed their worries after metis resignation secretary mabus was one of the few symbols a few items of strength and stability in this administration republican senator marco rubio commented on matters decision on twitter just read general mattis resignation letter he wrote it makes it abundantly clear that we're headed towards a series of grave policy errors which will endanger our nation damage our alliances and empower our adversaries. now trump needs a new defense secretary who follow the president's line. let's go to our correspondent who's standing by in washington for us she's been following this story mio with general mattis now resigning is this administration on the verge of unraveling. well it certainly looks that way but we have to remember we've been

watching at least one person leave this administration either resign or be fired really since the beginning it seems like fairly regularly but we do have to point out that he's mattis here is one of the last of what was colloquially within the administration or i should say within within washington called the axis of adults meaning that he was one of the people in the room who was supposed to be as was pointed out this steadying hand a voice of reason that also included general john kelly the chief of staff on his way out rex tillerson the fired secretary of state and now mattis himself is leaving so it's a new era for the trump administration starting in two thousand and nineteen without the. widely seen as restraints on the president's more rough impulses all right well the i could be dull to left the room so to speak on this decision though didn't just sign. nato allies were also shocked by this policy change how

will his resignation change the way that this alliance operates. well it was certainly a shock knowledge to nato allies but also within within washington we've seen a lot of republican legislators i within the president's own party coming out today saying that they're shocked or their dismayed some of them even calling it a sad day in america that mattis is stepping down and it really is unclear how things are going to move forward in both syria and afghanistan if u.s. troops are pulling out i mean we heard the russian president vladimir putin saying that this was the right move but it's no doubt that u.s. troops pulling out this suddenly with no real structural plan in place will create a power vacuum for the players that are still left in the region. hang in there as they with us there's some more news that you're keeping an eye on for someone to bring up in the senate has begun voting on president trump spending bill what is seen as a last ditch attempt to avert

a partial government shutdown trump has been calling for a change in senate rules in order to pass measures that would pay for a border wall with mexico as things stand in the chamber it's highly unlikely that trump will secure the sixty votes that he needs to have that bill passed my events you know what are the implications if this government shutdown goes ahead. on a practical level karl there are between nine and eleven government agencies that would see themselves without funding come tomorrow and there would be about eight hundred thousand government employees who would either have to work without pay or be furloughed and that affects things like airport security airport functioning and the state department would be affected things like the food and drug administration would run out of money the e.p.a. so it really goes from the top down and it shows a washington that is failing to functioning failing to function even with

a republican majority still in both houses and it all comes back to the question of that wall and the fight over the wall and how exactly when and if these things are going to be able to get funded because donald trump has now gotten the message that he has to dig his heels in on this issue maybe further on raveling there in d.c. . my reporting for us in washington thank you very much. now to some the other stories making news around the world relief for passengers at london's gatwick airport flights there have just resumed after a second short shut down planes were grounded friday evening to two a fresh drone site and earlier suspension lasted some thirty six hours then a pair of the devices were spotted over the air for. more than sixty people have been injured during clashes in barcelona violence broke out at a demonstration organized by radical separatist groups they were protesting a meeting of the spanish cabinet it was taking place in the city to ease tensions

over last year's independence referendum. angry opposition supporters rallied in the congolese capital kinshasa after the electoral commission delayed sunday's scheduled poll by a week protesters warned they may attempt to topple the president if the wedding is postponed again the hotly contested election will now take place on december thirtieth due to a delay in getting voting the tiriel is the polling station. here in germany the nation's last underground coal mine is closing today for two hundred years coal was the driving force behind the economy dominating industry infrastructure and people's day to day lives but the reign of king cole is winding down hundreds of miners gathered at an underground ceremony marking the closure and the birth balance today german president from my own received the last lump of coal mine to be prosperous and you'll shaft which have been in operation since the

nineteenth century. the shutdown is happening because the world is moving to greener more renewable sources such as solar power and wind power still the miners at the last mine in the western german industrial region were sad to see it go. these are some of germany's last coal miners. many of them have given decades of their lives to the job. in four shifts a day twelve hundred meters deep shifting thousands of tons of bituminous coal citic a minnow blue better known as i can clearly remember the first time he went down in a pit cage thirty years ago. first time i did it i was still an apprentice so the training supervisor was there you learn where the escape routes were in case something happened but it was still overwhelming. even. the prosper. was once highly productive now it's the site of

a massive sell off everything is being dismantled and sent back over ground most of the machines here will be sold on to turkey or china. feeling a bit melancholic because we're the last of our kind. used to mining coal for years and now but it's difficult. to finish mining coal field i know that in two weeks we move on to mining the next one. but those days are over. it's winding down everywhere and that hurts. it's thanks to the coal mines that the rural valley region became the most densely populated area in germany the peterhead frames the coking plants and the steel works have left their mark the kiosks and miners housing next to the pits are testament to that there's hardly

a city or town here in the region that doesn't boast a foreman street or pittman street works manager you're going croaker has already had to close down two mines prosper honey all mine will be his third and last. three big events take place in my life this year i close my last mine germany stops producing black coal and at the end of the year i'll retire i don't think anyone can experience more. in one go than that. the curtain has fallen on coal mining and fifteen thousand locals have turned out to give it a fitting send off there's plenty of melancholy in the air as traditional clubs miners choir's pittman mine rescue teams and foreman march by. the whole traditions of mining itself the royal region its family does funny every time a pick closes down it's like losing someone in the family. once more

they sing the song of german miners. these days it's the soundtrack of the region. the last miners at the prosper hanya coal plant will continue to wind down operations until the end of next year after that most of them will retire. to sports now and what a match up it is league leaders brewster dormant hosting second place brucia mentioned very shortly now it kicks off the last match day before the mid-season break dortmund last for the first time this term at two set off on tuesday while glovebox grabbed a win that means of course that the gap between the two sides there at the top of the table has been trimmed from nine points to just six o'clock but could now cut the gap to three with a win in dortmund a plenty to play for fans and the teams are ready for

a festive football treat. dortmund coach lucena father doesn't look too bothered by their first loss of the season but suddenly the title race is back on and the swiss can have no time for sentiment against his former side to glove box. yeah. it is a bit special i suppose nothing more than that. i left glove about three years ago i am a dortmund man now but sure it is a bit strange at us on there having a very good season. and there are very dangerous. one three nil and byron munich that says everything that's my dallas. dortmund without three injured defenders against the side who have the second best goals tally behind the hosts five zero once his players fully concentrated on

glovebox threat rather than the festive season all the mnemonics break before their next game. are very well organized they're very compact sometimes they are defending and suddenly the ball goes forward very very very quickly for the club buck meanwhile can move just three points behind dortmund with a victory but they also have injury concerns. because we will go there with eighteen guys but we are maybe without seven players god but it doesn't matter who starts dortmund our problems too will probably. mintel the christmas singsong this week the team the table the mid-season break whatever happens tonight but fans want them to hit the high notes once again. and a reminder of the top stories that we're following for you right now president trump

is losing another key cabinet member defense secretary is stepping down after growing increasingly disillusioned with trump's almost pattis resigned after trump decided to withdraw u.s. troops i'm sitting. there watching t.v. news from berlin all coming at the top of the hour and don't forget you can get all the latest news and information around the clock on our website that's dot com or call us on twitter and giving it thanks watched. like we were. when we were. eighty percent of americans in some plane and i was really experienced hardship. listening.