what about the fact that. this is news coming to you live from berlin america's anguished debate over immigration heats up the death of an eight year old child migrant in u.s. detention the second this month sparked some questions about federal authorities and link of minors entering america's southern border. the trial of a prominent chinese human rights lawyer has ended as his supporters scuffled with undercover police long sean john is charged with subverting state power and could face fifteen years in prison it's all part of china's crackdown on human rights

activists. an earthquake triggered by a volcanic eruption on the italian island of sicily has injured scores of people and left many more homeless. and violins that survived the holocaust you meet the man who's been restoring these instruments and the memories of their former owners. i'm calm assman thanks for joining us we start with the u.s. president donald trump has made an unannounced visit to american troops serving in iraq it's the president's first visit to soldiers serving in the region since he took office nearly two years ago during the visit trump said he had quote no plans at all to remove american forces from iraq and said the u.s. could use the country as

a base for operations in neighboring syria trump again defended his decision to order with the withdrawal of u.s. forces from syria he's scheduled to visit american troops based in germany on his way back to washington. following the death of another my grandchild in u.s. custody the second in less than three weeks the u.s. department of homeland security says it's completed new medical checks on nearly all migrant children currently held by the border patrol agent old philippe along so gomez from guatemala was hospitalized twice after falling ill and died in new mexico on monday u.s. immigration officials won't say how many migrant children they're holding but reports suggest it could be more than fourteen thousand. this hospital is where the american dream ended for one nickel boy on christmas eve. the exact cause of eight year old philippe gomez alone says death is still unclear. with a fever and vomiting six days after being detained with his father by u.s.

border agents. they had traveled from guatemala some of thousands of central american migrants to make the journey in recent months. the day after philippe died a funeral was held for another child migrant who died in u.s. custody this month. jacqueline calvo's also from guatemala she was just seven years old. her mother was too grief stricken to attend the funeral. her uncle explained what drove jacqueline's father to take her to the us. it's the poverty. there are no prospects here. the crops we grow aren't enough to support a family with a month in a four million. six months ago president tried to ministration backtracked on its policy of separating children from their parents at the border following a public outcry. now these deaths are raising more questions about the treatment of

migrants by u.s. authorities and fueling shop criticism of the president's stance on immigration i want to make sure that we put the wellbeing and welfare of those kids before we put any other concern let's make sure that they're ok let's make sure they're with their families let's make sure they get medical care they pose no threat to this country. but trump is adamant that migrants do pose a danger and must be prevented from entering the u.s. illegally he's locked in a battle with congress over funding for border war which led to a partial shutdown of the federal government. and is showing no sign of backing dein. i can't tell you where the government's going to be open i can tell you it's not going to be open until we have a. fence whatever they'd like to call it i'll call it whatever they want it the people of this country what border security you know it's not a question of maybe i'd i'd rather not be doing shutdowns while washington

squabbles to families are in mourning. and customs officials as sounding the alarm . the u.s. customs and border protection commissioner says immigration authorities need more money for medical care and more support for sheltering vulnerable children like philippe and checked lean. in china the trial of a prominent human rights lawyer has ended without an announced verdict wang chung john is charged with subverting state power is one of around two hundred fifty human rights lawyers or activists targeted by chinese authorities since they launched a crackdown three years ago we have this exclusive report three hours before the trial starts when jews since a few last messages to supporters in power i want yesterday there were five cars from the state security department in front of our house so i don't know what will happen when i step out of the door. together with a friend she plans to go to the trial of her husband human rights lawyer one shin

john huang defended political prisoners which resulted in him being arrested three years ago the charge undermining state power with a maximum sentence of fifteen years since then his wife hasn't heard from him she protested repeatedly demanding answers and if you don't i've seen situations like this often but each time it's a little different today the verdict might be announced i'm very worried and about his health as well. she has been told the trial is not open to the public because state secrets will be discussed in court. state security locker paff and indeed my husband disappeared three and a half years ago i am his wife i want to see his trial how do you know when jew is prevented from even leaving her apartment complex they tell her to go back. to the thought you have not enjoyed here then the journalists are pushed back as well all of us thought oh you know what. without lee went

to we travel to the courthouse which has been closed off journalists and foreign diplomats are banned and a forced to wait on the other side of the street. here as well there are undercover police there is a sudden flurry of activity a pro-democracy activist protest against the trial and demands wang's release for the what are you so scared of that you won't even allow people to protest he shouts of the officials but his protest is short lived. the secret service take him quickly away. over here. or what all the. information from inside the courthouse is scarce no verdict was announced me when jewell have to wait even longer to find out her husband's fate. indonesian authorities are issuing extreme weather warnings in areas where saturday's tsunami killed at least four hundred and thirty people and the rains have caused reverse to

burst their banks flooding streets and submerging some villages all the way up to the roof tops here's more from our correspondent on a piece on to us. all. of these villages thought they were safe after escaping the tsunami that tour into the western coast of java but now they've returned they face a new problem. around six in the morning when the water began rising. i went out to get some food and when i came back the water was almost chest high i village has never been flooded like this. johnny moved his family because of the risk of another tsunami. i know here he is leaving behind me with white three other children and twenty five george is the title research but at least he's

living with a comfort of knowing and therefore that kind of work great now on his feet. tony's wife may settle remembers the moment she had to leave. when i heard talk of a second tsunami coming i grabbed my children and ran to my sister's house people were panicking and fleeing screaming run run because the wave was coming i couldn't think of anything else the safety of my children was my only priority my youngest children eight and three years old they're in a bit of a shock and have trouble sleeping. so although the tsunami spared this family the flood still threatened their lives. and earthquake triggered by the eruption of mt etna jolted eastern sicily on wednesday the quake measuring four point eight on the richter scale struck north of

tanya that's the largest city on the eastern side of the italian island at the largest of italy's three active volcanoes is still spewing ashes during the quake a number of people were injured by falling debris and churches and homes were damaged the worst hit place was at mia. the town of several ronna lies at the foot of mount etna at three nineteen in the morning of christmas eve the d'amico family was shaken out of bed by the earthquake their home in ruins the couple is desperate to know what will happen next. so i've never experienced anything this horrible so it's a miracle that my family survived in the end that's all that matters. cicely has been rattled by earthquakes for two days but none has been as strong as the one that hit early wednesday twenty eight people were injured. the quakes were triggered by the mt etna volcano raising the alarm level for the region local

authorities haven't given the all clear yet. at the moment that is still active it's rumbling directly at the edge of the crater. we can't predict whether this volcanic movement will shift further into the interior that's why it's hard to say how the local population will be affected. many people are afraid to stay in their homes even though they've become used to small love eruptions over the years mount etna is one of the world's most active volcanoes the last major eruption was in one nine hundred eighty four. now to some other stories making news around the world russian president vladimir putin says russia will begin to deploy a new hypersonic weapon next year this follows final tests of the new intercontinental on guard system called a success he says the nuclear capable missile could fly at twenty times the speed

of sound and maneuver up and down and able to breach defense systems. opposition supporters in the democratic republic of congo are angered by new election delays authorities say sunday's presidential vote will be postponed until march in three congolese cities known to be opposition strongholds the election is intended to pave the way to a democratic transfer of power from president joseph kabila. russia has criticized the alleged israeli airstrike in syria saying it endangered civilian flights syria said it intercepted missiles on tuesday night independent observers say israel was targeting an arms depot used by iranian forces speaking at a military ceremony israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu did not mention the alleged airstrike but he said israel would never allow iran to establish a permanent military presence in syria. well. japan has announced it will resume commercial whaling starting next july government officials say japan will

only hunt whales in its own territorial waters despite a drop in demand for whale meat japan is also pulling out of the international whaling commission the decision has been strongly condemned by anti whaling activists. it's a centuries old tradition one that japan is intent on keeping on life. after failing to get the commission's approval to resume commercial whaling japan has announced it is cutting ties with the international conservation body before we will. focus exclusively on the protection of whales would not take concrete steps towards reaching a common position with. the international whaling commission meeting in september it became clear that it was not possible for states with different views to co-exist and that led to this decision. by. those who work

in the industry have welcomed the announcement. as it is on the new home see some political japan is a country that relies heavily on its fisheries imes uses whales as a way to research limited marine resources so i think the government had no choice but to resume whaling those that are in a joke or need to be looked at that it is important to share the research data that shows that the number of whales is not decreasing in order to gain understanding from other countries. they contend the world. despite complying with the ban for decades japan continued to kill whales in the name of scientific research a program critics say has been used as a cover for commercial hunting. thirty years after signing a moratorium on the practice tokyo says endangered whales have had time to increase their numbers. japan will limit whaling to its own territorial waters and economic

zone but that's unlikely to stop activists from trying to end the practice altogether mark simmons is a senior marine scientist for the humane society international and he joins us now from the u.k. japan says here that the international whaling commission is dominated by conservationists so the commission can fulfill its other goals in terms of managing the whaling industry do you think japan has a point there. now i don't think they have much of a point the international whaling commission is a meeting of nations it has eighty seven no eighty nine member nations it will have eighty eight when japan leaves countries come together in that they make their views and they present their position that's not proven by conservationists already interest group this is a meeting of countries. japan has been doing the so-called scientific whaling that's what it calls it it says it will no longer now do that sort of whaling in

the antarctic will instead be focusing on commercial whaling in its own waters how much of a step in the right direction is that in terms of not whaling in the antarctic. you know i think we can be pleased that the antarctica will be free from waggling the moment the japanese fleet is there but in the coming season the next season they won't be there not to be the first time pretty much since. the end of the second world war there hasn't been whaling in these very very important waters that we want to keep us pristine and korea for interference possible but that does leave us with a real problem about what they're going to do in the middle to separate what makes that area the end arctic so important. well of course the antarctic waters are pristine they have being studied we need to understand the nutrient flows between hopefully you know recovering populations of whales and other biota this is an area which is highly highly protected

a very good reason. japan also says local whale stocks are recovering so can there be such a thing as a sustainable whaling practice. insurgent grossly oversimplifies a lot of what it says about a lot of things and it's true that the moratorium on commercial whaling which it was agreed in in one hundred eighty two and which japan has fought hard against have a sense has allowed some whale population to recover so that's great and that's good news not all of them are not back necessarily due to pristine levels so we have to it we have to be really careful about those simplifications. and there are lots of good and bad things and what they're saying but breaking outside of the international whaling commission rule is a problem for us and it's a particular problem with other countries were to follow suit and that could be the case what about this argument that hunting and eating whales in japan is part of the culture and that the i.w.c. had kind of failed to see that how do you view that argument as cultural argument.

i think we can understand that there are some places it in japan where eating products from the seeing through doing whales and even including dolphins has been part of their culture it's part of the culture for many maritime countries including the u.k. for example and we don't do it anymore you can move on from this kind of thing but more importantly the big industrial whaling factories that they take out to sea are not part of any sort of traditional toll this is industrial whaling that we're talking about big overseas fleets with mother ships huge amounts of money behind them this is not a traditional pastime mark simmons from the humane society international thank you so much for joining us. the annual sydney to hobart yacht race has begun in australia it's the seventy fourth year of the competition which covers more than eleven hundred kilometers a total of eighty five boats began their journey from the sydney harbor in just

spectacular conditions it's twenty eighteen race also features its first all professional female crew led by skipper stacey jackson the sailors will race throughout the night and are expected to reach hobart on the island of tasmania on thursday. well christmas is over but ben you have some holiday cheer for us and you need the business guide to give you the good news don't you you could call it a little christmas come back shares on wall street opening hired a broad based rebound after monday's steep losses to face surge partly thanks to santa the big retailers among the gain is tech stocks true but equities in general is still on track they had worse december since the great depression there are fears of a slowdown in the world's biggest economy and that's worrying asia as don't stay asleep today except in tokyo where there was also a slight rebound. german industrial leaders have mixed feelings about twenty nineteen economists still expect healthy growth but breaks it a trade war and

a dramatic shortage of skilled labor in germany are all weighing heavily on business sentiment here it now appears to be a global trend the economy has lost momentum has the bull market ended a few homes being built in the u.s. chinese retail figures have fallen to their lowest level in fifteen years and things aren't looking great for german industry. new orders were down for seven out of ten months this year twenty eighteen began with lackluster figures before two spikes in may and august but the clear trend is definitely downward. experts now expects germany's economy to only grow at one point five percent next year much lower than berlin's of this will forecast of one point eight percent business leaders are especially concerned about britain leaving the e.u. without a deal a so-called hard brags that

a deal between london and brussels looks ever more unlikely despite fewer than one hundred days left before one of the e.u.'s biggest economies exits the union and then there's the trade spot between the u.s. and china the effects of an escalation would be immeasurable for the global economy . german business leaders have even more to be worried about the lack of skilled labor in the country but that's the good news germany has a stellar job market the unemployment rate is at its lowest in decades. north and south korea moving another step closer together on wednesday the two countries broke ground on what is set to become one of the biggest infrastructure projects on the peninsula modernizing north korea's rail and road network and connecting it with the south. and north korea seen from the south across what used to be one of the most impenetrable borders in the world it is all changing now

and this train heading north and carrying one hundred south korean officials as part of the process hopes are high for the two koreas to grow closer together after decades of separation. no no no you know the reconnection of railways the roads means more than just the physical reconnection people and supplies will come and go through the routes and we will have closer cooperation in culture sports tourism and health. from the north a call for the people to come together. you know in times throughout all the results of the rail and road project hinge on the spirit and will of our people we cannot accomplish that reunification if we hesitate and fail to care about other countries. not to you. for now however a major hurdle is the north korean regime itself construction on any rail and wrote

links can start any time soon as necessary materials and investment are banned under u.n. and u.s. sanctions still in place they will not be lifted until north korea commits to denuclearization. which in many western countries the day after christmas is known as boxing day a massive shopping spree with black friday but in britain the figures tell a different story. some were queuing as early as five o'clock in freezing temperatures. and. shops opened at nine shoppers piling out of the cold and into the special offers discounts are even larger than last year as retailers try to draw enough business to compensate for a lackluster christmas old stock now has to make way for this year's this is i going to go there they're like i don't have praise going on so it's really via shopping so much absolutely where every year every year to drag her out every shop

every grocer out there got shops and everyone. music to the ears of u.k. retailers who've lost so many customers to the online competition this year they've got to sack a hundred fifty thousand employees boxing day won't bring those jobs back even though it's now become a tourist attraction. well we came to london from that might because of the shopping possibilities since action a virtue here and. you know why we can't keep prices didn't stop twenty thousand shops from going out of business this year on britain's high streets though and there's little hope of improvement with the number of boxing day shoppers down by over four percent on last year. now to a unique music project called violins of hope the aim is to restore violins that survived the holocaust and his writing violin maker has been reviving the instruments for performances the concert halls around the world including the

german city of princeton. they're witnesses of history these violins belong to european jews who were murdered in the holocaust during world war two the nazis forced jewish musicians to play in concentration camps while other prisoners were sent to their deaths for members of the dresden for monic even just rehearsing with these instruments is an incredibly intense experience. but i really enjoy playing these instruments i find it very moving. israeli violin maker and non weinstein has devoted the last twenty years of his life to finding and restoring violins played by jews during the holocaust it's a way of giving a voice to the victims including hundreds of his own family members.

it says heil hitler nine hundred thirty six here and there is the swastika. weinstein calls them the violins of hope they've been played in concert halls around the world as a tribute to the millions who were silenced by the holocaust. before we go reminder of the top story we're following for you u.s. president donald trump meets american troops in iraq in his first visit to a combat zone since taking office the president says he has no plans to pull u.s. forces out of the country. and if you fail wired to put out all about what a panda does when it snows well check out this great footage we've got for you from the national zoo in washington d.c. .

now you know thanks for watching v.w. news we'll have more news for you next hour see you then.

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