over country dead donkey. starts december twenty ninth d.w. . such. as . this is d w news live from binding a kurdish controlled town in northern syria braces for almost all from neighboring turkey the people of mount bench have been through a lot since syria's civil war stalls here now turkish supported forces may be poised to attack the city and oust kodesh militias will syrian troops come to the aid of the cups also coming up. germany discusses

a proposed tax on practicing misled to pay more than him off the so-called moscow tax would be similar to the church tax the german processed ins from roman catholics. and the woman takes only a male dominated world of two million municipal politics we have a report on so what abderrahim the first woman to say as they met on china's years capital city chewed it. up on the back of one of all favorite stories of twenty eight seen them move by a library bringing the joy of books to children in the afghan capital kabul. time have a home for it glad you could join me reports from syria say the government of president bashar al assad has sent troops to the north of the country that is ahead . of an expected offensive by turkey turkish that militias have been gathering

close to the town of man beach which is currently held by the syrian democratic forces that's a largely kurdish alliance supported by the united states this month turkish president roh chipped want to males that his country would attack mandates is unclear when the operation will stop but the mood in the town is tense. there is nothing remarkable about the streets of man bitch busy with traffic and locals out doing their shopping but the residents of this northern syrian time and no strangers to conflict for several years they suffered the brutality of the so-called islamic state until the group was ousted by kurdish and arab forces and snag local residents fear a new assault on the city some of the nuts people will no longer have homes their young children and it's winter now it's cold the children could fall sick and some could die everyone will be displaced because it's war and we know the free syrian

army is ruthless turkish backed rebels from the free syrian army and moving towards man page that are ready to join turkey's efforts to asked the kurdish forces currently in control of the time. that we're continuing to send reinforcements to the fronts near the town of man beach reinforcements coming from all sections of the free syrian army. we are ready and we are waiting for the launch of operations to regain control of the territories controlled by the kurds. with out of. turkey has dispatched tanks and armored vehicles it delayed its offensive when the united states and once it was withdrawing its troops from the americans are still in tank. but in man bitch local fighters can feel the conflict closing in as battle lines are drawn. i know what to do but we're here on the outskirts of manage the somali turkish and syrian opposition forces have control over

a nearby neighborhood. and they sometimes fire at us. the u.s. forces are still patrolling but little and they haven't stopped all of the. fanatic residents can continue their daily lives as normal but as the new year approaches the prospect of a peaceful twenty nineteen grows at a demo. and i'm joined now by international security analyst hines shorts a welcome heinz why is turkey so intent on attacking the kurdish find his in man bijan and elsewhere bearing in mind that the kurds are the main force fighting the so-called islamic state. earlier you put your finger exactly on the dilemma that we have here of one man's freedom fighter is another man's terrorist from the turkish perspective the kurds are probably part of the p.k. k. which they call a terrorist organization that wants to set up a turkey

a kurdish independent state and therefore form a turkish for interview that is an absolute no go or and as your report rightly pointed out that the lines are being drilled will be spotlights will be different from the ones that we've seen here the two battle lines are being drawn as you point out and with the news now that syria is sending elite troops to the man beach region what is the danger that the turkish incursion could escalate into a wider conflict. well there is the real danger for that helena i think it could be about shifting the tonic plates of the entire middle east what is the rapport between turkey and russia what is sort of up or between the united states or russia or does syria play a role of its own or we haven't mentioned two players yet in the iraq and iran and if you look at all that it seems to me that we're looking for a major major change of the entire paradigm at a major change and with that in mind i mean how does the u.s.

fit into this how does it with giora from syria change the dynamics of the conflict that well the american withdrawal will lead to a vacuum vacuums have the tendency to be filled with or befuddled by syria on behalf of russia have the syrians their own agenda will it be a russian syrian agenda and again what is iran and others playing in that region so the vacuum that the united states leaves behind will be very very quickly filled by office now president trump says that the united states will no longer what i mean he has called the routes policeman is us foreign policy about to to radically change well that at least is a danger to few look after a man who is highly liked and respected in the alliance his defense secretary really resigned over the issue you can see that there is a debate in the united states but mind you this debate did not start with president

trump it started earlier and we have to look at how do we play in the twenty first century the entire scenario of balancing global interests we haven't mentioned the chinese spirit indeed international security analyst show that talking to us from bonn good to have your insight thank you carol. let's get you up to date now with some the other stories making news around the walls united arab emirates has reopened its embassy in damascus the move is seen as a boost to syrian president bashar assad the u.a.e. break ties with damascus off the syrian civil war broke out and has backed rebel forces fighting assad. security forces in the eastern democratic republic of congo have fired live rounds and tear gas to staff of demonstrators protesting the postponement of elections due to an ebola outbreak the delay of sunday's votes in some regions will mean the one million vote is off the ballot counted in the

presidential election. the german military is drawing up plans to recruit foreigners as it struggles to fill its ranks the proposal would see a nationals in specialist roles such as auntie medical doctors and according to reports polls italians and romanians living in germany will be sort of recruits. and germany is exploring the idea of a so-called mosque tax it would mostly be based on the existing tax which songs catholic and protestant churches in germany the idea that living a charge on practicing muslims he would make german mosques less dependent on financial support from abroad. the central mosque in cologne is the largest in all of germany the moms in germany come largely from turkey and are paid by the turkish religious organization the d. on it the concept that a mom and mosques could be offered an alternative financing by germany appeals to

many politicians in the government coalition. i believe it's important that mosque associations in germany and islam are independent of foreign influence from currently the fact is that most of the money comes from foreign states and that's not good for our society or islam in germany to be to florence we can say chuffed mulford an islamic deutschland port city if the turkish community gives the plan a cautious welcome to interest groups i support the wish for independence in germany in all areas because here in germany we have a federal constitution that covers all religions. but the structure of the muslim organizations in germany is more differentiated than that of the christian churches in order to implement a mandatory tax on all members it would first be necessary to centralize all muslim communities says say run a test founder of the liberal roast go to mosque and just have this is why the new

idea or approach is to think about how muslims can be represented so that they have a democratic advisory committee and create something new together with the liberals and conservatives this responsibility could be initiated by muslims but at the same time supported by the government. funded muslims that's come up a class that's from start before. the interior ministry plans to begin discussions on the mosque tax idea with german muslim communities. he was president donald trump was in iraq yesterday for a surprise holiday visit see u.s. soldiers deployed in the region together with the first lady manana the president was on the ground in the country for three ousts we have this report. the reception was everything he could have hoped for it was donald trump's first visit to a u.s. military base in a combat region and just a week after a controversial move to pull u.s. forces from syria. first of all that he is at

ease let's have a good time but what a job you have done what they have done i made it clear from the beginning that our mission in syria was to strip isis of its military strong halls were not nation building rebuilding syria will require a political solution. and it's a solution that should be paid for by its very rich neighboring countries not the united states let them pay for it and they will they will. come in hot on the heels of a government shutdown at home and of course christmas unannounced visit was meant to be a make left as much for the troops as for trump himself with cheers signings and selfies in their three hour stopover. mingled with the very soul just

taking the fight to the so-called islamic state. trump was then briefed by military leaders where he again pressed the case for other countries to take over the fight against isis. that we've knocked him out with nothing silly. i will tell you that i have a very good job with the president who wants to knock him out also and he will do it and others will deliver the goods were in their region they should be really sharing the burden of course and they're not. there was time to for a surprise visit to enthusiastic troops stationed at an air base in germany the president using a refueling stop for one last chance to take his mind off what awaits him at home. to mexico now where thousands of migrants from maine tamped out in the border city off to one they are hoping that the u.s. will recognize their bids for asylum and they're trying to make the best of a bad situation there's also growing discontent the group that organized the

caravan from central american countries. like a christmas party for migrants stranded in tijuana a sign of generosity from cooks and fallen tears in the mexican refugee camp. it's hard to be so far from your family but this gesture of warmth and humanity helps people feel that they are welcome to guests and you know these migrants risked their lives to get to the u.s. but now that they're in tijuana they have to stay and wait until their asylum papers have been approved across the border this is the new agreement between the two countries advocates for the migrants criticize the approach. mexico was the most difficult part of the migration route to the border to the u.s. can be crossed in one or two days but in mexico they were on the road for thirty days and experienced violence kidnapping robbery and use. reducing the violence and hopelessness that drive many to flee their home countries that's the goal of the

aid that the u.s. and mexico want to spend in the migrants home countries are autograph let's go we want to find the roots of migration so that people will have a better home to go back to you and stay in. meanwhile a preacher who works with the migrants criticizes the groups that organize the caravan across mexico a one hundred dollar linda says the migrants seeking to enter the us are exactly what trump wants to help drum up support for his border wall in tijuana there are still more than six thousand migrants waiting to finally enter the not so promised land. chinnis the capital of china's ia has got its first elected mayor and her name is so what. she is he is regarded as a relatively progressive muslim country bit even so up there he faces plenty of resistance in a system that has long been denominated dominated excuse me by ned face report now by. the us. is visiting

a construction site in tunis is old city. she's come to make sure everything is going to plan. and i have been in command here i wanted to expand the surface but keep the old laughs. that we can't exchange all of them i never knew again because i don't want to go to into the plan they have to be exchanged from balls. just live. there are simply too many cars in tunis and not only in the old town the mayor hopes that these reconstruction measures will relieve at least some of the congestion. it's going to add abderrahim who is fifty four is married with two children she studied pharmacy now she has to focus on building sites and traffic flows but she's a politician. it's her job to delve into new subjects quickly she likes leaving the

office and meeting the inhabitants of tunis. on the next corner a discussion breaks out with sanitation workers on the future and the good old days of what we don't have equipment material all machines only can use it to we have the community in it and you know if it's the little bit and burnt out we have enough garbage trucks and there isn't enough stuff but we have so few rights when i'm coming up you have trade unions that defend your rights we sit down with them every day with all unions we met the trade unions and they got everything that they want to talk. to his town hall is located away from the hustle and bustle of the old town. over the past one hundred fifty years the mayor has always been nominated.

abderrahim is the first person to be elected to the position. and the first woman mayor ever had the my. and no one at the called the mist even though we have relatively progressive laws and equal rights are anchored in law would equal opportunities for men and women still don't exist. there is still a patriarchal mentality especially in certain positions linked to power in the fields of. women in tunisia have more rights than those in other parts of the arab world after the twenty eleven revolution more laws were introduced to promote equal opportunities yet there is still plenty to be done. with them as it was she hasn't been in power for long she's now entering the battle the big war is the tunisians franchise the situation is very critical. from what i understand and the news there hasn't been anything negative about her she's just doing her job like anyone else

regardless of whether they're a man or woman when i got a human on the after work the mare and her staff go for another walk on the square not far away is the prime minister's official residence there's speculation that she could become tunisia's first female president. had this to the l. and it's too early to say but i'm not even thinking about that at the moment i've called a lot of responsibility for the next five years. and so for seward abderrahim there's a lot at stake whether she's done her job well the citizens will vote on this in a five years' time. now is twenty eight draws to a close we're looking back at some of the highlights of the year one story took us aboard a bus with a difference in afghanistan a mobile library bringing the joy of books to children and take a look. this is no ordinary pass it offers hope to children

in capital every day it tears the afghan capital as residential neighborhoods for two to three hours children can discover worlds otherwise little known to them and get lost in a good big. books with stories about princes and beggars best. dragons to. i read books in two languages here in past two and dari. fresh to careen started the mobile library with the help of donations she studied at oaks for tonight wants to encourage critical thinking among children back home the boss is in a safe space in an otherwise dangerous city. explosions are a problem and that can happen and i think any time but then we are we are trying to park the car inside the communities where it is far better it is much more secure but i think overall the security problem in the country is less than that get exists for any projects so we cannot stop our work just because of security

probably life beyond security issues as well. nine year old shah eagerly waits for the bus to come by each day have a hope that it could find joy coming in because there's so many exciting things to eat i like stories about best i don't have any pics at home. chad nance father always picks his daughter up from the bus the family fled to kabila from conducive northern afghanistan thinking they'd be safer in the capital but explosions rocked the city nearly every week recently a car bomb exploded near their home panicking shutdowns parents went out to look for her. but. after the blast we finally found shot mom at the mobile library we were relieved but except to go to the bus we don't let the children out of the house. afghanistan has one of the highest in. literacy rates in the world that more than sixty percent one in three children cannot read or write so fresh to karim

also reads to the children a lot keeping hold on for me is highly important because if i'm hopeful these children will be able to pull that together but it can make me make something happen because in this country so i'm i'm hopeful fresh to karim has started collecting today sions again in the hope of renting another bus and bringing more pics to more children. now recent rule change in tennis increases the ranking protection for new mothers serena williams has praised the change having returned to the sport this year off to giving birth in september twenty seventh the women's tennis association w t a ranks plays according to a point system now from up world number one williams was not seated at this year's french open her first grand slam appearance all the way return the new rules mean that players coming back from childbirth or injury can use the previous ranking and to a total of twelve twenty minutes over a three week carry. articles and business news now with ben and some wild

swings on global exchange as bad yes some people getting extremely excited about this yesterday that rip roaring christmas rally on wall street the biggest ever points boost today investor fear is returning as quick as that wiping out most of those gains the new york stock exchange sliding back into bed territory falling more than three percent some traders call it wednesday's surge a dead cat bounce a brief interruption of an otherwise downward trend most of this month as the bad worries over slowing economic growth weighing on said event the picture in frankfurt the dax dropping to a two year low in asia the markets were mixed. financial correspondent ali bots to focus in on thursday session. the rally on wall street was short lived but never reach these shores the docks going steadily downhill during the session losing around two percent the traders aghast at what they were

hearing about the us president apparently thinking of firing the chairman of the fed they were shocked post christmas rally sometimes seen in good years nobody really betting on not i don't know anyone who is tomorrow would be an abbreviated day also that would make it more difficult trading ends at two o'clock and the people i talked to here most of them more than pleased to close the books on this very difficult two thousand and eighteen. there are reports today that a delegation from washington will travel to beijing early next month to hold trade talks it be the first face to face discussions since the us president or trump and his chinese counterpart xi jinping agreed on a ninety day. chinese industry appears to have suffered most under the trade dispute so far in november industrial earnings fell almost two percent from the same period last year the first such decline in three years analysts believe the trend will continue in the months ahead that makes beijing ready for concessions

the government has begun importing u.s. soybeans again and is in constant contact with the white house. from the chinese and u.s. trade teams have kept close communications throughout this time in january other than continuing to maintain consultations through telephone both sides have indeed made specific arrangements for face to face consultations. yet. in the last meeting of both countries' leaders in early december trump and she agreed to postpone the next round of tariffs and counterterrorists originally slated for january for another three months the past year has already seen hundreds of billions of dollars of goods covered with new fees by both sides some have even profited from the new trade barriers for example the port of los angeles american firms have been buying proactively from china as a hedge against each new potential round of tariffs boosting container ship arrivals they come fully loaded and returned to china mostly empty. french

construction firm vinci will pay three point seven billion dollars for a majority stake in london's gatwick airport officials say briggs it made the deal process possible president nicolas maduro suggested in a conference call that the cost of buying into the airport of poland june two concerns over sprague's it economy but he was confident the deal would pay off with the weakened pound drawing more visitors to britain epic is the u.k. second largest airport when she has forty five minutes before. venezuela's government is still trying to fix a broken economy it's been trying everything from printing more money to creating its own crypto currency but all that has done little to solve the problem of hyperinflation or its exclusion from global trade due to sanctions now the state plans to tamper with the cocoa sector traders and growers are reluctant.

you know trader freddy has had his share of challenges in venezuela has had to deal with highway robberies and kidnapping but now he has another headache the government. the governor says he wants to create a company to export cocoa if he's the only one buying it creates a monopoly it would mean a fixed price and that would be devastating for growers there has to be supply and demand where everyone buys and you sell to the one with the best price. drones as truckloads of his cocoa were held by the government and when they were released some eighty seven tons of cocoa worth around one hundred thirty thousand dollars were missing. other traders in his region have reportedly had similar experiences in recent months but the government says it only wants to catch thieves at the checkpoints. the way our aim is to break up the cow gangs and when we speak

with a cow producers they realize that we are speaking the truth a lot of it is just about building trust they were used to a different government that did not get involved they didn't do anything. but the traders as kept cool and some of them now prefer to hold on to the harvest rather than sell it and that means even fewer exports forget as well. and a reminder of the top story we're following for you residents of one big joke kurdish controlled town in the in syria are bracing for an attack by took you're supporting forces turkey is found to create kurdish militias from the town of syrian forces are reportedly moving into the area to support the codes. one use next hour.

what keeps us in shape what makes us sick and how do we stay out of. mine. dr carson he could i talk to many cases let's. watch them at work. and then discuss what you can do to improve your health. stay tuned and

let's all try to stay. good ching next time on disability. ill at africa. denise's can still ecosystem is at risk industrial pollution and overfishing are threatening people's livelihoods. and initiative is trying to save the fish stocks and revising nice to meet him in. the beginning of the project will put a stop to the chaos in the fishing sector ego at africa sixty minutes on d w. how do you. sustainable way discover the phone calls you most want starts january thirteenth on t.w. . where is home. when your family is scattered

across the globe. with the kids did you do is sleep the book was a journey back to the roots and should get a minimum of the. shah's family from somalia move around. them want to go to urgent assistance. move family stores january twenty third on t.w. . welcomes are in good shape coming up on the show. cutting the risk of stroke how useful are heart apps. onions a powerful natural remedy.