bialik asked. managed by from. business d w news coming to live from berlin change on the horizon for one of asia's most visible gay community same sex couples in thailand get ready to exercise a right specific partnership but they say a new law being introduced early next year falls short of the all the two they want with heterosexual help. also coming up from the forty's in indonesia fear of

another eruption from the crack of told volcano and give it a second tsunami that's as powerful tremors wrong other parts of the country. and tensions rise in the democratic republic of congo ahead of sunday's delayed presidential election opposition candidates call for a general strike after authorities pushed back voting even further in one of their key strongholds. hello i'm terry martin good to have you with us thailand is preparing to see in the new year with a groundbreaking change to its laws on same sex relationships under legislation set to be approved early next year it could become the first asian country to legalize same sex unions that would be a big step forward for the country's gay community but some say the law does. go

far enough in meeting their demand for sexual equality with heterosexual couples. that these two want to be in perfect union not only in a workout routine. and. more than just training bodies to pay for their love twelve years ago and they've been together ever since. three times a week they start their day with a workout i say it helps their bodies and their relationships stay in shape. i mean my partner. on the go all the time working. i could be only time that we actually get to spend together quality time is during morning workouts like. woody is a well known t.v. presenter in thailand for more than a decade he's been in the public eye when he came out four years ago it made big headlines not all of them current. we feels thailand still has a long way to go towards full acceptance of sexual minorities. he welcomes the new

build as an awakening fatah society. people just started talking about this seriously over the past year i think proof. of a partnership ok so do gays who need to get married and the conversations out there . never talked about this. activist she acknowledges that a civil union would bring some improvements for same sex couples for example when it comes to succession at the same time like many activists she feels the move could entrenched this status a second class citizens. by itself if. so. think that. because you cannot adopt.

this is a huge move. from from my point of view so instead of taking baby steps to take some rights i would call full rights. woody and take a different view they feel tall and isn't ready for a full marriage equality demanding role much as result in achieving nothing. and if you push too hard. you might be aggravating the people that's living here. so it's about knocking the doors opening the doors one by one it's a first step i think it's a very important first step and if we if we manage to get this first step right we will still be the very first in asia or in southeast asia to look at that and i think that. it's on its own is such an achievement both for thailand for the region

it's something we can be proud of most of the heavy lifting is done what's left now is the vote in parliament should the civil union bill pass would you and want to be among the first same sex couples in thailand to legally taught the not. at our correspondent joins us now from bangkok hi florian getting same sex unions legally recognised is a big step for any country how difficult has this process been fertile and. it has been very difficult to know how has been a year long effort there had been plans for such a law already about four years ago before the military coup in two thousand and fourteen then this whole project basically. fell apart and it was especially difficult because there is not really an open debate now that's very typical thai things so you don't voice. your opinion openly especially not if

it's a controversial one so there has been a lot of negotiating behind closed doors by bt activists like the one we have seen in the report and certain members of the government and now here we are now understand that upon all decision on the same sex union bill is expected early next year is it sure to be approved. it is not sure we will probably see democratic or almost democratic elections by the end of february of next year as i said we're still ruled by the military regime and the legislative assembly is not elected there are just appointed members there is a chance that it will actually pass before new elections but even if it doesn't the likelihood that it will pass with a new legislative assembly. is also quite likely so i

think thailand will actually see this law by next year critics say this bill doesn't go far enough what do they regard as its main shore comics. well basically everything that would involve money so social welfare for partners is not part of the deal and the other very important thing is adoption so obviously it is possible for any person to adopt as an individual but there is no such thing as joint adoption for gay couples that is not mentioned in this law and this is one of the major sticking points that especially those activists are criticizing now assuming the bill does pass how significant will this be in regional terms for southeast asia. very significant like we have heard

one of the prince agnes in the in the film say it will be the first in asia taiwan tried to have this launch but there was a referendum against it so silent will probably be a front runner in terms of the rights in the whole region one point thank you so much our correspondent for in there in bangkok. to indonesia where authorities fear another eruption from the crocodile volcano they raised the threat level from the volcano on thursday to a red alert the second highest level possible government has also warned communities living in the region to stay one kilometer away from the coastline because of the risk of another tsunami at least one hundred fifty nine people are still missing after saturday's initial tsunami with aid workers still scouring ruined homes in search of survivors. let's cross over to our correspondent on

a santoso who's been covering this story for days now she joins us from a field kitchen for evacuees in the west java town of anya ana how is the relief effort going in the wake of last weekend's devastating tsunami. well terry this is one of the relief efforts that are going on here in this field kitchen this is one of the many field kitchens that they're around here and this is where dozens of volunteers are working twenty four hour shifts so that they can cook hot meals for the evacuees on my right. behind me chopping vegetables. and other protein like fish that could be packed to about two thousand five hundred evacuees we've talked to the evacuees and they say they're tired but grateful but tired of the canned goods and hot noodles and in the cases like this one they've lost so much the warmth of comfort of a hot meal makes so much of

a difference to them i'm sure. bracing for the possibility of another volcanic eruption which could trigger another tsunami how are people dealing with. it people are on high alert we've talked to locals you talk to people everybody around here says that they just have to be on high alert and very vigilant they are ready at any point in time to seek shelter and refuge in higher ground so they're keeping their eyes and ears on the news and they're ready to move at any point in time that they need to be they wish they could go back to normal life but at this moment they cannot they have to be. more than four hundred people were killed in last weekend's more than one hundred fifty people are still missing i understand is there any hope of finding more survivors. search and

rescue operations continue as we've talked to the authorities but extreme weather conditions are making it very difficult over the last couple of days that we've been here every day and sometimes the rains are so strong that they. would switch already previously. these further hampered this rescue operation but people are still hopeful people are still looking. what's the situation for those who lost their relatives and homes in saturday's disaster how are they going to deal with this situation. many are still in evacuation centers like the mosques are in public spaces some of them are. living with relatives so we've seen homes where there are as many as ten families squeezed in they say that it's really tight and it's not very comfortable

but at least they are within the safety of their loved ones and they're all together and accounted for all the thank you so much that was our correspondent on a sun toss the west java. police have clashed with demonstrators in the democratic republic of congo the clashes occurred in the east of the country where authorities have suspended voting in sunday's election citing security concerns and in a bold break police fired live ammunition and tear gas at the demonstrators who say the decision to delay voting was politically motivated regions are excluded from sunday's vote are considered hotbeds of opposition to longtime president joseph kabila. makeshift barricades burned in protest a bad omen for sunday's already contentious presidential election in a country that hasn't held a peaceful one since independence from belgium in one nine hundred sixty now residents in and around benny

a city in north eastern democratic republic of the congo may not cast their votes until march the country's electoral commission says that's due to the severe ebola outbreak and rebel fighting that's plagued the area more than one million of forty million registered voters could be affected by the delay protesters however see the decision has more to do with. politics than safety but put up with us they need to get us another president who will govern this country and if that doesn't happen we shall create chaos starting from today until a solution is found if it calls for us to die then so be it. not cool for the president he's so angry yet is joseph kabila in power since two thousand and one and now stepping aside the ebola affected region getting its vote postponed is a stronghold for opposition to could be the and his preferred candidate emmanuel rama zani should dari should dari faces twenty one opposition candidates martin for you though is one of the leading contenders.

this. could be less electoral favor it is also the target of european union sanctions he and more than a dozen other congolese officials stand accused by the e.u. of obstructing the electoral process and related human rights violations in retaliation the congolese government has opted to egypt the e.u. and bassett are giving him forty eight hours to get out. that leaves sunday's election already two years behind schedule largely without international observers mostly because. accreditation more protests against the electoral commission decision are planned for today opposition parties have called for a general strike. you're watching. you can always get the

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