this is. from a new us congress convenes in the balance of power in washington chips away from president. democrat leader nancy pelosi has been sworn in as speaker of the house of representatives democrats now control the house but she says she has no illusions that working with trump will be easy also. need for space for makes the first ever landing on the dark side of the moon and beams back images not visible from earth and germany's formula one racing legend michael schumacher is

fifty years old today he has not been seen in public since a skiing accident five years ago his fans have been paying. good to have you with us tonight in the united states democrats have retaken control of the u.s. house of representatives ending the republican's monopoly on power in washington under president it is the most diverse congress in u.s. history with record numbers of women hispanics blacks and gays lawmakers nancy pelosi there is now the new house speaker boehner markable come back for her her election drew a standing ovation from fellow lawmakers it is her second stint as speaker of the house. she's the only woman ever to hold that post they were prats promised more

oversight of the president which could make wife difficult for donald trump. but palosi said that the democrats are also red to work with their republican colleagues in congress. we entered this new congress with a sense of great hope and confidence for the future and deep you military and prayerful this in the face of challenges ahead our nation is in stark moment two months ago the american people spoke and demanded a new dawn we have no illusions that i work will be easy and that all of us in this chamber will always agree but letters have us pledge that when we disagree we respect each other and we respect the truth and that was nancy pelosi there speaking from the u.s. house of representatives will sink the story now on to capitol hill in washington

i'm joined by our colleague my assuaging she's on the story for us good evening to you my own nancy pelosi she's the new speaker of the house this is the her story is the story of a political comeback in a way isn't it. absolutely as you mentioned only woman to ever have held this position and the first in i believe half a century or so to have held it twice nonconsecutive lee she is somewhat of a lightning rod of a character that a lot of she has a as many detractors as she does supporters and her it was a sure thing that she was going to be able to take back the gavel not only because of how the midterms may or may not have shaped up but also because her her support within the party was not a sure thing especially with this new wave of younger more diverse much more left congress people who have now come into office but she is as we've said many

times she is a very skilled politician she knows how to how to work a room how to take people into account how to be a tactician and her leadership is not something to be trifled with and you know we said at the beginning of the program that there's been a shift in power in washington we have a democrat controlled house of representatives now what does that mean for president. well definitely the beginning of a new era of divided government as if the us wasn't divided enough already and definitely adds another layer of challenge to the president and he had two years of essentially being able to govern with his party holding power not only in both houses of congress but in many of the governorships and senates across the nation and now we've seen a lot of that power curbed by this new election by this new class that's just come

into congress and the so not only does he have the challenge of actually having to negotiate to a greater degree than he did before but also the democratic party really not being friends and hearing the concerns of the american people over issues like. the location and the you know contents of the president's tax returns supposed connections with the various russian figures and the collusion investigation that has been going on and the democrats have been the joke is that they've been loading a canon full of subpoenas to fire off at the white house so he's going to have a lot more coming his way as if what's already been happening hasn't been a huge thorn in his side and it gives new meaning to the junk shot heard around the world in the u.s. history my sweater on the story for us tonight on capitol hill where a new u.s. congress is now can be my thinking. when china has completed

the first ever landing on the far side of the moon the un crude chained efore probe is beaming back closer views of a part of the moon that is never visit from earth the mission is key to china's ambition to rival the united states russia and europe in outer space and to cement its position as a global power right here on earth. the far side of the moon has long remain shrouded in darkness at least from our perspective it never turns to face. has now sent back the first photo ever taken from its surface and its sensational clear and detailed. the control center in beijing says the landing went perfectly with. the combined land rover is named after a chinese goddess who lives on the moon. on the screen

a chinese flag marks the spot where it came down. the whole process went as expected the result was very precise right on target. that target is the craggy base in the air the moon's south pole there's no direct line of communication with when it's on the far side so in advance of the mission china launched a relay satellite into orbit around the moon to enable in direct contact between the probe and base. state media have held the mission as a huge success china aims to become a major space powered by twenty thirty and land a human on the moon around the time. it is a milestone humans have never been. made it trailblazing.

the rover will make astronomical observations and investigate the structure and composition of the terrain. data concerning the origin of stars and the evolution of nebula. by the way the fun side of the moon isn't always bathed in darkness the moon rotates on its own axis at about the same speed as it orbits the earth so we just never get to see that side it is in fact also regularly bathed in sunlight our that's science fair for everybody and let's talk about. the big week in outer space and to do that i'm joined by keith cowing he's a former rocket scientist you know edits the blog nasa watch t.v. it's good to have you on the show it's been a great week for space travel i guess first new horizons reaching the farthest into space that we've ever been before. but when i look at what the chinese were able to do i mean we've been to the moon before right so so why is the change the fortress

why is that significant. well we have added people humans haven't landed anything on the moon in quite a long time we've already had it but the interesting thing about this is as was mentioned in your setup piece is that this mission landed on the far side of the moon which for you know for geometry purposes of on the earth i'm looking at this side this is the far side i can't see this so what they've done is they've had a mission where it comes and lands like this but they have to have satellites out here to coordinate this because i can't see so there's a little operational complexity of this never been done before the second of august nothing is related on that side of the moon so now we have something there is a rover driving around and it's landed in a very interesting place in a crater that's inside a bigger crater which is actually the biggest creator in the entire solar system so did the opportunity to do science abound i mean if the opportunities abound and if it's as ignorant as you say why are the chinese doing it and what have they

russians and the americans why have they not done it you have twenty years ago. well as an american i have two ways i want to answer is one is well taken globally why not why why should one or two countries have the province of exploring the mood but you know as everybody should be able to explore it and two with the capabilities now that arise from advances in space technology countries other than the u.s. and russia but china japan india israel is doing its own private under the moon in the next month or two so the complexity for doing this is been lowered and the cost has been lowered that means the opportunities to go out have been increased as to why we haven't done it you know here in the states we say yeah we did have a century ago but you look at the felt countries like china and so forth and see what other things are learning that we're forgotten and the answer is it's a technological bargain cheap meant that a country can. pull the resources together to go to the moon and now it's kind of

register with a lot of countries that yeah we want to go to the moon too so if anything they'll be more countries going to the moon rather than fewer that's keith cowing thank you very much. here is some of the other stories now that are making headlines around the world eleven minack used to murdering these holding journalists should all come shogi have attended and initial court hearing in riyadh saudi prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for at least five of them prosecutors also say that they have asked turkey for any evidence they have come next did to the case but they say so far they've received no response jamal khashoggi was killed last october inside the saudi consulate in istanbul one of the world's largest cargo ships has lost at least two hundred seventy containers in a storm in the north sea some have washed up on the dutch coast where locals believe it or not have been scavenging items including slippers ikea furniture and flat screen t.v.'s from the sea authorities are warning people some of the

containers contain hazardous materials an estimated ten thousand containers are lost at sea each year months don't wash up on shore opposition groups in sudan are calling for fresh protests on friday following two weeks of demonstrations that have left dozens of people dead protestors are calling for the resignation of president omar al bashir earlier the president trying to quell public anger by promising to increase wages the former military leader has been in power for almost three decades. the protests have continued into a second night in the indian state of kerala after two women broke with tradition and dared to enter a hindu temple earlier traditionalist clashed with police in protest and they trashed vehicles at least one person died dozens were injured in scuffles. today is the fiftieth birthday of former formula one driver michel schumacher the

seven time world champion has not been seen in public since a major skiing accident in france in december two thousand and thirteen little is known about his current condition but his family has issued a statement on facebook saying you can be sure that he is in the very best of hands and that we are doing everything humanly possible to help him please understand that we are following michelle's wishes in keeping such a sensitive subject as healthy as it has always been. well the birthday has given fans a chance to look back and remember michelle. career. a milestone marked in grand fashion. the most successful driver in formula one history turned fifty on thursday to celebrate ferrari the racing team with which he claimed five of his record seven world titles have unveiled this special exhibition in more danger it's really in honor of his remarkable

achievements a day of celebration but also one tinge with sadness. schumacher has been out of the public eye since december twenty third team when a skiing accident left him with severe brain injuries he has not been seen in public since. but for the legions of shimmy fans like here at his museum in germany it's an opportunity to look back on sumac is incredible twenty one years in the sport and a welcome development following years of silence as questions surrounding his health of gone unanswered. for these and we go yes martin first of all i wish him all the best on his fiftieth birthday. and i also hope for the best for his family and hope that he gets well again through to me i'm devastated along with all his fans the things came to this but i think it's good that his privacy is being respected and you know it's been assessed it's my first time here it's the only reason i'm here to be a little closer on his birthday the fans might never get to find out exactly what

happened to their hero but for now at least a chance to relive some of his achievements is a gift. you're watching the w. news live of from the berlin more news of the top of the hour. in a timeless way discover the halls of both house world starts january thirteenth.