this is news live from berlin u.s. president donald trump has threatened to release captured fighters from a so-called islamic state if europe doesn't take them in his demand comes after he made a surprise claim in december that the militant group had been defeated and announced that the u.s. troops would be withdrawn from syria. and the u.s. and iran traded verbal blows if the munich security conference draws to an end iran's foreign minister condemns american policy on iran using washington of ignoring his country's right to self-determination he made the comment after u.s.

vice president mike pence demanded that europe take a tougher stance against a raccoon and german president trying to falter steinmeyer follows in the footsteps of one of the country's most famous explorers to raise awareness of plastic pollution in the galapagos islands. welcome to the program on exposure. u.s. president donald trump called on european states to take back their citizens if they are among captured fighters from the so-called islamic state in a tweet that mentioned britain france germany and other countries trump threatened to release imprisoned combatants if their home countries refused to allow them back in in december he alarmed western partners by saying he was withdrawing american troops from syria because he considered the islamic state to have been defeated.

jihadists on the march in syria these images from the fall of rock in twenty fourteen. islamic state has since been defeated here and across nearly the entire country many fighters are dead and more have been taken prisoner. recently the u.s. backed kurdish led syrian democratic forces or s.d.f. besieged the city of backcross the last remaining a stronghold the kurds say hundreds of foreign i guess fighters remain in kurdish prisons their wives and children live in camps in northern syria the s.d.f. have long complained that european states are refusing to take back their own citizens. u.s. president donald trump has echoed those concerns and has even threatened to release the jihad ists he tweeted the united states is asking britain france germany and other european allies to take back over eight hundred isis fighters that we

captured in syria and put them on trial the caliphate is ready to fall the alternative is not a good one and that we will be forced to release them. this i asked fighter from germany he's being held in a detention center in syria like others he'd like to return home but berlin hasn't said what it intends to do with him. and with us now to shed some light on this news is mathias one hundred investigative reporter reporter who is following the story what are we to make of trump's call for europe to take back state fighters i think justified i think minus a bad style like blasting themselves out in a tweet and minus a language which is bordering to say the least on blackmail i think whether you like it or not trump has a point basically he's just lending the weight of the u.s. presidency to something that could set p.g. and. say me autonomous northern syrian could is region have demanded all along and

that is that europeans take back their foreign fighters because it's a huge burden on the kurds to look after them excuse me and to have them in the camps to feed and to make sure they don't escape the thing is that. putting them on trial is easier said than done because in european courts you have to prove the individual guilt and. very often though this is done by just you know you. claiming of the prosecutor general is doing this by trying to prove at least they've been members of a foreign terrorist organization so that would put behind bars for a couple of years when she has there been any reaction from european governments to this tweet. well that's they have been super reluctant apart from france actually

francaise couple of days ago already announced that they are willing to take back about one hundred thirty fighters and their families because they also you know why isn't children involved who are now in those camps but the germans and as a damage have been i'll try and this proposal the germans are sort of dragging their feet as they have been all along the germans tried to a ha ha it's sort of behind formalities if they well we don't have a embassy anymore and moscow's so we don't have consular support for those who are detained and we don't have to play magic relations with the kurds but in my eyes that's just sort of. if you if you excuse me that support chrissy hiding behind the real credit formalities if i may really quickly and then what are we going to do what are european governments going to do quite apart from france with the women

who went to join the fighters in syria and they didn't fight and some of them had children while there how do you deal with those people. i think i mean there's no other option but ready to take them back even if we don't like it they are citizens of germany or france of great britain and they actually do have a right to come back and unless we able to prove that they have participated in atrocities themselves they have a right to return but of course sorties do have to keep an eye on them we know of you know what they call system that works some of those who return this lucian but some are still sticking very much to the audio all the geo these laws like. the branch of islam and they try to spread it you know within closed ok mathias thank you for that iran's foreign minister

mohammad javad zarif has delivered a defiant speech at the munich security conference he condemned calls from washington for the european union to abandon the iran nuclear deal and he accused the us of meddling in the middle east his remarks rounded out a contentious conference where german chancellor angela merkel and american vice president mike pence advanced opposing visions on iran and the direction of their nation's foreign policies but it has to do more for iran's foreign minister mohammad sorry for sharply criticize the u.s. and dismissed vice president mike pence this recent demand that the e.u. withdraw from the nuclear treaty with iran. mr pence repeated this course. when he added gently demanded that europe must join the united states in undermining its own security and breaking its obligations by german foreign

minister who assured his iranian counterpart in direct talks in munich that germany and the you want to stick to the agreement as long as iran does the e.u. wants to enable trade with iran but the reef suggests that europe has to do more for. europe needs to be willing to get rid. if it wants to swim against the dangerous part of the u.s. unit after this. european leaders are already feeling the pressure from the u.s. and mike pence of the n.t. during the security conference. the time has come for our european partners to stop undermining u.s. sanctions against this murderous revolutionary regime. chancellor merkel refused to withdraw from the treaty germany feels that it is the only way to money iran's nuclear program here isn't viet it was like my do we help our common cause our

common aim of containing the damaging or difficult influences of iran by withdrawing from the one remaining agreement. or do we help it more by keeping the small anchor we have in order to maybe exert pressure in other areas. and welcome the european commitment but called for more action he added that the nuclear treaty is appropriate at the best that can be achieved how much longer. and down to some of the other stories making news around the world. hundreds of passengers have been stranded following the collapse of british regional carrier fly b.m.i. the airline announced that it was filing for bankruptcy claiming higher fuel costs and uncertainty caused by britain's upcoming departure from the european union carrier served twenty five european cities. saudi crown prince mohammed bin salman has begun a tour of asia in the pakistani capital islamabad after his arrival he saw an

investment agreements worth some twenty billion dollars pakistan hopes the deals will provide welcome relief for its troubled economy prince mohammed will continue his trip in china and india. search teams in zimbabwe have recovered twenty four bodies from a mind that was flooded after heavy rains eight people were rescued from the tunnels near the town of doma. west of the capital harare rescuers are continuing their search saying up to seventy gold miners were trapped after a dam wall collapsed. i like that of all humboldt was a scientific superstar the great german explorers expeditions famously took him to south america and the galapagos islands in the pacific now germany's president frank walter steinmeier is following in his footsteps as part of a tour of the region steinmeyer use the occasion to draw attention to plastic pollution which is threatening the unique and fragile ecosystems on the islands. of

volunteers searching for plastic garbage every day they clean the beaches of the galapagos they show the german president plastic bottles that have made it all the way over from china from across the ocean. nature's interconnectedness means garbage from the other side of the planet can threaten the paradise here. steinmeier says he wants governments to make better efforts to deal with the issue of plastic waste. when we continue this way then by we'll have more plastic in the oceans than fish that's why we must change our thinking miss and. it's the first official visit to the galapagos islands by a german president steinmeier is following in the footsteps of legendary german researcher alexander from home board more than two centuries ago who both studies took him to latin america where he recognized the destructive effect humans can

have on their environment plastic is just one example thrown out elsewhere it's threatening the ecosystem here. accumulates in fish sea lions and seals eat the plastic garbage and that's how it returns to the food chain. in the not. understanding the world in order to preserve it that's what. sought here in ecuador the researcher climbed a volcano to take measurements and gain insight into nature in eight hundred two he set off from this hut to explore the anti sun of ok no. a path president is retracing as he voices support for protecting the environment. the. world and now for some more uplifting major news to ecuador now where scientists are celebrating the rediscovery of the marsupial horned frog last seen over a decade ago and considered extinct a colony of the frogs was found during

a recent expedition into an endangered rainforest their habitat remains under threat from the forestation but there is now hope that the species can regenerate. the species believed extinct found hidden in the canopies here in ecuador chicago rain forest region thought to be home to thousands of undiscovered plants and animals the latest finding has thrilled conservationists. once you see an animal no one else has seen for over a long period of time maybe years or decades it is like the most exciting thing like that you can experience as a field biologist it's there's really no no work that's right it's the first time some experts have ever seen the species unlike most other frogs the horn to female keeps its embryos in a pouch on her back during gestation an evolutionary marvel for scientists deforestation is a threat to this species and many others doctors are now breeding the frogs at

a conservation center where the first frog legs are due to hatch in april. a leap of faith that they will one day thrive again in the wild. time for some sports now and let's have a look at the bundesliga results so far on match day twenty two. leverkusen downs dusseldorf frankfurt and gladbach share the spoils as it hurt of berlin and braman hoffenheim dominated hand over life seek beat stuttgart wellsburg had their way with mines shock and freiburg share the spoils on friday fire nick squeaks past borg and monday sees nuremberg take on the league leaders dortmund at the alpine world championships in sweden skier mikaela shiffrin did the nearly unthinkable on saturday by winning her fourth consecutive slalom world title the american was suffering from a chest infection that left her gasping for breath she had to battle back in the

second run after sitting in third persists position following the first leg the wind makes her the first skier in history to win four consecutive world championship golds in a single discipline or you're watching news live from berlin you get all the latest news at our website steve aoki dot com thanks for watching. today don't miss our highlights. program. d.w. dot com following. closely. carefully. to see.