[000:00:00;00] plain . plain. business day w. news live from berlin terrifying moments at sea a cruise ship breaks down and dangerous waters off the norwegian coast hundreds have been rescued as hopes rise that the vessel can make it back to land across live to norway for the latest also coming up. to thailand holds its first general election sends a military takeover and twenty four teams with newcomers vying for of voice in

politics but there are fears the military has already stacked the political deck and its favor are live in bangkok for analysis. welcome to the show. we begin and norway with a dramatic rescue mission crews have been racing to bring cruise ship passengers to safety after their boat was stranded and dangerous waters the ship broke down on saturday with over a thousand passengers on board most of the vessels engines have now been have restarted and it's hoped it can be towed to port but the ship stranding has already led to harrowing moments for passengers. passengers rushed to shield themselves from sliding furniture and falling ceiling panels as heaving waves tossed the cruise ship from side to side. some said

waves had broken ship windows and said cold water rushing on to the floor. elsewhere on board the mostly british and american travelers could do nothing but sit and wait for their turn to be airlifted to safety. amid winds of eighty six kilometers per hour and waves over eight meters high the viking sky sent out a mayday call early on saturday afternoon it had suffered engine failure and was beginning to drift toward the rocky shore. fearing the ship would run aground the crew managed to anchor in the bay an area known even to the vikings as treacherously difficult to navigate. the cult and. this is clearly a serious situation as a cruise ship with one thousand three hundred passengers on board is stuck in one of the north in europe's worst stretches of water scattered with reefs so this is a serious situation as it will. authorities mobilised five helicopters for the

operation though some had to be diverted to help a second vessel nearby the freighter with a crew of nine also suffered engine failure delaying the cruise ship airlift. rescued passengers were brought to a reception center on land clearly this was not the kind of adventure they'd had in mind. they booked their cruise. period for a. very frightening we. helicopter with a sling together and it was quite scary. the severe weather prevented rescue workers from using boats to take passengers ashore. amid battering winds the airlift operation was described as a demanding exercise. for the latest on this rescue operation i'm joined now on the line by p.f. yell he's with the joint rescue coordination center for southern norway mr field thanks for taking the time how's the rescue unfolding what's the latest. the rescue

operation is still going on as far as their recreation is ongoing with passengers being lifted in helicopters and transport to show that same time. of the year in the nearby the ship have managed to secure turks on the ship and they are preparing for turning the ship toward shore so that's really the situation at the moment but there's still passengers on board how are they doing. i don't have any detailed information about that at the moment but that would be information you have to seek elsewhere. our main focus is to have a secure ongoing avocation going on at the same time as we try to make sure that the ship can go safely to shore how long is that going to take to tell the point

i'm sure. a few hours i believe because first it has to be it. will have to go to the to the direction of the town of model. and it takes a few hours before it is in. quieter waters where. new evaluation will be made for every actuation operation goes. do we know what caused the engine problems on this cruise ship. we don't have any information on the cause of it i'm afraid. with the joint rescue coordination center for southern norway thank you very much. the people of thailand are voting in the country's first general election since a military coup five years ago prime minister and former army chief. is hoping to extend his hold on power as the country returns to civilian control he hopes to see

off the challenge by the populist type party which is allied to the ousted prime minister talks in chino watch its leader has said she's confident her party can win this election. we'll have more from our correspondent in bangkok in just a moment but first let's have a look at the background to this contest. jubilant welcome for a military leader determined to stay in power. former general prayuth channel has campaigned on a platform of continued stability he led the country's last coup in two thousand and fourteen and it's been prime minister ever since so he's tried to endear himself to voters by casting himself as an uncle of the nation his polling pressure at party is a proxy for the country's for press if. you want. under the new constitution it interacted the balance of the electoral process has been tipped in favor of the

military and cementing its grip on power analysts say the laws are designed to undercut the influence of this party. the successor to the political movement loyal to two ousted an exiled prime minister's shinawatra and his sister you look it's populist policies appeal to the rural and urban poor helping it win every election since two thousand and one it's seen this the front runner in this election two point zero is long time rival the democrat party is pro establishment and pro-business it could be the kingmaker after this vote joining either in a program coalition or swallowing the bitter pill of cooperating with he's in a pro-democracy front to keep the army out of government. and his party future forward could shake things up he's pledged to end military rule restore democratic rights and fight for social equality the forty year old billionaire is popular with millennial with more than seven million thais casting

a ballot for the first time in their lives the party hopes the youth vote could make a difference. let's bring in delhi correspondent joins us from bangkok and you've been talking to the people coming to the polls many of them first time voters what kind of change are they hoping for. i think first of all the whole a lot of people here are just tired of not being able to vote so they're excited about the fact that many. we're excited about the fact that they get to go to the polls at all if you think about the fact that there haven't been elections in this country that counted for eight years and then for the past five years the country's been under a military dictatorship that promised elections but postponed them time and time again so a lot of people do want change if you ask them they're going to say that they want the economy to get better and also especially the young people because you mentioned the first time voters they want to reform of the education system which is dismal is country but then again having said that

a lot of people are excited that now they get the chance to cast their ballot and to have a say in this country in these elections and we spoke to a few of those voters this morning have a listen. very happy that we have elections today we have waited for this day for a long time. i'm not expecting much in terms of the elections result i just hope that the whole process will be honest and transparent and even me as long as we're under a dictatorship we have to accept that now it's time that they use my right to vote i'm still try out. in the military and change the constitution in order to enshrine their power no matter the outcome of this election what chances does that leave for democratic process. well the process nicole isn't democratic at all if you let me explain this to you let me lay this out what people are voting for today is the lower house of parliament that has five hundred seats

what they don't get to vote for is the senate but has another two hundred fifty seats and those are entirely appointed by the military but those two houses together will choose the next prime minister with a simple majority vote that means that the military only needs one hundred twenty six votes out of five hundred in the lower house of parliament to elect the next prime minister now that's one thing the other thing is that. opposition. especially opposition parties have been under pressure in the run up to this election one of those parties which is affiliated with the. camp was dissolved just a few weeks ago which was a major setback for that camp that won every election since two thousand and one which in which still has a strong or enjoys strong support in this country now the electoral system is another thing that's designed to put those parties at a disadvantage and if all that fails from the point of view of the military and the

opposition camp gets to elect the next prime minister then there's still this twenty year reform agenda that the that the military government put in place and that the next government of the government for the next twenty years have to stick to and there is an independent commission which is also appointed by the military which is going to keep a close eye on that. talent has been waiting for the snow a long time as you said before it's been postponed again and again house fair and free of an election country actually hope for. these elections might be free but they're definitely not fair just keep in mind the framework that i that i just laid out that that's one thing and then another thing the political parties that are running for seats in in this election they haven't been allowed to campaign until mid december of last year while the military government has been nonstop touring the country handing out money advertising their

political platform and on top of that the military dictator has a t.v. show every friday that has to be aired on every t.v. channel in the country it's mandatory so you can see that the playing field is not level in these elections at all nicole thank you. and some of the other stories making news around the world. britain's sunday times says cabinet ministers are moving to oust prime minister to resign as soon as monday as comes with her bricks that strategy in tatters just weeks before britain is set to leave the european union on saturday hundreds of thousands demonstrated against brics it in london. the u.n. says more than one hundred thirty people were killed in an attack on a flung village and central mali as a delegation visit to the west african country survivors accuse traditional doggone

hunters of carrying out the deadly raid and the massacre comes amid an increase in jihadist violence in the region germany's national football team is in the midst of a changing of the guard on wednesday their first match of twenty nine thousand ended in disappointment with a one all draw in a friendly against serbia later today they face their first test in their bid to qualify for the european championships in twenty twenty. germany's first tie in their campaign to qualify for europe twenty twenty is also their toughest against neighbors the netherlands away from home in amsterdam's johan cruyff arena after a disastrous past twelve months it will be a test of you actually nerves reconstruction efforts. above all what matters is the result but at the same time looking at the year as a whole it's crucial how the team continues to develop how our processes are taking

change. from. germany won't be entirely without experience manuel neuer retains the captain's armband while marco royce will also feature as well as tony cools who was left out on wednesday against serbia the playmaker is confident ahead of this clash. i always have the same goal to win the game on playing and we're certainly in with the charts and. the hosts successfully completed their own internal changing of the guard a while back but still they're wary of that right. now we know the quality of the players and maybe they're changing. different things in the team and maybe they need some more time that. it's a special game and it's a special game a wish between holland and germany lost on these two met here in amsterdam back in october the hosts celebrated a three no victory germany's youngsters have

a chance to take swift prevent such. as you're watching day w. do is live from berlin next up a documentary about climate refugees and bangladesh don't forget you can get all the latest news and information around the clock on our web site that's d w dot com thanks for watching. it's time to take one step further and face the. time to search the no fun for the troops. time to overcome their own dreams and connect the world it's time for dublin.