this is d.w. news live from berlin poised to become only the 3rd u.s. president in history to be impeached as u.s. makers debate whether to put him on trial proceedings began mr trump wrote in 6 page letter to house speaker nancy pelosi accusing her of undermining american democracy also on the program. today that my friends say she has enough for one transport and then the dangerous and sometimes deadly journey begins we go to new. still risking their lives to cross the desert despite increased border control.

saying goodbye to the latest star wars trilogy the final movie in the series has explored. i'm phil girl welcome to the program. u.s. lawmakers have begun the debate ahead of a historic vote on whether to impeach president donald trump the democratic controlled house of representatives is expected to back the move which would make mr trump only the 3rd president in american history to be impeached if the house does vote to impeach it will then before the senate to try the president and possibly remove him from office de w.'s washington bureau chief alexander phenomena now traces the path to impeachment it all started with a phone call

a phone call in which president trump asked president zelinsky of ukraine to investigate his main political rival democratic presidential hopeful joe biden and his son hunter i became increasingly aware of what followed was a congressional inquiry with a 1000 witnesses testifying in public describing crimes dealings with ukraine as improper and in as proper it's all going to blow up and here we are one witness in particular turned out to leak he ordered sunland the us ambassador to the european union and so much trumped on arm he told the investigators there was indeed a quid pro quo in the works that president chavez pressed the ukrainian government to get dirt on joe biden in exchange for a meeting in the white house at the same time you asked military aid for ukraine was put on hold as the president directions everyone was in the loop so we

followed the president's orders corruption other witnesses added more damning details about donald trump's conduct time machine no evidence for the democratic majority in the house to move forward with the impeachment. the morning. the facts are uncontested the president abused his power for his own personal political benefit at the expense of our national security. if use of power and obstruction of congress to charges the democrats say that amounts to high crimes justifying impeachment however they haven't convinced a single republican yet trump's party stands by the president decrying pietschmann as a political witch hunt you can't make your case against the present because nothing happened if the majority of lawmakers approved the articles of impeachment which seems likely it will trigger

a senate trial to determine if the president is guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors and should be removed from office. a trial president trump seems to be gearing up for he expects to be exonerated by the republican led senate and hopes impeachment will backfire on his rivals there was nothing done wrong to use the power of them pietschmann on this non-church is an embarrassment to this country. whatever the outcome what is happening in washington right now reflects the hyper partisan divisions in american politics. a report from a date of news that chief washington correspondent alexandra fung nama who joins us now from capitol hill welcome alexandra to talk us through what's happening today. so i think it's very telling how the morning started in the chamber only minutes

after the house convenes the republicans presented a motion to adjourn they knew that they are not going to be successful but they did it anyway it's part of their strategy of for a just to wring their protest against impeachment so that's what we are going to see today more disruptions. in the house of representatives and a number of very interesting question is if we are going to see a vote strictly on party lines so far only 2 democrats say they are going to vote against impeachment but maybe there will be more deflections so those are the things that will be watching for and will this all be decided today and if the president is impeached what happens is that. if the house of representatives impeach the president we are going to see trial in the

senate next year and of course it will be interesting if there will be any surprises there so far it's not very likely that there will be a 2 thirds majority in the senate to convict president trump and to remove him from office but of course also there will be keeping our eyes open for surprises that you've mentioned the hyper partisan nature of these proceedings or wonders how a decision to impeach would affect the country. well of course i think that the partisan fighting will continue and even intensify as well as the conflict between the white house and congress but i don't expect the country to stand still even though president trump has accused the democrats of doing nothing to solve the problems that are 14 for the american people but it's you know it's true what we saw in the last weeks and even this week is that there

are things that are getting got done that people representatives are getting done for example the house of representatives passed 2 bills yesterday 2 of words a government shutdown and there are expected to approve a trade deal with canada and mexico this week so it's not the case that the democrats are only focusing on impeachment and what are the next year's presidential elections how are these actions likely to affect those. woeful i think it's too early to say how impeachment is going to affect the 2020 presidential elections even though president trump says that he believes that impeachment is going to help him to fire up his base and to get reelected but we don't even know who is going to run against him against him but what is important to mention is that it would be difficult for the democratic senators who are

running for president to continue their companions they would probably need to interrupt them to be here in washington to be jurors on the senate trial. alexandra phenomena in washington thank you. take a look now at some of the other stories making news around the world germany's chancellor says she opposes u.s. sanctions against the north stream 2 gas pipeline from russia to germany i'm going back and suggest to talks to resolve the issue the u.s. congress approved the sanctions on tuesday washington says the owners to complete pipeline make the european union more dependent on russia for energy. commuters in paris have struggled with massive traffic jams on the 14th day of strikes by france 14 unions opposed to proposed pensions reforms and rail services with civility reduced the french president emanuel has proposed talks saying he's prepared to make changes to the forms he's hoping for

a break in the strikes for the christmas holidays. the european parliament's top the annual sakharov prize for freedom of thought has been awarded to we go human rights activist tortie it was presented to his daughter the european parliament stroudsburg because tortie is currently serving a life sentence in prison in china charged with separatism before being jailed in 2014 work for more than 2 decades to improve the rights of china's persecuted week of minority more than a 1000000 wiggers a currently being held in internment camps in the northwest of china. ill home toti hasn't been seen in public for years this footage was filmed before he was jailed his fight for the rights of china's predominantly muslim minority cost him his freedom for years he drew attention to the suffering of the weaker their restricted access to education in the labor market and the suppression of their language

religion and culture. made on that idea there's no representative for us no newspaper of our own version of what can ordinary people do when they meet injustice when you are some of them will find in positions for calm. in 2006 tohti himself we founded the internet portal weaker online to highlight the plight of the ethnic group the chinese authorities blocked the website repeatedly in 2014 told he was put on trial charged with separatism the former economics professor was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment in october the european parliament awarded toti the sachar off human rights prize describing him as a voice of moderation and reconsider the haitian. yeah but on your sack out of the parliament has decided to award the socket of prize for freedom of thought to talk to. he has done much to

improve understanding between leaders in the han ethnic group in china and has been put in prison for life. in the european parliament expresses its full support for his work and wishes him to be released immediately by the chinese authorities i mean. she nice. his arrest in 2014 was seen as a sign of a crackdown by china's communist party sense then reports of so-called reeducation camps have surfaced x. prisoners speak of torture forced labor and mass rape around 1000000 weekers are thought to be detained in these camps the last time our family members heard about my father it was 2007. that was also when the concentration camp started. our family members who are no longer able to visit him and we don't know if he still had held in the same prison or if we we don't even know he's still alive. and

so the winner of this year's secor off prize may not even know about his award. united nations has urged the rich countries to do more to tackle the worldwide refugee crisis speaking of the 1st to global refugee forum in geneva u.n. secretary general antonio good terrorists criticize what he called a hostile political environment for threatening asylum seekers an example of this can be seen in the west african country of nisha with the recent increase in the number of irregular migrants travelling from africa to europe the e.u. close dumps of the biggest transport routes through asia brussels also provided support for the jazz army to patrol its own borders since that the number of migrants passing through the country has for the shopping where human trafficking remains a lucrative business in places like i get is the w.'s america went there and met people who say that pressure in the e.u. is making the situation for migrants more dangerous for nearly 30.

brought people across the border from i got us into libya he never thought he was doing something criminal. this who had the head it's not true that we are so-called human traffickers and we are deceiving people it's also not true that we treat them inhumanely or badly. europe's politicians have demonized him as a criminal smuggler but here people like him used to be called press says and their work was considered the most normal thing in the world why should it be criminal to bring people from a to b. most asks for centuries the desert city of agadez has profited from people passing through from west to north africa in search of work. but this stopped in 2015 when the european union signed agreements with several transit countries to curb migration to europe because of that suddenly became unemployed 6000 other former smugglers in asia shared his fate store and hotel owners who used

to live from the travellers had no income. even though migration decreased it never stopped say human rights organizations such as doctors without borders this week even though the laws been in force in 2015 the bigger issue never stopped and they will never stop oh if you put doors to the rhetorician they really use other doors so what we see is the greater in small compared to the past the are much more vulnerable why because everything has to be undercover in the clan the city hidden we managed to meet a smuggler who still active now his job is illegal if he gets caught you risk several months in jail ever since the military started patrolling the borders he tells us scenes like this one are getting more and more common. this is if you have to look say i'm a driver transporting migrants when suddenly the military shows up there with the migrants out of the car just down the road and tell them to wait there until i come

back and then i just leave and they die there there are many such cases. it's very rare that drivers actually come back the u.n. suspects at least twice as many people die on their way to the mediterranean than in the mediterranean itself who are these people who despite these dangers make the journey towards europe. we are close to the so-called get away at the border of the tunnel i guess this is where migrants are being hidden by a smuggler who brings them across the sahara desert to the migrants say here to the smuggler has enough of them for one transport and then the dangerous and sometimes deadly journey begins. a clay court yard under the open sky there are hundreds of my gran's waiting in places like this across the city. one of them. a student from guinea he has tried to leave 3 times each time he was picked

up by the military on the libyan border the route through the desert is not good libya and the mediterranean are not good but what else can i do. as a migrant from guinea was man but he has little chance of receiving the right to stay in europe but that doesn't stop him. although i want to go to europe i hate europe why do i europe because europe can't exist without africa africa is rich with resources like diamonds and uranium but who benefits from these resources goop . europe is where these young africans dream of living and although their chances of actually getting there are slim for them giving up and going back home is not an option. speaking at the global refugee forum in geneva the u.n. secretary general antonio good actor terrace developed countries to shoulder what he called their fair share of the burden of caring for the surge a number of displaced people then a dollar bill speaks for the international organization for migration and told the

w how he thinks the situation for migrants could be improved your broadcast being primarily about migrants who are travelling from from from sub-saharan africa north and indeed within there is a large component of the side of the c.p.p. to go up a genuine fear for their own personal safety many migrants too as well they may not be in time to sign but they are definitely people in need if you need protection. i think what the surgeon general is really talking about is that there is the equality that you see in the world that leads to people spontaneously leading a lot of good governance in their countries i mean for the stars if you are seeing all these fuckers who you saw well documented in that last piece most mothers have no interest in the welfare of the people of their charges they want the money if you're a simple and overly into the piece seems trading somewhat sympathetic to us losing our own skin calling and cavalier and murderous in their treatment of markets so i

think what we need is more equality and better migrants good governance so we say from this formerly in this regular people are not encouraged to with themselves at risk and use it all for ways to soften in tragedy. that adorable from the international organization for migration to australia which has suffered its hottest day on record with the national average temperature reaching 40.9 degrees celsius topping the last record set in 2013 the record busting heat comes as the country battles a severe drought and a bushfire crisis hotter than ever australia is going through record high temperatures and for a few here that's just another reason to make a splash. the normal creature is spared the health rest dehydration can be deadly. for the fauna rescue team the threat to wildlife is foremost.

that's why i don't know. there's probably not very much food up there because of the drought they have a lot of water they don't get me in the river but some people have been calling bets out of the river this morning. so it's just dreadful it's going to get worse and worse this place is going to build up there already did one apparently hanging in trays of. 6075 or 40 of the really made of and the extreme heat is compounding this problem since august millions of hec tears of australian bush have fired the hotter and drier weather has rendered firefighters helpless. scientists say it is a result of mankind failure to address global climate change the fire chief warned could be to come over the next few days we're going to so far as emergency services and all those communities close to farmers and enduring those some distance from

are going to be a challenge with a new threat new challenge as we head into this heat wave conditions that are going to dominate much of the sky and anger is growing up prime minister scott morrison after failing to concede for weeks that the fires were linked to climate change he's gone on holiday. for shoppers in central sydney however there is no escape a festive themed monument crafted from charge branches stands as a bleak reminder of this national crisis. of the sports and in germany's borders legal lives are going to dortmund through 3 or and one of the season's most entertaining matches the result gives leipsic a 3 point lead at the top of the table. now goldman called this a title 6 pointer the problem he'd never won in dortmund as a coach true to form the host dominated the early running and though jaden sanchez shot was blocks reprise was only temporary you inveigle is right foot soldier that

if i go back in dorman's midfield feeling much more it. don't mean we're in control and turning on the style sonship again at the heart of things you hear and brands with the fancy footwork making geometry look cool to nail 34 minutes go on. like 6 best chance of the half came just before the break tipped over by roman perky but he soon went from hero to villain 2 minutes into the 2nd half spiderman misjudged his leap with catastrophic consequences. teammate vanno with the grateful recipient he'd never scored against dortmund until today. good things come in pairs the saying goes it was certainly true savannah 4 minutes later he kept his composure to equalize after geometry man branch got his angles

all wrong. the pendulum instantly swung back into opens favor marco royce cross for sam show the englishman smashing in his 8 goal in 7 games. but even dortmund actual super hero isn't invincible he limped off and likes to grab their chance again with a little help from burkey patrick shit fired in his 3rd of the season. a breathless encounter had reached its end 33 the final score now goldman still hasn't won in dorman's but this will feel like a success. today's a big day for star wars fans as the 9th and final film and the skywalker saga has its world premiere the rise of skywalker crowns 42 years of box office gold so here's a quick look without any spoilers. taking. the

final star wars trilogy is coming to an end but the galactic battle between good and evil jet i insist isn't over yet joe di in training raves back to face down kai lowe ran the dark side of son of late and han solo and now supreme leader of the evil 1st order confronting fear. city. electricity. cut off and. the pressure is on and not least for disney and director j.j. abrams has been brought back to the star wars franchise after the last episode by a different director but a lot of fans disappointed. episode 9 focuses particularly on the chemistry

between its central characters ray and her buddies the resistance pilot podium iran and stormtrooper fend for cast and fans it's about more than just one movie it's the end of a saga this is the last one that is crazy my last big deal is that because she's in a time machine and i travel back to where they asked us to. cover the ponsonby 42 years and 8 episodes later can the rise of skywalker live up to fans' expectations losing the focus of course represented be careful on the way out director j.j. abrams certainly seems to think it can. if you're a kid watching this 100 years from now 500 years from now. you see this inevitability this. story concluded in a way that feels thrilling and shocking and funny and emotional and satisfy the final film or unites new cast and old contractors carrie fisher's death in 2016

abrams has even found a leftover material from the last 2 films to bring her back as princess. so how will the age old battle between jenna and sit and in which sky will rise in the rise of skywalker with the release of episode 9 fans can finally find out. this is a doubly news these are our top stories the u.s. house of representatives is debating and will vote on 2 articles of impeachment against president donald trump is accused of abusing the power of his office and obstructing congress's investigation if the articles pass don't trump will become u.s. president to be impeached. or has endured its hottest day on record with a national average temperature reaching $40.00 degrees celsius historic heat comes as the country battles a bushfire crisis and severe drought. there have been more protests

across india in response to the country's new citizenship more a new law provides an easier path to indian citizenship for migrants from 3 neighboring countries but excludes muslims the country's supreme court says it will hear challenges to the legislation in january. germany's chancellor has said she is unaware of any chinese pressure to allow the telecoms company huawei to participate in building her country's 5 g. mobile internet service. says she is opposed to excluding any us authorities have warned that chinese control of what could pose security risks. this is deja news from berlin for more followers on twitter news or visit our website the w dot com. well of all not to follow a story in just a moment tostitos news editor in chief innes pope speaks for the company said

chairman young paul during their interview mr leon rejects accusations that paul went despite all that he's put us in just a moment i'll be back at the top of the hour the day.

in crisis. much of bella editor in chief in his pool interviews the chairman of the chinese telecommunications giant leon cool off to come get a. chance huawei survive the turmoil caused by the trade war between china and the u.s. . the interview. today on t.w. . i'm not laughing.

well i guess sometimes i am but i stand up and with the research of mistakes deep into the german culture looking at the stereotype the question if you think the future of the country that i know about. pm needed to take for this drama am to me it's all that. i might show so i mean for me think that sunday. post. it was the speech of business perhaps his past certainly his most difficult the speech but clearly interest him on december 19th 1989. shortly after the front of the chancellor addresses the people of east germany. the mideast tense. clamors for german unity. journalist borg was the

scene. 30 years later he looks back on the time tristen. starts december 19th t w. hello and welcome to the chinese city of century and home of the telecommunication giant quite a way to talk to the chairman of the board young what it's been a difficult year for this company it's in the midst of a it's a trade war between china and the us which is banned all governmental agencies to use way equipment on suspicion of espionage and leaders governmental leaders from all around the world openly discussing their concerns about the trustworthiness of hallways as the.