this is g w 2 swine flu from tonight at historic moment in the united states as the impeachment trial against president almost trumped begin. for. the president and ready to present the articles of impeachment which have been heard by the house of representatives against donald john from the president of the united states. the chief prosecutor adam schiff formerly begins trumps impeachment trial as new evidence further complicates the president over his dealings with

ukraine also coming up tonight germany's diplomatic efforts in libya yield a potential breakthrough with the rebel commander khalifa haftar are committing to a cease fire if one is sought and also attend a conference here in berlin this weekend ending the year of civil conflict in libya . also coming up in a d.-w. news exclusive pakistan's prime minister and kong opens up about his concerns over rising tensions between saudi arabia and iran saying an escalation of the conflict with tehran would be disastrous for his country. i'm bringing off to our viewers on p.b.s. in the united states and all around the world well we begin tonight with historic proceedings on capitol hill as the u.s. senate. formally opens the impeachment trial against president donald drop in the

last hour chief justice john roberts from the u.s. supreme court who will be presiding over the trial and sworn in all $100.00 senators as jurors this is only the 3rd impeachment trial of a u.s. president in u.s. history it's happening during an election year with president trump seeking a 2nd term in office earlier today house democrats kicked off the proceedings with the chief prosecutor in this trial adam schiff reading out the charge article one abuse of power. the constitution provides that the house of representatives shall have the sole power of impeachment and that the president shall be removed from office on impeachment for and conviction of treason bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors in his conduct of the office of the president of the united

states and in violation of his constitutional oath faithfully to execute the office of president of the united states and to the best of his ability preserve protect and defend the constitution of the united states and in violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed donald j. trump has abused the powers of the presidency in that. using the powers of his ny office president trump solicited the interference of a foreign government ukraine in the 2020 united states presidential election. there was a ship speaking earlier in the us senate let's take this story now to washington our bureau chief alexander phenomena she is keeping an eye on these historic proceedings war's good evening to you alexander and so we've just had a 100 u.s. senators they've taken an oath of impartiality today they're promising to act not as politicians but as jurors in this trial and to deliver

a verdict that could determine the fate of the u.s. president i mean it almost sounds like an impossible task is it yes you're right. i cannot imagine how the senate could do impartial justice and that caren's toxic partisan atmosphere in washington some of them democrats as well as republicans already said holiday i'm going to vote even before the trial starts mitch mcconnell the senate majority leader is coordinating with the white house he also said he is not in our show and there is a small number all for us senators republican senators who said that they could consider calling on witnesses together with the democrats if they deem that it's necessary but they know what they are risking being attacked by the president on twitter being at tact by his allies on fox news and risking losing the support of

his space so this is not very likely to happen at the heart of these proceedings this impeachment trial of course our president drums dealings with ukraine we've got new revelations tonight from an associate of the personal attorney for the president and it's fairly explosive isn't it. yes his name is less ponderous and he was deeply involved in the trump administration's ukraine dealings and he directly implicated president trump and he's inner circle saying that he has documents that would prove that the president knew about what was going on ukraine that everything what happened was happening at his direction and he also said that everyone involved knew that president was not interested in fighting corruption in ukraine what he was interested it in was getting help to get

reelected so the white house dismissed this witness saying that he is not credible indeed he is out on bail he is under indictment but he has documents to prove his claims and he is confirming what of are witnesses already testified in the u.s. president today has been asked about them and he really has did no you did the accusations that have been made today and it makes a lot of people wonder will the president himself will he be called as a witness destroyer. well he will certainly be asked to address the charges however we expect that it will be in a written form it will be a letter that he's defense lawyers will read out on the senate floor we don't expect presidents to appear to appear on the senate floor and anyway the most interesting question is if the senators will kohl on witnesses to testify however

as i said at the moment it's not very likely to happen so our very own alexander phenomenal story for us tonight in washington as the impeachment trial begins like year old son. arliss preview now with some of the other stories that are making headlines the u.s. senate has voted overwhelmingly to approve a new north american trade deal the agreement overhauls trade relations between the us mexico and canada it's a major policy win for president drop it faced some opposition by senate democrats who pointed out that the deal fails to address the threat of climate change germany's parliament has rejected controversial legislation aimed at making it easier to donate organs now that opt out law would have automatically made almost every citizen an organ donor unless they had previously signed a declaration specifically revoking their consent. right now to libya

where there appears to be movement in ongoing diplomatic efforts to secure a cease fire germany's foreign minister home office has announced that rebel leader khalifa haftar has agreed to abide by the truce general how far is said to have made the comments during a meeting with the foreign minister today in being god he's apparently also agreed to attend sunday's international meeting on the libyan crisis that will take place here in berlin earlier this week he refused to sign a cease fire deal at talks in moscow. are for more now let's bring in our political correspondent simon young he's following this and having to use time in canada germany. couldn't count on this promise from mr. can he can it call a victory can it take him at his word. well there are a huge amount of hopes riding on this brains of course because in particular the

idea of the general after will come to the peace conference that's being organized here in berlin on sunday that's that's key because general have to r. and his forces control most of libya outside the capital tripoli so they are really the key player the head of the internationally recognized unity government has also said he's coming she going to have the 2 warring parties sitting at the table along with many international actors that's why i think this announcement is being welcomed we heard earlier what a miracle said about it is also minister being in our foreign minister met with general have to are today and 1st of all it's good news that he's willing to observe the cease fire but we need to have that to start with. then at the libya conference we need to see above all that the weapons in bargo is it here to again which was basically agreed to the u.n.

but unfortunately has not been respected. first of all today's development is good news. you can say anything to not least. so she's saying it's good news but we still have to make sure that promises are kept promises that have been broken what does this mean then for this conference that will take place here this week you know. well it is very good news because this is just part of a flurry of diplomatic activity that's been going on today we've seen the tally and prime minister has been in algeria and the european council president show michelle has been telephoning with russian president vladimir putin is also a player in this and so the hopes for that conference on sunday of very high and the focus on libya particularly for the european union countries is really strong libya's an important country is a conduit for migration but also as an oil producing country and with so many

players involved russia as i mentioned. the saudis and europe it's a very important focus for this issue or corresponded to the fireman young of the story corps here in berlin so i mean thank you what if libya was a divided country when its longtime ruler moammar gadhafi was overthrown back in 200 love in the years since then have seen the divisions multiply and increasingly drawing in a mixed bag of international players the country and its backers are split now between 2 rival governments in tripoli the un backed government of the raj and in tobruk the libyan national army which is led by general khalifa haftar are. strongman general highly for have wants tripoli.

together with his libyan national army he hopes to capture the country's capital and take full control of this oil rich nation. and it's partly because of oil that russia and turkey have waded in on either side of this conflict with turkey behind fires alsa raja's un backed government and russia supporting have to . moscow has denied reports it sent to mercenaries to reinforce the general's fighters but on thursday turkey confirmed it had started deploying troops to help in tripoli despite a un arms embargo. with libya's so unstable the fear of resurgent islamist terror has worried many european countries but other factors mean the e.u. is split over its alliances. officially the tripoli based government has the

backing of europe including germany but italy has openly supported general hafta who it sees as crucial in stemming the flow of migrants across the mediterranean and france's concerns over terrorism as well as its interests in libya's oil wealth has pushed it towards with the e.u. sufficiently line there are claims it's given covert military help to general hafta earlier this week peace talks in moscow broke down. despite the many interests at stake and the players involved germany seems determined to pursue its mediation role. but even if a ceasefire is agreed the road to peace looks alone and bumpy. if there is a road to peace to talk about that i'm joined tonight by martin who is the director

of the institute that's libya's 1st public policy think he joins me tonight from london this is good to see you again you know we united spoke just a couple of days ago about the cease fire peace talks breaking in moscow is there any reason to believe. here in berlin they will be able to achieve what they couldn't achieve in moscow. i'm still quite i'm such an about those things and i think it depends on what kind of authority is being made on the table to sleep after having millions of groups some of the truisms is for him to actively he still wants to achieve what he can achieve military force in the last 9 months through negotiations and it's a dangerous path we've been down that over the last 3 years and we should also remember that the government that he's fighting in tripoli is not government it was not as a rival it was a government that was resigned as a compromise that it was that actually appointed members of that government 3 and

a half years ago when the u.n. actually negotiate there for you know the hard compromise that would be a 2nd civil war that's really dr spock so it's difficult going to take on terror at his word if we don't know whether or not he'll agree to those things for the 1st time he would have turned his back on on what he said and i think if we were to compromise it was at least somewhat after that is a dangerous message that we're sending to the rest of internationally because we are in these negotiations what kind of message do we send when we allow someone to break an arms and bugger all about it arms embargo alignments turn his back on the jewish issues that were mediated by the u.n. 3 and a half years ago and so little suspense of mind months ago in the presence of the cheat at the u.n. only root for national reconciliation claiming it is a you know you're if you're painting a picture there of a general who cannot be trusted and today we are you know we've heard the german chancellor she wants to at least go into these talks with good faith and start by

trusting have taught our what happens if he doesn't keep his word. leopards that change the sportsnet strives to do so one looks at the history after immersion $96.00 there are many defects in the trait of losing it but they don't get that which i said really chad in 1906 devoted from that to langley virginia the 20 years to the leading opposition in 88 the fact that from then on monday night went back to get that the 1004 reconcile the fight to prove that it doesn't live and join the revolution in 2014 it affected from the revolution of government and sparta to cuba tencent 3 months and has leapt away from a deal that was given and doesn't 16 again in 2000 might think i think of the 51 years that it was thinking as well trust is a very very dangerous word to use when someone is going to check your history and if a ceasefire agreement is reached this weekend here in berlin let me let's look at it from optimists viewpoint here what is that going to mean for the situation on the

ground in libya. well it's certainly mean to go shoot this later is going to have that it's going. to step down and we have to look at what kind of was he has yes groups that have been fighting in tripoli well the mentalist so there has to be applied to across the world in kind of on the ground locally between the groups like in tripoli and in the. course that's going to be crucial if we want this kind of cease fire. and then the city and we also have to look at the fact. you egypt is also very aggressive whether it's diplomatic leverage if you are in that room and which is what he's received no condemnation from the u.n. even though he's broken that so many arms and burgers and broken u.n. law and so we did not little for the military involvement in the military. so that's the these layers that we want to trust going to be immediately on the ground

as they've been internationally and look i'm a lucky there's a lot of suspicion. and i saw them on to helping us understand these peace talks and the multiple layers of context around them we appreciate your insights tonight thank you russia has a new prime minister today the lower house of parliament approved president vladimir putin's choice for the job and the president formally appointed him he's mikhail and he was head of the country's federal tax service a technocrat if you will he was put forward as putin's choice for prime minister after dmitri medvedev and his entire government resigned in mass on wednesday and his state of the union address yesterday president putin called for political reform that would give more power to the country's parliament there's speculation how that putin will take on a new role when his current presidential term ends in 2024 remain in power.

pakistan's prime minister iran cotton has told d.w. news that military conflict between saudi arabia and iran would be disastrous for his country and says that pakistan is working to prevent relations between the 2 countries from getting worse in an exclusive interview with g.w. khan explain what his country is doing to ease those tensions. in the wide ranging interview with d w editor in chief eunice pull can spell just his position on 2 places currently experiencing significant turmoil pakistan's neighbor iran is vying for influence in the gulf with saudi arabia tensions between the 2 have been simmering for years the assassination of the top iranian commander custom so the money this month by the us brought the region to the brink of conflict conses pakistan would be caught between the $2.00 countries if iran and saudi arabia went to war. we live in a tough neighborhood we have issues balancing act because. we

have for instance saudi arabia which is one of pakistan's greatest friends always been a friend in need for us then we have iran which is a neighbor and we have always had good relationship with iran so the conflict between saudi arabia and iran is something which which for for pakistan would be disastrous if it. went into some sort of military conflict. kind also spoke about pakistan's relations with india which of worsened over the past year because of the himalayan region of kashmir kashmir is claimed by both countries and has a muslim majority population both pakistan and india control large parts of the region islam about in delhi have gone to war of kashmir twice in the past last year india revoked the autonomous status of the part it controls it shut down

communications ramped up security and imposed curfews critics say the goal was to suppress the area's separatist movement india said it was securing its territorial integrity. both parts of kashmir to hold a referendum on their future let them decide what they want to do but is that is all ready to give them the right of through a referendum or a plebiscite let them decide whether they want to remain with buggiest on whether they want to be in the independent we're all for it. and kashmir to potential flashpoints that looks set to overshadow pakistan and so the nation in the coming months. and you can go to the w.'s web site this d w dot com for more of that exclusive interview with pakistan's prime minister imran khan now let's go to greenland it is currently in the middle of an economic boom and it's called as well they might surprise you global warming threatens to

have dire consequences worldwide and also for greenland but in that country the shrinking of the arctic ice has opened up what some see as new opportunities take a look. the snow came late this winter even in greenland but now the island is looking how so many imagine it a place of eternal ice take a ride out into the few words though and you soon see how greenland is changing even off the coast. we're still finding caught here climate change hasn't affected that it's the opposite actually we're catching more caught than we used to. but halliburton craps they've moved further north. in. the arctic has warmed by 2 degrees since the end of the 19th century last summer more than 300000000 tons of ice melted in greenland alone a few remnants are still floating in the few words greenland is experiencing

a construction boom new flats and hotels are being built and the 3 airports in the country are all being expanded and there's like a larson runs a taxi boat company and look he started out with one boat now he's just ordered his 5th he says more and more tourists want to see the melting last year's. nowadays there's a lot of focus on climate change and you can see the effect of that most clearly here in greenland everyone's talking about our eyes. the danes have known about it for a while but now the whole world is talking about it that. this is the new container for to know the melting ice has allowed easier access to highly valuable mineral resources it's for this reason the united states and some choice here. after president donald trump's failed attempt to buy greenland the u.s. wants to establish

a new consulate here. but there's also opportunities with related to felicia as to mining for example possibly even petroleum exploration in the future and these are things that we want to be a part of donald trump on the climate situation of started something here in greenland the tide is changing for the world's biggest island. and here are more of those other stories that are making headlines germany's government will pay the operators of coal power plants more than 4000000000 euros in compensation for the permanent shutdown of those plants germany is trying to reduce its dependency on fossil fuels chancellor angela merkel's government wants to phase out coal by the year 2038 egypt ethiopia and sudan say they have reached a preliminary agreement on how to fill a 5 $1000000000.00 hydroelectric dam on the nile river it said to bring electricity to $100000000.00 ethiopians fears that filling the dam would negatively affect

water levels downstream they had sparked tensions in the reach. britain's prince harry has made his 1st public appearance since his recent announcement that he and his wife meggan plan to step back from their royal duties harry attended a school rugby demonstration on the grounds of buckingham palace today while he openly joked with the children mam what was the word in regards to his future play . prince harry's wish to step back from his royal duties has been granted but he still has a few more commitments that means a few more deep breaths it's taken some time for the dust to settle in after last week's surprise announcement. but the timing of the rugby world cup is helping to soften the blow after all it's something close to the prince's heart so a rather stiff event turned into something of a show. but not a cooking show he choked. on afterwards some small talk

a few comments on breaks it and thoughts on sporting a beard. sword it was almost as if harry was having 2nd thoughts about his decision to stop performing his royal duties but he was in his element. that rugby league made someone high profile like the juke who clearly isn't just here is a ceremonial role knows about rugby league and knows what it means to the community so i you know i hope he does prove his involvement with the sport. but there's been no change of royal plans this could well be harry's last appearance in the spotlight before he begins a quieter life in canada where his wife meghan has already landed she's been photographed at meetings with women's rights groups but hasn't yet appeared at any public events in the meantime british tabloid reporters made it clear they aren't laying off harry just yet. but the prince wasn't on hand to play that kind of ball for now he could still opt to retreat to his

grandmother's palace. for his reminder of the top stories we're following for you the u.s. senate has formally opened the impeachment trial against president. the head of the prosecution team adam began the day's events by reading out the articles of impeachment the senate will hear opening arguments on tuesday. you're watching news from berlin after a short break i'll be back to take you through the day. boy

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mom. malegaon story. nikos a. must. starts in january 27th on d w. a small x. return inspired legal change the people making an assault go africa fantastic right. join them as they set out to save the environment learn from one another and work together for a better future. many gods do you all but you. on t.w. . about it here when i arrived here i slept with 6 people in a room and. it was hard as. i even got white hair. language

and now about this keeps me take up much me be in charge of say you want to do their story. or fighting and reliable information for migrants. 100 u.s. senators today took an oath to think and see not as political animals but rather as physicians compelled by the constitution to deliver a diagnosis tonight the impeachment trial of u.s. president donald trump has begun and when it ends the verdict will tell the nation and the world whether or not the president has become a cancer on the body politic of america i'm burnt off in berlin this is the dick.