this is t w news coming to you live from berlin u.s. president donald trump has been cleared in his impeachment trial. is therefore ordered in a judge that the said donald john trump beat and he is hereby acquitted of the charges considered articles the u.s. senate finds a trial did not abuse his power or obstruct congress ending a bid to oust him from office we'll get more from washington also coming up outrage here in germany as a political tug boot is broken for the 1st time

a mainstream party has joined ranks with far right with the poor right alternative for germany to gain control of the state government. and efforts to contain the coronavirus turned chinese cities into ghost towns as the number of infections there nears 30000 the world health organization appeals for funds to combat the bottoms. and i'm terry martin welcome to the program the u.s. senate has a quick president of both charges of impeachment the senate dominated by the president's fellow republicans but it's clear him on charges of abuse of power and on obstruction of congress the result ends a congressional bid to oust him from office which came from democrats in the u.s. house of representatives. for more now we're joined from washington by our

correspondents all over sound it all over so as expected donald trump has been acquitted in the republican controlled senate from the perspective of the democrats who launched this whole impeachment process what's been accomplished. terry well it did not go how the democrats wanted it to go that's pretty clear and that's not because of the verdict because the outcome was clear even before the trial began its rather because of the rules that impedes impeachment trial it was the 1st time in fact in the history that there were no witnesses allowed there was no evidence allowed so the republicans were able to shape that trial the way they wanted to have it and in spite of that there were some republican senators coming out openly admitting that that phone call between trump and the ukrainian president volodymyr zelinsky was wrong that he should not have pushed for political it for investigations into his political rival he still was acquitted president trump the

son that some of the democrats failed but also president obama is now the 1st president who has to run for reelection the 1st impeached president who has to run for reelection and that's certainly an aspect that the democrats also took into consideration here so this impeachment trial has been full of dramatic moments of course one of them was right at the end when mitt romney became the 1st senator in history to back that conviction of a president from his own party let's hear from him the great question the constitution task senators to answer is whether the president committed an act so extreme and egregious that it rises to the level of a high crime and misdemeanor. yes he did. mitt romney there who broke republican ranks and joined the democrats in voting to convict but to no avail all over what does this acquittal for donald trump me.

first of all let me point out how significant that decision of mitt romney was there because the reason why he decided. to change sides here is that he is one of the reasons is that he's not up for reelection in november and that in contrast to many other senators who are up for reelection who are in fact fearing the anger all of the republican voters there who could potentially lose their job and have their 40 sided to back president obama that certainly sheds a certain light on the senators as well as on the credibility off that word that democrats are going to try to capitalize on that. so essentially arguing the republicans are still partisan they don't even chive back from backing a criminal president the republicans are going to try to do the same they say look it's proven all trump was not guilty this was nothing but a witch hunt hoax but in the end most of the voters will look at other topics in

the election and those are the economy for instance where things are looking quite good for president trump at this point all over thank you so much for now that was the washington correspondent all over summit some of the other stories making headlines around the world today 7 police officers have been suspended in chile after they were caught on c.c.t.v. beating a teenager 18 year old suffered rib fractures a neck injuries human rights groups say chile's police prequel used excessive force and that police reforms are urgently needed. authorities in turkey say at least 33 people have died in the 2nd avalanche in the country several others are still missing the struck while a large team of rescuers was searching for people hit by earlier as those slide in eastern province of alleged killed 5 people. also in turkey 3 people died and dozens were injured when

a plane crashed in bad weather at an airport in istanbul the aircraft belonged to budget operators pegasus airlines 183 people were on board when the plane broke apart during what authorities have described as a rough landing at the crash site and imagine see response into the night. and a desperate race to save casualties. in the aircraft arrived in istanbul from the city of is america in bad weather before it crashed into a field. unfortunately the pegasus airlines plane could not stay on the runway where the conditions and skidded for around 50 to 60 metres. when it fell down a height of 30 to 40 meters. 175 passengers 2 babies 4 flight attendants and 2 pilots were on board. but.

so far 120 passengers have been transferred to nearby hospitals. using. pleasure the. footage of the landing shows the plane on the runway at high speed in heavy rain and strong winds it continues pasta and and then plunges. not long after the smoldering wreckage passengers that skate some emerging from a crevasse onto its a wing. out of the gaping fuselage which had split into 3 parts. as the response continues flight operations have been shut down with other craft diverted to istanbul's international airport for here in germany original election has set off what's being labeled a political earthquake for the 1st time 2 mainstream parties have joined forces

with the far right alternative for germany or d. to elect a state premier. a politician from the pro-business free democrats was elected premier of the small state of soaring you know with help from the a.f. d. and the conservative c.d.u. c.s.u. is chancellor angela merkel's party of course till today other parties have refused any cooperation with the. e.u. they have to. bet that. they're outside the from democrats headquarters in berlin about a 1000 demonstrators gathered to send a message to the new state premier a few 100 kilometers away his election breaks a taboo inside the party leader was congratulatory but at a distance. the support from the far right comes as a surprise because the party is not aligned with our party it was purely a tactical move but the a.f.d.

and 3 says the vote was planned that way. this is how to the conservative majority prevailed and that's great because it's we wanted to put the left party leadership to posture and we succeeded because it's going to be the conservative christian democrats took their time to react some welcomed the result of the event speaking in strasburg the head of chancellor merkel's party had this message. disheartened. where party members voted in syringe i was especially against a recommendation of. i want to make that clear once more we have not a proof that i consider it to be clearly wrong. it's both mainstream conservative parties are calling for new elections in 3. exists. it is an unacceptable breach to align votes with those of the far right for the office of state premier minister was in variance with us and the center left sees the vote as a threat to the government they are calling for

a special meeting of the coalition committee at the federal level. this was planned in advance a fixed con game with a clear goal that the free democrats the christian democrats and the far right and if they would form a common alliance to elect a state the perm yeah. the green and left parties also expressed their dismay over the election and 3. for the 1st time in germany we have a situation where democratic parties have gained power with the votes of the far right as it is intolerable the conservatives in the free democrats of perfect peace theropods for the far right have been used. that's what the demonstrators outside the f.t.p. headquarters in the german capital are saying to the election in florida is likely to cause further on rest in berlin. our political correspondent simon young is with us simon on the face of it chancellor merkel c.d.u. seems to have cooperated with the far right if d.

to elect a state premier in theory. if that's so it would appear that the conservatives in that state have taken a surprisingly radical turn to the right that's what it looks like we have to say some members of angela merkel's conservative party in this state said this small eastern states as you said have. voted in the same way as the far right a.f.p. now they've done that for tactical reasons they thought it was a way to get this man thomas kemmer a from the free democrats somebody they could support into the leadership of that state so that's why they've done it but of course it's that how it looks and the consequences of if this coalition a new theory is to hold it will be easy i'm a believer law on the far right policy for support that's going to be a real problem going forward it's caused a huge raul people at the federal level the national level of political parties of

saying this is a mistake the head of america's policy was actually. the great current current. she says that she warned about this in a vons and other conservatives are talking about a black eye and a full from grace for the mainstream parties here in germany now the left party in . which led the previous government there is in a state of shock the party's parliamentary chair refused to hand her bouquet of flowers to the newly elected state premier and instead just dropped it at his feet as we see here. simon what does this tell us about the political mood in germany but i think that just. illustrates the disgust that many people feel and not just supporters of the left policy many people feel that the a.f.d.

is as its core a racist and anti semitic policy and in particular in the state of the ranger where its leader has been particularly strident in making provocative comments talking about germany's immigration policy being the abolition of the german people talking about the holocaust memorial in berlin as a shameful monument and many other such such quotes where he sort of plays the chain of the far right he's a representative of the far right people say to support him here to accept his support and therefore implicitly to support his party is a real breach of the to boo and it must not be allowed to stand people are calling for fresh elections the center left social democrats of course are not happy either chancellor merkel's coalition partners there they're also up in arms here's what their national chairwoman. is saying about what just happened in. everyone

who ran against the former state premier knew they would have to rely on votes from the far right i knew ever does that is distancing himself from democratic principles. social democrats are calling the conservatives democratic principles into question so i mean what does this development in the state of the ring year tell us about what's happening at the group level what's the federal reaction to it you want to say is causing an almighty round there's going to be a big meeting of senior members of angela merkel's conservatives and social democrats of course we've got the national government them meeting on saturday to talk about this the big questions the leaderships of both parties saying fresh elections in 3 are probably going to be needed many in the f.t.p. the the party whose man here has been a poet has been elected as the state premier in the rangeela are also saying that this vote must not be allowed to stand so it's cause huge ructions and i think

a lot of people are saying you know this mustn't be allowed to stand this must be taken very seriously and people have got to think again some and thank you very much our political correspondent. for the world health organization has appealed for all 700000000 dollars to help fight the coronavirus global health emergency it says the money is needed to help countries that do not have systems in place to combat the virus meanwhile the death toll is approaching 600 and more than 28000 people have been infected china's capital beijing is not at the center of the outbreak but its streets and squares are deserted as the government attempts to bring the disease under control. a rare sight in the dry winters of beijing the gate to the forbidden city covered in snow a few people have come out to take in this spectacle but getting inside is out of the question just like almost all public facilities beijing's most famous historic

site remains closed i think it's good that the government took these measures we support them we depreciate even struck to meshes. business activity has largely come to a halt across much of the capital this is usually a bustling commercial street lots of souvenir shops not shops tourists who visit beijing usually come to spend time here today and the only one. every day human interaction has become suspicious this shop asked its customers to stay outside and communicate their needs from the outside. some pharmacies take this same approach everyone is wary. because the younger it's a national emergency we stand together or one of standing together should not be taken literally residential complexes keep strangers out in this compound visitors have to register with their id the guards look for the place of birth who are only

people can't get any even if they live here they'll be quarantined. people from who by a province where the virus originated are to be isolated in this hotel discrimination against them is now rampant. at the entrance to the subway system a mandatory temperature check in. the same site as everywhere in the city blocks of space. trains are running as usual it's the passengers who are like. this circle line some of beijing's most patient shopping area is the railway station. part. of the. aging has we ported less than $300.00 cases so far but fear here has spread much

faster than the virus ever could. it's a practice that usually causes lifelong physical and psychological damage female genital mutilation g m the united nations has set today february 6th as an annual day to draw attention to the problem which is more widespread than you might think if g.m. is carried out in communities around the world but it's particularly prevalent in these regions in africa the arab world and in asia it's thought that up to $200000000.00 women and girls have undergone some form of female genital mutilation egypt is the opiate and in geneva have the most cases by far in egypt 87 percent of women between the ages of 15 and 49 or thought to be affected but the problem is not limited to these countries here in the european union it's thought half a 1000000 women and girls live with the consequences of female genital mutilation

many survivors live in france our next report introduces you to a group of women fighting to end the practice. fatty majia and her daughter samantha and so i preparing food for the whole family some cousins leaf with them family and friends often stop by they like to have an open house. we're preparing yesa an african dish that is eaten in the sub region in mauritania and mali and above all in senegal for the glory of cooking us one of the traditions fascinated yeah holds dear from her country of origin mauritania but there are other so-called traditions which she strongly rejects. being. moved. by was cut and excisions were also performed to my 3 oldest daughters. what

am i know that my 2nd daughter had complications when she gave birth. i did it because i was afraid of my mother's influence you can see her there where she said if you don't have your daughter excised her prayers won't be heard. it was working as a midwife in mauritania in the 1980 s. that turned her against the practice. i've met many women who suffer from fistulas women who suffer from incontinence he could no longer hold back the you're in you have to change their clothes all the time they are even some who became completely isolated. when fatima diac came to france as a political refugee in 990 she started her fight against after. she founded an association that campaigns for women's rights in communities where the practice is still accepted she's also part of a european network which lobbies members of the european parliament to take

a more active stance against f g m. has also joined the fight. i was lucky not to be affected by f g m i grew up in france and i think the question never came up for me but people around me people i know are affected by it in my community even in my family that's why i feel it's important to fight against it salama turned her cousin how are are about to launch a series a few tube explainers to inform young girls about f c m. well i have 2 simple hello to all and welcome to the you tube channel purple chair my name is howard. f. g. am is illegal in france and the rest of the e.u. still there are 225000 survivors of f. jam and france alone. are confident their 5 helps in bringing down those numbers they didn't realize for this is an act of violence done to

a small girl who has done nothing that will maybe follow her until her death that is not good. whatever happens i know that this is a fight i will continue and i won't give up until i see concrete results. for more on this was talk to fiona coyle she's director of the. european network and joins us from brussels thanks for being with us this morning ms coyle now you are with a european network to and female genital mutilation is widely practiced here in the e.u. thank you for having me here this morning on the international day yes female genital mutilation it is your share today we are in one scene the fakers of the women and girls her survivors of female genital mutilation here

in europe have increased tonight there are 600000 women and girls living in europe with the consequences of f.p.m. and we know that many of these women were not caught in europe but also recent cases for example in ireland and in the u.k. am sure that if g.m. is also happening here in europe and we must put measures in place to protect the women and girls who are at risk so what is your organization and others like you doing to try and end the practice. you know so did and f. g.m. european network were no brown our good night ation so we have 27 members to write to europe who are working to raise awareness of the issue to ensure that the survivors and get the services and the support and to really invest in prevention if we are to end f g m we really need to scale prevention efforts

and central to that have to be the affected communities and there are many wonderful and bossa tears such as we've seen in the video just now who are working day in and day out to end f.d.m. in their communities given how deeply rooted it is in cultural tradition do you think she can ever be eradicated yes i truly believe i think we have a target by 2030 we and if g.m. and there are a number of things that need to happen we need to really put female genital mutilation on top of the political agenda there are 200000000 women who are affected by this form of gender based violence and we need to urgently increase resources and investments in this area if we are to meet those targets but by doing

that there's a huge movement of activists of the young people who are driving the fight and at g.m. and with support i believe that that can be achieved so is your work then bearing fruit is significant progress being made in reducing after you. yes we do see that there is progress in communities across the word here in europe and we see that more and more communities are standing up and speaking out and f g m so there is progress unfortunately there is in the north and just to population growth in countries the high practicing countries the actual number of girls being caught is going to increase between now and 2030 unless we really all our investment in this area but the prevention is really the key element really and sherry that

we're investing at the grassroots level is called thanks for talking with us this morning that was fiona coyle director of and g.m. european work thank you. and some sad news from hollywood the legendary oscar winning actor kirk douglas has died at the age of 103 he made his name in hollywood's golden age of movie making and was one of the biggest box office stars of the 950 s. and sixty's his son the actor michael douglas announced the news of his father's passing saying to the world he was a legend but to me and my brothers he was simply. thank you. thank god. they're watching d.w. news from coming up next business news with my colleague at heart as for us and get

in get all the latest news and information or rather talk on our web site that's at d w dot com i'm terry martin thanks watch. the

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from politics to flash from housing boom boom time this is where. welcome to the 77 percent. this weekend v.w. . rabbit. car all our goals global tesla and many other companies are feeling the impact of the virus all brought not just in china other contagious diseases affecting business to many other parts of the world. as german chancellor angela merkel visits south africa and german companies out drag the country's slowing economy out of the doldrums. electric autonomy how a small village near the german coast goes fully electric.