this is the news live from berlin uncertain political future here in germany as plans for the euro after all fall apart the woman tipped to take over from the chancellor now says she does not want the job. what does on a great trump card bauer's decision mean for the government and for the country's future also coming up. this young woman in cameroon was beaten and

mutilated by violent separatists we find out what's behind the cruelty and whether elections held last weekend will help to stop the ba'ath. syrian troops intensify their offensive in fiddler province the last stronghold of rebel supported by turkey which says it will strike back if more of its soldiers are killed. by brian thomas a very warm welcome to the program plans for who should succeed all have fallen apart the woman considered next in line for the job of german chancellor says she will not run on a. stepping aside after members of her christian democrats ignored her and instead allied themselves with the far right to win

a regional election now that move created political shock waves that show no sign of abating. on the compound gave little notice before informing party leaders of her decision she was long chancellor angela merkel's hand-picked successor now she won't be her party's candidate for chancellor and plans to step down as party chief she says the cd used decision 2 years ago to separate the role of chancellor candidate and party leader was a mistake. as have seen in the us and target that the leadership question is still unresolved to this very day specific lay the issue of who will be the party's candidate for chancellor. we haven't been able to find a solution despite 2 party conventions and apparently some people don't want to resolve this issue. they still. believe the cd you could pick a new party leader at its convention in december she's planning to stay on as

defense minister her decision was apparently one she took alone. even chancellor merkel didn't find out about comcast in bars plans to step down until monday morning. shocked is a title quote there i respect this decision. but i must also say i regret that it's come to this but overall i can imagine that this was not an easy decision for an incorrect crap are imbalanced in fact the fineness former c.d.u. parliamentary party leader feels like math is being honored as a potential successor to comp. in 2018 he narrowly lost the party leadership vote to her. both amin lush at the state premier of north rhine-westphalia and german health minister jens spawn are also in the running the tumult in the c.d.u. also has their coalition partner the social democrats worried.

to you can't agree on its future direction and has been without a real leader for a long time. one seen as the future of the c.d.u. . announcing she stepped in back after only one year as party chief her decision means the c.d.u. will likely be busy for months deciding on a new leader so do germany's conservatives have months to resolve this sudden crisis to be a political correspondent kate brady joins us more on that good morning to you kate what does this all leave the german government and is the coalition at risk well we heard there in the report the social democrats of already being voicing their concerns about the future of the leadership of their coalition partner but at the moment the gro co of the grand coalition as it's known looks likely to continue but that will really depend on how the c.d.u. progress is in the next in the coming months over this issue of a new leader and most likely a candidate for the for next year federal elections but that said if we look at the

bigger picture it's not so much the government but really germany's political stance on the world stage particularly in the e.u. which is in a much more precarious position right now and there were a lot of voices coming out of brussels at least yesterday wondering what on earth is going on in germany right now and of course they'll be looking for wards those elections that a jew to take place here in 2021 and thinking who is likely to be the candidate because at the moment the c.d.u. itself is struggling to really have a strong candidate a strong successor if america and even the other parties the s.p.d. and even the greens may come up against difficulties when it comes to putting a candidate forward so that idea of stability that comes from joe. money within europe is certainly on the line at the moment ok you know a stable germany anchored in the e.u. is certainly at the forefront of the policies for all of the 3 men we saw in our report there vying for the cd you stop job well one of them getting that position

well we've got a long way to go yet and if you look at some of the polls even one of the favorites free to place mats who we expect if he was to take the reins of. the c.d.u. party leader that he would most likely move the posse to a much more conservative position away from the center ground that we've seen merkel move germany's conservatives towards over the last 16 years or so even in the polls he's only pulling out around 27 percent at the moment so i really no real strength the numbers from him so we do have a long way to go yet and of course there are 3 main names at the moment that are doing the rounds here in germany but we could still see some surprise contenders coming up over the next few weeks ok you know the far right alternative for germany sparked this crisis are they benefiting from it well they certainly could look to benefit mole in the coming months of will have to look to see as well how the c.d.u. plans to realign itself and decide what kind of conservative party does it want to be what kind of conservative party does it want to stand for going into these

elections because if it fails really to get its act together we could see even more disillusioned voters disappointed c.d.u. voices going to the far right a.f.p. and at least looking at a poll that came out just this morning from you gov at least it wouldn't be a surprise for german votes is around 50 percent just under 50 percent of germans say they now expect the f.t. to be participating in either state or federal government by 2039 that doesn't mean that they are they support that 59 percent are fundamentally against it but they expect it nonetheless and so will reddy it seems that germany's apparent immunity to fall right populism that bubble seems to be slowly busting ok thanks so much for coming in on this worse today thanks very much. let's get you briefed down some of the other stories making news today a suicide bombing us at the afghan capital kabul officials saying at least 6 people

were killed by the blast at the entrance to an old terry academy this ends a recent lol in violence as the u.s. pursues talks with the taleban to finalize a cease fire deal. officials in bangladesh say a boat carrying the hinge of refugees has sunk off the country's southern coast at least 14 people drowned 70 were rescued many of the estimated 1000000 range of muslims who fled persecution in neighboring me and more have been trying to leave camps in baglan dash on boats headed for malaysia. swarms of desert locusts are sweeping across eastern africa threatening food security for millions of already vulnerable people the outbreak has devastated crops and a number of countries the u.n. is warning of an impending humanitarian crisis and killing for international aid military forces have been deployed to help with ground based pesticide spread.

now for the 1st time in 7 years cameroon has held local and parliamentary elections the opening of the polls has been delayed because of violence though and political turmoil in the english speaking northwest and southwest turnout was low armed separatists there warning people not to vote in 2017 the separatists unilaterally declared independence in the formation of a new nation amazonia. their pursuit of self determination has been devastating in the lives of more and more civilians a warning some viewers may find the following report disturbing. clue dean of karma is recovering in hospital how low cost chopped off but. she sees. the men came to our home our night accusing heart of defined a ban on education. pretty clear there was a drop of make it our what followed was tear up. a look at this it out

through i saw it it was all a dream this was real they kept hitting me with a machete because. the man started by gradually topping off my ankle who never could one of them was flogging my back with them i said he and the other person completely chop off my leg i saw my legs separated into his no i never got. the rebellion but under 4 militias is sticking a store on the population. a few kilometers away 42000 hectares of banana robot on pump land to should have been abundant. the state owned farm is a 2nd biggest employer in the country but should parties want it close 1000 of these workers how slow it do to increase the types many have been mutilated and or the skewed. job was sleeping with

a men reader desktop logic one teeny 1000000 the one movie missing the separatists said they would have loved to kill us me to be but they would rather cut off our fingers in order to send a message to our employer to walk the walk they think is going to be cutting they told us they were fighting for us she thought we were working in a government plantation. which funds the government's crackdown against them with immediately they chopped off our fingers. don't we too late on this one well as i move. in a show of force pushes off to shut down the entire full regions. all activities are halted people or doctors off the streets sean time last 3 weeks. come also just to have been accused of killing civilians i'm burning down villages this gritty situation is very dire you know with the people of this always

on the road between the military and the separatist forces so you are not even sure that you will see the next. and also because of that on certainty it affects businesses most people are not the best those who have businesses cannot really make a lot of money because for those who are those who are restaurant people who don't go out a lot people don't ski hourly you know there's general and shown in the. clued in how in discharged from hospital. this single mother of one is taking our very 1st steps knowing how life will never be the same again. for more on this we're joined now from in the english speaking region of cameroon by the reporter put that piece together for us plays a young dates you boys are can you tell us more about the incredible cruelty and the violence we saw in your report. by seeing this falling as

a result of all parties in the conflict trying to gain control will take to it all control of the end reform regions of camera which separatists here called imbecility or facilities will ever does not fit with the instructions that they're put in place in this region dispersing will be targeted out without any explanation simply the army the army also sees the spot is still part of cameroon who ever the suspect of being a sympathizer of cypriot is the support has been dispersed and also has been will be tied to scores of villages have been burned down people have been killed and so have been beheaded this is not a huge trend the stories we've seen in our report is not just something that's happened in does just that it happened in not something else completely last 3 years is going to start plays a lot of people have been fleeing understandably of this the struggle for power about what's it like for those who remain behind what are they up against.

life's extremely didn't call for those stayed behind because some of them have lost everything to lost you know all those family members and businesses here on ginny's the economy has crippled totality and this closely has brought a rise of on groups that are not and this is really a suspicion east but these are criminal on groups who are involved in extortion in kidnapping and also in cheating so people he. i know free to go about their business is feed people who cannot go out to eat anymore because the police is the security and security is not guaranteed ok what about the recent elections could they change anything in this part of cameroon. the government seeks out in this elections under full to have some power to decide the future and to decide the outfit but these realistically this is not going to change

anything because they are open in which i'm simply to use fight as do not even recognize elections or what ever it is just another government tries to put in place that all those elections will not be respected by that i'm through because of this i have continuously denied that cameroon is a separate country on the how to support going to just call him by sonia so everything that comes out of the election this see will not take place here in the numbers and solve was regions of cameroon and east means that you will continue to fight security forces and civilians will continue to suffer blaze thanks so much for that from the way that's in the english speaking region of cameroon thank you very much glazier. it's to china now on the 2 most senior health officials and who bury that's the province and center of china's crowbars outbreak have been fired this news comes as the death toll from the virus tops 1000 and with more than 42000 cases confirmed nationwide the chinese territory of hong kong has had more than 40

confirmed cases and because of the need there to curb the spread of the virus the pro-democracy movement has suspended its protests and has gone underground for an hour list. the base mosque an emblem of hong kong's lurch from one crisis to another was an icon of the pro-democracy demonstrations now it offers protection against a new coronavirus with the street protests now largely at an end hong kong's focus has shifted where images of violent street battles once covered these walls now it's the battle against the virus that dominates with one common thread underpinning boasts distrust of the government and its chief executive carrie lamb the priest is on the wall may have changed it taking a look around it is clear that the anger which fuel the protests can't be papered over quite as easily. as the death toll in china mounts many of slammed hong kong

for keeping its borders open. for the submission to just a small $6.10 sanitise it has sparked panic buying and fear. one prominent voice then amongst the anger is hong kong as the last community of pro-democracy activists. during the protests campaign is simon loud common quang use the space to make props for the demonstrations. when the virus hits they swapped helmets by hand sanitizer using the network to source the donations in ingredients filling in they say where authorities who fails. proof that while they may have pushed pools on the protests the movement is just as focused as ever. because this government will upset all people. not just our political beliefs but also all people in the community normally they're the supporter of this type of shit but now you can see they are quiet. but they are very angry this sign in

common altruism hands with political pragmatism they believe that as the virus spreads so it will enter government sentiments and if not they hope to harness to push for democratic change offguard divides the public that there's a strong movement in why i've every confidence is because before they do all the system peoples will understand from all what will flood the my wrist become why it's so fierce and unfair. of course the system. it's activists like 5 it has always been clear that battle would not be for someone with street protests alone the pro-democracy campaigns proven it can adapt and it's actions like this that could become the new face of the movement is angry of the government's handling of the virus which discontent across the political spectrum. in other news today

a fierce storm sweeping across northern europe has left at least 7 people dead and knocked out power and hundreds of thousands of homes hurricane force winds and heavy rains disrupting travel in a number of countries the storm has been moving eastwards after 1st pummeling the u.k. and mainland europe. ireland's nationalist party shin fein wants a major role in the country's next government the party led by mary lou mcdonald scored his best ever election results his rival parties have previously refused to work with brain but the center right you know fall is no longer ruling out a coalition. the number of chinstrap penguins in parts of western and arctica has fallen by some 80 percent since 1900 s. this is according to scientists studying climate change and comes as a research base in antarctica recorded its warmest temperatures ever for the

continent. well the turkish military is claiming that is killed more than $100.00 syrian military personnel in the province there are said to have died in shelling that came in retaliation for a syrian attack that left turkish soldiers dead syria's military is on the offensive right now in lebanon wants to retake the country's last remaining anti-government stronghold where turkish troops are aiding the rebels. turkey fights back against the asset regime ankara says it will repay its own casualties. must be confirmed as soon as possible. to be permanent the assad regime's aggression. president has emphasized that turkey will take the necessary measures if the regime continues its aggression its. airlifted to hospital some of the turkish troops injured in a sad latest assault on it lived

a sad is trying to recapture the province from rebel forces rebels often armed by turkey 5 turkish casualties followed 8 others last week all of the hands of sads forces. this is the latest in a series of escalations between turkey and syria turkey wants to defend its border with syria and the said regime wants to regain influence within its own borders the civilian cost of all this has been high in recent weeks nearly 700000 civilians have been displaced. adorn a turkish military convoy enters northern syria joining the effort to halt assad's offensive showing that turkey means what it says about defending its own border let's get more of the story now from turkey correspondent in istanbul. how significant is this latest escalation between syria and turkey. well diary clashes between nato member turkey and syrian regime forces have been

extremely rare in the nearly 9 year old syrian conflict turkey has militarily intervened in 3 operations so far in syria against the so-called islamic state against kurdish led forces it considers a terrorist threat but it has so far avoided attacking us troops so what we have been seeing their latest incidents are some of the most serious confrontations between the 2 countries so far in the past week has tried to reinforce military posts in live by sending in hundreds of military vehicles and reportedly thousands of troops all of this in an attempt to stem deadly offensive on the lid and all of that as you can imagine as more instability to an already toxic mix them. why is so important to both syria and turkey or

willing to escalate the deadly flooding there. well it is one of the last remaining areas out of bashar al assad's control the last rebel held a bastion there in syria home to about 3000000 people most of them internally displaced assad one has to retake all of syria so he definitely needs a turkey's president and one on the other hand wants to stop assad because if it looks holds turkey faces another large scale influx of refugees hundreds of thousands of people have already fled to areas near the turkish border some say op to a 1000000 are basically waiting there in search food security fleeing has said so russian backed offensive turkish resin edward has repeatedly said he already has

for a 1000000 refugees that is something that has proven politically costly for him so he says we call on state anymore refugees and then of course look at the humanitarian situation there people are living in makeshift camps it's winter it's freezing cold and some organizations say that needy hall for it let's say 3000000 civilians are children. would so much as stake for both sides work we expect things to go from there. well that's difficult to say much will probably depend on russia president bashar al assad's most important international a backer of president everyone has given damascus until the end of the month to retreat to cease fire lines that he agreed on with president putin in 2018 but so far as such does not seem to be interested in that turkey is holding talks with russia since saturday but these talks have also not yielded any results yet so

the question is is russia able or willing to rein in assad so we're going to see the tensions further increase on afraid so we'll have an eye on that and keep an eye on that and watch the situation ok yulia for now thanks very much for that from istanbul we have some sports now and a group of girls from a remote village in kyrgyzstan have been coming together to form the country's 1st all female ice hockey team shoppach with no other female teams to play against shall park has been honing their skills against all male teams and their growth has earned them plenty of respect and support from abroad. this tiny brick house is where the girls change into their hockey equipment before they set foot on the ice . skating is a rest height in the central asian country of kurdistan. but these girls are all about defying stereotypes yet the 1st female ice hockey team in the country and

they train on a plot of farmland. i cultivate the land here it's my plot of land i plumb potatoes some flows you can grow anything here. and some of its use for agriculture in winter i create an ice rink. the coach converted his garage to a changing room and the country's diaspora community in switzerland donated the equipment a team started to grow through word of mouth. giving and i kept it never even occurred to me that i would ever play hockey for some of the or also my classmate the coach's daughter she suggested i come and try to play hockey 2 cups acquiring the cuts. the team now has around 15 playoffs changing minds won't be easy but locus is slowly warming up to the country's 1st female ice hockey team

. the state of new news up next in-depth reporting in our show close up this time around it's all about the lagoon city that has and its struggle to fight the dogs. there's also more of a website i'm brian thomas for the entire news team thanks so much.

direct and close up. topics that move the world. from society and politics to the environment. to the current

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history of the slave trade is of africa's history. describes how the greek for power and profit plummeted and entire continent into chaos and violence. this is the journey back into the history of slavery. our documentary series slavery routes starts march 9th on t.w. . by roy it's venice shouldn't really exist with its 124 imams and countless bridges and canals this city in northern italy was built in the middle of a march. it's proof of human or dangerous mist and our inability to most.