food the christmas market will certainly have important questions raised as to why could happen and what kind of security gap there was. and it's important mariano, what you mentioned base is indeed something very sensitive here in germany. not only because christmas markets are a cultural institution here in germany, it's something that doesn't only attract taurus, but also many germans. but also because of a 2016 attack that you mentioned. although i would like to be careful because it's still very early to compare the 2016 attack to anything that happened right now. that was the w as thomas barrow thomas. thank you so much for your analysis. all right, let's turn our attention to some other news now and in the united states, lawmakers have approved a new spending bill to avoid and government shut down the senate and dropped normal procedure to fast track a vote. minutes after the midnight the deadline had passed, both republican and democrat lawmakers supported the new plan. it includes billions of dollars for

a disaster aid farmers and funding for the us government until mid march of next year. but it did not include the condition that president elect donald trump had demanded, which is a change to the deb limit to allow the government to take on new debt. the white house says president joe biden will sign the plan into law. we can now speak to ethan berman, he is a attorney and adjunct professor as leo law school in los angeles. welcome to d w. so just how difficult was it for democrats and republicans to finally find a compromise and passed the budget a this was a and an unnecessary herculean task to get people to actually keep our government functioning here in the united states. speaker johnson, and it was only on tuesday had 1st proposed this continuing resolution bill that

had significant other pieces including reducing prescription drug prices, restricting investments in china due to the essentially de talent or cold war that is happening at least economically with china at this point but it was you on musk who jumped in the shadow president himself and said a made false statements about what was in the bill. and very likely had issues with the restrictions on the china investment as his companies are heavily invested in china. all right, so we, we mentioned a few elements that are in this funding plan, but can you tell us a bit more specifically what it includes? and also we should remember it's only until mid march to yeah, that's right. and that's, that's actually a big point as well, is that it's only until mid march,

they did not raise the debt ceiling beyond that point. so the bill includes very specifically the continuing funding of the government in till march. and then uh, also it did provide disaster relief for natural disasters. it provided relief for farmers. and that is about the extent of it. so this was almost just continuing. what is in place currently being and as we might call it, you know, kicking the can down the road for another 90 days late on the well, the debate over raising the death limit or abolishing it completely. i mean, this is not just a policy that's the incoming president, donald trump has been demanding. we've also heard some democratic lawmakers calling for this. so what are the different positions on, on this issue this yeah, this is a big one. marietta, thank you for asking about it so. so keep in mind that the idea of

a debt limit was introduced in 1917 during bond fundraising for world war one. it hadn't existed before then it really became a hot topic in 1995 with the republican congress attacking then president bill clinton and claiming that they wanted to reduce debts. but it's congress that passes spending bills. the idea of a debt limit is antithetical to the idea that congress passes spending bills. why would congress have to deal with a debt limit when they're the ones who passed the spending in the 1st place? but the positions are all across the board. the democrats have numerous times in recent years tried to get rid of the debt limit period, the debt ceiling, and then surprisingly it was donald trump. out of the blue, it was approximately 24 hours ago from when we're talking right now. who said, let's just get rid of it entirely, which the,

what's called the freedom caucus is what they labeled themselves. this kind of physically, hyper conservative, hyper small government wing of the republican party of approximately 35 republicans . they're against raising the debt ceiling and eliminating the debt ceiling. and they're the ones who voted no, again, even tonight. so if donald trump did not get what he wanted in this bill, can this be perceived as a blow to him? yeah, i think this is a significant note to take is it was donald trump, who said your going to pass a bill that gets rid of the debt ceiling and they didn't. the republicans absolutely did not follow through on that. they're not apparently going to do everything he says, and what people need to realize is when donald trump takes the presidency for the

2nd time on january 20th on day one, he is something that is called a lame duck president, meaning he can't run for office again. he's not going to run for president again. so what you're gonna find is there are republicans who are going to begin jockeying for the position to run for president in 2028. and we have the mid terms coming up in 2026. they're going to be looking out for themselves more than they're going to be looking out for donald trump. that was a fand berman adjunct professor at layla law school from los angeles. thanks so much for your insights. thanks for having me. i'd appreciate it. let's get a check now of some other stories making news. sirens weld in the early hours of saturday in tell a v as a missile fired from yemen. gone through is really air defenses. several injuries were reported to the rebels based, and yemen have repeatedly targeted israel. describing their actions as solidarity

with palestinians in garza swedish authorities. they made important fines while investigating suspect it's sabotaged by a chinese ship. it's a ledge. the crew deliberately drag, the freighters anchor over the bed of the baltic sea for more than $100.00. 60 kilometers, cutting internet cables that link for nato countries. the united states is dropping. it's $10000000.00 reward for the arrest of syria's new defacto leader. the announcements came after us officials visited damascus to hold talks with the syrian administration. it was the 1st diplomatic mission from the united states to syria since the beginning of the civil war. a senior and diplomat held talks with osmond l. sharah, the revelator who's h t, as in group health, over throw dictate, or bashar al assad through jean h t. s ones have ties to the terra group, al qaeda,

but parted ways with them. several years ago to the w correspondent to abraham joins us now from damascus. hello to us. so what does this move by the us mean for syria? well, certainly, if you as serious defacto rebel leaders, this is a step in the right direction. this is, this would be a part of a larger effort to try and bring syria a connected back again with the international community and international organizations. um, they're also calling for the lifting of sanctions on syria, which of been, of course, placed on the former regime due to its involvement and war crimes against its own people. certainly hear from damascus as far as the rebels leaders is concerned. this is one step in the right direction for their country and certainly lends them legitimacy as the defect to leaders of syria and for the united states. as,

as to us, the department official said it wouldn't make sense to be sitting with a man on whose head we have a bounty. that would be counter productive at 4 sir. yeah, i'm perfect. it was just the fact that the us sent emission to damascus. so soon after bus charlotte start up with a toppled that alone i would imagine is, is a very important symbol of legitimacy for this new administration. at what else was discussed at this meeting? was another big priority for the united states was of course that the terrible lake, the stomach state license would not be allowed to operate in syria. and we are told that the insurances have been given by serious defect. 2 leaders that i asked would not be allowed to operate in the territory of syria. and the united states said

that it is imperative to continue fighting. i did not give any details as to what that means exactly. did the us mission, have any specific demands for this new syrian administration? i know there's a lot of concerns about protecting minorities and ensuring that all different sects are respected within syria. were any issues related to these things, or human rights protections mentioned at the meeting? certainly, and that's something you know, the protection of women, the protection of minorities is something that united states officials and european officials have been seeing since the, you know, since this unfolded 2 weeks ago, almost 2 weeks ago. it's hard to imagine that the protection of minorities and women, it should be a priority for the new a power a here is it powers here in syria. and, and i know that you've been speaking to many people in syria. one of they've been

telling you about their hopes moving forward. so it's been really an extraordinary week for us here, covering syria after the abrupt fall of course started i said people have been telling us a lot of things, but i would say if there's one thing that really will say my mind as i the syria today, is that when we're out here, you know, doing our work, people who come to us and they'll ask us, are you from the media or your journalist? and when we say yes, they'll say, i want to speak to you. i want to have something to say. and this is really, anywhere we go, you have people coming up to us and just, you know, very eagerly wanting to speak to the media and saying, i have something to say. and i think that's really important to remember as we move forward is that of course, there are a lot of, you know, international actors out there that have an interest in what's going on in syria. and the big fear among people here is that their voices and what they want for their country is going to somehow be the model then, you know,

speaking to after this, especially women's rights activists. they're already saying, you know, there's a lot of talk about us and what we want is for our own voices to be amplified. the syrian people have been living under the, you know, the side dynastee for, for decade and just might be a true unique opportunity for them to finally be able to express what they want for their country. after so many years of their agency being dropped from them. and i think that's, that's really, really important to remember moving forward for us as journalists, but also for world leaders that it is the voice of the syrian people that need to be amplified and listen to the definitely is a abraham in damascus for us if thank you so much for your reporting. we really appreciate it. now to some other world news, it is really settlers have set fire to a mosque and be occupied. westbank palestinian authorities say the blaze was put out before it could spread. the settlers were also filmed, scrolling hateful messages on the building is really police say they're

investigating the incident. volkswagen says it plans to cut up to 35000 jobs by the year 2030. the german carmakers and job cuts are necessary for it to compete with cheaper chinese rivals. after negotiations with union representatives, the company reached a deal to avoid plant closures and immediate layoffs are. now a quick reminder of our top story, 2 people are confirmed dead and scores injured after a car plowed into a crowded christmas market in the german city of an active birth authorities are treating it as an attack and have a rest of the driver. a say, the suspect is a doctor from saudi arabia who's lived in germany since 2006. you're up to date on the w news, a marietta evans dean. thanks for watching the show, a ride guides

know the way around is strictly scientific trip to some pretty cheap places. curiosity is we tried tomorrow today. next on d w. can they get away with it? how does one become a target online? hey? tens of thousands of signed the lease rose social media platforms. that goal is to drive that victims to a novice breakdown. you never take me down. this time of bullying. call town. in 45 minutes on d, w. conflicts,

crises. every single connection mapped out shows the geopolitical reality. the on the board is what makes things the way they are mapped out, navigating a changing world now on youtube the, the lots of people dream of becoming an astronaut. but does everyone really have the same opportunities in the profession from germany, 12 name humphreys, since broken the bonds of it, but and so now not a single german woman making the trip into holdings as a crew member on a privately find a slight, but they, a real good will be discussed more on that mission and others that have to us is more about the moon coming up on tomorrow to day. these spectacular.