♪ >> this is "dw news" from berlin. a tragic accident or mass murder. conflicting views over the cause of the plane crash in the sinai. the airline eeo says that an external impact likely brought it down, but russian aviation authorities say that that conclusion is premature. also coming up, and unfair election. the u.s. adds its voice to a chorus of criticism over allegedly violent and intimidation in erdogan says that the vote must

be respected. could love start -- could lufthansa flights be grounded again? ♪ sarah: sarah kelly, great to have you with us. investigators from three countries continue to search for what run down a russian airline in egypt, killing all 224 people on board. what we knows that the metro jet airbus was en route from shaun all shake to st. petersburg when it crashed in the peninsula. the main wreckage area lies well over -- well away from the rest of the plane. they could have fallen to earth in their own directions, but the aviation agency has been critical of those drawing pre-conclusions at this hour and

right now there are few concrete answers as to what really happened. >> what rot down flight 9268 -- what brought down flight 962 -- 90 68? investigators are focusing on suspicious circumstances. aircraft appears to have sent out to notice -- no distress signals. the suggestion is that it fell on a straight line, indicating that whatever brought it down immediately interrupted its ability to fly. the spread of the wreckage across a wide area indicates that it broke up at a high altitude. the airline has ruled out technical or human error as the cause of the crash. there are no such faults like engine failure, system failure, no such combination that could lead to a plane breaking up in the air. that is why the only possible exhalation for a breakup of the aircraft in the air could be a

certain impact, some mechanical or physical impact. meanwhile, tributes to the victims are piling up outside st. petersburg airport, for the flight was due to arrive. the crash has left many visibly shaken. >> it is incredibly sad. these people, the children who were on the flight, it's heartbreaking. i have a child myself and i fly very often. the bodies of the deadly and arriving back in brush on monday. the pressure to find out how and why they died will only grow. sarah: let's get some perspective on one of these claims. from the center of american progress we're joined now from washington. you are an expert on middle east politics. one of the big theories is that this could have been a terrorist attack. in fact, the islamic state says that they shot down the plane, they claimed responsibility.

in your expert opinion do they have the weapons to do that? >> they don't. when it comes to the shoulder fired aircraft, they have quite simply the altitude that the rest -- that it reaches does not come close to 30,000 feet. that is why it was always completely ruled out from the get go. the claim that they put out was dismissed, at least initially. that being said, they insist that they had something to do with it, but they are being intentionally vague, i would say, perhaps to try and maximize as much propaganda value as they can, leaving the only possible way that they could have. being that they managed to smuggle a bomb on board, infiltrating the airport somehow, sabotaging it somehow, which is completely far-fetched.

when it comes to the questions about the weapons themselves, these can only hit at a weapon -- moment of takeoff or landing. it would have been very close to where the airport you -- were the airport is to use it. however, the aircraft left the most southern tip of sinai and crashed near the north. sarah: perhaps we will start to get answers as the physical evidence comes in, but in the meantime we are just looking at strategy here from the perspective of the islamic state, if they were behind this, what were they hoping to achieve? >> ostensibly, the reason that they had, this is a way to get back at russia for its intervention in syria. they have been promising to hit russia for what it's doing.

of course, they haven't been able to deliver on this. authorities have been rumored to have foiled possible i.s. linked attempts in moscow and in other russian targets. this may be the one that got away. that's the message that they are trying to send, and that's the strategy behind it. there is something more sinister at play. it may well prove to be false, but it cannot be looked at a simply lying jihadist. rather they are sending a message that them shooting down airliners is a fair game and they have escalated to new terror tactics that we are familiar with when it comes to al qaeda, but we have taken it as a group that is focusing exclusively on the middle east and when it comes to attacks against western european targets it has been loaned golf attack shootings, but we have not found

them to be the al qaeda types who would shoot down an arrow line or whether through a bomb otherwise. now we have this group that is much more financed and is saying that for them shooting down airliners is fair game. sarah: we will see if this could potentially be a change in strategy. thank you very much for your perspective on this potential theory of what could have happened to this plane. in other news there have been a wave of international -- the has been a wave of international criticism in the wake of the general election on sunday. the osce says that the climate of fear in turkey made it unfair and the united states says that they are deeply concerned the journalists were under pressure during the campaign. this all comes into question the sweeping victory of the president's party in a country that is already deeply divided.

>> a spectacular victory according to one newspaper. just months after the ruling, akp lost its absolute majority, the president's party won a sweeping victory. reactions were mixed. collect i think this is a good development for turkey. a single party government always has a positive effect on markets and the economy. >> i'm truly sorry. there was no leftist movement in turkey. >> by minister erdogan wants to change the constitution to boost his own powers, saying that the election was a victory for stability. >> in our political system, the final decision is in the hands of the people. the nation shows stability beginning on november 1.

international observers said that although the vote was free, the process was not entirely fair. >> they were not given a choice of media outlets or expression in general, impacting the process. physical attacks on party members, as well as the significant security concerns, particularly in the southeast, further involved restrictions on the ability to campaign. >> restrictions that the pro-kurdish party say affected their campaign. in july they swept into the legislature. this time they barely managed enough support to reenter parliament. some in the party and keep -- accused the government of intimidation. >> we received approximately 11% of the vote without waging a political campaign.

we only tried to protect our people against massacres. >> following the result, protesters took to the streets. the situation is already tense there in the wake of fighting between the army and kurdish militants. the election result is unlikely to improve the situation. sarah: our correspondent, dorian jones, is standing by for us in his dental with analysis. we just heard -- in istanbul with analysis. the president does not have enough votes to do it he wants, based upon this calculation, these results. so, what happens next? >> he is about 14 votes short. it is considered more than possible that he would be able to cobble together some votes from opposition deputies to achieve the goal of 330, but the real problem is that this move is incredibly politically risky.

the president sets an executive presidency with you checks to his powers, it's necessary to carry turkey forward as he describes it, but two opponents they say it is a dictatorship like russia. adding to the problem of getting the votes, it would have to be ratified by referendum, meaning turkey facing a fifth divisive wrote -- vote in two years, potentially the most so. even supporters of the president are believed to be having serious doubts about that. it would be a very, very risky move. sarah: earlier we mentioned the course of voters -- voices calling this legitimacy of the election into question. are we likely to see action? >> very little. he has made it clear that he finds these international organization comments annoying

and he will look at this crushing victory as vindication of his party, saying that the world must respect this vote. what is more is that he knows the western allies need his cooperation against the islamic state and other issues. he could ignore these criticisms. sarah: in the meantime, when we look at the country it is a country that is deeply divided. where does the election fit into that narrative? >> is seen as the biggest challenge facing this within the country. the key thing now is -- what do they do with this mandate? continue with these divisive policies or reach out? the prime minister gave a speech that he is trying to heal the differences, but of the president tries to go executive, the divide will be even deeper and there is a worrying sign now of a further crackdown on dissenting media. another newsmagazine has been

rated by the police and editors have been detained. the crackdown on dissenting media is continuing. >> dorian, thank you very much for that site. the number of migrants who crossed the mediterranean to europe jumped to almost 220 thousand in, according to the united nations refugee agency. that is a record for a single month and about the same as the number four the entire year of 2014. many hope to reach germany, where chancellor angela merkel's response to the crisis has created a rift in the government. it is additionally -- difficult situation on the borders of europe. >> despite colder temperatures, votes continue to arrive. the onset of winter has done little to deter the thousands of people headed west. many believe and the fear that europe will soon close at orders and it has added a sense of urgency. overnight weak fisherman on the island of glasgow's rushed to

the rescue of this boat in rough waters. >> it had been there for about three hours, with no engine running. we were looking in the wrong place. i received a call from athens and they gave me the right location. i could not see it because of the wind, so i called my fellow fishermen and told them to sail out. that is how we found it. >> they were among the lucky, all aboard survived. dozens of volunteers have joined to help them deal with the influx, but it is taking its toll. >> every day it's the same thing, every day. every day we have to pull babies out of the sea, wet and blue from the cold. even the toughest people, i don't think that they can handle that every day.

it's very, very bad. >> more than 60 people have died in the last four days alone. half of them children. >> a desperate situation there. we have to take a quick break, but when we come back we have more news for you. stay with us. ♪

sarah: welcome back. you are watching "dw news." was terrorism to blame for the downing of a russian passenger plane in egypt? the airline said that it was an external impact across -- that caused the crash. aviation authorities say that it is too soon to tell. the leaders of japan and south korea have taken a big step towards resolving the issue that has showered them for decades. at a rare summit in seal the

prime minister said that he wanted the earliest possible resolution to this issue. >> a decades old wound that hasn't yet healed. south korea's so-called comfort women, forced into prostitution by japanese soldiers in world war ii. no one does exactly how many women suffered, but some put the number at 200,000. many south koreans say that japan's apologies are insufficient. only a small number of victims having concentrated. something they want to change. these demonstrators have not forgotten the horrors of the past. it also serves as a reminder. now that you country leaders have held the first formal talks on the issue. >> the president said the comfort women issue is the biggest obstacle in improving elation ships between the two

countries. she emphasized the need for a resolution that is acceptable to the victims and convincing to our citizens. >> the japanese prime minister said that he also wants an agreement. >> regarding the issue of comfort women, i believe that we should not be behind difficulties for future generations. as we try to build a future oriented cooperative of -- cooperative relationship. collects a significant change for japan, who have previously refused -- >> a significant change for japan, who had earlier refused that the women were forced to live and ruffles. >> if you have a lufthansa flight, there could be trouble. >> we will see what happens. that's what's been announced by the union so far.

lift anza is fighting for its place in the skies. budget airlines are growing dominant, their strategy is about expanding the services of euro wings, a bone of contention between management and personnel. after months of on and off strikes, this time cabin crew are saying the same. >> celebrations marking the flight between germany and cuba, but not everyone is happy about the expansion. workers are worried that they will have to bear the brunt of the expansion. one major issue is the use of cheaper, non-german work contracts. monday the flight attendants union threatened a weeklong strike on friday, they are angry that they want to pay yearly pension increases to the market.

>> we made structure for ourselves. for the easyjet and other budget airlines. that lead nowhere. the dons a turned down a reported proposal promising millions in savings. the management call this unrealistic. >> for me this is completely of -- complete the incomprehensible. it signifies a lack of sense for the reality. to proceed with a confrontational course when the situation calls for creating chances for growth in the future. >> 5 p.m. thursday they declare the deadline to move to prevent a strike. sarah: jamal joins us now from the business desk.

janel, take us through the background of this latest dispute. janelle: this dispute has been running for about two years and it is essentially about financing the earlier -- earlier appointment, retiring 55, which sounds quite good. it does. for this -- for those 10 years, guaranteed interest payments are coming from a concept. lufthansa wants to make up a bigger market base, so for the market could meet -- could mean less retirement money. >> it basically sounds like a good times are over, but don't forget that this is their first strike to plague them. and it really has been a plague this year.

>> exactly. the pilots alone have gone on strike in the last 18 months at least 13 times. you can imagine how many were canceled. personnel does not even stop there. ground, agent, service, security crew, even the call center, they have the promises with -- problems with lufthansa. we have that seen them striking but they may yet. >> why are so -- so many employees unhappy? >> essentially the restructuring. we mentioned it earlier in the report. they are expanding their budget airline, causing a lot of insecurities. particularly the yearlings contract. important -- employees are

afraid that their good, old, solid german conflict -- contracts will be pushed out or they will be. >> moving from a tough job to a difficult job. thank you for coming in. u.s. environmental regulators are expanding the reg -- investigation into diesel engines by passing them -- by passing emissions standards. they are also accused of employing cheap software and bigger models. vw denied the claim. until now they have been looking at smaller details and this is an even bigger embarrassment for the carmaker. greece, new and old president, alexis tsipras, has had somewhat of a grace period from the

media. even the banks are doing better than it according to the latest test results. but that is not enough to keep the people from hitting the street. >> we demand what we deserve, that is what the people are protesting in athens, protesting the education system. >> some schools do not have any buses. because the situation is just so hard, that's why we are protesting. they don't have books, teachers are missing, they don't treat us well. >> even the band cannot play the problems away. every fourth teaching post remains empty. the state has no money. special taxes have been introduced for private schools.

it has forced about 20,000 people to switch to the already over at -- overcrowded, ill-equipped state schools. leaving just one demo in a protest this week, hospital staff and subway drivers are also all striking. a general strike will follow next. they the eu will take a look at the greek government savings plan. >> they went wild, these guys did. now it's time to move on to sports news. the world series. an interesting thing about the name of the series is the fact that it's not a world series, is it? sarah: it's not, but americans would argue that everyone should pick up a baseball bat >> and the world should be watching. [laughter] sarah: here are the results, in major league baseball the kansas city royals won a world series for the first time in 30 years

and they did it with some serious drama to boot. they staged a last-minute comeback to upend the new york mets in only five games. >> matt harvey was on his way to a shutout. nine strikeouts, no runs after eight innings seemed to guarantee a win, forcing a sixth game. harvey even thought to stay on the field, a choice that played into the hands of the kansas city royals. first, a double to start the play tied the game 2-2. then the first postseason at-bat for christian colon ignited to give them the lead. ray davis closed out the game to give the royals the world series title after a tough loss last season. >> from day one there was no

doubt in my mind that they would accomplish it. no doubt in my mind they wouldn't accomplish it. >> this was their seventh come from behind victory in the season. >> we did had down. we never thought that the game was over. >> the victory in new york thrilled fans, watching from bars back in kansas city. a first since 1985. sarah: huge congratulations to you kansas city fans out there. that's all we have time for, thank you for watching. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

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♪ damien: hello and welcome to "focus on europe" - with some of the very best human stories behind the headlines. i'm damien mcguinness. and we've got a really great program lined up for you today. free speech in the spotlight in turkey. russia inching forward into georgia. and feathered friends fight loneliness in british nursing when it comes to the refugee crisis, all eyes are suddenly on turkey. the country is seen as crucial in helping to stem the flow of migrants to europe. and so the eu is now trying to persuade turkey to police its borders better and to improve