♪ brent: this is "dw news," live from berlin. tonight, just as on trial in turkey and a surprising twist in the case of a german national accused of helping terrorists. turkish prosecutors are calling for the release of human rights organizer peter steudtner. it comes on the same day his trial goes underway. steudtner's arrest has tested relations between turkey and germany. we will go to istanbul for the latest. also, the rerun no one wants to watch. ahead of tomorrow's re-peat

presidential election kenyans say their country is deeply divided. and germany's president appeals for better ties between berlin and moscow. on a visit to russia he tells vladimir putin the countries have to work together if they want to trust each other. ♪ brent: i am brent goff. it is good to have you with us tonight. we start off with breaking news from turkey. a prosecutor's call might have diplomatic echoes. turkey's public prosecutor is seeking the release of german human rights activist peter steudtner. steudtner's trial got under way after he was arrested in istanbul last july. steudtner is accused of links to terrorism but berlin has dismissed those allegations and amended he be released. he is a man -- among a group of 11 activists being prosecuted,

including several from the rights watchdog amnesty international. we are going to our correspondent who has been covering the trial proceedings for us in istanbul. was this decision from the prosecutor, was it really expected? guest: it certainly was not. speaking to amnesty officials at of the start of the trial today, there was the hope of possibly the turkish rights defenders could be released following talks with turkish officials but there was very little hope that peter steudtner would be released, particularly in the present climate of tension between them. throughout the day the prosecutor gave little indication he was ready to make any kind of gesture. but out of the blue you need this request in the middle of

the evening and took everyone by surprise. brent: a lot of the criticism we have heard levied against the trial has been at the notion that the judiciary in turkey is independent. do you think this move by the prosecutor was an attempt to show the world that yes, we are independent? dorian: i think that certainly would be the message they will present to its international critics. insisting the judiciary is independent in the face of accusations that many trials are politically motivated. it has to be said there is growing rumors and speculation that the rumor behind this surprise move is it comes when there are reports all across turkey and international financial media that berlin was on the verge of using its influence to curtail the lending by for an international investment development institutions. that would potentially hit hard

for the turkish economy because it depends heavily on money from abroad. there are links be made between that as the prosecutor made the decision in the evening. brent: the power of the purse, many say, is what made this decision possible. do we know when peter steudtner could be free? dorian: we have to be clear that the charge -- the judge still has to make a decision, though it is unusual for the judge to go against prosecutor's wishes. but if he does agree to release peter steudtner and the others he could be released late tonight or in the early hours of the morning. that is not unusual. he could be free in the early hours of tomorrow morning. brent: this could be a developing story.

we will go back to you as events warrant. dorian, thank you very much. tonight, the mood is tense in kenya ahead of tomorrow's disputed presidential election rerun. authorities confirm the vote will go ahead after the top court throughout a last-minute addition to delay the poll. the country is deeply divided between rival political camps. only 10 years ago, post-election violence in kenya cost more than 1000 lives. now the opposition is already denouncing tomorrow's vote. reporter: kenya is a country on edge. here in the third-largest city, an opposition stronghold, police and protesters clashed. the demonstrators are determined to ignore thursday's repeat election. >> acting president uhuru

kenyatta, you will not stop us. you will kill us but we will rise again. there is no election tomorrow. that is a guarantee. >> don't bring the ballot boxes here. if you cannot conduct the election in a free manner -- reporter: their anger stems from the failure of the supreme court to consider a petition of thursday's planned vote. several judges failed to show up, making it impossible. only the supreme court has the authority to delay the poll, which was called after an election in august after what it described as you leg or dirties -- allegra area's -- delay green -- >> assurances given to this

commission. based on the progress -- the elections are scheduled to go on tomorrow, the 26th of october. reporter: main opposition candidate raila odinga calls for a boycott and new elections in 90 days. >> [inaudible] reporter: president uhuru kenyatta defended the independence of the canyon -- the canyon judiciary -- k enyan judiciary. >> limassol maintain peace -- let s al -- reporter: no matter what the

outcome of thursday's election there appears to be no end in site for the political fight. both leaders have refused to meet to dissolve -- to resolve their differences. brent: here's a look at some other stories making headlines around the world. in barcelona, demonstrators have made a fresh call for independence for the region of catalonia. this after the catalan leader turned down an invitation to address spain's senate this week. the senate is due to hold a vote on dismissing carles puigdemont 's government on friday. saudi arabia's crown prince has pledged to restore a moderate form of islam in the kingdom. at a conference he said he wanted to end extremism and make saudi arabia a country open to all things based on what he called quote, the true values of

our religion. in austria, coalition talks are underway between the center-right people's party of the incoming chancellor and the far right freedom party, the fpo. that party came third in elections earlier this year. cortes promised zero-tolerance on a my semitism and said future partners must be pro-europe. in bangkok the five-day funeral ceremony has started for the king. his son has been performing rights in the city's's store quarter while tens of thousands of mourners have filed into the surrounding areas to bid farewell. the king died last october at the age of 88. germany's president has told russian president vladimir putin that he is unhappy about the state of relations between germany and russia. he made the remarks while on an official visit to the russian

capital. he also met with human rights activists after his talks. it is the first visit by german head of state to rush in seven years. the official reason is the handover of st. peter and paul cathedral after the evangelical lutheran church of russia. the change of ownership comes as part of festivities marking 500 years since the protestant reformation. reporter: an air a celebration at a normal sunday service. the last one between this congregation in moscow officially it's his church back. lutherans are a religious minority in russia. most in the community have german roots. their ancestors came to russia centuries ago on the invitation of czars. later the soviet government persecutors lutherans and seized property including this cathedral.

the community has been using it again since the fall of the soviet union, but so far it has remained russian government properly. >> it is like someone started putting in your apartment and it is notours anymore. they look you turn up what the entire time you have the feeling it is not yours. at any point it could end up in government hands or other hands. but now it is ours. it feels like home again. reporter: in the officially atheist soviet union, many churches were repurposed. from 1937, this cathedral was used as a movie theater and film studio. by then, all lutheran churches have been closed in many pastors arrested and shot. here at the cemetery in moscow, long known as the city's german cemetery, the scars of that persecution are still tangible. many gravestones were neglected

and destroyed. after the second world war the lutheran community struggled with the additional stigma of its german origins, often associated with nazis. >> the return of our church to some extent stores historical judge this -- justice and truth. i hope this will be a new stage in the development of our country and our community. >> the number of churches that were destroyed, that's a crime. the fact this cathedral is being returned, that's good news. >> the church belongs to the congregation. it belongs to the people who come here and look after. reporter: not the congregation is getting a church to call home. and since it is in the capital, they hope this transfer will set a precedent and the russian state will return other churches as well. brent: here in berlin it is the speed that has caught practically everyone by surprise.

the four political parties trying to form one governing coalition last month of year to be making progress much more quickly than expected. talks between chancellor angela merkel's conservatives, the free democrats and the greens had been expected to be making -- lasted several weeks if not months. reporter: so much concrete agreement came as a surprise. there is already an initial paper outlining common goals. the name -- main point is no new debt. for the green party that is simply a notice of intention. >> we want a balanced budgets but we also want to do something for people with low incomes for families. we want to do something about the environmentally destructive subsidies, about constructing rental housing. reporter: all parties involved want to invest and relieve financial burdens, especially on families with children and low to middle income groups.

is all that possible without new debt? the greens do not believe it can work. we know it can and out a whole point of the negotiations. to determine how to make something sensible out of the aims agreed together. that will require further discussion but the bavarian allies of merkel's party worry whether they're expensive campaign process can be implemented. >> i hope this will not be a single cappuccino solution which is the least of relief. that we should focus on making sure that relief is palpably effective. reporter: risen nations abound despite the common ground found so far. the next will focus on refugees and migration. that is expected to pose fresh difficulties. brent: helena is here now with business news. a contentious discussion about what we eat and drink and how safe it is. helena: we're talking about life

as a. -- glyphosate. once again member states cannot agree on renewing the european license for what is a very widely used herbicide. over one million europeans have signed a petition against this stuff. there were 80 chemical causes cancer. but studies prove otherwise. reporter: it is the most commonly used herbicide in the world. in europe come a glyphosate -- in europe, glyphosate is used in over half of all crops. but it is controversial due to concerns it could have an impact on health. you once again postponed a decision on whether or not to ban it. activists in brussels hit the streets wednesday to push for one. they say it's institutions have colluded with the industry at the expense of the public. >> want them to come out with a full ban.

any number of years, one year, five years. as long as it is a renewal it is not a ban and citizens have been clear they want a ban. reporter: studies have not been clear if it has been a long-term health risk. the eu for you -- food safety authority has claimed it was harmless but is accused of basing it on studies sponsored by sponsors like monsanto. greens in the european parliament say that is not acceptable. >> we need to look at independent studies, not just once carried out by the industry. we have to finally end this thing with glyphosate. there are standard forming medicines that work fine without chemical use. reporter: by standard firm and if it's -- farming methods he means organic. what some say that is too expensive and thinkers only enough to ban the use of the herbicide only directly before the harvest. the eu committee is possible for

making it decision was once again split. >> at the conclusion of the meeting no foot was taken. the commission took note of the commission of different delegations of member states. we will announce the date of the next meeting shortly. reporter: the commission is in favor of extending use for another five to seven years but it will have to reach an agreement soon. life as a's -- glyphosate's license ends at the end of december. helena: germany's largest lender deutsche bank has agreed to pay out a combined total of $220 million to 45 states across the u.s. over its alleged manipulation of lending rates. the investigation allegedly uncovered to which a other banks like barclays had inflated the rate which is used to work out how much banks should charge each other for borrowing money.

deutsche bank has already agreed to fines of $2.5 billion. the bank says these payouts agreed to today close the case once and for all. time to check in with wall street. are financial correspondent jens korte is standing by. jens, case closed, seemingly. banks in the u.s. have to be sighing relief today after a new law aching it harder to sue banks. jens: with help of the vice president, senate voted against the proposal from former president barack obama that would have made it easier for consumers to file class-action suits against financial institutions. so now with vista boot of these -- with this vote of the senate,

all that is missing is the signature of u.s. president donald trump. that is pretty likely to happen anytime soon. this is seen as the biggest regulatory victory for the financial industry since the new administration took over. if you look at financial stocks overall they had been on fire in the past couple months. even if that is soon as good news for big financial institutions, stockinette area did not move that much on wednesday. but financial stocks saw an incredible increase in the past couple months. helena: quite a coup for the banks. the market not as chirpy as yesterday. seems like some quarterly earnings out not managing to convince. jens: maybe it is a lubitz -- a little bit on the rumor of equifax. we got bowling, coca-cola -- boe

ing, coca-cola -- the numbers were solid, more or less in line. but we did see big selling, microdevices selling 30%. compared to last year it has more than doubled. boeing on the rise. that stock was the biggest loser. even if we got used to it, because not have a new record every day. now the focus is on thursday in the first big tech companies will be coming up with earnings. microsoft, intel, just to name a few. helena: whatever goes up has to come down as well. jens korte, thank you very much. for most of us, a spin in a driverless car is still way off in the future. when they ride in a driverless bus? for that you just have to get yourself to a bus stop in bavaria. the first driverless bus in

germany has taken to the streets and it is free. reporter: this tiny vehicle is cutting-edge technology. at first glance that might be hard to believe but as the first driverless bus operating in germany. it has been tested in the street in a small bavarian town two hours from munich. >> here in the countryside w here there is a lack of affordable transportation we need a service that is sufficient, and affordable. and at the same time environmentally friendly. reporter: the bus is fre to -- free to the public. and it's slow. but riders probably have time to spare. the short route connects the city center with a spa. helena: hold onto your hats if you are on that. a vision or a mirage?

saudi arabia is planning to be a mega-city in the desert. robots, drones and driverless car's will dominate. the price tag is a cool $500 billion. reporter: it will be the largest building site on earth covering more than 26,000 square kilometers. that is an area of land half the size of switzerland. it will go up on the coast of the red sea, not far from the hundreds of ships that had for the suez canal every year. 10% of the world's exports pass to the waterway. saudi arabia wanted to be a new global center for trade. a crossroads between asia, africa and europe. trade is just one of nine economic sectors plan for the city. saudi's also want to build transport, robotics, food science, internet technology and energy.

>> the difference between it and a city of today will be let the differences in these two phones. reporter: to be attractive for for investors and staff, the country's strict islamic-based laws will not apply within the city limits. it will have its own systems and regulations separate from the rest of saudi arabia. men and women be allowed to work together. it is ambitious plan, but throwing money at it is no guarantee of success. there are still many vacancies and a similar giant project. and dubai's plans for a large carbon neutral urban center are still reliant on conventional energy sources for many of its power needs. the new mega-city is also supposed to be powered solely by renewable energy. saudi arabia says it plans to finish the city by 2035. helena: some troubling news from

the world of sport. brent: italian police have identified 60 people who placed anti-semitic stickers in rome's olympic stadium on sunday. fans of capital club lazio had saw to talk to supporters of local rivals by making stickers of anne frank in a roma shirt. the incident shamed italian football and has stirred strong reactions across europe. reporter: job -- troubling scenes at the olympic stadium last sunday. some put stickers in the arena that showed and frank -- anne frank wearing the jersey of their local rivals. reaction to the incident has been fierce. on tuesday, the president played a visit to rome's main synagogue to lay a wreath in members of holocaust victims.

he would take 200 young fans to the auschwitz concentration camp every year as part of an education campaign. >> we are here today to make clear once again our position of distancing ourselves from any form of xenophobia, racism and anti-semitism. reporter: the italian president and prime minister condemned the actions. the italian football federation said one minute of silence will be observed for all games across the country this week. and a passage from frank's diary will be led out -- read out over stadium let speakers. they have had a history of anti-somatic behavior. 20 years ago fans and a city held a banner reading, auschwitz is your homeland. the ovens are your homes. brent: the birth of a baby black rhinoceros in a zoo in the czech republic is boosting hopes for

the survival of the species. only a few hundred black rhinos are left in the wild in africa. the calf was born at the beginning of the month but has not yet been named. her keeper says she is in good shape. she will stay with her mother for the next few years and it is possible to one day join four other rhinos from the zoo which have been moved to africa. finally tonight, rock 'n roll pioneer fats domino has died at the age of 89. the iconic rhythm and bruises sang -- songwriter from new orleans helped change the face of popular music with his dynamic performance style. i will be back with a couple minutes with the day before now i want to leave you with this tribute to fats domino. enjoy. ♪ >> ♪ i've found myself

on blueberry hill on blueberry hill when i found you the moon stood still on blueberry hill it lingered until ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] ♪

♪ this is hanoi, the capitol of vietnam. high economic growth has put money in people's pockets and just like in any other