♪ brent: this is "dw news," live from berlin. the ousted president of catalonia out of the country but for how much longer? tonight, a spanish court is charging carles puigdemont with sedition and has summoned him to come home and testify. the former catalan appear today in brussels. he says he will not return home until he is guaranteed a fair trial. also coming up, police in germany arrest a 19-year-old syrian suspected of gathering parts for a powerful bomb. the country's interior minister said he was planning islamist

terror attack. but what or who was the intended target? and marking 500 years of the protestant referendum --reformation. germans pay tribute to martin luther king to town of wittenberg where the monk first challenge the authority of the catholic church. ♪ brent: i am brent goff. it is good to have you with us. we begin with breaking news coming to us from the united states. police in new york city are investigating a shooting in lower manhattan. immediate reporting multiple casualties. one person has been taken into custody according to the new or police department. the incident took place near battery park city. police are asking people to stay away from that area. our correspondent in the u.s. is

on the line. what can you tell us about these developing situations? carsten: to be honest to not much more than what you just said. of course this would be another shooting incident, unfortunately , in the u.s. these incidents happen quite regularly, not always on the scale as what we saw in las vegas a few weeks ago -- i was there covering that event and we had a massive discussion about gun control which went nowhere. 20 shooting tonight, it happens here almost on a daily basis. we just had a shooting in maryland. very often they are related to private conflicts or in the workplace. it is not always about terrorism or randomly shooting people. having said that, we do not know what is going on in new york in what the background is.

brent: thank you. we will bring you more information as soon as it comes into us. carsten reporting on a shooting incident in new york city. now to a former president on the run who says he is not. carles puigdemont today appeared in belgium but says he is not seeking asylum there. spain's high court has now somebody fired catalan leader to testify in a madrid court thursday. puigdemont left after spain launched a rebellion case over catalonia's independence bid. reporter: carles puigdemont's first appearance since the -- since declaring catalan independence was every bit as frenetic. the ousted president says he is

in belgium for protection, not asylum. >> i am not here for political asylum. i am here in brussels as a capital of europe. i am here not to act -- reporter: as he left yet more chaos behind, the upstart leader could not avoid questions of whether he had fled the scene. outside these spanish unity supporters certainly think so. >> i'm here to defend spain and complain about this person who is a coward. reporter: the courts may also have their say. it is a medieval charge sheet for modern times. catalan leaders face up to 30 years in prison for rebellion and embezzlement. but the spanish government does welcome puigdemont's support for

fresh elections in december, seen as a concession to madrid. >> it is very important to respect this call for elections from the prime minister of the spanish government. and it is very important because this implies an acceptance that will return to democratic the gallate lies with accepting democratic elections. reporter: back in barcelona, puigdemont still dominates the airwaves, though some were surprised of their former leader turning up in belgium, few could fault his logic. >> i understand what he is saying. right now the spanish government is not giving him any guarantees. the moment he lands here they can put him in prison. reporter: whether his bid to break spain up will indeed lend him behind bars will be the subject of intense scrutiny. not just here, but across europe. brent: for more on this i'm joined by journalist martin roberts from the trade -- from

madrid and our own correspondent in barcelona. the spanish high court has summoned the ousted catalan cabinet including the president. what does this mean? martin: what it means is that he faces a very stiff jail sentence, as you said earlier. more importantly the question is -- he was last known to be in belgium. the prosecutor's office said if he does not turn up they will ask the judge to issue a european arrest warrant. if you were to turn up -- if he were to turn up, he has not been formally charged yet. if the judge were to charge him and he were to show up, he could be in custody afterwards. one way or the other it is all in the hands of the judge. time will tell.

brent: charlotte, you are in barcelona. what has been the reaction to the news that mr. puigdemont has left the country? charlotte: people here were stunned when the news came down and he was in brussels but we did not see him last night or this morning. there was a hunt for puigdemont, as it was being described in brussels. a lot of people here needed to believe it to see it. we did ee him today, he gave that press statement. people here who are for independence are divided on exactly how they do feel -- how they feel about. some are dismayed he left. some suggest he is a captain leaving a sinking ship. then there are those who are still really backing him. they were people out on the streets on friday saying he was a hero.

they believe this is part of a well-crafted plan and they back him on his desire to get european support for the strategy. those were against independence, many of them are quite relieved he left the country and is not trying to still govern from within catalonia and instead is backing these elections, which are going to take place december 21. looks like we are heading more towards a democratic process with the elections rather than clashes on the streets. brent: meanwhile there are lots of it -- lots of accusations being thrown around. the catalan cabinet saying they are not criminals. take a listen and with the planning member of catalonia said about the prospects of prosecution by the spanish government. >> it is possible to go to prison because the spanish customs are very strange. obviously this is a possibility.

we are not scared. we are not criminals. we are democrats. so if they want us in jail, it is their responsibility. i insist we are not criminals, we are democrats. brent: some of us are in spain must some of us are not. -- in spain, some of us are not. puigdemont brought some people to brussels but some also decided to stay in catalonia. is there any kind of strategy behind that? what are they doing there? charlotte: he took some and left some others behind. the strategy is not quite clear. it's possible they reach that decision together, some would pursue the european path while others stay behind to govern and continue with the independents

path from here. or of course there could be a split in the party and some wouldn't leave puigdemont and some appear to be abandoning ship. the minister we just heard from dismissed other ministers to stay behind. they did not released a statement afterwards and they are permitted to do that. they are allowed to be together in parliament because even though parliament has been dissolved they are still mp's. the plan going forward is unknown. we have seen so many twists and turns, so honestly anything can happen. brent: we heard the former member of the catalan cabinet talking about strange justice in spain. what about strange politics, strange elections? we have the former catalan president who has been subpoenaed in has to testify in spain. today he also said he welcomes snap elections in catalonia.

does this mean he could also run in those elections at the same time being forced to testify in the case against him? martin: actually, yes. in fact, over the weekend, a spokesman said he would welcome puigdemont ring in the -- running again because he is still an mp. of course there are questions whether the fractious coalition will run as a coalition or individual parties. even if he were to be jailed, in theory -- nobody knows how any of this will work out. there is no precedents for this. it takes a while. his predecessor -- yes, all sorts of things nobody

thought two months ago would be seeing in catalonia. puigdemont could certainly run again and who knows, he could even when. anything seems possible right now. brent: strange but true. martin and charlotte, to both of you, thank you very much. here in germany, the country's interior minister says police have prevented a serious terrorist attack. special forces arrested a 19-year-old syrian today. the suspect reportedly had contacts to islamist extremist and had been gathering materials for a highly explosive bomb. his intended target remains unclear tonight. reporter: a syrian flag and a housing complex in a northern germantown. this is where special forces arrested a 19-year-old syrian

man earlier tuesday on suspicion of planning an islamist terrorist attack. >> according to our findings, he decided in july to detonate a bomb with the aim of killing and wounding a large number of people. reporter: on social networks, he researched instructions on how to build a bomb. we also know the suspect was in contact online with people with jihadist backgrounds. reporter: throughout the morning, police searched the apartment and other locations for additional evidence. the suspect placed orders online for chemical stability bomb. the german interior minister is convinced authorities have prevented a severe and imminent terrorist attack germany -- in germany. >> the police operation took

place at exactly the right moment. enough to secure the necessary proof and early enough to prevent danger. reporter: the danger of an islamist attack remains high in germany and europe and sent -- and security forces would act with determination to counter any threats. brent: here's a look at some other stories making headlines around the world. russia, turkey and iran have pledged to bring the syrian regime and its opponents together for a congress. 33 syrian groups and political parties which include the kurds and anti-aside -- anti-assad rebels have been invited their next month. -- there net month. an explosion in kabul has killed at least five. a teenage suicide bomber blew himself up at the capital's diplomatic corridor.

the so-called islamic state has claimed responsibility. kenya's opposition leader wright odinga -- he called last week's election rerun a sham saying the president won by fraud.l he told -- by fraud. odinga made no mention of launching a legal challenge to the election oh result -- election result. you're watching "dw news." still to come, luther's complaint nailed to the door. we will look at that act of defiance of 500 years ago today. all right, now something that is very modern. it appears the european economy grew a little faster than expected. christoph: expanded by 0.6% but

there is also promising move -- news from the labor department. unemployment fell to its lowest level in almost nine years. spain continued its long recovery. but large differences between the 19 countries sharing the common currency remain. reporter: the euro zone economy is bouncing back. most of the 19 countries in the single currency bloc's of -- performed surprisingly well in the third quarter. almost all the eurozone exceeded expectations. among the fastest-growing economies was spain, before the current tensions over catalonia, with gdp growing 8/10 of a percent. france and germany had a single -- similar figure. the upswing helped reduce unemployment which is at its lowest level since 2009. overall, 14.5 million people

were out of work in the eurozone in september. that is 1.5 million fewer than one year ago. but there are huge differences between eurozone countries. in contrast to germany, spain and greece are still suffering from the highest jobless rates. christoph: major tech companies have begun two days of hearings before u.s. lawmakers on how russia allegedly swayed voters in last year's president election. facebook, twitter and google faced increased scrutiny. testimony from facebook reveal posts from a russian internet agency reached as many as 126 million users. the views were spread after people liked and share the posts. the ads focus on divisive issues and pointed users towards the russian agency's pages.

for more let's bring in our wall street correspondent jens korte. jens, what has been said in the hearings so far? jens: you mentioned facebook. but other companies, other networks have also been affected even before the hearing. twitter is saying they actually canceled a good 2700 accounts connected to the russian internet research agency a good month ago. there was word it would only be 200 accounts. obviously it is more widespread. if we look at google, they are claiming more than 1100 videos have been uploaded to youtube, and those seven watched more than 300,000 times just in the u.s. the whole case seems to be pretty widespread. we are also waiting for more

information on what is going to happen on wednesday at the hearing. christoph: what does this alleged election meddling mean for the tech giants and their business model? jens: that is one of the big questions. on one side, those companies are seeing -- are seen as witnesses to bring more light to this issue. on the other side, they will also have to answer some questions, if they actually could have prevented the russian company which uploaded those posts were videos. and in the long run, the question is if there will be more regulation, if those companies have to do more. if they do so, that costs additional money. those are pressing questions for wall street. so far investors seem not to be too worried. we saw hardly any reaction to

the stocks of facebook and google. twitter toronto by about 3% but that does not this thoroughly mean this drop is connected to this hearing in washington. christoph: thank you. entertainment company netflix says it is suspending production of house of cards. the move follows allegations of sexual harassment against star kevin spacey. b show is in its sixth and final season. in a statement listed production was put on hold to review the situation and address any concerns of the cast and crew. kevin spacey has been accused of trying to seduce a 14-year-old actor in 1986. germany marks 500 years of protestant reformation's. brent: that's exactly right. germany is commemorating 500 years since martin luther spearheaded the revolution

ultimately led to the birth of the protestant church. in the eastern german city of wittenberg, germany leaders gathered at the church on whose door luther was said to have nailed his 95 theses. those theses challenged the authority of the pope. reporter: queuing up for church in martin luther's home turn -- hometown wittenberg, thousands came to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the protestant reformation. >> this is a very important day for me. >> this is the place where luther lived and worked. it has left its mark on us. i believe in its values. reporter: at the castle church of wittenberg, germany's leaders including chancellor angela merkel attended a service to commemorate martin luther and his ideas. legend has it it was here on

this day 500 years ago that luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the church. the document wanted to reform the church, not divided. but his ideas were too revolutionary. ultimately it was a liberation for the world. he replaced the hierarchy of power and money with a new individual freedom manifested in love. reporter: at the service in wittenberg, the head of the protestant church in germany and the head of the catholic church of the country shortly presented the german president with a cross that is a symbol of unity. after the service, german chancellor angela merkel underlined the importance of religious liberty, saying that ensuring it is one of the key duties of a free society. >> just as freedom of belief

must always be protected from buddhist fanaticism, so too must we respect those to practice religion. reporter: today's a service represented the accommodation of a year of celebrating the reformation throughout germany. brent: our correspondent has been following the celebrations today in wittenberg. good evening to you. what was the main take away from today's ceremony? >> if there was one word that stood out from several of the speeches that took out -- took place today was tolerance. that was really hammered home by angela merkel, who pressed the importance of the freedom of religion. this is a very important issue right now in germany, especially over the last couple years, like across europe, we have seen a growing trend of islamophobia.

many groups here in germany, like the afd, have struggled with the open-mindedness which has been amended of angela merkel today. that is something she has been encouraging throughout today's speech and has also been reiterated by other people -- other people who spoke today. brent: our correspondent in wittenberg, where celebrations have been taking place. 500 years since the start of the protestant reformation. kate, thank you very much. we want to go back to that breaking news story. police in new york city are investigating a vehicle strike in lower manhattan. there are also reports of shots being fired. local media reporting there are multiple casualties. one person has been taken into custody according to the nypd. it took place near battery park.

police are asking people to stay way from that area. our correspondent in the u.s. is on the line. carsten, what more can you tell us about that situation in new york? carsten: what we know so far is that apparently someone driving a kind of pickup truck or van went down a bike path for several hundred meters, running down cyclists and pedestrians there. as many as six might be dead, several injured probably. we have no information so far with the motive could have been. law enforcement officers say it seems to have been delivered. -- deliberate. the perpetrator is reportedly in police custody. he was shot in the leg. we do not know if the reports

about shots being fired were shots coming from the driver of the truck or from policeman or private citizens trying to stop him. according to reports, the truck was eventually stopped when it collided with a school bus. once again, the perpetrator is in police custody but so far the authorities have not released more information of what could be behind this. brent: is there any confirmation concerning casualties? carsten: well, we have heard as many as six are possibly dead and 11 injured is the latest figure i heard. but we are still in the very early stages and there has been no official tally, if you like. but it seems there is no accomplice of the perpetrator on the run, but also that has not

been ruled out. hopefully at least they will be no ongoing -- this event is not an ongoing one, but we do not know this for sure. brent: carsten with that breaking news story. thank you. after a short break i will be back to take you to the day. stick around for that. we will be right back. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

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