♪ ♪ ♪ >> this is dw news live from berlin. tonight, the political stakes here in germany growing with each passing hour. talks to form a new coalition government go down to the wire. will his exit be a dignified one, new pictures are published of zimbabwe's president robert mcdonald a --mugabe meeting with the military. what will they did with the dictator they once supported?

a draw dropping -- jaw dropping sale at christie's. a 500 euros after peace by leonardo da vinci -- 550 years old masterpiece by leonardo da vinci sells. can a painting really be worth half $1 million? brent: we are watching the clock tonight in germany. a decisive political moment could be at hand. the political parties involved in talks to form a new coalition government have just a few hours before a crucial deadline. a deadline who iron out their differences and going to government together. failure could mean new elections. chancellor angela merkel is

confident a new deal can be done in what is called the jamaica coalition. the political party's colors match those of the jamaican flag. but she admits, there are some serious differences. correspondent: four weeks of negotiations passing the chances for a so-called jamaica coalition hover at>> today is te to put ourselves in the soe -- shoes of the other side and ask what is important to them. i believe we can achieve that and if we do we can achieve a positive result at the end of these negotiations. correspondent: negotiators come and go, those who face of the microphones are busy placing blame and stressing their own

limits. especially when it comes to the right of all refugees have their families join them in germany. >> we will insist on the rights of refugees with subsidiary protection to be reunited with their families in germany. that is an issue of trust for us here. correspondent: other parties already fear a public backlash if thousands of migrants are allowed to bring their families to germany. >> we cannot decide things here that fan extremism in germany. we are available for a fact oriented solution rooted in humanitarian reasoning. correspondent: german foreign policy appears to become the latest casualty in the struggle to find a deal between the four parties. >> we have faced a setback and now that before deployment of german forces has become an

issue, all foreign diplomacy issues are on hold. correspondent: while exploratory talks for a government coalition could be extended, public patients with angela merkel's efforts to form a coalition is running thin. brent: following the talks is our correspondent. if an agreement likely tonight? -- is an agreement likely tonight? correspondent: it looks like it is going to be a very long night. it has been 8 weeks since the german election and 4 weeks since the negotiations start. the party leaders want to be done with it. they want to find a compromise forsake it is not going to be done. we are hearing there are a number of contentious issues such as climate, migration and finance. those arguments controversial issues we are hearing. there is no movement in terms

of migration on the contentious issue of family reunions. will there be a breakthrough tonight? from what we are hearing, he can say it is more likely that there will be a compromise and they will continue with coalition talks and germany will at some point see a jamaica coalition. brent: what happens if these talks fail and what does it mean for the german chancellor? >> correspondent: it would really be a disaster for party negotiators. they say if those talks fail it would be a real catastrophe. on the one hand, it would mean that snap elections would be called. germany would hold new elections at that would lead to a push from voters for extremist parties or parties more on the left or right because they are

disappointed with the negotiations of the four parties negotiating at the moment. for angela merkel, that would mean a real failure because she is a strategic, good negotiator. usually she is the leader of the strongest party and these coalition talks and if these talks fail, it would be her failure. that might mean she will not pose as a candidate for chancellor again and she would not have a 4th term as the chancellor of germany. brent: a lot at stake for angela merkel tonig as well. thank you. so in politics, how do you square a circle. we have a shadow negotiator who advises companies on complex talks and he will give us insight into the complicated negotiations. it is good to have you on the show. we have these four camps that

are very different and they are pushing their agenda is right down to the wire. risking failure. are they getting that for is that a strategy? >> it is a tactic. the strategy could be for these parties to lose, which means to take care of their own interests and sell that lose as a win-win. to put pressure, to set a deadline on all the parties is an open tactic for all the involved politicians to reach a goal and find an agreement because -- they have a running negotiation with the voters. in that direction, they do not

need to lose face. brent: they do not want to lose face, especially if they are not in government yet. what would be your device to the parties? what should they be doing? is it a question of which party is stronger? >> what they could and should do differently is the first is to prioritize those points they want to negotiate on. the ministries, the allocation of people, the political process. the next point is to set up optional packages which would meet and address the interest of the other parties. and they should put out one package after the other. the first --the second is moved to the needs of the other parties and solve.

this is what they need to do in multilateral negotiations. brent: tensions can rise during negotiations. words from an angry state pr iemier -- he is the leader of the greens. >> if yonegotiate, you negotiate. you should refrain from attacking the parties involved. if they do not want to see any constructive movement, they should say so. brent: do you agree? >> no. but i seen out of his facial expression was really angry and a good negotiator does not need any kind of emotion. he should be able to control the. -- control them. the anger should not be the

motivation for your decision. even in the moment when you are talking to the media. people get angry when they feel there is no way out. he obviously feels or perceives his precision --is positioned to be weak. brent: this is fascinating. i wish we had more time to talk about this. i have a feeling in the next 24 hours we will still be talking about some kind of negotiations. thank you very much. there are new photos of zimbabwe 's president robert mugabe, the first since tuesday's military takeover. it shows mugabe talking with the military and there is a delegation from south africa, including jacob zuma.

he says there should be a solution inside. we have this report. correspondent: these images show robert mugabe meeting zimbabwe's army chief and two south african invoice brought into negotiate --south african envoys brought in to negotiate. mugabe is under pressure to resign. zimbabwe's opposition leader says the president, in power since 1980, should go quietly for the interest of the country and elections should be called. >> the nature and character of that mechanism be agreed upon by all national states. that there be comprehensive reforms for a free, fair and credible election to be held. correspondent: rumors have been

flying about whether or not mugabe's wife is with him or if she managed to flee the country before the military action. grace's ambitions to succeed her husband are said to be behind the current turmoil. lastly, mugabe sacked his vice president. the army saw this as a chance for grace to take over. the army has put a stop to that for now. the vice president is set to head a transitional government backed by the military. an option the african union say they will not support. >> we in the african union are against any violent african overthrew --violent government overthrew. e -- overthrow. >> in no case will be except the

forced seizure of power. correspondent: it remains to be seen whether or not robert mugabe can maintain his tight grip on power. brent: earlier we spoke to pastor evan in the capital. last year, his social media campaign #thisflag triggered the largest antigovernment protests in a decade. we asked him about what was going on in the country right now. >> this is such an unprecedented time for zimbabweans right now. the feeling of change is palpable. as we speak, the entire country is sitting on edge area the citizens of our nation are in support of change and would really want to see a zimbabwe that goes in a different direction from the damage we have been seeing.

some of the things we want to see is our constitution being respected as we go forward. we want to see a new transitional and inclusive government come into place so i t can carry us to the next election by this inclusive, transitional government. this includes everyone. opposition, civil society and citizens so we could move our nation in a different way going for. brent: tonight, lebanon's former prime minister has accepted an invitation to travel from saudi arabia to peers. french president emmanuel macron invited the president to stay in france. lebanon accused saudi arabia of holding him hostage after his resignation last month. saudi arabia says he is free to travel to paris at any time.

let's get some business news now. i guess it was the news is that the employees at siemens have wanted to hear. correspondent: it says it is going to cut almost 7000 jobs worldwide. power, gas and drive division which has seen a sharp drop in demand. half of those jobs will be in germany. the company makes gas turbines. the problem is a demand for gas turbines has collapsed. that is for all manufacturers, only 100 this year. siemens has the capacity to build 130 turbines. more than the market needs. capacity of all the world's turbines makers is 400 units a

year. that means siemens need to rethink its strategy. before demand drops, turbines made 35% of the humans -- siem en's products. the decision comes at a time when the company is doing well so unions are criticizing management. is agreed? -- is it greed? or a way to get jobs in the future? correspondent: despite billions of euros in profits, the industrial giant is cutting thousands of jobs. around the world, a total of 6900 jobs will be lost. two plants in eastern germany will be shut down completely.

others hang in the balance. >> i have been in this company a long time and have never made anything like this. -- seen anything like this. so many people affected. it is a real body blow. correspondent: the power and gas division is worst hit, struggling to catch up with the upsurge in renewable energy. the demand for gas turbines has dropped, and production is no longer economically viable. seeman says it is trying to avoid forced redundancies as much as possible. the engineering workers union accuses siemens of breach of contract and promises massive resistance to the plan. brent: not the only news we saw in the energy sector. 20 countries and two u.s. states have joined an international alliance to phase out coal from

power generation before 2030. the so-called global alliance to power past coal was announced after the climate meeting in the german city of bund. coal is responsible of 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions of co2. they will focus on encouraging the rest of the world to cut coal usage. ironically, germany is not part of the alliance. more than one million people have fled south sudan to a doctor. the organization provides development help in the form of sustainable farming and vocational training for many of the refugees the resources from the german government might go elsewhere as berlin is setting new priorities. correspondent: animals have long helped farmers boost productivity of their land. a german aid organization, world

hunger au --world hunger aid, has distributed thousands of oxen to farmers inganda. >> with the oxen, plowing is much easier. i can plow an acre in three minutes instead of three weeks. correspondent: the levels are farming with the help of refugees. he says the refugees fleeing war will be staying for years. >> it is very important, if we respond to the emergency that we also look ahead. in the midterm and long-term development. it is a good year to work with refugees and ugandans to improve farming and they are able to produce food for themselves. correspondent: there are only

90,000 refugees spread over a huge area. most of them are from south sudan. uganda provides refugees of farmland. aid organizations take care of the water supply. it is being coordinated by the united nations. peter knows his way around german phenomenal politics -- developmental politics. >> certainly there will be a shift in prioritization. there will be more money going into the direction to prevent migration and this focus will be on countries like uganda which again has more than one million refugees to cope with. one of the poorest countries in the world. correspondent: uganda still has millions to help people to help themselves. the aid group is overseeing 90

communities, with 30 families each. each farming community has its own saving and loans association. he says it strengthens social bonds and encourages entrepreneurship. brent: that is all for business. i heard you secretly bought me a great christmas present. brent: because about half a billion u.s. dollars. in other news, he spent a record sum on the renaissance painter leonardo than two. it is an astounding price. the work exchange hands before for just a few thousand dollars but a christie's ner, it was a different story. >> ladies and gentlemen, we moved to the leonardo da vinci,

previously in the collection of three kings of england. correspondent: savior of the world, a portrait of jesus christ, one of 20 paintings. >> 9 million, looking at 95. correspondent: christie's made estimates of $100 million but that was soon exceeded. >> 110, i have added 110 million. it will give me 120? 190, you heard it, the place. francoise. when hundred 90. leonardo at 190 million. give me 200? 200 million is bid. 200 million. correspondent: just how high could go? >> 280 million dollars? maybe not. do not take the photograph quietly. correspondent: the next

milestone, 300. >> give me 290. >> 300. correspondent: and even that was not the top. >> 370 million? $370 million. >> 400. >> 400 million. >> leonardo's selling at christie's for $400 million. the pieces sold. correspondent: with the next or 50 million commission for christie's, the total price tag, or to $50 million. the buyer remains anonymous so we will not know if the public will ever get to see the work again. brent: we once know who has the money to spend on that piece of artwork.

we have an auctioneer and art expert at the auction house here in berlin. it is good to have you on the show. is there a piece of artwork anywhere that is worth half $1 billion? correspondent: it is a good question, it is oil on wood. there is no value of course but we have a masterpiece. you not have to travel to the louve. you have your own masterpiece at home. it is striking that only two buyers were struggling around about this picture of art which is of course a wonderful piece of art. brent: who do you think bought it? >> there are only a few freaky guys out there spending a half a billion on paintings. i have a more specific idea, in my can be bill gates because

bill gates was a known collector of leonardo da vinci and in 1994 there was the codex that sold to him for a selling price of almost $34 million. therefore, we might can see a piece of art somewhere hanging in a private museum in america. brent: private museum but maybe one day open to the public. bill gates is the kind of person you can imagine his collection will be given to a museum. or given to a national museum in washington or something like that. there is the fear that a private buyer bought this and we will never see it again. correspondent: we saw this in the past with bingo's -- van gough's sunflowers, no one knows

what happened to it after it was ball. -- what happened to it. brent: you know the psychology of people who go to options and are willing to -- who go to auctions and are willing to spend that much money on a piece of artwork. the person who bought it, even if they are mega rich, they want to show it off? correspondent: maybe get some agreements with his wife, we do not know what the day after was like in that family after purchasing this picture. it is really speculation because we have a new milestone here. i was sure this was going to happen one day. we're going to go from one sensation to another. brent: you were watching this auction. did you see going up to 300

million or 400 million? >> yes. brent: i could feel it. it was palpable. correspondent: the people were applauding, they were all packed in this moment. even the bidders did not know what to do -- brent: fascinating talking with you. when we have a billion dollars, we will call you back and do some shopping. after this break, will take you through the day. stay with us.

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