brent: this is dw news live from berlin. moscow has ordered a 24 hour humanitarian our -- this amid new claims that forces backed by russia have used chemical weapons on children. germany moves one step closer to having a new government. angela merkel conservatives voting yes.

merkel also making some surprising picks for her new cabinet. a nation tonight in shock after a 27-year-old investigative journalist and his fiancee are shot dead in their home in some pocket. -- slovakia. also, bringing rare scenes to the capital rome. it is good to have you with us. we begin tonight with syria where russia has called for a daily stop in airstrikes. president putin saying the aim to help the civilians leave the

enclave. it comes after the u.n., germany, and france appeal to clinton to uses -- didn't -- putin. and another development tonight, medics on the ground are accusing russian backed forces of using chemical weapons some against what -- children. russia denies the allegations. they call it fake news. reporter: these are the images that observers call our proof. infants still in diapers, are more than a dozen people being treated. their skin and close are heavy with the odor of chlorine. a syrian regime warplane dropped bombs caring the guests on a village -- carrying the gas on a village.

the wounded continue to fill up the districts overrun hospitals. >> there has been no, whatsoever. there has not been time to catch our breath. the hospitals are overflowing. there are no places to evacuate them. russia denies the assad regime is behind the typical attack. the reports are an attempt by rebels to provoke fresh fighting. >> their only goal is to besmirch and demonize the government forces. to accuse them of all possible deadly sins and military crimes in order to continue actions in the eastern region. clinton's humanitarian -- putin's humanitarian pause has

been requested. brent: it is good to see you again. now we are hearing that the russian president has called for a daily pause. isn't that simple? -- is it that simple/ -- simple? >> past experiences tell us the islamic rebels have no interested in stopping the fight. they will use this to renew the fighting and intensify the fighting. i am skeptical of whether this will lead to a permanent cease-fire. brent: what is the purpose and?

-- then? >> we have to keep in mind that putin is under extreme international pressure. at the same time, the situation allows him to present himself as a peacemaker for someone who provides humanitarian relief. it is a good image thing for him as well -- as well. what comes out of this we will have to see. brent: what does this tell us about the power of fusion --

vladimir putin right now? cease-fire is openly ignored by iran, turkey, and syria. markus: putin is calling the shots. my point is not that assad is doing everything that putin is telling him. sometimes it appears to be the opposite. at the end of the day, given the international conflict it has been emphasized that russia is in the driver seat when it comes to any peaceful containment of the fighting. brent: we talk about the syrian civil war.

there are so many fronts to it. for our viewers, there is this fighting, there is the iranians, you are also dealing with the israelis at the lebanese border and in northern syria, you have the kurds and turks. can any cease-fire or order from putin speak to any of these parties and at least, get them to stop? markus: no. we got used to the term civil war. what is actually happening is international conflict. it involves the united states, syria, russia. every idea of a piece settlement has to --peace settlement has to satisfy all of these international factors. that explains to a certain

degree while it has been soak obligated in spite, the efforts -- two -- brent: the spd will announce the results of their votes this coming weekend. earlier today, merkel announced her picks for a new cabinet. most of the new cabinet is younger. there are also more women. >> an overwhelming majority voted in favor of a new grand coalition. only 27 of more than 900 voted against it. even so, given the skepticism of the ranks, and the merkel was at pains -- angela merkel was at

pains. >> we are looking for the right answers. we are drawing conclusions from the election results. a new start for europe. reporter: michael speech drew just over -- merkel's speech drew just over four minutes of's -- of applause. many will interpret it as dissatisfaction for the chancellor. >> this result is not at all what we were hoping for. we all fought hard and were all disappointed beard we all want to do better next time -- disappointed. we all want to do better next time. brent: another coalition with the spd will do little to improve the situation.

>> the chancellor has moved to placate her opponents. reporter: half of all her cognitive posts will be -- cabinet post will be filled by women. facing the critics will be the tasks of the general secretary. she promised to restore the parties pressed each -- prestige. >> for this i ask for your trust. reporter: her speech by contrast drew enthusiastic applause. outgoing interior minister and health minister. the message to party leader was clear. the party may follow her but it is not quite convinced.

brent: with angela merkel making clear moves to revive her party possibly for the most merkel area -- era, today's report from the cdu conference. reporter: angela merkel is opening up for her party. yen spohn will take up the coalition of health. she has also established another finger appeared -- finger appeared party secretary was designated with resounding support. it is a sign that the german chancellor is willing to hand over some of the control in a bid to solidify her own support

within her own cdu party base. brent: here are some of the other stories making headlines around the world. local people welcomed teachers back to school in florida today. 17 students and staff were killed in a mass shooting 12 days ago. . police officers carried out identification checks. the suspected shooting is facing multiple murder charges. donald trump has suffered a setback after the supreme court rejected it's been to get it to intervene in the case of the dreamers. they are the dreamers of legal elements -- immigrants and having complaining to be allowed to stay. trump had hoped that the supreme court would consider the case without it having to go through the courts first. britain's opposition leader has outlined a more flexible

approach to immigration after brexit. he says the labour party would guarantee permanent residence for european union residence living in britain and the rights for them to bring their families and join. you are watching dw news life from berlin -- live from berlin. still to come, germany's olympians returned home from south korea with their biggest haul of idols ever -- medals ever from a winter games. obvious or is here to talk about what another chinese company buying parts of a german giant. brent: -- javier: after revealing his

company bought a 10% stake, car makers are shocked. it is not the first time. here is the man who turned the chinese car industry upside down. reporter: it is a rags to riches tale. geely's founder is china's 10th richest man. the sector was strictly state run. inevitably, authorities shut his factory down. by then, he had artie made a small fortune and said he simply switched industries producing first motorbikes and then cars. all you need for a car are four wheels and two sofas. just two decades later, julie -- geel was selling nearly 1.2 million carsy in china.

in 2000 and 10, -- in 2010, he bought up volvo. he poured money into the swedish counts and with great success, brought volvo into the chinese markets. since then, he has held a central position among chinese carmakers. the rest is divided up among smaller investors. lee says he is not reducing his commitment to volvo. -- li says he is not reducing his commitment to volvo.

it's overriding aim is to get car companies to join forces in an effort to stand up to the coming onslaught from silicon valley. brent: more backlash against diesel cars here in europe. the at chrysler -- fiat chrysler reportedly plans to stop building diesel engines daniel:. -- diesel engines. sales have dropped since the emissions cheating scandal that hit major players like volkswagen. if true, it would join other leading companies like toyota rev re faded -- started phasing out there diesel vehicles.

phone makers try to win over customers with their new as models. with declining smartphone sales, that has become increasingly difficult. there is no revolution in the smartphone market for companies like samsung are trying to sell is one. reporter: samsung is focusing on cameras. it's new galaxy x nine and the slightly larger one may not look a whole a different but the pictures they take are less grainy. and, there is a new super slow-motion feature. it takes 960 images per second and is able to capture even these fesses moving objects. samsung -- fastest moving objects. samsung admits that most of its improvements are under the hood. >> there is a huge amount of innovation that you do not see because we have kept the best design of a phone out there

appeared we have designed around the best looking designs. reporter: users can create three-dimensional avatars that match their loathing and facial expressions. -- clothing and facial expressions. they cost about 950 euros. samsung has this. fast-growing chinese rival will not be unveiling any phones and ours alone appeared even without having to share the spotlight, the s nines refinements may not be enough to well consumers. brent: one of many things seven as well as cannot buy these days. the nation's currency cannot get you much these days. 100,000 believers are worth a single dollar and the black market. venezuelans are coming up with

creative uses for the once valuable paper. reporter: a pile waiting to be processed. they are turned into handbags or wallets. his monthly wage was to have dollars. -- $2.5. he needs about 1000 banknotes to make a back. in return, he can make between 10-15 dollars. >> there are some people who buy a bag for the relatives. some by two seldom more expensively -- sell them more expensive elsewhere. there are others who want me to make different things for them.

artists are also looking for creative ways through the crisis. he is using the worthless money as a campus. he has artie sold 2000 works -- already sold 2000 works. souvenirs are better times past. brent: thank you very much. tonight, the central european nation of slovakia is in shock after a young journalists and his girlfriend were found shot dead in their home. 27-year-old, jan kuciak, was probably killed because of his work. the european union has demanded that the killers be brought to justice. joining me on the phone now from some bochy a -- slovakia is be

ata balogova. police believe the pair were targeted because of his reporting. can we confirm that? >> yes, the police suspect that he was murdered because of his reporting. obviously, he covered political group reduction in -- political corruption. one of his recent reports looked into a suspect in the italian mafia. basically, there are a lot of highly charged stories. it is interesting against the government actually offered him one million your -- euros to

bring the killers to justice. it is obvious that the murder makes the political elite nervous. there is a lot of pressure from the journalistic committee -- community. brent: some of your colleagues worked closely with jan kuciak. how have they reacted? beata: they are in shock. the whole newsroom was very tense. they were very worked up. all major paper editors signed a statement which says that we are calling on the government to investigate his murder and not just like this under the carpet.

we are calling them to look into the story. we want to make sure the stories will be continued and thoroughly investigated so the effect will be even stronger. now, like many more journalists they are afraid to work. brent: do you have confidence that the police will follow up and do their job in this investigation? beata: unfortunately, i cannot say that i have full confidence but we are going to put a lot of pressure on the police. why is this murder serious is what we need to explain to people.

brent: unfortunately, we are out of time but thank you for joining us from slovakia. parts of europe are experiencing unusually cold weather. here in germany temperatures dropped to their lowest so far this winter to 27.5 degrees centigrade. in poland, several people have died as a result of the cold. it has also brought a rare snowstorm to the italian capital of rum. -- rome. reporter: the coliseum is covered in snow. in the circus maximus, sledge rights where chariots just raced. in the vatican city, instead of a sermon, a snowball fight. rome has not experienced snowfall -- snowfall like this

in six years. even the trees are enjoying this winter miracle. >> mother nature has gone mad today. >> it should not snow in rome. we are just not ready. it seems like five centimeters have fallen but actually it is much more. reporter: in russia, they are used to the cold but you and the residents of moscow can be caught off guard. the cold snap is caused by a giant low pressure system. >> the nt cyclone covering the scandinavian peninsula is very big. the front has brought the cold from the european part of russia east into the rest of europe.

reporter: it is the poorest to bear the brunt of the cold. at least, a people in pold died. officials are appealing for citizens to find a warm head in a shelter. the freezing weather is expected to hang around until the end of the week. it seems, winter is not ready to let go of europe quite yet. brent: the german winter olympic team has returned back home to a heroes welcome. reporter: touching down in frankfurt, this was no ordinary light beard on board -- ordinary flight. 14 golds made pyeongchang germany's most successful when

ever. >> of course, it is amazing. i am surprised by how many people are here after this light beard i never expected this. >> i finally slipped on the plane. reporter: while some atetes get to rest, others are not so lucky. brent: i will be back after a short break to take you through the day. ♪

♪ steves: the dramatic rock of cashel is one of ireland's most evocative sites. this was the seat of ancient irish kings for seven centuries.

st. patrick baptized king aengus here in about 450 a.d. in around 1100, an irish king gave cashel to the church, and it grew to become the ecclesiastical capital of all ireland. 800 years ago, this monastic community was just a chapel and a round tower standing high on this bluff. it looked out then, as it does today, over the plain of tipperary, called the golden vale because its rich soil makes it ireland's best farmland. on this historic rock, you stroll among these ruins in the footsteps of st. patrick, and wandering through my favorite celtic cross graveyard, i feel the soul of ireland.

reyes: a currency in freefall and a country struggling to fight an aggressive rise in prices. i'm elaine reyes in washington, dc, and this is "americas now." first up, hyperinflation is defined by inflation that surpasses a rate of 50% a month for more than 30 days straight. we'll look at how venezuela is coping with numbers that are even worse. then, spaniards who emigrate to latin america but never let go of a dying wish--to be buried back home. welcome to the show. imagine living in a country