♪ brent: this is "dw news," live from berlin. tonight, a seismic shift in middle east geopolitics. saudi arabia's crown prince declares israel has the right to its own homeland. mohammad bin salman break for decades of saudi policy. could this signal a new era of saudi israeli relations? meantime, at saudi arabia's doorstep, with the u.n. describes as the world's worst humanitarian crisis. the civil war in yemen has driven millions to the brink of starvation. is it too late for a conference

and pledges of money to ease the suffering? and he is wanted for treason in spain. his fate tonight is in the hands of german judges. today, prosecutors asked the court for a request to extradite former catalan president carles puigdemont to spain. plus, good u.s. troops soon be patrolling -- could u.s. troops soon be patrolling the border with mexico? >> it is a big step. brent: u.s. president donald trump ups the ante in his anger over mexico's failure to stop a group of migrants he says is headed north of the rio grande. ♪ brent: i'm brent goff. it's good to have you with us. in a major shift in attitude towards israel, saudi arabia's prince mohammad bin salman said

that israelis have a right to their own land. that is in stark contrast to the position that saudi arabia has so far taken. the conservative kingdom does not officially recognize the state of israel. however, in an interview published monday in the atlantic, the crown prince was quoted as saying, i believe the palestinians and the israelis have the right to have their own land. but we have to have a peace agreement to assure the stability for everyone and to have normal relations. shortly afterwards, the prince's father reiterated his support for a palestinian state. to help us read these saudi signals i'm joined by a middle east historian at the center for modern oriental studies here in berlin. it is good to have you on the show.

so what are we seeing here, first of all? why is it important with the crown prince says? guest: well, i think it is important in that he explicitly recognizes israel's right to exist. but we should also see it is also not all that new. the saudi's have in 2002 brokered a peace plan, and so far we have not really heard anything revolutionary lead different from that peace plan, which really recognizes the right of both peoples. brent: to have their own country. is he saying the right for them to have their own land, is he officially recognizing the state of israel? guest: innocence he is -- in a sense he is, yes. brent: but not explicitly. guest: almost explicitly. he is also saying there needs to be an official peace agreement before an official recognition

takes place. since 2002 when this piece -- peace initiative was taken up a number of times, the real devil is in the details. brent: what are these details? are these details in saudi american relations? we know the u.s. president was in saudi arabia after he took office. is this israeli friendly stance part of the deal? ulrike: well, it could be part of the deal. but again, the peace initiative is somewhat older, and i think the details, namely the question of jerusalem, the right to return for the palestinians, are all these little details which could very easily end this kind of opening. on the other hand, the saudi's are looking for regional alliances against what they conceive to be their enemy, namely, iran.

here, i think the saudi's are trying to get is really support an american support, which they felt they lost one resident barack obama had a peace deal with iran. brent: when it comes to iran, do you think the saudi stance, particularly with the crown prince, is the enemy of my enemy perhaps my new best friend? ulrike: it is partly that. it is also that the saudi's are not terribly keen on powers such as hamas, and obviously they hate hezbollah. so i think it is more than just the enemy of my enemy is my friend. brent: what about the crown prince? there are some who have looked at this and said that maybe this is a trial bone. -- balloon. maybe he's trying to test the depth of his power. ulrike: it could be. on the other hand, he has in the past months demonstrated clearly

that he is the strong man in saudi arabia. i think he is past asked -- if there is internal resistance, well, people would need to find really intricate ways of expressing it. they cannot do it anymore in the semi open way in which political discussions took place in saudi arabia before. brent: professor, we appreciate you sharing your insights tonight. thank you. meanwhile, saudi arabia is also one of the key players in the war in yemen. u.n. has urged the kingdom and all warring sides to reach a political settlement to end the conflict. this, as the u.n. held a donor conference that raised more than $2 billion to help yemenis dependent on food aid. three years of fighting have claimed around 10,000 lives and left millions on the verge of famine. the proxy war between the

saudi-backed government and the iranian-backed rebels has already driven an estimate of 2 million people from their homes. reporter: aisha is mother to five young children, and she is also alone in the world since her husband died. she has to track for two hours every day just to fetch water from a well. she struggles to look after her family. >> things were cheap before the war. even if you didn't have much money, you could buy things. but prices have skyrocketed. i don't know how i'm going to buy food or clothes. reporter: years of conflict in yemen has devastated the country. thousands are dead, and millions driven from their homes. two thirds of the population, that's 19 million yemenis, need humanitarian assistance,

according to a u.n. report from last year. half of the country has no access to clean, running water. that has caused a widespread cholera epidemic. yemen's health care system is under extreme strain. the young are worst hit. >> even before the war, more than one in five newborns died. now the death rate can hit 70% because of the current situation in the country. reporter: for aisha and her family, the future looks bleak. without outside help, an already critical situation could become desperate. brent: tonight, the ford o catan serati lear carles pudemo is facing an uncertai feet -- fate. in a setback for the leader, a german prosecutor has asked for him to be extradited to spain

where he faces charges of treason and rebellion. a crime t carries a maximum sentence of 30 years. it is now up to a regional court in germany to decide whether or not to grant that extradition request. reporter: what is in store this year for the former catalan leader? for now, carles puigdemont remains behind the walls of this detention center in northern rmany. and that is likely to remain the case, after prosecutors found spain's extradition request to be legally admissible. >> we have checked whether the statutory offenses listed in the european arrest warrant, namely rebellion and misuse of public funds, correspond to the offenses under german law of high treason and misappropriation. we came to the conclusion that there is a correspondence. reporter: just over a week ago, puigdemont had traveled to finland from his self-imposed exile in belgium, to attend a

conference and meet lawmakers. facing arrest by finnish authorities, he tried to return to belgium. but police detained him shortly after he crossed the danish, german border. ever since, handfuls of his supporters have been demonstrating outside the northern german detention center where he is now being held. >> i see extradition as a betrayal of the european union's values. puigdemont is a politician with ideals that oppose those of the spanish government. but differences are the basis of coexistence in europe, aren't they? reporter: the case now lies with schleswig-holstein's higher regional court. if its judges approve puigdemont's extradition, his lawyers could take the matter to germany's constitutional court. so it could be weeks, possibly months before a final decision. brent: joining us here in the

studio now is our correspondent kate brady. good to see you. there is a lot to pack out in the story. we have got german judges deciding whether or not to extradite this man, and they have to decide whether or not the charges in spain are comparable to something that could be charged against him here. kate: exactly. that is what this public prosecutor in schleswig-holstein said today, it is now in the hands of the highest court in schleswig-holstein. those charges were rebellion and misuse of public funds. so now it is up to the court to see if there is actually satisfactory, or rather, necessary substance to actually implement this request of extradition. brent: we say rebellion, another word for that is treason, right? they say he has done something, an act, that has gone against the constitution of spain. kate: exactly.

and there is the argument from this prosecutor that under german law, that high treason means that there has been recognition, or that it would be violence as a result of this decision. and they have said that through him deciding to hold this catalan independence referendum last october, he was aware that that would result in violence. brent: so he knew with the consequences of his actions could be. this is just more than a matter for the courts,ight? is is also politicized and explosive on an eu level. we have the german government and the eu saying this is not our problems, it is not our fares. how long can that last. kate: we have seen -- not our affairs. how long can that last? kate: they are very keen to keep

the separation from the judicial system in germany and politics. it is a political issue but also a judicial decision. they said it would be a legal affront if the german government were to then start meddling in any decision that comes out of the court. brent: but mr. puigdemont, he wants this to become an eu decision or any you -- decision. he says the capital of the eu, he wants eu norms and laws to be considered in this case. kate: that is what we have been hearing from some protesters and her has been finger-pointing from some protesters asking why he was arrested in germany when he had traveled through the country. but of course it is worth bearing in mind that the eu arrest warrant was reactivated by spain the day before he was arrested in germany. and of course it was not the

government that arrested him. brent: it is interesting. he was also coming from finland through denmark, and in those countries he was not arrested. there are lots of twists and turns in the story. kate brady, thank you very much for helping us understand. here are some of the other stores now making headlines around the world. russian president vladimir putin is in the turkish capital with talks with the turkish president. it is hers -- it is his first trip abroad since winning reelection. britain's military research center says it has been unable to prove the nerve agent used to poison a russian double agent last month was produced in russia. but the chief executive of the labs did say the substance, noah chok -- no chok -- it would have been too difficult to create by any source other than estate agent.

it has been dubbed black tuesday in france as transport strikes are underway. headaches galore. >> anyone living in france should not expect to go anywhere fast. for the next three months. because those strikes are rolling strikes by real workers currently underway and could last that long. they have taken to the streets of paris to protest emmanuel macron's efforts to modernize one of europe's top economies. the stoppages will hit productivity and just as a report revealed today that for investment in france has had a 10 year high. investors see the country on the road to reform. half only shake their heads. reporter: the chaos was complete. hundreds of thousands of travelers left stuck. not only in paris but throughout france. the walkout led to the cancellation of almost all high-speed train services tuesday. if you regional services operating were mostly delayed. >> this is catastrophic. something needs to be done.

we are the victims. we have not done anything wrong. we need to get to work like everyone else. it is not normal. >> we are against this. >> we are not happy. reporter: the strikes are a response to government plans to reform the government's rail industry. emmanuel macron has set out to dismantle privileges. macron also wants to raise their retirement age. at the moment they can retire at 52. >> we are very happy with the number of strikers in the context of the number of trains. due to the strike, practically the entire rail is paralyzed. we are satisfied with the level of mobilization by the train workers. reporter: the unions have settled in for the long haul. for the next three months at least until june, workers plan to strike for two days each

week. almost one year after macron was elected president, other industries are growing restless. people in the gas and power sectors have also come out on strike. whisper doctors have also walkout. workers here want the right to retire early if they deal with hazardous chemicals. adding to the unrest, staff at air france were also on strike demanding a 6% wage hike. helena: the number one music streaming service spotify has gone public. after a rocky relation with some artists, the platform is currently enjoying a smoother ride on wall street, attracting plenty of investor attention. reporter: spotify has not earned one cent since it was founded in 2006, but losses of almost one billion euros did not seem to put off investors. at the new york stock exchange, hopes run high for the swedish company. >> we do think demand will be strong for spotify.

it a sexy stock and a sexy industry. the way they have done it obviously may mean that indexes will come through, a lot of funds that want to have. reporter: the shareprice underlines that. it opened at almost $166 a share. that values the company at $29.5 billion. the timing for the ipo is not ideal, though. following facebook status scandal, the tech sector's reputation has been severely tarnished. u.s. president donald trump's verbal attacks on amazon came as an additional setback. still, investors have high hopes for music streaming providers. >> more people are now talking about streaming. it is easy to forget that just three years ago, even in the u.s., streaming really wasn't a thing.

it was still downloading songs. so this helps educate the market and that is equally true across the world. reporter: spotify and is embedded -- competitors account for 60% of music revenues. countries like germany offer a lot of potential for further growth. that promotes optimism and self-confidence at spotify and a lot of investors. helena: let's bring in our financial correspondent on wall street now. a lot enthusiasm right now at this offering. but is it a short-lived boom or can we expect this to last? jose: it is hard to tell. compare spotify to netflix and others, they are so cold uniforms -- unicorns. as for now spotify is the world's leaders -- largest streaming service provider. spotify can also benefit from various networks that will help

the company increased its users and has an invaluable assets, especially with user data. that said, the company faces intense competition and has a cost structure that may -- it will take years for the company to generate any profit. helena: it other news we have trumped renewing his attacks on amazon. is that having an impact on the market? jose: that's the case, especially as we look at amazon shares over the last couple days. market value has fallen more than $37 million since trump began targeting the company last week. on tuesday, amazon stocks surged around 1%. analysts point out any regulatory action, we're talking any antitrust case, should be initiated either by the department of justice or federal trade commission, none of which have announced an investigation so far. that said, trump's fixation on

amazon and just bees us is not new since he has attacked them dozens of times. is also were taking into consideration that jeff bezos owns the washington post, which donald trump hates. helena: jose, thanks. meanwhile, trump has also been speaking out about the wall the plans to build. brent has the latest on that. brent: president donald trump says that he will deploy u.s. troops to guard the border with mexico until a wall can be built. the statement comes as trump seeks to put pressure on mexico to stop a large group of migrants from reaching the u.s. border. those migrants, mainly from honduras, reportedly plan to apply for silent in the u.s. or enter the country illegally. reporter: some of the 1200 migrants from central america

bound for the u.s. border. they received a warm welcome as they passed through mexico. the procession is made -- named the station of the cross. >> our aim is to reach the u.s. to support those who stayed behind. not long ago, my brother was killed. he was killed cruelly. that's why we are fighting to go to the u.s. we are doing this for him and his family. reporter: the organized processions have never reached the u.s. border, but u.s. president donald trump said that security would be tightened nonetheless, as he once again talked of his plans for a wall on the border with mexico. >> we had very bad laws for our

border, and we are going to be doing some things. i have been speaking with general mattis. we're going to do things until we can have a wall and proper security, we will guard our border with the military. that's a big step. reporter: the mexican government says it has already sent 400 marchers home and for the first time, offered refugee status for those in qualified. but it's a suggestion it is not up to mexico to stand in the way of mexico -- refugees bound for the u.s. is only likely to inflame trump's anger. brent: our correspondent claire richardson is on the story in washington. good evening to you. we have the u.s. president saying he's going to pull in the military to secure the border. the southern border with mexico. what has been the reaction so far? claire: the reaction is to why has this issue gotten under

donald trump's skin right now his promise to build what he calls a big, beautiful border wall was one of his key campaign promises but he has been largely silent about the issue over the last couple weeks, until this weekend when he went on a flurry of tweets accusing these migrants that we saw in that last report of coming up to the u.s. border. he said they were coming to take advantage of the program daca, which is nonsense because they would not be eligible for it. the question is likely feel so threatened by this migrant group. as we heard, it is a protest they have done for years. they are protesting the conditions that they faced going along the route in mexico trying to reach the u.s. the possibility of death and kidnapping. they are mostly migrants from honduras, which is one of the world's most violent companies -- countries and they are fleeing towards the u.s. so we need to look at what it is about these thousand people or so that is so threatening to donald trump.

i think it relies in the fact that he realized the $1.3 trillion spending bill he signed provides hardly any provisions for the border wall. includes funding for repairing existing segments but it is not a promise he made to his mong mexican border. instead he is saying we in the military until that happens. brent: is it that simple? can trump just send in the u.s. military to guard the border? is there a protocol has to follow? and can congress block him from doing that? clare: well, it is not a new idea. this would not be the first time that a u.s. president has sent the military in the form of the national guard to the mexican border. it was done under president obama, under george w bush. in those instances when the national guard was sent to the border with mexico, they were they are very much in his support capacity for the border patrol. they were doing things like

surveillance, intelligence gathering. he was a strong emphasis on the fact would not interact with the people humming across the border. how effective could they be if they are there simply in a support role? perhaps they could serve as a deterrence. it is still unclear exactly look on a military presence donald trump actually wants to see on the border. brent: clare richardson, as always, thank you. here's a reminder of the top stories we are for you. saudi arabia's crown prince says israelis have a right to their own homeland. the comments have risk questions as to whether the kingdom is preparing a major shift in his relations with israel. saudi arabia does not officially recognize the state of israel. german prosecutors have obliged to have former catalan president carles puigdemont extradited to spain. the separatist leader is currently being held in northern germany. he is accused of rebellion in spain over the campaign for independence for the region of catalonia.

you're watching "dw news." after a short break i'll be back to take you through the day. we're going to have in-depth coverage on the fate of carles puigdemont, now in the hands of german judges. we will be right back. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

is made possible by..." croplife america. and it's member companies and associations in the crop protection industry including: the american farm bureau foundation for agriculture. more information at: agfoundation.org. sacramento's proud to be america's farm to fork capital visit: farmtofork.com hi, i'm sarah gardner, we're heading to the buckeye state to introduce you to a farm family whose focus in agriculture goes far beyond providing food that lands on your dinner table. their farm, here in ohio, takes a more global approach to providing feed and livestock. hi i'm jason shoultz. coming up i'll take you to one of our nation's busiest seaports to see what's being done to protect american agriculture. you may have seen it in the produce section and said,