anchor: you are watching "dw news" from berlin. united against terror. russia's president vladimir putin says he will support france in its mission against the self proclaimed islamic state. the two leaders speaking just moments ago. we have live coverage from moscow. coming up, germany shows it also stands with france. it announces tornado jets and a warship are heading to syria.

pope francis uses his first visit to africa to call on world leaders to fight poverty and climate change. the pontiff is in kenya on the first leg of a three nation africa tour. . ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] anchor: i'm sarah kelly. good evening. welcome to the program. tonight we are witnessing some long awaited ground. government is ready to cooperate in antiterrorism efforts in syria. this after a meeting in moscow with the french president. the two leaders have just held a news conference. they say they have agreed to coordinate military strikes on islamic state positions, including oil transportation infrastructure.

disagreements remain over the future of syrian leader bashar al-assad, hollande saying he has to go, putin saying that's up to the syrian people. this week all on as bit on a whirlwind tour tput together a coalition -- hollande has been on a whirlwind tour to put together a coalition. let's bring in our correspondent in moscow to analyze all of this. emma burroughs joins us now. what happens next? in these countries get past the stalemate we have seen recently -- can these countries get past the stalemate we have seen recently? emma: it seems so. vladimir putin and francois hollande have just come out after having that meeting and making a statement to the press. president putin said the talks had been very constructive. he said the russian military actions were very effective in syria and they had destroyed infrastructure and financing

leading to islamic state. he also said that he had discussed concrete practical plans with the french president to form an anti-terror coalition, and president hollande gave some more detail about that. he said there were plans to increase the exchange of information and intelligence between the forces operating in syria, and it's interesting to note as well that vladimir putin said that he was prepared to work with opposition groups. he said that before regarding the syrian conflict, but the french president said they had talked in more detail about that. they had agreed not to strike the forces who work with terrorists. he said, just those who work with daesh or so-called islamic state. this is basically to avoid hitting the run groups. he said there would be an understanding about the targets. they would be hitting together.

this seems to perhaps point to a shift where as before there were definite concerns in the west that russia was not just hitting forces working alongside so-called islamic state, but also other rebel groups who were against president assad. sarah: when we look at this concretely we are hearing fair going to be doing information sharing. we are not hearing that russia is necessarily part of the coalition just yet. is it realistic that they may find some common ground in all of this? emma: i think the common ground, the ground has narrowed between russia and france since both of them were victims of terror attacks over the last month. it doesn't sound like russia is going to be part of this grand coalition, at least not yet. there are issues, of course, still remaining about the future

of president bashar al-assad in syria, for example. this is probably the fundamental issue. francois hollande came out tonight and he said that the syrian president could play no part in the future of syria. president vladimir putin came out and said that it was up to the syrian people to decide what happened in their country, but no political process could be imposed from the outside. the also said that in order to combat is state, he would have to work with president assad's forces on the ground. there does not seem to be much movement on this point yet. sarah: emma burroughs in moscow with this update. thank you. in the meantime, germany is making good on its promise to hollande earlier this week in the fight against islamic state rate it announced it will sent reconnaissance jets and other

military support to assist french forces. the move signals a significant expansion of germany's role in combat in the jihadist group. reporter: german tornadoes could soon be flying over iraq, taking infrared images and transmitting them to other units in real-time. the german military sending soldiers on a combat mission was unthinkable until recently. it's been a rapid change of policy. after the paris attacks, friends called on its eu partners to fulfill their obligation, and the german government is in obligate -- is in agreement. >> we have promised support, and i believe it would not be a good gesture from the german side if we did not maintain our credibility. reporter: credibility means that of which we are capable -- >> that for which we can take the political responsibility, we can actually offer.

reporter: germany also wants to deploy a warship to help protect the french aircraft carrier in the eastern mediterranean. germany will provide aircraft that can refuel other warplanes in flight. >> it's important to derive -- deprived a i.s. terrorist regime of their basis. we also need military means to stop i.s., to conquer it, and then to begin work on the reconciliation of syria's various groups and reconstruction. in the german parliament, broad support is beginning to show, even though there's no u.n. mandate. most lawmakers think the mission can be carried out under international law. ministers are set to present legislation on tuesday, then it will go to the bundestag for approval. sarah: are german political correspondent is standing by for

us. how significant is this change in german policy? reporter: germany has participated in the fight against international terrorism in a small way, or rather, a reticent way, one might say, by supplying arms to the peshmerga, kurdish fighters in northern iraq, for instance, but always been reluctant to put boots on the ground, to put german military equipment into war zone -- into a war zone situation. the fact that this is being done now is quite significant. germany has only done this three times since the end of the second world war. the first time was in the kosovo conflict after the end of the former yugoslavia in the early 1990's. the second such mission was in afghanistan. that is still going on in some sense. this is the third time in 60 years that germany is sending its troops into a mission into a fighting zone. sarah: germany very much a

country that is cautious before it gets involved militarily. when we discuss this military involvement and compare it to the french and russian involvement, u.s. involvement, how big is this? reporter: of course there are no plans at present for the german planes that are being deployed actually to drop any bombs, to shoot. their role will be to take photographs, to provide intelligence, to provide information about targets for the various other forces involved, and also the refueling of planes, especially of french planes, and the protection of this french carrier that is in the mediterranean. it is in some sense a support mission, but at the same time it is in a war zone and if german forces do get shot at, they will return fire. it's very much a robust deployment. sarah: thank you.

a lot of diplomacy in the past week in the fight against i.s. what will it mean on the ground? let's bring in an international security expert. france, the united states, germany, all part of this broader coalition in the fight against i.s. what impact will that have? >> we do not have a coalition so far, but the two major of isis, -- attckacks of isis, one on the german airplane over the sinai peninsula and the one in paris, have changed the environment and created some momentum which we have not seen over the last couple of months. and now some kind of determination or commitment is appearing, where the legal authorization informed of the un security council, by the political authorization to

proceed, and now we have to wait what's happening. sarah: the biggest thing that would beef up this involvement is the russian president. he is saying today the cooperation is a step towards forming an international coalition. do you buy it? >> from a russian perspective, it's perfect. now he has reentered the so-called statesman. he feels comfortable to meet one-on-one with other statesman. to russia one way or the other is returning to the circle of countries which are ruling the international scene. some people have already advocated the return of russia to the g8, to the p8 summit, and therefore it's a proper tool to regain the former stance of russian international affairs. sarah: even if we were to see this greater military cooperation on the ground as is

promised, there is still no political plan. >> that is key. military operation is only as good as the political goal it wants to accomplish. just imagine i.s. will be degraded and defeated. the key question will be what are we going to do with this kind of syria, which we will then have, and therefore the issues which are on the table but are not mentioned anymore, assad, they will return one way or the other. one of the key issues will be not only to plan the military campaign, but also to plan for the future of syria as well as iraq. sarah: that is indeed the looming question yet to be answered. thank you. return to some other news, and pope francis has held his first mass in africa. the heavens opened with a major downpour, but that did not stop

around 300,000 people attending the mass in the kenyan capital. the pope also visited the united nations regional headquarters, where he delivered a stark message ahead of next month's climate change conference in paris. reporter: and enthusiastic welcome for pope francis at the u.n. compound in nairobi. his message regarding the upcoming paris climate change summit was also well received. >> france has said, it would be sad and even catastrophic if particular interests were to prevail over the common good in order to protect the plans of some people. reporter: for most kenyans, this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see a pope in person. >> i feel so much joy as a canyon, because the pope has come to visit us -- kenyan, maybe because the pope has come

to visit us. maybe our country will be blessed and stand tall. reporter: that is why people came out in the thousands earlier today, when francis celebrated in open air mass. the pope criticized what he called a culture of materialism and urged kenyans to uphold family values. >> we are called to resist practices which foster arrogance in men, hurt or demean women, ignore the elderly, and threaten the life of the innocent unborn. reporter: reconciliation between religions is another theme for francis in africa. ahead of the mass, francis met with other religious leaders. he urged them to work together as peacekeepers to stop extremism and terrorism in the name of religion. sarah: we have to take a short

break, but when we come back we will have a whole lot more news, including business. keep it here on "dw." ♪

sarah: you are watching "dw news " from berlin. i'm sarah kelly. russia's president, vladimir putin, has told president hollande his government is ready to cooperate in antiterrorism efforts in syria. we should unite our efforts against the common evil, he said. the german foreign minister and defense minister say, germany

will send reconnaissance jets and a warship to support the french mission against the so-called islamic state in syria. change of pace, now we had over for some business news, and turkey's downing of a russian warplane on tuesday is affecting trade between these two countries. tell us more. >> the russian prime minister ordering the government to draw a punitive economic measures. hundreds of trucks trying to bring turkish goods into the country have been stranded at the russian border. reporter: turkey's mediterranean coast is a prime destination for russian tourists. they ranked second among visitors after german vacationers. now rush across central tourism agency has banned further sales of packaged tours to turkey. that could lead to many vacant rooms at the country's each side resorts.

to make matters worse, truck driver space long waiting times that the russian border. previously they quickly passed through the checkpoint. russia is turkey's leading export market, but now the drivers are paying the price. it is all because of the plane that was shot down. there are trucks here from turkey, kazakhstan, georgia, encourages stan. they are all loaded with turkish products and they have all been stopped. but the sanctions are not only hurting turkey. russian consumers have lost one of their favorite tourist destinations, and soon there could be shortages of grapes and oranges on store shelves. russians have mixed feelings. >> i will just go on vacation to crimea to our beautiful riviera. it's a shame, especially now ahead of new year's, i'd like to buy a few tangerines. reporter: bilateral relations have hit a low point, but turkey

and russia depend on each other and were in the midst of expanding their trade ties. less than a year ago, president vladimir putin and president erdogan agreed on the construction of a natural gas pipeline. a free trade zone was in the works. but now those projects have been put on hold. >> legalize the domestic trade. it says the government must six-year ban appears to have only worsen conditions for the endangered animal. conservationists fear for the worst. we will talk to one of our reporters from the region in a moment to first this. reporter: rhino horns are worth a small fortune on the black market. that's why illegal poachers have set their sights on the endangered species. although it's illegal to sell the horns, more than 1200 rhinos were killed in south africa last year. the number could rise as asia's appetite for rhino horns grows. rhino horn is often used as a

panacea in many folk remedies. two rhino breeders went to court to argue it is their right to sell rhino horn, claiming it is a renewable resource. they say the moratorium was contrary to the intention directly responsible for illegal poaching. the argue harvesting the horn from living rhinos and selling illegally will drive poachers out of business. conservationists are bitterly disappointed by the ruling. opening up rhino horn train -- trade would lead to more killings, they say. south africa is home to many thousand rhino, 80% of the world population. >> are reporter joins us to walk us through this. tell us why the moratorium was brought into place and why it did not work. reporter: they said they were simply taking this action to align their efforts with that of a global body that is governing endangered species.

basically there have been various arguments about the fact that the move was prompted because there was a surge in poaching at the time. that's not what the statistics show, and the side movement has clearly come out and said it was about us aligning our efforts. >> but it backfired. reporter: if you look at it, the year before, that moratorium was put in place. only 100 rhinos had been poached, versus last year when you had a rhino being poached every eight hours, over 1200 or poached. this is what the judge argue too lifted the moratorium to say, the band has not done much to prevent poaching. >> how much is rhino horn worth on the black market? this is what is driving the problem in the first place. reporter: if you look on the asian black market, the biggest market for rhino horn, one kilogram can fetch up to

$65,000. >> internationally it's band. locally they are lifting this band. -- ban. it does not mean traders can start right away. reporter: not necessarily. the government will be appealing this judge's decision. >> give me the two arguments, before and against. reporter: the hunters say some of the money in their trade is funneled into conservation efforts and that when you regulate the trade of the rhino horn, you're able to save more rhinos because the animal doesn't have to die. verses in the poaching scenario, where you lose the whole animal. you have your conservationists arguing that when you allow the trade to continue, you are fueling the industry and of course you are going to fuel the people that are pushing the animals illegally -- pacpoaching

the animals illegally. >> to lose the whole animal would be such a pity. it's one of the closest things to something that is prehistoric, to the dinosaurs, i would say. reporter: having a bunch of rhinos without the horn, there is also that aspect to it. >> americans are gearing up for the christmas shopping season, but make sure you check your bank account before letting loose. this woman, a resident of hawaii, went online only to discover this. she was almost $1.5 trillion in the red. a huge figure to fathom. the bank says it was just a glitch. it affected several customers. no money changed hands. sarah, imagine if you woke up to that. sarah: she should demand they credit her account for an equal amount, because of emotional

distress. thanks, men. -- ben. the president of the world governing body for track and field has announced at a press conference in monaco that he is stepping down from his ambassadorial role with nike amid allegations of conflict of interest. after the u.s. city of eugene, oregon was awarded the 2021 world championships without a bidding process back in april. e-mails leaked this week appear to show that co had discussed the bid with his predecessor, and backed eugene, which has a close tie to nike. joining us now from the site of tonight's press conference in monaco is the german journalist who has been following this story closely. was this the right move for him to step down? >> i think it was a right move right -- move.

i would say it was much too late because there have been so many press reports. i think it was too late, and this war, it was more reaction on the media reports. my feeling was that he still does not understand, this conflict of interest is obvious, but he has two at the end decide to avoid any further media coverage. sarah: this isn't the only drama we've seen and the world of track and field in recent weeks. russia has its own doping scandal going on at the moment. is the sport now cleaning up its act? >> widespread doping in russia was released in a document last year, revealed.

i would say that is a really big subject and the first decision today was surprising, the russian federation accepted its suspension from all competitions, maybe also the olympics in 2016, and that means there is a slight change of behavior in russia, but i would not say so far that this means that they will finally be reinstated for the x. -- olympics. sarah: thank you. the united states has been celebrating the thanksgiving holiday, one of my personal favorites. it's a time when americans abroad and at home come together. for u.s. ex-pats living in france, preparations for the annual festivities have taken on a different mood, however, in the wake of the recent attacks in paris. u.s. troops in the afghan capital invited soldiers from other nato allies to a traditional turkey and gravy dinner.

on the eve of the holiday, president barack obama and the rest of the first family went to a local church in washington. they helped survey thanksgiving dinner to war veterans, and to the homeless. we want to wish all of our u.s. viewers a happy and healthy thanksgiving. here is a reminder of our top stories. russia's president, vladimir putin, has told president hollande that his government is ready to cooperate in antiterrorism efforts in syria. german foreign minister and defense minister say that germany wilson reconnaissance jets and a warship to support the french mission in syria. thanks for watching. see you next time. ♪

>> after this incident and after of our pilot and a who came to assist is anlleague, this incident which i hope will not ed.repeat that is what we discussed during our talks with the french president. effort, aed a common financial work and a powerful