>> you're watching live from paris on france 24. germany rocked by a political earthquake. chancellor angela merkel wins a fourth term in power but the far right is also celebrating. the party now the country's third-largest political force. i will be speaking to our berlin correspondent. iraqi kurds had to the polls to vote for a controversial

independence referendum. the region pushing ahead with the historic ballot despite strong opposition from the u.n. and world powers. defiant nfl players in the u.s. protest in the wake of donald trump's controversial comments. the president lashing out at footballers who refused to stand during the national anthem. up we will look at how angela merkel's unconvincing election win could have wider implications for the european economy. stay with us. it has been n dubbed a nightmare victory. germany's angela merkel has clinched a fourth term in power following sunday's parliamentary elections. allianceonservative

took only 33% of the vote. the parties worst performance since 1949. the far rates -- the far right's party has made historic breakthrough with just under 13% of the vote. it is now the country's third-largest political force to the centerleft social democrats suffered their worst results in decades. let's hear from their leader. we see this 20.5% result as a request to build a strong opposition. as a mandate to strengthen democracy against those who want to attack it. we have to enter into a debate on the future of this country as a strong opposition and debate with those who have so far refused it.

>> let's cross to our berlin correspondent. they have just givenen a press conference. what have the democrats been saying? the young charismatic leader of the liberal party c cdited withth bringing the party back from the doldrums spoke just minutes ago. because the spotlight he i is seen as a very important potentia kiningmaker for the net coalition government. he wasn'n't exactly forthcoming about the coalition proceeding. he said hehe was o on to coalitn talks with conservatives. he had some criticism for the current government. he said the current the centrist polilical force e has become indidistinguishable from each

other and h he wants to bring te thetry forward to modernize politics. he said what he doesn't want to do is just replace the current government with the same thihing undeder the guise of differentnt colors. he saidd he would rather stay in the opposition. some words of warning for angega merkel that he's not just going to tell her line. the liberal party and the green party which would make up ththe coalitionn are holding quiuite a lot of cards because angela merkel really needs b both of tm in order t to form a majoritit governmement. his new support race has beenen very hard one and he won't want to lose this by agreeing to all of her terms. -- touch onon issues that could be potential sticking points. that he doesn't agree with germany underwriting the debt of european countries.

planslso skeptptical abobout for european reforms. he agrees with the green party thatat climate chahange is veryy impoportant but they may not see eye to eye on how to take the steps to tackle it. >> merkel's victory has been overshadowed by the rise of the alternative for germany. the far right party really shaking up the political landscape. absolutely. it has s sent shockwaveves throh the politicacal landsce. much of the analysisis coming ot today that has become almost an existential question in germany, how did this happen in a society that is so modern and contemporary and forward thinking. how has it allowed the far right party to come into its national parliament. many people are saying afd has been underestimated for too long. this is a party that did well in regional elections.

up.ess has crept it is now in 30 out of 16 regional parliaments. many people never thought it would get this far into the national parliament. now the question is how to deal with the afd as an opposition force in parliament. some analysts are saying it's wrong to demonize it thahat will only give voters more of a reason to support the afd. they need to r realize and capitatalized on a lot of fear d realized they need to what is causing the fear and anger and try to addressss it. >> thank you for that update. mps aref far right afd set to enter parliament breaking a taboo in post-world war ii

germany. vowed to go have after chancellor merkel over her migrant and refugee policy. historical moment for the afd. it earned 13.5% of the vote making the country's third strongest party. the reason to celebrate for the far right party and its supporters. this is a great day in the histstory of our party. we did it. we are in the german parliament and we will change this country. the afd's unprecedented success has largely been seen as a backlash against angela merkel's immigration policy. in 2015 she welcomed one million migrants and refugees many of whom were muslims fleeing violent conflict in the middle east.

the manifesto says islam does not belong in germany. the party called for banning the burqa and foreign funding of mosques in germany and introducing permanent border control. nationalist party also believes germany should be proud of its history including soldiers that thought in both world wars a true -- a view that has drawn criticism. it is the first time since world war ii the far right party has earned see. >> voters in iraqi kurdistan are casting their ballots in a controversial independence referendum. the autonomous region is pushing ahead with the poll despite opposition from the un security council over its potentially destabilizing impact. iraq's government has blasted the vote as illegal.

>> who arere the kurdishsh peope d whwhy do they y seek independence? todaday 30 to 40 million kurds live in n those same territories but borders arare disputed. kurdistan ststretchescross parts of europe. maps of current standard resurfaced in 1919 after the fall of the ottoman empire. the 1923 attempted to secure autonomy but that failed to world leaders signed a treaty which excluded kurds. living as a minority they have whererepressionon in turkey the kurdish workers party was created in 1978. the groups armed fight for an independent state has cost thousands of lives. turkish intelligence arrested

him abroad in 1999. the pkk has shifted strategy scrapping calls for independence instead pushing for autonomy. in turkey kurds make up 20% of watchfulation and a eye is kept on the contingency in northern syria. the kurds have already been governing their autonomous tones as the gulf war in the 1990's. iraqi kurdistan is one of the country's most stable entities. western powers now consider the kurds a key player in the fight against islamic state group jihadists. >> the turkish president has blasted the independence referendum. he says the turkish army is standing by the iraqi border ready to take the necessary steps. more from our correspondents in the next half hour. japan's prime minister has

called a snap election and will dissolve parliament on thursday. he said he is making the move in order to overcome a national crisis amid growing threats from north korea. it comes after his approval rating sunk k to a record low or the summer. the vote could happen as early as the 22nd of october. >> i am making a serious decisions that relates to the japanese people's s lives. i need to seek a public mandate. i decided to dissolve the lower house on thursday for this purpose. >> a defiant show of solidarity against donald trump as nfl games across the country on sunday. orund 200 players sat knelt locked arms to protest the

president's controversial comments. players whohose refused to stand during the national anthem should be fired or suspended. it was the largest demonstration of its kind with players wanting brutalility police and racial injustice.. >> a gesture of protest against racial injustice and against their president after donald trump used an expletive to describe nfl players who kneel during the national anthem. >> a lot of guys were upset about what president trump said. would imply that we can't exercise our first amendment rights as players. he's tryiying to divide us. it's not a good thing. >> at sunday's nfl game more

than 200 players knelt or held at her fist. many linking arms or holding hands. teams skipped the national anthem altogether. new england patriots owner robert draft a personal friend of trumps who donated to his campaign that he was deeply disappointed by the president's comments. team's he supported his right to protest violence against black americans. trump insists his comments had nothing to do with race. >> i've never said anything about race. this has nothing to do with race or anything else. this has to do with respect for our country and respect for our flag. sunday's mass protest with the latest in a growing food between president and professional athletes. we also attacked basketball star stephen curry after he turned down the traditional white house visit for nba champions. were quick to defend

him who sent going to the white house was no longer an honor. >> puerto rico is still reeling from the hurricane that made landfall as a category three storm last week and now the territory is on the brink of another crisis. 70,000 residents have been evacuated from their homes. are down and electricity is out across the entire island with engineers warning it could take weeks or even months to restore power. >> weakening under increased water pressure the dam is threatening to give way. cracks caused by hurricane maria threatening the lives of some 70,000 residents in this river valley below. they were all ordered to evacuate on friday as the weather service warned stay away or be swept away. puerto rico governor personally urged residents to flee.

are already some indicators of progress but we are still in an emergency situation and we ask people to remain calm. stabilizedtuation is it will start to rebuild puerto rico stronger than ever. once idyllic beaches are scenes of other destruction. >> we have no supplies. we don't have running water. get hit in myi house i burst into tears because it's not easy to start again. >> maria destroyed some 70% to 80% of their homes. it knocked out electricity across the entire island. they must get their hands on drinking water and petrol. several camps at the station have already run dry.

it will be several months for basic services back up and running for the population of 3.4 million. >> you're watching live from paris. reminder of our top stories. germany rocked by a political earthquake. angela merkel wins a fourth term in power at the far right afd is also celebrating. the party making a historic breakthrough. kurds had to the polls to vote in a controversial independence referendum. the region pushing ahead despite strong opposition from the u.s. and world powers. time for the business roundup. we are starting with the impact of the german election results. today? markets reacting >> investors are on average.

hit.uro took a the stronger euro zone integration going forward. more reaction on the financial markets. european shares have recovered climbed back into positive territory. for more on the impact of the election i'm joined by peter shaffer. chancellor merkel -- are possible coalition partner kohl's them new red lines. what kind of impact could this election results have.

>> i want to caution you a little bit here. ftp as eurosceptics is a bit too far. they are quite pro-european. absolutely right. they have been very cautious when it comes to integration on financial matters. it will make the whole integration debate a bit more difficult. if you take a look at the conservative bloc it consists of her party and the bavarian. they are kind of the same problem because they are also a little bit more reticent in arguing for more integration. the debate will become more difficult. i don't think these issues will be insurmountable. >> germany has enjoyed stronger growth and unemployment at a

record low. poverty is also on the rise. what kind of challenges with the new government phase? if you get a three-way coalition it will also include the green party. the green party is probably more on the left than any of the others and they have argued particularly for a lot of investment in education, reduction of taxes. i think at the end of the day the challenge for chchancellor merkel will be that she has to give all of her potential coalition partners something to hang their hat on. the one for the greens will be a little bit more done for the low income bracket. >> thank you very much for that analysis. uber is fighting to keep operations going after transport authorities decided not to renew its license, leaving it unfit to run a taxi

-- the ceo apologized for the company's mistakes and promised to change business practices. black clamps -- cabs for londoners. the regulator has expressed concerns about security and public safety and the right ailing company is s pledging too improve the way it reports its areas incidents. told bbc radio its keen to sit down with transport for l london to disiscuss itsts decicision and clarify the issus raised by the regulators. mayor has accused uber of putting unfair pressure on tsl by making aggressive threats to take it to court's party leader has the company could stay on the road if it meets the demands of the transport authority. >> they have looked at the whole issue, expressssed serious

iscerns about the way over -- uber is run. they are doing the right thing. >> uber users are making their voices heard by signing an online petition set up by the rideshsharing app. it is asking londoners to defend the livelihoods of its drivers, more than 700,000 people have joined the petition. uber can continue to operate in london until it has exhausted the appeals process which could take several months. >> that's all from the business desk. time now for the press review. i'm -- good to see you. today is all about the german

elections and angela merkel's win. that's right. that's the idea we are getting from the german papers. let's start with the german paper which calls it a bitter victory for angela merkel as the afd farar right party marches io parliaiament. as a similar m message from the belglgian paper. they say merkel is victorious on very much weekend while the front of the right-wing french paper there is no cheeky cartoon. paper is talking about the hard lessons to be learned by emmanuel macron in the wake of angelapaper is merkel's win bect even a good economic situation and relatively low unemployment was enough to stop the rise of the far right in germany. >> policymaking begins with forming a coalition. >> that's right. angela merkel's number one task will be forming a coalition.

the new germany. a new germany in the colors of jamaica because of course the so-called jamaican coalition is the name given for the black yellow and green colors of angela merkel center-right party liberals and the greens who could form the next majority parliament in germany. >> the papers are also looking at the disastrous result for the fpd, the german socialist party. the socialists have taken a tumble in these elections. they are falling into an abyss. in the frenchike elections they have essentially crashed and burned despite the german socialists pinning their hopes on a pro-european the party now needs to look to new beginnings and that with forming a formidable

opposition in parliament. >> moving on to another very important about. that's the kurdish referendum on independence taking place today. >> iraqi kurds are voting for independence. possibly for their future. rich -- a point of no no return. even hold theo referendum is a decisive turning point in the history of iraq. be legally will not enforceable but it will they down the path for kurds to be able to demand more autonomy from its oil-producing neighbhbors. >> the vote is taking place and with iran andsion turkey. >> that's right. this columnist says no one can deny the right of statehood to a group of people but the iraqi kurds should not be able to decide their own path on their

own. this is a decision concerning the country and therefore everybody must participate in the vote. publication they say now is the time for the kurdish boat because waiting for time is never going to happen given how much chaos and instability there is in the region. >> let's take a closer look at the reaction to donald trump's public spat time is with the nf. the u.s. president lashing out at players who kneel during the national anthem. that's right. this tririggered its own twitter movement. they were protesting racial injustice and donald trump's foulmouthed tirade against players who kneel down during the star-spangled banner. there are two points of view in usa today. the dividercalled in chief's actions in decent.

the paper has also published a counter point of view which argues that trump was right in saying ashley judd should be fired -- athletes should be fired for kneeling. >> we are finishing with another from the british actor colin firth against pregnant -- brexit. thend the most adapter of british actors has become an italian citizen. he says it's a response to the political uncertainty in europe following brexit and he said he wants to be closer to the country where his wife is from and where his kids were born. he insists that he still remains british but this is a huge move from the man who won an oscar for playing a british king. remember for more press

review head to our website, france 24.com. stay with us. lots more news coming up when live from paris continues. i will b be crossing to our correspondent in

michael klare: welcome, everyone. i'm going to speak tonight about the major themes of my book which is "the depletion or disappearance of the world's vital resources." the resources we depend upon to support our modern industrial civilization and about the scramble to procure, to secure what's left in the world of