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laila: this is dw news live from berlin. in south to announce a new leader to succeed jacob zuma. it has been a closely fought contest between the deputy president, cyril ramaphosa, and zuma's ex-wife, nkosazana dlamini-zuma. the decision could have a huge impact on the country for decades to come. also ahead, turkrkey has ordered the release of german journalist mesale tolu from prison, but says she will not be allowed to leave the country. plus, austria's news chancellor is sworn in, having the right-wing coalition. he has pushed to get tough on immigration, but thousands have turned out in protest.

i am laila harrak. good to have you with us. in south africa, the ruling anc is preparing to announce who will take over from jacob zuma as party leader. voting took place overnight, and it has been a tight race between two front runners, the deputy president, cyril ramaphosa, and former minister nkosazana dlamini-zuma, jacob zuma's ex-wife. it is widely regarded as a pivotal moment for the country. whoever wins will be well placed to become south africa's next president in the 2019 general election. all right. here to explore what this all means is dw's christine mondo. good to have you with us.

talk to us about these contenders. what does a broadly represent? christine: if you look at cyril ramaphosa, you have an astute negotiator. he was meant to succeed nelson mandela for the presidency. when that did not happen, he went into business. he has become south africa's richest man and has come back to politics over the last five years. it was clear he was coming to take over for the presidency. cyril ramaphosa is speaking to business in south africa. he is saying all the right things. he is talking about pursuing inclusive growth. he is talking about the fact he is going to restore the relationship the private sector has with south africa's government. it is at an all-time low right now. the private sector is sitting on billions they are not investing into the country, citing political uncertainty. there has been hostility between zuma's demonstration and the business community, residents zoom a using words like wiping out capital, which the business community has been uneasy about.

the dynamics are such in south africa that much of the country's wealth is still in hands of the minority white south african population. under zuma, there has been a strain in this relationship. cyril ramaphosa has been in business, one of south africa's richest men. he is known to negotiate well. he was on the negotiating team back when apartheid was coming to an end. leaving south africa into a democracy, he is trusted. markets would welcome him. many young, black middle class south africans would welcome him. nkosazana dlamini-zuma is the former wife of president jacob zuma. she is astute in her own right. she has held senior cabinet positions and south africa's government, including interior minister. she came back from the african union, where she was chairperson a single term. she is a woman, and a lot of people would like that to happen now, a woman leading the country as the president of the anc, of south africa. the problem is she is closely affiliated with her former

husband. people have not been happy with zuma. zuma's time presiding over the country and the anc has taken the party and country to places it has never been before. high levels of corruption. we heard things like state capture, private individuals having a say in cabinet decisions. people are very unhappy with zuma within the party and outside more broadly. her being closely affiliated with him, having his endorsement, has not helped her at all. laila: i would like you to expand on that if you can. of course, the anc heads such a moral authority in south africa. the entire world, basically, during nelson mandela's mandate. that seems to have been chipped away at in the meantime. is any of these 2 -- and probably cyril ramaphosa -- someone who could give renewed confidence in this legacy party? christine: if you talk to -- i am going to quote the anc's

alliance partners, the tripartite alliance with the confederation of trade unions and the south african communist party. both those alliance partners are saying cyril ramaphosa is what the party needs. a lot of delegates, senior members of the party, people who have since retired from politics, evil who served in mandela's generation, have said cyril ramaphosa could potentially change anc fortunes. the fear is that the anc is being pushed out into rural areas as it loses support in the urban areas. we saw that in the last local government election. they lost the mystery of capital, pretoria being one, and that was middle-class black south africans saying to the anc, i am not happy anymore. people fear the liberation party, the oldest liberation party on the continent, is going to be reduced to some rural party, and that fear has pushed people to say we need change.

that change, they feel, will come with cyril ramaphosa, who by and large has a clear record. he has not been affiliated with too much scandal. he has been outside of politics. he came back five years ago. he has been steadily building his base. he has good relationships in the political community, within the business and international communities. laila: we will have to wait and see what happens. they are going to announce it momentarily and i am sure we will talk more with you. thank you for your reporting. in the meantime, i would like to tell you about some of the other stories making news around the world. in india, the hindu nationalist bjp has fended off a major challenge, holding onto power in gujarat, the home state of narendra modi. it was the first real test for gandhi, the new president of the opposition congress party. an overnight fire has killed 12

people in mumbai, india. they were employees at a snack shop, and became trapped inside when the blaze broke out. officials are investigating the cause of the fire, which gutted the entire store. the belgian trial of key suspects in the 2015 attacks in france has been postponed. the delay is to give a newly appointed lawyer time to prepare. al islam is currently in a french prison for his alleged involvement in multiple attacks that killed 130 people in the french capital. a new government has been sworn into power in austria, making it the only western european country with a far right party in its ruling coalition. the new chancellor, sebastian kurtz, has shared up with the populist freedom party. they're pledging to maintain a

strong commitment to the e.u., but the inclusion of the freedom party in the government has sparked protests, as thousands gather in the capital, vienna. let's explore what this new austrian coalition means for europe. max hoffman is in brussels. good evening. the new chancellor is going out of his way to reassure his counterparts that this government is pro-european. are the officials in brussels convinced where you are? max: so far, we have heard very little doubt. one e.u. commissioner said we need to keep a close eye on the government, at least for the commission. some e.u. parliamentarians, especially those from the left, said this was not a good thing, and they would be very vigilant. but if you look at the documents that have been released so far, there is some good news for e.u. institutions. as you said, this coalition is trying to reassure everybody in brussels that they are

pro-european. they even wrote that a strong austria can only exist in a strong europe. i think nobody has doubts in brussels that at the very least this new coalition will and large and -- -- will enlarge the rift with countries that want a european immigration quota, taking in migrants and refugees, and on the other side, those that don't. austria will probably be firmly on the side of those that do not want to take in any refugees. laila: to your point, with austria doubling down on immigration, what will the e.u. do in response? can it do anything? max: we really have to differentiate. of course if they do something on a national level, in line with the austrian constitution, in line with national legislation, and that is what the voters want, they gave this coalition a comfortable majority. the e.u. does not step in, because that is not its job.

if we are talking about e.u. legislation, official decisions by the e.u. counsel, as we have at the moment for the relocation of refugees within the european union, it gets more complicated. that shows you why this is the most contentious issue in the european union. we have decisions not enacted by countries like poland. maybe in the future by austria. that gives the e.u. a huge problem on its hands. that is something they want to solve within the next six or seven months. they said that they want new solutions until june 2018. it might not get any easier. laila: max hoffman reporting from brussels. thank you. i'm sure all of you at home -- certainly, we have an item of ikea, and it has made a lot of money off of billing us for the furniture been. >> it is cheap, but you have to do the wonky stuff.

the question is whether or not ikea has been paying taxes. the european union has launched an investigation into tax arrangements in the netherlands. they could have given the swedish furniture giant and unfair market advantage. they may have to put a bill that is pricier than it's cheap bookshelves. reporter: ikea is known across the globe for inexpensive home furnishings. the company strives to have a low tax bill, but the european commission believes ikea took advantage of questionable tax loopholes in the netherlands. >> we have concerns that dutch tax rulings from 2006 and 2011 may have allowed ikea to pay less tax and given them an unfair advantage compared to other companies, subject to the same national taxation in the netherlands. if confirmed, that would be in breach of e.u. state aid rules. reporter: the alleged tax

avoidance model allowed them to pay no taxes during some years, but ikea insists that text deals in the netherlands did not breach the laws. the debate over you tax havens is not new. the netherlands, ireland, and luxembourg are among the countries attack -- attracting all the nationals with favorable tax models. besides ikea, apple and starbucks are among the big names taking advantage of such tax schemes. the european commission has launched an in-depth investigation into ikea's tax deals and the netherlands. if the irregularities are confirmed, ikea could be hit with a large bill for back taxes. analyst: back to brussels where our reporter is filing this story for us. how much trouble could ikea be in? georg: the commission ordered apple to pay 13 billion euros to ireland. it ordered amazon to pay $250

million to luxembourg. i would say we are more in the territory of amazon. the reason is this. 3% of turnover from all over the world of ikea shops has been channeled to a holding in the netherlands. a substantial part of the money between 2006 and 2011 was then transferred to luxembourg. we are looking at hundreds of millions here. that money -- there has been zero tax paid on that money. we are looking also at another case even more creative, where tax was avoided involving liechtenstein. both cases currently being investigated. analyst: liechtenstein, luxembourg, the netherlands. it sounds extremely complicated. it sounds like ikea has had creative, if not terminal mines, put to work. -- if not criminal minds, put to work. georg: the cases against amazon

and apple -- big american enterprises that have been investigated by the european commission. but it is clearly the most ambitious european case that has been brought forward by the european commission, that is currently being investigated. analyst: thank you for your insight from brussels. major u.s. stock indexes are breaking records this monday. our global financial markets have also spent the day rallying. across to frankfurt in a moment. first, the reason for all the excitement. congress is expected to pass trump's tax bills this week. there are reports company profits could search by 30% under the cuts. reporter: red suit or not, u.s. president donald trump seems to play santa claus this year. pres. trump: we have tremendous spirit for the tax reform. this is going to be one of the great christmas gifts to middle income people. reporter: but trump's tax or form gift is a main at -- is

aimed at large corporations. it shrinks their tax burden from 35% to 20%. midsized companies, less generous. meanwhile, texas for ordinary employees will hardly change at all. allowances for low earners might be as high as was originally planned. perhaps the greatest blemish on the tax reform is its cost, $2.2 trillion over the next 10 years. it is money the government does not have. but trump knows exactly where he hopes to get the missing funds. pres. trump: we think $400 million will come flowing into the country that has been stuck overseas for years. reporter: by that, he means a controversial import tax, 20% on products imported from abroad. the aim is to encourage u.s. companies to relocate back home, but it would also hit european companies hard. the e.u. calls it discrimination.

so as far as international trade goes, trump's christmas present might actually be a lump of coal instead. analyst: over to frankfurt now for daniel corp.. why all the excitement where you are standing over corporate tax cuts in the u.s.? daniel: very good question. i was asking myself the same question. i guess the reason behind all of this -- investors are kind of happy that finally you get something through. remember all the reforms he wanted to get through that did not really happen? many politicians actually feel that this tax reform included in the end harm lots of jobs here in germany, because of what all this can mean. companies in germany might be

moving fabrics to the united states because of this very low corporate tax. analyst: there is an even bigger question. countries around the world could also cut their taxes. there could be a rush or a race to the bottom. >> the association of german industry has been very clear, saying when the tax reform is really going to be the case -- germany also needs to work on this corporate tax. here, we have a level of 30, sometimes 35% of corporate tax, which at the end is not really making germany as a location a very interesting one for investors. germany would have a lower corporate tax. this could mean less money in the pocket for the german government. analyst: ryan air pilots have announced they will not hit the holiday season.

strikes were planned for several european countries, including portugal, ireland, and italy. ryanair management agreed to enter into talks with private unions for the first time in company history. the company has been around for 32 years. the strikes would have hit the company and a difficult moment.