brent: this is "dw news," white fang from berlin. turkey's currency continues to plummet. stock markets around the world take a hit. turkey's president blames the united states. president erdogan s says his country's financial system i is under attack. the central by promising to do all it can to stabilize the lira , but will erdogan stand and will any intervention be too little too late? also coming up, mali's

opposition leaders urges the country's people to rise up after the presidential runoff he says was fraudulent. the statate says it will reject the yet to be announced result. nine people dead, another 30 injured at a hospital in taipei for terminalllly ill patients. authorities want t to know how e blaze e started at why it took e hospital so long to alert the fire department. here in germany, a debate about muslim headscarves. free choice and d eedom from oppression. >> if they say you have to remove your headscarf to my would say no, it is my choice. you cannot tell me what to do, you are not my parents. you cannot make my decisions for me. brent: should the governme b be allowed to ban the wearing of headscarves by girls under age 14?

brent: i'm brent goff. good to have you with us. turkey's president recep tayyip erdogan is blaming the united states for his country's economic crisis. that is after sanctions and tariffs from washington tipped to the country's currency to freefall. erdogan says turkey is under economic siege, but analysts say the problems are of his own making by telling the central bank to keep interest rates artificially low. he hoped to tame inflation and prop up the currency. when that failed become the central bank controlled by erdogan's son-in-law was finally forced to act. reporter: the lira has recovered slightly from the meltdown. this after ankara's central bank announced a series of measures to provide the quiddity to the banks. the currency is still fragile. resident erdogan -- president

egmont attempted to assure his people that the economy remains strong. pres. erdogan: we are taking the necessary steps against these attacks together with the finance ministries and other institutions, and we will continue to take them. i believe that the currency rate will return to a reasonable level. don't worry. reporterer: the turkish lira has lost about 45% of its value against the dollar start of the year. analysts say that is largely due to worries about erdogan's increasing control over the economy at the black's between turkey and the united states. erdogan r rterated hihis view tt the lira's fall had no economimc basis. he accused the u.s. of stabbing ankara in the back. last week washington imposes sanctions on turkey over its refusal to release a u.s. pastor, causing economic

turmoil. although erdogan insists the situation will be eased, global investors are worried. >> president erdrdogan has suggested over the weekend that if t t u.s. persists w with sanctions and tariffs, it might seek a alliances elsewhehere. we knonow thahat erdogogan and n president vladimir putin spoke over the weekend. i think that is probably what is troublbling invnvtors. at the moment we seem to be in a risk-off move. reporter: as turkey seeks to emerge from the crisis, has moved to take legal action against what he calls economic terrorists. authorities accuse social-media accounts of provoking the currency's fall by posting misleading information. they said they won't back downwn frfrom what they c call an econc war. brent: you to get to istanbul,

where our correspondent dorian jones is following the story for us. promises from turkey tonight that it will stop the lira from falling further. that means raising interest rates. is there any reason to believe that president erdogan will finally allow that to happen? dorian: well, i think that is what international investors will be looking at the central bank, because that is all they can do too stem this collapse in the currency, and international investors are talking about a major hike, a minimimum of 500 babasis points, possisibly 1000o stop the r run on the currency, bebecause therere has been a cocollapsing confidence over the way the tkish economy and the currrrency has been managed. there is no indication that the centntral bank will do this. the tuturkish presidenent made r good clear -- made it perfectly clear he is opposed to intererest-right hikikes. he described interest rates as a

tool of oppression. there is no indication that the central bank will go against the president. until the central bank establishes its independence, there is little hope that the fall on the currency will stop. sentiment here is that so much damage has been done that even if the central bank establishes its independence, and major hike in interest rate may not be enough to stem the fall and the currency. brent: people following turkish politics will remember that there was a recent election inn turkey. the constitution was changed giving the president more powers. how do you square that with this acute need for the central bank to show international markets that is independent. can you square that circle? dorian: president erdogan made clear in theun-up to h his election victory t that when he did d assume his p powers, ththt of that would bebe too kick dirt

controroover the r running of te economy and the central bank. he made it clear internationally as well as domesticallyy. he is arguing that i am only carrying out when i'm pledging to do and what i was elected to do. the problem is that international investors, of which the turkish economy does depend, want the central-bank to be independent. until that happens, there is going to be no return of confidence and little hope of more money coming into the economy to sustain it. every year, the turkish economy needs at least $100 billion, may be more, of renewed loans and momoney to sustain economy.y. that will not be coming until the central bank is declared independent. brent: there have been rumors circulating around global markets today. we had economists saying out loud that a bailout by the international monetary fund may be inenevitabl we had the turkish government today indicating that it may try to develop closer economic ties

with russia. worst scenario. and move away from its dependence on the west. how far could that realistically go? dorian: well, for sure, relations between moscow and ankara have been deepeningng the last few years. russian president vladimirir pun was s quick to offffer moral and political l suppt to erdogan with the announcement of these trade sanctions againstst turke. we are here in the c courts that possiblyly the hearing reports ththat russia will possibly agre -- we are hearing these reports that possibly russia will agree to sell oil to alleviate problems turkey is expected to facece going forwardrd. but with any hope of it to -- hope of turkey turning to moscow and receiving support is illusory. russia does not have a can

of capital to lend to turkey. another possibility is chinana. china has deeper pockets than moscow and has been n making commenents about how turkey sees paparallels w with the way chand runs itsts economy and possible synergies to be had. but even china is expected to balk at the size of the bailout it would have to give turkey to sustain its economy. at the end off the day turkey will have to look to europe and the u.s. to sustain its economy. otherwise it is facing a possible complete meltdown. brent: before we let you go, you have been covering this story all day today. the turkish president has not mentioned the name of u.s. president donald trump one time in all of his criticisms and accusations about the u u.s. beg bebehind his econonomic crisis. how w do you read that? do you think there is a reason why he is not that the words " donald trump" " oss his lilips today?

dorian: well, that i is very important. he has been verery reluctant to challenge sean trump and make personal attacks. he did that at the beginnining when trump announced of the sanctionons. he seems t to be pulling back. i think there is possible hope it all go o that they can reacha deal with the u.s. the turkish foreign minister engaged in heavy anti-u.s. rhetoric and said that turkey is ready to talk because they want some kind of deal. until they had some kind of rapprochchement with the u.s., e pressure on the lira wilill be still there. brent: our correspondent doriain jones on the story for us in istanbul. thank you. we will have more on turkey's currency crisis a little bit later on in the show.

to mali now go where the presidential challenger says he will reject the results of a runoff held on sunday, alleging cheating. he is asking the people to rise up against what he calls the dictatorship of fraud. votes are currently being counted in the country's presidential runoff after a tense election marred by violence. the incumbent is widely expected to win the vote. the result is due later this week. reporter: strict checks at polling stations. security measures were once again stepped up for mali's presidential election runoff. voters chose behind income -- between incumbent and the opposition leader. the 73-year-old said he was confident of victory after topping the poll in the first round of voting. but many in the country run happy with the outcome.

>> i'm a bit disappointed with how the first round went. but unfortunately, i don't expect much to change in the second round. reporter: the opposition are concerned about voter fraud, demonstrating in the capital over the weekend. many were unable to vote in the first round. this after around 700 polling stations were closed due to violence from armed groups. in opposition challenge to the result was dismissed by the constitutional court. mali is a haven for islamist insurgents. they give early to control of the region in 2012. three years -- they temporarily took control of the region in 2012. three years later a peace deal was signed. it is a fragile peace. attacks are frequent. >> we need peace and stability in the country. economic develelopment, social development, everything at stake for mamali cannot materialize without peace and stability.

reporter: this will be the most important task for the future president. brent: here are some of the other stories making headlines around the world. afghan military officials say at leleast 100 troops and 30 civilians were killed on friday with taliban militants for control of a city. four days ago, the taliban launched an assault on a strategically important city on the main highway linking the capitatal with the s south. iranan's suprpreme leader snonoe is that any negotiation with the u.s. because of the country'ss " duplicitous decision" to reimpose sanctions. hehe also stressed iranan had no intention of entering into a war. meanwhile, the country's defense minister visited a missile handkerchief you a new -- missile anger to view a new short range. wildfires raging on a greek island have forced the evacuation of two villages and a

monastery. hundreds of fifirefighters are attempting to controrol the flames. officials say no injuries have been reported. ththree weeks ago, the country's deadliest wildfire in killed at least 95 people, many of them in a seaside report. that -- resort. fire at a hospital in taiwan has killed nine people and injured 30 others. an investigation has been launched into because of the place. it will cap on the seventh floor of the building which was used as a hospice -- it broke out on the seventh floor of the building, which was used as a hospice for terminally ill papatients. repoporter: this was a war for criminally all patients. they cannot move the -- they could not move when the blaze brbroke out. for some, helped him too late. hospital officials say the victims include not just patients, but nurses and

caregivers. first responders raced against the clock to save those injured in the blaze. nearly 20 remain in critical condition. the fire started early in the morning on the seventh of public hospital -- seventh floor of a public hospital in the taiwanese capital. the effects were devevastating. >> it was unfortunate that the ward's door was open when the fire broke out. as a result, the smoke came inside. there are many mattresses made from polyurethane comes so thee fire spread veryry fast, and was relatively large as a result. reporter: the country's premier expressed condolences. >> a fire broroke out of the managers freree of health anand welfare and caused many deaths andd injuries. i would like t to apologize to patients' family members and

society on behalf of the executive. reporter: it is still unclear what caused the fire, but firefighters say it could have been triggered by an electrical fault. there have been nine fires in the past decade claiming 37 lives. an investigation continues into the blaze, and many patients already gravely sick are fighting for their lives. brent: christoph is going to take us to our top story, turkey's currency crisis. kristof: let's look at one of the strongest indicators of the crisis, the exchange rate of the turkish lira. it clawed back somewhat on monday after the trigger central bank said it would provide liquidity. last week the turkish currency hit a record low against the dollar. the fallout from the lira's plunges sent the euro 2013-month

low and hammered emerging-market currencies as investors worried about contagion. for more analysis, let's bring in turkey expert at the institute for security and development policy. how big is the chance that this turns into an internationalal crisisis? >> i t think a lot depepends ont hahappens next t step as he mentioned, if erdrdogan askeded ququickly andnd manageso pertain ththe fall and the turkish l li, ththe risk of contagion statarto go down. at the moment t we see no indication it is going to activate quickly, and if we have a complete meltdown it will have repercussions. christoph: president erdogan says international terrorists would face the full force of the law for spreading false reports and plotting to harm turkey. those are not thehe right stepso contntain the crisis, i wouldd

assume come in your opinioion. >> no, trying to shoot the messenger is not the way to go. that iss what t we see with h pe being arrested o or having investigigations posted d socil media. he does not address the main problem, the weakness of the turkish economy. christoph: turkey is a central bank plays a crucial role, and yet many foreign investors doubt its independence. why would political involvement in a central bank be particulararly hazarardous? gareth: we have seen with erdogan before, he said he does not believe inin interest, he thinks high ininrest rates cause hi i inflation, whwhich goes against economic orthodoxy foster w we know the best w wayo stem the imamaging of the tuturh lira is toto hikintetere rates.. there e are other thingss wheree need strong measures such as a height in inches -- hike in interest rates. we are 100% confident the reason

they cannot do that is erdogan himself. christoph: mr. erdogan says the crisis is part of an economic war with the united states. u.s. president donald trump triggered last week's events by doubling the import tariffs for turkish steel and aluminum. would you agree that this is economic war againinst turkey by the united states? garethth: no, i think the doublg of the tariffs on aluminum and steel l was a criticalal decisi, but what we have b been -we have been waiting for somethingng to happen i in the turkisish e ecoy for quite a long time. the expectation was it was goiog to come a month or two m months later. the political crisisis with the u.s. is acting as a trigger and revealing the underlying weaknesses of the turkish economy. that is not the reason the turkish lira is crashing at all. christoph: walk us down the line -- what does turkey, the president of turkey, have t to o to resrere confidedence in his country?y? gareth: the f first thing he e s

to do o is do somomething.. it is now a day since the crisis really broke come since thehe u. imposed sanctions on to the tuturkish ministersrs. we h have not seen any real measures. the first thing that has to be done is a susubstantial rise in interest rates from an immediate measurure to try too stop ththe hemorrhaging. there neededs to be e -- erdogas to show he will allow thehe central banknk to be independent and introduce a a conference a planan to right the problems in the turkish economy. the interest-rate hike has to come first. christoph: gareth edwards, thank you so much. gareth: thank you. christoph: tesla chief executive elon musk says he is in talks with saudi arabia's sovereign wealth fund and other investors to take the electric automaker private. he says the saudi arabia wealth fund has been pushing to take tesla private in talks dating back two years.

he reportedly asked the company to explain musk's claim it on foot of the financing for the deal had been secured. musk said that since his twitter post last week, thehe sauaudi managing director expressed support for the deal, subject to due diligence. for more complex who did -- for more, let's go to wall street and sophie scimansky. do investors think he is making sense when elon musk tweeted about the secure funding? i think we are experiencing some problems with the line there. sorry about that. we cannot hear our correspondent. we will try to get back to her later. i think we're moving on. back to brent and a debate

polarizing germany. brent: exactly right. we're going to talk about the muslim headscarf. press europe right now, i debate is taking place over wearing a headscarf by some muslim women. critics say it is a sign of oppression by men. supporters say that in a democracy people should be a love to dress as they please. the debate is coming to a head in westphalia. the local government is considering banning the headscarf for girls under age 14. reporter: three classmates, three muslim girls. one has been wearing a headscarf sh since she was 10. it bothers her that some politicians want to from the girls from doing so. >> a and 12, and if they say you have to remove your hats government my would say no, it is my choice.

you cannot tell me what to do, you are not my parents. you don't have custody of me, you cannot make decisions for me. >> i want to wear my headscarf but only when i mature enough to make my decisions. reporter: at what age are girls old enough to make a conscious decision to wear islamic head covering? the westerly integration manager says younger than 14 is too young and he is thinking of banning it. >> autonomy is very imimportanto us. we want women who vololuntarily decided to wear heaeadscarveseso be accororded full respect by sociciety. this has nothing to do with marginalization. but we do not want young girls to be forced into it. reporter: most schoolgirls heree at the comprehensive school say they wear the headscarf voluntarily. almost half the students here are muslim, but very few of them wear a hijab under age 14. what is strikingng is that all e

girls i talk to to say they plan to wear one in the future. some teachers are critical of the trend,d, but they feel that the ban would be counterproductive. >> it is very important to me as a teacher to o enter the debate. this cannot be a straightt ban, but there should be a conversation with schoolgirls. wearing a heaeadscarf strengthes one's identity, so to ask about such a personal decision, i can only do this when there is trust. reporter: the sixth-grade class is supposed to inspire people to critically analyze the religion and allow different interpretations of the koran. >> you also have to think about how things were 1400 years ago and how things are today. reporter: not an easy task when it comes to the headscarf debate

. most children have taken on their parents' attitudes. >> i think thahat children n shd wear a headscarf f from puberty, from the age of 14 or 15, so they don't get harassed or something. >> my sisters have also started wearing headscarves. i've seen in w wearing them. i was the only one left, so i said ok, i will put one on, too. > these are religigus traditions that have continued. of course, they are also seen as traditions by their families. and they are actually seen that way by the mosques -- absolutely seen that way by the mosques. reporter: he is trying to get his pupils to question traditions. rim, school is the right -- for him, school is the right place for it. brent: finally, it is one thing to climb to the top of a mountain, quite another thing to ascend it in the fastest time

possible. that was the aim of these his extreme mountain climber when he scaled the north face. he conquered the 4200-meter mountatain in a record time of o hours and four minutes.

brent: adhere closer to sea level, you are watching "dw news " live from berlin. i will be back to take you through the day. see you then. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

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