brent: this is "dw news," live from berlin. tonight, clouds of a perfect storm gathering over the last rebel stronghold in syria. the united nations warning of a potential blood bath as syrian government and russian forces prepare to take idlib province. alalso coming up, in germany thousands of people need an organ transplant and fewer and fewer are willing to donate. a possible but controversial change to the law here may be the solution. in sports, germany's women's

soccer team have punched their ticket to the 2019 world cup in france. an emphatic 8-0 win capped off what had been a difficult qualifying campaign. ♪ brent: i'm brent goff. it's good to have you with us. we start tonight with what may be the final showdown in the seven-year war in syria. the united nations is warning of a perfect storm as syrian and russian forces move in take the last rebel held province of idlib. idlib could be the scene of not only another humanitarian disaster, the u.n. fears that it could put major powers such as turkey, israel, iran, russia, and the u.s. on a collision course. reporter: a demonstration in idlib against the assad regime

in defiance of the looming government offensive. whether these people turned out voluntarily or were forced to by rebel fighters is unknown. propaganda is dominating the calm before the storm on all sides. the syrian army displaying its hardware and saying it i is reay to move inin. >> we're still observing the otheher side. but when we see something g the, we fire on a anything thatat mo. reporter: for the first time in weeks, russian airplanes attatacked rebel positions in idlib on tuesday. some 30 targets were hit, say the rebels. russia says its patience with the antigovernment forces is limited. but the rebels are also rattling their sabers. many of them are former al qaeda fighters. at least 10,000 fighters are in the enclave. these propaganda images give the impression these men can hardly await the coming bloodbath.

>> we will defeat any attack and destroy our enemies. we are ready for paradise. reporter: at least three million civilians, including many refugees, are trapped inside idlib. their suffering is already appalling. >> it's a daily struggle for survivival. it's terrible. i can't give my children anything to eat. reporter: and the turkish army has been moving additional hardware to the syrian border. it is supposed to block another mass influx of syrian refugees if and when the offensive goes ahead. brent: for more now i'm joined by correspondent anchal vohra, who is covering the story from beirut. good evening to you, anchal. we have heard the united nations warning of a bloodbath in idlib. talk to me a little bit about why this province is so important and what is at stake if it falls back into government control.

anchalal: well, idlilib is the t remaining g rebel strongholdand once the syrian gogovernment acquires it,t, if it does,s, thn bashar al-assad will have pretty much won the war, which means whwhat will happen to the popoliticall reconciliation n wc the assad government in itself as of now is unwilling to move forward on. secondly, this province has about three million civilians. most of these people are against the syrian government and were bused from areas like aleppo in reconciliation deals. they were told idlib was going to be their safe haven. but if the syrian government wants to attack idlib and does that, then what will happen to these people? where will these people go? turkey does not want them, they already have three million syrian refugees. europe will not accept them. so where will these three million people go? what we're looking at is a possible catastrophe, many casualties, and a refugee scenario. what are these people then

plead? do they go to europe or other safe areas? all in all it is a pretty dangerous situation for the people in idlib. brent: you bring up a very good point because all throughout this war in syria when we have had humanitarian disasters in other places, civilians have usually been able to flee. and where have they gone? they have gone to idlib province. what about russia and what about bashar al-assad's forces? we know that bashar al-assad would not be able to have this offensive without the support of russiaia, but does russia a have same interest in this conflict as bashar al-assad? anchal: well, it does. and the reason is that this province is dominantly under the control as an ally of al qaeda.

experts believe, and there's enough evidence to suggest that they still have ties t to al qaeda. this is a problelem for russians because several of the r russian fighters have also joined this outfit and they do not thinknk t is viable for them to let this outfit continue at a time they wawant in several other price of syria. so they do not want it to continue. they have alsoso sent unmanned aerial vehicles to russian bases in syria. so they do seeee eye-to-eye wiwh the syririan government t when t comes to attacking the idlib province. whereas if you talk ababout tury and russia, they have similar interests because russia does not want its reputation to be worse than it already is, so it wants to contain t the casualtis in idlib, and turkey does not want any more refugegees. we neeeed to now see what happes on saturday when these two countries s including iriran wie talking abouout idlib.b. brent: they will be talking and the united nations continues to say it believes in some kind of negotiated solution.

do y you think that'possssible considering we are talking tonight about a perfect storm and a possible bloodbath in idlib? anchalal: well, we have e seen n the past that turkey and russia have cooperated when it was about turkey's core issue, dominated by the pkk. so russia did hand it t turkey, that is wheree they hahave coopoperated. can they also cooperate onon idlilib? experts say if turkey can get this group to either merge with the islamist or moderate rebel groups backed by turkey, or disband, then possibly the scale of this battle can be contained. but i have personally spoken to people from this terrorist organization, this extremist jihadist organization, and they are in no mood to give this up. they will be going ahead with it. in that case, what will happen is a discussion over whatever

possible exchanges, over the core interests of russia, iran, syria, and turkey. brent: our correspondedent anchl vohra on t the story for us tonight in beirut. anchal, thank you. we are just getting word now that the un security council will meet on friday to debate the looming crisis in idlib province in syria. here are some of the other stories now that are making headlines around the world. at least eight people have died as typhoon jebi roared through central and western japan. it caused extensive damage and widespread travel disruption. authorities s have urged one million people leave their homes and move to temporary shelters. a highway overpass has collapsed in the indian city of kolkata. officials say at least one person was killed. local media reported a about 20 others were injured. these and -- police and

firefighters are searching for people who may have been under the bridge when it fell.l. former arizona senator jon kyl has been chosen to replace the late john mccain in the u.s. senate. the appointment comes at a critical juncture since kyl will participate in the controversial vote for supreme court judge brett kavanaugh. here in germany, thousands of people urgently need a replacement organ, like a heart or a kidney. but fewer and fewer people are apparently registering as organ donors. currently organ donation is allowed only if permission has been given by the donor or if close relatives allow it. but that could change if the country's health minister gets his way. he has proposed that organ donations should be made automatic unless people explicitly declare that they do not want their organs used. 18 european countries have the so-called opt-out systems in place. spain is one of them, and last year it had the most organ

donations in all of europe. some 2183 organ donations. germany with a much larger population did not even manage 800 donors last year. so, the hope is that by changing from opt-in to opt-out, organ donations in germany will rise. reporter: phillip had a good life with a family and a solid career. that is, until an infection destroyed his heart when he was in his late 40's. in the hospital, the torment to wait for a new organ began. >> you lie in a hospital bed and suddenly you hear someone rushing down the corridor door, pushing an emergency resuscitation car. relatives are sobbing because the person has died. you go thrhrough all that t wite family in the medical staff. it is the worst thing. you are scared also that you could be next.

reporter: philip had to wait seven months for a new heart. that is s not uncommon because e number of organ donors in germany is falling. with more than 10,000 patients on waiting lists, donations have dropped to just 800 a year. >> in many clinics, organ donations happen so rarely that the concept of organ donation is quite foreign. so when it does happen, the staff often do not know the proper procedures and can be quite overwhelmed. reporter: it is not that people are unwilling to donate, experts say, but rather that they failed to give written consent before they die. this often leaves grieving relatives facing a momentous choice. >> at the moment when a loved one dies, relatives are not in a strong position to make clear decisions. it is easy if they know exactly what their family member wanted. but otherwise it can be very difficult to decide on their own. reporter: that is why germany's health minister wants to change

how organ donation works in germany. people currently opt-in to donate, but under the new proposal they would have to opt-out if they did not want to. >> when lawmakers declare everyone an organ donor it is an infringement on people's individual liberty. but i still think it is necessary. reporter: some call the proposal unethical. >> i believe it disregards the fundamental concept of organ donation. it is no longer a donation. donations are voluntary and this initiative is forced, which is against the very nature of organ donation. reporter: but for organ recipient york, the decision is clear. >> the horrible waiting time experience could be shortened substantially, and people in this situation would be happppyf ththe organ donor circumstances were improved. in my view, that would not be hard to do. reporter: philip has him living

with someone else's heart for three years. he is grateful for every new day it gives them. brent: to talk more about this i'm joined by a member of the german parliament committee on health. he is a member of the fdp party. he joins me tonight from munich. it is good to have you on the show. you are a medical bob -- medical doctor by trade. what have you experienced when it comes to organ donations? guest: there are certain things that you do experience as a physysician. there is a frightening situation. a patient is brain-dead and then you have to talk with relatives if they are willing to donate or not. i think the importance is that we in hospitals have to look at the patient more closely and be aware that there is a potential donor in front of us. brent: there was a report that came up earlier this past summer

claiming that the problem is actually with hospitals not informing the foundation that handles organ donations. do you agree, is that the problem? are we talking about red tape problems here? andrew: i am not sure it is really a red tape situation. but if you look at the data that was presented a month ago, it depicted a very interesting situation. the potential donors were actually increasing over five years of to 30.5%. at the same time, actual donors dropped by 32.3%. i think that is a significant number. as the study stated, these are structural deficiencies in the hospitals that have to be cold with. -- be coped with. one person was basically responsible as taking care of the situation, contacting the central registration.

and if they are having a lot of things to do, it falls apart and they do not have time to take care of those patients. brent: it is amazing that it could be a time or work overload issue. i understand you are against the suggestion that has been made by the german health minister to change the system. why? andrew: first of all, i think your interview prior placed it very nicely. i think as a liberal society, we show our responsibility and opt-in to do a voluntary donation prior to our death. talk about evidence-based politics, you can see the potential donors are increasing over time and that the population, over three quarters of the population are positive towards donation of the organs. brent: so people are open to the idea, they are willing to be a donor, but that is not happening. so you do not want to have this opt-out, opt-in dilemma.

what would you suggest to improve the situation? andrew: the opt-out situation is anti-liberal in my opinion. i think we should keep it step by step. we have to improve the structural deficiencies in the hospitals. we did have one dedicated person full-time to identify potential donors and get the actual donation started. i think that is the first step. the other step that is not even in the discussion yet is the living organ donors. you could do this to your relatives, like, donating one of your kidneys or partial liver. but i think that could be further done with friends. of course it has to be all journalistic, meaning -- altruistic, meaning you do not get money for donating organs. also there are a lot of variations of living donors.

that would be one way to improve the actual transplantation rates over time. and then we could still start the general discussion. brent: right. andrew joining us tonight from munich. thank you very much. andrew: thank you for having me. brent: the german chancellor angela merkel was in frankfurt today trying to boost the capital's chances of becoming europe's next financial hotspot in a post brexit world. >> angela merkel seldomly makes personal appearances in frankfurt, which is to finance what berlin is to politics. but she made her way there today to take over for london as the top financial sector when britain leaves the european union next year. she underscored the importance of frack for its financial sector to germany's export dependent economy. frankfurt is fine with parents

-- paris and dublin. so they can continue to do business in european union. earlier i asked our financial correspondent how the chancellor made the case for frankfurt, besides pointing out many other banks and bodies were already located in the city. >> she made three interesting points as well. she was ready to go without tax hikes. and that wasn't clear whether that referred just to the financial industry or germany as a whole, but she wanted to rule out tax hikes. and she wanted to make labor law more flexible. that is, only in the financial sector to accommodate the anglo-saxon culture where you have prior insurance. she wanted to introduce less stringent standards for firing people, and then be able to hire. and she made an interesting case for locating euro clearing here

in front for. that is big business. angela merkel says it is logical it should not be in a third state outside the eu right here in frankfurt. christoph: frankfurt is facing stiff competition from paris and dublin. how likely it is that angela's lobby work will be successful? >> she says that she has some practice in working to the good of the company's. but also there was minister of the cdu and he poured a little water in the wind himself and said it was illusionary to expect countless thousands of people from london would come over. and indeed financial market professionals are looking at other places like paris, summit -- some at milan and madrid. some banks said they would move staff here. from several dozen to a couple hundred. the financial district in

frankfurt is not that big to begin with, and a couple thousand more people would already be a great step forward. christoph: thank you so much. the market valuation of online retailer amazon surpassed $1 trillion tuesday, if only briefly. amazon stock roasters days -- rose tuesday before falling back later. it is the second u.s. company to break the threshold, outstanding shareses multiplied by their value. apple surpassed the $1 trillion mark last month. for more let's cross over to our wall street correspondent jens korte. jens, amazon started as an out more on -- as an online book rate of -- book retailer. how do people view amazon's business model these days? jens: it is basically a data machine. we do see this with some companies as well.

facebook, for example. this is the currency of our time, selling data. so that is a big chunk of amazon's business. they are also strong when it comes to cloud computing, online advertising becomes a bigger part. it is pretty amazing what happened also to the stock price of amazon in the past couple months. just a good year ago amazon for the first time surpassed the $1000 mark for a stock. last week they got to $2000 a share. now they have this market valuation of $1 trillion at least at some point during trading. christoph: we will come back to you in just a minute. we have this other item here. a new advertising campaign from nike features american football player colin kaepernick as its figurehead. it lit up an already racially charged debate in the u.s.

kaepernick is the quarterback who protested police violence against unarmed people of color by kneeling during the national anthem. dozens of other players joined in. kaepernick continues to face a backlash on social media. fans are discarding nike products. but many other support the campaign. back to jens, colin kaepernick is a controversial figure. do investors think it is wise for nike to build a campaign around him? jens: to some of the reactions here on wall street, a lot of analysts are saying this decision might cause some short-term pain, but could lead to long-term gain. so, there is no such thing as bad advertisement that people say. it will be discussed highly, and the move actually could go well with the millennials. for the day there was this pain. the stock of nike lost a good 3%

of value and was the biggest loser in the dow jones. as mentioned, a lot of analysts believe it could lead to long-term gain. christoph: jens korte reporting from the new york stock exchange. thank you so much. it is back to brent now with the story of a woman trying to showcase in afghanistan all the wonders that could be in. -- be hidden. brent: she is doing it with a sad statistic. one and three children in afghanistan cannot read or write. the country has one of the highest rates of illiteracy in the world. one afghan woman has set up a mobile library in the capital kabul to try to give some children the chance to discover the world the books. reporter: this is no ordinary bus. it offers school to children in kabul. every day it tours the residential neighborhoods. for two to three hours children

can discover worlds otherwise not known to them and get lost in it good book. >> i like stories about princes and beggars best. and ones with dragons, too. >> i read books in two languages here. reporter: she started the mobile library with the help of donations. she studied at oxford and wants to encourage critical thinking among children back home. the bus is in a safe space in an otherwise dangerous city. >> explosions are a problem. that can happen at any time. but we are trying to park inside communities where there -- where it is much more secure. overall the security problem in the country -- we cannot stop our work just because of the security. life moves on. reporter: the nine-year-old

eagerly waits for the bus each day. >> i enjoy coming here because there are so many exciting things to read. i like stories about goats best. i don't have any books at home. reporter: her father always picks her daughter up from the bus. they fled from northern afghanistan thinking they would be safer in the capital. but explosions rocked the city nearly every week. recently a car bomb exploded near their home. >> after the blast we finally found her at the mobile library. we do not let the children out of the house. reporter: afghanistan has one of the highest illiteracy rates in the world and more than 60%. one in three children cannot read or write. so she also reads to the children a lot. >> keeping hope for me is important. these children can be hopeful

and together we can make something. reporter: she has started collecting negotiation -- donations again in the hopes of bringing more books to more children. brent: germany's women's soccer team are heading to the 2019 world cup in france. the two-time world champion's had difficulties in qualifying, but an 8-0 victory did the trick. reporter: the germans knew only a win would guarantee qualification. and the interim coach was quickly put at ease after just three minutes. the defense offered little resistance and the pattern was set for the match. even the artificial turf not deter the germans. lea making it 2-0. soon after, the third.

a well cut spot now back end. a free kick for 4-0. it felt like a training game from there on. germany was scoring at will. they double completed the 8-0 rout. germany had to the finals on a high. rue bash heads off into retirement. brent: after a short break i'll be back to take you through the day. stick around for that. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

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