>> in is "d.w. news" live from berlin. tonight, the news that angela merkel will not run for re-election is sinking in around the world. can merkel return to business as usual? a day after announcing her phased withdrawal from politics, angela merkel hosts african leaders, at a g-200 afrfrica summit. merkel unable to avoid questions about her stunning decision. also coming up, mass extinction caused by human beings, a shocking report says we have

killed off 60% of earth's major animals just since 1970. and faced with the prospect of unemployment, spanish coal miners come up with a horrifying response. i'm brent goff. tonight, leaders from around the world are beginning to realize what her decision means. it has been 24 hours since german chancellor angela merkel announced her gradual withdrawal from power. today she hosted african leaders in a fund-raising drive to reduce migration to europe. ironically, this is the issue that, more than any other, has hastened the chancellor's political demise. just a day after announcing

she's to leave the political stage within three years, angela merkel was back, sharingng that for now she's still at the heart of things. germany is hosting african leaders, as part of a drive to boost invnvestment in the continent. >> we want to send a clear signal today that a good and profitable, neighborly relationship with afrfrica is important to us. we are neighbors. we are partners. and we europeans take a great interest i in african countries having good economicc prospects. >> under development is a problem in many parts of africa, a key cause of the mass migration which has created new pressures i in europe. the g-20 compact withh africa program l lnched by germany a year agogo aims to create jobssn africa and encourage young

people to stay in their home countries. the chairman ofhe african unioion sayss there are signs is working. > as a result of institutitil reform, thehe a african union hs achieved savings of 12%. in our next budgeget, and member states are paying a greater share of the bill. >> germany has also launched an even closer partnership with a group of countries such as senegal, morocco and ethiopia. berlin is offering extra money but suppoport i is dependent on reforms. >> we want the african countries to carry out reforms. the africans must do more themselves. above all, on good governance and combating corruption. these 12 countries are doing this. theres proof of that. and we believe in economic cooperation. >> the compact for africa has

generated new investment though some say progress is too slow and others question who benefits more -- africans or western firms. but the leaders gathered in berlin were clear that this public and private investment is a win-win for both europe and its southern neighbors. >> and we can say without equivocation that africa is indeed open for business. >> help for africa's economic development could be the right lesson from the migration flows of recent years and could be a key part of merkel's legacy. brent: the question is where will this money go? i'm joined by d.w. reporter christine mhundwa. she's spent years reporting from africa. i know that the leaders, they all had that stunning decision of merkel on their mind, that she's going to leave politics.

but they still tried to get back to business as usual today. these investment programs, are they going to help the people who need it most in africa? the poor and the unempmployed? christine: they will, would b be the short answer. when i engage youngsters on the continent via social media, many times people are asking how can i get to germany? i have a degree in engineering, how do i come to germany? because they don't have opportunities on the continent. so when we talk about job creation, that is beneficial to young people on the continent. figures are that the population will double in the next 30 years and then you've got 2.2 billion people, in excess of 400 million people looking for work so anything along the lines of private sector from the developed world creating jobs will help and create the infrastructure beneficial to communities, as well. brent: when we hear about these

conferences giving aid or money to africa, people think this is aid via a check but what about german companies actually going to africa and setting up plants and offices? are they keen on doing that? christine: there is a strong presence of german companies on the continent but i think what you will sense from investors in the developed world is reluctance. infrastructure in certain places is not adquad. adequate. many countries in this partnership with africa unfortunately don't have reliable electricity. how do you build a factory in a country without reliable electricity. governance is an issue, corruption is an issue and these are valid on the part of western businesses. brent: what do you say to the critics who say there have been years, if not decades, of aid that has been given to these countries for infrastructure and help inn good governance and sometimes these countries have nothing to show for it.

christine: this is true but we're also seeing a leaf turned. you heard it from some of the leaders represented here today saying, look, we've got a bad track record but we're also making progress, there is improvement. if you look at our governance, even reports coming in from international finance issues like the i.m.f., they say ease of doing business is improving. some of these countries are climbing up in terms of corruption rankings. you are seeing infrastructure projects, some funded by china, coming up on the continent so there is progress being made and i think the message from african leaders is to say you have to look at us more closely than you normally would. asia comes to mind and this is where the money goes but we are making progress and give us a look and a platform like this allows the leaders to showcase that progress and this comes with reforms attached to the money, necessary reforms before a country can qualify for such

investment. brent: christine mhundwa, one of our best reporters from africa, thank you very much. on the sidelines of that summit, chancellor merkel told the press that her phased withdrawal from politics will not affect german foreign policy. >> i think the negotiating position in international negotiations will not be changed or affected in any way. you can only say that i will now fully focus on my job as the head of government and as far as the list of possible candidates for the c.d.u. party is concerned, as i said yesterday, it is an open presence and as the previous chairwoman, in my political life, i've learned thatat questions of succession should not i intervene because t has not worked.

it's an open process and people throwing their hats in the ring, we'll watch it and see what happens at the party conference in hamburg. thank you. brent: that was german chancellor angela merkel there. let's pull in melinda crane on the story for us tonight. i know that the german chancellor, i can imagine that she wishes the world would operate and think as she does, in a very slow, thought-out manner but that's not the way politics is. can we say she's a lame duck chancellor? in three years she won't be there anymore. melinda: certainly her influence and power are diminished in comparison to the height of her power when she was mediating and shaping europe's response to the sovereign debt crisis, the greek economic crisis or russia's incursion into crimea but if you look at where we have been the last six months, one would have to say, frankly, it can't get a

lot worse. germany has not been at the table. the government has been at least perceived as being extremely self absorbed, riven with divisions. last week i had a french and polish diplomat tell me that as far as they're concerned they're not getting any response out of berlin on key concerns and issues. so clearly this was a bet on the part of the chancellor. she said as much yesterday, that by doing this she can free up the government to start concentrating on the actual business of governing and i have to say tributes powered -- poured in over the last 24 hours from european leaders who assume they'll be interacting with angela merkel for some time to come. she's experienced and has a lot of influence and a lot of good connections on the world stage and i don't think we can write her off as a lame duck yet.

brent: we can't write her off as a lame duck yet but she wants to stay in office another three years, an eternity in politics. will she be able to do that? melinda: absolutely depends on who her successor is as head of the conservative party. if it is the woman she has been grooming as successor, the secretary general of the conservative party, then possibly she may see out her term until 2021. if it's one of the two gentlemen who have thrown their hats into the ring, they are both rivals in one case, an erstwhile rival of the chancellor who she actually demoted as head of the parliamentary group of the conservative some years ago and also the health minister who has been a critic and a rival in the past, as well. if it's one of them, we could well see a shakeup in the party that eventually leads to her

leaving office earlier. but it's absolutely too soon to say. that party conference isn't until early december and who knows what will happen in the interim. brent: melinda, thank you. here are some of the other stories making headlines around the world. nigerian authorities have launched a series of deadly crackdowns on shiite muslim protestors demanding the release ofof their imprisoned leader. the military says at least six peopople d died w when soldiersd into the crowd and demonstrators say dozens more have been killed since saturday. britain's prime minister has ruled out a s second referendum over the country's m mbership in the europeanan union.. speaking in norway, theresa may denied plans for a general election to break the brexit deadlock. she's in oslo to discuss the u.k.'s departure from the e.u. with nordic and baltic leaders.

as thousands of central american migrants continue to travel towards the united states, the pentagon is deploying more thann 5,000 troops to the border with mexico. another 2,000 to 3,000 soldiers are reportedly being put on standby. a typhoon across the northern philippines has left at least six people dead. typhoon u2 brought down power lines and trees, ripping roofs from homes and stores. the wind and rain triggered deadly landslides. last month, typhoon monkut left more than 100 dead or missing. in the united states, the city of pittsburgh has begun burying its dead with the first of the funerals for the 11 victims killed in last w weekend's synanagogue shooting. u.u.s. presidentnt donald trumps arrived inin the city to offer s condolences despite being told to stay away by local jewish leaders. in an open letter, they called

on him to cease his assault on immigrants and refugees. trump stirred further controversy today by repeating his intention to scrap the right to citizenship of u.s. born children of non--citizens and illegal immigrants. let's go now to washington where our correspondent is standing by. good evening, alexandra. we know local and religious leaders are divided on whether president trump should even visit pittsburgh. he could face a hostile reception there. why? alexandra: two reasons. first, local leaders asked the president not to come, saying they would like to focus on the victims, on the families, and they need all the resources for that. secondly, there is a broader criticism the president is facing, members of the

community, progressive jewish religious leaders say that he's -- he, as a president, and his administration, continue to fuel anti-semitism that inspired this attack in tree of life synagogue. they point to the fact that trump has repeatedly used the word "globalist" or criticized his opponents as globalist, although jewish organizations warn him that this word is used as code for jews in anti-semitic circles and they also say or criticize that president trurump has repeatedly referred to migrants as dangerous invaders and we know that the suspect, the gunman who allegedly carried out this attack, went online saying that the jews were

bringing invaders in to kill his people and he was referring to a jewish organization who helped refugees. brent: knowing all of that and knowing they're not rolling out the welcome mat for the president, why is he still going? alexandra: we're hearing he didn't insist on going but was convinced to go by his daughter who is jewish and by his advisers who told him it's the right decision to go, that he has to be the consoler-in-chief, as many presidents before him and he's also very defiant and he doesn't acknowledge that his critics may have a point here. brent: washington bureau chief on the story for us tonight. alexandra, thank you. all right. time now for business. christoph is here to talk about a robust german jobs market.

>> the jobless figures keep dropping. germany's unemployment rate fell below 5% in october, the lowest level of unemployment ever recorded since german reunification. only 2.2 million people are without a job? without a job in germany. the figures show a downward trend despite the headwinds in the global economy. a robust economy has helped push germany's joblessness rate down. for the first time since 1990, unemployment has fallen below 5%. the unemployment rate has fallen from 5.8% in january to 4.9% in october. that is the lowest rate recorded since germany reunified in 1990. the trade dispute between washington and brussels doesn't appear to have had an adverse effect on the german job market and neither has the u.s.-china trade spat.

the recent turbulence in the market has strengthened the dollar over the euro. that means that german products have become cheaper abroad. also record unemployment has helped boost consumer confidence and household spending in europe's biggest economy. but despite that, the rate of people at risk of poverty is rising in germany, according to experts. that figure has more than doubled since 2005. more germans you in have fixed term contracts or work part-time. while there will is more work, job security is diminishing. >> shares of a long industrial giant general electric were getting hammered today. there's a quarterly loss of almost 23 billion dollars. what other problems do you see there?e? >> almost everything is going wrong for g.e. at this point. once the biggest company here in

the united states, well, they took the huge charge in the past quarter in the amount of about $22 billion and now the j justie department is investigating those charges. the southeast -- securities and- exchange commission, as well. they slaughtered the dividend to one penny and saw declines in the power business and the stock dropped almost 9%. two years ago, g.e. stood around $30 per share. now it's down to about $10 but the overall market, after we briefly dipped into negative territory, so quite a comeback in the afternoon, up for the day by 430 points. >> thank you. the labor market in spain has been looking grim for some time now. in addition to the spanish's government's energy policy, now refocused on renewable power

sources meaning more than 1,000 coal miners will lose their jobs by the end of this year alone. the government has promised to invest heavily in alternative employment and one traditional coal mining region in southern spain isn't scared of taking a novel approach to job creation by releasing chainsaw wielding killers, zombies and evil clowns. >> there's definitely money to be made in making people scream. the fully fledged scream park concept has been a money spinner in the u.s. for decades but slow to take off in europe. horror land is based in an abandoned coal mine and power station norgs of -- north of barcelona. the spanish government has vowed to close down most coal mines by the end of the year. more than 100 people now work at horror land, including more than 90 actors in elaborate costumes

and makeup, interacting with state-of-the-art animatronic robots. >> we look forward to different kind of people. on one hand, we were looking for actors and especially we wanted them to have experience in the field of acting and also to have an academic background and on the other side we looked for people that are able to make an impact, to scare people. >> in the scream park grounds, visitors can pose for selfies with characters from their favorite splatter films and there's a frightening variety of horrific characters to choose from. including some based on horror movies. >> it's very exciting. i'd say i'm very surprised. it makes you shiver a little but above all, it's surprising.

it's very exciting. >> but the new jobs are not permanent. the attraction is only open at certain times of year starting with halloween season, when it's open for two weeks in october and november. so far, it's proving a success. all 22,500 online halloween tickets are already gone. >> to china, the country is rolling back a 25-year-old ban on the using of rhino horns and tiger bones in medicine. china's cabinet said it will allow certified doctors and hospitals to use parts from animals raised in captivity, excluding zoo animals. illegal trade will still be punished. conservation groups describe the move as a significant setback in efforts to protect the animals from extinction. they fear the decision will lead toto incncreased poaching of the fewer than 30,000 rhinos and 4,000 tigers left in the wild.

chinese folk medicine, their parts are believed to cure ailments. back to brent and more worries for mother nature. brent: the terrible things we are doing to animals. humans have killed off 60% of all vertebrate animals on the planet just since the year 1970. the world wildlife federation has reached this conclusion in its latest report and describes it as a mass extinction accelerated by global consumption. its victims include some of the earth's most impressive wildlife >> he was the last male of his species. this northern white rhinoceros died in kenya in the spring. it's one of the best known examples of recent species extinction. the world wildlife federation report paints a bleak picture. since 1970, there's been a 60%

decline in the population of over 60,000 studied vertebrates, mammals, fish or birds. >> threat for most animal groups include the loss of habitat such as the clearance of forest, overuse, hunting, fishing, and the contamination of habitat. added to that, climate change is now a big, big factor. >> conservationists in germany are declining -- reporting a decline in wild bees and butterflies. it's not just politicians who have a duty of care. >> on this journey towards tranansformation, we also need businesses and consumers. it's always possible to choose products that you know are ecologically better. >> in the case of the northern white rhino, some hope remains. lab researchers have produced an embryo using artificial insemination but the breakthrough doesn't combat the

cause of species extinction. brent: wrestling was almost exclusively a men's sport in iraq until two years ago. resistance given by conservatives but women's wrestling has gained acceptance and teams have sprung up in the country. the team members are passionate about their newfound sport. >> in the iraqi city, young wrestlers tumble under the watchful eye of their coach. taking on a sport reserved for men was a challenge in this conservative part of iraq but 52-year-old dahir had no problems finding recruits, gaining acceptance from iraqi society was the tough part. >> women's wrestling is a new

sport in iraq and our society doesn't accept it. we're an oriental and tribal society but i encourage all types of sports. >> it all started when the iraqi wrestling federation approached the school sports teacher with the opportunity to lead the team. today, about 20 members train three times a week after school in the stifling heat. in september, alia husain won a silver medal at the women classic international tournament in beirut, lebanon. >> women tend to face problems in sports in iraqi society because of certain habits and traditions but we've managed to get past them little by little and people have slowly started to accept us. >> dahir has received threats for her work with the team but acceptance has been growing. the key is building trust with the women's families. she and her staff pick up the wrestlers from school and drive them home afterwards. now people in the city come out

to support the team at competitions. >> my ambition is for the team to be on the international stage. i'm working hard and putting in all my efforts to make a name for iraqi women in the field of sports. >> when training ends, the wrestlers file out of the building in their usual street clothes. they'll go back to their daily life in the city but they'll also be dreaming of glory on the wrestling mat. brent: the day starts right now. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org.] pbs test ♪

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