brent: this is "dw news," live from berlin. tonight, russia's president puts the blame on ukraine, saying sunday's naval stanandoff was a premeditated provocation. mr. putin also says that somome ukrainian sailors were also spies, saying the crews of the captured ukrainian vessels included two secret service agents. also coming up tonight, the role of islam in german society remains a controversial topic in parliament and on the street. tonight, one story of hope, faith, and shaping the future.

plus, a nanailbiting wldld chess championship has finally produced a a winner. magnus carlsen has defended his crown by beaeating fababiano caa in a series of quick-fire tiebreakers. ♪ brent: i'm brent goff. it's good to have you with us. tonight, ratcheting up the tension. russia's president vladimir tin is accusing ukraine of orchestrating sunday's naval standoff where russia seized three ukrainian boats and at least 12 ukrainian sailors. they have been detained pending trial. u.s. president donald trump says he is deeply concerned about what happened. ukraine's president has declared martial law in the border reregions a and he is warning tt russia is preparing for war against his country.

reporter: this is what many -- what life has become for many living here. it is the closest ukrainian city to two other cities now controlled by russian-backed separatists. since sunday's naval clash with russia, ukraine has begun to enforce martial law in the border regions. the country's president petro poroshenko has warned there could be a russian invasion. >> these tanks have not yet been removed. they are still there. i do not want anybody to think that those are toys. the e country is under t threata full-scale war with russia. reporter: russia and ukraine have blamed each other for sunday's standoff in the kerch strait, which links the black sea and the azov sea. russian naval officers fired on and seized three ukrarainian vessels, capturing the crew. 12 ukrainians have now been charged with unlawfully entering

russia. they face up to six years in jail. but russian president vladimir putin blames the ukrainian president for the standoff, claiming it is a move to boost his ratings. >> it is clearly a provocation. a provocation organized by the authorities, and, i i think, the president t himself, aheadad ofe presidential election scheduled to take place in ukraine in march of next year. reporter: international pressure against russia is building, with talk of further sanctions. u.s. president donald trump has threatened to cancel a meeting scheduled with president putin at this week's g20 summit. meanwhile, ukrainians are preparing for a new phase of war, with the conflict showing no signs of stopping. brent: i'm joined now by correspondent david stern in the ukrainian capital kiev. good evening to you, david.

we have these 10 ukraian border regions under martial law now. there are reports of increased russian military activity at the border. what are you hearing? david: well, yes. it should be said itit is martil law, but maybe a better r word r it w would be war r footing. it is preparation for what the president said could be a full-scale war with russia, as we heard in the report. we are hearing of course that there is buildup along the borders, this isishat the president has said. and the interfax news agency said there is an s-400 missile system that has been added to those that are already there, three already on the crimean peninsula. so obviously the tenensions are rising. the fear obvioususly here in ukraine is thihis could lead to something much lararger. but at the moment of course, nothing like that has happened. brent: and what more do we know about those ukrainian sailors who are being held and president putin's accusation that the

ukrainian boats were also carrying ukrainian spies? david: well, yes. the crewmen have been all sentenenced to two months of pretrial detention. but the larger picture of that is they are really pawns between the two governments. mr. putin's accusations have obviously raised a great deal of attention, but it should be said that the tensions between russia and ukraine have been raising for a long time now, since 2014, ever since r russia annexed the crimeaean peninsula. and in the sea of as o of -- sea of azov. so it should not be any surprise that there are intelligence agents on either side in the azov sea or wherever else they may have been coming into contact. brent: what about the latest efforts to solve this crisis diplomatically?

david: well, those are going nowhere at the moment. we heard about president trump, who sent sort of mixed messages, t at the m moment is dcucussing possibly n not meeting w with m. putin on t the sidelines of the g20 summit. otherwise, the ukrainians have received a great deal of support from their western partners. there is talks of increased sanctions. there is also talks -- there has been demand from the eu to allow free access to thehe azov sea, which is what the u ukrainians d russians have had in placece sie 2003. but at t the same time, nothing between rurussia and ukraiaine. a phone call from mr. poroshenko to mr. putin was recently rebuffed. brent: our correspondent david stern on the story for us in kiev tonight. david, thank you. does islam belong in g german society? does it have a future here? those questions were controversial when germany held its first islam conference back in 2006.

today, as the fourth islam conference begins, the controversy remains. the country's interior minister horst seehofer is hosting the conference. in the past, there has been criticism that the conference has promoted only conservative forms of islam, conservative forms that have little interest in integration. this year the organizers say that they have also invited liberal theologians and social scientists. it is thought that there are almost five million muslims living here in germany. in our next re, ear from one young woman who is trying to liberalize her faith. reporter: understanding how muslims are perceived in germany is a mission for sineb el masrar. an author and daughter of moroccan immigrants, she was born and raised in germany. she comes from a conservat ligious home. sundays were devoted to learning verses from the koran by heart. but at the same time, she managed to follow her own interests.

>> it was a huge deal for my mother that i should be independent. there was nothing off-limits. no sense that you can't do this or that just because you are a girl. reporter: with fewer restrictions on what she could do, el masrar had an easier upbringing than many young muslims in germany. now 37, she writes books portraying the complexity of muslim life and is keen to dispel stereotypes. she says all too often women are depicted as victims, and men are unable to show any sign of anxiety or insecurity. el masrar believes both muslims and non-muslims need to abandon such oversimplified views. >> on the one hand, some muslims have a romanticized image of other muslims and ignore anything problematic within their own communy. or they set themselves against mainstream non-muslim society. on the other hand you have those

who are panicking that islam has almost completely taken over. reporter: for many muslims, there are big taboos surrounding religion, family, and sexuality. but instead of breaking down these barriers, el masrar says some muslim grou reinf them. she is critical of the german islam conference for including, in her view, too many conservative groups. >> most muslim groups do not believe in equality. they are highly patriarchal. some are actually reactionary. and they are certainly not interested in islam becoming more liberal or in advancing gender equality. reporter: in el masrar's opinion, that is exactly what german islam requires. emancipated muslims who are not held back by traditions or the dictates of religion, living freely and e enjoying equall

rights. sineb el masrar chats with young women in a berlin cafe. they, too, want to see an open-minded islam. brent: i'm joined now by our chief political correspondent melinda crane here in berlin this evening. good evening to you, melinda. the german islam conference, it began with the country's interior minister horst seehofer saying that muslims belong to germany. now, he is known as being a very conservative politician. did that statement surprise you? melinda: absolutely it did, and it surprised many others as well. this is the same man who shortly after taking office as interior minister directly contradicted the chancellor. she had said islam does belong to germany, and he said, no, it does not. and he went on in the months after that to essentially instrumentalize prejudices, both against immigrants and against muslims, in the hope of trying to win voters away from a party on the far right, the

alternative for germany afd party that has been on the rise. his own party is one of the most conservative in the political spectrum a and he is anxious to keep it that way and not allow this other party to grow up further to the right. but he did to some degree change his tune today. he talked about the fact that muslims do belong to germany, that they have rights and obligatis st likany other german citizen. so, to some degree at least, it looks like a slightly more integrative approach. brent: yeah, that is one way to describe it. he and other members of today's conference had another message as well. take a listen. >> the first step towards a better understanding is to replace outside influence. germany's muslims need to take control of the organization and financing of their communities,

but also the trainings of imams needs to reflect their needs. >> as long as they are not independent of foreign countries, i don't think we can talk about islam being a home in germany, as long as it is simply controlled from outside. i mean, take the largest muslim association here. i have a problem with the fact that the turkish president decides who runs it. brent: those are interesting points. mr. seehofer and others, they want to see a german islam, if you will. but how is that possible when a lot of islamic organizations in this country are being financed from abroad? melinda: well, i think we have to be a bit more nuanced in looking at this. by no means is it the case that all muslims in germany are somehow being controlled by foreign governments or foreign agents. there are independent islamic voices in this country.

we heard the young woman there in the report. but there are also independent islamic organizations. and mr. seehofer, the host of the conference this year, went out of his way to invite some of these voices to join in the debate. and that is very, very important. because ultimately i think this can't be about germany banning organizations that are seen as being foreign-controlled. certainly we don't want to see the government working together with organizations where we know that the turkish government, for example, is using them as an arm of propaganda. but i think what is very important here, and certainly this is what members of the islamic community are saying, is that that community needs to debate all the different myriad forms of this religion and tried to open up discussion about what those are in order to give muslims in germany more choice. and that is absolutely more consistent with german constitutional values and german law. brent: our chief political

correspondent melinda crane on the story for us tonight in berlin. melinda, thank you. here are some of the other stores now that are making headlines around the world. demo n pelosi has been nominated for her old job as speaker of the u.s. house of representatives, despite calls for younger leadership. the 78-year-old lost the post when republicans took control of the house back in 2011. the new democratic majority will take their seats in january. indonesian investigators say the lionair aircraft that crashed last month had suffered technical problems the day before the accident and should have been grounded. 189 people, everyone on board the boeing 737, were killed when it crashed into the sea shortly after taking off from jakarta. e chinese scientist who claims to have created the world's first genetically enhanced

babies says a second such pregnancy may be on the way. he revealed the possible pregnancy yeyesterday when he me remarks defending his work. his claim to have altered the dna of twin girls to protect them from contracting hiv sparked outrage among scientists. russia is suffering the worst hiv epidemic in all of eastern europe and central asia. more than one million russians are hiv-positive. moscow says it has achieved a 98% success rate in preventing mother-to-child transmission, but for children with hiv, the outlook is bleak. in the final part of our series on russia's hiv-aids epidemic, dw's juri rescheto reports from a children's home in chelyabinsk, where youngsters who are hiv-positive live with kids who are negative.

juri: it's early morning in the children's home. it's the same routine every day. the same medicine. the same dose. every morning. 40 boys and girls live at the home. they are between four and 17. little plusses and minuses. that is what they call hiv-positive and negative children here. >> when we opened this home 11 years ago, hiv-positive children lived separately. we had wipeable sofas and no carpets. we cleaned the dishes with a lot of disinfectant.

it was difficult to create a tolerant environment for them. it took years for all the staff to accept and respect these children. juri: today, the little plusses and little minuses play together, and they are treated the same. they are all grong up without parents in this children's home in the russian city of chelyabinsk. a third of the children have hiv-infected parents. many of their parents suffer from alcohol and drug addictions and have lost custody of their children. but within the walls of this ho, , the children are cared for and have a routine. they learn to live with their hiv infection confidently, and handle it better than some adults. >> once we sent the children to

summer camp. on the first evening one of the carers was bathing the children when the camp's director poked his head in curiously, as if to see if these kids have four ears or two heads or something. another time a carer asked me, what should i do, they have brought me an hiv-positive boy. i said lock him in the seller, of course. she didn't know if i was serious. i told him just let him play with the other children. juri: it is bedtime at the children's home. again, everyone knows the routine. the same medicine. the same dose. every evening. but there is a constant worry. whwhat will happen to the childn once they leave the home? because of their mother's alcohol or drug addiction during pregnancy, many of them have learning difficulties and developmental problems.

the hope is that some of them will be adopted, so they don't have to face their fate alone. brent: the palestinian's chief negotiator has challenged israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu to meet palestinian leader mahmoud abbas anywhere in the world. he issued the challenge during an intererview with dw's tim sebastian in a special edition of "conflict zone" at the berlin foreign policy forum. >> i challenge mr. netanyahu officially. he can choose any country. any country on earth. moscow, beijing, london, berlin. and others will meet him. yes. he will meet him. this is a challenge, a declared challenge. all right? this is not a joke. as i told you, no one benefits more in achieving peace more

than palestinians, and no one stands to lose more than the lives of my children and grandchildren. i don't want them to be desperate. i need to keep the hope alive. in the minds of israelis and palestinians. desperation means desperate acts. and desperate acts means blood of palestinians and israelis. brent: you can watch the entire interview right here on dw english, or you can go to our website, dw.com. defending championons -- champi, i should say, magnus carlsen has successfully defended his crown at the world chess championship in london. the 28-year-old norwegian beat american fabiano caruana in three straight games in the rapid chess tiebreakers on wednesday, after no winner had emerged in nearly three weeks of face-offs. reporter: 12 games had n not managed to produce a winner with alall 12 ending g in draws, a novelty at a world championship.

but it was n not quite uxpxpect. magnus carlsen and challenger fabiano caruruana were the two best chess players in the world. it is possible defending champion carlsen had decided to pi his fortunes on the quick fire tiebreakers. after all, that is how he won the title two years ago. for his latest triumph, the norwegian will take home 550,000 euros.s. anand it was a also a good d dat the office for the loser. fabiano caruana will make only 100,000 euros less. but it is magnus carlsen who hois the trophfofor thfour time. brent: over to kingmaker christoph and the u.s. federal reserve sounding the alarm over growing hazards to the financial system. christoph: the federal reserve haissued a stark warning about the outlook for the u.s. financial system. it says historically high corporate debt and trade

tensions could cause asset prices to plplummet. in his first report on the stability of the u.s. financial system, the fed acknowledges that regulation brought in after the 2008 financial crisis has made the banking system more resilient, but it says increasingly aggressive risk-taking could lead to more vulnerabilities. for more on this let's bring in our financial correspondent jens korte in new york. jens, fed chair jerome powell just finished speaking at the new york economic club. tell us more about what he had to say. jens: well, overall he is quite upbeat when heooks at the current economic situations in the united states. there are no signs of a recession on the horizon yet. and at the same time, also, inflation does not seem to be too high at all. and that all sounds pretty well, but maybe just one comment to the debt situation in the united states.

we see record levels of debt, and that is true for consumers, that is true for corporations, and certainly that is also true for the government. christopoph: so the fed,d, quite concerned about financial stability, yet the u.s. economy seems to be in good shape. what does this assessment mean for the federal reserve's intention to further raise interest rates? jens: it still seems pretty likely that we see the fourth interest rate increase at the last fed meeting in december. it would be the ninth interest rate increase since december of 2015. and that's the important thing. fed chairman jerome powell mentioned that looking at next year, the course is not set, but reserve, will watch closely the data, meaning how the financial markets are doing, how the economy is doing. so that sounds a bit less aggressive than what we have heard recently from the federal reserve. christoph: and jens, before jerome powell was able to give his speech and before the fed

issued its report, president trump yet again attacked the fed and its policy. why does he keep doing that? jens: well, again and again, the president is saying that the polilicy of the federal reserves the biggest threat to the economy. not tariffs, not china, but the federal reserve. well, it is true to a certain degree that if you see highest -- higher interest rates, if you have a higher rate it will become more expensive to pay for this debt that could, not stop, but slow down the u.s. economy. so, the president is not entirely wrong on that. but the big question is why the federal reserve is increasing interest rates. and one of the main reasons are the tax cuts we have seen here in the united states, thatat dos lead to a certain overheating of the u.s. economy, that does lead to inflation tendencies.

and that is the reason the federal reserve has no other choice but to keep increasing rates. but overall, yes, higher interest rates could be a dragger for u.s. growth. so now that jerome powell sounded a little less aggressive, we saw quite a reaction here on wall street. blue chips are up by more than 400 points. christoph: jens korte in new york, thank you. the british government says that leaving the european union with no deal would cause the economy to shrink by more than 9% over a 15 year period. the report, which considered a range of post-brexit models, suggests that even with prime minister theresa may's deal, britain will end up poorer but outside the bloc. the announcement comes a fortnight before british mp's vote on the deal. reporter: there is no question that brexit will hit britain's economy. that is the result of an analysis commissioned by the british government. even so, prime minister theresa may insists she has done all she

can. >> what we see behind the analysis that we have published today, and indeed the chancellor recognized this morning, is that our deal is the best deal available for jobs and our economy, that allows us to honor the referendum and reaealize the opportunities of brexit. this analysis does not show that we will be poorer in the future than we are today. no, it doesn't. it shows -- it shows we will be better off with this deal. reporter: her words were not enough to calm rebellion within her own party, because the takeaway from the analysis is that with the divorce deal as it stands, gdp will shrink by a total of over 3% over the next 15 years. still better than no deal at all, though. for that scenario, the study projects a fall of more than 9%. the bank of england has also issued a somber warning. it says that if the island nation leaves the eu without a deal and a hard brexit, the pound could plumummet 25%, sendg business there into a tailspin.

>> by the end of 2023, gdp is more than 10% lower in the disorderly scenario compared to that may, 2016 trend. reporter: the country's parliament is due to vote on may's agreement on december 11. berlin. berlin. -- christoph: you're watching "dw news" coming to you from berlin. after a short break, brent will be back to take you through "the day." stick around. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

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