♪ carl: this is the david news live from berlin. u.s. allies react with shock from the latest resignation from the trump administration. general mattis quits over trump's pullout from syria. also coming up, thousands of hunger and march in budapest. they are angry at recent reforms by the orban government.

and germany marks the end of an era as it closes the last underground coal mine. ♪ carl: welcome to the program. u.s. allies including germany have appealed to clarity on washington's foreign policy. this comes after defense secretary matt is resigned. that move happened without consultation from the pentagon or u.s. allies. now the search is on for a successor to mattis. reporter: u.s. secretary defends -- of defense james mattis has been widely viewed as a stabilizing force in trump's cabinet.

many hoped he would make -- help the president make good decisions on national security. but now that has come to an end, due to fundamental differences in opinion. mattis said in his resignation letter that he stressed the importance of the u.s. maintaining strong partnerships, such as nato and the international coalition fighting the islamic state in syria. james mattis knows the situation in saavedra -- syria and afghanistan while. he thinks it is wrong to remove troops from these places. >> secretary mattis was one of the few symbols and items of strength and stability in the cement a station. reporter: republican senator marco rubio commented on twitter.

he said it is abundantly clear that we are headed toward a series of grave policy errors. now trump needs a new defense secretary who will follow the president's line. carl: the resignation is likely to have a major effect on u.s. foreign-policy. to talk more about that i am joined i the national security reporter from the washington post. is trump possibly write it in saying that someone else can continue the fight inn syria?? paul: it remamains to be seen. the french have said that they are interested in keeping the troops there. no one has said whwhat will hapn to the fate of the american air campaign, whwhich is been ththe primary mode e by which t the pentag hasas defeated i isis. as well as backiking local k kuh

fightersrs on the ground. it remains to see -- be seen iff anyone will fifill the void.d. or i if it wilill leadd a powowr vacuum opening up the possssibility that turkey, iran, bashar al-assad, or russia will fill. carl: how will the withdraw from syria affect the u.s.'s standing in the region? paul:: the u.s. headlong back to a kurdish militia on the ground and essentially rolled back all of the territory that isis had captured. while the territory has been rolled back, it is widely agree that tens of thousands of isis fighters still remain in the country and in iraq. that is why the state department and the pentagon have said that

the fight against isis is not over. however, president trump declared it over and amanda that the u.s. troops there the withdrawn. this is created a sense of insecurity among allies. when do you agree that a conflict is over? how do you agree on what victory consists of? is thehe groundwork being laid r a resurgence of isis or handing over power in the region to russia and iran? carl: what about those kurdish forces. they havave been so heheavily reliant onhe u.s. paul: i think they are extremely worried. if you look at the m messages coming out of turkey, turkekey's dedefense ministerer has said he wants a military operation against them. tuturkey sees kukurdish individs in the n north of syriaa as essentially terroristst they have had d military skirmishes before in northern syria, which actually detracted

from the c campaign against isislamic state. they know they are in peril. that is a serious concern by a lott of amamerican military leas at the pentagogon and a b broad. these are the fighters that esessentially on the ground insured ththe defeat of the islamimic state. now they might feel like they are being sold down the river. carl: thank you very much. staying in the u.s., where the senate has begun voting on president trump's spending bill, and what is seen as a last ditch effort to avoid a partial government shutdown. trump has been calling for a change in senate rules that would allow measures to be passed to pay for a border wall. it is highly unlikely that he will secure the 60 votes needed to have his bill passed. now that of -- some of the other

stories around the world. pro-independence protesters had gathered in barcelona. they clashed with police. dozens were injured and 12 were arrested. separatist leaders are vowing more protests in the coming days. relief for passengers at london's gatwick airport. flflights have assumed -- resumd ththeir after another short shutdown. and earlier suspension lasted 36 hours. then a pair of drones were spotted over the airfieleld. angry opposition supporters rallied in the congolese capital of kinshasha. protesters warnedd they may attemptt to topple the president if voting in an election is postponed again. the election is scheduled to take place on december 30.

people are gathering in the hungarian capital budapest for another night of protest over labor ruleles and corruption. the rally is the latest in a string of demonstrations that started last week. the protests have come to include an array of grievances such as limits on the free press and increasing corruption. joining us from budapest is our correspondent. what is the situation where you are? we understand that thousands hahave marched t through budapat again t today. fanny: and you may think that this protest is over because you do not see anyone behind me right now. but they just changed a couple of minutes ago. people started to march over to the palace of the hungarian president who signed a very controversial overtime act. a new labor law.

people feel that the government calls voluntary overtime something that threatens them without getting paid. the situation in hungary right now is very much charged. the protests is still quite small in size. a couple of thousand people marched through budapest. pepeople hoped that the e protes would not turn v violent. carl: we have heard prime minister orban claimed that these protests of been stoked by hungarian born billionaire george soros. isis there any t truth to osose rumors? fannnny: that i is what t the governrnment pretty mumuch alwas says when there is a prorotests. some billboards were parodying that r rhetoric byby the govern.

that is the main rhetoric they use whenever there are protests. when i went t tthe countrtryside yesterday and spoke to a man who is working in the shipping industry, he needs to work a lot of overtime,e, he said he had nothing to do with soros. he said it had nothing to do with any political party. just ordinary people concerns that they need to work more and more with a lack of skilled workers in hungary. and that he will not get paid accordingly. the frustration of the people israel. -- is real. they have had enough. the government says one thing but the result that they feel is completely different. carl: thank you very much. here in germany, the nation's last underground coal mine has closed. for 200 years, cole was the driving force in the economy.

but the rain of -- reign of king coal is coming to an end. the german president received the last lump of coal that was mined here. the shutdown is happening because the world is moving to renewable resources such as solar and wind power. still, the miners at the last mind were sad to see it go. bettina these are some of germany's last coal miners. many of them have given decades of their lives to the job. in four shifts a, 1200 meters deep. shipping tons and tons of coal. this worker can clearly remember

the first time he went down in a pit cage. >> the first time i did it, i was just an apprentice. we learned where the escape routes were something happened. it was still overwhelming. bettina: this coal mine was once highly productive. now it is the site of a massive selloff. everything is being dismantled and sent back overground. most of the machines here will be sold on to turkey or china. >> i am feeling a bit melancholy. we are the last of our kind. this job will not is -- exist anymore. >> we have been used to mining coal for years. now that is gone. it is difficult. >> you used to finish mining coal field and know that in two weeks he would move on to miming the next one. but those days are over now.

it is winding down everywhere, and that hurts. bettina: it is thanks to the cold winds that the ruhr valley became the most populated area in germany. this manager has already had to close to mines. this will be his third and last. >> three big events take placece in my life thiss year. i close my last mind. germany stops producing black coal. and at the end of the year, i will retire. bettina: the curtain has fallen on coal mining. 15,000 locals have gathered to give it a fitting sendoff. there is plenty of melancholy in the air.

♪ >> the whole tradition, mining, the ruhr region, it is family. every time a pit closes down, it is like losing a family member. bettina: once more, they sing the song of german miners. it is the soundtrack of the region. the last miners will continue to wind down operations until the end of next year. after that, many of them or tire -- retire. ♪ carl: we spoke with someone from the german mining museum for

more. reporter: the last mines in the ruhr valley are closing. what was the significance of mining inn germany? > it is no exaggeration to sy that without black coal mining there would not be a modern world. blackhole madedendustrialilizatn popossible. modern energy is provided by it. we can also say that the world becacame bright and colorful thanks to blblack cold -- coal. think about gas and dies made of gold -- dyes made of coal. it made the modern world possible. reporter: what does the mind closure mean for the local people who worked here for so long? >> for the miners themselves, they's is excessive -- this is a

sad day. we have directed this process very responsibly. it has been done with an eye to social equity and the long-term. we have a structural transformation that lasted 30-40 years behind us while phasing out black coal, we took care that the region, which was so dependent on heavy industry, has other alternatives. the educational l sector is especially large in the ruhr region. a whole series of modern industries have set up shop here. the service sector is also relatively strong. it has been a long-term, organized transformation. it is been socially just, which is very important for germany. we try to avoid making large numbers of minors unemployed all at once. that is a big achievement.

reporter: how i importantnt is closing mines for combating climate change? or is this about saving state subsidies for the coal industry? >> the decision to discontinuee the mining of black was based mainly on economic concerns. it is no secrets that black coal mines in europe, which have toto be dug very far underground, or simply not competitive with other mines throughout the world. for decades, since the end of the 1950's, we in germany and europe have known that. so the decision to discontinue production in germany is a

political decision that is not dominated by climate change. carl: shifting gears now to the animal kingdom. the world's only albino orangutan is celebrating her first day of freedom.. her name is alba and she spent a year being nursed back to health by indonesian conservatives -- conservationists. she has tripled in weight and regain her c confidence. so scientists released her into the borneo jungle on friday. she immediately felt at home in the wild come as you can see, climbing high in the canopy to forage. sports now, bayern munich plays saturday in a bundesliga clash. it was looking bleak for niko

kovac just a few weeks ago. but buyer has turned things around. kres: niko kovac has reason to smile. the defending champions have been the league strongest side away from home so far. a total of 18 goals on the road have kept bayern on the top of the table. having coached last season, kovac knows he is a threat and even hinted at a future bayern bid to start him. >> if he stays on track, he will become a world-class striker and will play for a world-class club. if he stays healthy and stays in the right state of mind, he has everything. we are a world class club.

kres: frankfurt are a decent force at home. >> we do not have possession of the ball like bayern do. but we have a chance to showcase our power. kres: however, the champions have just won four in a row in the bundesliga and have not lost a competitive match in frankfurt since march of 2010. carl: a french oil giant punished for taking bribes. christoph: it seems to be a reoccurring problem. fines have been put on french oil company totale. the company paid $30 million in bribes for help in securing a lucrative gas concession.

five years ago, the company had to pay $4 million to settle a similar case before it went to trial in the u.s. staying with commodities, the price of crude recovered slightly on friday after having foot to its lowest level in 15 months. oil prices have been sliding for weeks, dropping more than $25 since the beginning of october. investors had hoped to supply cuts from opec would prop up prices. but the cartel is finding that easier said than done. reporter: earlier this month, opec a and its partntner countrs agreed to cut production to 1.2 million bill or - -- b barrels a day. the price of a barrel has been dragged down by a combination of factors. the global macro economic outlook is not good for the oil industry.

and there are investor fears of an economic slowdown. but oversupply remains the biggest challenge for the industry. the u.s. is now a top producer worldwide. thisis makes it t more difficulr op to o control ththe world market. whililthe downwaward trend in ol prices may be welcome news for drivers, it spells trouble for opec. its effectiveness as a cartel might be diminishing. christoph: earlier, we asked an oil market analysts if opec countries were looking to strike a balance steel or out to maximize profits. >> they are trying to find the right balance. they would like the price to be around $70 or $80 per barrel compared with the current price, which is $53 for barrel. just two months ago there was worried that the market was overheated.

the prices hit $86 per barrel. people were worried that it would hit $100. opec was worried about that because it would stimulate competition from other fuels. there has been an incredible change in the market in just two months. christoph: for a few hours, it looks like former nissan chief ghosn would be getting out of jail. but japan issued a fresh warned for his detention. they say that ghosn unloaded his personal debt on based on accounts -- nissan. and that he personally enriched himself using nissan company capital. social startups are on the rise.

the market for care services is huge. in germany, about 2.5 million people are in need of care. and that number could rise. most will want to live at home as long as possible. and that is where the mobile care startup via comes in. reporter: antonia albert knows what she wants. she founded her own company called careship in berlin. it places caregivers and homes of elderly or sick people who need support. her idea was born of necessity. >> i founded carareship together with my brother after a personal expense and our own family, when out of the blue are grandmother suddenly needed care and we

could not find a suiuitable helper. >> a helper like this. he is one of about 800 freelancers who now work for careship. a stroke left this woman paralyzed on one side. she can no longer do many things yourself. so she went looking for help. >> it is clearly a queststn of helping peoplele to help ththemselves, so the entire household can be managed in the finale -- independently. reporter: she pays them 20 euros an hour, and 20% of that goes to careship. for her, trust is key. >> i really do not want to have to explain something new to everyone everyday. reporter: berlin is still a hot spot for startups.

among company founders here, women are e still a minority. but that did not deter antonia. she has s raised millions ofof capital to expand her business. when setting up a firm, she says the most important thing is to stick to your guns. she also believes women and men are littttle different in one respect. >> it is risky to say i'm putting my job and i'm just going to plow ahead. i think women are little more cautious in that respect. but that is the wrong approach. we just need many more role models. women who show that women confound companies and be successful. that it actually no matter -- longer matters if you are a man or a woman. reporter: careship has not turned a profit yet. but this has not shaken antonius

confidence. she is sure she will achieve her goals. christoph: a quick reminder of the top story we're following up this hour. donald trump losing another key cabinet member. secretarary of statete matus is- secretary defense matus is stepping down. you are watching dw news. "the day" is next. ♪

[inaudible] yeah. that's all fronts on seventy four change like life. this is the thing major major tests and come [inaudible] in. the late late. and a friend for you to do just as president in the oval between twenty terrorists on down in ginger tea tea stuff stuff. was on the wrong year years or from. the rest. of the us defense secretary jim jim off