>> this is "dw news," coming to you live from berlin. america's anguished debate over immigration heats up with the death of an eight-year-old child migrant in u.s. detention in the second this month, sparking questions about handling of minors and america's southern border. the trial of a prominent chinese human rights lawyer has ended as is supporters scuffled with undercover police. he discharged with subverting state power and could face 15 years in prison. it is part of china's crackdown on human rights activists. an earthquake triggered by a volcanic eruption on the italian island of sicily has injured

scores of people and left many more homeless. ♪ nonviolent -- and violin that survived the holocaust. restoring the memories of their former owners. thanks for joining us. we start with the u.s. president . donald trump has made an unannounced visit to american troops serving in iraq. it is his first visit to soldiers serving in the region since he took office two years ago. during the visit, trump said he had "no plans at all" to remove american forces from iraq, and that the u.s. could use the country as a base for operations in neighboring syria. trumpet defended his decision to order the withdrawal of u.s. forces from syria.

he is scheduled to face american troops in germany on his way back to washington. following the death of another migrant child in u.s. custody, the second in less than three weeks with the u.s. department of homeland security says the death completed new medical checks on nearly all my grandchildren held by the border patrol. the eight-year-old from guatemala was hospitalized twice after falling ill and died in new mexico on monday. u.s. immigration officials won't say how many migrant children they are holding, but reports suggest it could be more than 14,000. reporter: this hospital is where the american dream ended for one little boy on christmas eve. the exact cause of the it-year-old -- the eight-year-old's death is unclear. he felt deal with fever and vomitingixix days afteter bein detatain with his s father byy . border agents. they had traveled from guatemala

with thousands of central american migrants to m make the journey in recent months. the day after he died, a funeral was held for another child migrant who died in u.s. custody this month. jakelin caal was also from guatemala. she was just seven years old. her mother was too grief stricken to attend the funeral. her uncle explained what drove jakelin's father to take her to the u.s. > it is the property. there are no prospects here. the crops we grow are not enough to support a family. reporter: six months ago, president trump's administration backtracked on its policy of separating children from their parents are the border following a public outcry. now these debts are raising mark rutte -- deaths are raising more questitions and feeling sharp criticism of the

president's stance on immigration. >> want to make sure we put the welfare and well-being of those kids before any other -- let's make sure they are ok and with our families, let's make sure they get medical care. ththey pose no t threat to thihs country. reporter: but trump is adamant that migrants pose a danger and must be prevented from entering the u.s. illegally. he is locked in a battle with congress over funding for a border wall which led to a partial shutdown of the federal government. trump is showing no sign of backing down. pres. trump: i can't tell you when the government is going to be open. it is not t going to be open unl wewe have a wall, fence, whatevr they would like to call it. i will call it whatever they want. the people of this country one border security. it is not a question of me. i would rather not be doing shutdowns. reporter: ron washington squabbles, -- while washington squabbles, two families are in mourning. the u.s. customs and border

protection commissioioner says immigration authorities need more money for medical care and more support for sheltering vulnerable children like felipe and jakelin. carl: in china, the trial of a prominent human rights lawyer has ended without an announced verdict. wang quanzhang is charged with subverting state powerful to use one of 250 targeted by chinese authorities since they launched a crackdown three years ago. we have this e exclusive repepo. reporter: three hours before the trial started, he sense of the last messages to supportrt his > yesterday there were five cars from thehe security department outside of our house. i don't know what will happen. reporter: together with a friend, she plans to go to the trial of her husband, wang quanzhang. wang defended political prisoners from which resulted in him being rested three years ago. the charge, undermining state

power. since then his wife has not heard from him. she protested repeatedly, demanding answers. >> i''ve seeeen situations like this often but each time it is a little different. today the verdict might be announced. i'm very worried and about his health as well. reporter: she has been told the trial is not open to t the publc because state secrets will be discussed in court. state security block her path. >> my husband disappeared 3.5 years ago. i am his wife. i want to see his trial. reporter: she is prevented from even leaving her apartment complex. they tell her to go back. then the journalists are pushed back as well. without her,, we traveled to the courthouse, which has been closeded off. journalists and foreign

diplomats are banned and are foforced to wait on the other se of the street. here as well, there are undercover police. there was a sudden flurry of activity. pro-democracy activist protests against the trial and demands wang's released. "what are you so scared of that you won't allow people to protest?" he shouts at officials. his protest is short-lived. the secret service taken quickly away. -- take aim quickly away. -- take him quickly away. information from inside the courthouse is scarce. no verdict was announced. lee will have to wait even longer to find out her husband's fate. carl: indonesian authorities are issuing extreme weather warnings in areas where the saturday tsunami killed 430 people. rains caused rivers to burst their banks, flooding streets and submerging some villages all the way up to the rooftops.

here is more from our correspondent. reporterer please villagers thought they were safe after escaping the tsunami that tour into the western coast of java. now they have returned. they face a new problem. >> around 6:00 in the morning, the water began rising. i went out to get some food, and when i came back, the water was almost chest high. our village has never been flooded like this. reporter: johnny moved his family because of the risk of another tsunami. here he is living in a home behind me with his wife and three other children, and 25 other individuals. it is a tight squeeze, he says, but at least he is living with the loved ones and thehey are al accounted for.

jojohnny's wife remembers the moment she had to leave. "when i heard talk of the second tsunami coming, i grabbed my children and ran to my sister's house. people were panicking and fleeing, screaming run run, because the wave was coming. i couldn't think of anything else. the safety of my children was my only priority. minas children are -- my youngest children are 8 and three years old and are in a bit of a shock and have trouble sleeping." although the tsunamimi spared ts family, the floods. -- still threaten their lives. carl: an earthquake trickled by the eruption of mount etna jolted eastern sicily on thursday. the quake, measuring 4.8 on the richter scale, struck north of the larger city on the e eastern side of ththitaliaian island.d. etna, the larargest of italy's three active volcanoes, is still

spewing asashes. people were injured by falling debris and churches and homes were damaged. the worst hit cas place was so t at the office of reporter: the town is a front lies at the foot of mount etna. 3:19 the morning of christmas eve, the family was shaking out of bed by the earthquake. their home in ruins, the couple is desperate to know what will happen next. then i've never experienced anything this horrible. it is america my family survive. in the end -- it is a miracle my family survived. in the end combat is all that matters. reporter: sicily has been hit by earthquakes, but none was strong as the one on wednesday. 28 people were injured. the quakes were triggered by the mount etna volcano, raising the alarm level for the region. local authorities have not given the all clear. >> at ththe moment mount etna is

still active. it is rumbling directly at the edge of the crater. we cannot predict whether this volcanic movement will shift further into the interior. that is why it is hard to say how the local population will be affected. reporter: many people are afraid to stay in their homes even though they have become used to small lava eruptions over ththe years. mount etna is one of the world most active volcanoes. the last major eruption was in 1984. carl: now to some other stories making news around the world. russian president vladimir putin says russia will begin to deploy a new hypersonic weapon next year. this follows final tests of the intercontinental of onguard system that putin called a success. he set t the nuclear-capable missile can fly att 20 titimes e speed of sound a and maneuveverp and down, enabling it to breach defense systems.

opposition supporters in the democratic republic of congo are angered by new election delays. authorities say sunday's presidential vote will be postponed until march in three congolese cities known to be opposition strongholds. the election is intended to pave the way to a democratic transfer of power from president joseph kabila. russia has criticized the knowledge israeli airstrike syria, saying it delayed civilian flights. syria sent it intersected missiles tuesday night. independent observers said they were targeting and arms depot used by iranian forces. speaking at a military ceremony, israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu did not mention the alleged airstrike, but said that israel would never allow iran to establish a permanent military presence in syria. japan has announced it will resume commercial whaling starting next july. government officials say japan will only hunt whales in its own territorial waters despite the drop in demand for whale meat.

japan is going out of the international whaling commission. the decision has been strongly condemned by anti-whaling activists. reporter: it is a centuries-old tradition, one that japan is intent on keeping alive. after failing to get the commission's approval to resume commercial whaling, japan has announced it is c cutting ties with the international conservation body. >> countries thahat focus exclusively on the protection of wales would not take concrete steps towards reaching a common position.. at the internanational whaling commission meeting in september, it became clear that it was not possible for states with different views to coexist, and that led to this decision. reporter: those who work in the industry have welcomed the announcement. then japan --

>> japan is a country that relies heavily on his fisheries and uses limited d marine resourceces. i think of government had no choice but to resume whaling. >> it is important to share the research data that shows that the number of wales is -- number of whales is not decreasing in order to gain understanding from other countries will stop -- other countries. reporter: despite complying with the ban for decades, japan continued to kill whales in the name of scientific research, program critics say is a cover for commercial hunting. 30 years after signing the moratorium on the practicice, tokyo says endangered whales have had time to increase the numbers. japan will limit willing to its own territorial waters and economic z zone. that is unlikely to stop activists from trying to end

practice altogether. carl: a senior marine scientist for the humane society international joins us now from the u.k. japan says that the international whaling commission is dominated by conservationists, so the commission cannot fulfill his other roles in terms of managing the whaling inindustry. do you t think it is a point --o you think about has a point? >> no, i don't thinink it has mh of a point. the commission has 89 member nations. it will have 88 when japan leads. it is not driven by conservationists or any interest groups. it is a meeting of creditors. carl: japan -- meeting of countries. carl: japan and has been doing so-called scientific whahaling. it says it will no longer do that sort of waililing in the antatarctic and willll be focusn commercial whaling in its own waters. how much of a step in the right

direction is that? >> i think we can be pleased that antarctica will be free from whaling. at the moment the japanese fleet is there, but in the coming season, the next season, it will be the first time pretty much the end of the second world war that there has not been whaling in these very important waters that we want to keep pristine and free from interference as possible. but that does leave us with a real problem with what they are point to do in the north pacific. carl: what makes that area of the antarctic some important? >> well, the antarctic waters are pristine. they are being studied to understand the nutrient flows between recovering populations of walales and others down ther. this is an area which is highly protected for very good reason. carl: japan also says, look, well stocks are recovering, who canterbury such thing -- so can

there be such a thing as a sustainable whaling practice? >> japan greatly simplifies what it says about a lot of things, and it is true that the moratorium on n commercial whalg in 1982hich japan has fought hard against ever since, has allowed some wild d populationso recover, s so that is good news. not all of them are back to pristine levels. we have to be really careful about the implications. there are good and bad things in what they are saying. outside of international whaling commission, it is a problem for us. particularly a problem with other countries to follow suit, and that could be the case. carl: what about the argument that hunting and eating whales in japan is part of the culture and the iwc fail to see that? how do you view the cultural argument? >> i think we can understand that there are some places in japan where eating products from

the sea including whales and even dolphins is part of their culture. it is part of the culture for many maritime countries, including the u.k., for example. and we don't do it anymore. we can move on from this thing. the big industrial whaling factories that they take out to see are not part of any sort of condition at all. this is industrial whaling we're talking about. they oversees fleets with motherships, huge amounts of money behind him. this is not a traditional pastime. carl: mark simmons from the humane society international, thank you for joining us. the annual sydney to hobart yacht race has begun in australia. it is the 74th year of the competition, which covers more than 1100 kilometers. a total of 85 boats began their journey from the sydney harbour in spectacular conditions. the 2018 race features the first all professional female creww ld by skipper s stacy jacksonon.

the saililors will rise throught the nighand d are expectcted t reachh hobart on the island of tasmania on thursday. christmas is over, but then you have holiday cheer for us. >> neither does the sky to give you the good news. you can call it a little chris -- you need the business guide to give you the good news. you can call it a chriristmas ce back. today's search is partly thanks to santa. big retailers are among the gainers. tech stocks, too. equities in general are on track for their worst december since the great depression. there are fears of a slowdown in the world's biggest economy. that is worrying asia, is stocks slipped, except in tokyo, where there was a slight rebound. german industrial leaders have mixed feelings about 2019. economists still expect healthy growth, but brexit, a trade war, and a shortage of skilled labor in germany are weighing heavily on is the sentiment. -- business

sentiment. >> it now appears to be a global trend. the economy has lost momentum. has the bull market ended? fewer homes are being built in the u.s. chinese retail figures have fallen to the lowest level in years. and's or not working great for -- things are not looking great for german industry. new orders were down for seven out of 10 months this year. 2018 began with lackluster figures before to spikes in may and august. the clear trend is downward. experts expect germany's economy to only grow 1.5% next year much lower than berlin's official forecast of 1.8%. business leaders are especially concerned about britain leaving the eu without a deal, so-called hard brexit. a deal between london and brussels looks evermore unlikely , despite fewer than 100 days left before one of the eu'

biggesest economies s exits the unioion. then there is s the trade spatt between ththe u.s. and chihina. the effects of an escalation would be immeasurable for the global economy. german business leaders have even more to be worried about. the lack of skilled labor in the country -- but that is the good news. germany has a stellar job market. the unemployment rate is at its lowest in decades. >> north and south korea are moving another step closer together. on wednesday the countries broke ground on what is set to become one of the biggest infrastructure projects on the peninsula, modernizing north korea's raiail and road nenetwok and connecting it with the south. >> north korea, seen from the south across what used to be one of the most impenenetrable bords in the world. it is all changing now. this train heading north and caring 1000 south korean officials is part of the process. hopes are high for the two

koreas to grow closer together after decades ofof s separation. the retraction of railways and roads means more than just physical connection. people and supplies will come and go through the rents and we will have closer cooperation in culture, sports, tourism, and health. from the north, a call for the people to come together. "the results of the rail and road p project hinge on the spit and will of our people. we cannot accomplish the reunification if we hesitate a d failed to care about other countries." for now, however, a major hurdle is the north korean regime itself. construction on any rail and road links can start anytime soon as necessary materials and investment are banned under u.s. and u.s. sanctions still in

place. it will not be lifted until north korea commits to denuclearization. >> in many western countries, the day after christmas is known as boxing day. a massive shopping spree on par with black friday. in britain, , the figures tell a different story. reporter: some were queuing as early asas 5:00 in freezezing temperatures. >> we have been here two and a half hour. [laughter] reporter: excellent at 9:00. discounts -- shops opened at 9:00. discounts are even larger the leicester as retailers trying to draw enough to compensate for lackluster business. >> this year the going rate for half price going on. >> absolute nightmare every year. every year we drive around. every shop from everywhere. reporter: music to the user u.k.

-- years of u.k. retailers who have lost so much to online competition that they have had to send 150 employees. it has now become a tourist attraction. >> we came to london from denmark because the shopping possibilities. that is why we can't. just why we came. -- that is why we came. reporter: cheap prices did not stop 20,000 shops from going out of business on the high streets this year. boxing day shoppers is down 4% from last year. >> now to unique music project called violins of hope. the aim is to restore violins that survived the holocaust. they have been reviving influence with performances at concert halls around the world. reporter: they are witnesses of history.

these violins belonged to european jews who were murdered in the holocaust. during world war ii, the nazis forced jewish musicians to play in concentration camps while other prisoners were sent to their deaths. for members of the dresden philharmonic, rehearsing with these instruments is an incredibly intense experience. >> i really enjoy playing these instruments. i find it very moving. reporter: israeli violin maker has devoted the last 20 years of his life to finding and restoring violins played by jews during the holocaust. it is a way of giving voice to the victims, including hundreds of his own family members. "it says heil hitler 1936 here,

and there is the swastika." he calls them the violins of hope. they have been p played in conct halls around the world as a tribute to the millions who were silenced by the holocaust. >> forward we go, a reminder of the top story we are following. u.s. president donald trump meets american troops in iraq in his first visit to a combat zone since taking office. the president says he has no plans to pull u.s. forces out of the country. if you have ever worried about or thought about what a panda does when it snows come check out this great footage we have got for you from the national zoo in washington, d.c.

carl: now you know. thanks for watching "dw news." we will have more news for you next hour. see you then. bye-bye. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]