♪ >> this is dw news live from berlin. as britain staggers towards the brings -- ththe bracket in game, more discussion over what it means. they try to stop t the country frfrom craing g out of the eueuropean union. they comes ahead of a decisive vovote on theresaa maya's withdw scheduled for next week. turkey jails another journalist. this time a dw reporter

reporting on a former prime minister. plus, an anxious wait in the democratic republic of the congo. tensions thrives as authorities announce results of last month's troubled election. the country is still waiting for its first new leader in almost two decades. it is good to have you with us. british lawmakers have dealt a fresh blow to prime minister theresa may's government, and again it is over brexit. they voted to force her government to reduce an alternative plan for leaving the european union. they comes as parliament begins five days of debate in advance of the next week's vote. lawmakers are expected to reject that deal next week.

reporter: prime minister theresa may left her office for parliament knowing most lawmakers oppose her deal with brussels. they also don't one britain to leave without an agreement altogether. >> when will the prime minister face the facts there is little support for her deal or no deal in this house? the prime minister is asking mp's to write a blank check forr her blindfold brexit. >> if the prime e minister attempts a no dedeal brags it --brexit, we will fight her tooth and nail every way. it does not come anywhere to meeteting our t tests. it will l make the country pooer and divided. >> there is no majority on any relation with the european union in this house of commons, except the majority that is clearly against leaving with no deal. reporter: in a second defeat for

theresa may in today's members of parliament voted to make the government quickly come up with an alternative if her deal is rejected next week. that would not be the end of it. >> we have been looking at how parliament can take a greater role as we takake these negotiations to the next stage. i can tell the house in the event our future relationship or alternative arrangements are not ready by the end of 2020, parliament will have a vote on whether to seek to extend the implementation period. reporter: feelings are running high, and a prominent conservative lawmaker in favor of britain remaining in the european union was abused outside parliament this week by hecklers who accused her of being a nazi. with the clock ticking down, divisions are as wide as ever. mp's are do to vote on the deal next tuesday.

>> the want to bring in quentin peele. it is good to see you again. what do we see happen today in parliament? is this department trying to reassert its authority over a brexit plan that no onone seemso be able e to agree on? > yes, that's precisely whatt is.. it is a real strugglele for control of the process between the parliamentariansns on both parties across the middle of parliament and a government that has been constantly divided itself and does not have a majority. the trouble is in the british system governmenent always has a slightly stronger hand them parliament. parliament is fighting a guerrilla war t to try to maneur it self into a position where it

can actually dicictate to o the government the road ahead. this road is very, very difficult because, as you said in yourr report, it does not lok as if there is a majority in parliament to any particular outcome. it may be they are going to reduce to o horror of horrors actually holding a second referendum. >> it is expected next week when parliament votes of the withdrawal plan that lawmakers will reject that. how does today's action fit into that? >> well, what in fact theresesa may has been trying to do for weeks is frightened members of parliament into voting for the deal she has agreed with the rest of the european union by saying the only alternative to this deal is crashingng out with no deal at all. and then all government sourcess

and many other people hahave an underlying just how bad crashihg out would be. a normal's best enormous -- enormous cues at the border, airplanes not taking off, medicine in short supply, even food running out. for stories right across the board. suddenly theresa may is being faced by parliament that said we are not prepared to except this. a majority says we are not prepared to crash out without a deal. you have got to come back with a clear plan b, which is not just no deal. that is really the instruction she got today. >> we know it takes two to tango. the european union has said all along the deal negotiated with theresa may is it. do parliamentarians realize that fact? >> yes, but i t think we also he

got quite a clear message from the rest of f the european union that if there is a fundamental reason for a a delay, to say either a general election or a second vote or referendum, or eveven perhaps t there simimplyt time to get ththe legislation through parliamament, those a ae all valid reasons to delayay the date of actually leaving the european u union for march 29. in most t circumstances ththat d be acceptable. itit still has to be a u unanims vovote of the o other 27, but i think that is more likely. i don't think they w would say , you can h have more time e to to resosolve the internal divivisis of the government undnder the british conservativeve party. i think they would put their foot down and say forget it. >> it is an issue that remainins unresolved foror sure. when -- quentin peele, we

appreciate your insights. here are some other stories making headlines around the world. 50 migrants who were stranded on two rescue ships last month in the mediterranean have arrived in malta. the eu agreed that the migrants would be transferred to locations and eight eu countrieies, along with around 0 other rescued migrants. a former israeli minister is going to a prison for 11 years after pleading guilty for spying for iran. he agreed to this as part of a plea bargain. he served as energy minister in the 1990's and was convicted of smuggling chocolate covered ecstasy pills into israel.in 2005 german prosecutors are questioning the nature of an attack on member of parliament. is far right alternative for germany party insists a weapon was used in the attack but prosecutors say he sustained his injuries when he fell to the

ground after being attacked by three men earlier this week. a court in istanbul has sentenced a reporter who works for dw news to 13 months in prison. she was convicted of insulting and slandering a public official. those charges came from her reporting on the panama papers and a former turkish prime minister's ties to offshore tax havens. the investigative journalist has condemned the sentence as another disgraceful attack on free speech in turkey. >> usually she writes about other people and their stories. now she is making headlines herself after being sentenced to jail for defamation and insult, and slandering a public official. >> i expected this verdict because in turkey as a journalist i am always having one foot inn jail. i am not the onlnly one. many reporters arere in the same position.

we t try n not to let it get usn and continue on doing our job. >> she has been reporting for dw's turkish service since last year. before thahat she was part of te internatational network of investigative journalists who analyzed and published the paradise papers. leaks revealing offshore dealinings of politicians and companies who arere evading tax. she found an allegededonnectionn toto the family y of the formemr turkish prime minister, and wrwrote articles about it t fore turkish daily newspaper. he sued her. >> this is an attempt to intimidate, not me personally or my articles, but the whohole journalism p profession. the message is if you report

freely, you will be punished. that is the situation for journalists in turkey. reporter: she may have been sentenced, but she is not in prison yet. she wants to appeal. she hopes she will bebe up witha focus on writing stories again and set of being the center of attention herself. >> tonight the democratic republic of congo is on edge. authorities are set to announce the results of the presidential election in about two hours from now. government opponents say the election was deeply flawed. they say the outgoing leader wants to stage manage a handover of power to his preferred candidate. >> for the moment this building is the focus of attention in the congolese capital. the country's electoral commission. inside officials are evaluating the presidential ballot results

which they were supposed to announce last sunday. riot police are erecting barriers. the security presence has been stepped up, and nervous locals say that is not a good sign. >> seeing all these barriers it is clear the electoral commission does not need or want to give us the name of the person who was elected. >> we want them to prepare the transfer of power in a civilized way so people don't die when they announced the results, so no blood is shed. reporter: thihis ballot was meat to usher in the first democratic transfer of power in their 59 years of independence. observers say there were major irregularities. one of the front runners has made this threat against the election commission. >> if the proclaimed results are not lawful, we will release our

own figures, already known by the electoral commission, international observers, african observers and local observers. reporter: congo was wracked by violence in 2006 and 2011. now there are real fears of more instability. >> heavy snowfall and avalanches in austria that claimed at least five lives. authorities warned the avalanche risk in the alps remains high. some communities have been cut off completely. more snow is due this week. reporter: a delivery of supplies for a small village in bavaria. the area is on was completely cut off. the main roads blocked by falling trees. the only way in and out is along this forced the path. how much longer it will remain

opera is not clear. more snow is expected. authorities have declared a state of emergency because of fallen trees. other parts of bavaria are also buried in snow. many schools are closed. in austria the situation is even more serious. the battle against snow continued overnight. in the northern alps the avalanche warning is at level 4 and could go up to level 5, the highest, in the next few days. in the city of salzburg soldiers have been brought in to clear as much as three meters of snow from groups. -- roofs. falling snow can be extremely destructive indexers are warning the avalanche danger is increasing by the day. >> the biggest danger is the snow is not compact and more and more builds up until it is released. that could have possibly fatal consequences.

reporter: there is little improvement in prospect. more snow and storms are forecast over the weekend. >> sports news now. in football's asia cup, japan battled back from a goal down to b turkmenistan -- beat turkmenistan. qutar posted a 2-0 win over lebanon after a scoreless first half. bayern munich will sign benjamin pabard in july. with these very much the name of the game. -- youth very much the name of the game. reporter: say hello to benjamin pbavard, in july at least.

the is coming from stuttgart. his seasons they were followed by his breakthrough at the world cup in russia. is goal of the tournament, hold down argentina and t the in the trophy. the bosses are showing up a reported 35 million euros. >> pavard is a really good player who can play in a lot of different positions. we are very happy we have been able to get him. reporter: the impact of england teenager jordan sancho has alerted them to other young english talents struggling to get a gain of the foreigners premier league. chelsea forward calum hudson is a target. >> what i can say about him is we like the player a lot and

have a big interest in signing him. beyond that we will see. reporter: for now, they have pavard waiting in the wings. >> now to rock royalty and the 75th birthday of jimmy page. the former led zeppelin guitarist is pulling out a lot of candles as he celebrates a monstrous career in rock 'n roll. he founded zeppelin in 1968 and set a new benchmark for hedonistic excess. he also wrote some of the most memorable rock songs in the process. ♪ reporter: stairway to heaven and perhaps the most famous guitar solo in rock. ♪ reporter: rolling stone magazine ranked him third in their list of the 100 best guitarists in music history, some even credit him with having invented hard rock.

he got his first guitar at age 12. he taught himself to play by practicing day and nigig. >> i wasn't like the regular kind of kid. i was a bit nerdy in that respect. i was in the habit of taking the guitar to school and practicing when i was in doing the academic work. reporter: in his early 20's he worked as a session guitarist, playing with eric clapton, the kinks, the who, the yardbirds. at the age of 24 he founded led zeppelin. the hired singer robert plant, john paul jones and john bono. in the years that followed, led zeppelin will become one of the most influential and innovative bands in rock history. ♪ reporter: in the early 1970's, the bed was catapulted to the world of rock superstardom. their lives played out exclusively on stage in private

jets and in hotel rooms, hard drugs and fast living took their toll. jimmy page became addicted to heroin. in 1980, excessive alcohol consumption led to the death of john bono. in the wake of this tragedy, the band decided to call it quits. ♪ reporter: as part of led zeppelinin, jimmy page wrote muc hihistory. the band is his life's work, and now it age 75 he still tends its legacy. ♪ >> from stairway to heaven to stairway to trade hell some would say. >> that could perhaps again get a little bit better because now we have heard u.s. negotiators has said china has promised to

purchased a substantial amount of american goods. it follows days of trade talks between the nations. investors are celebratingng as they monitor thehe negotiations for signs of an actual deal. to prevent further terrorist the u.s. statement mentioned the chinese were set to buy y more from the agricultural, energy and manufafacturing sectors. it is unclear if there is any movement on intellectual property theft. this raises lots of questions. we asked our financial correspondent in frankfurt what a substantial amount actually means. >> presumably it needs the chinese will buy more american stuff than they have before, but the talks are not concluded yet. the chinese will want some concessions from the americans as well. it is still totally up in the air but the important message

for everyone concerned and the people in the markets is they went apart amicably. there was a statement that sounds good and if there is a will, there is a desire to forge ahead and make a better trade situation than before. >> the french tobacco shop has been an institution for generations. but since the start of the new year quite a few have added a decidedly more millennial feature. alongside tobacco and lottery tickets, customers can now purchase bitcoin. >> it seems like there is one on every cocorner in french cities, the tobacco shop. now the small stores are selling bitcoins. vouchers can be bought at the counter and later redeemed for the crypto currency. the only restriciction, the buyr must be at least 18 years old. it is much more advantageous in terms of prices, and it's easier in terms o of transaction.

at least you are not giving your bank c card details to m malicis websites. the new business is a joint effort by french financial start up and the association of tobacco retailers. around 4000 stores are already on board and many more are expected to take part. they hope to help bitcoioin recover from its collapse in the last year. >> a lot of peoplple are interested in bitcoin but don't know how to buy it, even online it is quite complicated. even the bitcoin cononcept and block chain is quite complicated. bubuying or purchasing bitcoin it's another step of complication. reporter: store owners are banking on the new busininess. they hope bitcoin can help make up for diminishing tobacco sales. we already sell a lot of other things apart from tobacco. we do money y transfers, s sella

lot of telephone related stuff. we sell l credit to buy things n amazon or other shopping websitites. bitcoin goes well with the products we offer. making bitcoins more accessible to not automatically mean they will become more acceptable to skeptics of digital currencies. >> protests in bangladesh are keeping authorities busy as workers are demanding better working conditions. the government recently increased the minimum wage. the race is not enough according to unions. some factory owners are not passing the race onto their employees, further infuriating the country's workforce. >> police fired rubber bullets and tear gas andnd the crowds of demonstrators on the streets of daca, and some fought back with stones. over 50 prototesters are said to have been injured, alalong with2 policemen. the garment industry plays a key role in the asian country.

bangladesh is the second-largest manufacturer of clothing globally, and its factories supply some of the world's largest retailers. the benefits have not trickled down much. the minimum wage is still just a thousand taca -- 8000 taca, around $80 a month. >> we are demanding twice that. the basic monthly income has to be 10,000 taca, ancillaries have to be 16,000. the authorities are giving us nothing. unions have warned the strikes may spread other cities. protests are expected to continue. >> to turkey now, a country where the president recently built a 1000-room palace. that privilege is not only for the head of state. if you want, you can buy a palace in turkey. we take each of the northwest of the country between istanbnbul n the capital..

the booming economy actually inspired in investor to pump in millions i into development to attract a big spender, but it has become a reaeal estate nightmare. reporter: it is a touch of disneyland the in the province in northwestern turkey. hundreds of little castles. luxury houses with pointy towers and fairytale charm. if it wasn't for the barbed wire and the fact they are all empty and just start selling. situated halfway between istanbul and ankara, the region is popular with tourists who like hiking in the vast forests. the turkish developers spent over $100 million building homes for arab customers. >> the inspiration for the project came from our work in kuwait and the gulf countries. we talked with our customers there and came up with more than

one design based on their demands. the choice in the end was for a design like this. reporter: all the outcome is certainly a matter of taste, the economic situation in turkey is clearly bad. the economy is retracting. few people here are willing to spend up to $500,000 for a villa. that puts him in a bind. his group is seeking bankruptcy protection. he says local factors are to blame. >> this project is three kilometers from the city center in an area that is not suitable for agriculture. but despite obtaining all the approvals and permissions for this project, we have seen a lot of bad preress that is pitted te locals against us. reporter: indeed, many don't like the castles.

>> we don't want these properties here. we do with those houses to be sold to foreigners. reporter: it seems the foreigners when not be coming after all. for years the housing market in turkey was strong. now it seems too many homes have been built. hard times for the construction sector, adding to the region's economic woes. >> i don't know if i would feel if taking with so many neighbors. we will go on a break. only come back, brent will take you through the day. stay tuned. dw

dw

have been stranded during this time . thank you very much for being with us. donald trump has apparently stormed out of talks of the democrats over the border wall the us president condemned the talks as a waste of time. after the democrats refused to sign off on the funding for its construction trump apparently said he'd end the partial shutdown of government if the democrats. do not in the majority in congress agreed to give him the near six billion dollars rerequired nancy pelosi replied with a flat no. chuck schumer democrat leader of the senate