♪ brent: this is "dw news," live from berlin. tonight, brexit means which brexit. british lawmakers are working on competing plans for leaving the european union. prime minister theresa may is looking for a mandate to reopen brexit talks with the eu, but brussels has already said no and is standing firm. also coming up, as venezuela's crisis spirals, the chief prosecutor moves to ban the self-declared interim president juan guaido from leaving the country and asked the supreme court to freeze his assets.

and pakistan's supreme court upholds its decision to overturn a christian woman's blasphemy conviction and death sentence. asia bibi can now leave pakistan, where she still faces threats against her life. ♪ brent: i'm brent goff. to our viewers on pbs in the united states and around the world, welcome. in exactly two months, britain is scheduled to begin its exit from the european union. but tonight, lawmakers are still debating what brexit is supposed to mean. parliament is voting this hour on amendments which could call for a reopening of talks with the eu. just two weeks ago, lawmakers rejected the deal struck between the prime minister theresa may and the european union. here's what the prime minister had to say in parliament just a few moments ago.

>> for unless we are to end up with no brexit at all, the only way to avoid no deal is to agree a deal. that is why i want to go back to brussels with the clearest possible mandate to secure a deal that this house -- to secure a deal that this house can support. that means sending the clearest possible message. not about what this house does not -- [yelling] that means sending the clearest possible message not about what this house does not want, but what we do want. brent: all right. that was theresa may speaking in the commons a few moments ago. to talk about what is happening right now in parliament, here at the big table with me is our brexit expert alex forrest whiting. we have seen her many times here at the big table. and in london is our own barbara wesel standing by at the house of parliament. barbara, i want to start with you.

we have just heard that one of the key votes this evening known as the cooper amendment has failed to pass. what does that mean? barbara: it means that this day is going rather to theresa may. it looks like it at this point in time, because the first three amendments failed, and those were the ones brought by the opposition. the cooper amendment you mentioned was one that would have tied the hands of government to prevent a no deal, and that would have been a power grab by parliament in order to sort of hedge in theresa may and make certain things impossible for her. now that has been voted down, so it means that parliament is not going to take control. it means that theresa may and her conservative party is going to keep control of brexit. but it does not mean that the evening is going to end with some sort of clear result. but still, things are going her way. brent: it begs the question, why

are we seeing this debate going on and these amendments? alex, why are we seeing that tonight? and i'm going to ask you about the brady amendment in a moment. but why is this even happening? shouldn't it have happened two years ago? alex: yes it should have, but if you remember, we were sitting here together when theresa may was defeated by 230 votes in parliament in the house of commons over her brexit deal, the deal she thrashed out with the eu. so, it was a resounding no from parliament. and because of mp's wanting to take back some control, she was forced to come back to the house of commons last week, give her plan b, which is more like a plan a, and now there is a chance for mp's to put forward some alternatives. but as barbara had just said, at the moment it is going theresa may's way. it is not going parliament's way, for those people who do not want this to happen, for people who want to take a no deal off

the table. it is not going their way. so there is huge disappointment, particularly with that cooper amendment. because it does look like actually it was labour mp's. cooper is a labor mp. it looks like it was labor mp's who squashed that for her. at the moment it is looking much better for theresa may. a couple of amendments at the moment, but they would not actually force the government to do anything. it is the last one that we are about to talk about. brent: known as the brady amendment. alex: the brady amendment. graham brady is the chair of the 1922 committee. again, we have talked about that before. that is a conservative group. the bench is very powerful within the conservative party. this was his way of saying to theresa may, we know there is an issue with the irish backstop. this is the eu's way and uk's way of trying to avoid a hard border between the republic of ireland and northern ireland.

northern island as part of the u.k. the republic of ireland will remain with the eu. they did not want there to be a return to a hard border between the two. however, what they have proposed in this the brexit deal is not liked on many of the right of theresa may's party, brexiteers, and also those 10 important unionist mp's, those northern irish mp's. this has been a big problem for her. so, this amendment is a way of trying to get around that, saying get rid of the backstop or have quote, alternative arrangements. it looks like at the moment she has got on board the d.u.p. and those brexiteers, and she may well get -- that may well be the amendment the costs her tonight. brent: if the brady amendment passes, theresa may believes she will have a mandate to go back to brussels and to reopen negotiations. now, the french president emmanuel macron has already chimed in. he has said there will be no new talks.

take a listen. >> the european council has stated clearly that the withdrawal agreement negotiated between the u.k. and the e.u. is the best deal possible. it is not open to renegotiation. brent: barbara, macron could not be clearer. there will be no renegotiations. so why does theresa may think that she can persuade the european union to change its mind and to reopen what could be another can of worms? barbara: maybe she does not even really believe it. we can sort of look inside her head, but the whole thing seems like a piece of absurd theater that you wonder what her strategy is. of course she's buying time. she is not buying time with brussels and asking for prolongation, but buying time with her own party.

she is making another attempt to unify her party and get them behind her and somehow figure out a way to get this brexit deal across the goal posts. and that is really what she is trying to do. it is very unclear. it is sort of a fuzzy sort of idea. you think unicorns dancing on the tip of a needle. what she is asking from parliamentarians is if i can magically remove the backstop, the island deal, would you then maybe vote for my deal? and it seems she might get a majority for that this evening. however, where is the magic going to come from? even in london here there is an answer already that has been pre-formulated from the european institutions circulating on the internet that says we will not reopen the backstop, full stop, exclamation mark. so, what is this about? it is just political theater in a way. brent: let me let our viewers

know if they are joining us now, we are looking at live pictures from inside the lower house of parliament in london right now. and lawmakers are voting on these amendments, trying to assert some type of authority over this brexit withdrawal deal. let me ask you barbara, are we closer to the u.k. asking the european union for a brexit delay? barbara: that might yet happen. we are today 59 days before brexit. and you really wonder at the lack of urgency you feel here in london when you sort of walk around and talk to people. nobody really seems to be very aware of that. it is not frightening, it is not threatening. so they are still playing political games with each other in parliament. and what theresa may wants in the end of course, she will go back to brussels and say i need this backstop to be removed and

brussels will scoff. in two weeks time she will come back to parliament, she will again present sort of the deal, the divorce agreement. and then might be the point where she could shift positions a bit and say, all right, we cannot do this in time, we have to ask for a prolongation and figure out a way out of this impasse. but it is a really long and winding road. brent: we're just monitoring the currency markets right now, and the british pound is tumbling as a result of the debate that is going on in parliament right now. we also understand that the head of u.s. intelligence, dan coats, saying today that a no deal brexit would severely weaken the u.k. and the european union. so this is getting the attention of the united states. alex, are we going to see closure or some resolution when tonight is over? is the end going to be tonight

that theresa may goes back to brussels and says, let's talk again? alex: well, she has already said today in parliament that is what she wants to do and she needs this mandate, so, this particular amendment over the backstop, she needs that mandate to say to brussels, look, i now have a majority of what parliament wants, you now have to open the brexit deal and need to change things. as we have very clearly heard from brussels and the eu, that is not going to happen. so actually i am not really sure what more we are going to know tonight. this is a vote it sounds like that is coming through now. which again, so again, this was a labour mp, she was calling for an extension. so, a delay to brexit. and again, that has fallen. so at the moment it is completely going theresa may's way. brent: looks like she will be going back to brussels. alex: what difference it will make is a good question.

she comes back to parliament the 13th and 14th of february. it just seems like everything is being put back and back and back until we get closer to the 29th. brent: alex forrest whiting at the big table and our very own barbara wesel in london. to both of you, thank you very much. here are some of the other stories now that are making headlines around the world. two people were killed when a car packed with explosives blew up in the somali capital mogadishu. the explosion happened at a petrol station near the petroleum ministry. authorities say the explosives went off prematurely before the vehicle had reached its intended target. ukraine's president petro poroshenko has launched his campaign for reelection in march's vote. poroshenko said that he would push for ukraine to join both the european union and nato if he were reelected. opinion polls put him behind former prime minister yulia tymoshenko, who has promised to

regain control of crimea if she wins. myanmar's parliament has approved steps that could lead changes to the country's constitution. these would lessen the power of the armed forces. military lawmakers have boycotted the vote. the high-profile zimbabwean activist evan mawarire has been granted bail by the country's high court. he was arrested earlier this month on charges of subverting the government and inciting violence after voicing his support in social media for a national strike that had been called by trade unions. tonight, venezuela's attorney general has asked the supreme court to launch an investigation into the opposition leader and self-proclaimed president, juan guaido. he wants to ban him from leaving the country and freeze his assets. the move comes after the u.s.

announced earlier today it had handed control of venezuela's u.s. bank accounts to guaido. to get more on this we want to bring in our correspondent oscar schlenker on the story for us tonight in caracas. good evening to you, oscar. what is the purpose of these moves against juan guaido, and will they really have any effect? oscar: well, there is really no surprise some actions from the attorney general were going to take place. over the past two days he has called and canceled press conferences where journalists were expected to hear an order of arrest against guadio. but today the attorney general stopped short of calling for his arrest. from the reaction in the last few days, we can predict there is a lot of -- within maduro's government and precaution as well. not only to corruption but human

rights violations which are being investigated. the effect this will have is anybody's guess. because threats and worries are being thrown around. we have seen few actions other than diplomatic and political ones take place at this moment. brent: and there has been a response from juan guaido to these planned moves by the attorney general. take a listen to what guaido said. >> i am not underestimating the threat of jail and i do not want the maduro government to take it that way. i tell them this is nothing new. this is a regime that has not answered the venezuelan people. the only answer is repression and persecution. we see with much pain how almost 40 venezuelans have been killed in less than a week. that is why we are worried at this moment. brent: oscar, what is your take on that response? is juan guaido, is he taking this as seriously as he should be? oscar: well, i think guaido has been thrust into this political

game with strong support from not only the u.s., but many countries in the region. there is an imminent countdown for europe to recognize him as maduro president if -- doing things politically, by the book, through our constitution, and prevent intervention by the u.s. that is something that worries congress members, but there is also the worry that maduro will prevail in holding power in venezuela with the worst acts against human rights we have seen. today the u.n. demanded an investigation into at least 40 deaths and more than 800 detained, including underaged protesters. an investigation could go into international criminal courts if the conflict persists. so, nobody is underestimating the power and stronghold maduro has on the country still. brent: oscar, the united states has been weighing in again on the situation. the national security advisor to

the president, john bolton, tweeted earlier that there will be serious consequences for those who attempt to harm juan guaido. i mean, how real is this threat of a u.s. intervention at the moment? oscar: well, i think it is serious. we all saw yesterday national security advisor john bolton reminded nicolas maduro -- -- that no harm should come to juan guaido or members of congress, or else. an amplified picture of his notepad read -- brent: oscar, we're going to have to cut it there. unfortunately we are having problems with the connection to caracas. we apologize for the sound problems, there. that was our correspondent oscar schlenker on the story for us in

caracas. the rump administration's sanctions on venezuelan oil aimed at driving president nicolas maduro from power sent shockwaves around the world on tuesday. they triggered a rise in global oil prices and some angry responses from china and russia. reporter: the united states hoped that by striking at the country's main income source they can drive maduro out of office and cleared the way for opposition leader and interim president juan guaido to take power. maduro claims washington is trying to steal the u.s. subsidiary of the state oil concern. on state television he announced he would take action to defend venezuelan assets. >> the state oil company is already studying the actions and we will ta all the legal, political, operative, technical, and commercial measures to defend the intests of venezuela in the united states and in our homeland. we will give the necessary and

forceful response to defend the interests of venezuela at the right time in the coming hours. reporter: there is a strong chance that trump's move will backfire and also hurt the u.s. economy. u.s. refineries in the gulf of mexico hava lot toose since they specialize in mixing heavy venezuelan crude with lighter oil produced ithe united states. russia has condemned the sanctions as illegal interference, while china said they would lead to suffering for which washington would bear responsibility. both countries have lent billions of dollars to venezuela and are concerned about new stress on debt payments. brent: authorities in brazil have arrested five people in connection with last week's devastating dam collapse. two are engineers employed by the german safety inspection company tuv sud. the other three work for the mining company which owns the

dam. the death toll has reached 65, but that is expected to increase. authorities believe that hundreds more are buried under the sludge that was released when the dam collapsed. search efforts are slow and residents in the devastated town of brumadinho have been watching in shock and anger as one dead body after another has been pulled from the muck. reporter: the search for signs of life in devastated brumadinho. here, rescuers found a bus that was filled with passengers when the flood of mud and mining waste hit. no one could be saved, but they had to try. >> in this type of event, any loss of life that we have is enormous. so it does not matter if there are one, two, dozens or hundreds of victims. we are doing our best. what is possible to provide some

relief to the families. and we're always working with the hope of finding someone alive. reporter: for the families of the missing, the past days have been a nightmare. >> my son, my brother-in-law, the husband of my niece, my friends, they were all there and we have no news of any of them. authorities give interviews and talk of numbers, but nothing else. reporter: and it's not just the families who are demanding answers. in sao paulo, environmentalists staged protests outside their headquarters at the mine's owner, vale. the company is already facing legal action over similar collapse in 2015. >> we are seeing more and more such disasters and every time the environmental impact is worse. and so is the economic impact, because post-disaster, the

municipality becomes poor. it destroys agriculture, it destroys fishing, it affects commerce and resources. reporter: for now, the focus is still on search and rescue. but no survivors have been found since the weekend. brent: pakistan's supreme court has upheld its acquittal of a christian woman who had been charged with blasphemy. that decision means asia bibi will remain a free woman, but she has been hiding since october when her death sentence was overturned and she was declared not guilty. that decision sparked widespread outrage in the country. today's ruling clears the way for her to leave pakistan, though it is not clear when and where she will go. reporter: she is one of the most talked about women in pakistan. asia bibi, pictured here shortly after her conviction in 2010. the christian mother of five was sentenced to death for alleged

remarks about islam during a row with fellow farmworkers. they had refused to share the glass of water with a non-muslim. now free, she lives in hiding. no longer on death row, but still in constant fear for her life. and this is why. hard-line islamists calling for her to be hanged. her acquittal in october last year triggered days of nationwide demonstrations. >> in every corner of the country, the sons of islam have voiced opposition to the supreme court verdict by going onto the streets. what kind of a verdict is this from the supreme court of an islamic republic, which is troubling muslims with satisfying infidels? reporter: demonstrations were only called off when the government agreed to bar bibi from leaving the country pending today's verdict. but this is a case already linked to the killings of at

least two people. a governor, seen here on the right, was assassinated by his bodyguard in 2011 after speaking in bibi's defense. later that year, a federal minister for minorities was killed after calling for her release. today's verdict is likely to do lttle to appease those who will settle for nothing less than having asia bibi's death sentence reinstated. brent: asia bibi's original acquittal in october sparked violent protests. shamil shams from dw's asia desk talked us through reactions to today's supreme court decision. shamil: we have not seen large protests. there had been some small protests in different cities, but the kind of backlash, and the violence that we saw in

november of last year, we are not seeing it now. i think the more important thing that we must realize is that i believe that the judiciary, the pakistani judiciary, the government, and the powerful army are on the same page. and we need to understand that the army, the generals exercise a great deal of influence over islamists. so, if they believe that it is time that asia bibi should be a free person, i do not think that anybody can stop her, not even islamists. so i think that's the kind of influence the generals have on pakistani politics. she could be leaving the country any time. we do not know when. but she cannot stay in pakistan because her life is in danger. brent: that was shamil shams from our asia desk. all right, soccer news now. qatar have reached the final of the asian cup after a dominating

4-0 victory over hosts, the united arab emirates. fans in qatar's capital watched in a big screen as the team secured its place in the final for the first time. they face four-time winners japan in friday's game. success would be a boost to the gulf nation as it prepares to host the 2022 world cup. the world's top golfer, britain's justin rose, is preparing for his first appearance at the saudi international tournament, which is part of the european golf tour. the european tour has come under scrutiny for scheduling the event in saudi arabia, especially following the murder of journalist jamaal khashoggi. but justin rose is focusing solely, he says, on sports. >> i'not a politician. i'm a pro golfer. there arother reasons to go an play it. it is a good field. there ll be a lot of world raing points to play for.

by all accounts it is a good golf course. it's an experience, to experience saudi arabia. brent: here is a reminder of that top story we're following for you. u.k. lawmakers are voting on how to take the u.k. out of the european union after rejecting prime minister theresa may's original brexit deal two weeks ago. may is looking for a mandate to reopen brexit talks with the european union but brussels says the deal is not renogotiable. you are up-to-date with "dw news." after a short break i will be back to take you through "the day." stick around for that. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

be able to smoke to life in paris will use an analysis from from my cap i not going these living world these headlines. terry's macy's off a series of proposed amendments to have breaks deal. for motions carried to block a no deal. and to amend the irish backstop with a full explanation coming up the u. k. pm saying that as of right now to where. a substantial majority could be achieved to leave with a proper deal. the latest report from syria french you had this talk to our team about how their lives have been ruined by the decision to join the so called terrorist caliphate. what executive mango one issue is to pa