brent: this is "dw news," live from berlin. tonight, who will lead israel? political leaders are battling for the top job. benjamin netanyahu is calling for coalition governrnment witih himself as prime minister. cecentrist benny gantz also wans the coalition, but with himself at the helm. the latest on this power competition. >> docketingt of your face regardless of the context or the circumstances is always

unacceptable because of the racist history of blackface. brent: canadian prime minister justin trudeau never should have done it will the scandal over blackface pictures from his past threaten his reelection chances? and after 20 years of negotiations, a trade deal between europe and four south american countries is in danger of collapsing as lawmakers in austria reject the landmark agreement. and driftingng on polalar i iceh the heat. an international mission sets sail to monitor the impact of global warming on the arctic. brent: i'm brent goff. to our viewers on pbs in the united states at all around the world, welcome.

in israel, the voters have spoken, and that is now part of the problem. tuesday's election produced no clear winner. prime minister benjamin netanyahu and his main rival, benny gantz, are vying to be the next leader. gantz's centrist blue and white alliance says it will never sit in a government led by netanyahu and his right-wing likud party. reporter: a handshake and a smile to seal benjamin netanyahu's surprise offer of a power share witith benny gantz s a demand in the middle, israeli president reuven rivlin, through his support behind the idea, but it was rebuffed hours later. the party leaders were attending a state memorial for late left wing statesman shimon peres. netanyahu gave a nod to the coalition formed by peres in the 198's. primime min. netananyahu: whehee

was no clear victory in the knesset parliamentary elections, shimon optpted for national uni. he and yithzak offered to negotiate. in this election, too, therere s no clear winner, andnd i call on you, bennyny, let us work togetr again n to bring state of israel to save shores. reporter: at a later press conference, dancesaid-- g-- gant z says he does what a unity government, but to be led by him. mr. gantz: you cannot have a unity government with all this spin. you have to come out it with honesty, dignity, and sincerity. reporter: israel's centrists are in total opposition to a government led by netanyahu and have accused h him of trying to drag the country into a third election in a mood to create a broad coalition. brent: for the latest wewe wanto

go to our correspondent in jerusalem tonight. good evening to you. we are at this point that follows every general election in israel where the president plays a crucial role. talk to us about whahat has to happen now. reporter: that's right. the attetention is now shiftingo prpresident rivlin, who today hs appear to get to all the partyy leaders but mainly to benjamin netanyahu and benenny gantz to o their best to get out of the stalalemate. what is happening on sunday, the president will start consultations with all the party leaders. they will come one after the next, and they will make recommendations as to who they want to see form the next coalition government. this process might usually take two to three days, but becausese it is suchch a complicated situation, it might take a bit longer.

stay the official election results are expected to be published, and then president rivlin could announce who he will test with forming this coalition. there was a lot of pressure on him with this because everybody also wants to avoid going foror otother elecection sometime e s. brent: understandably so. we know that netanyahu has suggested that he and gantz could do a so-called premiership swap after two years. is that out of the queuestion? tania:a: well, mr. netanyahu was referrrring to a unity governmet in the 1980's, where there was a rotation of premiership. but benny gantz in his short answer today in his statement, he did not address netanyahu directly, but what he said is that if there is such a unity

government, that would be under his leadership, so that would put basically an end to the idea to have a rotational premiership. that goes along with what was said all along during the campaign, that they would not sit with a prime minister who might be indicted for several corruption charges and the preindictment hearings for mr. netanyahu are in about two weeks. brent: is it the two leaders you are standing in the way for likud and blue and white to form a coalition government togetheh, what has to happen? tania: well, thehe numbeber twof the blue and w white has said it very bluntly -- he spoke after benny gantz today and he said there is only one problem, we don't have a problem with likud, but we do have a problem with netanyahu. if there wouldn't be netanyahu,

there could be a unity government. that is what they basically said all along. gives another problem as well -- and's yesterday, prime minister netanyahu formed a bloc -- she had consultations with his traditional coalition partners, the smaller right-wing g nationl religiouous and ultra-orthodox paparties, and they are pledgedo stay loyal to him and they would form a bloc and only enter negotiations together. this is a bit of a problem for blue and white, who have said today that they would look for a broad liberagogovernment.. there are all kinds of probleles and complicatioions still. itit is still a bit uncnclear hw this will move forward. brent: definitely not a simple solution, that i is for sure. tania kramer, reporting from jerusalem, thank you. dozens of civilians have been killed in two separate incidents in afghanistan. a u.s. drone strike targeted a

hideout used by the islamic state in the eastern province, but it hit workers in a field instead. and the taliban have claimed responsibility for a truck bombing hospital in the southern city. reporter: even by afghanistan's standards, these are bloody times. this hospital in the south of the country bore the brunt of the taliban truck bomb on the third consecutive day of viololence and bloodshed in the country. at least 20 were killed, almost 100 wounded many of them patients. the surge in violence comes after u.s. president donald trump calleled off peace talks with the taliban, whihich could have seen a withdrawal of u.s. troops. that combined with the talibib's desire to dissuade people from vovoting in the e presidential l on september 28 has led to the rise in the attacks. but it has mostly been civilians taking a force of the blast and bullets in what have become near-daily eruptions of

violence. >> there are many civilians who were martyred and wounded. you cannot even see one military officer among them. this is the plot of the pakistanis and enemies of freedom of our country. reporter: on tuesday, two separate taliban attacks in the province of president ashraf ghani and another in kabul left almost 50 people dead. that was followed by a gunman and suicide bombers storming a government building in jalalabad and killing four people. then, hours after today's taliban attack, news emerged of an overnight drone strike which killed at least 30 civilians, apparently collecting pine nuts in the forest. all collateral damage, it seems. the taliban said today's target

was not the hospital, but a new my government intelligence department building, although that makes little difference to the bereaved and wounded. brent: here are some of the other stories making headlines around the world. tunisia's ousted president ben ali has died in exile in saudi arabia, according to his lawyer. hehe ruled the country for more than 20 years from 1987 ununtile was forced out of power during the arab spring in 2011. he was 83 years old. liberia is in mourning after a fire at a school killed at least 26 children and two teachers told cap up in the capital,, monrovia -- a happen in the capital, monrovia. firefighters believe that a faulty electric cable may have been to blame. north america is facing several severe storms. hurricane humberto has left bermuda with winds up to 200 kilometers an hour. tropical depression in all that

has deluge texas, flooding roads and causing schools to the close. tropical storm expected to turn into a hurricane and reach puerto rico by saturday. the racism scandal surrounding canadian prime minister justin trudeau appears to be getting worse. video has emerged of trudeau wearing blackface. he had already apologized after " time" magazine published a picture of him wearing brown makeup at a party in 2001. it was taken when trudeau was a 29-year-old teacher. the affair is a bombshell, in the middle of an already tense canadian election campaign. trudeau's out on the campaign trail in winnipeg, where he spoke about what has happened. let's listen to what he had to say. prime min. trudeau: i want to begin by saying a few words directly to racialized canadians

who face discrimination every single day in their lives can even in a country like canada. what i did hurt them, hurt people who shouldn't have to face intolerance and discrimination because of their identity. this is something that i deeply, deeply regret. darkening your face, regardless of the context or circumstances, is always unacceptable because of the racist history of blackface. i should've understood that then, and i never should have done it. brent: that was the canadian prime minister there, justin trudeau, speaking today. here in europe, austria's parliament has rejected a trade deal agreed to by the european union with south america4n countries. it took 20 years for the -- to

negotiate this deal, and a good now awful apart. reporter: austria is the latest country to cast doubt on a deal that has been 20 years in the making. for the past several months, the plan agreement between the european union and four south america nations has shown signs of unraveling. a trading relationship with 88 going euros a year is at stake. the eu exports 45 billion euros of goods to result in argentina, paraguay, and uruguay -- brazil, argentina, paraguay, and uruguay every year. the bill would remove duties on 90% of goods the eu exports, including cars, textiles, and chemicals. workers are countries -- merc asour countries would benefit from reduced tariffs on agriculturalal products includig popoultry and beef. bubut images like these of t the amazon burning have prompted countries including france,

luxembourg, and island to threaten not to approve the agreement -- and island decided not to approve the agreement. brazil is accusing the block of using environmental concerns sms or discontent among eu farmers. but with austria now adding his voice to the dissent, the way forward for this long fought for deal is paved with obstacles. brent: a court in japan has acquitted three men who were in charge of the fukushima nuclear plant which went into meltdown after the tsunami of 2011. the former executives of the tokyo electric power company known as tepco were facing prison sentences of up to five years if they were found guilty of professional negligence, it was the only triri that came out of that disaster. reporter: for the victims of the fukushima disaster, thursday's verdict was a bitter disappointment.

a japanese court exonerated three former executives in the only trial over the nuclear meltdown. those who had hoped to see them convicted of vented their frustration. "we cannot understand it. we are not satisfied. in these eight and a half years so many people were forced to leave their houses, forced to leave their homeland, and still remain displaced and unable to decide where to live. how would you feel if your house today were taken away from you?" this is extremely frustrating. the three men had been senior officials at tepco, the company that ran the fukushima daiichi plant. the court cleared them of professional negligence, finding of not guilty of causing the deaths of 44 patients.

his health deteriorated after being evacuated from a local hospital. the tragedy was triggered first by an earthquake, then came a tsunami. finally, a nuclear disaster after three of the plant's reaction cores melted down. hundreds of thousands of fled their homes to escape the radiation. the ground and water around fukushima remain contaminated. even today many homeowners are not allowed to return. the cleanup p work by tepco is expected to last decade. those whose lives have been affected continue to take to the streets. an independent commission concluded the disaster was man-made and foreseeable, and that it could have been avoided with better safety planning. previous court rulings have ordered millions of dollars in compensation to be paid out. the plaintiffs in the criminal trial are now considering an appeal. a final bid in the long search

for accountability. brent: michael pence is a journalist-- michael penn n is a journalilist with the e news agy in tokyo and he explained the verdict today. >> this is kind of the verdict that everybody was expectiting. the prosecutors not just once, but twicece refused to a night anybody over the nuclear crisis, and they were only forced to do so because citizen panels on two different occasions, according to a local system, overrode the prosecutors' decisions and forced the prosecutors to prosecute the case. the japanese system itstself, te polilitical systemem, the elite system didn't want to o hold anybodyy accountable, and in the end that's exactly the results, a giant nuclear accident and nobody is responsible. brent: that was michael penn reporting from tokyo.

relations between britain and russia have been frosty ever since the intended murder of a former spy and his daughter in england. the skripal case led london to accuse moscow of attempting to export state-sponsored terrorism to bitter sore, but some say the kremlin's criminal reach it does not stop in the u.k. the recent killing of a former chechen military leader allegedly by a russian citizen has thrown new questions. was he murdered in germany on orders from the russian state on something that he did 20 years ago? 20 years ago, when russia was the enemy? reporter: why was zelimkhan khangoshvili murdered? it is a question his ex-wife cannot stop thinking about. she says khangoshvilili sought asylum in n germany in 2 2016 because he was being pursued by the russian secret service. >> we were warned that something good hapappen at some point, bui

never thought t such a brutal attack could t take place so easilyly here in germany, where the security services, the popolice, and the law are among the strongest in the world. reporter: on august 23, khangoshvili was crossing this park in berlin to visit a mosque. and then on a bicycle approached him from behind and fired several shots. the alleged gunman fled, but w w soon c caught. the identntities of the two men are under suspicion. the victim, zelimkhan khangoshvili, was buried in his home country, georgia. he belonged to the minority chechen community there. until 202005 he had been a commander in the second chechen war against rususa. it put him on moscocow's list of wanted terrorists. an attempt hadad been made on hs life for years ago. -- four years ago. >> i think he was killed because

of his role in the chechen war. all these prproblems started whn he came back f from the war. reporter: the name of the alleged gunman is for teens call off according to his passport. you rockck in germamany possibly using - -- he arrived in germany possibly using a fake identity. the assassination may been ordered by the russian secret service. >>he clues a are in the passpspt used by the subject, and in his visa application. the e me given o on the pasasspt isn't in any russian database. reporter: did moscow ordered the killing? the end of august, the suspected

assassin has been held in this prison and is maintaining his silence. his russian passport was under thee name vadim sokolov, a false identity according to media reports. should the suspicion be confirmed, russian secret service will be the focus of the investigation. invevestigators will not comment on the situation in russia at the moment. >> t t motive b behind the attak is difficult to pinpoint. we haven't found any evidence of a motive from the will of organized crime. we have not found any personal motive between the partities. reporter: t the case is b being followed across europe. a german member of the european parliament says berlin's local authorities are overwhelmed, a d wants federal prosecutors to take over the investigation. >> i think it woululd be wrong herere designate, because it is

ababout our r resilience -- it d be wrong hereo h hesitate, because it is about ouour sisilience a as a country and te security situation and threat. it is better to act fast in a situation like this. reporter: but the official reactions so far have been too slow for the widow. even though she knows the situation is sensitive. the case has the potential to shake up german-russian relations. brent: now to a climate research mission that will see scientists from all around the world voluntarily trapped in ice for a year. a are going to be in the german icebreaker. it will set sail from the norwegian city tomorrow and it will be down for the arctic. the scientists plan to do something ever seen before, to anchor the ship to a chunk of pack ice, right about where the arrow ends there, and allow the

water to freeze around them, effectively trapping themselves in ice. the drifting ice should carry the ship were the north, as he see right there with a dotted arrows, and that will allow the group to conduct experiments through the arctic winter. here is more on the unprecedented journey. reporter: at first, the arctic research ship will be able to journey north under its own steam,m, navigatating througughn eet ofof arcticc ice. but soon afterwards, t the vessl will face muchch tougher conditions. for a year, it will drift through the arctic ocean surrounded by cap ice on its way to the north pole and beyond. the ship boasts an extensive netwtwork of measusuring statios designed t to c collect data a n interactions between ice, sea, inin the atmosphere. because the arctic is warmingngp

faster andnd faster, it is considered the epicenter of global climate chahange. the expedition aims to gagain te better understanding of the arctic's influence on climate change. the data collected could be valuable for the future. during the journey, the crew will be accompanied byy icebrereakers from china, russi, and sweden. and helicopters will deliver the necessary supplies. this expedition is international. 600 people from over 60 institutes from 17 countries are on board. the extraordinary experiment willraravel 2500 kilometers. it may be the last of its kind, because if global warming contininues at the preresent ra, in the arctic could alreadady be ice-frfree by the summer of 203. brent: imagine that.

in football, frankfurt kicked off the europa league campaign with a 3-0 loss. the visitors were last season's runners up and took a 1-0 lead into halftime. the arsenal scored two more goals in the last five minutes. the rugby world cup begins on friday, and for the first time the tournament is being hosted in asia. japan is the venue, less than a year before tokyo holds the olympics. the host nation kicks off the action against russia, but the favorites new zealand, are stealing some of the limelight. they are aiming to win their fourth world cup title. reporter: rugby fever is gripping japan, and even tokyo's most famous statue is getting in on the act. organizers say the tournament is nearly a sellout. half a million fans from all over the world are expected to attend.

>> japan is doing an amazing job welcoming everyone. >> i was surprised to see how much advertising there is. lots of jerseys everywhere. and now this is really cool. reporter: this tournament and everything that comes with it will be seen as a test for japan ahead of next year's tokyo olympics. the country is not one of rugby's powerhouses, but it has a long and proud tradition of the sport. >> i want japan to win, but i also like new zealand. i want new zealand to do their best, too. reporter: japanese schoolchildren performed a traditional mari to the new zealand team. it is supposed to strike fear into the opponents. the defending champion's are more than capable of doing that on their own. they start against another contender, south africa, on

saturday. >> i think more pressure there is with a world cup and how it stands with all the standings, it has to it. reporter: strong performances in the group stage will be key, and a new zealand win against south africa should set up an easier path to the final. brent: you are watching "dw news ," live from berlin. after a short break, i will be back to take you through the day. stay tuned for that. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

. thank you very much for being with us. zizii el abidine ben ali has died at the age of eighty three he was the first long standing leader to be ousted by the arab spring uprising in twenty y eleven in excell bin ali was cononvicted y the colts engine is the abuse of power. manslaughteter and embezzlement during his twenty three years since almost absolute power he died in saudi arabia where he fled after he was forced out what became known as the jasmine