helena: this is dw news live from berlin. britain's brexit legislation clears a major hurdle. >> as one reinvigorated nation, as one united kingdom. helena: lawmakers back johnson's withdrawal bill by 124 votes.

also coming up, auststralia's prime minister's response to criticism m d cut shorort his vacation to face the bush fire crisis. crews woworked to contain momore than 100 fires. police in india tackled protests against its controversial new citizenship law. 11 people die in the unrest and thousands are detained. plus, top tube riders in hawaii. find out which country dominated in qualifying for surfing's debut at the olympics next year. ♪ helena: i am helena humphrey, glad you could join us. boris johnsoson has won the backing of lawmakers for his bill to take britain out of thee european union. the vote followed the conservative leader's victory in

last week's snap election. the bill has more stages to go through, but getting past this first hurdle means the u.k. is finally on a definite course to leaving the europepean union at the end of next month. reporter: after winning his historic election victory last week, boris johnson said he wanted to heal the nation. in the house of commons he presented his brexit bill as a step toward that. >> now is the time to act together as one reinvigorated nation, one united kingdom. filled with renewed confidence in our national destiny and to -- determined that last to take advantage of the opportunities that lie before us. reporter: johnson has stripped away much of the sweetness theresa may added. that raised passions from the opposition. >> it is not only workers rights that are being downgraded, it is parliamentarians' rights.

the ability of the the legislative to scrutinize the executive has been taken away. it is bad for democracy. reporter: outgoing labor leader jeremy corbyn still licking his wounds after a humiliating defeat. drew attention instead to what he saw as brackets -- brexit's damaging implications. >> this deal will be used as a battering ram to drive us down the path of yet more deregulation. and towards a toxic deal with donald trump. reporter: he didn't draw attention to a surprise in johnson's bill to limit the negotiating time to just 12 months. critics argue it will give the prime minister less room to maneuver. johnson says it will speed things up. >> it ensures we depart from the eu on the 31st of f january. at that point brexit will be done. it will be over. reporter: johnson's mantra during the election was get brexit done. it is unlikely the argument will end with this bill.

helena: this evening dw correspondent barbara joins us from outside parliament in london. good to see you. does this result mean that brexit is now, finally a done deal? barbara: it is not a done deal, of course. we heard that, but it is on the way. it will happen. formally britain will leave the european union on the 31st of january. there is simply nothing anymore that can impede that. new opposition. the protest movement here is equally completely down and out because people are shocked and they don't feel the strength anymore to stand up. there were not even any protesters anymore today during this vote in front of parliament who had been so vocal in the months before. all this seems to be over for the time being.

we know in february the negotiations with the european union will have to begin about the future relationship and then everything will start again. there will be a new fight about what kind of relationship that will be. boris johnson has made it quite clear he wants to not align with the european union. what does that mean? there are further bitter battles up the road. helena: stay with us as we take a look at the withdrawal agreement behind this legislation which has been three and half years in the making. reporter: the deal settles the divisions of assets and liabilities. it also guarantees the rights of eu citizens living in britain and u.k. citizens in eu countries. and finally sets out the future for the vexed irish border dilemma. that proved to be the main sticking point in negotiations -- how to handle trade along the northern ireland border between

the u.k. and eu member, ireland. the proposed backstop arrangement was removed in favor of a solution whereby northern ireland will maintain free movement of goods across the border. avoiding a hard border with customs post was seen as essential for protecting peace in northern ireland under the good friday agreement. the future trading relationship between the u.k. and eu means to be hammered out. after britain leaves the bloc on january 31, 2020, it will adhere to eu roles during a transition period until the end of the year. that means the risk of a new -- no deal hard brexit remains. if britain and the eu cannot agree a new trade deal by the end of 2020. eu diplomats worn that is a process that usually takes several years. helena: barbara is still with us. the debate over the u.k. and the eu has cost conservative prime minister's their jobs.

is everyone on the same page now? barbara: everyone in the conservative party is, and that is because all of the other tories, the ones who wanted to stay close to the european union, maybe even stay in the european union, they are all gone. during the better fight about brexit they all left the party and then they stood down the majority of them when the election came up. this means, you are looking at a completely different conservative party. it has had a sharp shift to the right. everybody at the moment is a boris johnson loyalist. there is nobody who would say a word against him or his plans. for him, it is all plain sailing. the rest of britain, the opposition has to rebuild itself and for people who were naturally opposed to brexit because they feel it limits their possibilities. they have to think whether they

will continue fighting and how they want to lead this fight. is it about the future relationship or do they want to start opposing t the governmnmet and boris johnson's plans? all of this is completely open. helena: let's talk about brussels as well. it has reacted to the vote with the new eu council president describing it as an important step in clarifying london's relationship with brussels. how much is this a relief for europe? barbara: there is the aspect of relief, because the fighting is finally over. they are going in circles and running back and forth. the insecurity that brings -- the insecurity it has brought to the eu, the constant preoccupation with britain -- they want to think about other things. on the other hand, everybody in brussels knows the bitter end has yet to come. the negotiations about the future relationship, boris johnson has only left 11 months

for those. he can change that easily at any time. it looks like a ploy, some ploy he is using to blackmail the eu into giving him what he wants. but, on the other hand, if it is just about a bare-bones trade agreement that they are talking about, they might be able to hit the time limit, but they might also not be able to agree on anything. that is still all up and the european union is not quite sure what the next year will be holding. helena: february 2020 looks to be the date to mark as the tricky one. barbara, try to get some rest before then. thanks a lot. let's take a look k now at somef the other stories making news. prince philip has been omitted -- admitted to a london hospital for what buckingham palace says is precautionary treatment of a pre-existing condition. a royal source told the media that queen elizabeth's husband

was able to enter the hospital building on foot. the prince retired from public life in 2017. the dutch supreme court says the netherlands must cut between house gas emissions sooner than planned. the judges upheld a lower court ruling that demands emissions be 25% below 1990 levels by the end of next year. activists welcome the ruling, which says protection from climate change is a human right. a second intelligence officer has died after a shooting outside of russia's fsb security headquartersrs last night. the suspect was shot dead by police at the scene. investigators raided his home outside of moscow earlier friday. australia's prime minister has apologized for going on holiday while the country contends with a massive bushfire emergency. mr. morrison pay tribute to two volunteer firefighters who were killed as they tackled a blaze near sydney. three others were seriously

injured. they were among thousands battling to contain about 100 ferocious blazes raging across the state of new south wales. reporter: crews struggling to contain wild bushfires in south australia. teams are doing their best to contain the threat in multiple locations, but it is perilous work. on thursday two volunteer firefighters were killed battling flames just south of sydney. andrew o'dwyer and jeffrey keaton died after a burning tree fell on their truck. >> these two brave men who lost their lives represent the thousands and thousands of volunteers on the ground today and tomorrow and in the days coming who put their own life, their own safety on the line to protect others. reporter: sydney has been enveloped in a shroud of smoke. what fires raging near the state

capital, only it's tallest structures remain visible. its famous landmarks cast in an apocalyptic light. on the ground few dared to venture outside without facemasks. air pollution is now several times what experts believe to be hazardous. the fires are being fueled by a drought and record temperatures, which scientists say are a result of climate change. many are angry at this man, prime minister scott morrison is currently facing criticism for leaving the country to holiday in hawaii. protesters turned up at his empty home in sydney and accused him of not doing enough to end the country's reliance on fossil fuels. >> the reality of climate change is upon us. the droughts are getting longer and more severe. heat waves a are becoming longer and more severe. our bushfire season isis creepig into spring and winter. we are living in a dangerous climate and it is time for our prime minister to get out of pockets of the coal and gas

lobby groups and to start thinking about the future of australians. reporter: morrison has responded to the crisis and cut short his holiday. but while he has apologized for being absent, he has yet to give into demands to act on climate change. helena: james morris is the new south wales rural fire service. he told us what firefighteters e doing to combat these mega blazes. >> thehese fes a are burning i n very remote and d rugged terrai. a lot of these areas do not have closed conontainment lines thate can simply do a didirect attacor do close containment. our strategy is s now to fall bk to comommunities in wider ars so protect homes as these fires come to habited arareas. the e biggest issue at this stae

is these fireses are so lae e ad we have cacatastrophic firire coconditions predidicted for tomorrow acrcross a number of areas. the only thing we will be able to do tomorrow is to protect life and t a and protect property where we can. it is simply too dangerous to be able to have firefighters trying to control these fires under those conditions. helena: at least have been -- at least 11 people have been killed during growing demonstrations against india's new citizenship law. protesters have clashed with police in cities across the country despite arch gatherings being banned in many areas. the new law offers a route to indian citizenship for migrants fleeing religious persecution in neighboring countries but excludes muslims. protesters say this violates india's secular constitution. there are growing fears that the law could be a step on the way to stripping indian muslims of their citizenship. here is more on what people are saying. >> any other religion will be able to get into the citizenship of india, provided it is not a muslim. what is this? this is just a discrimination on the basis of religion. >> the goal of democracy clued

everyone. in a democracy nobody's rights should be harmed. when our rights are threatened, of course we will turn out onto the streets. everyone cares about their independence. >> if we are united, we can bring change. we have elected this government, we can make it fall too. the government is in power because of us. we have given them their power. without us, they are nothing. helena: dw correspondent nimisha has been to one of the protest and sent us this. nimisha: massive protests have broken out again in the national capital. we are at one of the biggest mosques in the country and protesters have turned out and -- italy force -- in force to speak out against the controversial citizenship amendment act. but this is not the first time that a protest is in delhi. the act was passed over a week

ago in parliament and there have been protest almost every day. they are also not restricted to new delhi. yesterday protest broke out across 10 states. pepermissions wewere not grantnr manyny of these prototest, but people have ststill turned out. permissions were not granted for this protest either, which is why there is also heavy security deployment on the ground. the police has been criticized over the last week for using excessive force. the example of the university in new delhi stands out, where last weekend students allege police deployed excessive force, beat up students, and also used tear gas against students who were protesting peacefully. the police have denied these allegations and say only the minimal amount of force was used. there has also been widespread criticism that crackdowns have been carried out across the country.

there are questions being raised if this government is using undemocratic means to clamp down on descent. these protests have largely been pepeaceful. therere have beeeen some reportf violence but most of these protesters are only coming out with posters and slogans. the critics of this act are saying this act is unconstitutional because it violates the secular fabric of this country's constitution. they are saying -- granting citizenship on the basis of religion is not something india should be doing. this act makes it easy for non-muslims to gain indian citizenship and protesters are concerned that this, combined with other policies could harm indian muslims. the government has denied that this act will impact indian muslims but protesters are telling us it will continue with

the civil unrest the government does something. there is also hopes being staked in the indian supreme court. the hope is that the court will strike down this act. helena: the telecoms operator orange has been found guilty by a french court over a string of employee suicides. the former ceo was sentenced to prison in what is a landmark ruling. reporter: france telecom was under siegege back in 2006. when a brutal reorganization plan saw over 20,000 employees lose their jobs. the ruthlessness of the redundancies was a shock to the workers. scores of employees were so desperate, they were driven to suicide. this man was in charge of the company at the time and this is

how employees reacted to him. today a paris court ruled that the company, now known as orange, bears legal responsibility for the suicides and has sentenced lumbar to four months in prison for the illegal methods used to help the company shed thousands of workers. lombards lawyer says he will appeal. >> the company needs to move on. they need to put this trial behind them. it is up to orange's board now, to appeal or not. i respect that.t. as far as the physical people are concerned, it is a whole different story. it is normal that they will appeal. reporter: relatives of the victims want to see an example

set. >> white did lombard and the others allllow themselves to behave this way? it is because they felt they could not be punished. reporter: orange was fined 75,000 euros and ordered to pay hundreds of thousands of euros in damages to the families of the victims. helena: the troubled u.s. aircraft company boeing faces a another setback. it's capsule went off course and did not reach its planned orbit. asset says that the ununmanned spacecraft is in a stable position after its launch on a test flight to the international space station. the star liner is meant to free nasa. as a has been forced to rely on sawyer's rockets to transport its astronauts since the space shuttle program was terminated.

nasa administrator said that a technical error with the onboard clock caused the glitch. >> anomaly resulted in the vehihicle believingng the time s different than it was. because that timing was off, what ended up happeningg was the spacecraft triried to maintain a very precise control t that it normallyly would notot have trio maintain and it burned a lot of prop in that part of the flight. not got birds, it looked like we were not going to be able to debut with the international space station. helena: skidrow in los angeles is known for its homeless population. one resident is trying to change the face of his neighborhood through his art. under the name showsart he draws attention to skidrow's plight.

reporter: it is the highest concentration of unsheltered people in the u.s.. chris has lived here for the past 20 years. now the father of two is a kind of community leader. drugs and violence are part of daily life, what herring believes they don't have to be. >> i wasn't successful. i made it out of the drug game. i wasn't arrested. i helped my people and i have transitioned into something else. reporter: in 2006 he decided to stop selling drugs and continue his life on skidrow as an artist. he adopted the name showsart. >> i don't really have a style or preference, but i always want to make sure my art makes a

statement. to where someone gets something out of it. the thing with art is to strike an emotion. reporter: many o ohis worksks ae inspired by his life and by african-american figures who have made history.. around 60% of skidrow as the dents are black. his art and his wraps led him to participate in thehe los angeles sympmposium world of homelessne. a project addressing inequalali, racism, and gentrification. but i want to make sure there are equal rights for everyone else. some people tend to step down from where they are at. i am an artist trying to make money for people. reporter: homelessness in los angeles was beyond skidrow. l.a. has the fifth highest rents in the united states. homelessness has risen to

critical levels. the city of l.a., 6000 people live on the streets. the organizer of the prproject sasays it is not just unemployed people either. >> there is people here that are working, they earn a salary and they cannot afford rent anymore. ununiversities are also addressg the issue because they have students that pay tuition, they come to university, but they are homeless. reporter: one of showsart's friends has allowed him to use his studio. >> i have to find out where my art is going. other than that, it is back to the tent. that is where i get to where i am at now. i got here from the corner, so i am not worried about it. reporter: skidrow is more than just a place to sleep. it is where his frieiends are.

anand, it is his insnspiration. >> when no one else is there for you, this street is there for you. skididrow is s a mother for me. i never was lost, but i wasn't realizing that art was my way. she showowede that artrt was my way. reporterer: shows art as one of 800 artist registered in the district. a place that for most is synonymous with misery. a place very few people associate with hope. helena: survey makes its debut at the olympics next year. brazil proved they will be a force to be reckoned with with mail servers finishing first and second in hawaii. the world title went to the lesser known the two.

-- of the two. reporter: a champion performance. a dazzling showing in hawaii saw the 25-year-old sell his first world surfing title. trophies are one thing, but an even greater prize has been secured. ferrera's victory has meant he has earned a place at the olympic games. >> i am so happy right now t to represent brazil.l. rereporterer: the resilience wie joined at the games by mail servers from australia, france, japan, and the u.s.. it is the first time surfing will be included as an olympic event. another performance like this

one will be the bare minimum if ferrera is to achieve more glory in japan next year. helena: the top story we are following, british prime minister boris johnson has won the acting of lawmakers for his brexit bill. the vote sets the u.k. on course to leave the european union at the end of january. this is dw news live from berlin. the day is up next, join me for that. ♪

to forty . thank you for watching live from paris now this friday we start with the u. k. will make his have overwhelmingly voted to approve bars johnson's brags that plan. the revised deal was approved three hundred and fifty eight to two hundred and thirty four and it paves the way. for abortions exit from the european union in january as well as setting up a high stakes class red cross also the future ties. this was also a moment of great triumph fofor johnson who