berlin. great power rivalry. the u.s., australia and the u.k. will -- launch a defense alliance. this beefs up military capabilities in the indo pacific to counter china's growing power in the region. also coming up, foiled attack. police make multiple arrests after a threat of an assault on a synagogue in the city.

and bidding adieu. angela merkel makes her last trip as chancellor. how she has shaped paris and berlin. thank you for joining us. we start coverage with a security alliance. the country's leaders said they thought they would help them save defense giving voters. france was also left fuming, describing the pact as a step in the back.

quick slide by the british and is trillion liters -- >> flagged by the british and australian leaders, we are taking note of a historic step to deepen and formalize cooperation among all three of our nations. we all recognize the imperative to ensure peace and stability in the in the pacific over the long-term. >> we have an opportunity to enforce written's place. strengthening our national expertise. the u.k., australia and the u.s.. they would be joined even more closely together. >> china was the elephant in the room, none of the leaders mentioned the country by name but beijing's increasingly

turbulent relationship with cambria and china's influence in the region is the main reason for the pact. >> the first major initiative of all this will be to deliver a nuclear powered submarine fleet for australia. we will seek to determine the best way forward to achieve this. >> this is france, the australian navy signed a major deal with france in 2016 to build a new fleet of something's. that deal worth 55 billion euros is now off. the french minister described the move as a stab in the back and against the spirit of cooperation. china slammed the new security deal, saying it would only destabilize the region.

the export of highly sensitive nuclear submarine technology by the united states and britain to australia shows once again they would use nuclear exports as a geopolitical game. it is a double standard and it is highly irresponsible. the jury is out on whether the initiative will make the seas any safer with many fearing it could lead to a new arms race in the region. >> this is brussels correspondent and analyst. she joins us to provide us with more analysis. how is nitta interpreting this trilateral security. >>, think nato is interpreting it as a security alliance, i think they see it as a defense arrangement, the deal. even a boost to security for everyone. nato and australia have a very good relationship. australia is not a member.

australia sees this as a way to enhance security in the south china sea. china has become an increasingly important security concern for nato and the last couple of years in particular. i think they are seeing it positively. i spoke with an official who said it is not raising any concern at nato headquarters whatsoever. it will probably be seen as a positive. >> this has not going down with france. >> that is an understatement. france is furious. a lost tens of billions of euros in this submarine deal that australian has canned. france does not like to not be consulted. no european country wants to be left out but france considers itself a player. it does not like it when it does not get any word whatsoever that this is happening but france is not the only one. the foreign policy chief set a short time ago that he had not been consulted and he did not know anything about the deal and

it must have been in the works for some time. he clearly wasn't pleased either. not as outraged as france whose foreign minister went so far as to say this reminded him of the trump years. >> going forward, in terms of defense strategy, does the eu need to rethink its alliance with the u.s. again? become more autonomous and contribute more actively? >> we have discussed this many time over the years. -- many times over the years. it does not like carrying the weight of every operation that nato undertakes, it would like to see the eu be able to provide more of its own security to have better funded militaries but i don't think it is this defense deal that is going to be pushing that so much as the debacle unfolding in afghanistan. that has been the images for the eu to look more closely now at improving its own decision-making infrastructure, it's intelligence sharing and

the ability to launch even expeditionary operations which would allow them to evacuate more people from kabul airport after the u.s. pulled out. that would be more of a molding type -- motivating factor to this new arrangement quite how to china assess its ability to navigate a new, more bipolar world? quite the eu does not see it as black-and-white as the u.s. does. that puts europe in an uncomfortable position with united states. in many aspects, commercially and in and defense aspect -- a defense aspect. europe would like to take america's side and see china as mainly a threat and not a commercial partner but we have seen over the last couple of

years particularly with aggressive actions by china that the eu is moving more close to the u.s. point of view. i don't think you'll ever see the european union take such a stark view of beijing as the u.s. does. >> thank you. police in the german city have arrested multiple suspects after authorities are calling a minute -- islamist motivated threat after an attack on a synagogue. it comes after right-wing extremists killed two people after failing to force their way into the city. >> armed police officers deployed to protect the synagogue. this had to be canceled at short notice. the reason is the threat of an imminent attack on juncker poor, the holiest to his holiday. >> we had information that there

was a threat to a jewish institution here. we immediately adjusted the police protection measures and were in close contact with the local jewish community. local police raided several buildings, arresting for people. this morning, the criminal investigation led to the identification and the preliminary arrest of a 16-year-old. police came across three other individuals during their search. they were taken into custody. the investigation will determine if these three people are also involved in this crime. in 2019, a right wing extremist launched an attack on a synagogue in the eastern germantown, shooting to passerby's. then, police faced strong criticism for being slow to reach the scene. the attacker is now serving a life sentence for the murders.

our authorities -- our authorities treating this as a failed terror attack? >> they have not said so in so many words. they have said they are investigating a threat that has islamist background. in effect, it is a terrorist attack they have been investigating. the section of the prosecuting office is a s section that is specialized on terror attacks. >> tell us about the arrests. >> at the center of the arrests is that 16-year-old. he is a syrian national that has been confirmed by this minister

were all this is taking place. the other people arrested are three brothers of the 16-year-old and their father. that has not been confirmed officially. that is also based on reports in the media. >> do we know how the jewish local community has reacted to this spoiled attack? -- foiled attack? >> there has been no reaction whatsoever from the jewish community. that is not surprising, it is juncker poor, the highest day. many are fasting and praying as is usual in many orthodox jewish circles. they are not having much contact with the outside world at such a time. presumably one will get action much later. the clear reaction has come from the german justice minister.

she has said this was a very serious situation that had been foiled. she thanked the police for doing that and she emphasized how important it was for the german stage to protect german life in germany. that has been the reaction from the official german anti-semitism coordinator. they have also said that what is not necessary is -- what is now wash -- what is now necessary is to be watchful. everybody is reminded of an attack two years ago also on a synagogue in the city. right-wing extremists try to get into the synagogue and they killed two people on the street outside. >> thank you. let's take a look at some of the other stories we are following for you this hour. the u.n. secretary general says

immediate action is needed to stop the planet from warming by more than 1.5 degrees celsius. a new report from the organization found carbon emissions are now back at pre-pandemic levels. the report has been issued weeks before world leaders gathered for a climate summit in glasgow. an indonesian court has ordered the government to improve jakarta's air quality. in a landmark victory, judges at the central jakarta district court ruled that top officials including this president neglected citizens's right to clean air. traffic congestion is the main contributor to the air pollution, making it one of the most polluted world capitals. north korea says it has successfully launched ballistic missiles from the tree for the first time. tension between pyongyang and

south korea has been building with both korea's. u.s. led peace talks aimed at getting pyongyang to surrender his weapons and they have been stalled since 2019. angela merkel is in paris today for her last visit before leaving office after the upcoming election. she is holding a working dinner with emmanuel macron. the two leaders last held one-on-one talks in berlin in june when they focused on european issues ahead of the eu summ. the joint conference in afghanistan did not get a single mention. this time will be different. with the taliban takeover topping the agenda. speaking over the weekend, angela merkel says she was determined not to give up on afghanistan amid accusations that the west had abandoned them

to a brutal regime. >> for us, from a german perspective it is important to try to safeguard our achievements. education for girls. we know that will not be easy with the taliban. above all, bringing people that need protection to safety in germany. we feel this is a moral obligation. >> chancellor merkel is speaking there. let's take you to paris. we are standing right in front of the palace and the french capital. thank you very much for joining us. your covering the farewell visit of sorts. president macron is the fourth french president at the chancellor -- that the chancellor has worked with. how would you characterize the relationship?

>> i think angela merkel has been clear from the beginning of her being a chancellor that it is very important for her to have a good relationship with every french president because this relationship is so crucial for the european union. it is the eu engine. if that is working, europe is moving forward. if this engine is not working, she had a difficult start with emmanuel macron. they have very different styles. she is more cautious and restrained as a politician. she is very enthusiastic about bold topics, bold changes and he wants to achieve them very quickly but i think in the meantime, they have a very good relationship and angela merkel described this relationship as

being on the same wavelength on many important issues. >> a very different approach, different styles. what would you describe as the most significant moment? >> i think what was the most significant and maybe consequential moment is the fact that they were able to agree about how to come about the covid pandemic. it was emmanuel macron who helped persuade angela merkel to agree to a massive recovery package based and financed by joint eu debt. that was previously unthinkable for a conservative german leader and that was according to french officials a game changer when it comes to economic recovery.

i think that is definitely a very important if not crucial achievement. >> in conclusion, with the chancellor leaving the stage, who do you think resident macron would ideally -- it is not up to him but who would he like to work with best? >> he received two chancellor candidates on the shoulders of the social democrats, conservatives and some people say his favorite is probably a love shows because macron is trying to relax the fiscal rules in the european union and schultz is not too reluctant to do it. i think what is most important is that the french don't expect a radical change. they are concerned that the coalition talks in berlin could

drag on. until the next year. they need a strong german partner. france is taking on the rotating european council presidency here. macron has a lot of issues he would like to push for and he is also facing an election campaign with a presidential election to take place in france in april. he is definitely helping to have a strong german partner at his side as soon as possible. quite reporting from right outside. thank you. russians begin voting in regional elections starting on friday and they are being seen as a test of estimate led report in's popularity. the united russia party is backed by putin and holds the vast majority in all branches of government. the party had won over fit 4% of

the vote. recent polls indicated support has fallen to a near historic low of about 30%. but voters have limited choice. dozens of kremlin critic's have been barred from running including supporters of jailed kremlin critic election of aldi. authorities are trying to block the smart voting app which is used promote anti-putin candidates. the election sees major procedural changes, online voting is being introduced and pulls will stay open for three days. critics say this makes monitoring a lot more difficult. the osce will not send international observers because russia has restricted their access. united russia still enjoys huge levels of support in some regions like the republic of dagestan. opposition candidates face many hurdles. >> an early start.

leading these exercises around once a week at 6:00 a.m.. a pressure wide organization that fights against alcoholism and for a healthier lifestyle. vladimir putin has publicly expressed support for the project several times. >> vladimir putin lives a healthy lifestyle because he wants pressure to be healthy and strong too. -- russia to be healthy and strong too. he is running for the regional parliament for the first time. >> there are people who say ings can't be but we have to remind people how things could be without united russia.

terrorist incidents happen almost every single day. you might leave your house to go to work and there could be an explosion right next door. >> stability is a central issue in one of russia's poorest regions. not long ago, the muslim majority was considered a dangerous place. separatists fought a war here and in neighboring chechnya. there were fears about the increasing radicalization of young muslims. in past duma elections, united russia considered more than 80% of the votes in dagestan. >> for 15 yrs, we have seen the same thing on tv. the same faces, nothing has changed. the roads were broken. the quality of living is poor, education is back. >> no one votes here. everyone just stays at home.

opposition activists are also convinced that this is due to voter fraud and the intimidation of critical voices. he was jailed for defying police orders. >> after the opening, i did not manage to go home, three or four hours later, i was already arrested. >> pressure on kremlin critic's has been on the rise across russia. independent candidates are hardly featured on advertising. some even had to leave the country. most weren't registered. this person says that is an exaggeration. he says he wants to take action to improve things for a new generation.

he is convinced that only the ruling majority party can really take action. he says he wants to fight for united russia to ensure development and stability in dagestan and across the country. >> several of america's top gymnasts have given emotional testimony to the u.s. congress, blaming federal law enforcement for botching their probe of former team doctor, larry nasser. the mont dials said the fbi and the sports governing body turned a blind eye as nasa -- nassar sexually abused several girls. we want to one you that the testimony you are about to hear -- warn you that the testimony you are about to hear is

graphic. >> they are here to protect other young girls from the pain and trauma they endured at the hands of someone who was supposed to care for them. >> to be clear, i blame larry nassar and i also blame an entire system that enabled and perpetrated his abuse. >> larry nasser was the team doctor for team usa gymnastics and also a sexual predator, today's testimony was gut wrenching and sometimes graphic. >> i told him the first thing larry nasser ever said to me was to change into shorts with no underwear because that would make it easier for him to work on me and it was within minutes

he had his fingers in me. >> she was only 13 years old. larry nasser is serving the equivalent of life sentence after pleading guilty to seven accounts of sexual assault. the senate hearing also focused on u.s. gymnastics and the fbi. the gymnasts named all three as accomplices in bearing the abuse. in the case of the fbi, lying about witness testimony. at least one agent has been fired in relation to the investigation. she explained how it affected her ability to compete in the tokyo games. >> i can assure you that the impact of this man's abuse are not ever over or forgotten. the announcement in the spring of 2020 that the tokyo games were to be postponed for a year meant that i would be going to the gym, living daily under the

reminders of the story for another hundred 65 days. >> she and the other survivors said the botched fbi investigation silenced them. they want justice and more protections for all athletes. >> that does it for us. think you very much for watching.

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♪ >> welcome to "live from paris," world news analysis from france 24. france has canceled a gala in washington in protest over the new defense deal between the u.s., u.k., and australia. china has completely condemned the move.