the real. one i did was. to leave. just because some things leak. i wouldn't go to the polls in the federal election close where the very heart of. and or other world headlines with me here in moscow in north korea. video depicting u.s. military. exercises. kingdoms territory. for

independence. good afternoon from the russian capital this sunday september the twenty fourth my names you know neal with a mix of today's world developments some of the bigger stories of the week first it is election day in germany with tens of millions of voters deciding the shape of the next parliament in europe's most powerful country for a look at what's at stake we go live now to berlin where kevin to all our coverage . thank you everybody what a difference a day makes beautiful something. the middle of summer temperatures did people turn out to vote. welcome to our special coverage of the german federal election from

our special stadium here in berlin just a stone's throw away from the national parliament of my shoulder the bundestag people across germany now then looking at the clock of less than an hour to have their say in who becomes the next chancellor and judging by the pre-election polls seems angle of merkel is set to remain at the country's held no great surprises there for a fourth term she's been in office for twelve years already in fact if you look at it this way some young people can actually remember else being in power here in germany.

time i remember she was always there i mean i can't really remember a time when she was like the chancellor and i don't even know who came before me. as only madonna's judge you want to give a sense i think she was elected in two thousand and five for the first time i was like seven she's been around forever she's always been an average she's been in power a long time there's a piece. of us myself. i've never seen an adult without under american governing. in two thousand and five she was elected for the first time i was only thirteen. i pierced my ear lobe. a boy from my school died in a traffic accident. in fukushima the grim mounted people died. i went to mississippi for a year as an exchange student. black smoke today obama whites mccain barack obama became the first black president.

and i'm up on that. america. that might make her feel pretty old just over forty percent of germany's sixty one million million eligible voters have cast their ballot by two in the afternoon according to early estimates makes it a little bit lower than the same point in the twenty thirteen federal election that figure doesn't include postal votes here's a little be a lot of those because the countries go quite large over the aging population that's the way they want to do it seems the postal turnout was hard according to early estimates among the voters of course is the chancellor herself she cast her ballot several hours ago here in berlin and despite her late position possibly the most widely recognized face in the country nonetheless angela merkel has to abide by the rules to share the show id before heading to the ballot box or the traps of

fame fortune may rival martin scholtz has also cast his vote despite many saying the result of the election is a foregone conclusion there's a lot of intrigue around which of the smaller parties could become kingmaker maybe help form a ongoing coalition and sort of play for still shot to do bensky explains a bit more because it is pretty complicated to follow small parties have a very big say over the next to the german government and that's because there's a split system here in germany where half of the votes off first past the post. the other half are actually proportional representation so as long as the party gains more than five percent of the vote it can gain seats in the german parliament and could wield significant power in terms of forming a coalition over the next few weeks of course most people predict that. most insurances still be the largest party in the next few years but how they will then go about forming a coalition to be the ruling party over

a germany will all depend on potentially those smaller parties and most insurance of being in coalition government over the last four years but this has been an incredibly difficult election with both throwing mud at each other so whether they can mend fences and continue this so-called grand coalition or will be seen now if they can't they will be reaching out to the smaller parties like. the left party the f.t.p. which are liberals the green party and also potentially now being thrown into the mix the suggestion that the right wing party the a.f.d. will gain seats for the very first time in this election although all of the parties have said that they will not form a coalition with the a.f.p. well it's have a look now at some of the possible coalition partners that could rule germany over the next four years. german parties really emerge with a solid majority from the elections so when it's over they try to make friends.

after having tried hard to undermine each other's policies during complaining but the good news is for the politicians you can always say sorry we can't keep our election promise because our coalition partners. which is not good news for the voters though might ask what was the point when you basically get a program that you didn't vote for. there is no guarantee that what you ever vote of would like to have any. politics there really turn out there is no guarantee. the election and therefore there is no guarantee that voter. politics will really work out in this way. so what kind of government might germany get. twenty seventeen range of coalition. make

a coalition if merkel's christian democratic union. partners with the business friendly free democratic party and the greens. if this greens and the social democrats manage to form a team. take the black out and replace it with the freedom across the party and you get the

traffic light coalition. least likely to form part of any coalition it is germany's socialist left party it must be the wrong shade of the color red the left party is seen as too radical by bigger party it's. a similar case brought to the opposite end of the spectrum is the alternative for germany branded as far right by critics like glue could be an interesting new touch but so far mainstream german politics seems reluctant to drool over the coloring books lines. forming will be more different called then an earlier time. for political stability but which is good to be preferentially offer voters. are no longer with having two major parties they have representation.

so unless you're afficionado it is pretty tricky to follow there could be a lot of alliances going on here or not we don't know yet we can't talk about any polls really yet until the any exit polls until those polling stations close in about fifty minutes time we're going to speculate none the less with me now i'm joined by a barrister editor in chief of business new europe we just chatting just now you've been here for seven years you've seen the least one of these before then we don't think it's going to be any earthquakes although there is a question but what the f.d.a. going to do let's talk about angela merkel first of all she's pretty safe here yes i mean the polls shown consistently that the city is going to come out in the lead the whole point of the german system of course the representation it's not a first past the post so you can say that she's one will happen from today will be the beginning of the coalition told to build a coalition and that's what's will. time in the government that could take several weeks he was a bit of a messy coalition the last word with the democratic party was in there i mean how

much of martin in some way way above what you want to get through she's. taken the lead the s.t.p. the socialist and so they're getting kind of fed up being the number two federal and given the polling number two choices we have now arrived at the grand coalition between the c.p.u. and. saying more of the same and they're not particularly happy about doing that or it's going to be the circle to make a coalition and that would be the c.d.u. with merkel and then the two smaller parties the f.t.p. . and the greens would that be a success if it happened i don't know it depends really in the talks whether the i think the issue is. whether the s.t.p. are actually going to agree to join a coalition and as i say the base is very unhappy because america's been dominating everything and they really don't get a look at it and they don't like being second fiddle and they're thinking maybe we would be better alex in the opposition we can rebuild our appeal to our base

rebuild our party and then look ahead to the next elections and maybe f.t.p. and trains run the government because at the last with the allegation they've been kind of strong and they can't really turn round the s.t.p. and say hey we're going to do this would you do that and do the other when they've been sitting there in a coalition for the last four years and actually haven't done a lot of what they say they're going to do so that they're quite stuck so maybe they'll be rejuvenated for it in four years time we don't know the big question is what the alternative for germany party is going to do it looks like they're probably going to get into the bundestag they are in this not really going to know but never did a couple of hours where it's going to sort of i mean the thresholds went five percent and it's totally clear that they're going to care that they're going to be represented at a federal level for the first time they already have seats in all the regional governments i mean ten out of sixteen but now they're going to go on a federal level not a big deal to. first time such a i think you can call me a far right wing party been sitting there as an opposition since the second world

war how is the rest of europe going to react to that if that's the case for me it's the same right wing populist movement that we've seen across the entire region i mean in holland in france in hungary and germany is having the same thing and the difference here because of the proportional representation means that they will become institutionalized which in homs with money and office is your making abilities and actually you have to negotiate with them for votes in going ahead which is good news for germany you know i think it's democracy i mean you know we are predisposed against right wing particularly in germany i mean it's a double shock here because of germany's past you've got right wing nationalist in government again for the first time since since the hitler days and that's very uncomfortable for sure but then again star it's protest very much i mean people are saying that this is not a permanent party they have very shallow issues. they're playing on the islamophobia in the xenophobia the same as everyone else in the face of terror and

whether that means they're going to be a permanent positions german politics from a.c.c. and a lot of people are speculating that it's not so the party has to clean it could be a dangerous situation indeed indeed but you know this is part of the proportional representation system you want to come some good merkel what she can bring to the party she's kind of said well vote for what you know here in a safe stable and so far as internal germany is concerned economy's not doing too bad ok unemployment is not great here in berlin but generally in germany it's a little bit better than the rest of the eurozone she's not big euro zone financial storm she's a safe pair of hands to people generally like or in germany i think everyone's fed up with her. she's been what twelve years and they'd like a change but with all of the things that this elections has actually been about domestic issues in so much as he said that you can be such a team very well when she came in there was twelve percent unemployment and now it's time. for whatever it is and people are worried about the international situation and she's she's the germans i talked to i sort of you know held their

nose and voted for america because at the moment it's seen as more important to deal with the international calls the plan is to fix the economy which is actually not broken is the defacto leader of the of europe isn't she as it stands really especially with rex it happening now in germany years ago and post-war is actually stepped up and is now starting to take some of that political responsibility that it's always shied away from it's been an economic powerhouse but they've been very shy again because of the history to take any any strong alliance in terms of international politics and she is at the moment the leading statement in the whole of europe and they are and people look to that and say we're she knows what she's doing she knows all the players so actually until it gets we finish with these problems this leave it there so forty five minutes to go to the polls close just briefly we're going to make some polls probably very shortly after the polls close in about forty five minutes time or so we'll go on for the rest of the evening we're hoping maybe in about. eight i was time i think if i'm not if i'm correct

we're hoping to hear something more concrete but this actually who ends up where the number of faces and seats that end up there that's going to be thrashed out over months to six weeks ahead it's not going to happen immediately it's going to take a long time as i said the big not to crack is the s.t.p. of that side if they want to go into a grand coalition if they're even offered it and they will take it take a look because then as the haggling that goes on with who gets what ministerial posts it was possible to should. come see it as a regular he's. ok so the head of the vote the candidates have of course mean out on the campaign trail obviously but a lot was also prepared well before the big two with their parties pushing their agenda with some striking posters he went out and collected some of the most interesting of them for you.

so now looking at the incumbent chances may rival martin schulz next.

make you a great again. so great evening to come as a say forty minutes know the. polls will be closed we've got coverage lined up fully throughout the rest it's a night right into the early hours of the morning as we cover the german federal

federal elections here and again a lot more analysis to come tomorrow as well as kevin zero in the here and joining us later he got me in on first thing that morning our correspondents about this for a second debate a slight saying on the side of a split a here much of a not particularly good to get the gist studio it's turned into a afternoon we actually thought it was going to rain merrily all day maybe put the focus off but it's been a beautiful autumn afternoon so nail biting stuff i'm going to maybe not putting on now is that much more if she has come taken for granted in politics stay with us.

here's what people have been saying about rejected in the sixty's full on awesome the only show i go out of my way to punch you know what it is that really packs a punch oh yeah it is the john oliver of r t america is doing the same we are apparently better than the blue. sea people you've never heard of love jack tonight president of the world bank though he doesn't really mean it seriously send us an e-mail political blogs telling you on the idea that dropping bombs brings peace to the chicken hawks forcing you to fight the battles that still. produce offspring tell you that so be gossip and tabloid lifestyles. off the bad guys and tell you on the cool enough to fight. all the

hawks that we along the border will watch. we're back in moscow for more world news now a north korean t.v. channel has broadcast an unlimited film depicting peeling young missiles destroying u.s. military targets for american aircraft carried out exercises off the east coast of the hermit state well as the crisis escalates the leaders of the two countries have been busy trading insults let's take a look kim jong un labeled the american president mentally deranged while his foreign minister said that a strike on the u.s. is inevitable during a speech to the united nations well trump fired back saying that kim is a madman but he and his foreign minister might not be around much longer if they continue with the rhetoric. further of the spiraling war of words

we will have no choice but to totally destroy north korea. rocket man is on a suicide mission for himself and for his regime. no one other than trump himself is on a suicide mission if innocent american lives at home because of a. job will be held in sa responsible it looks like the north korean leader was particularly affected by trump's comments because the foreign minister responded saying that trump's actions were an irreversible mistake began to have married men out there shooting rockets all over the place i rock it should have been handled a long time ago. you tried to insult the supreme dignity of my country as a rocket but by doing so he committed the irreversible mistake of making

a visit by rockets to the us mainland all the more an effort to pull russian foreign minister urged the u.s. and north korea to end its saber rattling and engage in political dialogue accusing both leaders of behaving like a kindergarten children china and russia will continue to insist on a more reasonable approach in contrast to the emotional one we see now where they behave like children fighting each other in kindergarten and nobody can stop them with the tensions escalating and between both countries the situation remains quite unstable at the moment so it's unclear where this is all headed. for the news this week a nato convoy of danish troops in afghanistan has come under attack from a suicide bomber with local media reporting five civilians have been injured the nato mission though sees none of its personnel were hurt the attack comes less than a week after the u.s. secretary of defense announced the three thousand more troops are to be sent to

afghanistan that will bring the total number of american soldiers stationed in the country to fourteen thousand prior to that another spent donald trump said washington will request nato backing. we will ask our nato allies and global partners to support our new strategy with additional troop and funding increases in line with our own we are confident they will just put this in context it's the third attack vis month against the nato led mission in the country on the anniversary of the nine eleven attacks in the u.s. a suicide bomber blew himself up near an american convoy injuring five soldiers five days before the attacker targeted the by drummer base on the outskirts of kabul the taliban claimed responsibility and afghan based political analysts we spoke to seize the telephone is on the rice the u.s. needs to change its strategy. well the bonds are getting more powerful the government is getting weaker and the promise of the united states with three

thousand additional forces the. training the afghan army i think it's proving to be no use it's a provoking more. movements and attacks because the. americans are not moving the all the entries those are not leaving afghanistan brother deal to strengthening their forces in afghanistan therefore the old saw increasing the attacks on its own national forces the u.s. and nato has to change their strategy to was afghanistan. and instead of increasing their forces in afghanistan to increase. their. afghan ministry of defense with more. fighter jets equipment for fighting and. back to work this time next week the spanish region of couse

alone is set to vote in a referendum on breaking away from spain so a rival cried faceoff in the regional capital barcelona. thank her was we i thought you were i. long way to stay spanish authorities arrested fourteen senior counsel and officials including a junior economy minister told charged with misusing public phones breaching official duty and the city will also be fined up to twelve followers or euro for every day that they continue organizing the referee well that's a great house the third illegal but maybe a couple who say they're still determined to vote.

this legally legitimate for a thousand year old nation like that of castle lonia referendum will be held on sunday the first of all time. it's just a test to house the problems in this case the spanish justice system and not the some one hundred twelve my. thanks. this aggression is and we're sorry to the rule that it damages the states of law and hold of the constitutional guarantees. thanks this referendum can be over noise it was never legal or legitimate of the.

law i. was yeah that's our top stories all of the wake join us again in iran thirty minutes time here in our team will be going to berlin for our special extended coverage of the german election and i'll see you soon. here's what people have been saying about rejected and i suspect it's full on. the only show i go out of my way to times you know what it is that really packs a punch. at least yampa is the john oliver of hearty americans do the same we are apparently better than blue the things that seem to see people you've never heard

of love redacted tonight my president of the world bank though hates it but he doesn't really have any seriously send us an e-mail. well you know the pirate thing we've kind of adopted because we were called pirates for so long. i mean they're in the small boats next to the hard pool of ships and it's still very. much on. the little self to be told fish already ninety percent of the dot i need to call the calmer. contemplations coops seventy five tons to do it several times a day with a big fleet oh you get an idea why. we have to understand we cannot stay you stuart.