reporter: in just three days, martin schulz has hit a political high point and low point.fter exhaustive wrangling, on wednesday, his announcement we have a coalition agreement. in a marathon section of talks lasting more than 24 hours, the to do parties fought them a argued, yelled at each other, and finally agreed. >> we had a strong influence on this agreement, and we are grateful that in the end we achieved compromises that were hard for the conservative side to accept. reporter: he negotiated well for the spd and rested key portfolios from conservatives. -- wrested key portfolios from conservatives. all of this in spite of the fact that he said he did not want to be a minister and merkel's government and was against another coalition. afterward, many in the spd said he is broken his word twice. many party members were angry. and that anger did not abate. despite his decision on wednesday to resign as party leader, making way for another to take over. on friday, he announced he would no longer seek the post of foreign minister, saying it could jeopardize the upcoming v

reporter: expectations were high, especially among martin schulz's social democrats. spd party base will have the last word. over the next few weeks, the party's roughly 460,000 members will decide whether the agreement will stand as the foundation for a new grand coalition. his message -- success. >> we had a big influence on this agreement and we are grateful to the union parties for making compromises that were difficult for them, but achievable in the end. reporter: one example in the coalition agreement -- fixed term employment will likely be the exception to the rule in the future. repeated contract extensions, a thing of the past -- a clear concession to the social democrats. another key demand from the spd made less headway -- no movement on a major overhaul of the german health care system. the conservatives knew they needed to compromise in order to secure a coalition deal. even the leader of the cdu's variant -- bevarian sister party, the csu, had nothing but praise for the spd and the agreement. >> anyone who reads these 177 pages -- and i hope they will b

is on comparative political behavior welcome to you first of four how surprising did you find martin schulz decision to give up on the post of foreign minister well not very surprising actually i mean he has strong competence based on his experience as a former president of the e.u. parliament however there was strong criticized criticism insight of the party and he knew his standing wasn't very well so i didn't find it too surprising in fact as you said not everyone in this body was happy that he might have become foreign minister let's take a listen now to the acting foreign minister a sigma also from the s.p.d. party this is what he had to see it is sad to see the lack of respect we now have for each other in the s.b. to how little a previously made promise now means those were the words of gabriela maria what did he actually mean by that have previously made province promise and do you think that influence the decision of not insurance definitely has been a part of the equation so there are rumors there. that shows promise gabrielle that she would stick to her minister foreign ministry

in just three choice days martin schulz now finds himself without the leadership of the s.p.d. without a position of authority and without a ministerial christ and with the s.p.d. reeling in chaos. joining me now in studio is our political correspondent hans bronze hons what have the reactions been to szell's this announcement well initially when this came out yesterday afternoon people were obviously a pretty dumb founded it was quite a big surprise for most people especially for the public at large from there then on the reactions have been very mixed they have been obviously critics of martin chose the s.p.d. leader who have said well this is the right move he's done such a lot of damage to his party and to his image that it's the right thing to simply withdraw from the top stage as it were there are also people who are feeling sorry for him a little who is saying that he has really done a lot and expended a lot of energy in the last year or so leading this party into the elections and really it's a rough deal for him on the other hand the opposition parties i think even the

let's talk about what's happening in germany we have heard that there is a deal struck between martin schulz's side and angela merkel's side. what's interesting is who is inheriting which ministry. the spd likely to get the foreign ministry and finance ministry that's something investors are watching closely and the head of the csu or former head of the csu will be taking over the interior ministry that's significant for migration policy, one of the sticking points in these negotiations >> he takes a tough line on immigration. so it's an in principle agreement, and now it comes down to 460,000 people voting on spd members rank and file. >> so there's scope for more compromise, more horse trading, but this is moving in the right direction. i guess there are implications here for that other major european country, which is heading to the election in less than a month >> this is only taking four months, let's see if italy can top that >> italy almost the india of europe back to the earnings season. tesco is reportedly facing a $4 billion pound equal pay claim. the suit said women at distribution

social democrat leader martin schulz was optimistic today, saying this would be the day the two sidesally come to terms. a deal would end almost five months, a record, of political limbo here in germany. a little earlier, i spoke to our chief political correspondent, melinda crane, who was outside the headquarters of the cdu here in berlin, where talks are still ongoing. i asked her about the progress of tonight's talks. melinda: tonight is different, because this is basically the end of the overtime these parties had allocated for themselves. they initially set a buffer zone of two days. this is the end of day to. -- day two. as one politician put it, if this were soccer, we would be in minute 115. as you know, that means way into overtime. they are down to the wire. we heard it could go late into the night. they have accomplished an enormous amount. we know that because the document they are working from was leaked to the press a bit earlier. it is 100 67 pages long. as i went through it, the areas marked in yellow -- those are the areas they have not agreed on -- they are very few

and a german coalition already in crisis the social democrats former leader martin schulze withdraws from a post as foreign minister vowing to pressure from his party the announcement comes just days after he said he was stepping down as party head. it was a night for the history books as the twenty eighteen winter olympics kicked off n.p.r. chuang the two koreas march together and south korea's president shared a historic handshake with kim jong un sr amid a spirit of unity in fact kim sr is the first member of the north's ruling dynasty to venture south since the korean war but is this rapid improvement in korean ties the beginning of a new era in relations or merely smoke and mirrors we will ask an expert in just a moment first this report. demonstrators outside the olympic stadium gave the north koreans a hostile reception they clashed with riot police and made their feelings towards the north known. we are here. making. you know you know. we are we want to hold our own. north korea's olympic delegation mocked and historic first it included kim jong the youngest sister of leader

outgoing leader of merkel social democrat partners will not hold office in the new administration martin schulz today abandoned his claim to the post of foreign minister that's after growing discontent in the s.p.d. over his leadership style. in just three days martin schultz has managed to hit both a political high point into low point on wednesday after a long and exhausting wrangling his pride announcement we have a coalition agreement in a marathon session of talks lasting more than twenty four hours the two parties had fought argued yelled at each other and finally a. piece of our can see that we had a strong influence on this agreement and we are grateful that in the end we achieved some compromises that were hard for the conservative side to accept that suit. shultz negotiated well for the s.p.d. and rested key portfolios from the conservatives he came away with the ministry of finance labor and official tim southee the foreign ministry all this despite the fact that he said he never wanted to become a minister and mack was government and was against another grand coalition. afterwards m

gain the very powerful german finance ministry now after a moment it's unknown which position martin schulz would favor whether he would want to be the foreign minister all whether he would want to head up that finance ministry whatever position martin schulze ultimately takes he may well regret giving this statement back in september. so. mr schultz do exclude the possibility of being a minister in the cabinet led by merkel or that c.d.u. c.s.u. . yes yes absolutely i would never be part of a government so what happens next well it all goes down to a vote by the s.p.d. membership that's four hundred sixty thousand. people that will be casting a vote by mail so are expecting a result from that ballot over the next few weeks trying to drum up support for the deal we saw the negotiating team sending a selfie out to a social democratic whatsapp chat saying they were tired but satisfied and encouraging their membership to get behind the vote it is going to be very tight though should the social democratic membership go vote yes well that means angela merkel will have to go ahead to form a new g

foreign minister all whether he would want to head up that finance ministry whatever position martin schulz ultimately takes he may well regret giving this statement back in september. and. mr schultz do exclude the possibility of being a minister in the cabinet led by merkel or that c.d.u. c.s.u. . yes yes absolutely i would never be part of a government so what happens next well it all goes down to a vote by the s.p.d. membership that's four hundred sixty thousand people that will be casting a vote by mail so are expecting a result from that ballot over the next few weeks trying to drum up support for the deal we saw the negotiating team sending a selfie out to a social democratic you know what's up chant saying they were tired but satisfied and encouraging their membership to get behind the vote it is going to be very tight though should the social democratic membership go vote yes well that means angela merkel will have to go ahead to form a new government and we could expect to see that in place by six months after the actual election in september if that is a no though from the social

gain the very powerful german finance ministry now after a moment it's unknown which position martin schulz would favor whether he would want to be the foreign minister although whether he would want to head up that finance ministry for whatever position martin schulz ultimately takes may well regret giving this statement back in september. and. mr schultz do exclude the possibility of being a minister in the cabinet led by america or that c.d.u. c.s.u. . yes yes absolutely i would never be part of a government so what happens next well it all goes down to a vote by the s.p.d. membership that's four hundred sixty thousand people that will be casting a vote by mail so are expecting a result from that ballot over the next few weeks trying to drum up support for the deal we saw the negotiating team sending a selfie out to a social democratic you know what's up chant saying they were tired but satisfied and encouraging their membership to get behind the vote it is going to be very tight though should the social democratic membership vote yes. well that means angela merkel will have to go ahead

martin schulz, the leader of the sdp and former leader of the european parliament would step down andc that we will step for our party members with such a good proposal that we can convince a large majority to allow us to enter such a coalition. the implications of that are widespread on major issues in germany like migration and workers‘ rights, but also on the brexit negotiations as chancellor merkel looks set to enter her fourth term weaker than before. the deal is not yet done. martin schulz has promised his members a vote on the results will not be in until the second of march. police in china have started using sunglasses featuring facial recognition technology. the glasses are linked to an internal database of suspects and allow officers to scan the crowds looking for suspects. the state says that the glasses have already helped police to catch seven individuals but there are fears that they could be used to track and profile political dissidents and ethnic minorities. for more on this i'm joined from beijing byjosh chin, a reporterfor the wall streetjournal. you have written e

we've seen over the last week is some real sweeping changes relating to the social democrats and martin schulz and what role if any he will have a government is finally formed here in germany now on wednesday a coalition deal between angela merkel's conservative bloc the center left social democrats was finally home it out as part of that agreement it was said that schultz would be installed as the foreign minister this is after he'd previously said that the social democrats wouldn't go into coalition with the angela merkel's conservatives and then when he went back on that he said that he wouldn't take a ministerial position when he's now announced that he won't be taking that post with the foreign ministry. i renounce joining the federal government and at the same time i hope that this will end the personal debates within the s.p.d. we all make policies for the people in this country and my personal ambitions must be behind the interests of the party or the future of any grand coalition is currently in the hands of the four hundred twenty thousand or so members of the social democrats they'r

martin schulz has promised his members a vote, and the results will not be in until 2 march.survivors of child abuse. a royal commission into the treatment of thousands of children who were abused in the care of churches, schools and homes across australia called the abuse a national tragedy. malcolm turnbull‘s announcement increases pressure on state governments and religious institutions that haven't signed up to a scheme to compensate the victims. several people have been injured in australia, where a hot air balloon crashed during a dawn tour. it landed heavily at dixons creek, in the yarra valley, about 60 kilometres north of melbourne. police say some passengers were thrown from the basket as the balloon was trying to land in strong winds. a missing masterpiece described as the african mona lisa has been discovered in a north london flat. ben enwonwu's oil painting of the daughter of a yoruba king has taken on almost mythical status in his native nigeria. it is one of three portraits which went missing. it eventually surfaced when an art lover had it valued, not realisi

how mad out between angela merkel's conservatives in the social democrats it was supposed to see martin schulz installed is in the new foreign minister now this was actually in the document the signed document the the proposed coalition deal document. friday though and martin schultz will not be taking up the position as foreign minister now rumors are abound he's been forced to step down by some of his social democratic party colleagues who blame him for the party's failures however mr schultz put out a statement himself in his own words saying why he wouldn't be taking the position i renounce joining the federal government and at the same time i hope that this will end the personal debates within the s.p.d. we all make policies for the people in this country and my personal ambitions must be behind the interests of the party of the future of a so-called grand coalition between merkel's conservatives and the center left s.p.d. hangs. with the membership of the social democrats around four hundred twenty thousand of them will be casting ballots over the next three weeks to decide whether they

conservatives struck with the social democrats a basis for good government also shell democrat leader martin schulz said the pact would bring fundamental change for both the germany and europe his party's rank and file still have to ratify the agreement extending the country's wait for a new government by another couple of weeks. all right that does it for us on my own hauraki and brylin the news continues at the top of the hour for now thank you so much for spending a part of new day with us. frank food to help watch international gateway to the best connection self in the road and radio. located in the heart of europe you are connected to the whole world. experience outstanding shopping and dining offers and try our services. be our guest at frankfurt airport c d managed by for. every journey begins with the first step and every language with the first word courage to. recoat is in germany to learn german why not learn them simple online on your mobile and free to suffer from d w z e learning course nico speaking german made easy. after months of political paralysis germany's main parties have se

coalition deal that could return them to power after the long side of germany's social democrat led by martin schulz expectations are rising here in berlin that eleven days of talks could be almost over also coming up an exclusive report from kenya where a victims of alleged police brutality are filling nairobi's more to be news hears from one officer willing to speak out.

appoint this is the first ever female leader of a former party leader and candidate for chancellor martin schulz stepped down this comes a bit steep party infighting and turmoil over a new coalition deal but i'm going to medical conservatives for over one hundred fifty years the social democrats have been led by men among the former chancellor of in the brands now germany's oldest political party could finally get its first ever female leader martin chill to set to hand over the leadership of the party to andrea nonis historic changing of the current. head of a leak that's especially not about what would be best in this situation and i also had to consider whether i can and want to fulfill this task after these processes of deliberation we both decided that this is the best course of action you know this is the best of. as leader of the social democrat parliamentary group now liz was valued for her ability to bring people together and motivate them. she also has a reputation for being outspoken some say it was her speech at the social democrats party conference that secured the votes needed for

social democrats are getting two of the most important ministries finance and foreign affairs martin schulze wants to become foreign minister he's handing over the leadership of the s.p.d. to andrea not less after another ten stay in berlin the next decisive phase is now beginning the s.p.d. membership will begin voting in a few days the results should be known on march the fourth only then will it be clear whether there really will be a new grand coalition. a coalition breakthrough here in berlin was music to the ears of the president of the european commission john clune. i wasn't able to study the finer points of the coalition deal but i've been told that europe is mentioned three hundred twelve times what other country has made such a commitment to european topics right from the beginning of i welcome this and i especially like the chapter on europe as well. as it. well bring in our brussels correspondent max hot and he's standing by for us there let's germany finally has a blueprint for a new government are we hearing signs of collective relief from germany's european partners. good mor

or the main obstacles are as i mentioned these social policies that martin schulz mentioned and they cover the german health insurance system and also limited contracts in the german work market and also and and so these are going to be more obstacles to overcome and the conservatives are very much against any sweeping reforms to the german health care system whereas the social democrats are very much in favor of abolishing the current two tier system here so we still have a way to go or at kate dare i ask what happens if these talks for a grand coalition fail. well as we know the only other coalition option for merkel with the business friendly f.t.p. in the greens is already off the table those talks fell through back in november so the only other options would be a minority government which merkel has already rejected on several occasions and the only other option then would be a new election something that all of the parties are against and most certainly the social democrats who saw their party plummet down the polls again they so weak and they're currently at eighteen percent a

actually continuing in-depth negotiations that clearly are still obstacles to be overcome here martin schulz the leader of the social democrats said himself today that going into these talks that despite the progress that was made last week there are so many issues particularly when it comes to social policy for example with working contracts and also with reform in germany's health insurance system so i doubt that we are going to in fact see a deal tonight ok what happens if they don't solve those issues what happens if these talks for a grand coalition fail but of course that's a situation that chancellor angela merkel definitely doesn't want to see herself in and the only other options really would be either a minority government which would be quite a grueling process for the chancellor and that's something that she's ruled out on several occasions which would then leave the only other option of new fresh snap elections and of course that's also something that most of the parties don't want to and least of all the social democrats who have seen their figures plummet even further down the

coalition deal that could return them to power that's alongside germany's social democrats led by martin schulz expectations are rising here in berlin that eleven days of talks could be almost over also coming up power struggle in paradise tourist hot spot them all these faces a political craziness after the country's president imposes a state of emergency law now the opposition wants india to intervene and an exclusive report from kenya where victims of alleged police brutality are willing there will be more to do that we do see here is for one officer willing to speak out. thanks very much for your company everyone here in germany under america's conservatives and the center left social democrats are still working on forming a government and they're still far apart on several key issues leaders on both sides are pushing hard for an agreement as deadline after deadline passes. it's decision day in berlin again conservatives and social democrats arriving for day eleven of coalition talks and the day is not going to be easy health employment and foreign policy are still three major hurdles to ov

martin schulz has announced he will step down as leader of the party. it's expected that nahles will be elected leader at a party congress nahles said the fight pictuuturp was a key focus of the talks >> translator: it was important for us to achieve a policy shift in one particular area, that was the policy towards europe. and i want to be clear, this was one of the show pieces of the coalition treaty >>> remember, it's all about you, the viewer. do e-mail us get engaged. the address is streetsignseurope@cnbc.com you can also tweet us and follow us on twitter, @streetsignscnbc. you can tweet us directly. >>> moving swiftly on, we have more to come on the show after sending falcon heavy into space, elon musk was back at his other job as tesla earnings came out did production targets give cheer to investors we'll find out we have a short amount of time to get our patient to the hospital with good results. we call that the golden hour. evaluating patients remotely is where i think we have a potential to make a difference. (barry murrey) we would save a lo

so those were comments by martin schulz for the latest twist in this political drama in germany let's go to our correspondent thomas sparrow tell us after all that hard work on the coalition agreement now this how surprising is this development it is indeed a political drama those who believed that germany's political uncertainty after months and months of negotiations had come to an end with the coalition deal only a few days ago was certainly surprised today by the announcement of martin shows and the big question is why that announcement was made why this news is now so important in the house to do with the turnover political debate within the social democrats it's seeing to that debate about personnel about who would be doing what in the new government overshadowed the debate about content about the actual coalition deal and what the social democrats would gain in that coalition deal and doc is probably the reason why martin schultz had to announce today that he would not be taking up that post as the foreign minister and this is particularly painful for martin shoals of return be

democratic measures as very much in line with her own inclinations so that's until america as for martin schulz you know what he wound up getting a lot more than one might have thought when the social democrats entered these negotiations if you remember they started out with a weak hand they did very poorly in september's elections then he said they wouldn't even be willing to talk about joining a grand coalition so it's quite surprising in the end to see how many issues they did wind up putting their imprint on and what ministries they wound up with and finally america's rather difficult bavarian partner the christian social union they too said they were very satisfied and i think we can take them at face value because they are getting a ministry they badly wanted to have all right so what have the reactions been from the christian democrats to this deal. well here the politicians left the christian democratic headquarters and came over here where they have now been presenting the results of the coalition agreement to their party groups and the christian democratic party group leader came out

you can be pro-european like martin schulz and the stp and angela merkel, but this is part of the problem. a lot of the people in germany who vote for populist parties, they see their identity threatened. they see their government transcending sovereignty to the european union. so that's definitely a risk factor. if you can't get this people along in your story, you will have a problem in the long term. but i think the internal cohesion in germany is in risk. this coalition doesn't have any idea about multicultural society, integration of big groups of minorities. there is not much in this coalition agreement. those are the answers many germans who book for populist parties want to hear right now. melinda: clearly, the rise of right-wing populism in germany was one of the driving factors for at least much of the language that was put into the coalition agreement. leadersted by party that they had listened to the concerns and leads of ordinary germans. do you think a greg coalition can strike an ordinary blow against the new nationalist party in germany? alan: no, for the reasons that job

it is important that martin schulz, with h his social issue, makess his mark.needs to prove to his social democratic party that he is rereally p pushing social isisss into this agreement. d docraticis social party members who will vote on the outcome of the agreement and whether or not to approve enteriri another c coalition gogovernment paid we have seseen another r -- a nber of socicial democrat membersrs rising. the deadline tomorrow is to come a member of the social democrats in germany and therefore have a say and vote in the outcome of this agreement. when anchulz, if and agreement is reached, will travel t the country, trying to convince social democrats to vote i in favor of an agreemenet and to enter the coalition government. o opponent iss leading a no grand coalition, traveling around the country, trying to convince social democrats to vote to block it. it is believed any outcome of this vote will be very narrow. >> now, the turkish president has met with pope francis this monday. security was massively tightened --orth president erdogan with preside

hero to zero in less than a week the social democrats here in germany are ousting their leader martin schulz just days after she negotiated there were turned to a coalition government what's more chill lose out on the post afford minister. also coming up south korea officially kicks off the two thousand and eighteen winter olympics fireworks fill the sky over the host city pyong chang but not everyone is in the mood to celebrate a final ruling bars dozens of russian athletes from the competition. this olympics brings a first ever visit to south korea by a member of the north's ruling dynasty kim jong il and sister what is behind her diplomatic trip across the border. and skiers are falling hard for these slopes the all time mountains in northwest china are off the beaten track but tourists are flocking here now to the land where some say skiing may have been. time sumi so much going to thank you for joining us the leader of the germany's the social democrats martin chill says he will no longer seek the post of foreign minister in a future of grand coalition government or any other post in th

coalition deal that could return them to power that's alongside germany's social democrats led by martin schulz expectations are rising here in berlin that eleven days of talks could be almost over also coming up an exclusive report from kenya where victims of a list police brutality are filling my world is more you have used years from one officer.

hero to zero in less than a week the social democrats here in germany are ousting their leader martin schulz just days after she negotiated there were turned to a coalition government what's more she'll lose out on the post a foreign minister. also coming up south korea officially kicks off the two thousand and eighteen winter olympics fireworks fill the sky over the host city chang but not everyone is in the mood to celebrate a final ruling bars dozens of russian athletes.

only on the tweety -- treaty itself and the in negotiations, but the role of martin shorts -- martin schulz he going to be foreign minister in this new cabinet? there are still some questions and doubts about his person and his role -- very strong and very broad. rochelle: there's still a lot of uncertainty on the horizon. let's think about the opposition for the moment. where does that leave them in all of this? emanuel: the o opposition, you mean the other parties which are not involved in the coalition? rochelle: absolutely. emanuel: well, they already criticized to the whole coalition negotiation's because they said that is nothing that is really -- that really provides some really new ideas about what germany needs -- what needs to be done and the - -- in the particular area. that is just known that their position is dissatisfied with the's negotiations. --ould say it's sustainable and reasonable. the reaction of opposite parties. all of them are waiting to get a andrnment that is stable leads germany into the next four years.s. dissatisfied, but in officially, i would say satisfied th

social democrats are getting two of the most important ministries finance and foreign affairs martin schulze wants to become foreign minister he's giving up the s.p.d. presidency to andrea nonis it's been a tense day in berlin but the next decisive phase is now beginning the s.p.d. membership would be converging in a few days the result should be no no march the fourth only then will it be clear whether there really will be a new grand coalition. you know about a month to go so what do we need to know before we get to march fourth to talk about that i'm joined here at the big table by our chief political correspondent melinda crane and in strasbourg france tonight at the european parliament our correspondent barbara very useful joins us good evening to you both mother let me start with you you followed these negotiations down to the wire you were there last night in the freezing cold the world is watching there was a stable germany what message was sent out to the world by today's agreement i think maybe there are three key messages for our international viewers first one would be germany kn

gain the very powerful german finance ministry now after a moment it's unknown which position martin schulz would favor whether he would want to be the foreign minister although whether he would want to head up that finance ministry whatever position martin schultz ultimately takes he may well regret giving this statement back in september. and. mr schultz do exclude the possibility of being a minister in the cabinet led by merkel or that c.d.u. c.s.u. . yes yes absolutely i would never be part of a government so what happens next well it all goes down to a vote by the s.p.d. membership that's four hundred sixty thousand people that will be casting a vote by mail so are expecting a result from that ballot over the next few weeks trying to. to drum up support for the deal we saw the negotiating team sending a selfie out to a social democratic what's up chat saying they were tired but satisfied and encouraging their membership to get behind the vote it is going to be very tight though should the social democratic membership go vote yes well that means angela merkel will have to go ahead to fo

in germany, martine schulz has officially stepped down with immediate effect of the leader of the socialemocrats. the move comes among widespread disenchantment with his leadership within the ranks of the spd party. members are gearing up to vote on a deal with angela merkel' conservatives. ssenior members say they will back schulz's nomination for the new leader. for more on this, let us bring in political scientist kristof gnguen. we know they are trying to manage a smooth transition now, but it is a critical moment not only for the spd but for the country. they need to approve the proposed coalition with chancellor angela merkel's conservatives. does this throw a wrench into that process? kristof: i think the hope was the leadership transition would beast mode. fact that there -- would be smooth. the fact that there are some people would be unhappy shows the transition has not been smooth. the fact that we talking about it now means they have not succeeded. i think their hope is now by putting this off until april, they are giving themselves a little bit of breathing room until march

martin schulz has promised his members a vote, and the results will not be in until 2 march.ories making the news. party leaders in the us senate have struck a two—year budget deal that should avoid any repeat of last month's federal government shutdown. but it still needs approval from the house of representatives, and many are questioning a $300 billion increase to the federal deficit. the australian prime minister, malcolm turnbull, says he will issue a national apology to survivors of child abuse. it follows an inquiry into the treatment of thousands of children who were abused — in the care of churches, schools and homes across australia. let's turn to our main business story — the growing backlash against social media companies over their role in the spread of ‘fake news'. today top us executives from facebook — youtube which is owned by google — and twitter will be questioned about the issue by british members of parliament at a public hearing in washington. alpesh patel is from praefinium partners. this is an interesting story, isn't it? the proliferation of fake news

social democrats are getting two of the most important ministries finance and foreign affairs martin schulze wants to become foreign minister he's handing over the leadership of the s.p.d. to andrea analysis after another tense day in berlin the next decisive phase is now beginning the s.p.d. membership will begin voting in a few days the results should be known on march the fourth only then will it be clear whether there really will be a new grand coalition. then well let's get some reaction now to this coalition agreement on top political correspondents with us here in the studio so after four months four months after that last election for to have lots of must be said germany finally has a blueprint for a new government if the s.p.d. rank and file approve it are we hearing a collective sigh of relief once there is a sense of relief obviously that this period of uncertainty this period of setbacks in the last full months is that there is a prospect of actually a stable government taking a in germany within the next few weeks in the foreseeable future but frankly if you look at the newspape

then martin schulz rather reluctantly agreed to preliminary talks with the conservatives on forming a grand coalition now the two sides appear to have hammered out a coalition agreement will angle americal have what it takes to lead a coalition. what do you think. the fact is the c.d.u. has lost an important ministry finance maybe even two if you look at the fact that a new super interior ministry will be going to the very young conservatives the sister party but not always friendly to a. c.d.u. and as we mentioned there is a rather social democratic cast to a lot of this coalition agreement some does that leave the chancellor significantly weaker. yes and. the this is a further point that the coalition is built in the sort of end chancellorship is saying that in two years they're going to review their performance and see what they have to do this basically means that in two years you know the opposition within. the c.d.u. has the chance to build up a new candidate to succeed and give her the position to retire gracefully probably saying well we did what we could and it's great you kn

four months after the country's elections but both americal and her social democrat counterpart martin schulz said that the agreement is the only way to safeguard german stability. after a marathon thirty four hours of negotiations it's all strained smiles for the would be coalition partners with the working compromise achieved relief from the chancellor. it's been about so i am convinced that the coalition agreement we have worked on together can be just that the basis for a solid and stable government that's what our country needs and it's what the world is expecting from us off about. expectations were high especially among martin schultz's social democrats the s.p.d. party base will have the last word over the next few weeks the parties roughly four hundred sixty thousand members will decide whether the agreement will stand as the foundation for a new grand coalition shields's message success he's a hop artist talk we had a big influence on this agreement and we're grateful to the union parties for making compromises that were difficult for them but it chiva ball in the end just. one exam

we're going to have a social democrat martin schulz maybe the foreign minister. is that going to be good for britain as it tries to get these concessions from the e.u. as it leaves me i don't think so old of the main job and political parties christian democrats social democrats need miletus the greens have had a very consistent position on brakes that the unity of the european union is of utmost importance and anything that damages that should not be countenanced and so very much as a common ground between the social democrats and the christian democrats but between germany and other european union countries so it will help britain in the sense that there will be a german government that can take decisions i.e. the kind of the vacuum that there's been for the last couple months will end but ultimately i don't think it's going to change them as positional brake system is not going to help the british very much so you're saying vote like twenty twenty twenty things still will not be resolved they will be result in twenty twenty odd but we're going to be talking ab

will gain the very powerful german finance ministry now at the moment it's unknown which position martin schulz would favor whether he would want to be the foreign minister or whether he would want to head up that finance ministry one thing is for sure whichever one he decides it certainly this particular clip is certainly going to be one thing he wishes he could forget. mr schultz do exclude the possibility of being a minister in the cabinet led by merkel or that c.d.u. c.s.u. . yes yes absolutely i would never be part of a government. well elsewhere the christian social union angela merkel's sister party in bavaria their head horse often looks to be heading for the interior ministry it had been thought that mr z. hoffa would be retiring from politics but the sixty eight year old showing no sign of that as he heads into one of the main cabinet positions by the looks of it and i say by the looks of it because of this deal that's been hard fought now made out it could all fall apart it comes down to the membership of the social democrats four hundred sixty thousand members will be balloted to se

huge personnel debate going on in that party or expecting this week knowledge to actually replace martin schulz as policy leader but the option just isn't that right now in the say to you but of course these questions of personnel are really a side issue the main issue at hand right now is forming a government in germany and there could still be some hurdles to overcome that. there's two big hurdles both parties have to approve this coalition deal it's not done and dusted at all it's still an open process isn't exactly so you the delegates from the conservative policies i guess invites but the big upset could come from the social democrats as full hundred sixty thousand party members eligible to vote on whether they want the social democrats to go into another grand coalition so we could still see the grand coalition full flatness face and then most really would be in tricky situation as then she'd be faced with having to fight a form a minority government which he's rejected on several occasions all we'd also have the possibility of snap elections in germany march fourth is the date when we'll