your announcer's good or steinberg from the middle east middle east expert from the german institute for international insecurity affairs here in berlin. now to some of the other stories making news around the world today belgium's prime minister charlotte michel has resigned after a failed attempt to lead a minority government he decided to quit after he was unable to get enough support for a united nations agreement on international migration. the german government has approved a bill to help businesses employ skilled workers from outside the european union the proposed law would ease residency requirements and restrictions on hiring foreign workers germany's labor market has more than a million unfilled positions. and berlin has marked the second anniversary of the terror attack that left twelve people dead and dozens wounded in the german capital and on december nineteenth two thousand and sixteen a radicalized tunisian man hijacked a truck killed its driver and plowed into a crowded christmas party. well there are one hundred days left before the united kingdom is due to leave the european union

your announcer's good or steinberg for the middle east middle east expert from the german institute for international insecurities fares there really. now to some of the other stories making headlines around the world today local activists say more than one hundred people have been killed in ethnic clashes in the democratic republic of congo dispute between about ten day and but new groups in my and on bay province sparked the fighting the clash has stoked fears of more violence ahead of sunday's presidential election. european union has agreed on a plan to ban single use plastics a ban is expected to come into effect in two years time and intends to reduce the amount of plastic waste on land in the world oceans the measure will still must be approved by e.u. member countries and the european parliament. and the german government has approved a bill to help businesses employ skilled workers from outside the european union reposed law would ease residency requirements and restrictions on hiring foreign workers germany's labor market has more than a million unfilled positions. just one hundred days to

now we're joined here in the studio by middle east analyst mark is calling from the german institute for international and security affairs good to see you mark good morning let's start with the resignation of u.s. defense secretary jim mattis what impact will that have on america's military operations and what's or so of it will have an impact on the military operations but it's a clear political signal i mean with two representatives representing very different schools international folds all international affairs president trump representing multinational it's true strain of u.s. foreign policy and in memphis representing well the internationalist strain of u.s. foreign policy and the nationalist obviously has long and therefore i think it's not only a withdrawal militaru withdraw from the rule but also political withdrawal from southern cross is faults around the world so much as it was seen as a stabilizing force in an administration that was often unpredictable that is often unpredictable from a european perspective what does it mean to lose him. or has been huge concern about the commitment of

peter thank you so much for instance you know steinberg middle east expert from the german institute for international security affairs and bright. some of the other stories making headlines around the world today belgium's prime minister showed michelle has resigned after a failed attempt to lead a minority government he decided to quit after he was unable to get enough support for united nations agreement on international migration. madagascar is going to the polls in a runoff between two political heavyweights marc ravalomanana and andre way to have both been president and are long standing political rivals if the result is tight observers fear a contested election may plunge madagascar into political crisis for lynn has marked the second anniversary of the terror attack that left twelve people dead and dozens wounded in the german capital on december nineteenth two thousand and sixteen a radicalized tunisian man hijacked a truck killed its driver and plowed into a crowded christmas market. chancellor merkel's government has agreed on a bill to help skilled workers from outside the european union p

some analysis now is bring in gaiters steinberg he's a middle east expert from the german institute for international and security affairs here in berlin good to see you get a so we just heard about the retaking of the stronghold in that report can we safely say now dieter that islamic state has been defeated in syria militarily it has been defeated doesn't control controlled territory anymore no towns but it did still. on the ground the coalition forces count between counted between four and six thousand fighters in iraq and syria combined before the latest events so it is still an act and forty six thousand is quite quite a big organization it's it's it's a military act of terrorist act of two to be reckoned with in the coming years and we've heard about islamic state in syria and iraq also in afghanistan to a degree what about the leadership of islamic state do we know where they are and what they're going to do next when the iraqis tell me that the leadership especially the kayleigh if he more. he that he is in syria he has has gone on the ground he's severely injured and i believe that he will e

the more this morning let's bring in get a steinberg expert on the middle east the german institute for international and security affairs think tank good morning to get oh all these talks lead to a truce and a halt in the fighting. we don't know yet. mistake because one thing has changed since since two thousand and sixteen when the last negotiations took place the united states now exerts pressure on saudi arabia and the u.a.e. to start the negotiations and the negotiations at least with a truce so i think we can we can all be slightly optimistic ok what's behind the new push from the united states i think we do see the results of the murder of the trumpet ministration is on the jump in and say that's a saudi arabian journalist the journalist who has been killed in october two in the saudi consulate in istanbul and ministration is under pressure by congress. to start sanctions more meaningful sanctions than it already has against saudi arabia and it seems to me that ministration wants to offer a yemen truce all perhaps even peace negotiations in order not to sanction saudi arabia and to its middle

more this morning let's bring in get zero steinberg expert on the middle east from the german institute for international and security affairs. good morning to you get oh all these talks lead to a truce and a halt in the fighting. we don't know yet. up to mistake because one thing has changed since since two thousand and sixteen when the last negotiations took place the united states now exert pressure on saudi arabia and the u.a.e. to start the negotiations and the negotiations at least with a truce so i think we can we can all be slightly optimistic ok what's behind the new push from the united states i think we do see the results of the murder of the trumpet ministration is on the jump in and say this is saudi arabian journalist the journalist who has been killed in october two in the consulate in istanbul and administration is under pressure by congress. to start sanctions more meaningful sanctions than it already has against saudi arabia and it seems to me that the administration wants to offer a yemen truce all perhaps even peace negotiations in order not to sanction saudi arabia and to its middle

from the german institute for international and security affairs. about the talks we asked him about the influence of washington with its ties to saudi arabia will have. all depends on the. administration is not that. is not. two thousand and fifteen so i think we. can mistake the actors on the ground especially saudi arabia. and the u.a.e. . are not that much interest in conflict resolution right now they still think that they can win this war. all right let's catch up now on some other stories making headlines around the world turkey's chief prosecutor's office has issued arrest warrants for two saudi officials believed to be involved in the killing of journalist jamal khashoggi both men are former advisers to saudi arabia's crown prince mohammed bin so much. british prime minister theresa may is battling to keep her brakes that plan on track as parliament continues a marathon five day debate on her deal may has already been handed a major blow her government became the first in british history to be found in contempt of parliament this asteroid r