the hopes were set on angela merkel. everybody thought she would be the next strong chancellor, and four month later, you know, she is very fragile. very much criticized for her past politics. there is nobody she has blocked the way for any succession, nobody really obvious who could take on if she had to stop governing. so it is very interesting, and they do not see how even if the coalition was some sort of coalition before, how she could get out of it and become again the most forceful or powerful woman in the world. anchor: what do you say, andrea's? the influential newspaper had a page photo of angela merkel and above it "is she already consigned to history?" andreas: you could they damaged goods or lame-duck or a she is. she is a skillful as a politician that she could prolong this lame-duck period possibly for years. i think she is wise enouough to realize that after 13 years, it is time to allow some potential heirs, successors to rise in her party. no matter what happens in a coalition in a minority government,

it has and angela merkel, frankly, is running out of options.a new, stable government, the government, the security she promised germany. she's one of the most powerful woman in the world but today, her hands are tied because the ball is very much now in the court of the social democrats. i've just been watching some of the speeches there, a special party day, at the end of which they will vote on whether to go into another coalition, another four years with angela merkel. the party is really passionately, deeply divided. many within it to say, "you know what? four years of government with angela merkel, eight years, actually, has led us to a disastrous election result in september. our showing in the polls is really poor. we have been overshadowed by her, she has stolen our policies, we certainly don't want to work with her again". but there are equally significant numbers within the party who say, "it is our duty to ensure germany has a stable government. it is four yea rs has a stable government. it is four years —— four months since the gene

correspondent: perhaps angela merkel felt she needed it because -- as she went into a second day forratory talks with the social democrats. they are looking for a different version of europe's future. >> europe must be one of the main topics no matter what the government looks like. that is why i hope angela merkel and i will be able to reach an agreement to allow germany to once again be the motor of the european union. correspondent: with the failure of november's coalition talks fresh in their minds, the two sides have agreed on strict confidentiality. there are signs of progress, with reports slipping out that agreement has been that on climate, in contact -- income tax and investments. >> the towns here are as always when exploratory talks are taking place. the old rule applies. nothing has been agreed until everything has been agreed. correspondent: the exploratory talks ends on thursday when the two sides decide if there is enough common ground. brent: we're covering the talks. good evening to you. this second day of talks is over . where do we stand? there was a statement iss

you did not hear the answer from angela merkel, but she has other things to worry about. brent: i don't think you heard the word austerity once. i want to ask you both, you see an irony here? you have a conservative like merkel and macron, a former investment banker, praising this is a model for the world. is there an irony there? simon: they believe in doing things for the working people. i don't know if it's ironic, but it's the shape of the new politics. it's not new, of course. it's been there for a while. brent: what would you say, max? max: merkel is a conservative, not the neoliberal. it's been a long tradition with the cdu to have their social values. m lookinlooking at macron just as an investment banker does not do him justice. what we are witnessing at the moment are intelligent politicians in europe realizing the way globalization has been conducted in the past, and that the challenges of the future are such that you need to do something to ensure that you have people on board in the european union. otherwise, you will just feed populism. brent: max hoffman and

he is at two o'clock this afternoon closely followed by angela merkel. closely followed by angela merkeluropean leaders taking centre stage. taking centre stage. what else is happening later on? happening later on? there are so many other sides discussions and debates. discussions and debates. of an insight, the day of the refugee, they call it. refugee, they call it. challenges pose in terms of resolving them. resolving them. refugees on the scale like we are seeing in bangladesh. seeing in bangladesh. the speakers today we have a mass of men the president of zimbabwe. men the president of zimbabwe. —— emmerson mnangagwa. emmerson mnangagwa. special interview, which i am sure viewers will see on the bbc as well. viewers will see on the bbc as well. brazil, he will give a special address this morning. address this morning. days' time, the us president will be arriving. so it is a really busy day again. i will see you later. we will be back in the business briefing. be back in the business briefing. see you soon. thank you. to tell their personal stories of sexual abuse. several of them w

angela merkel is saying, thatis the middle. angela merkel is saying, that is cherry picking and it's not going to happen. precisely the kind of deal if the uk got it that might make it rather nice for other countries to leave the european union. which is why in the cold light of day europe aren't necessarily going to play along with that. this is all about the imagery. they are saying you won't get this free basket scenario because it sounds like another version of having your cake and eating it. aspiration that you foist before. again, itjust aspiration that you foist before. again, it just seems aspiration that you foist before. again, itjust seems that in a way they are kind of ahead of us in terms of where we want to go strategically. i'm not sure that we are springing many surprises on them at all. i wanted to talk about negotiating which you were getting at. over the past few days we had seen theresa may struggle to get what she wants from members of her own party or in her own government. ican own party or in her own gov

news live from berlin could a new coalition government for germany be within reach chancellor angela merkel and her conservatives have been holding talks with the leader of the social democrats the first day has ended on a positive note we'll look at the latest from our correspondent also coming up. paris remember spic the victims of the attacks three years ago that horrified the world the killings began when gunmen stormed the offices of the satirical magazine charlie updo. and four figure skaters from both sides of the korean divide look forward to an unlikely cross border reunion at the winter olympics. i'm michel henery good to have you with us. the first round of talks to form a new coalition government in germany has ended on a positive note a spokesman for the negotiations so they had been serious concentrated but also open chancellor angela merkel's conservatives are holding the talks with the center left social democrats after previous negotiations with other parties failed germany has been waiting for a new government since the election which took place more than three months ago.

angela merkel trying to kill off what britain wants now in terms of a future trade deal.rade deal. exa ctly. n ow in terms of a future trade deal. exactly. now that we have sufficient progress according to britain and the eu, as decided in december, talks can now start discussing trade. unfortunately this side of brexit is likely to be quite slow. the whole process will be slow but in the grand scheme of things, this will not start until the end of the first quarter. angela merkel is still unable to form government so she has issues on her side of the channel. this comes down to the belief that the uk wants to put across a trade deal or start talking about a trade deal which has three baskets. it wants to stay close to europe, where will diverged and a regulated middleground. angela merkel believes this is an clear and not something she wants for the european union, it will not work free single market and in all needs to be re— negotiated. paris is on her side as well. some eu members seem her side as well. some eu members seem to be siding with the uk according to the te

government but one young leader among the social democrats considers sharing power with chancellor angela merkel to be something like the kiss of death for his party. we don't want it but we have to do it and that's the endless loop we've been in for so many years and comrades that logic must be broken. oh we begin the day with tents and the palestinians today palestinian president mahmoud abbas met with european union foreign ministers in brussels abbas is on a mission seeking more support from europe he has rejected the u.s. as a peace mediator ever since u.s. president donald trump recognized jerusalem as the capital of israel back in december but europe refuses to go that far saying that working with the u.s. is and remains the go a while abbas is in europe u.s. vice president mike pence is in israel the vice president is on his first three day tour of the country to celebrate trump's move on jerusalem today inside the israeli parliament the knesset fence was reminded of just how much disarray and anger trumps policy has spawned take a look citizens of israel. israeli arab lawmakers interrup

he can say to angela merkel, i have my people waiting at home. they are going to begin in a vote on this coalition deal, if we put one together. if there is no red meat for social democrats to get behind, there has to be something in terms of policy on the labor market, on the health care system. some of these key areas that have been identified, where social democrats would like to see some concessions from angela merkel's side. brent: we have about 20 seconds left. give us a date we could see a new government here in germany. simon: there is a few more weeks of talks, brent. then, there will be a vote of the spd membership to see if they approved the deal. it could be mid-march before any new ran coalition government is sworn in. brent: simon young on the story in berlin. simon, thank you very much. in russia, opposition leader alexei navalny has suffered another setback after a moscow court ordered a foundation supporting him to shut down. the justice ministry had filed a lawsuit against the foundation, citing various irregularities. last mont

you have been watching german chancellor angela merkel speaking there at the c.d.u. headquarters in berlin where germany is moving one step closer to getting a new government formal coalition talks between the chancellor who we just heard from and the social democrats are finally getting underway at this hour more than four months after germans went to the polls to elect a new government as well as germany's future government also at stake in these talks the political futures of the two party leaders the social democrats only narrowly voted to begin the negotiations at a special conference party conference this past weekend now as p.t. chairman martin schultz is has indicated that he is unlikely to stay on as leader if those talks fail and if they don't fail the s.p.d.m. four hundred forty thousand members will vote on whether to approve it here is what their party leader said going into the talks have less relief on. the negotiations building on the results already achieved in the. different social democratic mode so we don't agree with you know the document i share

over tax, and refugee policy, issues over tax, and refugee policy, which has come back to haunt angela merkelese talks. don't forget this is her second attempt to form a stable government for germany. coalition talks with another set of partners collapsed last year. it doesn't leave mrs merkel with many options. it is coming to the 11th hour. she needs to come up with a solution, and all eyes really in germany are on the cdu party headquarters where those negotiations have been going on throughout the night to see what they can potentially come up with this morning. what happens if they can't come up with a deal? there are a range of different scenarios. 0ne of the options is that he might say we need more time to crunch this deal together. the second option is mrs merkel might say if we can't make this coalition work, let's go back and see if we can't go back and talk to our previous coalition partners, and see if we can't get that off the ground again. there is the option of a minority government, thatis the option of a minority government, that is not something which is common in germany,

—— angela merkel.news for her, it has been for months now since the inconclusive results of the federal elections which everybody expected her to do well in and not have these difficulties. failed attempt to form a coalition with the liberals and the greens and now she has had to go back to her old partners, the social democrats, they voted today to open talks for a new grand coalition. good news in the short term but really a reminder of how quickly political fortunes can change. angela merkel was talked about last summer of the strongest leader in the eu and now she is really hobbled, it initiates this together she will not be in the driving seat. presumably have to make a lot of concessions to martin schultz and the general consensus is that she will not be leading her party into the next set of federal elections in 2020. we have got so used to her being the leader of europe, haven't we? it is quite incredible to see her here really struggling to hold onto power. germany was the leader in europe, un

in conservative parties will have to go into government if angela merkel is to remain as chancellor merkel has made it clear it's a majority government new elections the chance and future two is riding on the outcome of these talks. covering the talks for us as our political correspondent kate brady who joins us now in the studio kate. what do we know about how the talks have progressed at the end of the first day it was quite a positive atmosphere at the s.p.d. the social democrats headquarters this evening the general secretary of the s.p.d. said that the talks today had been intense but open and that most of the time today was actually spent talking about the issues on which the three fought is involved in these talks actually agree upon and those more contentious issues will be addressed over the next four days what was particularly interesting was this comment that he made about how all three of the parties involved realized that germany needs a new political style and he said that this was largely due to the result of the german election back in september because remember that the so

for the german chancellor a new survey shows that most voters do not want another coalition of angela merkel's conservatives and her old social democratic partner. it makes uncomfortable reading ahead of talks between the two parties. also coming up. the bombshell book fire and fury goes on sale in america people lining up to get their hands on the book the president didn't want them to read trump has blasted the unflattering behind the scenes portrait of his administration. i'm sorry kelly welcome to the program thanks so much for joining us forming a new government to more than three months after elections that is the challenge that is ad hand here in germany and according to a new poll the weight is weighing on the public mood a new survey by a pollster in for a test dean map makes grim grieving for chancellor angela merkel it shows that only forty five percent of germans want a repeat of a coalition with the social democrats this just as the two sides prepare for talks . i'm the america desperately needs to deliver more than one hundred days after the federal elections she still has no gov

news live from then after months of deadlock is in the german government now inside chancellor angela merkel says she hopes to form a ruling coalition by. this have potential partners the social democrats face a battle as leader martin schultz tries to win over skeptical members. also on the program the african union demands an apology from donald trump expressing its outrage at the u.s. president's alleged use of derogatory comments to describe the continent. and in german soccer the business league is back with the top of the table clash second place shall be hoping to continue their on the run as they face like six tonight. i've. learned welcome my name is christopher spring it thanks for joining us german chancellor angela merkel says she hopes to form a new government by east that is off to her conservatives reached agreement with the social democrats yesterday on launching a formal coalition talks a previous attempt remember to form a coalition with smaller parties failed late last year friday's breakthrough has eased months of political uncertainty here in germany there are however st

a matt herman thanks for joining us german chancellor angela merkel's future hangs in the balance today the country's center left social democrat party as you to hold any key votes on whether to enter coalition talks with merkel's conservatives. democrat leader martin shields is in favor of forming a coalition but he faces strong resistance from within his own party and a no vote could lead to a minority government which merkel has already said she won't lead or it could lead to fresh elections. should they seek to join another coalition government with angle americans conservatives or should their priority be to renew their own party so they can win back support they've lost in recent years that is the tough choice facing this congress of social democrats the s.p.d. leadership are united in arguing in favor of the deal leader martin schultz told delegates that many people are looking to the s.p.d. to represent them against conservative policies the only move in the no name on. the five workers pension is single parents school students in trainees people who are renting their homes thes

so a short—term success for angela merkel but this whole period has left weakened.aying it is the end of angela merkel but there is a sense that we are looking at the beginning of the end of the angela era. the government is being urged by unions to bring contracts from the construction giant carillion back into public control, amid fears that the company is close to collapse. carillion, which employs nearly 20,000 people in the uk, has issued a number of profits warnings in the last few months. it's a major supplier to the government and has contracts in the rail industry, education and the nhs. our business editor, simonjack, is with me. just how much trouble is carillion in? a lot, it is £1.5 billion in debt, it is running out of cash and need hundreds of millions more. it's a very hard company to sell as one of its competitors told me when i askedif of its competitors told me when i asked if they fancy buying it, they said if we wanted a loss—making contract said if we wanted a loss—making co ntra ct we said if we wanted a loss—making contract we can write our o

what programme will this new fourth government led by angela merkel have?ulation, maybe it will be more european integration, more health spending, it looks like it will probably be quite influenced by what the spd wanted, because merkel has nowhere to go now, this is her last chance. she has listen left a slightly wea ker she has listen left a slightly weakerfigure she has listen left a slightly weaker figure because of this. she has listen left a slightly weakerfigure because of this. she has been awful powerful in the eu for a long time, but this has been a bit of a knock back for her. it has been appalling for her. in fact her party, the cdu and the spd did very badly or relatively badly in the september elections and the spd blamed having been in the grand coalition with the cdu for their poor showing. initially the spd leader said i don't want to do with any more coalitions so he has almost been dragged kicking and screaming into this position. so as ben said, the next thing is to have the detailed coalition arrangements decided, then it has to go the

also coming up, make or break week for germany's chancellor, angela merkel. future rests in the hands of the social democrats leader. he is trying to persuade his skeptical party to back coalition talks with merkel's conservatives again. and the moment a floor collapses at the jakarta stock exchange in indonesia. scores of people injured, but police say it was not a terror attack. i'm brent goff. it is good to have you with us. tonight, threats and outrage coming from turkey, based on a clash along the border with syria and iraq. the force would defend territory held by the syrian democratic forces, which are led by kurdish forces. president recep tayyip erdogan views the kurds as terrorists and has threatened to "drown the force before it's born." halida: in aleppo, this footage posted online by the syrian government. they say the army has captured dozens of villages in the past three days and is closing in on rebel forces. further north, turkey has threatens to attack the kurdish-held town. monitoring groups say schelling has begun. ankara had been hoping f

it's interesting, you take us neatly onto our next point — you mentioned angela merkel.at regard. sunday is a crucial day for german politics and, some argue, for eu stability more broadly. delegates from the social democrats, the spd, will vote on whether to enter formal coalition talks with chancellor merkel‘s bloc. nearly four months after the country's election, angela merkel has still not managed to form a government and many in the spd are anxious about entering another coalition, given their vote was eroded in september, after four years as the junior partner. thomas, martin schulz has been travelling the country trying to sell the idea, trying to rally the support in the run—up to sunday's vote. you have given a good introduction into the problems of the spd, wondering whether they will continue in government with merkel and they might disappear from the screen as it were as an independent political identity. actually, looking at germany now, if she was an ongoing concern, business, it would be time to issue a profit warning, frankly, about the health of their po

in conservative parties will have to go into government if angela merkel is to remain as chancellor merkel has made it clear it's a majority government new elections the chance and future two is riding on the outcome of these talks. covering the talks for us as our political correspondent kate brady who joins us now. kate chancellor merkel has a lot of work ahead of her and these political negotiation talks why do these products are they struggling so much to find common ground between basic issue and that's the two of the three main parties taking part in these talks have very opposing objectives in these talks and is that's especially between the social democrats and the c.s. use that the very insistent party to merkel's c.d.u. conservatives and s.p.d. of course remember they actually said that they wouldn't form another grand coalition with merkel's conservatives and so they really have to work over these during these exploratory talks also convince their own delegates and party members that a grand coalition would be the right move for the s.p. day so they're putting demands on the tab

the spd to build a stable government. >> within her conservative party, people are saying that angela merkel will last another four years at the most. no one discusses this openly, but many are thinking about the time after merkel. intentional successors now have to position themselves. at the same time, merkel pass to plan how she can hand over power without losing it too fast. so what is the next step? there are a lot of unanswered questions. >> what was the first question? oh. and have a great start to the new year. >> whether that turns out to be good or bad, 2018 will certainly not be boring. phil: we all have days like that. i'm sorry, what was the question? president trump has a promise of tax reform that would be a win for companies, but not all companies are fans of it. >> at first, it was seen as a win. some corporations are saying there are nasty surprises in store. you would think those countries would enter the new year with a sense of glee because on paper, the tax reform hands them a tax rate of 21%, it is down from the previous 35%. in the short-term, not all committees are w

angela merkel's conservatives reportedly reach a coalition agreement with the spd including a commitment to strengthen ties with france. >>> running in a different direction. shares in puma crater after kering announces a spinoff to focus on luxury. >>> grim picture vivendi shares sink after the media company lowers its full-year guidance and blames restructuring costs. >>> and fiat chrysler shares rally as the company promises company bonuses on the back of u.s. tax reform and unveils a billion dollar investment in michigan ♪ >>> now, on to one of our top stories, german lawmakers reached a break through in negotiations to form a coalition government according to reports. this allows them to move on to formal coalition talks a coalition paper says the cdu and spd want to strengthen the eurozone by partnering with france it says germany is prepared to boost contribution to the eu budget and germany's domestic budget will be balanced without new debt we've seen quite the reaction in euro/dollar. we had a bounce in the currency pair following on from the hawkish ecb minutes. you can see ag

government the social democrat party had voted to enter formal coalition talks with chancellor angela merkel's conservatives and initial show of hands was too close to call so every vote of the more than six hundred delegates at the party conference had to be counted individually the outcome was a clear majority in favor of moving forward with negotiations. it was a nail biting finish to a long debate. with hundred sixty two voted yes with two hundred seventy nine zero and one abstention with that the s.p.d. will enter into coalition talks thad in the end the social democrats top brass had the majority they needed to start coalition talks with the americans conservatives . earlier party leader martin short made an emotional appeal to delegates stressing the role the center left party could play in strengthening europe. you know sometimes you can feel it the you know it's we can improve many things in germany and we have a great opportunity to rebuild europe and thus bring about more social justice not just in our country but across the continent. and didn't view of the last decade and a half i

one of the top stories out this german chancellor angela merkel has told the world economic forum in davos that protectionism is not such of the world's problems she also stressed commitment to creating a single market what digital so says. he says it will expand its offensive inside in northern syria as it confronts kurdish groups it accuses of terrorism that's despite. the international community. you can always get the news on the go just down the road from google from the apple store will give you access to all the latest news from around the world as well as push notifications for any breaking huge but also use such photos i'm thinking. the whole d w one. for global insight the news our local heroes. w made for mines.

members of germany social democrats are calling for improvements to a coalition of blueprints with angela merkel's conservative they needs to win over skeptical party members who could vote against a deal to start formal coalition talks put conservatives oppose any changes to the greenman played on friday after martha long talks also coming up. protests are built in tune in see as the country marks the seven hundred first three of the arab spring there are fears the situation could escalate the north african nation struggles with major economic problems. because of injuries tonic after a turkish plane skids off a wrong way and plunges down the same size cliff that stops just meters from the docks the remark of a new one is hurt. leading members of germany's social democrats are calling for improvements to a coalition blueprint agreed with chancellor angela merkel's conservatives they have to win over the party's rank and file who could vote against starting form a coalition talks to congress next week and center by christian democrats on their bavarian sister party the c.s.t. you oppose making cha

angela merkel strong opposition may torpedo blueprint.e seen since the election in germany is that angela merkel is somewhat diminished. what

about when this the coalition blueprints agree with angela merkel's conservatives on friday could be improved on senior social democrats a. few needed many good individual projects in this consultation paper on which we can and should develop further but the big social topics like health care universal public health insurance or social housing are nearly entirely micio fear in park to complete. the pressure is going as is nervousness politicians on both sides are talking tough. but it was martin schultz now needs to show that the s.p.d. can be a reliable coalition partner and he must nip this potential revolt in the bud there can be no renegotiating. this is nonsense and of course i can't stop people from the c.s.u. from talking nonsense we're used to that but such strong arm tactics definitely don't help us come together social democrat members will be able to have their say on the grand coalition in a week's time. passengers aboard an airliner have described scenes of panic as it skidded off the runway at a turkish airport and plunged down the side of a cliff the pegasus airlines p

grand coalition with angela merkel. no let's be clear about it that was just one person saying that she had encountered that feeling amongst other delegates among some people relatively well placed inside the party but there is no suggestion i would say that the leadership as it currently stands has any intention of doing anything other than going into formal negotiations because. they truly believe that this is the best deal that is available and they think that their role in a german democracy where there is a situation such as this where there's no clear winner in all vs a majority other than a grand coalition they believe it's their duty to pursue that option and that's what they're going to do so clearly mr schultz while he was really indorsed as party leader very recently substantially he believes he has the mandate to carry on and has given no indication whatsoever that he would consider leaving the question is more metaphorical about where the party goes further down the line are they happy about the idea of gov

from berkeley and author months of deadlock is in the new german government now inside chancellor angela merkel says she hopes to form a ruling coalition by easter but have consensual partners the social democrats face of battlers leader martin schultz tries to win over skeptical members but also on the program the african union demands an apology from donald trump expressing his outrage at the u.s. president's alleged use of derogatory comments to describe the continent. hello and welcome my name is christopher spring a good to have you with us german chancellor angela merkel says she hopes to form a new government by east that is off to her conservatives reached agreement with the social democrats yesterday on launching a formal coalition chalk's the previous attempt to form a coalition with smaller parties failed late last year so friday's breakthrough has eased months of political uncertainty here in germany there are however still several hopeful hurdles for all that to have a come to be social democrats leader martin short's still has a lot of selling to do he's asking the party's executi

form a coalition to rule are growing in confidence with each other, and says it's good news for angela merkel who lost her majority in september and has been locked in a stalemate since. and the daily telegraph reports on video refereeing coming to football. a trial starts in the english fa cup tonight. recordings can be used to see if the officials on the pitch have made a mistake. what will happen in the pub afterwards 7 with me isjonathan charles, managing temperature of communications at the european bank for reconstruction reconstruction and development. you carry quite well and you know her work really well. what is your take? this is a dramatic intervention from carrie gracie who has been the china editor, accusing your bosses of having a secretive and illegal pay culture. that is a major move. it is difficult. it is no doubt, there is no doubt there are major disparities in paid. not just in the bbc. as we saw in the government statistics brought out, it happens in many companies. the difficulty is how do you quantify it? for example, carrie says here that the two male equivalents of

>> i think in the next term, with the angela merkel -- it will be in one hand, survival of the party.> as opposition as well >> even as of opposition even if they go to the election, there's a chance it could crumble or fall back into place. at the same time, the government can get across what they want to get done and sort of, from the preliminary agreement, that started in january, it -- for the spd, i'm not sure coming away looking so good in taxation and health care they still haven't gotten all of that nailed down. >> let's talk about europe more widely, president emanuel macron pushing on the policy that he's been a proponent of. merkel has her plate full in terms of coalition talks does that leave macron in a position in terms of driving an indication, that she's going to take a more backseat too >> i think whatever happens going forward, we'll probably see a new government that we haven't quite seen within a few months once she's back in the driving seat with a proper mandate i think then she did do something, a series of visits to reinstate her positionto show that she's stil

and that of course in a certain way strengthens martin shields his hand because he can say to angela merkel look you know i've got my people waiting at home they're going to be given a vote on this coalition deal if we put one together so there's no red meat in there for social democrats to get behind that has to be something in terms of policy on the labor market on the health care system what some of these key areas that have been identified where social democrats would like to see some concessions from angela merkel so right and so i mean we've got about twenty seconds left give us a date here is there any idea when we might see a new government here in germany was a few more weeks of talks brant and then as i say they'll be a vote of the s.p.d. membership to see if they approve the deal people here are saying it could be made moments before any new grand coalition government is sworn in so i'm young on the story for us tonight here in berlin so ivan thank you very much. and a reminder of the top story we're following for you the u.s. vice president has told israel's parliament the ameri

parties have agreed not to brief the press for fear of scuppering any deal the german chancellor angela merkel's conservatives and the central of social democrats they've set themselves a deadline of tomorrow to find out if they have enough common ground to start form a coalition to all. day four of the exploratory talks between chancellor merkel's conservatives and the social democrats but much remains unclear the parties have agreed on a news blackout so information about any breakthroughs is scarce us or any statements by party leaders she wants us all to like i suppose this is going to be a long day so first of all good morning for all of you and i hope that we will make some progress today to go through. the talks are scheduled to run until thursday night on friday the two sides then announce whether they intend to launch a full coalition negotiations however the s.p.d. will also have to seek the backing of its rank and file party conference in bonn on january the twenty first at an earlier party conference in december delegates had already voted in favor of the current exploratory talks if

anchor: the csu has always wanted a tougher line on immigration than angela merkel's cdu.onder if victor ormonde's presence is likely to exacerbate those differences. analyst: i think both sides, the cdu and csu, know exactly where their differences are. there is a certain sense of satisfaction in the csu that the german chancellor has departed over the past two years from what became known as her open arms policy towards migrants. we have seen a whole succession of tightening of the laws. of course, nowhere near the approach that hungary is taking, which is shut down its borders, and has refused despite a european court order to take in its share of migrants. basically, that kind of solidarity in europe simply is not working. it definitely is not working with the eastern states. and what the csu sees as a potential success is that they seem to have extracted from victor orban that he might help humanitarian efforts in regions like syria, to help honor humanitarian levels. this is not making it easy in berlin right now. anchor: in the report, angela merkel's perspective co

now in the studio by our political correspondent miss hale and for analysis of how chancellor angela merkel is likely to view the video business has a lot of pot is in front of the city you headquarters here in berlin so let's start with you let's do some armchair psychoanalysis do you imagine that merkel is relieved right now. oh she will be very relieved she is very relieved indeed we've been hearing from many conservative politicians tonight actually congratulating the social democrats on their willingness to try to form a government and chancellor merkel in specific she hasn't been very outspoken on these talks and on forming a government in the past month but she came out immediately with a statement let's listen in to her reaction. in the following to see to use conclusion of exploratory talks last week which cleared the way for formal coalition talks we welcome the news that the social democrats have followed suit at their party conference today. after intensive and sometimes controversial discussions they reached a positive result that means the way is now clear for formal coalition