a chief political correspondent, belinda crane is now he just how keep was gorbachev to german reunification. he was absolutely central, many of the attributes that are pouring in from german leaders referred to him as one of the fathers of a unified germany. and nearly every german who was alive at that time, and many of us who are not german, remember a sentence that he spoke on a visit to east berlin in october 1989. 1 month before the wall fell in which he said you get into trouble if you don't react to what history, what life deals you and when life dealt him the fall of the berlin wall, the way he reacted was with ultimate restraint. he kept soviet troops in their barracks later on he agreed to withdraw them from the territory of east germany and other eastern bloc countries. thereby ushering in the end of the cold war. and in fact, that we sprayed. and a sense of political reality were central characteristics that he called for in a legendary speech in the summer of 1989 to the european council. where he talked about a common european house based on political risk, read ality and for

for more joy now by the w as chief political correspondent, belinda crane lender on the face of it, it looks like germany's chancellor and vice chancellor have gone to canada, pleading for gas to get germany through the winter and failed to secure it. is that what just happened? that's pretty much the bottom line. although prime minister trudeau didn't say a flat out, know we heard him, they are saying very politely that canada would look into it. but that certainly doesn't solve germany's short term problem. as you said, the government has been working, especially the environment and economics minister, tirelessly to try to find alternative sources to rush and gas. and amongst their efforts is as the chancellor said, now commissioning new infrastructure floating terminals to receive liquefied natural gas on germany's northern coast. but where is that gas to come from? this is now the 3rd in a series of gas diplomacy, visits that included, cut, tar, norway and now canada. and in all 3 cases, the german government has essentially gotten a rush off. and this is a very crucial problem. fo

certainly the, the german government will be working hard to see what it can do. politically. belinda crane out chief political course, want to thank you very much. finally drive in cinemas made. they come back during the cove at 19 pandemic as a great way to socially distance yourself from other movie goers in venice. you don't pull up in your car, but you come by water either by boat or gondola. and if the movie doesn't captivate you well, you can still just enjoy the beautiful views over the lagoon. the venice film festival, by the way, gets on the way in a week's time. and a reminder of the top story way following for you. ukrainian authorities say one reactor at the nuclear power plant and separation has been reconnected after being knocked offline on thursday. russian st media is issued contradictory reports shelling in the region has raised concerns over a potential nuclear accident in watching t w. news up next in d. w. news. asia is the time prime minister out of time. why the opposition is trying to ask the former qu lita for exceeding his time at more with fearing vanity, i'm bee

melinda crane. belinda, starting with you for the germans. this would be clear, but for people abroad, just explain what, what sort of a ro gorbachev did play in that re unification process between east and west germany. many of the tributes that are now flowing in here in germany referred to him as one of the architects of unified germany. he is deeply, deeply revered, in this country, and many germans remember a legendary sentence that he uttered in october 1989. so one month before the wall fell, when he said, if you get there too late, history will punish you. and actually he said to have said something slightly more prosaic that you get into trouble in life if you don't deal with what it throws at you. and in fact, he dealt with what was thrown at him in november 1989 with the fall of the berlin wall with restraint. he kept soviet troops in their barracks. he later agreed to pull them back out of germany. in fact, one of my very 1st reports as a young journalist was on that soviet troop withdrawals from eastern germany. and he mentioned

crane. d. w. 's, chief, political correspondent, belinda. how important is this trip to the chancellor and the vice chancellor who is going with him? it's very important indeed. and in fact it's quite unusual for the vice chancellor to be accompanying the chancellor. but that shows the significance of what amounts to resource and energy diplomacy that the 2 are engaged in by the way. they're also staying longer than many such official visits. so the energy and economy minister robert hubig has been working tirelessly on a mission to try to reduce germany's dependence on russian natural gas. and as you know, this very hungry, this very industrial economy is extremely energy intensive. and therefore, that gas source or sources of gas are crucial. also for germany's export economy. germany is planning to construct floating liquefied natural gas terminals on its northern coast to receive gas supplies. but where shall those supplies come from? previous energy diplomacy initiatives, visa, the norway and katara had proven less fruitful than the ger