is 127.5 percent of the vote in saxony just fine chancellor merkel's christian democrats party in brandenburg f.-t. won $24.00 and a half percent of the vote also just shy of marcos coalition partner you're up to date those are the headlines we come back after al-jazeera takes us to one on one. it was supposed to be a new dawn for afghan women. play was often easy being terrorized by the taliban they celebrated will be us overthrew the brutal regime. we will not tire. we will not fail. but 18 years and teens of thousands of casualties the war rages on. the taliban insurgency is stronger than ever. made the american people are weary of war without victory. desperate to withdraw its troops the u.s. is now negotiating a peace deal that could see the group's return to power along with its violent repression of women because saudi king will create patently as the people who have signed the death sentence of many women and i have no expectations of the. one the one east investigates if afghan women who pay the price for peace they war torn country. place. money on the enemy. was. as bad i did not h

towards them from the national level and local council member em off i'm going to mcewan's christian democratic party who voted for you actually actually said quote what he does in the posse or in private that's not my business they're not our business so it seemed like there was no other candidate running the post have been vacant for weeks. you actually knew how to write emails knew how to communicate handle a computer well and that's why the other council members elected him and then came the outrage at the national level many senior politicians often going to america but also the social democrats and all other mainstream parties were expressing their anger their disbelief at the election and calling for a reversal off the election and it actually looks like the 1st steps have been taken towards that reversal and there was a motion filed by some council members trying to reverse to dismiss the right wing extremist local as chair of that council so it looked like the local politicians were just electing yaks and didn't expect the reaction and the outrage at the national level just it does seem extr

and the social democrats is as weak as it is america has said that she's no longer going to be standing for reelection she's handed of a party leadership 2 and a good combo so the christian democrats the conservatives are in a transition period within their own party and as i say they haven't yet decided which direction to take more to the right or more to the left the same is happening within the social democratic party the other party in government at the moment there's a big sense of. change but we don't know well yet in what direction this change is going to take place whether in the direction as it will of the i have to be or in completely the opposite direction we don't know yet at the moment absolutely and a final question to you and what everybody wants to know obviously is what these recent elections mean at the national level to what extent is the stability of the national government the c.d.u. inclination that the s.p.d. has been compromised or damaged by this election result what would be your assessment of that my feeling is that both the concert and the social democrats have taken a little bit of hope out of these recent elections the one party the conserva

we see in sex on even just a most important east german federal state and there we have a christian democrat party that at least used to be quite conservative and we have greens that are lefty for greens so now they have to to build a coalition or do they don't fit together at all so we've all have a weak government and we've all seen the party members of both the greens and the christian democrats are very on a happy about that so at a new government will be very unstable and be a very strong and we are together and united and when you are a strong opposition force and you have had a unstable government then you can kind of reach a lot so i guess it's a mistake that you have to be part of a government to change a country you can change it by good position by good media and by good arguments and add all those to tossed for us in the next years do you has an agenda and really that is based on it will centric nationalism militarism will elect a new liberalism as well as racism exclusion interests on to morals success of the fifty's or you but it's also going to be governments this happens on the fun

it becomes one of the party's biggest victories harbor its next steps are not clear the ruling christian democrats have already confirmed they won't work with the f.t. but the outcome will become clear later this year as peter overby reports. well starts off in brandenburg it was a win for the social democrats in a campaign that they were neck and neck with throughout the alternative for germany picking up around 23 percent of the vote there with the social democrats winning on 25 percent in saxony we saw massive gains for alternative for germany it wasn't enough for them to win the state that went to the christian democratic union angle or merkel's party but 2728 percent for alternative for germany in saxony could end up rising as high as 30 big gains for them there and that's not a given this is a sensational result we have achieved the best result in local elections avar and we can see that 30 years after the fall of the wall governments don't want to be left wing need the. us is i mean let me just see it is clear these 2 elections have had only one winner the deep we've seen from other politic

we see in sex on even just a most important east german federal state and there we have a christian democrat party that at least used to be quite conservative and they have greens that are already a lefty for greens so now they have to to build a coalition or do they don't fit together at all so we've all have a weak government we've all seen the party members of both the greens and the christian democrats are very on a happy about that so i don't your government will be very unstable and we have a strong and we are together and united and when you are a strong opposition force and you have an unstable government then you can kind of reach a lot so i guess it's a mistake that you have to be part of a government to change a country. you can change it by good position by good media and by good argument and that was the task force in the next years. for a 2nd day a vigil for the victims of the most deadly terror attack in modern russian history is being held 334 were killed mostly children during a siege in which more than a 1000 people were taken hostage at a school in the north the city town of bes

in sex and the richest and most important east german federal state then there we have a christian democrat party that at least used to be quite conservative and we have greens that are lefty for greens so now they have to to build a coalition or do they don't fit together. at all so we've all have a weak government we've all seen the party members of both the greens and the christian democrats are very are happy with that so i don't you government will be very unstable and we are very strong and we are together and united and when you are a strong opposition force and you have had a unstable government then you can can reach a lot so i guess it's a mistake that you have to be part of a government to change a country you can change it by good position by good media and by good arguments and all this to talk for us in the next years do you think that the after you can repeat its success it's electoral success at the national level. i think we are now the ice breaker in east germany people in the governments kind of work against the interest of the people and media can lie in east and west germany

potential future center ground there at the big parties in decline and yet still holding on to their top posts in both elections in saxony the christian democrats remaining the strongest party and the minister president of that state michelle ketchum who's been leading the government there with the christian democrats in that state did speak a bit earlier to his supporters let's listen to him now. now the we've done it this is a message coming out of saxony this evening a large majority of people who are standing up for this country who want something the friendly face of saxony has won many thanks to you. yet michelle they could sense that relief you were talking about there from. really pushing hard ahead of the spota to win over as many voters as as possible and it seems like the christian democrats were able to mobilize supporters in that state in saxony. all right it looks like michele i can't hear us at the moment having some trouble with that connection to our chief political editor of you know a we've just been talking with michelle about the christian democrats who heard that from michelle and you said in particular has been very effec

mainstream parties it's be clear the christian democrats in saxony lost 80000 more than 8000 voters who went directly to the f d also here in brandenburg governed by the s.p.d. the social democrats for so long they only just beat the f.t. this is a state that has had a left wing government for 10 years the social democrats and the former communist left party have governed this state for 10 years and yet the far right movement which emphasizes the need to cut down on immigration to take a very hard line on asylum seekers and refugees well that party now being supported by around one in 4 of all voters don't think they're joining us from banda by dominic. protesters in hong kong have again targeted the city's airport disrupting travelers the demonstrations came a day after some of the worst violence the city has seen as protests started there nearly 3 months ago wayne hale has the story. this isn't the welcome people expect when arriving to check in at hong kong airport i for the 2nd time in 3 weeks and he government protesters tried to block access to one of the busiest terminals in the

bhatti well there's certainly no euphoria in the christian democratic party amongst the conservatives they didn't manage to hold on to being the strongest party in saxony but they took very very serious losses. they have been trying to assess what that means for the party and frankly the statements that i'm going to get come come by has been making this morning doesn't show any new initiative any new ideas at the moment what they might possibly do in order to gain back some of the support that they have lost to the far right what she's been talking about is pushing forward the kind of programs that they have been developing anyway on climate change for instance all in digitalization not really new initiatives that are going to i think and food is a lot of voters at the same time you have to say the party the conservatives are facing a lot of change internally within the party i'm going to marco the chance of the as it that she is not going to stand for reelection she's handed over dealership 2 and they could come combo the party internally is trying to decide what direction to take fr

if not to say right wing and even racist views than were reflected in anglo-american as christian democratic party it was but there was no one on the stage who said this openly or with an air of credibility and legitimacy. and feel if he has succeeded in doing just that out there and now racist values and world views and not just being forceful but openly expressed. there's a lot of question that. rightwing extremist beliefs also exist in the center of society that we like to think of as a kind of bastion a line of defense and we tend to think of right wing extremism as taking place on the political fringe something that you can get back on the control because it's just an isolated minority but that's not really true me peace attitudes are widespread you'll find many segments of society. right wing extremism can persist over generations this is shown by a study conducted by the university of munich which examined rhineland. and bought in britain back to federal states where immigration has been less of a factor. they found that areas that voted for the nazis in 1933 shown here in red gave a larger

working class like they do in other countries and another party rooted in industrialist or christian democratic party and so on. we have what some call the most enthusiastic capitalist party on the planet and the second most enthusiastic capitalist party on the planet. so i mean i think that's one interesting thing. for me, the solution to a lot of our problems, but not all of our problems as a society involves guaranteeing a bedrock of social rights. which can be done efficiently through the use of a universal state that is still governed by certain norms and rules and so on. this wouldn't be a guaranteed outcome of efficiency or a better life of people. but i think it can be a starting point. now, beyond that, certain things government can do well, there's other sectors in which we want more competition, where we need things to keep us going. the question is twofold. what should the price of this failure be. if you're a worker at a firm that is moving into a new sector and you fail and your innovation fails, then what should happen to you? i think you should bounce on this net of the welfare state,

movement or working-class like in other countries and another party rooted in industrial s or christian democratic party and so on, we have what some socialists call the most enthusiastic capitalism party on the country and the second most enthusiastic capitalist party on the planet. to me, the solution to a lot of our problems, but not all of our problems in society, includes guaranteeing a bedrock of social rights which can be done efficiently through the use of a universal state that is governed by certain norms and rules and so on. this wouldn't be a guaranteed outcome of either efficiency or a better life for people, but i think it could be a starting point. sphere of the commanding height of the economy, there are things that government can do well. there are other sectors we want more competition, where we need things from failures to keep us going. the question is, what should the price of failure be? if you are a worker at a firm that is moving into a new sector and you fail, and your innovation fails, what should happen toinnovation fails, thent should happen to you? i think you should fall on

the germany's main centrist parties, including chancellor angela merkel's center-right christian democratic party. the elections were held on the 80th anniversary of the nazi invasion of poland. german president f frank-walter steinmeier on sunday asked polandnd for f forgiveness foroe nazi invasion inin 1939. u.n. investigator says the u.s., britain, and others may be guilty of war criris after bombing campaign in yemen. as aid workers say over 100 people were likely killed sunday when air raids launched by the u.s.-backed, saudi-i-led coalitioion leveleda prison in n the southwesestern y of dhamar. thisis is assem momohamed, a prisoner w who survived sunday's attack. >> the first strike came with the plane. i was other window. i then went under the window as the walls come tumbling down my back. it were eight people in the room and a total of 100. after the airstrikes, after half an houour to an hour, they can o rescue people. i was yelling from underneath the rubble. 2020 presidential hopeful bernie sanders, who spearheaded the senate's passage of a war powers resolution that would end u.s. in

that's been an issue for years especially the big tent so-called big tent political parties because christian democrats but also the social democrats do really seem to have a problem to engage especially younger people at the local level to run for office and to engage in politics so this is what this case has shown. us tonight here in berlin let me thank you. reporters in indian administered kashmir are struggling to do their jobs without internet phone lines are mobile phone services more than a month after india suspend is the region's autonomy reporting from kashmir well reporters are facing some severe restrictions and an unprecedented communications shut down d. w. corresponded to me sure yon's wall traveled to srinagar in indian administered kashmir dares she discovered kashmiris in a state of confusion without access to reliable new the news room without into mapped phone lines all more by connections this it's just meet in 29 team put a spock bantry a reporter foot or national newspaper the computer us at walk that's simply to write 2 fatalities on do get has woke to the people as headquarter

this november since then since the return of democracy to these 2 states these 2 parties the social democrats and the christian democrats separately have governed these 2 states and yet now a party of the far right has come 2nd a close 2nd to those 2 parties with an agenda as you were saying a very tough agenda on migrants on immigration but also with a manifesto pledge saying we need to change the change that germany underwent in east germany under what they called it divan in germany the slogan of the f.t. was full and complete the changes in the say how they would do it they were trying to harness a sense in this particular part of journey in east of germany people feel dissatisfied with what 30 years of democracy and capitalism have brought them all right thank you very much we'll get more from dominic k. nato later but for now thank you dominic cain and stan let's discuss this and more with having a social scientist and a research associate at the london school of economics joins us via skype from can see just outside in and so as dominic was saying that the 2 mainstream parties might have secured 1st pla

that hundreds of thousands of people who 5 years ago decided to vote for the mainstream parties the christian democrats are the center right social democrats of the center left well they've abandoned those parties and they've gone to the extreme they've gone to the far right party the alternative for germany party whose manifesto is pretty clear it's very tough line on immigration on people who've come to this country as economic migrants and refugees and also a party which has been appealing to east germans people in these 2 states these 2 east german states saying that the revolution that toppled communism needed to be finished it needed changes as it were to the changes it needed to reflect the aspirations of ordinary east germans that was a message that definitely chimed with a substantial part of the electorate of these 2 states and these 2 states are heartland states for the respective parties the social democrats here in brandenburg in potsdam outside the the this is the state capital outside state parliament here and in saxony for the christian democrats the 2 parties have governed these states

parties which realistically leaves just the greens now put them together they would have a majority in parliament and it's not as if in the rest of europe there aren't instances of christian democrats and green parties in coalition together certainly that's the case in some states in germany but here the sticking point might well be on immigration because the green party is a party of the center it believes it's social agenda is not compatible with the sorts of him immigration policy that mr cortes has been in charge of always government has anyway for the past few years so there is the sticking point the stumbling block which means it could be many weeks before there is a stable coalition agreed thank you very much with the latest from vienna dominic kane thank you tell me. you have al jazeera live from london more still ahead us democrats say public support is growing for an impeachment inquiry to president donald trump. and tens of thousands take to the streets of moscow to protest against the jailing of physicians activists. there's no letup in the stormy weather that's been part again across northern parts if you have one system makes its way across the british isles into the

as a success simply because the losses were reduced to such an extent that the christian democrats remain the strongest party in saxony. yes it means we're on your mattress property that it is also in crisis. is no longer going to be a. proxy battle has said that she is not going to stand for election really action again she has handed over the party chairmanship to a successor to. and who is the defense minister in germany now so the party is in a transformation process and what we've seen here in saxony the party went to the right and was very successful in the other state where there were elections and brand new book the party went to the left and was less successful these tensions within the party within the console it was going to come further to before the party is going to need to decide which direction to take under its new leader. the party's going to spend a lot of time deciding for itself to thinking about itself thinking about its direction ok let's talk about what all this means for germany's social democrats who together with chancellor merkel's c.d.u. are governing at the national level we've

parties. the christian democrats of chancellor angela merkel remain the biggest party in saxony, with about amost votes in brandenberg. the afd finished second in both states. let's speak to sir peter torry, who was former british ambassador to germany. he joins us from berlin. welcome to the briefing. do you think politicians in berlin are breathing a sigh of relief?|j think politicians in berlin are breathing a sigh of relief? i think they are breathing a sigh of relief because these elections could have been a lot worse. the afd could have one in both states and some of the poles suggested they might well do that. they have not one but, nonetheless, we have reached a point in germany where 20% plus has become normalfor in germany where 20% plus has become normal for this extreme right—wing party and that must be a course for concern. going forward for now, at least, it means angela merkel‘s party, the cdu ‘s are still able to govern and has its majority or coalition in place? yes, and the other concern about this election had been if the socialist party, the s bd, they could have pulled th

now saxony and brandenburg have been governed by traditional establishment parties chancellor uggla medical's christian democrats and saxony and the social democrats or s.p.d. and brandenburg the latest opinion polls show the a.f.d. is running neck and neck with the ruling as p.d.f. brandenburg and just a few points behind the christian democrats in santa. we have team coverage of today's election let's go 1st to brandenburg that's where our political correspondent is standing by thomas sparrow is at the f.t. party headquarters in the town of verda thomas. yes carl that's right and it's precisely here where the de or at least many a tea party members will receive the results once they start to come in if you look maybe some of the signs right behind me and they're expecting very good results some of the signs behind we say it's time to stand up because history is being made or you should be here when history is being made and at least the a if he is hoping to become the strongest party right here in brandenburg that is still unclear it is still unclear in particular because as you said they are neck and neck wit

alternative for germany it wasn't enough for them to win the state that went to the christian democratic union angle merkel's party 2728 percent for alternative for germany in saxony could end up rising as high as 30 big gains for them there and certainly big smiles from the leadership of the alternative for germany party they were saying that these results show that a de just a flush upon that they are a big part of the german political stage right now and that's what it is the sensational results we have achieved the best result in local elections ever and we can see that 30 years after the fall of the wall governments don't want to be left wing need. is. the fight is not over the fight starts now we've become much stronger no one can remove us from germany politics in the money will stay what you have in politics is quite keen on a bit of self reflection a bit of navel gazing and what we've seen from other politicians who will be looking at these results from alternative for germany and they're not happy about the role they've played in allowing a.f.p. to make such big games. i am happy that we have a really go

position with more than 26 percent while losing votes heavy losses for the christian democrats chance of going to michael's party who came in 3rd 15 percent the left party drops to just 11 percent the far right if he takes 23 and a half percent lending in 2nd place and the greens rising to almost 11 percent. and we also have the results from saxony of course for the governing c.d.u. have secured 32 percent coming 1st but significantly weakened the left party lost almost half their votes there some 10 percent the s.p.d. the junior coalition partner in the state dropped significantly with 8.6 percent. so make the greens party did perform better than ever then it they've ever performed in an eastern german state how do they explain that. is that they actually didn't match what the expectations were in the end because they were expected to double their results that's what the polling indicated that didn't really come true but the greens certainly admit that the issue of environmental protection climate change was on people's minds and their co party leader harvick this morning told public radio that he also sees a v

been an issue for years especially the big tent so-called big tent political parties and going to america christian democrats but also the social democrats do really seem to have a problem to engage especially younger people at the local level to run for office and to engage in politics so this is what this case has shown. storyboards tonight here in berlin only thank you. national politics in the united states opinion polls in the u.s. show former vice president joe biden leading the democratic contenders to take on donald trump in next year's election he's ahead of rivals bernie sanders and elizabeth warren and despite being well known to many joe biden is not impressing everyone on the campaign trail u.w.s. alexander phenomena is following the race in new hampshire. joe biden's already had a successful career but here he is again running for president because he says he wants to unite the country. at town hall in luck kanya in new hampshire. president troops entre many sad my own the former vice president but you need to hear what kind of message she has to offer as a presidential candidate. we are in a b

well there were say a win in brandenburg for the social democrats they retain their role as the largest party in that state also a win for the christian democratic union in saxony they retain their role as the largest party put it the big story of the night house being the gains made by alternative for germany since their inception in 2030 they've never had these type of results but it since the 2016 influx of refugees and migrants into germany the switch from f.t. from being a strictly euro skeptic anti e.u. party towards being anti immigration nationalist party in some ways that certainly seen them drop support in these 2 states in brandenburg if they're picking up around 25 percent mark there in saxony they're picking up almost 30 percent so big big gains that have been made it's interesting to note that in saxony where if they made the largest gains but also home to the city of chemicals which in 2018 saw violent scenes following the stabbing death of a 35 year old german man a 23 year old syrian was sentenced to jail for months slaughter just last month but following that stabbing there were huge violent clashes in the city with.

percent maintaining the top position while losing votes the christian democrats are at 15.6 percent a heavy loss for chancellor merkel's party the left party garnered more than 10 percent of the vote also a significant loss on the far right a.f.d. took 23 and a half percent landing in 2nd place the greens reached almost 11 percent of very good results for them the regional party the brandenberg united civic movement a free of voters to 5 percent the business friendly f.t.p. at 4 point one percent gaining some but not enough to win any seats in the state parliament and other parties completing the picture at around 4 percent and in saxony chancellor merkel's c.d.u. which currently governs in the state secured 32 percent to place 1st but significantly weakened the left party garnered more than 10 percent losing almost half of their voters the s.p.d. junior coalition partner in the state dropped below 8 percent significantly down the far right if he took 27 and a half percent putting them in 2nd place as we already said the greens finished with 8.6 percent very good for them here 2 of the f.d.p. at 4 and a half percent won't ge