as matthew said i think the christian democrats are going to american strategy was to move the christian democrats to the left because when she started that strategy they were worried that the that the christian democrats would be would be marginalized the social democrats would take the center she managed that opened up a position on the right and the spawn for instance would move the christian democrats back to the right trying to squeeze out the f.t. he might manage though he himself i think is a bit of a lightweight person you know sort of a twitter personality rather than what but anyway it's that that's where it could go but it can go in different directions brooke a great britain look at germany called in with the left wing populist message challenging the reason may and look at what might be happening united states where the democrats are now. advocating universal health care and things which you know a decade ago in america would have been rabid socialism so you know it's on both sides of the political divide that people are ramping up the populous message early in what is what

, because once you started, they were worried that the christian democrats would be marginalized. the social democrats would take the center. she managed that, "position on the right, -- opened up that position on the right. out the ifqueeze the. he might manage although he himself i think is a bit of a know.eight person, you sort of a twitter personality. it could go, but it could go in different directions. look at great and jeremy corbyn. with all left-wing populist .essage challenging theresa may look at what might be happening in the united states with the democrats now. advocating universal health care and things which, you know, a decade ago in america would have been rabid socialism. it's on both sides of the political divide that people are ramping up the populist message. peter: geraldine, where does emmanuel macron fit into all of this? the battle against right-wing populism? what can we learn from him? is thene: actually, he big winner also because of the electoral system in france, which allows it. in germany, it would not be possible because of the electoral system. t

for the energy speaker of the christian democratic union party and a german bundesliga welcome to theshow great. have you with us lots to discuss germany has given the green light to the north stream to pipeline which will bring the natural gas from russia to germany directly via the baltic sea polland and the baltic states and other e.u. members opposed to projects but opposition to the project comes from countries who currently do transit business with gas from and stand to lose if the pipeline is built does it actually about trying to reduce dependence or really about lost revenues. first of all i think it's good to have approach north stream too because it brings diversification diversification and the transport off natural gas and diverse of even more routes and more diversification means more liquidity in the european market and that increases the security or supply not only for cho many. increases the security of supply all over europe and so basically i think it's a good idea to have to say additional pipeline sure but why do you think countries in european union oppose it bec

that were bad for the energy a speaker of the christian democratic union party and a german bundestag discussing gear ups and or just security and controversy around the nordstrom to pipeline project mr driver u.s. secretary of state's rex tillerson sees north stream to as a threat to european energy security and the pipeline will be able to provide a quarter of europe's annual gasoline wars and will reduce the price of russian gas by almost a hoss the u.s. have a proper understanding of the european energy market. from a strategic point of view i understand that there are fears also in us today say ok if europe gets more dependent two or russia that brings a strategic threat maybe if we think of the discussions we had last year just maybe if you look to a grand way are russia while a to the national law occupying the grave that isn't acceptable and we have to talk about this and we will not accept but the talks must go on and i think we have to talk more to each other and to find also a solution for a lot of political economic technical cultural. issues and initiatives and so i think

countries and i think for germany it is very important to show that we are different from the christian democrats that was something that we didn't do good enough the last four years and to make clear that real social policy can only take place in germany with social democrats we have the the draft treaty of the jamaica so-called jamaica parties so the christian democrats with the green party and the liberals and we've seen the social aspects nearly didn't take place in this draft treaty so. i think. we have to make that very clear because germany is a very strong country it has a strong economy but there are so many people that don't participate from the wealth and in the process and that is our challenge to to really make life better for them to you know. the justice minister in the next a cabinet under the michel thank you very much for the interview thank you. thank you and without back to the studio ok michelle thanks very much katrina barly there the incoming justice minister for the new coalition a member of the social democrats she was pointing out how the social democrats are different f

months after national elections the agreement was given the green light by angela merkel's christian democratic union it's a very insistent policy and the center left social democrats and german parliament . for a fourth term as chancellor on wednesday dominic cain has more from berlin. so nearly six months after the indecisive general election finally germany today sees the political parties signing the coalition agreement that will govern this country for the next three and a half years as i say there's been a period of doubt of discord both inside parties and between parties getting to this point but when there came the moment for a news conference of the three leaders of the parties to spell out what are the measures that they consider to be important this is how angular miracle addressed the world's media nothing they are yet as the oil law keyes's it towards or we can now say that the really acute euro crisis has been managed after all the member states show that growth and employment are picking up again we need to stabilize the euro states there are no differences between the questions

this minimum wage in germany effectively having been her political baby as minister to the christian democrats partially claim the rewards for that so a very difficult marriage if it comes together if it doesn't of course germany would see itself in a phase of political free for i don't like to use the word crisis because we saw that the caretaker government actually worked rather well germany is ticking over but it certainly would be a very very new scenario here that would take some time and a lot of negotiation for everybody not just to get used to but to to take decisions and it would unleash political dynamics that i frankly wouldn't speculate on that could potentially also see a very fast change of sentiment even within the christian democrats and their attitude towards their leader who no longer is perceived as teflon uncle america who has seen a lot of criticism in those past months and more recently for handing over the finance ministry as a trophy to the social democrats the question is was that trophy enough to convince the party base to vote with their heads and with their hearts a

been signed almost six months after national elections the deal was inked by angela merkel's christian democratic union is prevaricate a region sister party the christian social union as well as the center left social democrats parliaments due to a letter to mrs merkel for a full term as chancellor all men say. and toxic air is the largest unspoiled wilderness on a famous for its wildlife but it's facing multiple threats from climate change to a dramatic rise in tourism is on a greenpeace expedition ship in the weddell sea looking at the animals that call the continent. life in the islands fringing the antarctic peninsula is abundant the place of seemingly endless variety the whole region is richly biodiverse a living example of how things are pretty much free from the influence of man. a place to breed feet and grow. its pristine nations full of marine species including more than a dozen types of whale about getting to see the astonishing wildlife here is by no means straightforward. the weather makes everything a challenge bit of a threat on today it's gusting forty to forty five knots we may b

chancellor angela merkel‘s christian democrat union has already voted in favour. onths of political deadlock that have followed september's vote. the result will be announced in a few hours time as the bbc‘s tim allman reports. never in the history of german politics has so much attention been devoted to the contents of one rather unremarkable worry. on board, hundreds of thousands of ballot papers. that, one way or another, will decide the immediate future of the nation. keeping a night on proceedings, the social democrats acting chairman and the party's leader in the bundestag. both nervously awaiting the verdict of their membership. translation: we already know there was a high level of participation so we hope we can lay a good foundation for the renewal of the spd and at the same time assess the implications of the result once we have it. angela merkel's party has already voted to renew the grand coalition, hoping to end nearly five months of deadlock. translation: it's up to us to have the will to shape our country. it's up the will to shape our country. it's

election campaign i spoke to many candidates regional candidates as well who said well frankly the christian democrats simply moved to march on social democrats territory that it made contesting these elections very difficult so no surprise then that on the night of that defeat of the elections then social democrats. the former head of the european parliament came forward and said never again he got a lot of juice for that that's certainly how the party base felt that's really the heart of the party's base saying we don't want this bruising relationship with the conservatives particularly. now they're being asked after a brief phase of divorce say to once again join this political marriage of convenience is almost a wrong word almost a forced marriage to.

for the energy speaker of the christian democratic union party in a german bundesliga welcome to the show great to have you with us lots to discuss germany has given the green light to the north stream to pipeline which will bring the natural gas for russia to germany directly via the baltic sea polland and the baltic states and other e.u. members opposed to projects but opposition to the project comes from countries who currently do transit business with gas from and stand to lose if the pipeline is built does it actually about trying to reduce dependence or really about lost revenues. first of all i think it's good to have approached north stream too because it brings diversification diversification and the transport off natural gas and diversity more routes and more diversification means more liquidity in the european market and that increases the security off supply not only for cho many. increases the security of supply all over europe and so basically i think it's a good idea to have to set this new pipeline sharp but why do you think countries in european union oppose it becau

against the backdrop of what you've just been telling us well i would argue that maybe the christian democrats don't need to reinvent themselves i think that we might be moving to a situation and in germany and maybe some other european countries where you're going to have one centrist party and that this social democrats will become just another nice party because they've also over the years they've spotted other smaller parties like the greens for example the link obviously when they had the split in germany in the early two thousand and so i don't know that that the center right is going to need to reinvent itself i think the the bigger problem is what happens on the left or the bigger question is are you going to have sort of a union of these leftist parties in germany and some other countries because for now the center right seems to be sitting pretty they did lose a bit in the last election but they're still over thirty percent and there's no reason to think that they you know that they can't sort of regroup with with. right leadership because their message really does speak more to thes

or not no one knows for now but in any case it will benefit the coalition partner the christian democrats. this is not s.p. the result is a good basis in addition ninety seven percent support from the city you similar support from the c.s.u. a good coalition agreement and a good team that's good governance. the german president also satisfied germany will soon have a new government. it is simply good for our country that this phase of a. uncertainty and insecurity is over and that the three parties are prepared to take on the responsibility of governing. nieman only the opposition has found a fly in the ointment amid a feeling of general relief. fact is the fact is that now the losers find themselves together the statement is clearly carry on as usual. as america prepares to be sworn in for a fourth term as chancellor scrutiny will no doubt return to a new edition of the grand coalition. political correspondent nina and you know this vote and the political stalemate that has gone on for nearly six months how are people in germany reacting to this result because we certainly didn't see tha

more of the same with the social democrats finally agree to a deal with chancellor merkel's christian democrats to create another so-called grand coalition is the same partnership that's governed since twenty thirteen and it means chancellor merkel will enter her thirteenth year in power and commence her fourth term in charge getting to this point was far from easy though with more than a few obstacles hampering drawn out talks like the issue of immigration which proved to be one of the most divisive in the talks merkel's conservatives had yielded to push for a cap on how many refugees to allow in but that left rebels within the social democrats deeply unhappy well we're going to cross live nile and talk to the press of political science in the technical university of dresden vanna. welcome to the program. let's start with your expectations from this new government and what you feel the challenges the main challenges that they will face. so the main challenge of this new government will be immigration politics in india gratian our server if you choose that have come in hundreds of thousands to

parliament voted in favor of merkel two hundred fifteen voted against earlier this week merkel's christian democrats party a very in party and the center of social democrats sons official agreement to form a grand coalition those are the headlines risking it all is up next al-jazeera is a very important source of information for many people around the world when all the cameras are gone i'm still here i go into areas that nobody else is going to talk to people that nobody else is talking to and bringing that story to the forefront. thank. you. thank you. thank you you. thank .

johnson merkel brought in as the new general secretary of the christian democrats a woman who is touted to be a possible successor a centrist just like. chancellor merkel herself and now the man. at the forefront of all picture that undress scheuer the general secretary of the christian social union to the the varian conservative allies of chancellor merkel next up all of the. parliamentary party leaders of all three parties so in the middle we have andreea knowledge of the new parliamentary party leader of the social democrats and very much the center of power now in the social democratic party. to her. let me see right is for a counter he remains the parliamentary party leader of. chancellor merkel's christian democrats a man of huge experience and a lot of influence those two hundred dollars and folk account of will need to strike up a very close partnership one of the key relationships in the next government because they will be securing parliamentary majority as for all the legislation that goes through and to the left of andrea now this. alexander door brint he is the new sector g

countries and i think for germany it is very important to show that we are different from the christian democrats that was something that we didn't do good enough the last four years and to make clear that real social policy can only take place in germany with social democrats we have the the draft treaty of the jamaica. so-called jamaica parties so the christian democrats with the green party and the liberals and we've seen the social aspects nearly didn't take place in this draft treaty so. i think we have to make that very clear because germany is a very strong country it has a strong economy but there are still many people that don't participate from the wealth and the process and that is our challenge to to really make life better for them. the justice minister in the next cabinet michael thank you very much for the interview thank you. turning now to russia and its presidential election on sunday some are calling it the no surprise as a whole lot of work putin is all but guaranteed to clinch another six year term the russian media are firmly behind him there's little in the way of criticism

months after national elections the agreement was given the green light by angela merkel's christian democratic union it's for variances to party and the center left social democrats the german parliament is due to elect merkel for a fourth term as chancellor on wednesday now arms sales are increasing around the world with asia and the middle east a leading buyer is a report by these talk home international peace research institute says regional tensions are driving india's growing demand between twenty thirteen and twenty seventeen india was the world's biggest arms importer accounting for twelve percent of total sales the report also found imports of the middle east had doubled in the past ten years saudi arabia the world's second largest importing crease its buying by two hundred twenty five percent between two thousand and eight and twenty seventeen. percent of those weapons were surprised by the u.s. and u.k. peter westman is from the stockholm international peace research institute he says citizens need to put more pressure on their leaders to weapon sales. there are a few years in turn t

hundred thousand of them have voted to decide whether the party would join with mrs merkel christian democrats to form a grand coalition that's the scene live in berlin the country is waiting to decide for them to decide exactly the shape of german politics for the next electoral period i'm with you right up to date of course with developments in berlin some of our other main stories and an al qaeda affiliate says it was behind the attack that killed sixteen people in bikini on friday the attackers targeted army headquarters as well as the french embassy in the capital to do to the mali based group jemaah islamiyah al mostly me claimed responsibility for the attack two days later the syrian government has reportedly seized ten percent of rebel territory in the signature after another night of airstrikes in shelling russian led five hour humanitarian poles is underway for a sixth day and adviser to the crown prince of the u.a.e. has reportedly become a focus in the united states special council's investigation into meddling in the twenty sixteen presidential election the new york times is repor

these three parties but the left party sometimes has internal divisions as in all parties the christian democrats to. oh yeah. in my view this is the option that needs working on this i also believe it best represents a europe of solidarity. once again it's clear that our conservatives have no intention of responding to my call. but the s.p.d. leadership is reluctant to commit to the left party as the conservatives would accuse them of aligning themselves with former communists. they were too intimidated looking back on my second nomination it's clear the theist p.t. leadership under fundamental fairing was too wary. i was nominated by a majority formed by the s.p.d. for the left and the green party and should have been elected by them too. it's a shame the problems are elsewhere today not who the old communists are. we have globalization problems we have poverty and climate change we have a constructive approach to the refugee question. you're saying it's time. these are all quite different problems we can't get caught up in nostalgic problems that's nonsense. that this is the fourth time i unde

parliament voted in favor of merkel three hundred fifteen voted against earlier this week merkel's christian democrats party a very in party and the center of social democrats signed official agreement to form a grand coalition those are the headlines risking it all is up next al-jazeera is a very important force of information for many people around the world when all the cameras are gone i'm still here to go into areas that nobody else is going to talk to people that nobody else is talking to and bringing that story to the forefront. thank you. thank you thank you thank you. thank you thank you thank you. thank you thank you thank you. thank you thank you thank you. thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you. thank you thank you thank you. thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank. you. on a frozen road traveling through the holy plateaus of kyrgyzstan a small truck is on the move. in these extreme conditions the truck is beginning a long journey to deliver mandarin oranges to remote villages. the fruit is highly prized as a symbol of good

week so next week there will come a vote in which the social democrat members will vote for a christian democrat chancellor and she will be in charge but then the point is that the social democrats having the foreign ministry will they get the chance to to prioritise europe and that's something which the former leader of the social democrats martin schultz put at the heart of his agenda in the coalition talks europe and the role that germany can play in europe given the fact that there are very many decisions that the e.u. has to make this in this year not the least of which is the briggs it situation regarding the united kingdom so now that other european leaders know that they will be dealing with angela merkel as german chancellor. in what will be a stable government for the next three and a half years where they will have relief who they know who it's going to be she's a known quantity she's a known commodity as it were and this continuity certainly from a german chancellor rhee there will be all right dominic thank you very much for that for now that is dominic cain with the latest from the

magical side of the cabinet cabinet of course with herself being the only east german that the christian democrats pointed where we could well see francisco gifty she's from east germany she's actually the mayor of noid cohen here in berlin it which is an area with a high level of migrants second third generation germans actually living here in berlin she is tipped to become the new family minister so that would certainly be quite an interesting appointment that we're expecting to see heikal moss' currently justice minister to remain in the cabinet for i would think most likely also as justice minister so it looks like the renew will come from the social democrat side in terms of age and also representing the east here in germany tried to look at that a parliamentary stooges thank you you're welcome. turning out a sieve in each convoy bond for the besieged opposition enclave of eastern huta has been postponed as fighting in the area intensifies syrian government forces of seize top of the territory held by the rebels in the damascus suburbs the last opposition stronghold close to the capital and o

by three hundred sixty four to three hundred fifteen in favor of earlier this week merkel's christian democrats party varian party and the center left social democrats signed the official agreement to form a grand coalition. children. has a list of. who is ready to take back. the list of eight thousand names. across the board. you. mean with diarrhea. in a second even with foreigners the coffee the need and now belong to her when i learned to do a hard edge in medina and know if i may learn a lot and the hardest thing will be how does the shadow while it will but i mean will be a how to demi come on and the one this can be jam at all of them honest ahead of the your group a lot of alabama taleb phenomenon is unlike any for that matter who are now that's what i've done for thirteen and by that are among the fact that i'm then not that i ever have been half or three alum but about carmen and i really. that is sell it or meet i shook a leisure at him and the unit our money a small warrens. mendicino dzhemilev a lit up in a right. off equally mutton at the monument an average is ianto me how would

marriage contract of this so-called grand coalition between the social democratic party and the christian democrats what she didn't address and what certainly will be a very interesting question indeed how this government will look like how it will be different from the last so-called grand coalition that is still in place right now with all three parties. having put themselves into position having announced effectively that they would redraw their own profile and so is top of profile in the future so we made some head for some very hot debates within that so-called grand coalition despite the rather extensive marriage contracts here ok so clearly chancellor merkel is pleased that her would be coalition partner has said yes she has to be formally confirmed in office as chancellor of course she referred to hoping that she would get the vote in parliament to be confirmed as chancellor that's pretty much a foregone conclusion so what happens next exactly when will germany get a fully functioning government mccain. well the short answer is the fourteenth of march then that's when we expect to be electe

majority of party members voted in favor of the deal to join a coalition government with the christian democrats and their bavarian sister party german president. praised the breakthrough just a short while ago. this is it is simply good for our country that this phase of uncertainty and insecurity is over and that the three parties are prepared to take on the responsibility of governing. nieman and that responsibility falls to this new government which could be in place and just two weeks i'll be led by chancellor merkel who enter her fourth term and office but it wasn't easy getting to this point germany center left social democrats have long agonized over the decision to team up with the conservatives and internal divide in the party may prove difficult to heal. credits of journalists and much anticipation at the social democrats headquarters after speculation about a close result all eyes were on the s.p.d. as it revealed its decision one hundred sixty days after germany's election but the mood inside were strained after the result was announced young at heart and thirty nine thousand six hu

new interior minister who comes from the area and sister party of chancellor angela merkel's christian democrats he has essentially been playing the populist card of islamophobia in recent weeks and a member of the chancellor's own party has also used some similar phrases and she is clearly sending a message to these members of her party saying you need to get in line she went on to say after the remark we just heard that in fact it will be a central aim of her government to promote the ability of the different cultures and religions to live together in tolerance and peace all right now the chancellor has been dogged by her handling of the refugee crisis back in twenty fifteen what policies are we going to see going forward. indeed it was quite noteworthy that she began with a strong acknowledgement that migration has divided and polarized germany and that was noteworthy because after the election she came out and said on the same evening actually she didn't see all that much that could have been done differently with this entire speech was an admission that there's a lot to do differently start

or not no one knows for now but in any case it will benefit the coalition partner the christian democrats. this is no s.p. the result is a good basis in addition ninety seven percent support from the c.d.u. similar support from the c.s.u. a good coalition agreement and a good team that's good governance. the german president also satisfied germany will soon have a new government. it is simply good for our country that this phase of us. certainty and insecurity is over and that the three parties are prepared to take on the responsibility of governing. nieman only the opposition has found a fly in the ointment amid a feeling of general relief. is the fact is that now the losers find themselves she gathered the statement is clearly carry on as usual. now until america is due to be sworn in again as chancellor on march fourteenth and scrutiny returns to a new edition of the grand coalition. for more let's now go to school correspondent nina nina it's good to see you so i get america is getting a fourth term at the head of another grand coalition does it go back to business as usual or can we

voting on that coalition agreement so certainly there was more of an internal debate even in the christian democrats who from the moment go had a preference for describing to coalition so certainly this if this goes right to the leadership will come out of this strengthened they will be able to say that they did not just simply consult their party base but that they also have internally democratic structures basically all the way down to the grassroots but the big question of course is if it goes wrong in the sense that there was a no vote that would not just leave the party in complete tatters the entire leadership who signed off on. on this but also would sense this earthquake across germany's political landscape at the same time it would fit into the larger pattern of european social democratic parties being weakened near the brink of extinction as we see in france for instance so if you look at it from the outside this really is a process that doesn't really look that let's for this way out of trend in a broader european perspective but that of course something is something that the social democ

chancellor merkel said she's optimistic it will be a success the deal was signed by mrs merkel's christian democratic union is a very region sister party the christian social union as well as a social democrats you're up to date there is next. on counting the cost in what's been a big week for global trade we'll look at how the u.s. is up bending the rules of comus and free trade is really worth fighting for plus the latest mind bending concept cars from the geneva old tosha counting the cost at this time. the journey to europe starts here in a small bus station off the coast of west africa on the outskirts of gambia skeptical banjul in their backpack they carry some money a change of clothes and perhaps a cell phone everything else they leave behind including their documents their names where they are from their age is no longer relevant. this is a journey for a new life some are after the freedom they believe can be found in europe and not at home for others it's simply about escaping poverty. all take this journey alone in gambia most are children. according to the united nations twenty six thousa

what is it that, however you want to describe this, that broad set of politicians from the christian democratspean countries, have appeared to be supine, weak, or unable to come up with answers in the way that stephanie was talking about? i think it is partly to do with... i don't think they have been supine or complacent. i think, you know, when you go around the world, people say to you, i've just been in africa, in india, and they say, isn't it extraordinary, what has been achieved by the eu? thousands of years of war, put to bed. and tough though it is, how nationalism and pan—nationalism play out, this is admired. in africa, they admire it. we are a bit spoiled. because we do not get the kind of revolutions that we have seen. i've been to 60 countries in the past five years and i've never once heard anybody say they wish they had the eu. they may like a lot of things about europe and about democracy, and we are so sceptical of democracy, at a time when people are fighting and dying for it around the world, and trump is actually also being so cavalier with it and backing autocrats and ever

that's despite ralf being one of the negotiators who spent weeks working out the deal with the christian democrats fabian himself happens to work as a volunteer helping refugees. he says the agreement doesn't take them into account adequately. >> how feasible is it to make compromises and say we're at least trying to prevent the status quo on migration and refugee policy from getting worse? >> on refugees, an area i helped to negotiate, we have some improvements. without the spd, there would be no immigration bill. we secured improvements for those on extended temporary stays. we argued for a long time. >> many of fabian stegner's generation see another four years of coalition with angela merkel as political stagnation , which they don't want the social democrats to get caught up in. but his father thinks the alternative could be worse. >> you have to compare. i've always been skeptical of the grand coalition and still am. so i understand and accept the objections. but you have to ask, is there any real alternative? if everything goes wrong, we could face a debacle in the next elections. and the p