against the president's my call since last november also join the rallies and our correspondent max hoffman is covering the strike in paris and i asked him how the demonstrations on full that today. it seems that at the end things got slightly out of hand again which is almost traditionally the case at the end of demonstrations here in paris cobble stones were thrown and we still have the with of tear gas here in the air and behind me you can see some of the police special forces blocking decide street where we are normally this demonstration should have been over but now people are returning in the other direction fleeing to tear gas so nothing special really in paris but many here say it's a shame because before that it was really peaceful all right now going to actual isis for us max why is this strike so significant it is significant because for the first time the yellow vests that have been making headlines all over the world in the last months have teamed up with one of the larger trade unions the c.c.t. before that the you'll of us always rejected the old institutions especially the

form at least could go up in smoke of get more on the story we are joined by brussels bureau chief max hoffman and hans brandt our political correspondent here in berlin welcome to both of you and max i'd like to begin with you because this announcement by france is essentially a move against germany do we know why paris is taking the step. we haven't heard an official explanation yet from the french but it appears that the arguments are mainly political and they've been heard before they're not new france wasn't really in favor of this project in the past either but they stuck with germany the problem though is that it's really splitting the european union between east and west countries like poland like the baltic states have always always been very much against this project because they fear more russian influence in the european union they feel like they're being bypassed and so this would be one of the arguments some say might be a little revenge even from the french government because i'm going to medical really didn't wholeheartedly support the projects that matter what i might call had

don't use max hoffman they are reporting in paris or the thirty year old portuguese national widely believed to be the mastermind behind football leaks has gone public for the first time now following his recent arrest in budapest hungary he spoke to the german broadcaster a.r.d. . a secret location in budapest it's here in this modest apartment building we're told wants to give his side of the story. on january sixteenth last he was arrested in the hungarian capital in response to a portuguese arrest warrant on charges of attempted extortion and cyber crimes. he's under house arrest and wearing an ankle monitor while awaiting a decision on whether he is a whistleblower who illegally obtained the documents which could exonerate him or whether he is a cyber criminal. which could lead to extradition. i'm a whistleblower what matters for me and for football leaks is the documents are authentic i don't care about the origin. or so i have i have to expose and have to jordan only as credible. the real deal and among those documents are details of confidential plans for an elite superleague or kofi

parliaments trade committee says a syrup or still lacks its commitment to workers' rights my colleague max hoffman spoke to him earlier today in brussels. mr long your party the german s.p.d. rejects the free trade agreement with singapore why the. two sides of the coin it's a quite good agreement but indeed movement is all too clear that we quest for the simple insight to what you find the sweet old saying oh level convention and this is the other side of the coin the senior police are not really committed to do so and it's about workers' rights workers rights the collective bargaining possibilities under discrimination of workers a workplace and we ask him for a long long time i myself was in singapore last year in february asking i'm sure that you are really committed to do so and nothing happened and for the delegation decided not to vote for the agreement but is it really worth i mean the advantages seem to be quite big most are expecting a ten percent increase in trade over the next five years between the e.u. and singapore is it really worth jeopardizing the agreement for those two workers'

german cars could be deemed a national security threat in the united states serious tensions there max hoffman in brussels thank you so much. now to some of the other stories making headlines around the world today the batek says the catholic church must move with fresh urgency to confront widespread sex child sex abuse within the clergy vatican spokesman. said the church needed to look the monster of abuse in the face as comments come just days before pope francis opens an unprecedented summit to address the crisis. india says a shootout in the disputed border region of kashmir has left at least nine people dead including the suspected mastermind of last week's deadly suicide bombing indian troops came under fire as they hunted militants believed responsible for that bombing india has blamed neighboring pakistan for the attack which killed dozens of indian troops. and seven british lawmakers have quit the opposition labor party and will sit in parliament as an independent group the m.p.'s said they decided to quit in part because of party leader jeremy corbyn support for bracks it also cited

you know when you corresponded max hoffman has been in paris covering the strike just another protest in the heart of paris yes well but at the same time it's also a new kind of protest because for the first time the yellow vests are teaming up with a large trade union the c.c.t.v. so you see you at this demonstration we saw all kinds of people from public sector workers to of course the yellow vests to trade unionists but also members of the black bloc who try to incite violence here what all this mix will end up being is unclear at the moment because france and also in money would not call at a crossroads can the government regain the momentum here it is probably the first time in months that it has the chance reaching out to the french trying to show them that it might do it by calling can compromise and at the same time trying to crack down hard on the violent elements of the yellow this. that was max hope in there reporting from paris the thirty year old portuguese national widely believed to be the mastermind behind football leaks has gone public for the first time following his

that's got us some more background now with the brussels vera chief max hoffman max e.u. member states to reach that to compromise on north stream to germany must be breathing a sigh of relief probably yes because they managed to put this whole agreement on a solid footing because even if the controversy wasn't there in the last year north stream two was never really on solid footing and there was always the danger that it might be scrapped or and culture obstacles that are unsurmountable and now the bastard has agreed to this new proposal actually almost unanimity this the with the exception of roumania so some even say this is a success for germany now germany sees north stream to gas pipeline as crucial for its energy security but why has it been so controversial in europe. because the fear of many countries especially in the east of the european union poland the baltic states is that russia will not only export gas but also influence that's part one also voiced by the way by the united states of america and of course if you look at the existing pipelines most of the r

our brussels bureau chief max hoffman he's on the story for us tonight good evening to you max so we got this all to made him from the us president has there been a response from the e.u. from the european union to this tweet the european union itself is not responsible for this frederica marine a die representative for foreign and security policy of the european union pointed that out again saying this is a question of the legislation of the different member states of what counts here brant is the reaction of the countries of the nations like germany or in this case also legs of bird why do i mention luxembourg because of the foreign minister of luxembourg on us of all it was very pronounced in his criticism today he said that the form in which donald trump the u.s. president did this was basically unacceptable just with one tweet saying that's not how partners treat each other but in substance it's a different story it seems like almost all the foreign ministers in brussels on monday acknowledged that the u.s. president does have a point so if they you know agree that he's right ab

for more let's bring in our correspondent max hoffman. in brussels that's where e.u. foreign ministers are currently meeting max donald trump is demanding european countries take back hundreds of their nationals detained while fighting for i as in syria what's the reaction from e.u. foreign ministers in brussels most euro foreign ministers here in brussels at the moment do recognize that of course this is a problem and that the u.s. president has a point when he wants to talk about the topic but there is heavy criticism surprisingly terry about the way he is doing it social for example the foreign minister from luxembourg said you don't do that with a tweet you talk to your partner if indeed those are partners and you already mentioned the german foreign minister in the report who pointed out some difficulties here for example that the germans don't have an embassy in syria so that it is very hard to proceed to verify that these people are actually german nationals that what kind of criminal charges are brought against them to make sure that if indeed they are delivere

and he was very she's max hoffman joins me now how has the news gone down there where you are well the press conference wasn't even finished yet that we had a first reaction from siemens from the head of steam as joke has a who said that this decision proves that europe urgently needs structural reforms in the way shapes its industrial future in a globally connected world and since this decision wasn't to subpoena. the french finance minister already before this decision even was officially announced said that it is they cannot make a mistake and it will serve the interests of china so those two not very happy of blocking not just is fairly rare for the e.u. antitrust office in three decades is banned less than thirty why did officials veto this particular tie up. my kind of a saga repeated a couple of times actually that this was just about two sectors of the planned merger which is signalling equipment signaling systems she called it and also the mark of a very high speed trains and the remedies offered by the two companies and this is the part she repeated often what these two compa

and for more on the story i am joined now by max hoffman our brussels bureau chief joining us from there as hans brunt is with us here in berlin in our studio max i'd like to begin with you because this announcement by france it's essentially a move against germany do we know why paris is taking this step now. is there and some are even say this might be a little revenge for what the chancellor has been doing with the matter with mark hall the french president in the last years because she basically didn't really support all these projects for the european union whether this is the case or not is pure speculation there are more factual reasons to do this one for example is that the project really split the european union along familiar lines the east and the west to countries like poland or the baltic states were always against this project because they felt like it gave more power to russia over the european union so a tone that we've heard also from the u.s. some also say that it might be because of economic interests because france is interested of course in building terminals for liq

in london max hoffman in brussels thank you both let's take a look at some of the other stories making news around the world iran is insisting that president rouhani has not accepted the unexpected resignation of foreign minister mohammad the jeffords arief mr zarif was responsible for negotiating iran's twenty fifteen nuclear deal with world powers in his social media post to apologize for what he called his shortcomings several prominent members of parliament of called on him to reconsider. voters in cuba have overwhelmingly back to a new constitution the document enshrines the country's one party socially system while recognizing private property and foreign investment as well as modest social changes your natural commission says movement eighty five percent of voters back the change. kerry has been released from jail facing a spent the weekend behind bars after being charged with sexually assaulting three teenage girls the woman has pleaded not guilty to all charges which date back to one thousand nine hundred ninety eight. pakistan has summoned india's ambassador in response to in

we cannot see any indication that this might happen due to the use of bureau chief in brussels max hoffman thank you. ari let's bring up as we know some of the other stories making news around the world. france is recalling it some best that are to italy amid mounting tension after italy's deputy prime minister met french yellow vest protesters while paris is also angry about a string of critical comments directed towards president in iran might cause government by italy's to deputy prime minister's. swedish police say a norwegian airplane bound for france with one hundred sixty nine passengers on board has returned to stop calling our land airport after receiving a bomb threat the plane was evacuated and is being searched by bomb defuse all experts among the passengers or the members of the national swimming team. the austrian government has been ordered to pay more than a million euros to the former owner of the house were out of hitler was born the government bought the building at a not down price using a compulsory purchase order but a court has ruled that the owner had been significa

correspondent max hoffman has been in paris covering the strike. just another protest in the heart of paris yes well but at the same time it's also a new kind of protest because for the first time the yellow vests are teaming up with the large trade union the seas it is so huge here at this demonstration we saw all kinds of people from public sector workers to of course the yellow vests to trade unionists but also members of the black bloc who tried to incite violence here what all of this mix will end up being is unclear at the moment because france and also in money would not call at a crossroads can the government regain the momentum here it is probably the first time in months that it has the chance of reaching out to the french trying to show them that it matter when my colleagues can compromise and at the same time try to crack down hard on the violent elements of the yellow this in fact helping their reporting from paris or germany's economics minister has unveiled what's called the national industrial strategy twenty thirty now the plan rep

max hoffman in brussels and hans brand in a button thank you both very much for your analysis. now the chairman of the upcoming munich security conference of wolfgang ischinger has been following the debate in the west over the nord stream to project he dismissed signs of a rift between france and germany after french president in london mccraw canceled a planned joint appearance at this says conference with a new american singer insists the european project is still strong and the absence of the french president doesn't worry the head of the munich security conference even if president michel isn't going to speak himself in munich we will have plenty of other senior representatives of the french government in munich to explain french positions. there will be a huge american delegation and congressional delegation there will be half a dozen german ministers etc etc so i think the purpose which i which is important to me the purpose to demonstrate in munich that the european union is alive and kicking that purpose can still be maintained good knowledge. in times where it may app

in london max hoffman in brussels thank you both. now let's move on. next. which is the other stories making news around the world the u.s. a vice president mike pence and venezuela's opposition they don't want to go i don't have agreed a strategy to increase pressure on president nicolas maduro they met at a summit of regional leaders in colombia which are deadly clashes between quiet her supporters and venezuelan security forces on the colombian brazilian the. united nations says donors have pledged two point six billion dollars in humanitarian aid for the war torn yemen conference the crisis is taking place in geneva the u.n. also says aid workers in yemen have access to vital grain stores for the first time in six months twenty million people still lack staples from some part. of the e.u. has called on india and pakistan to exercise the maximum restraint made a sharp escalation in tension between the two nuclear powers overnight that he targeted what it said was a terrorist camp inside pakistan indian media reports up to three hundred people killed in th

violent elements reach out to all the other that's his way of trying to regain the momentum right max hoffman reporting from paris thank you. and staying in paris there were police. there have arrested a woman in connection with a fire in which at least ten people have been killed and more than thirty were injured it took place at a residential building in the sixteenth on the small the district is located in the city's south west not far from the center river first responders are still at the scene continuing their search of the building and there are fears now that more victims will be discovered in the hours ahead. paris's wealthy sixteenth district early to die residents say they heard a woman scream sin there off the flames began shooting out of the top of a night story apartment building the fire then through the night first responders described what happened here as a scene of incredible violence many survivors were torn from their sleep and fled the flames any way they could. you know i live on the eighth floor so i tried to climb from balcony to balcony to get away. eventually we had

are also expected to join the rallies as the city braces for demonstrations i asked correspondent max hoffman in the french capital to tell us more. it's the city's it is so one of the biggest unions in france that has called for the general strike in paris to be fair some unions have abstained from this but the interesting part here is how many yellow vests will really participate in this strike because they are at a crucial juncture yes they have the same topics as the c.c.t. as the union it's against social injustice but in the beginning the yellow bus especially were proud not to be affiliated with the unions not to be affiliated with any political parties but now some of them have other plans because they feel like this movement as we have known it for the last month has run its course that's why our reporter catherine martin went out there to speak to one of their leaders to find out what their plans are clean little or no longer takes out her yellow vests to protest she was one of the founders of the yellow vests movement but now she's moving on at age fifty one she's founding a politi