by maya schwager thank you for joining us. it's been some four months since germany's parliamentary elections and tonight the country is finally one step closer to forming a stable 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 fee

maya schwager welcome to the program. russian authorities have detained opposition leader and outspoken kremlin critic alexina vonnie according to news reports he is expected to be charged with a public order violation that could mean up to twenty days in jail police arrested of any after he made a brief appearance at a moscow protest one of more than one hundred planned across the country the opposition is calling for a boycott of the march eighteenth presidential election which is certain to extend of lattimer putin's eighteen year grip on power now than has been barred from running against putin due to a previous fraud conviction that he says was trumped up. aleksei novel any violent scuffles as his supporters try in vain to pull him free from police who arrests the opposition leader and preston flooding me a push and smoke a prominent rival. huddled into a bus and taken away from protests that heat cold. and suffer thousand turns out in most coal one of dozens of releases been held across russia authorities say to dem

and maya schwager welcome to the program. at least ninety five people have been killed in a major explosion in the afghan capital kabul the country's interior minister also says more than one hundred fifty were injured in the suicide bomb attack which happened at a police checkpoint on saturday morning that's how the band have claimed responsibility . the attacker made it past the first checkpoint posing as a paramedic transporting a patient in an ambulance the bomb was detonated when he was identified by police at the second checkpoint one of the crowd was sitting in much shop when there was a powerful explosion only windows. you know i'm from the bottom of. the casualties a very high with bodies were everywhere near the hospital and everywhere. a hospital coordinator described the attack as a massacre the blast happened on a busy street during lunch hour the area is home to several foreign embassies and government buildings. this is the second major taliban attack in kabul in the past eighty. that's despite reassurances fro

full time maya schwager thank you for joining us. it's been some four months since germany's parliamentary elections and tonight the country is finally one step closer to forming a stable government that's also democratic party has voted to enter formal coalition talks with chancellor angela merkel's conservatives and this also hands was too close to call so every vote of the more than six hundred delegates at the party conference had to be counted individual they had the outcome was a clear majority in favor of moving forward with negotiations. the vote was too close for comfort but in the end relief for the s.p.d. leadership not insurance has the green light to continue negotiations that could lead to another coalition government with angola medical's conservatives yes p d is still in the game and there's still a chance that it will at least put its stamp on the policies of the next german government fine point symphony one percent of something is more than one hundred percent of nothing so if we can do something good for people in

maya schwager good to have you with us time is running out political leaders here in germany are bracing for a long and difficult night of negotiations americans conservatives and the center left s.p.d. are trying to see if they have enough common ground to enter formal coalition talks as these exploratory talks enter their final day chancellor merkel said the stakes were high and the outcome is far from certain. there are still big hurdles to overcome. the speaking from my party i can say we'll be as constructive as possible in our search for compromises. but of course we're also aware that we want to deliver the right kind of deal for the country that means it's going to be a tough day. talked. to devin's did of his five in vandermark is at the social democrats headquarters for us where the talks are taking place fabienne our understanding is that the negotiations the negotiators excuse me have left the most contentious issues for last so walk us through some of the major obstacles and tell us how tough it's going to be for them to find a compromise yes the most controversial topics st