he's armin laschet, widely seen as the heir to mrs merkel�*s centrist brand of politics. ce angela merkel as chancellor when she stands down later this year. so what do we know about him? mr laschet is currently the premier of north rhine—westphalia — germany's most populous state. he's seen as a political centrist who'll continue mrs merkel�*s consensual brand of politics. that extends to immigration where he's taken a liberal approach to the issue. in particular, he supported mrs merkel when she was under pressure for welcoming syrian refugees in 2015. mr laschet speaks fluent french and his wife is of belgian heritage. the new cdu leader cultivates an everyman image, highlighting that his father worked down a mine. well, in a speech, mr laschet told delegates he wanted a strong european germany as a leader in the world. translation: the germany | | envision is a european germany — leading the world by excellence, example, and humanity. i'm saying it loud and clear. we will not let right—wing terrorists and troublemakers destroy our country. well, our berlin corresponden

he's armin laschet, widely seen as the heir to mrs merkel�*s centrist brand of politics. cellor when she stands down later this year. mark lobel reports. is this the jovial is this thejovial air to angular medical�*s throne, as germany's leader? armin laschet has won the right to lead germany's christian democrats. now his sites are firmly set on the topjob. now his sites are firmly set on the top job. translation: now his sites are firmly set on the topjob. translation: the german i the topjob. translation: tue: german i invision the topjob. translation: tte: german i invision is the topjob. translation: tt9 german i invision is a european germany, leading the world by excellence, example and humanity. i'm saying it loud and clear. we will not let right wing terrorists and trouble makers destroy our country. trouble makers destroy our count . ~' :, :, country. like angular miracle, the 59-year-old _ country. like angular miracle, the 59-year-old is _ country. like angular miracle, the 59-year-old is a - country. like angular miracle, the 59-year-old is a fellow. the 59—ye

he's armin laschet, widely seen as the heir to mrs merkel�*s centrist brand of politics. ela merkel as chancellor when she stands down later this year. mark lobel reports. is this the jovial heir to angela merkel�*s throne, as germany's leader? armin laschet has won the right to lead germany's christian democrats. now his sights are firmly set on the top job. translation: the germany | | invision is a european germany, leading the world by excellence, example and humanity. i'm saying it loud and clear. we will not let right—wing terrorists and trouble makers destroy our country. like angela merkel, the 59—year—old is a fellow centrist on economic policy, a strong defender of keeping germany's borders open to migrants. he shares a similarly non—combative approach in dealing with russia and china and is enthusiastic about eu integration. the cdu will continue with policy that merkel has led over the last 15 years. but to follow angela merkel and become the conservative bloc�*s candidate for chancellor, laschet has to win another contest in spring, facing potential rivals suc

he's armin laschet, widely seen as the heir to mrs merkel�*s centrist brand of politics. ole position to become germany next chancellor. angela merkel who's led germany for 16 years, has said she plans to stand down this year. jenny hill is in berlin. much surprise at armin laschet�*s success? much surprise at armin laschet's success? ., ., _ much surprise at armin laschet's success? ., ., , success? hard to say. most people thou~ht it success? hard to say. most people thought it would _ success? hard to say. most people thought it would be _ success? hard to say. most people thought it would be as _ success? hard to say. most people thought it would be as it _ success? hard to say. most people thought it would be as it was, - success? hard to say. most people thought it would be as it was, a - thought it would be as it was, a run—off between armin laschet and friedrich, who had come back into politics after a good decade away having been sidelined by angela merkel some time ago within the party. armin laschet is a popular choice. he is a popular chap. he leads germany's m

of armin laschet, the premier of north—rhine westphalia, puts him in a good position to succeed mrs merkelcellor. germany goes to the polls in september. ten climbers from nepal have completed one of the last remaining challenges in mountaineering, reaching the summit of the world's second—highest peak, k2, in winter. it's the last of the 1a tallest mountains to have been conquered during the winter months. now on bbc news, for the first time, a mass movement is openly calling for reform of the monarchy in thailand — shattering a taboo surrounding the royal institution's near—sacred status. a warning this programme contains images some viewers may find upsetting. thailand is in the grip of a youthful uprising. inspired by hong kong, students armed with umbrellas and ideals have been taking on a military—backed government and a once untouchable monarchy. what we're seeing here is an epic battle between two competing visions for thailand. these youngsters are determined that their demands for reform of everything, including the monarchy, are both heard and acted on. and they're up against an

norbert rottgen is mrs merkel�*s foreign affairs expert and former environment minister.n and young voters. and after a decade away from politics, millionaire businessman friedrich merz excites traditionalists in the party unnerved by angela merkel�*s centrist politics. this senior politician is one of 1001 delegates who will vote this weekend in a secret ballot. we don't need someone, she says, who just wants to differentiate themselves from angela merkel. these were good times for germany, but after 16 years, we do need a fresh start. what matters to me is that we as a people's party win more female voters, more people from an immigration background, that we have gender parity in the government and that we improve our policies on climate change and digitalisation. you might assume, and it has often been the case, that the new party leader will become germany's next chancellor. it's not that simple. it will be spring before the party finally decides who is going to lead them into that election as their chancellor candidate. after all, they've got to be sure he's going to

multi-millionaire corporate lawyer a long term rival of angola merkel in fact back in 2002 when mrs merkel became the leader of the christian democratic union party one of the 1st thing she did was to sack merits as the leader of the parliamentary group for the c.d.u. then there's no but it were taken $55.00 the youngest in the race and he is currently the chairman of the foreign affairs committee had previously been the environment minister and well he certainly knows his way around the bundestag he's been a member of the parliament since 1994 let's have a listen to what all of the candidates had to say ahead of this weekend's conference i stand for everyone and i think that those who did not vote for me if i . am elected will also be able to live with me and accept me do we want to continue to play in a regional leake every country for itself or do we want to play champions league to play a role in the world with us all of this playing him it would bring his government experience there were disagreements big federal state balancing different interests and perhaps this doesn't hurt for a

he's armin laschet, widely seen as the heir to mrs merkel�*s centrist brand of politics. s candidate to become chancellor in september's general election. angela merkel who's led germany for 16 years, has said she plans to stand down at the election. 0ur correspondent is in berlin and has been telling me more about the new leader of the christian democrat union. ~ .,, new leader of the christian democrat union. ~ , .,, ., ., union. most people thought it would be, as it union. most people thought it would be. as it was. _ union. most people thought it would be. as it was. a _ union. most people thought it would be, as it was, a run-off— union. most people thought it would be, as it was, a run-off between - be, as it was, a run—off between armin laschet and friedrich merz. armin laschet and friedrich merz. armin laschet and friedrich merz. armin laschet is a popular choice. he is a very popular chap, actually. he is a very popular chap, actually. he leads the state of which the most popular one in germany. he made much in his campaign and into des's speech and before the vo

he's armin laschet, widely seen as the heir to mrs merkel�*s centrist brand of politics. ion. angela merkel, who's led germany for 16 years, has said she plans to stand down at the election. katryn pribyl is a german journalist based in the uk. good afternoon to you. tell us more about armin laschet. who is the end what does he stand for?— about armin laschet. who is the end what does he stand for? anyone who is in favour — what does he stand for? anyone who is in favour of — what does he stand for? anyone who is in favour of angela _ what does he stand for? anyone who is in favour of angela merkel- what does he stand for? anyone who is in favour of angela merkel is i is in favour of angela merkel is very relieved today because he was the continuity candidate, a very centrist conservative stop angela merkel was economically centrist but he also back angela merkel�*s refugee policy and so on. it was quite surprising that he won that clearly. that was against a rather right candidate, a right—winger, rather, friedrich merz. i think for angela merkel and the cdu, it is quite

he's armin laschet, widely seen as the heir to mrs merkel�*s centrist brand of politics. for 16 years, has said she plans to stand down at the election. jenny hill in berlin has been telling me more about the new cdu leader. most people thought it would be between armin laschet and friedrich merz. armin laschet is a popular person. he leads the most popular state. he made much in his campaign and in today's speech before the vote that out of the three candidates he is the only one in government right now. he talks about having day to day experience with dealing with all of the challenges the three candidates were talking about. big question now is whether the party will put them forward as their chancellor candidate in september. we will have to wait and see because there won't be a final decision on that person until the spring. police chiefs in the uk say that investigations have been compromised after thousands of fingerprint, dna and arrest records were accidentally deleted from the national computer. a letter sent by the national police chiefs council — and seen by bb

ms merkel and mr spawn a swore in the oath of office to prevent harm to the german people he had both entrusted the procurement of the vaccines to am it is hundreds of thousands of elderly people and can home staff who are waiting for their vaccines and the european idea itself and now suffering from their failure this scandal must be cleared up health minister yen spawn insists that enough doses of the vaccine were ordered and that germany having not received them is down to production issues not a lack of preparedness he has made the promise that everyone in germany that wants a vaccine will be able to get worn by the middle of this year despite that promise it's hard to deny that it's not everything has gone smoothly. germany was held up as one of those nations that handled the early phases of the pandemic best but there has been a sharp increase in the number of deaths connected to covert 19 here in recent weeks and with an election coming up in september everything the current government does is being tracked and traced peter all over r.t. . the united kingdom is also struggling

contrasting european leaders who say this is mr trump is ‘s. angela merkeldefeat initially stoped the atmosphere that allowed the events last night to ta ke allowed the events last night to take place. the really interesting question now is the lingering reputation of democracy worldwide and what impact that has as a result of the events last night. diplomatic correspondent james landale, thank you. gp surgeries in england have begun offering the first dose of the oxford astrazeneca covid—19 vaccine, with the second dose to be given three months later. the health secretary matt hancock attended a surgery this morning to promote the initiative, only to discover the new vaccine had yet to arrive. a gp there said its arrival had been delayed by 2a hours. and in the past few minutes leaders in birmingham have written to the health secretary to say they expect to run out of the pfizer vaccine tomorrow and as yet haven't received any stocks of the oxford version. naomi grimley reports. it's an exciting day today. today, you're going to get your vaccine to prevent

know all these arrests a spokesman for german chancellor angela merkel calling the arrest arbitraries. are for more i want to bring in mr andreas nick he is with chancellor angela merkel's conservative c.d.u. party he is a member of the german parliament foreign affairs committee as well as drink it's good to see you again what are the german government's actions over russia i mean will we just be hearing tough words from germany or is there something that can be done to force russia's hand. well he clearly we are concerned for the missile of our nice safety it was quite a bold. courageous move him to go back to russia but he did it very consciously very deliberately also i think as a political demonstration of it's his will not to be exiled from his own country. what we have think demanded his immediate release i think what happened today is particularly yesterday's particular provocative as mr of and he is supposed to be present tomorrow morning in a in a hearing of the council of europe's parliamentary assembly legal affairs and human rights committee where he is. request it and invited to testify on his case and if

know all these arrests a spokesman for german chancellor angela merkel calling the arrest arbitraries. are the more i want to bring in mr andreas nick he is with chancellor angela merkel's conservative c.d.u. party is a member of the german parliament foreign affairs committee as well it's been it's good to see you again what are the german governments since over russia i mean will we just be hearing tough words from germany or is there something that can be done to force russia's hand. well i think that we are concerned for the mystery of our niece safety it was quite a bold. courageous move him to go back to russia but he did it very consciously very deliberately also i think as a political demonstration of it's his will not to be exiled from his own country. what we have demanded his immediate release i think what happened today is particularly yesterday's particular provocative as mr of and he is supposed to be present tomorrow morning in a hearing of the council of europe's parliamentary assembly legal affairs and human rights committee where he is. request it and invited to testify on his case and if there is no r

know all these arrests a spokesman for german chancellor angela merkel calling the arrest arbitraries. are for more i want to bring in mr andreas nick he is with chancellor angela merkel's conservative c.d.u. party is a member of the german parliament foreign affairs committee as well as because good to see you again what are the german government's actions over russia i mean will we just be hearing tough words from germany or is there something that can be done to force russia's hand. well i think that we are concerned for the midst of our nice safety it was quite a bold. courageous move him to go back to russia but he did it very consciously very deliberately also i think as a political demonstration of it's his will not to be exiled from his own country. what we have think demanded his immediate release i think what happened to day is particular yesterday's particular provocative as mr of and he is supposed to be present tomorrow morning in a hearing of the council of europe's parliamentary assembly legal affairs and human rights committee where he is. request it and invited to testify on his case and if there is no

mr laschet will replace german chancellor angela merkel, who has been at the helm for 16 years.n september, laschet may well end up as leader of germany, the most powerful economy in europe. so who is he — and where, economically, does he stand ? we're nowjoined from berlin by holger schmieding, who's the chief economist at berenberg. what can we expect from him, then? , , , ., , what can we expect from him, then? i, , ., . then? very simple. has economic views are largely _ then? very simple. has economic views are largely more _ then? very simple. has economic views are largely more of- then? very simple. has economic views are largely more of the - views are largely more of the same. he is the continuity candidate, he will largely pursue the policies of worker and after all, as germany is in good shape, that is not bad for the country. he is a unifier, which is good, and which would also be good for the electoral prospects of the party. look ahead for some cut in red tape, only modestly, look ahead for a bigger push for the digital economy, a big boost to innovation but only

imprisonment for a right wing extremist he murdered regional politician 2 years ago mr luker was a member of chancellor angela merkel's c.d.u. party and had spoken out in support of refugees stefan shot him in the head at his home near the west of. it was a trial which brought the specter of violence in germany into sharp focus once again defendant stefan allen was charged with murdering an elected politician. was a well liked local leader who defended angela merkel's policies on migration it turned him into a target for extremists stefan recorded this video at a meeting where 5 deluca faced right hecklers you have to stand up for certain values is anyone who doesn't agree with these values is free to leave the country that's a freedom every german enjoys. facially. 4 years later luca was assassinated at his home in june 29th in his body discovered by his son. 2 weeks later authorities arrested stefan and. over the course of the trial he confessed then retracted and later confessed again today they called found him guilty of murder and sentenced him to life in prison luke is killing is one of several high profile atta

our question i will leave 10 or expense years finally mr creep on let's come back to germany there's a general election in september angela merkel is retiring and in a few days the c.d.u. your party will elect a new leader while none of the candidates to date seem to be generating much enthusiasm you're most popular politician health minister young span isn't even on the ballot don't you want to win elections. and they're optimistic because we have 3 candidates which are. very motivated and i and i don't share which europe you're in for an actual room are. many and i'm sure it will not be easy when i'm going to now that we're leaving because she was our chancellor our earth for a very long period of time since 2005 and a solo that's also quite normal that everybody will live as own style but it's an open race and for me it's very difficult critical were right what will it will it one of the candidates friedrich from outside said that immigrants are to blame for rising welfare costs and unemployment in germany do you really want your party to go down that road putting immigrants in the firing line just to woo a few far right vote

laschet, as their new leader, putting him in a strong position to succeed angela merkel as chancellor in the autumn. mrclear whether the cdu will put him up as its candidate for chancellor in september's general election. 0ur correspondent jenny hill is in berlin. i think most people thought it would be, as indeed it was, a run—off between mr laschet, and friedrich merz. mr laschet is a popular choice, he is a very popular chap, actually. he leads the state of north rhine—westphalia, germany's most populous state. and he made much, actually, during his campaign and then in today's speech before the vote, of the fact that of the three candidates, he is the only one who is in government right now. he runs that state. he spoke a lot about the day—to—day experience he has of dealing with all of the challenges that the three candidates were talking about. big question now of course is whether the party will indeed put him forward as their chancellor candidate in september. we are going to have to wait and see because they will not make a final decision on that person until the spring. prince william has spo

mr. gabriel, cliff apchan there, talking about leadership vacuum in europe once angela merkel leaves.otee that we have a big on the cdu coming up mid-january. who is the right person to actually take on that role? sigmar: i totally agree with what cliff said. there is no person who will be .n the same position in germany germany is now in a period of transition. merkel will go out of her office -- maybe she will be more concentrated on europe, as she did during a very hot time of the pandemic. be soshe will not involved in the german election in european more politics because there she is interested to have a long scene legacy. on the other side, france of course belongs to the new leader of europe after merkel. in a veryy is difficult economic situation, challenged in the country. so i don't think that he will be instrong to replace merkel europe. by the way, the next elections in france are on the horizon. so that is i think the difficult situation in europe, why eurasia is right to put europe at one of 2021.p risks in francine: cliff kupchan, what does the biden administration actu

the german american parliamentary friendship group he's a member of uncle merkel's coalition partners these social democrats mr are very it's good to see you again president biden he's focused we know on the pandemic at the moment but he has made it clear that u.s. foreign policy especially when it comes to europe will be at the top of his agenda soon what will that mean for germany. i braved a good series again i think it's harmful as you guys we have to expect 3 things from your administration it's the one is most important there it's focused on the united states in the 1st place i think they will and also because priorities of course polarization in the population i would say going to we have problems we already had before all problems mostly to nato iran then there could be some new bigger challenges which we all should work together. and trust we know is a big issue can germany can europe trust the united states as it did before donald trump came to power made do you see joe biden as a return to normalcy do you see donald trump as an anomaly well of course there is more trust than during the times of mr t

our profession our will if general expect years finally mr creeper let's come back to germany there's a general election in september angela merkel is retiring and in a few days the c.d.u. your party will elect a new leader while none of the candidates to date seem to be generating much enthusiasm your most popular politician health minister young span isn't even on the ballot don't you want to win elections. and they're optimistic because we have 3 candidates which are. very motivated and i and i don't share your you're in for an actual remark there are. many and i'm sure it will not be easy when i'm going to now do we're leaving because she was our chancellor. horribly very long period of time since 2005 and a subtle that's often quite novel that everybody will him as own style but it's an open race and for me it's very difficult group people will write your will it will it's one of the candidates friedrich from outside said that immigrants are to blame for rising welfare costs and unemployment in germany do you really want your party to go down that road putting immigrants in the firing line just to woo a few far right voters

our national power will leave 10 or expense years finally mr creeper let's come back to germany there's a general election in september angela merkel is retiring and in a few days the c.d.u. your party will elect a new leader while none of the candidates to date seem to be generating much enthusiasm your most popular politician health minister young span isn't even on the ballot good you want to win elections. i'm very optimistic because we have 3 candidates which are. very much of aged and i and i don't cherish europe europe for electoral remar and there are. many and sure it will not be easy when i'm going to now do we're leaving because she was our chancellor are horribly very long period of time since 2005 and a solo that's often quite novel that everybody will him as own style but it's an open race and for me it's very difficult to predict who will it will it is one of the candidates friedrich mad says said that immigrants are to blame for rising welfare costs and unemployment in germany do you really want your party to go down that road putting immigrants in the firing line just to woo a few far right voters from the f.t. has

of our national our will it generate and he is finally mr creeper let's come back to germany there's a general election in september angle merkel is retiring and in a few days the c.d.u. your party will elect a new leader while none of the candidates to date seem to be generating much enthusiasm you're most popular politician health minister young span isn't even on the ballot don't you want to win elections. and they're optimistic because we have 3 candidates which are. very much of aged and. don't cherish europe europe for electoral room are. many and sure it will not be easy when i'm going to now that we're leaving because she was our chance last horrible very long period of time since 2005 and a subtle that's also quite novel that everybody will him as own style but it's an open race and for me it's very difficult to predict who will write what will it will it one of the candidates friedrich mad says said that immigrants are to blame for rising welfare costs and unemployment in germany do you really want your party to go down that road putting immigrants in the firing line just to woo a few far right voters from the f.t. ha

national power will leave tenor expense years finally mr creeper let's come back to germany and there's a general election in september angela merkel is retiring and in a few days the c.d.u. your party will elect a new leader while none of the candidates to date seem to be generating much enthusiasm you're most popular politician health minister young span isn't even on the ballot don't you want to win elections. and very optimistic because we have 3 candidates which are. very motivated and i and i don't share it europe you're in for an actual remark there are. many and sure it will not be easy when i'm going out and we're leaving because she was our chances are horribly very long period of time since 2005 and a solo that's also quite novel that everybody will live as own style but it's an open race and for me it's very difficult to predict who will write what will it will it's one of the candidates friedrich mad says said that immigrants are to blame for rising welfare costs and unemployment in germany do you really want your party to go down that road putting immigrants in the firing line just to woo a few far right voters from t

know all these arrests a spokesman for german chancellor angela merkel calling the arrest arbitraries. are the more i want to bring in mr andreas nick he is with chancellor ugly michael's conservative c.d.u. party he is a member of the german parliament foreign affairs committee as well as think it's good to see you again what are the german government's actions over russia i mean will we just be hearing tough words from germany or is there something that can be done to force russia's hand. well i think that we are concerned for the mystery of our niece safety it was quite a bold. courageous move him to go back to russia but he did it very consciously very deliberately also i think as a political demonstration of it's his will not to be exiled from his own country. what we have demanded his immediate release i think what happened to day is particular yesterday's particular provocative as mr of and he is supposed to be present tomorrow morning in a in a hearing of the council of europe's parliamentary assembly legal affairs and human rights committee where he is. request it and invited to testify on his case and if there

thinks that his cabinet colleague yens tran the federal health minister from angela merkel's party that he thinks that mr shrum needs to address publicly regarding the strategy these are the the vaccines that are in place in this country that are going to be used there is certainly at some levels some real serious disagreement about the pace with which the vaccine strategy has been implemented with some people questioning publicly why it is that the german government has chosen to cleave itself as it were to the e.u. strategy and not perhaps pursue its own particular political strategy of approving the vaccine itself and that sort of thing and that under underpins rather the kind of disagreement we see here on the one hand you have people saying why aren't we going it alone why aren't we pioneering this many people in germany were involved in the creation of the bio on sac pfizer vaccine why can it be that other countries use it 1st and then you have on the other side politically those saying no we have to do this in a pan european level that's the best way to go about it so clearly behind the scenes and

merkel herself. twitter‘s shares tumbled over 6% after mr trump's suspension. facebook was last down almost 3%.e president. we had already banned qanon, proud boys, stop the steal, anything that was trying to organise violent protests. but there are people who feel we should've banned the president before and there are people who are sitting there today who feel taking down the voice of the president is too far even now. so why did we do it? we have clearly established principles that say you cannot call for violence in this moment. we took down those posts that we thought might be calling for violence or were calling for violence immediately. but in this moment, the risk to our democracy was too big that we felt we had to take down the president's account on what is an indefinite ban and i'm glad we did. let's go to new york and jeff jarvis, author of what would google do? and public parts: how sharing in the digital age improves the way we work and live. if sharing information changes that be live should not everyone be able to do that? everyone can. the internet is broad and has many places

our national power will it generate spent years finally mr creeper let's come back to germany there's a general election in september angela merkel is retiring and in a few days the c.d.u. your party will elect a new leader while none of the candidates to date seem to be generating much enthusiasm your most popular politician health minister young span isn't even on the ballot don't you want to win elections. and they're optimistic because we have 3 candidates which are. very much of aged and i and i don't share in europe europe for electoral remark and there are. many and i'm sure it will not be easy when i'm going out and we're leaving because she was our chances are horribly very long period of time since 2005 and. that's also quite novel that everybody will and as own style but it's an open rates and for me it's very difficult to predict who will write what will it will it one of the candidates friedrich mad says said that immigrants are to blame for rising welfare costs and unemployment in germany do you really want your party to go down that road putting immigrants in the firing line just to woo a few far right voters from