chancellor scholz had a -hone on it. chancellor scholz had a phone call— on it.lz had a phone call with the russian l phone call with the russian president vladimir putin last month and ukraine has spoken out against that, but also, crucially, the possibility of talks between russia and ukraine going forward. it is better to say that chancellor scholz has a mixed reputation here in ukraine. has scholz has a mixed reputation here in ukraine.— here in ukraine. as you mentioned, _ here in ukraine. as you mentioned, it - here in ukraine. as you mentioned, it is - here in ukraine. as you mentioned, it is by - here in ukraine. as you mentioned, it is by farl here in ukraine. as you i mentioned, it is by far the largest provider of european military assistance to ukraine, outstripping all of its partners by a very substantial, something in the region of 17 billion euros so far, and its additional package that he is bringing with him today. but, for a number of budge indication is willing to budge on it. . . ., indication is willing to budge onit. . . ., ., indication is

the german leader, chancellor 0laf scholz, is expected to arrive there very shortly. entire area around the market is still cordoned off. police in the city have set up a hotline for any information about the attack. a memorial service will be held in the city's cathedral at 7.00pm local time. planned cultural events, including theatrical productions, have been cancelled for the next few days. magdeburg's city councillor for public order has told local media the christmas market will stay closed and that "christmas in magdeburg is over". security is being increased at other markets in germany including in the capital berlin. we'll hear from our correspondent at the scene shortly, but first this report is from nickjohnson. crying. cries punctuate the sense of terror and bewilderment at magdeburg's christmas market. passers—by tend to the injured. moments beforehand, the market had been teeming with people enjoying the atmosphere in the days before christmas. footage, which is too graphic to broadcast, appears to show a car deliberately driving at speed into dozens of p

olaf scholz, the german chancellor speaking here in magdeburg just in the last couple of hours. visited and laid flowers. you can see here even more people are coming all the time trying to get candles to light in this bitterly cold wind and the rain starting to fall here. leaving flowers and candles and tributes. one of the victims, we know one of the five people killed was a toddler. very much of the focus of those tribute is where you actually saw olaf scholz standing and speaking just a moment ago. i want to show you love pictures of this spot. it isjust show you love pictures of this spot. it is just on the other side of this market square and has become a focus for people. a lot of people standing around there, many of them in quiet contemplation. really trying to work out what has happened to the city which this time yesterday was celebrating, people in this busy and bustling market. people coming out this friday for christmas. also you can see, ijust want to show you what is happening behind me, which is where you can see christmas lights which are still twinkling and wo

i think it is fair to say that chancellor scholz has a mixed reputation here in ukraine.by far the largest european provider of military assistance to ukraine. 0utstripping all of its european partners by a very substantial amount. something in the region of 17 billion euros so far, and this additional package that he's bringing him today. but, for a number of reasons, the ukrainians regard chancellor scholz as a slightly problematic figure. we have mentioned the taurus missiles already. he is also among those who are vocally opposed to the idea of ukrainejoining nato, his argument being that that is not possible while the country is at war. he is not alone in that view. president biden has essentially the same view. but it is another sticking point. and then the phone call that you mentioned between chancellor scholz and vladimir putin last month. president zelensky made it pretty clear he was unhappy with that. he said that chancellor scholz had opened a pandora's box and this was precisely what mr putin wanted, to be able to knock off one western leader after another i

i think it is fair to say that chancellor scholz has a mixed reputation here in ukraine.many is by far the largest european provider of military assistance to ukraine. outstripping all of its european partners by a very substantial amount. something in the region of 17 billion euros so far. and this additional package that he's bringing him today. but, for a number of reasons, the ukrainians regard chancellor scholz as a slightly problematic figure. we have mentioned the taurus missiles already. he is also among those who are vocally opposed to the idea of ukrainejoining nato, his argument being that that is not possible while the country is at war. he is not alone in that view. president biden has essentially the same view. but it is another sticking point. and then the phone call that you mentioned between chancellor scholz and vladimir putin last month. president zelensky made it pretty clear he was unhappy with that. he said that chancellor scholz had opened a pandora's box and this was precisely what mr putin wanted, to be able to knock off one western leader after a

you have frederick mertz saying olaf scholz is a failed counsel -- failed chancellor. now you have the afd, the voice of the far right, now impossible to ignore in german politics. they saying that germany is on the brink of collapse and a vote for frederick mertz is basically a vote for war with russia. this was the rhetoric and the sort of temperature going into this no-confidence vote after he lost and olaf scholz went to the president, who will dissolve the parliament and set the stage for this campaign and later today we will hear again from olaf scholz and the spd at 2 p.m. when they lay out their party platform and basically what their agenda will be and what they will be campaigning on for the next couple of months. >> an important day for them as they lay out those policies. at least on the surface, the german economy is facing a major problem. what is the policy prescription that each party's laying out to address the challenge? >> again, highlighted again yesterday when you had the german pmi data coming in yesterday, missing estimates and extending that str

chancellor scholz is speaking now ahead of that vote. bring the result live to you here on bbc news. and ahead of that, we'll get more analysis on the significance of this — notjust for germany, europe's largest economy, but on the impact for the continent. we will be talking about that throughout the day. let's now bring you right up to date about what is happening in mayotte. it's taken more than a day — but the scale of the disaster brought to the french overseas territory by cyclone chido is starting to emerge — �*and the reports and the reports are horrifying. senior officials say they fear hundreds are dead — and over the next few days, as they try to reach devastated areas — they say that figure could rise to several thousand. roads have been cut, shanty towns flattened, the main airport is closed and supplies of electricity and fresh water have been cut. that's all the result of the 140 miles per hour winds which the cyclone brought to the territory over the weekend. to make things worse, the central hospital has suffered what's

that is essentially the underlying problem of olaf scholz�* outgoing three—way coalition. parties going on three different directions and that will not go away because adie will get stronger. it will not get into government but it will make it more difficult for other parties to form a stable coalition. this instability is likely to be something we will see again going forward in german politics. that crisis is not going away. let's get some of the day's other news now. medics and civil defence workers in gaza say israeli bombardments on sunday killed at least 53 palestinians, including three rescue workers and an al—jazeera cameraman. israel says it killed dozens of militants. police in the us state of massachusetts have arrested two men for flying drones massachusetts have arrested two men forflying drones near boston's logan airport. there have been a spate of drone sightings across six north—eastern states that caused widespread confusion. police have given no indication whether it is connected to these arrests. research suggests more than eight million vapes are throw

that is the translation of that post by olaf scholz. the german chancellor on social media.han that, we have been relying on local media and the news agencies to bring what few details we have. we have had one question answered in the last 10 minutes or so which was the working assumption of authorities, that this was an attack. of course, it looked like an attack with the scale of the response, scale of what happened there but we didn't have any confirmation at that stage. in the last hour, a car driven off course, some accident or awful accident, see mingly hitting a group of people, but the assumption now is that it was an attack using that car. in terms of motive for this attack, we still don't know. the driver of the car, the identity of that person we don't know. we don't know if that person was acting on their own or with other people at the scene, people behind the scenes. all of those questions, of course, we will attempt to answer in the hours and days to come. for the moment, we are still trying to get to grips with some of the most basic information including the

we heard a little from the german chancellor olaf scholz — he pledged that germany would respond "withul and joyful place where people come together to enjoy christmas, to think about christmas, to drink wine and eat grilled sausages. what a dreadful tragedy for so many people were injured and killed with such brutality in a place like that. we have now heard that more than 200 people have been injured. there are five fatalities so far. and so many people are critically injured that we are severely concerned about what will happen to them. it is a dreadful catastrophe. we would all like to express our empathy and sympathy to those who are injured and to the families of those who are injured, to the families of those who have been killed, and i would like to express their solidarity of the entire country. we are all profoundly touched and shocked by this and we need to stand together and pull together and will indeed do so. it is very impressive that's only people stepped in to help immediately, including all the people who were working at the christmas market and visiting the christmas

speaking of german politicians, the chancellor olaf scholz was here earlier today. for a service that's been happening, a vigil happening this evening. he also was on the other side of this market square for the p was laying flowers, he talked about the investigation that would be happening. there was also some discontent, there was some booing around there as well, people concerned about the security of these christmas markets, which we've seen attacked before for example in berlin in 2016 for the people feeling they should've been more secure than they were. also issues about what to do next year. olaf scholz call for unity and there has been a good deal of unity on display here throughout the day for the people coming out, standing together but also strong political views for that we heard from. political views for that we heard from batoul nayouf, lives in magdeburg and is a member of the city's syrian—german cultural association. she says this attack will be used to create a bigger division within german society. let's put this clear, of course with everything

we've heard a little from the german chancellor olaf scholz. full force of the law. translation: now, normally, a christmas market is a very i peaceful and joyful place, people come togetherjust before christmas in advent in the run—up to christmas to enjoy christmas and to think about christmas, to drink gluhwein and eat grilled sausages. what a dreadful tragedy that so many people were injured and killed with such brutality in a place like that. we've now heard that more than 200 people have been injured. there are five fatalities so far. and so many people are critically injured that we are severely concerned about what will happen to them. it's a dreadful catastrophe. we'd all like to express our empathy and sympathy to those who are injured and to the families of those who are injured, to the families of those who have been killed, and i'd like to express their solidarity of the entire country. we are all profoundly touched and shocked by this and we need to stand together and pull together and will indeed do so. it's very impressive that

chancellor 0laf scholz has been speaking in front of the bundestag — germany's parliament — ahead ofexpected to lose — forcing an election in the new year. it comes after the collapse of scholz�*s government last month after he sacked his finance minister. they disagreed over how best to handle the stagnation in europe's largest economy as german based economist carsten brzeski explains. this government was struggling to somehow make up its mind. so how can the german economy really be reformed and overhauled in the end? it all comes down to money. so will we go more or less the southern european way that we saw during the euro crisis, that there will be reforms combined with austerity measures, or will we see a new way? that would be reforms combined with higher debt and higher deficits and more investments. and this is how the government broke. and i'm a bit afraid that also, when i look at the platforms right now, what all the parties are proposing for after the elections, that this basic problem will still not be solved. and these are live pictures now from inside the bundestag i

the german chancellor, olaf scholz, is making an unexpected visit to the ukrainian capital, kyiv. millionsf us use technology for exercise routines and sleeper doctor say they are conscious about how useful that kind of is. —— they are cautious. more on those stories. now with all the latest sport here's. hello from the bbc sport centre. west indies are back at the crease on day 3 of their weather affected second test against bangaldesh in kingston. they started the day trailing by 94 runs and have moved to 9a—3. at sabina park in response to bangladesh's161i. captain kraigg brathwaited was dismissed for 39 adding just six to his overnight total. west indies are one up in the two—match series. fiorentina midfielder edoardo bove remains in intensive care after collapsing during their serie a match at home to inter milan. in the past hour, the club has released a statement saying he is currently awake, alert and oriented. the 22—year—old, on loan from roma, fell to the ground in 16th minute of their match, with both sets of players immediately signalling for the medical staff and forming a p

earlier today, chancellor olaf scholz came to lay a white rose and promise an investigation.: it is a dreadful tragedy that so many people i were killed and injured. it is a dreadful catastrophe. we send our sympathy to those who are injured, and i express the solidarity of the entire country. as specialist police continue their investigations just a few metres away, the collection of flowers and candles here just keeps on growing. this bitter december wind is not keeping people away. they want to be here, they want to be together and to remember the friends that they've lost. christmas feels very different here now. the stalls won't be reopening. the focus turned instead on remembering the victims, helping the survivors and making sure a tragedy like this can't happen again. i spoke to anna a short while ago live from magdeberg. anna, thanks so much for being with us. what more at this stage are we learning about the suspect? stage are we learning about the susect? h, . stage are we learning about the susect? ,., . ., ., stage are we learning about the susect? . ., ., , susp

olaf scholz laid a white rose.e other side of the market, you can see, between the buildings, a large church rising into the sky. in front of that, we have seen many people laying flowers. that's a realfocal point for flowers and candles and for people to gather and express, as we saw when olaf scholz was here, dissatisfaction at the security but also to come together and think about what happened here last night. i want to play you in full what the german chancellor had to say a couple of hours ago outside the church. translation: we have a translation now of the press conference taking place. translation:— conference taking place. translation: ., , translation: two minutes past seven in the _ translation: two minutes past seven in the evening, _ translation: two minutes past seven in the evening, we - translation: two minutes past seven in the evening, we were i seven in the evening, we were informed of the events, we received the first call over our emergency number. the first caller imagined that it was an acci

it's after chancellor olaf scholz recently lost a confidence vote in parliament.ned in the studio by lauren taylor. tell us what has been going on in germany. tell us what has been going on in germany-— in germany. this is confirmation - in germany. this is confirmation that l in germany. this is l confirmation that we in germany. this is - confirmation that we were expecting that parliament has been dissolved and an election will take place. this is after the collapse of the ruling coalition and olaf scholz had cold a vote of no confidence and he wanted to trigger the process which would lead to new elections. olaf scholz is lagging behind in the polls, his rival in the opinion polls but it's the traditional parties have always been very powerful in germany but the support has been eaten away by the radical left and radical left on both sides and germany is ready and, as you remember, from the attack only a short time ago on the christmas market in magdeburg on the right—wing party, the afd has been dry to capitalise on the anger in the aftermath of that, turning

and chancellor olaf scholz tables of vote he knows he will lose, triggering a snap election. we will be live in berlin. happy monday. it is the final full week before the end of the year. european futures pointing lower after some losses for european and u.s. stocks. upfront, the central-bank action , but before there, the federal reserve. the fed expected to cut 25 basis points. ftse 100 futures pointing higher and nasdaq 100 futures also unchanged. let's look cross asset. one of the worst weeks of the year in terms of the selloff last week particularly for the 10 year, around 24 basis points higher, little bit of money moving back in but after the selling of last week. euro-dollar getting a lift, gaining .2% and bitcoin smashing through fresh records. it had been above 105,000 on the news that microstrategy will be included in the nasdaq 100. some strength came through last week, currently down by .5%. let's check in on the asian markets, front and center with the data out of china and softness in retail sales and what that tells us about the weak consumer in china even as

mr scholz called monday's vote and had expected to lose it to trigger an early vote.r spending. our correspondent, damien mcguinness, has more from berlin. the german chancellor lost his photo in the parliament and thatis photo in the parliament and that is what he wanted. that is because it is the only way to spark early elections. since his government collapsed in november he has been leading a minority government effectively a lame duck administration because he needs the opposition conservatives to pass any new laws. for mr schultz, the only way forward is early elections. he appears convinced he can win these although his poll ratings are absolutely terrible. his only hope is his main rival, the conservative leader, is also pretty unpopular, but the conservatives are in the lead according to current polls, so as things stand, they could well lead the next coalition government, but previous elections in germany have shown things are very unpredictable and the mood can change very quickly. a lot of voters even now say they are undecided and do not know who devote f

segÚn la policÍa, scholz atravesÓ las puertas principales con su camioneta y condu mÁs de 100 yardasf the jcpenney store striking four people. those people are they were transported with severe severe to minor injuries. >> todo comenzÓ alrededor de las 17:00 de la tarde cuando un agente del departamento de seguridad pÚblica de texas dps, por sus siglas en inglÉs, intentÓ detener la camioneta de schulz tras recibir una llamada al 901, alertando sobre un posible conductor intoxicado en belsen, una ciudad a unas 20 millas de killeen, segÚn las autoridades. schulz se negÓ a detenerse, lo que dio inicio a una persecuciÓn a lo largo de 19 millas. la persecuciÓn culminÓ dentro de la tienda mclean, a unas 68 millas al norte de austin, texas, cuando los agentes de la policÍa local, junto con oficiales fuera de servicio de tres agencias distintas, ingresaron al establecimiento despuÉs de intentar frenarlo. los agentes estatales y locales dispararon contra schulz, quien falleciÓ en el lugar. cuatro vÍctimas fueron trasladadas a hospitales locales, mientras que otra busÓo atenciÓn mÉdica por su

germany is heading for an early germ election after olaf scholz lost a confidence vote in parliamentase voting 394—297 with 116 abstentions. olaf scholz said he want to elections actors through a coalition fell apart last month in a row over spending. polls have the opposition conservatives i had partly because they are talking tough on immigration. as mp5 debated the confidence vote chancellor said germany was facing many challenges including the war in ukraine and an energy crisis and unfair competition. however, my reason to end the governing coalition was based on something else. the reason even more important question. how and whether we invest in our country with vigour and determination or small—mindedness, everything else depends on this question. our security, else depends on this question. oursecurity, our else depends on this question. our security, our future, else depends on this question. oursecurity, ourfuture, our prosperity, the competitiveness of our economy, good work and education and last but not least, the social cohesion of our country. dr henning hoff, executi

people heckled germany's chancellor, olaf scholz, when he came here yesterday.ho say much more should have been done to stop this kind of thing happening. we know from the authorities that the car was able to enter the market through a route that was intended for the emergency services, so it wasn't blocked off with concrete blocks. people are asking whether that was a bad mistake. and also there is this mixture. while again, we saw last night the vigil held at the cathedral for the victims and the tremendous outpouring of sadness and solidarity there, at the same time, there was a demonstration in the town at which far—right slogans and xenophobic slogans were heard. so a very uncertain, quite swift—moving picture here in terms of the mood. thanks to bethany. the israeli military has carried out a wave of attacks across the gaza strip, hitting targets in gaza city, rafah, khan younis and elsewhere. local reports say at least 11 people were killed when this building was hit, in the central area of deir al balah. several children are feared dead. there are also r

what happened is the coalition collapsed in november, olaf scholz�*s governing coalition and he requestedunders like after losing the no—confidence vote. the constitution doesn't allow them to dissolve themselves so it was up to the president to make that decision. he has now called election for february the 23rd. but campaigning had started already because people were anticipating an election and we have seen olaf scholz has been trailing behind, he is on the centre—left and he has been trailing behind his rival. but those traditional parties are increasingly being attacked from both sides, from the radical left and the radical right, both by populist parties. this has been happening in the context when germany was reeling from this attackjust recently germany was reeling from this attack just recently on germany was reeling from this attackjust recently on a christmas market when a man drove his car into a christmas market and killed five people and injured hundreds more. the leader of the far—right party had been trying to capitalise on the anger that had come up through that issue. bl

chancellor olaf scholz�*s government loses a confidence vote in parliament deepening germany's politicalnd economic crisis. bitcoin bull run breaks new barriers, passing the hundred and $5,000 mark for the first time as president elect trump promises something great for crypto. and signed, sealed and delivered. the uk government approves the sale of the 500—year—old royal mail to a czech billionaire we will talk somewhat about the royal mail in just a we will talk somewhat about the royal mail injust a moment we will talk somewhat about the royal mail in just a moment but we will start this programme in germany where olaf scholz�*s coalition government has lost a vote paving the way for an election in february in the new year. german ministers voted down the minority administration led by the chancellor in a move that he himself sought as he looks to form a new majority government. the move creates a whole new layer of uncertainty for what is your�*s biggest economy, of course suffering from stagnation and industrial unrest in its particularly key automotive sector. let's talk to chris w

mr scholz said he wanted to use this opportunity to express solidarity with ukraine and has promiseda fresh package of military aid worth more than 630 million euros. germany is currently the biggest european supplier of defence equipment to ukraine. our world affairs correspondent paul adams is in ukraine and explained the significance of this visit. the chancellor has a somewhat mixed reputation here. everyone is acutely aware that germany is, as you said in your introduction, the largest european provider of military assistance by far, something in the region of 28 billion euros worth of military aid so far. and he was bringing a fresh package with him today. but on the other hand, there has been this reluctance to provide long—range missiles, the taurus missile, which the ukrainians have been asking for for some time now. he was asked again about that today and he rather dodged the issue. president zelensky, for his part, said that was an issue that they were still discussing. he is also the chancellor, a fairly vocal opponent of the idea of ukrainejoining nato. and again, he sli

chancellor scholz has visited the scene.happened in magdeburg a �*terrible act�* there are questions about security after it emerged the suspect drove through an entrance reserved for ambulances and official vehicles. anna foster has been at the scene and sent this report: flickering candles have replaced the twinkling christmas lights. here in magdeburg, there's shock, disbelief and questions about how something like this could happen. 2a hours ago, this market was packed with people, but the laughter and celebration was cut devastatingly short when a car sped through the crowds, killing five people and injuring 200 more. the car sped past us and the police ran after it. other emergency services arrived, evacuated people and diverted traffic. people were still panicking and screaming. we now know it used the rescue entrance to get into the square, a gap deliberately left for ambulances to have access. police say the deadly rampage lasted three minutes. armed police quickly arrested a man, a doctor originally from saudi arab

the german chancellor, 0laf scholz, came to lay a white rose and promised an investigation.e continue their investigations just a few metres away, the collection of flowers and candles here just keeps on growing. this bitter december wind is not keeping people away. they want to be here. they want to be together and to remember the friends that they've lost. christmas feels very different here now. the stalls won't be reopening. the focus turned instead on remembering the victims, helping the survivors and making sure a tragedy like this can't happen again. what about the attacker taleb al—abdulmohsen? what about the attacker taleb al—abdulmohsen? james jackson is a journalist — he was contacted by the alleged attacker online. it was quite a shock to me, to be honest. as first reports were coming out about this particular individual, the suspect i went to look and he sort of followed me. i saw that he is also message me in august. my report was on a story about police misbehavior in berlin. then he sent me his message, this video which is made to look as if it's elon musk ta

well, firstly, just a few days ago, our german chancellor scholz used a nazi term.r of the state suing him for that. but it's exactly the same thing. he should be sued for that. these things, i'm not saying they must happen, but not... they shouldn't. they shouldn't happen, of course. but, yes, there was a slip of tongue. that was... he didn't know, bjorn hocke didn't know it. and it's really interesting that it's the third time i'm here on the show...for five years now, i think, and we're always talking about bjorn hocke, who is a regional figure in germany. do you worry that both the courts and the intelligence services in germany right now, both have specifically labelled your party, at national level, and in particular states, as a potential danger to democracy? well, of course i'm aware of that because they are all biased. that agency, that government agency is, as the name puts it, a government agency. the head of this agency reports directly to the left extremist minister of the interior, mrs faeser, and she dictates whatever he says and whatever he does. i'm

musk has thrown his support hundred behind the far-right party and called for scholz to resign. frank, musk very busy these days. >> a lot of companies to run and dipping his toe in politics. bertha, thank you very much. >>> a whip saw week for natural gas. we look at the top performing commodities this year. it is not energy or metals. what 2025 will bring for likes the coke and orange juice. >>> the oracle of omaha is putting his money to work. it moves their planning for 2025. a very busy hour when "worldwide exchange" returns. stay with us. it's all the things that keep this world turning. it's the go-tos that keep us going. the places we cheer. trust. hang out. and check in. they all choose the advanced network solutions and round the clock partnership from comcast business. powering more businesses than anyone. powering possibilities. z's bakery is looking to add a pizza oven, arissa's hair salon wants to expand their space, and steve's t-shirt shop wants to bring on more help. with the comcast business 5-year price lock guarantee, they can think more about possibilities f

scholz�*s government imploded after.of one of the three coalition parties. at the heart of the crisis are deep divisions on economic and financial issues. germany's economy, europe's largest, is expected to shrink for the second year in a row. but it's not the only european power struggling with political instability. its vote of confidence will come just ten days after the french now—former prime minister, michel barnier, lost a no—confidence vote. france's president macron is now seeking a political deal that would allow him to name a new prime minister and ensure his own country's stability. but opposition parties have rejected every suggestion he's put forward so far. here's victor goury—laffont, a politics reporter at politico. he told me what the next move could be for president macron. young, next step will be is most likely tomorrow, young, according to people close to the president, a new prime minister will be announced. we don't so far have a lot of information about who that prime minister might be, but what'

the german chancellor olaf scholz came to lay a white rose and promise an investigation.a dreadful tragedy that so many people i were killed and injured. it is a dreadful catastrophe. we send our sympathy to those who are injured and i express the solidarity of the entire country. a specialist police continue their investigation —— as specialist police continue their investigation just a few metres away, the collection of flowers and candles herejust keep on growing. this better december wind is not keeping people away, they want to be here, they want to be together and to remember the friends that they've lost. christmas feels very different here now — the stalls will not be reopening. the focus instead turned on remembering the victims, helping the survivors and making sure a tragedy like this can't happen again. anna foster, bbc news, magdeburg. let's go live to magdeburg now and our correspondent bethany bell. these are the pictures lie. people coming to continue these are the pictures lie. people coming to continue and stand for and they met in front of the sea of fl

in terms of the politics i know olaf scholz i the politics i know olaf scholz has made comments abouting a snap election in february. it is likely his government has collapsed. it is volkswagen impacted by the politics or not?— politics or not? definitely. geopolitical _ politics or not? definitely. geopolitical headwinds - politics or not? definitely. | geopolitical headwinds are causing a great storm across the whole of the german economy

now, the vote today came about because olaf scholz is bickering.overnment collapsed back in november when he fired his finance minister, christian lindner. the two had been bickering for some time over a financial mechanism and germany's economy. but what resulted in this was scholz leading a minority government. that meant he had very few other options left to him, apart from calling this confidence vote. what the opposition party saw, though, in schultz's weakness, was the ability to force him to make the call on having the confidence vote and the election earlier than he had originally wished. that animosity was very clear to see on the floor of the bundestag today, with all parties leveling accusations at one another. schulz took another opportunity to remind the german people that the reason this government collapsed in his mind was because the liberal partners in his coalition were not prepared to agree with his policies and timetables. the cdu, the former party of angela merkel, now led by friedrich merz and one of the front runners to be th

olaf scholz, the chancellor unceremoniously firing his finance minister, christian lindner. two massively disagreed about germany's economic future the chancellor gave me an ultimatum to suspend the constitutional debt break. >> i couldn't do that because i would have been breaking my oath of office. >> but the divisions between governing parties go far deeper than a financial mechanism. >> all three parties contributed to why this coalition fell apart by provoking one another by publicly fighting. >> leonie von randow is a political reporter at welt. she's covered the coalition since it was formed. she says the euphoria of this government ended abruptly, triggered largely by the war in ukraine. >> the government had to take on a huge debt to kind of put more money into defense and into the army and also the economy started to really stumble because we were so largely dependent on russian gas and oil. so that's kind of where it all went downhill by throwing out the liberal party in his traffic light coalition, a reference to party colors, olaf schulz was forced to call a vot

scholz called monday's vote and expected to lose it but he has hopes that an early election will revivelapsed last month about spending updating you on the breaking news, there has been a 7.3 magnitude earthquake striking vanuatu. authorities have removed a tsunami warning. it is unclear the extent of any damage at the moment, but we will keep across it for you and bring you any updates. do stay with us for plenty more news. business today is up next. hello there. it's been a mild start to the week. temperatures at swanage in dorset on monday reached 13 celsius. it'll be mild on tuesday as well, but again, there'll be a lot of cloud around. we're on the warmer side of thejet stream, and that's why we've got these higher temperatures, there's the position of the jet stream, it's to the north of the uk, so we're on the warmer side of that. but along a weather front, we've seen a lot of rain in the northern highlands, that's moving away, but this area of low pressure will bring some wetter weather back in to the north and west of the uk. so on tuesday, it looks like scotland and northern i

scholz looked to formally request the disillusion of parliament which is expected to be made officialn the coming days. >>> in the corporate world, talks with volkswagen and the union continued into the night before being paused after 13 hours of discussions. the two sides remain split including whether plant closures can be ruled out. the ig metall is unclear over the talks to continue. the talks will resume later today. >>> now into all of the central bank action we are expecting this week, the fed will kickoff the action with the rate decision tomorrow. then we are set for super thursday with the bank of japan, bank of england, norges bank ing their decision. the cnbc bank of japan survey shows the economists expect a hold from the central bank. lin lin filed this report. >> reporter: 54% or 13 of 24 economists surveyed took this view which is much less than market pricing which stands at 80% believing the boj will stand pat. in my mind, when you look at the analyst comments we have been gathering, it boils down to two key things. is the central bank gore ing to focus on the data o

the german chancellor, 0laf scholz, came to lay a white rose and promised an investigation.ntinue their investigations just a few metres away, the collection of flowers and candles here just keeps on growing. this bitter december wind is not keeping people away. they want to be here. they want to be together and to remember the friends that they've lost. christmas feels very different here now. the stalls won't be reopening. the focus turned instead on remembering the victims, helping the survivors and making sure a tragedy like this can't happen again. 0ur security correspondent, frank gardener has been looking into potential warnings from the saudi government regarding the suspect. they say that they passed four so called notes, official diplomatic communications from saudi arabia to germany. i don't know the dates but they sent three of them to german intelligence agencies and one of them to the german foreign ministry warning they say about taleb al—abdulmohsen�*s extreme views that he held. there are two sides to this. there is a view taken by at least one respected cou

the trip comes after ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy recently criticized scholz for speakingssian president vladimir putin back in november about opening negotations to end the war. in kyiv today, scholz emphasized solidarity. >> my very clear message from kyiv to putin -- we're in this for the long haul, and we will stand by ukraine for as long as it takes. geoff: the biden administration has eased aid to ukraine in the last few months of the president's term. the incoming trump administration has said it will rethink u.s. aid to ukraine. more than 200 people have been detained in the country of georgia amid demonstrations now going into their fifth night. tens of thousands of people gathered in the capital of tbilisi this evening in protest of the pro-russian government's decision to suspend negotiations to join the european union. more than a hundred police officers have been injured in clashes with demonstrators. it's all unfolding after october elections that were seen as a referendum on joining the eu. georgia's opposition says the vote was rigged by moscow. there is tu

earlier today, chancellor 0laf scholz came to lay a white rose and promise an investigation. tragedy that so many people i were killed and injured. it is a dreadful catastrophe. we send our sympathy to those who are injured and i express the solidarity of the entire country. as specialist police continue their investigations just a few metres away, the collection of flowers and candles here just keeps on growing. this bitter december wind is not keeping people away. they want to be here, they want to be together and to remember the friends that they've lost. christmas feels very different here now. the stalls won't be reopening. the focus turned instead on remembering the victims, helping the survivors and making sure a tragedy like this can't happen again. 0n on saturday evening about 100 far right protesters gathered in the streets of magdeburg. the march called for the �*remigration�* of immigrants living in germany. the christmas market attack will likely add to the debate over security and immigration before national elections in february. 0pinion polls show the far—righ

the collapse of chancellor scholz�*s ruling coalition after three torrid years of infighting at homeckons for scholz�*s political opponents, not least in the far—right alternative fur deutschland party. my guest is senior afd mp peter boehringer. but is his party too extreme to be a serious contender for national power? peter boehringer in berlin, welcome to hardtalk. hello, stephen, and thank you for having me again. it's a pleasure to have you on the show. now, it seems almost certain — not quite official yet, but almost certain — that germans will vote in national elections in february 2025. that poses a challenge for your afd party. how ambitious are you?

you're seeing german chancellor olaf scholz arriving. obviously, the attack that happened last night at that christmas market. an attacker driving through a high speed through a crowd of people just at the christmas market. just doing some christmas shopping and checking out the scene. and you're seeing the german chancellor arriving just there. he is going to be speaking later. and we will bring you the latest on that. he has already spoken about this and responded to the attack, saying at the time, my thoughts are with the victims and their loved ones. we stand by their side, by the side of all magdeburg residents. my thoughts to all of the emergency services in these difficult hours. as i told you earlier, this is just one month on from the interior minister saying that we need to be more vigilant at these christmas markets so people will be asking why wasn't more done before this attack? okay, back to our top story as lauren just reported. trump's confidant and informal adviser elon musk helped torpedo a bipartisan deal earlier this