Rebel held areas where ports say the civilian death toll has risen to at least two hundred twenty. Im sorry so much going to thank you for joining us the Opening Ceremony of the twenty third winter olympic elim fixes not went away in south korea south korean president hu j. And declare the two thousand and eighteen winter games open with fireworks going off over young chang nearly three thousand athletes from ninety two countries entering the sold out stadium during the Opening Ceremony the games have had to overcome multiple hurdles ahead of Winter Sports most prestigious event the i. O. C. And the athletes will be looking to put all of their troubles behind them and kick off the olympics with a bang. And we have matt herman from sports with us here in studio to talk more about this time at these opening ceremonies are usually pretty spectacular what have you thought about it so far i thought they were very spectacular i mean this is the kind of pageantry that we usually dont see outside of say the euro vision song only this is on a much much bigger scale i mean you know a full fireworks display to open things up which is a bit of a change a lot of times these opening ceremonies conclude with fireworks they decided open with them they also had you know the parade of the athletes which is really what a lot of the fans are hoping to see and they went in in this case in korea in alphabetical order which you know took some peoples by surprise maybe in nigeria open things up because they happen to be first in the korean alphabet this is an unusual thing in that not only its you know the letter and which is coming first in korea but nigeria are basically taking part in the olympics there bobsled team for the first time this is the first time an african country has presented a bobsled team and actually africa is quite well represented at these games eritrea gonna kenya togo madagascar all there. Lets see we had all kinds of other sorts of pageantry had kids with you know tiger puppets if you had people dressed in chicken outfits or some sort of bird outfits it was everything you could want out of an Opening Ceremony so what is the big story thats taking place as these games start oh its definitely the doping story of russian athletes who are there you know under a neutral banner an olympic flag theyre known as a one pick athletes from russia. Were hoping to have an even larger contingent in their one hundred sixty eight strong number so forty seven athletes who were refused to permission to participate in these games tried to appeal to the court of arbitration for sport against their i. O. C. And some of their compatriots have had. Success last week at the cas getting their lifetime bans lifted but for this specific olympics held firm and said that the i. O. C. Was justified in barring these athletes which you know certainly is not going to make the Russian Olympic Federation very happy but it will probably please a lot of people who are involved in the anti doping fight who feel that they needed to take a tough line after all of the stuff that happened and so she would its where its pretty clear that russia had a systematic doping program how are things looking over at the u. S. Camp theres been some controversy there is well its really unfortunate they had controversy over who would bear the flag in the Opening Ceremony shani davis speed skater who is now in his fifth olympics was you know he and a rival of his or you know teammate of his really aaron hamlin she is a loser and the First American individual losing go to see who would be the flag bearer they broke that time via a coin flip which shani davis tweeted that he thought was really sort of an unbecoming way to make that decision i know that he felt very disappointed he decided not to take part in the Opening Ceremony which is not such a big thing in that had he not been the flag bearer he was planning to not take more because event is coming up rather so he wants to sort of stay on a proper you know sleep and diet schedule and stay concentrated but its a sad thing that a guy whos done a lot for the Olympic Movement hes one of the first africanamericans to medal in Winter Olympics in u. S. History had to go out with a bit of a sour taste in his mouth all right well were certainly looking for the action getting in full swing there in p. R. Chang and that herman from the d w sports thank you very much. Well these games also have an historic a political aspect a high level government delegation from north korea is attending the Opening Ceremony officials from pyongyang include kim jong the sister of north Korean Leader kim jong il and she is the first member of the norths ruling dynasty to visit the south now officially these two countries are still at war but these olympics appear to have started to thaw in relations at the Opening Ceremony athletes from the two countries will walk side by side under a unity flag. Our correspondent Jason Strother is in outside of chang for us hi jason how is that kim your drawings agenda going so far. Well i mean the big images here were. The younger sister of ruler kim jong moon shaking hands with south korean president moon j. N. An absolutely unprecedented theres never been a member of north koreas ruling family to come south of the d. M. Z. So it kind of it underlies president moons attempts to brand the Winter Olympics as the pisa lympics and i think this will be a theme that we will that he will turn that south korea will turn back to throughout the games how important do you think this diplomatic overture is to have kim jong un sr at the opening ceremonies. Certainly theres some hope that kim jong il is bringing with her a message from her big brother. But of course not everything is worked out perhaps as president moon as hoped there had that he had arranged a dinner between some World Leaders including kim jong un the rest of the north korean delegation as well as the american delegation led by Vice President mike pence but according to reports here pence only stayed a very brief time at this reception its unclear if he had any interaction at all with the North Koreans so i think that someone pulled the rug out and to pull the carpet out from under president plans here but with so much attention being given to the north korean delegation are the hosts of the games concerned that the Athletic Competition is going to be overshadowed. Unfortunately in almost any olympiad politics tend to overshadow the actual events and with north korea in the equation. As you mentioned these are two countries that are still at war just a few months ago we had north korea testing an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile last year there was a rocket test after a rocket test nuclear test threats going back and forth between pyongyang and washington so the fact that the tensions have cooled down a bit theres been a reprieve been much of the rhetoric that characterized last year theres no way tools void it this is a part of the olympics this year journalists chasing the structure of reporting from outside pyong chang jason thank you thank you all right we have some breaking news a coming in the transition to a new government is proving bumpy for the social democrats now according to german media reports martin shuls the party leader who negotiated the Coalition Agreement with angle americas conservatives is being ousted from his role andreea analysis is set to take over with immediate effect oh well bring you more details on that story as they come in to us for now though moving on to some other stories making news around the world a brief u. S. Government shutdown is set to end after the house of representatives passed a bill to fund the federal government through march twenty third the Senate Passed it a few hours earlier the bill also increases overall spending limits over two years the president on trump is expected to sign the bill into law rescue operations in taiwan have started to wind down after a devastating six point four magnitude earthquake rocked an area around the eastern city of fallujah this week the death toll now stands at twelve dead with five people still missing. Now reports of even more carnage in syria with Government Forces laying waste to the countrys last few rebel strongholds activists say airstrikes going on for five days now an eastern howto near the capital damascus have killed nearly two hundred thirty people the bloodshed has led the United Nations to call for an urgent ceasefire to evacuate civilians and deliver humanitarian aid. Even by the bloody standards of the syrian conflict the bombardment of the rebel held unclear but Eastern Ghouta has exacted a fearful toll. For days of Government Air raids have left more than two hundred civilians dead among them at least fifteen children thats according to the british based syrian observatory for human rights. Eastern good has one of the last pockets of antigovernment resistance near damascus in a separate incident in the east of the country u. S. Led Coalition Forces killed around one hundred government backed fighters and daryls or province the Syrian Government condemned the strikes as a war crime the u. S. Described the action as selfdefense the coalition observed a slow build up of prohibition forces over the past week our forces have the inherent right to selfdefense. We are not looking for a conflict with the regime any action that takes away from our Ongoing Operations to defeat isis is a distraction of homegrown or at one level ceasefire and syria what is your position about that you understand this not really stick we would like to see a cease fire at the end. With the terrorists. In the game and to be used oh yes when you spoke to us just as rescuers rushed just barely to help the wounded in eastern guta the prospects for a ceasefire in syria look as bleak as ever. Now the ink is barely dry on the agreement between germanys main Political Parties to form a Coalition Government but already critics and supporters alike are poring over the documents small print two issues in particular causing contention refugee policy and germanys role in europe you might have expected the new grand Coalition Deal to open with policies directed at germany but instead the opening pages look beyond germanys borders to europe and that no doubt will be music to the ears of french president Manuel Mccullough who for months has been reaching out to germany for help in pushing through a u. Reforms. One person who certainly welcomes the agreement is the e. U. Commission representative in germany you know. These are for when you read through the contract the elements about europe act as a third choice of inspiration for the europe we will lead in the coming months and for the decisions to be made. Following on from the speeches of e. U. Commission president im french president michel essential elements are also included as to how we can form a Common Future foundation in europe. Is common kind of the importance of germanys rolling her became evident in the handling of the refugee crisis back in two thousand and fifteen images of Asylum Seekers queuing down the street at this Registration Center and the berlin neighborhood of motivate made International Headlines now three years on the keys may have gone but integration is still a big challenge the deals decision on family reunification has also drawn criticism. Is on the scottish pathak with particularly critical of the family reunions for refugees with limited status we are in contact with those affected on a daily basis with children and families who want their wives and kids here minus who just have to have their parents here and for them this is a great loss of trust in our institutions institutes. But just a few hundred meters away in berlin is government district theres a sense of relief among many vitas after five months of uncertainty theres been four letter word finally moving forward they should find the ability to make a decision altogether over just sad to see the big powers of our country car just say ok well go it alone even if they dont get a majority as weve been good i think its good that were thinking ahead again and when not just exploring a negotiating but actually taking action. Despite the dail angle of merkel isnt out of the woods just yet now the fate of a new grand coalition lies in the hands of the social Democrats Party members all four hundred sixty thousand of them will have the chance to vote on the deal by march second only if they vote in favor of the deal well it finally be signed and sealed. Or mine are now of our time. Story at this hour the twenty third Winter Olympics have officially kicked off and john china south korea almost three thousand athletes from ninety two countries will be competing over the next two require among those at the opening ceremonies john the sister of north koreas leader kim jong un she is the first member of the norths ruling dime to visit the south. Thanks for watching you got me of beneficial and has been coming right up. Frank food. International gateway to the best connection self you know road and radio. Located in the heart of europe you are connected to the whole world. Experience outstanding shopping and dining offers and try our services. Be our guest at Frankfurt Airport city managed by from