Plus, a stunning victory for u. S. Democrat doug jones, as he claims victory in alabamas u. S. Senate race, a major setback for the Republican Party that could alter the balance of power in the u. S. Congress. Brent im brent goff. Its good to have you with us. Tonight, a shock result from britains house of commons. Members of parliament have given themselves the authority to veto the governments final brexit deal. In a defeat for Prime Minister theresa may, about 10 members of her conservative party sided with opposition lawmakers to pass an amendment that mays government had opposed. This amendment gives the house final say on whether or not they can approve the eu withdrawal bill that converts thousands of eu laws into british law on the day that the u. K. Leaves europe in march of 2019. For more on this now we want to go to london. Our correspondent birgit maass is on the story for us. Good evening to you, birgit. So, walk us through the vote that just took place. Birgit well, it was something that was highly contested and was debated for days, probably even weeks. The government really tried until the last moment to persuade their own mps of their own good intentions. The eu withdrawal, as you said, is all about transferring eu law into british law, and how is the government going to go about it. Parliament is saying, we want to have a say. We dont want the government to have too much power. We want to have a say in how brexit basically is shaped and how the whole process is shaped. It was all about taking back control, so we want to have that control, we dont want this just to be decided by parliament. The government tried to get their way, they tried to persuade people from their own parties to go with them. But they did not succeed, and this amendment got through, where basically parliamentarians are saying we have to show the way, not just the government. Brent what does this mean for Going Forward with brexit . Birgit well first of all, it is something that is internal. It doesnt mean anything, for example, for the council that is happening tomorrow and friday in brussels. But of course, it is symbolic, it is political, it is something that is an internal u. K. Process. But the eu has a strong interest in having a strong British Government. They want to negotiate with a British Government that is stable and gets everything that they promised, it gets it through. So it makes everything more tricky. Then again, theresa may only has a very, very thin majority in parliament. She has the support of the Northern Irish unioners, but it shows that the majority is so thin so that if some rebels go to the opposition, she is on thin ice. Brent so what does this mean for her and her government Going Forward . Like you say, it is a shaky situation at best. Birgit its a tricky situation at best. And theresa may that was also showed in the runup to this crucial vote really tried to get her people on board because she knows that she is vulnerable and that she does not have the support of several members also of her party. There are quite a few rebels in the conservative party that dont want to go ahead with a hard brexit, with leaving the single market, leaving the customs unit. They are really trying to influence everything that is done in brussels, and they do everything they can. And this just shows that theresa may is vulnerable and the cause for the brexit as she has said is not just determined by her, it is determined by the cabinet, but also by the members of parliament. Brent our correspondent birgit maass on the story for us tonight with breaking news from london. Birgit, thank you very much. More than 50 muslim countries have agreed to recognize East Jerusalem as the capital of palestine. It came during an emergency summit of the organization of islamic cooperation convened in istanbul by turkeys president Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He has urged the rest of the world to follow suit. He says that u. S. President Donald Trumps decision last week to recognize jerusalem as israels capital is a quote, red line for muslims. Reporter the aim to present a united front against the decision that has roiled muslims worldwide. Here in istanbul, Donald Trumps moved to recognize jerusalem as israels capital has been condemned. Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan hosted the summit. As islamic countries, we will never give up on our demand of a sovereign and independent palestine with jerusalem as its capital. Reporter jerusalems status is at the core of the decadeslong israelipalestinian conflict. Israel seized the eastern half of the city in the 1967 war. It controlled the citys west before that. Palestinians hope East Jerusalem will be the capital of their future state. Now the summit has backed their stance. Donald trump, here on a visit to the city in may, has been seen as siding with israelis and the conflict through his recognition of jerusalem as their capital. Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas has vowed to take the matter to the u. N. Council to try and block washingtons decision. But israeli leaders believe they, too, have international backing. All of these declarations do not impress us. In the end, the truth will prevail, and many countries will recognize jerusalem as the capital of israel and move their embassies there, too. Reporter meanwhile, violent clashes continued between palestinians and israeli troops in the west bank. Protests there are entering the second week with no end in sight. Brent our istanbul correspondent dorian jones has been covering the summit for us. He joins me, along with our jerusalem correspondent tania kramer. She is monitoring developments from there. To both of yougood evening. Tania, let me begin with you. Why hasnt israel reacted more strongly to this declaration . Tania i think there must be an expectation that the statement from the summit was going to shake up israeli politics. We just heard the statement by the israeli Prime Minister netanyahu saying the statements by abbas, they dont really impress israel. And i think israeli officials here, from their point of view, they are not seeing the arab world as so united from that statement. All the arab states, they have their own strategic interests, and also there are a lot of other problems here in the region. I think they take the attitude here of wait and see and see how this will unfold in the coming days and weeks. Brent dorian, how are Muslim Leaders planning to turn their words today into actions in the future . Dorian well, i think we will see a quite significant diplomatic offensive to achieve these goals. It wont only be confined to the muslim world, but also beyond that, particularly europe is seen as a key target. And one can imagine the turkish president will be paying a very much leading role in this. They feel very much infused and buoyed by the fact that they see trump very isolated over his move from jerusalem even among key allies. , they believe there is a momentum that can sustain and hope to achieve these goals of secure the recognition of East Jerusalem as palestine. The Palestinian Leader also went further. He is looking for possible economic sanctions against israel, more impetus to the boycott of israel. They very much believe that is there is momentum now following the controversial move by trump. Brent dorian, has todays summit done anything to bridge the divisions in the muslim world that tania was talking about . Dorian very much not. The fact that the heads of state from saudi arabia and egypt did not attend was seen as a major snub to the summit. There is a growing feeling and you hear this increasingly from turkish officials, that saudi arabia and possibly gave tacit approval to trumps move over jerusalem. There is a belief that saudi arabia and egypt are forming some sort of axis with israel and the United States against iran. The latest actions by these countries, what Foreign Ministers described as weak voices referring to saudi arabia is further evidence in the belief in theories that this will further polarize the region, already deeply divided between the blocs backing saudi arabia and those backing iran. And the president s controversy will only fuel and further deepen and divide the controversy within the region. Brent tania, this declaration we saw today, is it going to be enough for Palestinian Leaders . Tania i think it is what dorian said. I mean, there is this momentum, and i think it is very important for the Palestinian Leader Mahmoud Abbas, there. The question now is what will follow out of all of this. You have to know that president abbas is very much under domestic pressure as well to find an answer, to deliver something. I have been talking to palestinian officials here, there are a lot of meetings going on, and there are a lot of ideas floating, and beyond walking away from the u. S. As the main sponsor for peace talks, they are thinking about maybe joining more international organizations, rethinking the role of the palestinian authority, calling again on the u. N. But the question is, will this be enough for the Palestinian People . When you talk to people here they are saying enough of all those meetings and statements and red lines being crossed. We want to see what kind of response were gng to have. But they are also quite realistic. They know the decision taken by the Trump Administration will not be reversed anytime soon. Brent our correspondents tania kramer on the story in jerusalem and dorian jones reporting tonight from istanbul. To both of you, thank you. Here are some of the other stories now making headlines around the world. A headon collision inside switzerlands gotthard road tunnel forced authorities to close the 17 kilometer alpine link earlier today. Two people were killed and several injured after a truck collided with a car. Authorities have since reopened the tunnel after clearing wreckage and checking the tunnels structural condition. France will completely ban smartphones from Public Schools beginning next september. The Education Minister today said in existing ban on the devices will be expanded to include the schools grounds. Parent groups have voiced skepticism, saying the ban will be impossible to enforce. Firefighters have contained only 20 of a massive blaze that has reached Californias Santa Barbara county. The wildfire has been raging across the los angeles region for two weeks, bringing down more than 900 homes and other buildings. Tens of thousands of people have been forced to evacuate. Staying in the u. S. , in what is being seen as a major setback for u. S. President donald trump, the democratic candidate doug jones won a u. S. Senate seat in the deeply conservative republican state of alabama. The result has a significant knockon effect on washington, shrinking the Republican Senate majority from two votes to just one. Reporter of all the states in which the democratic fight back should take shape, alabama was an unlikely starting point. The party has not won a senate seat here in a quarter of a century. We have we have shown not just around the state of alabama, but we have shown the country the way that we can be unified. Reporter the celebratie owe much to the controversy surrounding his opponent. Earlier in the day, the republican crusader roy moore had hoped his horse named sassie we carried him to victory. It was the final bid to cast him as a thoroughbred conservative in a campaign marred by multiple allegations from women claiming he had molested them decades ago when they were teenagers. Even for highranking republicans, moores actions and policies were beyond the pale. He believes homosexualitshould be illegal and that muslims should not serve in congress. For donald trump, the only thing that mattered was moores loyalty to his vision. The president has congratulated doug jones on a hardfought victory, but said votes cast for a third candidate harmed moore. The writein vote played a very big factor, he tweeted, but a win is a win. Not so, say team moore. He has refused to concede. But the votes are still coming in and we are looking at that. May god bless you as you go on, may give you safe journey, and thank you for coming tonight. Its not over, and its going to take some time. Thank you. Reporter but it is democrats who are smiling, having narrowed the republicans majority in the senate to just one. This is, they say, a sign of successes to come in crucial elections next year. Brent yeah, that is the hope. Lets go now to washington, our correspondent carsten von nahmen is on the story for us. Good evening to you, carsten. So, we have got the day after the election. Are we looking at a new political reality for u. S. President donald trump . Carsten certainly. This election in alabama has definitely tarnished Donald Trumps image as someone who knows his base better than anyone, and as someone who can deliver wins for the Republican Party. Clearly, that will make republicans in the country start to think whether they need an endorsement from donald trump, if it will help them, or if they can distance themselves from him , to some extent. Of course, donald trump remains very popular among the republican base. And so therefore, he has a lot of power over the Republican Party and its representatives in congress. But clearly, the aura of invincibility has gone, and the democrats have smelled blood and they will be on the attack from now on. Brent and how much of a blow is this then for the Republican Party, carsten . Particularly when we are looking at the legislation that they planned, that they would like to see passed . Carsten it will get more complicated for them. They can only lose one vote now, even on those issues where they need only a simple majority. And in many cases they cannot even agree among themselves what they want. Plus, there are a number of senators that have been deeply alienated by donald trump, people like bob corker, john mccain, jeff flake, Susan Collins and they might vote against Donald Trumps agenda at any given time. Brent there is already the question here, are democrats celebrating their comeback . I mean, did they win this election, or did the republicans choose a flawed candidate . Carsten i think its mostly due to roy moore, who has very extreme political views, even for alabamas standards. Clearly the republican establishment in washington didnt want him in the first place. He was forced on them by the populist, nationalist wing of the party, and there has been this civil war within the Republican Party going on, and that continues to weaken the Republican Party. Brent and carsten, what about this victory for the democrats . What does it mean . And im thinking about next years congressional midterm elections. Carsten clearly the democrats have some reason for hope now because their base not only was energized, but it actually turned out to vote. Even many independents voted for the Democratic Party in alabama. So they have hope now that they can actually win both chambers of Congress Next year. Having said that, for that, they still have to work out their own issues. There is also a battle within the Democratic Party for the right way forward. And they need a positive message. Just saying we are against trump will not be enough. Brent our correspondent carsten von nahmen on the story for us in washington tonight. Carsten, thank you very much. Youre watching dw news. Coming up, he is a british cycling icon and he failed a drugs test. There he is. We will talk about what this could mean for chris froome. Off the bike and now onto the road to money. The Federal Reserve has raised Interest Rates for a third time this year, cirstoph. Christoph thats right, brent. It is a vote of confidence that the u. S. Economy remains on solid footing more than eight years after the great recession. The fed pushed the benchmark rate to between 1. 25 and 1. 5 . It is the third time that the fed raises Interest Rates this year. After years of holding rates near zero to combat the affect of the financial crisis, the fed raised rates for the first time in 2015. And since then, there have been gentle lifts to ease the economy back into rates for Monetary Policy. The Central Bank Says they expect the jobs market and economy to strengthen further and expects three more rate rises next year. Despite the increase in the cost of borrowing, firms seem confident a Strong Economy will make up for that. For more lets bring in our wall street correspondent, sophie scimansky. Sophie, the years economy seems to be in robust shape. Does the Federal Reserve see any risks to this economic upswing . Sophie i think it is safe to say that there is just not that much downside that the Federal Reserve bank is seeing any were pretty happy with the development in the labor market, they were pretty happy with gdp growth. So definitely two important factors that also have a big impact on Monetary Policy. So, i think there is one point that the fed is probably going to monitor closely as a potential risk, and it is inflation. Because it is still not at the 2 level where the Federal Reserve bank wanted to be. And let me say one more thing tax reform is going to have a huge impact on the american economy. Thats on the Monetary Policy. So this is probably going to be anher factor that they are going to monitor really closely. Christoph sophie, Janet Yellens term as fed chairwoman will come to a close next year, there will be another as by decree by donald trump. How do people in the financial world look back in her time in office . Sophie yellen was never really popular in wall street, but i think you could say that she was always respected. And of course, many people accused her of being too dovish, of not moving, or not moving quickly enough in terms of Monetary Policy. But i think her record speaks for itself and everyone here acknowledged this at the same time. She was the first one to raise Interest Rates in a decade after the financial crisis, and we just talked about the low unemployment rate, we talked about strong gdp growth. Of course, these are all things that people consider as a success for yellen as well. And on top of that is the fact that trump nominated someone who is pretty much in line with the Monetary Policy approach that yellen always had, jerome powell. He shows also that it is being considered as a successful way of kind of interaction between the markets and the fed. Christoph sophie scimansky giving us the view from wall street. Sophie, thank you so much. There is a trade war brewing between the United States and canada. There are reports canada has dropped plans to buy 18 fighter jets from boeing over disputes with the neighbor in the south. The deal wouldave been worth well over 5 billion and was part of an upgrade of the entire canadian fleet. But it collapsed after the u. S. Imposed duties of 300 on cseries jets made by canadas biggest planemaker earlier this year. The company accused of dumping airliners on the american market. Both countries are locked in increasingly difficult talks over the north American Free trade agreement. Germanys chancellor is launching a second attempt to form a new government following septembers elections. Brent has the story. Brent thats right, christoph. Angela merkels collapsed after free democrats pulled out of talks with the conservatives and the green party. A social democrat conference recently to begin Coalition Talks with Angela Merkels conservatives. Initial discussions are taking place this evening. But the social democrats have not yet committed to reviving what is called the grand coalition. That coalition has governed germany during the last parliament. And the social democrats, they served as the junior partner. Lets get more on this from now from our chief Political Correspondent melinda crane, shes on the story for us here in berlin. Good evening to you, melinda. Will we know more this evening about whether germany is heading towards another edition of that grand coalition . Melinda no, we definitely wont. These are very preliminary exploratory talks. The parties have not scheduled a press conference and have been very mum about the whole thing. They didnt even announce where this meeting would be held. The reason for that is quite simple the chancellor engaged in another preliminary round of exploratory talks with two of germanys smaller parties earlier in the fall following the election. Those talks failed, not least because of a lot of leaks. That is what these parties want to avoid this time around. Brent so what are they going to be talking about in this first meeting . Melinda according to the chancellor, broad signposts, that was how she put it. She said they should be talking about things like a big question what does germany need Going Forward . The reason that she wants to keep it on that broad level , again, is because of those failed exploratory talks that i just mentioned with the other parties. They failed in part because the parties got bogged down in details. So where might the spd and the cdu agree on broad signposts . Perhaps, the area of schools and education, that is something both parties view as very important. Also possibly how to make germany fit for digitalization. Those are topics or they could find some agreement. Brent and what about areas where they could run into major differences of opinion . Melinda there are quite a few on that list. Immigration is one, that was one of the reasons that both parties saw a drop in support during septembers election. And that could prove very, very hard to find Common Ground on. Then there is the matter of policy toward europe. Both parties are saying germany need to get a capable government up and running so it can provide real leadership and year, at least in response to various proposals made by french president macron. But there is a lot of disagreement between these two parties on whether europes future should be Something Like the United States of europe, as the spd leader has called for, or whether in fact power needs to stay in nationstates hands. Brent melinda crane on the story for us from berlin. Melinda him a thank you. Sports news now, the Tour De France winner chris froome has reported an abnormal drug test result. It occurred during the british cyclists victory in the spanish race in september. He showed an abnormally high level of an asthma drug. Froome, who has asthma, says his symptoms got worse during the race and he upped the dosage believing he stayed within the guidelines. Officials are investigating. The 32yearold is only the third rider to win the vuelta and Tour De France in the same year. Here is a reminder of the top story were following for you. British lawmakers have delivered a key defeat to Prime Minister theresa mays is brexit plan. A group of mps rebelled during a vote, giving parliament the final say on any brexit agreement. After a short break i will be back to take you through the day. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] steves the dramatic rock of cashel is one of irelands most evocative sites. This was the seat of ancient irish kings for seven centuries. St. Patrick baptized king aengus here in about 450 a. D. In around 1100, an irish king gave cashel to the church, and it grew to become the ecclesiastical capital of all ireland. 800 years ago, this Monastic Community was just a chapel and a round tower standing high on this bluff. It looked out then, as it does today, over the plain of tipperary, called the golden vale because its rich soil makes it irelands best farmland. On this historic rock, you stroll among these ruins in the footsteps of st. Patrick, and wandering through my favorite celtic cross graveyard, i feel the soul of ireland. fire engine blaring americans are asking, who attacked our country . In afghanistan we see alqaedas vision for the world. The United States respects the people of afghanistan, but we condemn the taliban regime. By sponsoring and sheltering and supplying terrorists, the taliban regime is committing murder. They will hand over the terrorists, or they will share in their fate. [narrator] us troops have been in afghanistan for more than 15 years, making it the longest war in american history. The september 11th attacks prompted washington and nato to send forces to neutralize the alqaeda terrorist organization and the taliban regime that sheltered them
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