with almost 40,000 kilometres of track, germany s rail network is the longest in europe, which makes it the perfect place to explore by train. but from berlin s vast central station, train. but from berlin s vast centralstation, i m train. but from berlin s vast central station, i m taking an even cheaperform of central station, i m taking an even cheaper form of transport for a spot of sightseeing. all right, we re doing it. we are crossing the tramway. fabulous. 0h, crossing the tramway. fabulous. oh, it s beautiful. i can see the tower on my left. and it s so cloudy, the tip of it is just unseen. alexander platts is these days the touristic heart of the capital. until 1989, it was the main public square in communist east berlin. i was born in 1990, which is a year after the berlin wall came down, so for myself and i m sure for a generation younger, there is no recollection of those news events. so being able to be here and just get a sense of what it might have been like i
measure introduced in 2023, initially atjust 9 euros each. i do love a train who doesn t? so i m planning to take them to criss cross the country and get a better look at the close relationship between germans and their railways. from berlin s iconic u bahn, to the incredible hanging overhead railway of the industrial west, to the makeshift island trains of the northern coast. the water, the lights this is stunning. i m here to see how engineering and a bit of imagination have led to a network like no other. with almost 40,000 km of track, germany s rail network is the longest in europe, which makes it the perfect place to explore by train. but from berlin s vast central station, i m taking an even cheaper form of transport for a spot of sightseeing. all right, we re doing it. we are crossing the tramway. fabulous. oh, it s beautiful. i can see the tv tower on my left, and it s so cloudy, the tip of it is just about unseen. alexanderplatz is these days the touristic heart
authorised the armed forces to neutralise 22 gangs that are listed as terrorist organisations after masked gunmen stormed a tv studio during a live broadcast. a two month state of emergency is now in force. will grant sent this from the city of guayaquil. viewers in ecuador watched in disbelief as masked and armed gang members entered a state tv channel and held staff hostage all of it televised live. translation: they shot one of our cameramen in the leg. | broke the arm of another one. they were shooting bullets inside the studio. the police were called and came in minutes. the gang was soon arrested and the hostages released, but the tv station ambush was just part of the descent into chaos. panic as gunmen stormed guayaquil university, explosions around the country, schools and businesses shut down and widespread rioting inside ecuador s prisons. in response, president daniel noboa called a state of emergency and imposed a curfew. by decree, he designated 22 gangs, te
welcome to the daily global, where we ll bring you the top stories from around the world. 2024 is shaping up to be a year of elections. two billion people one in four of the world s population will go to the polls this year in votes that could change the global political landscape. 50 nations will hold elections. starting with bangladesh, the polls include seven out of the world s ten most populous nations india, the united states, indonesia, pakistan, russia and mexico. and the uk will go to the polls at some point this year. british prime minister rishi sunak has said his assumption is that a general election will be held in the second half of this year, despite some speculation it could take place in the spring. opinion polls put mr sunak s conservatives well behind the opposition labour party. with the details, our political editor, chris mason. can i welcome to you this morning, rishi sunak, the prime minister? mansfield in nottinghamshire a town the conservative