Going to be a great year complicated but great. Openness tolerance and respect im fighting for you all things even if its uncomfortable and exhausting we dont want all the way in a world where its rarely possible for one country to achieve its ambitions or learn thats when it comes to making the European Union stronger and more decisive but not a superpower and we dont have an empire we have also for that we will only master the challenges of our time if we stand united and Work Together with others across borders alving. Also coming up tonight how the golden rule became a punishable offense the story of a syrian refugee who made it to europe alive how could she have known that saving the lives of others just like hers would be a crime never. Because i want to help people but to our viewers on p. B. S. In the United States and all around the world welcome and happy new year we begin the day with just that the new year two thousand nineteen will it leave the world better or worse all the signs point to a year or even more volatile than the one we just ended the Global Economy is losing steam the state of geopolitics is hotter than it should be and in europe there is that looming rexs britains departure from the European Union but we want to begin tonight with a different type of exit. Germanys chancellor now for thirteen years she is on her way out albeit according to her own time plan she says she wants to finish your term in two thousand and twenty one but there is no guarantee that she will be able to do that in twenty nineteen the german chancellor and i caught that stability is now a main source of uncertainty the w. s macculloch affair picks up the story for us from there. So far im going to america as gradual exit from politics appears to be going to plan but remaining chancellor of the coming year wont be that easy with a whole list of potential pitfalls. In an eclipse come calvin ball americal got the successor as party leader she wanted a k. K. As she is known is a much needed ally who will help keep merkels in the Party Critics say. But the political comeback of merkels former rival free to fish melts has loosened her hold on the party that aimed to join the magical cabinet has been rebuffed for now but many back his claim to power direct threat to our dilemma. Europes crunch time elections in may could also be a turning point for the stability of germanys government. If Angela MerkelsCoalition Partner the social democrats take yet another beating at the polls they may see no other way forward than withdrawing from the government that would most likely end up going to medicals time as chancellor. Those polls are expected to see a further rise of the populist right across europe an angle americal is set to feel those effects back home. Here in germany the f. T. Publicly closed ranks with a rightwing extremist during street protests in the eastern city of kennett last summer united by a determination to end the magical era the populist movement in germany make gain new momentum. With three Eastern States going to the polls this coming all term the f. T. Will have to prove whether it can become the strongest Political Force in any of these states. If the far right are targeted for germany manages to replicate its general Election Results from twenty seventeen it could become the strongest Political Force in saxony a defeat for the c. D. U. And yet more state elections would also be seen as a rebuke for chancellor merkels leadership. All of those factors will also play a role in the hof time assessment of the Coalition Partner of angular mackerels government the social democrats wrote an exit clause into their Coalition Deal if they trigger that anger machall could crash out of her last term in office. Lots of crash possibilities this year lets talk about that our chief Political Correspondent in the great joins me at the big table happy new year linda so i guess the question is beginning of this year will we see until america will as chancellor next year the stop i dont bring my crystal ball and frankly i think even if i had it it is so hard to read you heard all the different variables mentioned by michelle in that report and in fact we just dont know but what we do know is that there is no majority in this country for seeing uncle americal leave power any time soon if you look at the recent polls one in three germans say its maybe she should leave earlier than scheduled but that is by no means a resoundingly majority in the fact is her poll numbers have actually gone up since she handed over the Party Leadership to her successor who in fact is quite popular in germany so you know germans they love stability and i think there is at this moment no clear sense that we need to have a change indeed do you get the sense that. Seems almost liberated in when shes in public now when she talks about geopolitics knowing that she doesnt have to campaign again to get that sense i do have that sense you know the skeptics say well shes a lame duck so shes not really going to have the power to do anything with this last year or two in office but others and im probably to be counted in their number would say shes now free to start worrying about the history books and certainly what you just referenced was her new years greeting to the country in which she really put a big focus on Foreign Policy not least because germany is now going to be a member of the Security Council and where she said we absolutely are going to be advocating for Multilateral Solutions to problems so those are very much the words of a stateswoman whos not too worried about domestic policies politics at the. Because whats happening domestically we know that far right sentiment has been growing in the country. Is it because of uncle americal or is because she hasnt done enough to stop this is the age old argument which is also split her own party whether her decision to take in hundreds of thousands of refugees in twenty fifteen was one of the things that said the rise of the far right or whether in fact its far more complex than that i think the fact is looking toward those state elections that michelle a mention in three very critical eastern german states where the far right has been on the rise what will her government and what will her party be trying to do in the run up to those elections to try to keep a lid on support for the far right the fact is those local elections will very much also be based on local policies that was partly up to the parties in those states how they handle hot button issues like security many people in germany feeling that their streets their cities are no longer as safe as they should be also hot button issues like integrating migrants how what are they doing about that at local level and then other bread and butter topics pensions jobs all of that will really count in terms of how these parties and the government at federal and local level try to work to keep a lid on the right you know i said earlier in the program that this german chancellor she has become an icon in stability particularly for europe and now it seems if you look at her shelf life we know what it is now she is becoming a source of uncertainty. Do you agree with that and how are you hows the rest of europe going to deal with it this year you know the. It is we can list all the challenges that could bring our government down as we did in the report we could also look at what germanys facing internationally as i said germany now a member of the Security Council of the United Nations with a very clear commitment to fight for Multilateral Solutions to complex problems that was that was said not only by the chancellor but also by the foreign minister in very strong words listing issues like Climate Change trade Security Issues germany taking more responsibility internationally including paying more for defense all of these are contentious both within the government and within the Larger Population so all of that is sort of the side of challenges if not the problems on the plus side though bret and i think we both know this this country remains an island of stability in a very stormy sea there is a wide majority in germany for multilateral approaches to Foreign Policy that cannot be said of many other countries there is also a very strong sense that stability is important dont rock the boat too much the rise of the far right is suspect or that to some degree also will keep other parties mainstream parties from taking very brash actions because nobody wants to feed into the hands of the far right for all of those reasons i would bet on the fact that germany to at least some degree remains a source of leadership and stability going into a very turbulent year you are with the group if you will and. Will be talking very soon to see if what youre saying do does come to fruition has always been the thing you have come. Well here in europe not even fortune tellers will offer a prediction of what breaks it will look like if it does take place as scheduled on march twenty ninth britains departure from the European Union or the planning of that departure was one of the main reasons two thousand and eighteen was such a politically to mulch was year in europe and by the looks of it the u. K. s foreign secretary moments decided to travel far in the way to make bricks it more appealing at home today jeremy hunt was in singapore and he offered some obvious truths about brets it and britains place in the world we need to begin with a realistic assessment of our global position and that means not overstating all strength but not underestimating it either were not a superpower and we dont have an empire but we do have the fifth largest economy in the world the second biggest military budgets in nato the third biggest overseas aid budget one of the two largest Financial Centers the global language highly effective Intelligence Services and a world class Diplomatic Network including prominent membership of the United NationsSecurity Council most importantly in a world where its rarely possible for one country to achieve its sound. We have some of the best connections of any country whether through the commonwealth our alliance with the United States or our friendship with on neighbors in europe are at lets take this now to washington d. C. Im joined tonight by David Charter whos correspondent for the times in the u. S. Capital is also the author of several books on the rights of a familiar face here good to see you again david happy new year. What do you what did you make of what jeremy hunt said in singapore existed a i mean it sounded like you know what he was saying to me could have been a defense or an attack on bricks. Right happy new year brant good to see you were back on our favorite topic. And youre absolutely right i mean you could read jeremy both ways and i think thats. Thats thats new no mistake in that judgment because hes the British Foreign secretary hes defending the policy of our government which is to leave the European Union on march twenty ninth although he was a remainer just like to reason may and hes bought into teresa mayes deal which is a fairly soft middle way of trying to leave the European Union but i heart you might say the reason why has also just before christmas you remember announced that she will not be standing again to be Prime Minister now at the moment and the election is a long way off in twenty twenty two but of course as with merkel once the leader announces that they going the positioning starts. A new leader who leads the tory party the conservative party has to appeal to both of its wings the remaining wing which is quite small really in monks its core supporters and the brics which is a bit larger in parliament but a bit smaller among core supporters so jeremy hunt you see plowing perhaps a middle ground hes going to be standing for the conservative Party Leadership when it comes up to. It would you say you know from where youre sitting. You have a good chance of becoming the next Prime Minister post brooch. Well we will get into i think brant how britain leaves and when brits and leaves if we need to discuss what sort of leader were going to get its because if the reason may is unable to gets a deal through parliament and that will be voted on this month then it could be a much quicker for her which will precipitate a race for a Prime Minister and a leader to take britain out of the European Union now many in the conservative party might not think that jeremy hunt is best placed to do that as a former remain and they might wants a break here such as michael gove or possibly Boris Johnson although his star has faded to take home the leadership but i would say that if the reason may miraculously makes it all the way through to twenty twenty two he will be in a very good position but you know a lot can change in politics in britain in the course of a week actually. Very good point. David what is the view of breaks from your side of the way it is bridge to the hordes your software exit is it seen as being in the us interests. Well as you know brant has been welcomed by President Trump he is not a fan of these Multilateral International organizations such as the European Union in fact hes in something of a low level trade war with the European Union over the trade deficit and the especially the number of cars which europe sells to america so i think from the Strategic Interests of the trumpet ministration brics it is see as a policy gain that they that they are in favor of it doesnt fit in with the long term perspective of the u. S. Approach which was to support a united europe because of course a lot of u. S. Blood and treasure has been spent fighting wars in europe to try and settle differences there and that the long the long game has always been from washington to try and keep europe united and david weve got about twenty seconds i have to ask you do you. To reason means you going to let this vote on the brakes with your plane take place in Parliament Later this month. Yes brets it. Has to take place. This month and it just in a couple of weeks i think its be politically extremely damaging to delay it and yet again last time it nearly cost her her job of course although she is nominally safe for another year having lost having one no confidence vote it would it would be politically the end of her if shes not able to bring her deal to parliament now we think that she will probably lose but shes trying to narrow that loss and perhaps bring it back again if she does lose in a slightly moderated form you know well we would have it was you would have the governor we start but for sure david jordan joining us tonight from washington as always david we appreciate your insights thank you. Ive. Well two thousand and nineteen is off to a rocky start if youre netflix the streaming giant has come under fire for withdrawing an episode of the popular comedy show patriot act in saudi arabia perhaps understandably the solti are not understatedly this all the ground prince was not amused by the joke about the killing of journalist jamal to show car announcement is you know the it was more about this happy new year car or. So what is the problem with the crown prince why is he so what was that just a joke right i mean wasnt so this show was hosted by us comedian. Political and one of his first episodes it focused solely on saudi arabia particularly the crown Prince Mohammed bin samana and his alleged involvement in killing we actually have a clip from the episode if you havent seen it take a look just a few months ago from Prince Mohammed bin salon a k n b s was hailed as the reformer of the arab world needed but the revelations about to show his killing have shattered that image and blows my mind that it took the killing of a Washington Post journalist for everyone to go on. I guess hes really not a reformer meanwhile every muslim person you know was like yeah you know. Hes the crown prince of saudi arabia. Yeah ok why would he filed and he didnt find that funny the saudis didnt like it the countrys Communications Watchdog brant they basically forced Network Netflix to remove this episode in saudi arabia as you cant see it there when news of that got out people around the world were not happy they saw this as censorship and then heres what some people were saying at least on twitter this is the executive director of Human Rights Watch in the middle east she says netflixs claim to support artistic freedom Means Nothing if it bows to demands of government officials who be