this is d.w. news live from berlin tonight political posturing and provocation on the eve of the winter olympics america's vice president arrives in south korea for the games with promises of tougher sanctions on the north meanwhile pyongyang showcases its military might for all the world to see also coming up the u.n. calls for an urgency fire in syria that's government airstrikes pound of rebel held areas reports put the civilian death toll at two hundred and germany's probable

new government gives the european stamp of approval but closer to home critics are worried about the coalition's approach to the e.u. and immigration. i bring coffee it's good to have you with us tonight the feud over north korea's nuclear program moves to center stage this the eve of the olympic games in south korea u.s. vice president mike pence has arrived in seoul and is promising new more aggressive sanctions against the north he met today with south korean president. following on his warning not to allow pyongyang to quote hide behind the olympic vandar. and today. did over a military parade a show of force after sending athletes performers and cheerleaders to the south

over the border now that move today being seen as either a chance to fall relations with the south or a ploy to provoke the u.s. . north korea and the united states are still sending mixed messages a day before the twenty thousand winter games. despite signaling it was willing to talk north korea hasn't traded the safer for the olive branch quite yet pyongyang staged a massive military parade marking the founding of its armed forces. addressing his troops north korean leader kim jong un called on his military to be on the ready to repel quote invasive forces much further south young is trying to put its best foot forward sending kim yo junge sister of the north korean leader as part of their olympic delegation she'll be the first member of the north's ruling family to cross the demilitarized zone. the u.s.

is response is also a mixed bag american vice president pence is meeting regional leaders ahead of the games he's already warned the u.s. is preparing more aggressive sanctions on the north and he promised korea's president that the u.s. wouldn't rest until pyongyang abandons its nuclear ambitions. and allow me to do assure you. the people of south korea that the united states of america will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder in our effort to bring maximum pressure to bear on north korea until that time comes when they finally and permanently. and irreversibly abandon their nuclear and ballistic missile ambitions. the world may be coming together for the winter olympics but the gulf between washington and north korea is as wide as ever. and joining me tonight

is a familiar face to our viewers aging foster carter he has written about both koreas for the past four decades joins us tonight from leeds university in england it's good to see you again you know those pictures we just saw there of that military parade in pyongyang i mean that is a move that that i was expecting considering the tit for tat that we've seen between the north korean leader in the u.s. president. can it be though that north korea is that easy to predict him to read. with that it was it is in some in the summer god i was actually a little surprised by that i mean that they've basically sort of invented this new holiday or are they reinvented their favorite of the eight is actually the rich is the real out of us or the cream peoples all men ever since the one nine hundred seventy s. kimmel so only the founder of the state the grandfather of the president changed it so they now or they tell that they've celebrated in april the origins of a complete imagining this look guerrilla band and manchuria was indeed

a gorilla but he was under chinese camomile not to go too far into the so you suddenly decided what can we do we can get everything back and seemingly raynal the south sprayed south korea as far as i know hasn't officially come into bush i think it must have been some something of teeth to say the least and of course america has fewer emissions of us say things and we know that the north the north koreans diplomatic delegation is arriving on saturday and is slated to meet with the south korean president i mean how how much is the north south crisis in conflict overshadowing these games. it's really it's quite complicated i mean we're in some ways in slightly on loan territory with kim jong un sending his sister until a lot of the stuff will it was sort of very welcoming it made a change after all the months of crisis but cheerleaders some athletes before mr

millet as happened between the two koreas before and so right now the main conflict is not if you like between north and south korea the conflict which of course is not addressed the july it is happening at the olympics including north chris presence is about north korea's relentless pursuit of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles so the test roll on hold for not but how exactly to handle this is going to be difficult for them and i wonder if there isn't a u.s. south korea gap in the north korea one is obvious but we're in day in who's got a background in the so-called sunshine policy it believes that engaging that old difficult though it is is trying to do smartly vice president pence by his own account is trying his damnedest to stop and i would be very ashamed to say well who shakes hands with who who sits where and so on going to be a very very difficult sort of delicate couple of days and be interesting to see to help things stand once the olympic games are over as well. in foster heart i can

imagine items from leeds university in england it's good to see you again thanks for being on the shaft thank you and what about the athletes will take you to the final preparations in pyongyang only bit later on in the program the syrian civil war has entered a bloody end game with government forces laying waste to the country's last few rebel strongholds activists say airstrikes in eastern galba near the capital damascus have killed more than two hundred people in the last four days the bloodshed has led the un to call for an urgency as fire to evacuate civilians and deliver humanitarian aid. even by the bloody standards of the syrian conflict the bombardment of the rebel held enclave of eastern has exacted a fearful toll four days of government data rates have left more than two hundred civilians dead among them at least fifteen children cording to the british based

syrian observatory for human rights. eastern as one of the last pockets of anti-government resistance near damascus in a separate incident to the west of the capital u.s. led coalition forces killed around one hundred government backed fighters in a province the syrian government condemned the strikes as a war crime the u.s. described the action as self-defense the coalition observed a slow build up of prohibition forces over the past week our forces have the inherent right to self-defense. 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 all. or at one level ceasefire and syria what is your position about that you have to stop this tilt at least we would like to see a ceasefire at the in the woods with with the terrorists. in the game into it would

be used oh yes we dispersed. as rescue was rushed desperately to help the wounded in the east and the prospects for a cease fire in syria look his billy. all the european parliament has adopted a resolution expressing deep concern about the human rights situation in turkey now the debate in parliament addressing measures introduced by president wretch of how you bear to one in the aftermath of an attempted coup back in two thousand and sixteen this includes the sacking of civil servants shutting down media organizations and the arrest of journalists turkey has also been heavily criticized for its ongoing military assault on a kurdish enclave in northern syria. the incas barely drawing on the agreement between germany's main political parties to form a new coalition government but already critics and supporters alike are poring over

the documents fine print to issues of particular calls in contention refugee policy and germany's role in your. you might have expected the new grand coalition deal to open with policies directed at germany but instead the opening pages look beyond germany's borders to europe and that no doubt will be music to the ears of french president manuel markov 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 who know. 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 i'm 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 germany's 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 in 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 deal's decision on family reunification has also drawn criticism. is on the scottish 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 minors who just have to have their parents here and for them this is a great loss of trust in our institutions institutes you all but just a few hundred meters away in berlin's government district there's

a sense of relief among many vitas after five months of uncertainty has been for them if that were finally moving forward they should find the ability to make a decision on. together always just sad to see the big powers of our country contest say ok we'll go it alone even if they don't get a majority as we've been good i think it's good that we're thinking ahead again and when not just exploring a negotiating but actually taking action as a tough. despite the deal angle of merkel isn't out of the woods just yet now the fate of a new grand coalition lies in the hands of the social democrats posse members all four hundred sixty thousand of them will have the chance to vote on the deal by much the second only if they vote in favor of the deal well it finally be signed and sealed. well away from the political posturing the athletes at the winter olympics are raring to go or some of them are at least thirteen russians have

sailed with appeals to the court of arbitration for sport they wanted to compete despite a doping ban on their country and additional forty seven russians will find albums friday if they can participate just as the olympic torch reaches the host city. the olympic torch his journey is almost over with the opening ceremony just around the corner the olympic flame took a spectacular ride on a zip while on its way to be on chang. this is one of the more daring stages of its two thousand eight hundred kilometer journey around south korea. not a feat for the faint hearted. at least the next leg was far easier for those watching to stomach and the olympic village there was an unexpected visitors russian athletes who had been banned from the games by the i.o.c. were presenting their case to the court of arbitration for sport in the hope of

having the decision overturned at the last minute the hearing concluded we presented the arguments and the fifteen athletes were cleared last week but had to cast ballots and thirty two hundred m.p.'s were not invited by you issue a final decision is expected early on friday with only hours to spare before the games open but the i.o.c. on the only ones with a close eye on the court's decision regarding the russian athletes the world anti-doping agency is also in south korea for the games president craig really made his views clear. but from my point of view much wider. entirely. to the process that greed and to try to clean the compliance and improvement of the russian nontrivial think agency. organizers are hoping the legal wranglings and other issues surrounding the games will fade into the background once the action is fully underway phrasing how city pyong chang is

ready for its moment in the sun for the next two and a half weeks it will be at the center of the sporting world. you're watching the w. news live from berlin for all of us here in berlin thanks for the company more news at the top of the young going to. learn german with w. . any time any place. whether with jo jo and her friends. it's going to be going to a museum spritzes researchers.