you know. this is d.w. news live from by a kurdish controlled town in northern syria braces for an onslaught from neighboring turkey the people of chad's been through a lot since syria's civil war started now turkish the british forces may be poised to attack the city and now it's kurdish militia with syrian troops come to the aid of the country also coming out of indonesia raises these threat level around the neck and crack into every looted flights i'm told people to stay away from the

cocaine aware of options to get a deadly tsunami through the weekend. and a look back at one of our favorite stories of twenty eighteen immobile libraries bringing the joy of books to children in the afghan capital kabul. i'm at home for you glad you could join me reports from syria say the government of president bashar assad has sent troops to the north of the country that is ahead of him the suspected offensives by turkey turkish backed militias have been gathering close to the town of money which is currently held by the syrian democratic forces . kodesh alliance supported by the united states the this month turkish president announce that his country would attack man bitch it's unclear when the operation

will start but the mood in the town this tense. terror is nothing remarkable about the streets of mandates busy with traffic and locals not doing their shopping. but the residents of this northern syrian time and no strangers to conflict for several years they suffered the brutality of the so-called islamic state until the group was as stated by kurdish and arab forces and snow local residents fear a new assault on the city just sort of the nuts people will no longer have homes their young children and it's winter now it's cold the children could fall sick and some could die everyone will be displaced because it's war and we know the free syrian army is ruthless turkish backed rebels from the free syrian army and moving towards monday which they're ready to join turkey's affix to at least the kurdish forces currently in control of the time. we're continuing to send reinforcements to the fronts near the town of money reinforcements coming from all sections of the free syrian army. we are ready and we are waiting for the launch of

operations to regain control of the territories controlled by the kurds. turkey has dispatched tanks and armored vehicles it delayed its offensive when the united states and once it was withdrawing its troops from the americans are still in time. but in man bitch local fighters can feel the conflict closing in as battle lines are drawn. here on the outskirts of manage. turkish and syrian opposition forces have control over a nearby neighborhood. and they sometimes fire it as. the u.s. forces are still patrolling but they haven't stopped. for now residents can continue their daily lives as normal but as the new year approaches the prospect of

a peaceful twenty nineteen grows ever dema. and i'm joined now by international security analyst hines a show it's a welcome heins why is turkey so intent on attacking the kurdish fighters in man bijan and elsewhere bearing in mind that the kurds are the main force fighting the so-called islamic state. her lou you put your finger exactly on the dilemma that we have here of one man's freedom fighter is another man's terrorist from the turkish perspective the kurds are probably part of the p.k. k. which they call a terrorist organization that wants to set up a turkey a kurdish independence state and therefore form a turkish for interview that is an absolute no go and as a report rightly pointed out that the lines are being drilled with the spotlights will be different from the ones that we've seen here the two battle lines are being drawn as you point out and with the news now that syria is sending elite troops to the man beach region what is the danger that the turkish incursion could escalate

into a wider conflict. well there is the real danger for that helena i think it could be about shifting the teutonic plates of the entire middle east what is the role poor between turkey and russia what is sort of a poor between the united states or russia or does syria play a a role of its own or we have mentioned two players here in the iraq and iran and if you look at all that it seems to me that we're looking for a major major change of the entire paradigm and major change and with that in mind i mean how does the u.s. fit into this how does its withdrawal from syria change the dynamics of the conflict there. well the american will draw will lead to a vacuum vacuums have the tendency to be filled with or be filled by syria on behalf of russia have the syrians their own agenda will it be a russian syrian agenda and again what is iran and others playing in that region so

the vacuum that the united states leaves behind will be very very quickly filled by office now president trump then says that the united states will no longer what i mean he has called the wild policeman is us foreign policy about to to radically change well that at least is a danger to few look after a man who is highly liked and respected in the alliance his defense secretary really resigned over the issue you can see that there is a debate in the united states but mind you this debate did not start with president trump it started earlier and we have to look at how do we play in the twenty first century the entire scenario of balancing global interests and we haven't mentioned the chinese threats indeed international security analyst show that talking to us from bonn good to have your insights thank you carol. and president i

was in neighboring iraq yesterday for a holiday visit to u.s. soldiers deployed in the region it was his first trip to american troops in conflict in a conflict zone we have this report now. the reception was everything he could have hoped for it was donald trump's first visit to a u.s. military base in a combat region and just a week after a controversial move to u.s. forces from syria. first addie's addie's let's have a good time but what a job you have done what they have done i made it clear from the beginning that our mission in syria was to strip isis of its military strong halls were not nation building rebuilding syria will require a political solution. and it's a solution that should be paid for by its very rich neighboring countries not the

united states let them pay for it and they will they will. come in hot on the heels of a government shutdown at home and of course christmas best unannounced visit was meant to be a minute left as much for the troops as for trump himself with cheers signings and selfies in their three hour stopover. mingled with the very soul just taking the fight to the so-called islamic state. trump was then briefed by military leaders where he again pressed the case for other countries to take over the fight against isis. that we've knocked them out with nothing silly. i will tell you that's a very good president who wants to knock him out also and he will do it and others will do if you were in their region they should be really sharing the burden of cost and they're not. there was time to for a surprise visit to enthusiastic troops stationed at an air base in germany the

president using a refueling stop for one last chance to take his mind off what awaits him at home. and though some of the other stories making news around the world the united arab emirates has reopened its embassy in damascus a move is seen as a boost for syrian president bashar assad u.a.e. break ties with damascus off the syrian civil war broke out and has backed rebel forces fighting assad. security forces in the east of democratic republic of congo has fired live rounds on tear gas to scatter demonstrators protesting the postponement of elections due to an abode outbreak the day of sunday's vote in some regions will mean that one million vote is far more ballots counted in the presidential election. the german military is storing up plans to recruit foreigners as it struggles to fill its ranks the proposal would see

a new nationals in specialist roles such as i.t. and medical doctors according to reports polls at allianz and her main years living in germany will be sort of predicts. wealth already isn't in the knees you have raised the alert level for the volcano that caused the tsunami last weekend and they warn that fresh activity from the truck at tel volcano might cause another tsunami and they've ordered all flights to steer clear of the area well saturday's deadly waves killed at least four hundred thirty people and since then heavy rains and flooding have added to the hardship on the santos has this report. on. what these villages thought they were safe after escaping the tsunami that tore into the western coast of java but now they've returned they face a new problem. before now around

six in the morning when the water began rising. i went out to get some food and when i came back the water was almost chest high i village has never been flooded like this a lot of. johnny moved his family because of the risk of another tsunami. i know you're leaving behind way three other children and twenty five other individuals it's a title he said but at least he's living with the comfort of the place in there or that counted for a break now on that just before his family. turned his wife may several remembers the moment she had to leave. when i heard talk of the second tsunami coming i grabbed my children and ran to my sister's house people were panicking and fleeing screaming run and run because the wave was coming i couldn't think of anything else the safety of my children was my

only priority my youngest children eight and three years old they're in a bit of a shock and have trouble sleeping although i don't buy that but. although the tsunami spared this family the floods still threaten their lives. now as twenty eighty comes to an end we're looking back at some of the highlights of the year one story took us aboard a bus with a difference in afghanistan a mobile library bringing the joy of books children in kabul take a look. this is no ordinary bus it offers hope to children in kabul every day it tears the afghan capital's residential neighborhoods for two to three hours children can discover worlds otherwise little known to them and get lost in a good big. box with stories about princes and beggars best. dragons too. i read books in two languages here in the past two

and dari. fresh to careen started the mobile library with the help of donations she studied at oakford tonight wants to encourage critical thinking among children back home the boss is in a safe space in an otherwise dangerous city. explosions are a problem and that can happen and that's anytime but then we are we are trying to park the car inside the communities where it is far better it is much more secure but i think overall the security problem in the country is less than that get exists for any project so we cannot stop our work just because of security problem life sunday and security issues as well who called nine year old shot eagerly waits for the bus to come by each day have a hope that if i enjoy coming here because there's so many exciting things to reach i'd like stories about goats best i don't have any pics at home that you. shot nuns

father always picks his daughter up from the bus the family fled to kabila from conducive northern afghanistan thinking they'd be safer in the capital but explosions rocked the city nearly every week recently a car bomb exploded near their home panicking shutdown's parents went out to look for her. but over the long workable after the blast we finally found shot mammoth the mobile library we were relieved but except to go to the bus we don't let the children out of the house or that. afghanistan has one of the highest illiteracy rates in the world at more than sixty percent one in three children cannot read or write so fresh to karim also reads to the children a lot keeping hold of for me is highly important because if i were both of these children will be able to pull that together but it's going to make something happen in this country so i'm i'm hopeful fresh to karim has started collecting donations again in the hope of renting another bus and bringing more pics to more children.

you're watching the news from berlin on helena alfredo have plenty more for you at the top of the hour of course you can always get the latest on our web site that is d w dot com or just follow us on twitter as well and see a company and some very sick. state by state. colorful. life yes. the most traditional. any time. check in with. take a tour of germany state by state. w dot com.