this is deja vu news live from berlin investigators are trying to determine the exact extent of a cyber attack on germany's foreign and defense ministries this after russian hackers reportedly broke into government networks housing sensitive data the same group us all to have launched previous attacks on the german parliament and on the us democratic party also coming up. president trump loses one of his longest serving and most trusted aides hope is resigning from her job as white house communications director. and the last article of

a murdered journalist alleges links to the italian mafia at the highest level of slovakia's government we'll talk about his explosive claims and how they are shaking up in politics. also on the show bands no more the international olympic committee lists of stoping ban on russia so does this mean the world is now ready to cross russian athletes again. i'm brian thomas a warm welcome to the show we start out here in germany where authorities say government computers have been targeted in a cyber attack the hackers infiltrating the foreign and defense ministries now officials are trying to determine the exact extent of the breach sources claim a group with links to the russian government broke into the networks the attacks were discovered in december but were only made public now. what is germany's

strategy when dealing with difficult partners like russia lots of confidential information on that topic flow through the foreign ministry in berlin now the government has confirmed that hackers breached the foreign ministry's data network though it's not clear which data they targeted or whether it was sensitive. it is clear that this problem of cyber attacks on critical infrastructure by unfriendly states and powers is a really serious security problem we have to improve significantly in this area few . in twenty fifteen hackers infiltrated the network of the german parliament at the time it was thought to be the work of russian hackers who siphoned off data from the offices of german lawmakers back then germany's federal office for i.t. security said that the m.p.'s network wasn't linked to that of the parliament and

was therefore not as well protected as the ministries but hackers have now found holes in the ministries network suggesting that the attack was likely highly professional the german interior ministry has called for calm saying that it was an isolated attack but there's been criticism over the government's cyber security policy. i think that cyber security is neglected in the coalition agreement and i think it will be a key topic for us in the coming years. there's a blind spot that we have to fill urgently where we have to step up our game and where all our attention must go. the interior ministry says the incident will be treated as high priority and assigned significant resources. well those resources cover up that blind spot our security correspondent bob involved mark is with us now actually

a very serious situation interior ministry is confirming the bridge saying the situation is under control what exactly are authorities doing well first of all they have to contain this virus now or this they have to see the full extent how deep actually these hackers went into the data networks of the government we always have to bear in mind that what we're talking about is basically the heart of the i.t. infrastructure of germany this is the network that is used to communicate between the different ministries in germany so this is a very different very important network and yet of course authorities do everything as the theory ministry said they put this as high priority high prio priority and pull all the resources in there ok so communications between the defense and foreign ministries was potentially compromised you know and that over a period of one year you have to ask yourself how is that possible. yes of course

this is it could have happened or it could have started already a year ago when you talk to. authorities in the cyber defense they also often talk about the potential of time bombs so that sometimes hackers plays a meld where in the system but that doesn't start functioning right away it might be in the system without actually extract ing for example data that might happen love later so this could be one example explanation but still it was discovered in december and. why was the public informed only now three months after it was discovered ok reheard there are security experts admitting that germany has a blind spot you know considering the apparent level of sophistication that russian hackers have it is germany prepared to confront that type of professionalism. the simple answers obviously not otherwise this couldn't have

happened but then you have to ask yourself these attacks happen in very highly capable countries in europe also in the united states so who is really prepared to deal with these highly sophisticated attacks from russia russia puts a lot of effort in these groups a lot of know how but also a lot of resources in terms of time and money so these are very sophisticated compare come pains but then also i mean there is criticism that germany is not doing enough particularly since the attack on the bundestag there was a lot of effort put in germany on cyber security on security and cyber defense but this too can be do more not enough was done maybe and there's also the human factor all of these attacks mostly also go go along with behavior of people that are not prepared and this is on top of the problems in the systems thanks so much for that

update or security correspondent fabienne funded mark. to the u.s. now and i will miss having her by my side those are the words of president trump paying tribute to his outgoing communications director do or hope hicks hicks was the fourth person now to head the president's communication team and is the latest in a string of high profile departures from the white house excess a resignation has nothing to do with testimony she gave to congressional power probing alleged russian meddling in the twenty sixteen presidential campaign on tuesday let's go now to washington and did a few correspondent carolina chinmoy karalee know what was behind hope picks unexpected departure. well i hope a resignation as communications director can really all of us have in here in washington but this is still just an announcement from the white house here except departure is going to be said sometime in the next few weeks but of course this comes in

a time where he was making a lot of headlines here because she deny to speak to the press about her role in russia. and then of course come see dental leave the announcement of her resignation happens after she testified for nine hours in the house committee of intelligence so one could assume that these two incidents the testimony and the resignation are in no way linked to each other but this is only an assumption that the official statement of president says that topix took this decision because she is pursuing other opportunities also the white house is sure that this was not related to her testimony but also to put this in context this might also be true because according to the latest reports that i have from here from from washington this was not a big surprise to her colleagues in the white house she is

a person who always wanted to stay behind the scenes and here in washington d.c. this was impossible so apparently she hated the city and she never really made her home ok well she didn't stay behind the scenes when she told the house intelligence panel that she told quote white lawyers present trump because those statements have personal implications for. well one of the consequences of having said that is precisely the president apparently got angry at him after learning as she had made it on to say to the house committee that she lied also if she did find this only as a white lies and this is important because it's not any comment he we're talking about the house committee of intelligence which is investigating russia's meddling into the two thousand and sixteen election the company panel is investigating context between trump's campaign and to russia but there are no further details yet about the role. could have played in the russian meddling.

ok you know he was somewhat unconventional press secretary if you come to play so it's a prominent role in the president's inner circle well yes the interesting thing about hicks is that she she was not a celebrity which is quite unusual considering that she was one of the close advisors and longest serving eight she also wasn't related at all to politics she got this job by way of event. before that she had worked for a p.r. agency making war. official line and before that she was a model so this is indeed quite unusual girly boy for us in washington this morning thanks very much gary. now for some of the other stories making news today u.s. president donald trump has signaled support for tougher gun control laws possibly

including expanded background checks or raising the minimum age for buying assault weapons. the president suggested measures as he met with lawmakers wednesday in the wake of last month's deadly school shooting in florida i i i and students have returned to that florida high school that was the site of that shooting classes resume two weeks after a former student news an assault style rifle to kill seventeen pupils and teachers . tempers flared during a televised russian presidential debate among president vladimir putin's seven challengers opposition kendrick a senior subject doused the rival with water after insulter putin who said to win easily was not on hand he's due to give an address in parliament shortly that's expected to shed light on how his fourth term could look. all ceremonies in south korea have been marking the start of the korean movement for

independence from japanese colonial rule president j.n. spoke at an event in seoul and urged japan to confront and apologize for where time wrongdoing including forcing women into sexual slavery. kristoff is here now on wall street suffered its worst month in two years the mood wasn't much better elsewhere not brined equity markets in asia started the month of losses on thursday as a global selloff continued blue chips on japan's nikkei index shed just over one and a half percent with a stronger yen hitting big exporters losses in asia followed more losses on wall street with the dollar also down by one and a half percent fears in the u.s. are mounting about higher inflation and interest rates. so let's get the view from frankfurt with our markets man cold daniel wall street saw the worst month in two years asian markets also under pressure european markets kicking of the month of

march. good morning chris of february you just mentioned was certainly not a successful months here on the trading floor as well as shares of the blue chip index dax fell almost four and a half percent and you just mentioned of the outlook for today because of falling shares on wall street and the major indices in asia is also not very promising that happened even after a very good news from the much the same interest rates that's the big topic here investors are worried about interest hikes in the united states we could see three even maybe four this year investors fear that the market could have less liquidity because of this and we have to look also at the oil price the oil price also fell seven percent in one month that's putting most the shares of energy companies very under pressure and the currency markets the euro has hit a five week low against the dollar give us an idea why. yes i was having

a look at exactly one month ago the euro was traded at a level of one twenty five during the last days it went down to just one twenty two investors here on my end like this euro that is not so strong usually also gives shares here some power again but they are telling me that the reason because the euro is a little bit weaker and dollar stronger is related to the political situation in the united states even though they still don't trust donald trump as the politician they are really giving him very good credits for his tax reform and they also think that powell is the right person to be right now the head of the federal reserve in your code of the frankfurt stock exchange thank you. police and protesters have once again a class in athens ahead of auctions of foreclosed residential properties bags are obligated to foreclose mortgages as part of greece's international bailout loan

program demonstrators from the leftist popular gritty party said the options are tantamount to stealing poor people's homes banks have repossessed many properties through years of austerity and increased taxation many greeks have been struggling to make ends meet of the protests started in trying to sixteen now the government is introducing electronic options to bypass the protesters. the world mobile congress draws to a close today and this year's buzzword at the world's biggest fair for mobile communication was five g. the network that's set to enable all for fast transmission of large quantities of data and it is this development that's not only drawing the usual big names in tech to barcelona but also industrial old timers. to click on the app when there's not long to wait before the electric car comes rolling along. just to be on the safe side

b.m.w.'s driver sits in the front passenger seat. the driver's seat remains empty the whole time. passengers in the back seats can use a display to do things like sound the horn or even stop the car off the german or to make you want its first driverless model on the road by twenty twenty one. and almost entirely autonomous vehicle. in the emotional kinda demo showcase which we've put on at the mobile world congress to see also navigate using a digital map we've made of the exhibition ground instead hard. in practice it takes the latest five g. mobile technology to enable autonomous driving at the recent south korea winter olympics korea telecom set up the world's first public five g. network. in barcelona it's launched a five g. virtual reality game. for technology transfers gigantic data volumes from the

player's vests where the response time from only ten milliseconds. be the five g. is a more much a faster than four g. twenty times twenty times or more and we've reduced the lights in c. are a result case just take this step but not as you called to be at work for you don't have to wear dark heavy equipment and i say it's a totally why less mobile data networks are the hot topic in barcelona this year the number of networked gadgets is expected to grow rapidly from twenty twenty on along with the attendant risks i think five g. represents an opportunity it's going to signal the entrance of mochi all devices that are literally going to revolutionize the way that we live the way that we every component of our lives is going to be impacted but i think what that also represents is potential risk as well because you know things like driverless cars i

mean a remote healthcare and so forth security and privacy are going to be literally be number one question that we'll be it's more than just a game it's a serious matter of evaluating and minimizing the potentially disastrous risks of a new technology that will be rolled out within the next two years. it's expected right now and more on a terror attack that shocked germany right before christmas and twenty sixteen kristoff today german lawmakers start looking at why authorities failed to prevent the deadly twenty sixteen christmas market attack here in berlin a total of twelve people were killed in that attack when a failed asylum seeker drove a truck into a crowded holiday market in the capital center a talian polies shot and killed the tunisian responsible a tunisian national responsible for days later in a shoot out in the long after he alluded german police a parliamentary committee one vet. again the series of police and security breakdown breakdowns that allowed a man with known islamists to stage

a terrorist attack and escape the scene. on december nineteenth twenty sixteen terrorist and nice amery steered a hijacked truck into a busy christmas market on berlin's bright child plants twelve people died and many are still suffering today from serious injuries it was the first serious jihadist attack in germany but could it have been prevented a committee of inquiry is set to investigate this question in retrospect it is clear that security authorities knew a great deal about an ace amery they had already identified him as a threat one year before the attack they were aware of his drug trafficking is phones were intercepted and his internet connections were being monitored. in the state of north rhine-westphalia several officers were on his case am res asylum application was rejected although he should have left germany he remained when he

was once briefly detained he could have been deported instead he was released and he changed his identity multiple times at the start of twenty sixteen the state criminal police office in berlin was informed that emery was on his way to the capital security officials knew that he was in contact with a terrorist cell of a radical islamist. they also knew that he sympathized with the islamic state and wanted to get a kalashnikov and we often visited the foo select mosque a meeting place for violence oriented salafist it was being observed but only from monday to friday. despite the fact that emery counted as a leading potential threat he was only placed under surveillance by the state police in the summer with bloody consequences how did security officials lose sight of a terrorist an answer to this question is not only important for germany but especially for the victims' loved ones. it's to slovakia now where the murder of

a young investigative journalist has sparked protests in the capital brought about a thousand people turned out for a march organized by the conservative opposition party to on a reporter young could see act and protest against political corruption the twenty seven year old was shot dead at his home last week alongside his fiance. now shortly before his murder the news website he worked for published his last unfinished article its explosive claims quickly triggered fallout at the highest level of government will have more from after this report three journalists young could see x. final story was the most explosive in his short career it may also have cost him his large. the story details alleged links between the italian mafia and officials working in the prime minister's office. it was published by his colleagues days after the bodies of his fiance martina kristen over were found in

a plot to slaughter home. ninety nine percent convinced that the murder is connected with his writings about a link between italian mafia and slovakian politics. could see a story name two officials who have now resigned pending an investigation one of them maria told a score for a chief advisor to the prime minister another. chair of the state security department both have denied any link to the killings prime minister robert fits so saying he was told a scholar has cautioned against judging the pair without evidence he's offered a reward of one million euros for information about the murders slovakia's culture minister also resigned ashamed that something like this could happen in his country or that the us culture minister i can't deal with the fact that the journalist was killed during my term in office. in brussels european parliamentarians held

a minute of silence to honor the journalists did me that's. the truth with determination and didn't answer to anyone. the police to clear that he was almost surely killed to stop his investigation. incased could see x. grieving supporters want his work to be continued they marched in bratislava demanding safety for journalists and an end to corruption could see acts reporting may now have more impact on slovakia than he could have ever imagined. earlier i spoke with. she's the editor in chief of the biggest daily newspaper and she told me the journalist in the country are determined to finish the investigation start. they will continue asking questions and that was our man for young that even accompanied not only the story but all the stories and all the information he looked into like reveal really continue and trying to define issues are today

at the doors of chiefs in chiefs of the most critical media our meeting if you have a meeting and we'll discuss how to continue and how to make sure that the finish his reporting and not let you know to be silenced or work here really started i think also public pressure will continue there will be an other rally on friday i myself will speak and other journalists will speak out and even really stress the importance of critical reporting critical journalistic rois for maintaining democratic institutions in the country that was bought a bollard over speaking to me earlier and other news the u.s. olympic committee has announced the resignation of its chief executive scott blackman this fall's criticism of the sex abuse scandal involving a former gymnastics doctor larry nasir the u.s.o.c. cited ongoing health issues as the reason for vikings parcher announced reforms

aimed at protecting future athletes from abuse nasser was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to molesting women under the guise of medical treatment. the international olympic committee says russia's olympic ban has been lifted with quote immediate a fact despite two russian athletes failing doping tests at the winter games the country was reinstated after all many tests came back negative russia was banned after revellers revelations of states altered doping at the sochi games and twenty four team. competed is neutrals in pyongyang chan which is on tuesday president vladimir putin on the miss russian patriots. the country's elim pick reinstatement means the next time any of these athletes win a limb pick goals up top the podium hearing that only one of them once more putin keen to move on from the doping scandal in total russia's ban lasted less than three months the i.o.c.

has moved on surprisingly welcomed by russia's and then pick committee. last ten years to sure that issue today's decision of the i.o.c. is one of the most important for us because the russian olympic committee is once again completely reinstated in its rights and is now a completely full fledged member of the olympic family but no excuse for me. it was revelations from this man gregory roth chen calls that it helped lead to the ban of the former moscow lab director of the whistle on a state backed plot to cheat doping tests at the twenty fourteen sochi games as a result green athletes from russia were only allowed to take part in pyongyang under the olympic flag the red white and blue kept firmly out of sight. and though two of them including alexander crucial mid-scale failed drug tests while in south korea the i.o.c. agreed on sunday to lift a ban if no where the athletes tested positive they didn't and russia's

reinstatement was complete it. let's get your reminder of our top story at this hour germany is trying to determine the extent of a cyber attack on this foreign and defense ministry it's a russian hacker group is believed to have broken into the german government network is accused of previous attacks on u.s. and german political forces. this is the interview news wire from berlin i'm brian thomas for me in the entire g.w. news team thanks so much for being with us for back again at the top of the. move.

into the conflict zone the government of sudan is often accused of being one of the world's greatest violates is a human rights and justice also and it's in the eyes of the charges the move conveys many of those denials as the country's foreign minister if you bring him gandu off was my guest in music does he give anyone believe. there's no stopping the chinese dragon. changing times to rejoin the international economic and seize the investment initiative china's goal is to develop

a billion dollar trade network between asia and europe. speaking of paying its hand down crowned to prime time china's way to the top. kill. on freedom and. where i come from the region is rich in history. poor any opportunity and freedom this makes it especially difficult for independent. i see many of the young promising. now making names for themselves all over. song by the way song by song will continue. the experience of freedom sense is life experience. you can visit but you call come back.

my name is justin ford and i work. with. the government of sudan is often accused of being one of the world's greatest violators of human rights and justice often denies the charges the man who conveys many of those denials is the country's foreign minister ibrahim guy who is my guest here in munich does he care if anyone believes he. welcomes from.