this is the don't use line from berlin a potential breakthrough on the korean peninsula the leaders of the two koreas agreed to meet face to face in april jiang yan promises to suspend any missile tests while talks are taking place even hinting that talks between the u.s. and north korea can also be on the table also coming up a growing intrigue british police decontaminate the side where a former russian spy was taken seriously ill use now in critical condition from the hospital after being exposed to a mystery substance and the spirit laon get set to elect

a new president of the country goes to the polls tomorrow good or women's faces a daunting task of rebuilding the country after a devastating ebola outbreak and an economic slump in. iraq great to have you along we start off with a potential breakthrough on the korean peninsula after a rare talks between north and south korean officials the north has agreed to hold a summit in late april that would include the leaders of both countries the announcement led president donald trump to tweet this could signal possible progress and showed a serious effort by all parties south korea's national security directors that the north had offered to cut back on its nuclear weapons program if it receives security guarantees a south korean delegation has returned home

a day after meeting with the north korean leader in pyongyang it was the first time kim jong un met with south korean officials since taking power. well here is what south korea's top security official had to say. the north clearly expressed its willingness for denuclearizing the korean peninsula and clarify that there's no reason for them to retain nuclear weapons if military threats against them are removed and if the safety of its regime is guaranteed. josh smith is a reuters correspondent in seoul south korea and i asked him how significant a development this is well these were some of the most historic talks in recent memory this is the first time that such senior south korean officials met directly with kim jong un and this signaled that there is some seriousness on both sides you know what hard progress comes out of these talks remains to be seen and many

observers will be especially looking closely at what the response out of washington is right we'll talk about that in just a moment josh if north korea follows through on its offer to freeze nuclear testing what are they likely to want in return. that is the big question is this declaration that they might be willing to give up their nuclear arsenal is something that they in other forums said in the past they have said that they are only pursuing these weapons because of what they see as the threat from the united states a threat of invasion and the threat of the tens of thousands of american troops who are stationed here in south korea so many observers expect them to make certain demands possibly including the withdrawal of american troops from the korean peninsula which is something that neither soul nor washington may be willing to accept now is josh pyongyang also hinted that the talks with the u.s.

could also be on the table and just weeks ago there was all this rhetoric became quite heated of a possible a confrontation and now trump has reacted saying that he sees possible progress has been here before. that is something that many skeptics are pointing to this isn't the first time that north korea has stated that it's willing to talk and the first time that the united states has said that it's willing to talk whether however both sides can build enough trust to move be on the talk does remain to be seen obviously past efforts talking have not led north korea to give up its nuclear program at the same time they have also prevented outright war from breaking out between the sides so i think everybody can and can look at these talks and see a glimmer of hope all right let's talk about that face to face meeting between the

leaders of south and north korea these are the two countries who have been technically at war since the fifty's are south korean support of the president's the platic efforts so with the north. overall the south koreans do widely support president outreach to the north they are understandably not interested in any kind of conflict breaking out in which you know south korea has more to lose than almost anybody however at the same time as the years have gone by many younger generations of south koreans have less connections with the north and they are increasingly skeptical of the north's intentions given all of this heated rhetoric so while there is guarded optimism for sure among south koreans they are also looking for real signs of movement from the north josh smith thank you.

britain has said it will respond appropriately and robustly to any russian involvement in the apparent poisoning of a former spy sergey scrip olen ex russian intelligence officer who also spied for great britain was taken critically ill on sunday along with his daughter julio police are now in a race against the clock to identify the un known substance that made them so sick for passers by found them unconscious in the southern city of cells for. cells very police have cordoned off part of a park where former russian spy sergei sleep and a woman identified as his daughter were found critically ill on sunday counter-terrorist specialists have now been assigned to support local police the rushes on to determine exactly what unknown substance made the mill it was after dining at a local restaurant that was found violently ill on a nearby bench by a local resident. and then the man starts throwing up it was weird it wasn't like

nobody was on for his. like you can see that his vision for what he start was uneven is just was always just come to pronounce his mouth. the kremlin has denied any knowledge of the affair the spokesman called it a tragic situation and said moscow is willing to cooperate in the investigation but hasn't yet been asked to do so said a script was a colonel in russia's g.r.u. military intelligence he was arrested in russia in two thousand and four and convicted of spying for britain two years later in two thousand and ten scripts was freed us part of a high level spy swap the trade included the now prominent russian agent anna chapman who tried to cozy up to u.s. power brokers script and his daughter are still in hospital where doctors are working against the clock to find out what has made them ill. well of britain's

foreign minister boris johnson questions in the house of commons about the case here's what he had to say. though i'm not not pointing fingers forgive me carol this is because your sound bite fingers i say to governments around the world that no attempt to take innocent life on u.k. soil will go either unsanctioned or unpunished. the british foreign minister all right now to some of the other stories making news around the world. reports say at least sixty eight people have been killed as the syrian government resumed airstrikes on eastern whole time near damascus a cease fire was agreed last month but it's only in place for five hours a day the russian military has offered rebel safe passage out of the area the rebels have turned it down. on a russian transport plane has crashed in syria killing all thirty nine people

onboard syrian state media citing the russian defense ministry says the plane crashed at russia's air base in northern syria the most likely caused by a technical fault. a senior u.n. official has said myanmar's ethnic cleansing of rangel muslims is ongoing he made the statement after the visit refugee camps in bangladesh is cox's bizarre district hundreds of thousands of revenge fled to bangladesh since last august when the in march forces launched a crackdown on their communities. voters in sierra leone go to the polls tomorrow to elect a new president sixteen candidates are vying for the top job with four seen as having a realist realistic chance including front runners from the incumbents all people's congress and the opposition people's party whoever wins will face the tough task of turning around a country whose economy has been rocked by recent crises including the devastating

a bowl outbreak of twenty fourteen our west africa correspondent eight increase filed this report from mccain home of outgoing president ernest bai koroma. there's certainly choice in these elections a total of sixteen candidates are vying for the presidency. not that that's any comfort for does memorise he's frustrated with his government but also says there's no real alternative. he is. so for me. we first met rees four years ago during the outbreak he was working as a volunteer having a red cross burial team. it was a high risk and it placed great stress on his personal life.

up to now had. the government promised to recognise reese and his colleagues efforts by granting them special payments once the epidemic was over so far though they've received nothing according to the country's auditor general at least fourteen million dollars in aid have simply disappeared an example of corruption corruption is a key theme in the election campaign to. we've never they've created a. ministry. let me give you an example. it is only in my country that you spend. in the middle of the country in the middle of the main city. but the ruling

party's presidential candidates america mara is more relaxed on the subject. any country. it is. corruption. is corrupt activities that is his. to do with. tomorrow was minister for foreign affairs until last year when he was nominated for the presidential race by the country's current leader ernest koroma koroma has ruled for ten years and now has to step down as the governing body a.p.c. is mainly trying to sell its successes and infrastructural projects that he and the home base of the party enjoy a comfortable majority but in other parts of the country people are not so happy about the situation. including desmond reads like many others he believes the election will be won by the main opposition party or even the governing party

itself and either way reece is certain he won't get adequate recognition for all his hard work during the whole a crisis he does have some hope though that one day more funds will be invested in the country's health system instead of being siphoned off through corruption. crease reporting there and in soccer about essentially have their hands full tonight if they are to reach the champions league quarter finals they need to overturn a three one deficit against rain champs three on madrid and do so without star player neymar is recovering in brazil after undergoing surgery on his injured foot . two hundred twenty two million euros worth of talents hobbling around on crutches name a foot injury was known to a p.s.g. needed before taking on the mighty rail in the trees the brazilian will be forced to watch the last sixteen tie from back home in person on the brazilian dani alves the man who encouraged neymar to come to paris says his side still have enough

quality to win that and most of those up as soon as you've got two options you can sit there and cry about it or get up and make it happen. course we're much stronger with name. but without him we're still strong because we have other good players. and a fourth. p.s.g. have loaded their team with stars in their bid for champions league glory how they love the same record is right now the spaniards have won twelve titles including two in a row want to sit down. to the service among others present but we all know that after the game one of the two sides will be having itself time. but that's football . investment has so far failed to bring piers g. european football's biggest prize has gone out to spanish opposition in three of the past five seasons now will need to pull together everything to stop that happening again. all right you're watching the news we still have

a long way to tell you about including it's never as easy as it looks donald trump's import tariff plans are even running into stiff resistance from his own allies. that and a whole lot more in the business news coming up in just a minute with how the humphrey. learned german with w. . any time any place. with or with jo jo and her friends. colleagues destructed. mr spitzer's inspection.