this is. from berlin tonight a stunning offer from north korea to the u.s. ready to talk about no nukes and the u.s. president reacts with guarded optimism we have come certainly a long way at least rhetorically with north korea would be a great thing for the world it would be a great thing for north korea would be a great thing for the financial. that comes as the leaders of the two koreas agreeing to meet face to face this coming april also coming up growing intrigue british police decontaminate the signs

a former russian spy collapsed after being exposed to a mystery substance tonight he is in critical condition and the united nations condemns the warring parties in syria ahead of a security council meeting on eastern. the latest government airstrikes killing dozens in the rebel held on claim despite a cease fire. it's good to have you with us we start with a shocking offer from north korea to the united states ready to meet and ready to talk about getting rid of nuclear weapons the north has agreed to hold a summit in late april that would include the leaders of both countries north and south korea and now this unexpected turn of events coming just a day after a south korean delegation met with the north korean leader in pyongyang it was kim

jong un's first ever face to face with south korean officials since taking power. images from north korean state television president kim jong un welcome south korea's national security chief chango a young and four other special envoys from seoul kim told them he wants to write a new history of national reunification and this is what the first chapter should look like the two sides are planning a meeting for their heads of state in late april the first summit in eleven years but that's not all according to south korean sources kim is prepared to suspend nuclear and missile tests while dialogue is underway and he is reported to have said there's no reason for north korea to have nuclear weapons if he gets security guarantees for his regime and he also hinted at dialogue with the united states u.s. president donald trump seemed optimistic about these latest developments. we have

come a long way at least rhetorically with a great thing for the world. great thing for. south korea's president reacted with caution you know how. we must talk to north korea to denuclearize the korean peninsula but at the same time we must put maximum effort into establishing effective measures against north korean nuclear weapons and missiles. meanwhile north korea is broadcasting these images kim and his wife hosting his guests at a banquet as if it were a family get together and as if there were no nuclear conflict no missile tests and no u.n. sanctions. oh here is some of the stories now that are making headlines around the world a senior u.n. official says. he made this statement after he visited

refugee camps in bangladesh constance bizarre district hundreds of thousands of fled to. bangladesh since last august when even more forces launched a crackdown on their communities a russian transport plane has crashed in syria killing all thirty nine people on board and syrian state media say that the plane crashed at russia's hum i mean air base in northern syria and was likely caused by a technical failure. was the night britain is saying that it will respond appropriately and robust lead to any russian involvement in the apparent poisoning of a former spy sergei screwed up all in x. russian intelligence officer who also spying for britain was taken critically ill on sunday along with his daughter police are trying to identify the unknown substance that left both of them unconscious in the southern english city of souls

. the police cordons still surrounds the part of the soul spree park west cripple and his daughter uni i was found critically ill on sunday. investigators are now trying to determine the nature of the. the two victims who were exposed. as you are aware we declared a major incident yesterday after a man and woman were taken seriously arrow in salzburg on sunday. they both remain in a critical condition and all thoughts and best wishes remain with their families during this difficult time. it was also eating a meal at this local restaurant that a resident film script all violently ill on a nearby bench. and then the man who starts or are not just goes with it wasn't like normally was sold for his army but you can see that his vision for not what he start was uneven is just this one was just common for knowledge as miles. there's

been an angry reaction from policymakers with the british foreign minister linking this latest incident to the death of another former russian spy shows all remember . the death of that. in two thousand and. why it would be wrong to investigate i can reassure them that. they're going to. go through this then the american government will restore order appropriately. russia strongly rejected those comments calling them wild the kremlin has denied any knowledge of the affair and called british allegations groundless it said london should investigate the incident before blaming moscow. st paul was a colonel in russia's military intelligence service back in two thousand and four he was arrested in russia and convicted of spying for britain two years later. in

twenty two. when he was freed as part of a high level spying exchange. british counterterrorism specialists have now taken challenge of the investigation but a spokesman said they keeping an open mind about the nature of the incident. well one man who's not keeping an open mind is bill browder he was once a high flying banker living in moscow but then his attorney was murdered he says at the hands of the russian government his search for justice has turned him into a prominent kremlin critic he says this report case is the latest example of how president putin deals with traitors but the one thing you should stand about putin is that he kills traders and it's very important for him to do that because he's got a lot of people who are not particularly well motivated that work for him and all the security services they don't work for him out of luck they were either work for him out of money because they get to steal

a lot of money or they work for him out of fear because they are afraid once they get into it that they have any any any exit will cause problems and so putin has to create these vicious circumstances for traders and they did that with alexander litvinenko the man who was murdered in london with polonium. back ten years ago and more than ten years ago and and and they generate with other people all over the world there that this is that this is this that for anybody who is a trader is it measured out the most harsh punishment and it doesn't matter whether they're a foreign country or russia this is the kind of thing that happens to traders. that was bill browder there speaking with us earlier now to syria and its civil war u.n. war crimes investigators say that both russia and the u.s. led coalition have caused civilian deaths with airstrikes it also says that syrian government forces carried out unlawful chemical attacks in rebel held eastern

ghouta now that enclaves plight will be on the agenda when the u.n. security council meets tomorrow to discuss a failing truce in the region. and. eastern ghouta to flex its every corner. of the struggle for survival here is ceaseless. sustained shelling on the city has led to the u.n. calling this the deadliest week for the syrian town since a cease fire was broken at the end of last month i don't want to marry children have been the west affected. this cameraman stops to rescue a severely injured infant the image to profit to show. you the rest of the human children's fund says the situation is desperate. the first two

months of this year have been especially bloody for children we have received reports of over one thousand should one who were killed and seriously injured in the holds here yeah on the scene it's the year began. monday brought some reprieve aid trucks reached the embattled town for the first time since the offensive began . despite the excitement the world food program once it's far from enough. up to four hundred thousand people trapped on the inside of it all are living under siege and by that we mean there are serious shortages of medical assistance of food food insecurity is very high the u.n. security council will on wednesday hold urgent talks on the feel of the thirty day ceasefire but with no having and insights to the war the people of this town remain in a constant fight for survival. so russia has marked one hundred days before the start of the world cup with the bids across the country in moscow an open air concert was

held for six thousand world cup volunteers. ah. was. the countdown is on with exactly one hundred days to go until the first born is kicked russia a proton a party for six thousand world cup volunteers. a moscow ice skating rink may have been an unlikely choice of venue sliding tackles probably a bit dangerous here but those involved are already looking forward to the summer. yes it's really exciting and a huge responsibility being a volunteer and helping the whole world but i'm ready and eager to get started. we want to show the world how beautiful the country is. and how friendly the people are. the tournament will take place in twelve stadiums across eleven cities like here in preparations are largely running to plan with the fans inspection team

happy with what they've seen so far but we're very pleased to see the continued enthusiasm and passion from the city from the stadium to really put on the best show possible here and because we're very pleased and impressed with the progress and the state of preparations. but there are still concerns over security and fan violence ahead of the tournament russia insists there won't be any problems having crackdown on local hooligan groups for now the optics are good in russian and fee for presidents try to sort of keep e.o.p. in a carefully choreographed promotional video glad to meet putin knows russians image is under the spotlight. all right in formula one ferrari sebastian vettel has laid down a marker for the twenty eight hundred campaign with pre-season testing entering its final week the germans hit the quickest time of the morning in barcelona completing more laps than anyone else he went two tenths of a second quicker than his nearest rival mercedes driver of the bull dust but the

news wasn't so good for the mclaren team their car broke down on track just an hour into the session. and finally the german national anthem praises among other things the fatherland but for how much longer following a trend set by canada some people here want to change the words to be more gender neutral it could give the country's soccer players a whole new song to maam. germany's national soccer team players know the words of the national anthem by heart as do the members of the german born does talk. but in the future will they be singing another tune. this is the ministry of family affairs equal opportunities officer cristina pulls a moving of the s.p.d.

she wants to recreate the anthem sneer extend make them gender neutral. then it would no longer be for the german fatherland but instead for the german homeland and instead of brotherly with heart in hand courageously with heart and hand. ok but how would it sound. guys oh ok well i have. done the last ones i wish they hadn't. no i don't know why should we change the anthem or the lyrics i wonder and i would not agree with that august me for standing them it i like it the way it is it's traditional that's so this is twenty eighteen it's ok to question these things and start these kinds of debates and i'm totally for it but if you and what about the chancellor of german government spokesman says congress amount is very happy with the anthem as

it is. wonderful until america likes to see are those going to wrap up this edition of the w. news for all of us here in berlin thanks for the company we will see you again at the top of the hour with more world news. come to learn german with. anytime anyplace. with or with jo jo and her friends. kids is going to. let mr spitzer since her six year old.