this is deja vu news why the world renowned physicist stephen hawking has done it by shows the superhero took me i would pick superman if several things that i'm not . go to find wheelchair from motor neuron diseases groundbreaking work with black holes and relativity pushed the boundaries of human knowledge about his legacy and . also coming up donald trump says he's closer to having the cabinets he wants after firing his chief diplomat and secretary of state rex tillerson as the latest

to go president trump has replaced him with cia director mike compare let's find out what that means for washington's foreign policy. and moscow ignores a midnight deadline to respond to british claims of poison the former russian spy who defected from one once london to presenting the evidence we'll go live to moscow and look. i'm brian thomas great to have you with us stephen hawking whose mind roamed the universe has died his family says he passed away peacefully in his sleep in the early hours of wednesday hawking will perhaps be best remembered for his groundbreaking work in black holes and relativity. in a statement his three children said their father was a great scientist and stored marry a man whose legacy would live for many hears all in was seventy six years old.

i'm joined now by the theoretical physicist sean carroll in los angeles who worked with stephen hawking good morning thanks for being with us stephen. are you met stephen hawking personally can you give us an idea of some of your memories i did know stephen hawking was an amazing physicist one of the brilliant minds funniest and funny for centuries and very intimidating for young is such a lifestyle but he was also an amazing character you know he was incredibly stubborn incredibly willful he had only in sense of humor the very first time i ever met him was at a physics conference at a scots whiskey tasting where after the banquet. together the samples and single malt scotch is in there was steven he would not be left out he would not let is reported handicaps get in the way of anything that characterized this entire life

ok and as you mentioned he was known for sharp wit but working with them and even talking with them it must been somewhat intimidating to be confronted with such a towering intellect well yes it wasn't it you knew what his accomplishments were that he had you know figured out some really profound secrets about how the universe work and of course it was. typed in list computer and so he would ask the question and minutes would go by before you get an answer or place and every word counted the vote you really had to be on your best behavior you couldn't sort of waste time dodging around you had to really get to the point ok when you were with him how did he cope with his illness. i would say marvelously well i mean it was very very serious you know not only is he can buying food wheelchair but it's a degenerative disease that you only ever get worse when you have a disease like that he was predicted to last no more than

a couple years after he was diagnosed in the early twenty's and he finally passed away with seventy six years old yet many nurses lift him at all times but later said he just didn't let that affect his life in any way that didn't have he did what he wanted to do you travel collaborated with people he wrote see hung out with movie stars i think that stephen hawking had a great life ok as a fellow physicist what does his death mean now for the scientific community worldwide you know as always very impressive i mean putting aside the fact that in his seventy's stephen hawking was still an extraordinary only active and influential physicist was an amazing thing there's an enormous amount of respect that anything that he says gets just very recently feeling some colleagues working out a new way that black holes that evaporates say the rules of quantum mechanics and

general relativity and i think that he had a special kind of creativity and insight and this sort of sensitivity to how the universe works that will be very much sean thank you so very much for sharing your insights and your memories of stephen hawking with us this morning that was sean carroll from the walter burke institute for theoretical physics in los angeles such luck. very to talk more about some joined by now but i did have used the show stockman good morning michel. stephen hawking was an unlikely celebrities as we just heard there was a way he was he defied expectations people described him as a perfect mind and imperfect body and i think we need to look at that he lived for more than fifty years with just with this disease confined to a wheelchair he used a voice synthesizer and he became an icon of science kind of inherited that mantle of scientific celebrity from albert einstein and if we look at his research he

wanted to understand relativity the nature of time and space and of quantum theory how the smallest particles in the universe interact and how the universe is governed and to unify that and he wanted to make that accessible to a mass audience so we look at his book that he wrote in one nine hundred eighty eight a brief history of time ten million bestseller yes and i did read it and i feel i wish stephen hawking had been my high school physics professor because if he made it understandable he said that he passed it in front of his nurses before he published it to make sure that that it would be understandable to to a mass audience astrophysics accessible to a wider audience was definitely one of his accomplishments let's take a look back now at the life of stephen hawking. stephen hawking showed the world the limitless possibilities of the mind trapped in a body crippled by illness he was one of the most well known scientists of our time

from the seat of a wheelchair and with the help of a speech generating device the theoretical physicist and cosmologist fascinated people worldwide. talking faced his difficult physical condition with courage spirit and his trademark drive which. shows us superhero it up we all work pick superman it's everything that i am not. stephen hawking was born in oxford england on january eighth one nine hundred forty two the oldest of four children. at seventeen he was awarded a scholarship at oxford university he studied physics and chemistry he also joined the school's boat club and loved science fiction then at the age of twenty one destiny dealt him a cruel blow each. page to start her

photo you know so you would be no s. or older guru and if she told me what you already in two or three years. all my life i had lived with the threat of an early. hocking focused on subjects he knew best and could manage he began working in the field of theoretical physics at cambridge university he researched areas that combined science philosophy and religion such as the origin of the universe. he was especially interested in black holes and studied the mysterious phenomenon for years why. he looked at what happens to the material sucked into these holes why he developed numerous theories but no definitive answers. one of his greatest discoveries was that black holes can disappear this revelation turned the scientific world on it.

in one thousand nine hundred eighty published a brief history of time the book sold millions of copies and was translated into dozens of languages and stephen hawking became a high profile public figure. he used his popularity to warn of the dangers of nuclear war and climate change. he saw the public debate to search for answers to other pressing questions of our time. hawking was actively interested in peace between israel and the palestinians. he called the u.s. led invasion of iraq in two thousand and three a war crime even inspired a hollywood film about his relationship with his first wife. hawking received numerous awards and honors for his research and his efforts to open science to a broader audience. in two thousand and seven he fulfilled a dream when he went on a zero gravity flight it was the first time in thirty seven years that he could

move without being in a wheelchair. that he had hit but he was. fired could have gotten off the first. overseer of course reactions to stephen hawking passing are coming in from around the world what have you seen show he was a beloved figure as we saw in that report he met with world leaders he met with the pope but i'd like to bring in what i think just captures the essence this is from neil de grasse tyson he's another celebrity astrophysicist he said if you have twitter his passing has left an intellectual vacuum in his wake but it's not empty so that's that there's an intellectual vacuum now that he's gone you don't use the shelf stuff and forces money thanks very much michel thanks and there is of course more on stephen hawking's passing at our website t w dot com other news now and the

fired u.s. secretary of state rex tillerson has warned of russia's quote troubling behavior and actions in a parting statement after being fired by president donald trump the former exxon mobil chief at a series of public disputes of the white house after being appointed last year the president officially fired tillerson via twitter naming the cia director my pump a zero as his replacement. u.s. secretary of state rex tillerson exit from the white house had become the subject of speculation for much of his fourteen month tenure his relationship with president trump was on the rocks and their disagreements played out publicly not surprising trump delivered the final blow first to his forty nine million tweets a photo was before calling to listen. the u.s. president later hinted that he acts the top diplomat of

a various policy clashes. we got along actually quite well but we disagreed on but when you look at the iran deal i think it's terrible i guess he said it was ok i wanted he's a bright kid or do something he felt a little bit differently. the two men were odds on more than the raw nuclear deal to listen was in favor of the paris climate accord trump decided to leave it till a son warned of troubling behavior from the russian government while trump was repeatedly suggesting an alliance with the putin led state on the north korean nuclear crisis to listen preferred a diplomatic approach and trump threatened to bring down fire and fury over pyongyang that disagreement got so bad at one point to listen reportedly called the president a moron. while the former exxon mobil c.e.o.

had no one savory words for his former boss he barely mentioned him in his parting statement on our return to progress to private citizen is a proud american. probably the offer you have had to serve my country. cia director mike compare who enjoys a strong relationship with the president is trump's choice to take over from to listen. so what does this mean for american foreign policy for europe and partners abroad joined now to talk about that by nicole rembert from the german council on foreign relations thanks so much for being with us with so many tall see differences between the president and rex tillerson especially on iran north korea and russia was this firing inevitable well i would call it inevitable but you know we have seen signs in the past that the relationship between the two of them wasn't pretty positive and that they disagreed on many issues for example the iran day was

one of the issues they discussed tell us had a different opinion. and not one so you know somehow we suspected that this will happen and the fact that there was a lot off the satisfaction with the way to dismantle the state department also added to the problem ok well let's talk about russia a little bit more and must take a look at the lessons warning on russia as a threat to national security in his final address as secretary of state much work remains to respond of the troubling behavior and actions of the on the part of the russian government russia must assess carefully as to how its actions are in the best interest of the russian people you know the world more broadly continuing on their current trajectory is likely to lead to greater isolation on their part of the situation which is not it anyone's interest. actions by russia mentioned there what type of threat does russia pose to the united states and syria for well you

know there is an investigation going on on how much russia was involved in the elections the presidential elections and the newest troubling case of course is now what we saw in great britain that there is an attack on was an attack on a former spy these things i think to the idea off you know doing more about the russian behavior. and preventing russia from being more active in for example election campaigns we also see this in germany where we. are also seeing more intervention by russian. public relations agencies satiny and mingling into basically german policy and the impression i got is that everything that has to do with russia makes the president very very nervous and the tough stance to listen talk on russia is taking on russia maybe one of the

reasons why he wanted to let him go another reason could have been around to listen to the president disagreed intensely on iran and the nuclear deal specifically there's speculation right now that with dollars and gone the iran nuclear deal might on ravel putting washington in tehran on a confrontation course do you think that's a possibility that's a very likely scenario because the iran nuclear deal was labeled by the president very often of one of the worst steel it's ever done by the obama administration and basically from day one. the president wanted to get trade off this deal while more moderate voices. among his his consultants in the white house. want to tend to you know really look into the matter and to listen was one of the ones who didn't want to get rid of the iran deal ok this is of major. ainge of course at the state department how's it going to affect america's relations with

the european union and with european capitals bilaterally as well especially at a time when the german government is taking up for example its work today it will be more difficult for europe and especially also for germany and with a very close ties to the united states and the high dependency on the united states for example on security issues and there are already complaints that many of the positions in the state department have not been filled which makes it very difficult if you're on the working level to get things going and with a new director the state to be taking and the new head it will be even more difficult because run virtual germany council on foreign relations thanks very much for your insights this morning one of the topics we've been talking about here russia's relationships with britain the british counterterrorism police are investigating now another mysterious death of russian exiled london but they do not believe it's linked to last week's nerve agent attack on

a russian spy the body was found in a suburb of southwest london british media have a dent by the man as nick like close call it was a former associate of the russian oligarch or spurs also a who himself died in mysterious circumstances at his home near london five years ago. while staying with these developments russia has ignored a british deadline in the case of the poisoned russian and russian a former spice air guy screwball and his daughter prime minister theresa may had told russia it had until the end of tuesday to explain why a deadly nerve agent produced only in russia was used in the apparent assassination attempt may threaten to quote extensive retaliatory measures but moscow let the deadline pass and insists it will only cooperate with the british investigation if it receives samples of the nerve agent in question substance called number shock. the kremlin has escalated a standoff with the u.k.

over the poisoned ex by the foreign minister said britain isn't complying with moscow's requests to see samples of the navi chalk agent he called this a violation of the chemical weapons convention which oversees joint investigations wish you'd move russia is not guilty russia is ready to cooperate in accordance with the chemical weapons convention only if the united kingdom's deigned to fulfill its legal obligations to the same convention that was the part of the code . but he british allies have offered their support with e.u. officials pledging unity i believe it is of the utmost importance that those who are responsible for what has happened see very clearly that there is europeans show that archie unequivocal unwavering very strong so that those responsible are really punished for what they did. british

police say they're not ready yet to name a specific suspect in the crime or even a person of interest hundreds of officers are continuing their investigation in the english town of saul's bury the british government has vowed to retaliate terry measures every fails to allay suspicions that the kremlin was behind the attack. it's very important that people understand the gravity of what has happened and the outrage that the british government feels about the use of nerve agents use of chemical weapons or against innocent members of the public against innocent police officer. as british prime minister to reserve may prepares to set out punitive measures russia has warned that the u.k. should not threaten a nuclear power. let's go straight to london our correspondent big masa big of the british government is set to lay out today house how it is going to

respond to this ignored deadline and what are its options well all eyes on terrorism may when she's going to go to the house of commons around midday and there she's going to explain she's put some pressure on yourself she said the start line and she said she was going to then set out measures options are many full she could press for more sanctions and nationally against russia there's also been talk of these are freezes or s. . s. and freezes there are many russians in london she's been many people in the u.k. to look at what's happening in london what kind of money is coming to london is that sometimes laundered money she could be stronger than she is here so she's got a few options also expulsion of russian diplomats and she has to explain what she what her first steps are going to be when she goes to the house of commons ok

russia is threatening for its part to kick british media outlets out of russia. how did it come to this. well the reason may has announced that they were going to look at the russian state broadcaster and its license. they said they might they might prohibited to operate in the u.k. and then as a retaliation russia has said well if they are not allowed in the u.k. then no british media out there will be allowed into russia so this is a clear escalation of this diplomatic spat between russia and the u.k. of course there are other options that may has you will look at the allies and we have had about president truong he has showed some solidarity but what is you really going to be prepared to do also the european allies france and germany they

have more seeking of a dialogue with russia but they have said that they will support reason may and she would hope that they actually will do that more later this afternoon very good mosque for us from london thanks very much. well scott all case comes ahead of russia's presidential election on sunday some are calling it the no surprise vote a lot of repetitious all but guaranteed to clinch another six year term the russian media are firmly behind him and there's little in the way of criticism in his two thousand and seventeen ranking of one hundred eighty countries for example for press freedom russia came in at number one hundred forty eight art three in our series russia votes looks at some of the difficulties faced by russians or. reporter powerful new coolant dared criticize the kremlin's policies in syria now he risks his freedom video i open the door to armed police officers and two

plainclothes secret service agents were standing near the village. dimitris go to the top was an editor at a state owned t.v. station until his employer fired him now he's breaking his silence i think everything is centrally controlled with notices and bans state television cannot show that the state has problems because. the two used to belong to different political camps now both are in danger. in moscow only a handful of journalists like mcmullen are willing to investigate and address taboo topics human rights violations harassment in the military terrorism the secret service first noticed mccool and when he interviewed a russian member of i.a.s. they accused him of justifying terrorism it's a journey they took forty copies of this magazine as evidence. but it doesn't mention syria or terrorism. apparently their only reason was that my brochure that

dealt with completely different topics had a black cover. tof was a news editor at the state owned broadcaster o.c.i. one day he says his boss was. drunk and beat him up when dmitri tried to take his boss to court he was fired. apparently the station wanted to cover up the incident dimitri feels betrayed and has started to fight back against a system he once supported. spoken of as an editor i get these so-called stop lists of people in topics we weren't allowed to report on. for example when people were protesting against putin and we remained silent for nearly two weeks it was only towards the end of the second week that we were allowed to mention the protests but we had to dismiss them as harmless child's play we weren't even allowed to mention the name of the political opponent vonnie and we weren't allowed to report to the demonstrations even though they were happening in one hundred two

cities. on march eighteenth russia is set to go to the polls many expect the outcome to be rigged but there will be little mention of that on state controlled media where the election will be portrayed as honest and fair opponents claim governmental agencies suppress any criticism of the system. for example from news or as a supervisory agency that makes our lives difficult. they've been critical articles . and they claim it's to protect children. even for younger generations with television is the most important source of information to fifty four percent of the viewers between eighteen and twenty four prefer news from rosia one. but insiders say the russian state controls almost all broadcasting stations and uses them as an important propaganda tool and their

power expands beyond mere reporting. on the show at first my lawyer didn't believe just how powerful my station was she thought i was exaggerating all of that but when the court rejected our case for the fourth time she started to realize something. is very wrong. the way agencies treat house journalists they deny us access to courts arrest us at protests search our homes. it all goes to show how little regard the state has for us. in the past years this is your version is only worse and it's so bad that everybody who decides to take up this job can expect to be murdered someday but. as different as new coolants and scored a boo top's experiences are they both seem to show two sides of the same coin the same principle play along keep your mouth shut or find a different job as the saying goes in russia either you're with us or against us.

and our special russia series continues throughout the week this is the day of you still to come on the show after months of political uncertainty all aback at the be inaugurated as germany's chancellor we'll take a look at what's ahead. the automotive highlights of two thousand. are now on display at the geneva motor show . practical. or luxurious. car makers are to show off their green prey. take a tour around the geneva motor show on. sixty minutes. for how much freedom

of expression theory. travels through russia before the election he needs the poor and the rich to support the cause of those. look who's an investigative journalist. brush up on our series this week on t w news. the race for immortality has begun. leading neuro scientists are researching ways to replicate the human brain and androids are taking over physical labor. human brain is deciphered. particularly. enjoyed with artificial consciousness or the number one item on the market if you have to do the cooking fire danger point. the transfer of the human mind

into an avatar is successful immortality feast within reach. but what tricks can remember you can influence when events we need to plan it and we'll make sure when warranted. bring factory starting march twenty fourth on t.w. . book the backer of the news our top stories right now the world famous theoretical physicist stephen hawking has died he will be remembered for his groundbreaking work in black holes in general relativity and for defying the limits of his disability it was seventy six years old. and the fired u.s. secretary of state rex tillerson has warned of russia's troubling behavior and actions in a statement after being sacked by president on top. probably fishley far tolson via

twitter naming the cia director michael peo as his replacement. or here in germany today is the day before a hard for coalition deal clears the way for parliament to elect. her to her fourth term as. she's demonstrated the kind of political longevity that has become rare in modern politics but she has had of course or ups and downs take a look at some of the successes for the crises faced as chancellor over the last four years. until america as calm as ever yet never before has it been so difficult for her to form a government but in the end she did it and she's about to become german chancellor for the fourth time something few believed possible. at first until america was seen as cold go the chancellor who brought about german unification named her minister for women's offense cold may have underestimated his protege but

he wasn't the last to do. the job it doesn't i believe that the best politicians are also those who otherwise people would sensible characteristics and denying. medical definitively ended the era of helmut kohl in the year two thousand she took over leadership at the c.d.u. after the party was rocked by an illegal donation scandal five years later merkel lead the party to victory she became the first female german chancellor and the only east german to ever have the office zavala. merkel was pretty accused of being too hesitant levelheadedness and pragmatism soon became her trademarks. reelected in two thousand and nine michel second term was marked by the euro crisis and the unforeseen billions needed to prop up the common european currency. if the euro fails europe

fails. merkel forced debt ridden eurozone countries into a painful austerity despite widespread protests. following the fukushima nuclear catastrophe in japan the chancellor a trained physicist pushed germany to abandon nuclear energy because shimon has changed my position on nuclear power. in two thousand and thirteen maclin the c.d.u. one by a landslide no longer was she underestimated the girl had become the world's most powerful woman and her third term michael again had to demonstrate her crisis management skills in the midst of the refugee crisis she allowed a million people into germany the arms of feel especially have done so much we can do this and whenever something stands in our way it must be overcome. it will be a decision that polarized like few others. america must go became

a slogan of the far right populist alternative for germany party a.f.d. healing and the refugee with anti american sentiment in two thousand and seventeen a.f.d. and to germany's for the first time mack on the conservatives were reelected but negotiations to form a coalition with the liberal free democrats and the greens failed germans had to wait nearly six months for a new government. finally funneling drawn out negotiations the social democrats agreed and now i'm going to matt who stands on the verge of a fourth term as german chancellor. our political correspondent you know haas is with me in the studio to talk about this more good morning you know the political appointment or approval in parliament is expected in a couple hours about nine o'clock one and a half hours all special coverage of that today with us here in the studio as well why did it take so long to get to this point today. it's actually the longest time

it's ever taken to form a government in post-war germany it's exactly one hundred seventy one days since the election and let's be honest this is not a marriage of love all the parties involved have even said that it's a marriage of convenience angle a machall was very well aware that a vote to support had plummeted and all the parties lost extremely in the election so i'm going merkel did try to win other coalition partners than the f.t.p. the liberals they pulled out of those coalition talks and eventually anglo american had to go back to the s.p.d. again for help which is a reluctant party to join this coalition government again but now they're in it ok we're in new territory right now as you mentioned this is a historical situation in how long it's taken we're also seeing some changes as well in the chancers to popularity their popularity rates for the new polls are sinking right now. could this be her last and toughest term most people are

expecting this to be her last time in office it would be her it is have false term in office and only corps has done this so far to say that four times as the chancellor of germany and she could become the first person to actually choose herself when the right time would be to go many people are expecting that it is going to be hard as a lot of criticism within her own party people are pushing for success said to be put into place and there are several names she's been criticized to have moved the party too close to the center lot of pressure i think it will be talking about this work nine o'clock today of our special coverage and you know you've also been looking into german american relations as well you've been speaking to the chairman of the german parliament's foreign affairs committee about how reliable partner for the u.s. . the united states remains for germany in the wake of the dismissal of secretary of state rex tillerson let's look at minister. it does not contribute to what is

essentially and basically needed and expected from the us administration and this is predictability we are living in an ever more chaotic unpredictable fragmented dangerous time and foreign policy environment and particular regarding with to this . change and shift in the foreign policy scenario a leading role in a leadership role of the united states is required is necessary and it is in dispensable and and the united states is replaceable in this function and predictability of course is essential for that and this is just what we are missing what the world is missing predictability that we can that we know what is this foreign policy about and this decision on the foreign minister without firing without mentioning a reason is just a symbol for the lack of predictability of the foreign policy of the united states

no year of does need reliable united states the german foreign ministry had developed a working relationship with rex tillerson emma how do you expect that to continue under mike. we of course are determined to cooperate to work closely together with the elected legitimate u.s. administration and so we will have in germany a new foreign minister and there will be a new foreign minister in the united states and this is partly due to democracy that you have to change persons and the personnel in the administration but this does not affect the close cooperation between our countries now my compare however is known as a harsh critic of the nuclear deal with iran for example donald trump himself has called this agreement a horrible agreement what do you expect to happen on that issue. my view is that

the appointment of pompei will not fundamentally change the view of the administration and of the president on this deal we knew before that the president is critical has been critical of this agreement it's his agreement of his predestined barack obama so he doesn't like it just started with that reason but the fundamental implications have remained the same you can of course criticize the agreement by the it is a done deal so there is really a point where the international reliability of the united states is at stake if the united states pulled out of an agreement which was done by the previous government this would really affect the reliability of the united states and it would feel it would do it would make the the dangerous

situation in the middle east even a bit more complicated and kartik because then the question is what comes instead of an agreement and a military option in order to destroy the nuclear infrastructure of iran this is certainly not a better option. so with the new man now heading the state department what does that mean for trade relations scare hart has more on that and surprise. one of the new government's first important mandates will have to do with defending free trade against an increasingly isolationist united states the german economy depends on expos like few others is special e exports to the us cause machines chemical products and other goods made in germany are popular around the world but america is germany's top customer and that is the problem the trade gap last year was two hundred forty four point seven billion euros in germany's favor us president only trump has complained about that

imbalance a lot on many occasions and he is riding on a wave of domestic support for his. policies is this just decision to slap tariffs on a minimum and still is a reaction to that and worst case scenario european cars could be next so is lots to talk about with me in the studio as you know instead of my own he's a senior fellow at the peterson institute for international economics in washington welcome to the studio first of all wall street an asian markets reacted with losses to the sucking off to listen why is that. well i would think they had these two factors that played a role in first of all there was of course surprise of them and in the sacking nor took us all a bit by surprise and that's reflected in in a market reaction why do this now when the president has and full with other issues like tariffs. did. but then you know more broadly we have had

a balance if you like of people in the administration that supports. the fairly hard economic nationalist line of the president and we have had some people that oppose the nationalist line and essentially not. resists and so does most one of them just was one of them as was gary coleman and so to have now the second important senior thing in the administration depart who in some sense counterbalanced trump a bit is a little bit of the new the new one the new foreign secretary is more hawkish isn't it yes so that is it just a problem influencing trump oil will it really have influence on trade as well well you know and it is i think the issue. with respect to perhaps less on trade because they of course you know trump has demonstrated that even with tell us i'm still in the in the foreign ministry and as

a secretary of state he was very happy to just go ahead with his decision so i don't think that's so much the issue but the issue is just generally the propensity slightly higher chance of conflict of international conflict of which trade is one once and. i don't know who will be sworn in later today for a first term as chancellor what do you think is on top of konami to do list mending relations with the u.s. . well i would agree with her main challenges are international at this point not so we have a coalition agreement that i think correctly outlines a bunch of domestic economic challenges and i think there's a reasonable job hope it will be mixed like public investment. tax issues and so forth but i think the you know the two biggest challenges are indeed trade at this point and europe of course no and i think what has happened in the last six eight weeks is that the trade issue and relations with the us unknown number one of the

issues confronting the chancellor if you look at that this rather big trade deficit with germany. and the rather high e.u. tariffs on. imposed on the u.s. does trump have a point. no. well he has half a point which is the only point if you like that from the demonstrations in the obama administration completely agree with and they're really not very many just maybe the only one is that they are upset about the german surface right so on that in that sense he has a point germany could do reasonable things things that have been pointed out by the i.m.f. and the european commission so by multilateral institutions to reduce that surplus i don't and that he does not have the parts of decay the issue and on tariffs effectively you know it we have some product lines where tariffs are high in the u.s. these are europe for example of trucks much much higher in the u.s.

than in europe we have other product lines like cars were tariffs a slightly higher in the and this has to do with the history of those tariffs humans have and i thank you very much for this analysis thank you two years of investigations into the diesel gate scandal apparently didn't do much to hurt fox dogs bottom line the german car giant presented raechel sales figures for twenty seven team groups call v.w. brand posted shop lee increased profits three point three billion euros the company plans to finances its investment in electric vehicles on the back of the results which also push c.e.o.'s mathias miller's last year's salary to more than ten million euros. and the country came to the city in berlin on tuesday as some three hundred shepherds brought a small flock to the for culture ministry in central into try to save their

centuries old way of life the set that summoned to dismantle gump with demanding a grazing animal premium which is already paid to ship it in other european union countries the labor union representing germany's thousand dollars ship it says that due to cheaper sheep imports germany's total flock has declined by a third since twenty ten to just over one million sheep world wildlife fund estimates the premium would cost around twenty million euros a year and would be largely public. subsidies. and that's all your business for now it's back to run the hardware to turkey now turkey has announced a major advance in its offensive in northern syria the turkish army and allied rebels have reportedly completely surrounded the kurdi kurdish city of afrin now it is seen by ankara as

a stronghold for kurdish fighters now this raises the prospect of another protracted siege in syria's seven year war now up to three hundred fifty thousand civilians are believed to be trapped in afrin hundreds of thousands more in the surrounding region of the same name now this on verified footage we're going to show you purport to show a road block preventing residents from leaving out from turkish military are said to be in firing range of all major roads out of afghan ok joining me now from istanbul is d.w. correspondent yulia han yulia it appears that the turkish military now has afrin completely surrounded all roads reportedly are cut off what is their next move. well brian for uncle and circling the town center offering is a major step in this military operation which sought is about seven weeks ago but

of course the fight for often is not over we hear the techs military sense special forces then now preparing for what they call a final offensive so we might see some quite intense fighting over there you mentioned all the civilians who are still trapped there or were trying to escape it's of course a big question what will happen to them we hear really different information the kurdish right question for example saying that more than two hundred civilians got killed in this military operation while the texas military says they are not targeting civilians or civilian infrastructure denying that there have been civilian casualties so conflicting information it's really difficult to say what's happening on the ground right now and what next move will be some say will be contend besieging often for a while allowing civilians to leave others say they might as well extend the operating in as they previously announced to another majority courage controlled

area called monday which one hundred kilometers further east of often ok now this offensive in northern syria is very important for turkish president. today marks fifteen years in power for he came to office as prime minister in two thousand and three he became president and two thousand and fourteen and over these fifteen years hasn't this country undergone some real change. well in fact it did and from very humble but from very humble beginnings missed out on himself has grown into a very very powerful man he has changed turkey it's safe to say that more than any other political leaders since most of the two a coup founded the modern turkish republic in one nine hundred twenty three i wanted to know what do people think how has mr atwan himself changed and how has he changed the country in the past fifteen years let's have

a look at what kind of. report. that was two thousand and two. photos of him here in the shop this was taken just after he became prime minister. talk about the president for hours when they were kids their families were friends later became a barber and dredging on one of the world's most well known politicians but they never forgot each other even today the president sometimes comes in for a haircut. when he visits we see huge crowds traffic jams even get so busy he comes here every three to four years in this area practically everyone my age and up knows him personally when it was time for him to be serious he was serious when it's time to joke he would joke he's still the same he hasn't changed at all. he's nice with. my hands

barbershop isn't cousin pasha a conservative neighborhood of the stumble this is where ad one grew up and where he dreamt of becoming a professional soccer player but then decided to join politics. today the local stadium is named after him and most of the people here are loyal supporters of the soccer club and the president. he cares very much about the people we're very satisfied he's decent and charitable. got a disability on the sixth saying in the piece the only politician in the history of our public who stands up to the west. in a good long grueling monday blues going to when a politician uses academic language the message does not come through. but he knows how to speak to the masses and that's why people vote for him. busiek enormous

urges so. many turkish people are proud that ad one has turned their country into an important player in the region politically as well as economically mega projects like the new istanbul underground railway or the gigantic bosphorus bridge have earned him the reputation of a visionary a man of action. after all good i once supported add ons policies as well. for several years he was a minister in one of his cabinets but in twenty thirteen they parted after a dispute the president has. changed a lot less human only here. turkey was taking big steps towards conforming to e.u. standards and having a pluralist democracy. but after the third election we started to see more of his ego. he didn't listen to others anymore and this is the era to want the world knows now. to show on the part of their one though.

the world might soon also get to know the spilled in the president's new favorite project the mega mosque intended to outshine all the others in turkey. many people say the president is building a monument to himself. the mosque is so huge one can spot it from many places in istanbul. journalist most of the harsh says the project shows just how much as one focuses on symbols of power now the president has become less and less tolerant of criticism harsh says and he knows what he's talking about his book about alderaan has earned him several lawsuits. we put out a lot better one has a single plan he does not want to lose the election no matter what he wants to remain in power this is only goal. he likes to see himself as

a big boss who runs the country like a patriarch. but tie affair to one will never become a big boss who controls all of turkey he's only the big boss of his followers and supporters. then look at this in america both. in cousin posher the president's old neighborhood to most of the people do not share such criticism if it were up to yes sure i hung the barber. one would govern for another fifteen years but he could stop by more often for happy that. that was you leon who brought us that report and interview from istanbul let's get your minder now of our top stories at this hour the fired u.s. secretary of state rex tillerson has warned of russia's troubling behavior and actions in a statement after being sacked our president from the president has named cia director mike compare as his place. and moscow ignores a midnight deadline to respond to british claims of poison the former russian spy who defected from and says it wants london to give it its.

we're going to leave you now with a look back at the extraordinary life of astrophysicist stephen hawking who overcame motor neuron disease and forever changed how we perceive time and space he passed away wednesday at the age of seventy six.

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food. just did abuse live from berlin the world renowned physicist stephen hawking and stop the fight shows a superhero took me i would pick superman itself for things that i don't know. though confined to a wheelchair or from a motor nor on the scene since groundbreaking work in black holes and relativity relativity pushed the boundaries of human knowledge will talk about his likes. and also coming up don't trump says he's closer to having the cabinets he wants after firing this to diplomatic.