and becky you know we've heard from its recently that she has the support of her allies in the e.u. also from nato how much support has she had in the u.k. for taking this tough line on russia she has a lot of support i thought a lot of labor m.p.'s really praising her recent statement on russia and taking a family line against russia of course there are some critics who say well the tory party like jeremy coughlan their leader of the labor party accused of taking russian money that was something that he criticised but i think that was something a lot of of his parliamentary colleagues weren't actually so happy about so generally there is a lot of support for taking a strong line against russia because it is something that that hurts the country and to resort to reason may who's actually quite embattled and not having made such a good figure in the negotiations recently it's also an opportunity to show herself

as a as a strong leader people will hope that she doesn't go too far and that she strikes a balance between being fast but not so different away exploiting this for in town or popularity but sort of just doing what's right and what's right for for the u.k. and russia relations. and here we're attacked with those nerve agent what do we know about their condition of this point we know that they are still in a very critical condition let's recap they were found unconscious on a park bench and souls were then now being treated in a hospital in salzburg and it's not just them as well we know that a police officer was also hospitalized after the attack he said to his condition is it's improving but he is still in a very serious condition and now one of the men responsible for developing this nerve agent he's been speaking to the press he said that even if they do recover

that they will will be affected by this life this is a very very damaging poison and this will affect them for a very long time i was britain so sure that this agent can be tied back to russia well let's just recap so this british agents rather was a double agent he was jailed in moscow in two thousand and six he was then released as part of a prisoner swap in two thousand and ten he's believed to have handed some twenty thousand secret documents to the u.k. while he was working as a double agent so there is a lot of evidence obviously to suggest that he could be a target for the survey agent itself that was used in this attack you know how is it that you can say this is certainly russia's doing if it is an agent it was a poison that was developed by the soviet military in the seventy's and eighty's we know that for a fact now that dissidents have detailed the development of this agent so i think there is in very little doubt that this is this is something that russia possesses

just to come back to you for a final question what do you think this is going to mean for the u.k.'s relations with russia going forward and whatever reaction we see now from the kremlin. well for the u.k. russia relations it's definitely a low point as charlotte has mentioned this is something the expulsion of twenty three diplomats is something that really is unprecedented since the seventy's and they were already the diplomat the relations between russia and u.k. were already very low since the death of alexander litvinenko a former russian spy who then the british inquiry concluded was murdered by russia so there was already a lot of tension already diplomatic spells but this is really another level and it's very hard to see also with this fighting of words that we see an old very clear rebuke from russia and very clear words here from the ukraine across the

board really from all parties from all political parties it's hard to see how that can recover while for example blood in me putin is still going to be the leader of russia it's going to be very very strenuous indeed for for the next years because we do think that he will be reelected in russia on the weekend where it will british prime minister theresa may saying she does hold the russian state responsible for the attempted murder of former slaves by circus crippled his daughter yulia in the british city of salisbury she detailed a raft of measures including expelling twenty three russian diplomats and we will of course continue to follow the story and a stand up of all the latest details our correspondents charlotte charles impel with us here in studio and mast for us in london thank you both for your analysis. we're turning now to our top story here in germany

a months of political gridlock coming to an end as i'm going arkell's a sworn in as head of a new coalition government and i call took the oath of office from bundestag president both i'm sure you go in front of lawmakers who earlier narrowly voted to reelect her as chancellor for an operation comes after a near six month struggle to form a government local secured her fourth term after finally convincing her conservatives and the center left social democrats to come together for another grand coalition. the bonus talk vote was tighter than expected all doctor i'm going to marry the doctor i'm glad he has the necessary majority of at least three hundred fifty five votes and has been elected chancellor according to article sixty three paragraph two of the constitution if you believe. do you accept the result. yes mr president i do. thank you with that merkel was officially elected to a fourth term miss chancellor. it's her third time in

a grand coalition the social democrats. it took a while for medical to win over the s.p.d. but in the end the junior partners offered their congratulations. the chancellor remains the chancellor and that's cause for happiness and i think this is good news for the citizens of our country and good news for europe. who do not wish to. but at least thirty five members of merkel's coalition failed to support her in the end her margin of victory was nine votes including her own in a parliament of seven hundred nine deputies that's hardly a dream start to the latest medical government. merkel's husband you are put in a first appearance of such an election and merkel's next cabinet is also new in many respects the numerical government is noticeably younger and includes more women than previous ones its main priorities. we need to ensure domestic security

and the welfare of society we need to figure out how to positively tackle the challenges of global competition. after the bring the stuff vote merkel was sworn in by german president trying to shine maya through one hundred seventy one days after germany's national election last september the country finally has a new government. all right let's talk to our chief political editor michelle who is at the bundestag for us covering today's events. this was the end of months of gridlock in berlin tell us how significant this final step was for the chancellor. yes absolutely and for germany it was important because germany's now back to political business there are key decisions just to name one the e.u. budget coming up this summer but it would have been very difficult without a very strong stable voice from germany and for german chancellor angela merkel it means that she will make history in the sense that she will now have

a fourth term governing germany and that is all the move remarkable because she came very very close to the cliff today actually failing to put together this so-called grand coalition after the social democrats had initially ruled this out and her first attempt. all right it looks like we have lost our signal there to our chief political editor michelle speaking to us there from the bundestag will try to get her back a little bit later for now though well let's just remind you of that top story that we've been following for you at this hour british prime minister theresa may saying the u.k. will expel twenty three russian diplomats suspected of espionage activities she is that russia is culpable for the attempted murder of a former russian spy circlers cripple and his daughter over a week ago. and has been sworn in for a fourth term as german chancellor she won reelection by a slim margin of the german parliament just nine votes bought her an operation

today and almost six months of political uncertainty. now we're now on british scientist stephen hawking has died at the age of seventy six his family says the physicist passed away peacefully in a sleep in the early hours of wednesday hawking will be remembered for his groundbreaking work on black holes in general relativity he also defied expectations living for more than fifty years with a motor neuron disease let's take a look back at his life. 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 to drive me to.

a superhero it took me i worked. everything out. stephen hawking was born in oxford england on january eighth one thousand 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 to each the doctor for diagnosed me with veto s. or older neuron disease called me at work. years. all my life i had lived with the threat of an early. hawking 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. 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 to ten. in one thousand nine hundred eight he 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. and he took it but he did question. fire could have gotten off the. zero.

all right back to our breaking news story at this hour after russia's ignored a deadline for a statement on the poison attack against a former russian spy and his daughter in the u.k. britain is now imposing a new set of sanctions against moscow in a parliamentary session in london british prime minister theresa may outlined the u.k.'s reaction to russia's silence she announced the expulsion of a number of russian officials and wants to limit the bilateral contacts with moscow later today the u.n. security council is going to just discuss the case in new york nato too has promised to help the u.k. during the ongoing investigation. and here's what may had to say just a few minutes ago is no alternative conclusion other than that the russian state was culpable for the attempted murder of mr script and his daughter and for threatening the lives of other british citizens in salzburg including detective

sergeant nick beatty this represents an arm all full use of force by the russian state against the united kingdom. under the vienna convention the united kingdom will now expel twenty three russian diplomats who have been identified as undeclared intelligence officers they have just one week to leave this will be the single biggest expulsion of over thirty years and it reflects the fact that this is not the first time that the russian state has acted against our country through these expulsions we will fundamentally degrade russian intelligence capability in the u.k. for years to come and if they seek to rebuild it we will prevent them from doing so . british prime minister theresa may speaking a short while ago now after u.s. secretary of state a rex tillerson was fired by president donald trump yesterday global markets have seen jitters today monica jones will have that story coming right up and business.

of the. learned german with w. . any time any place.

on whether with jo-jo and her friends. i'm just going to be interested in doing mr spitzer some special joy in the close up.