bring factory starting march twenty fourth on g.w. . this is deja vu news live from berlin escalating tensions between russia and britain the russian foreign ministry hits back at london's response to what it's calling a nerve agent attack on a former spy on british soil prime minister theresa may has kicked out twenty three russian diplomats it is the biggest such expulsions since the cold war. and as slovakia's political crisis heats up prime minister robert feet so says he'll step down but that move is unlikely to stop public anger over the murder of an

investigative journalist looking into government corruption. plus it's now officially the happiest place on earth and no it's not disneyland find out which country has topped the un's happiness ranking this year. i'm brian thomas great to have you with us the united states says it is standing with britain in the dispute with russia over an assassination attempt on a former double spied london says the kremlin is behind the poisoning of sergei script all his daughter the two were exposed to a russian made nerve agent moscow denies any involvement prime minister theresa may has responded by expelling twenty three russian diplomats it's the biggest such expulsion since the cold war. until recently britain's prime minister to resign may

had to tone being accused of not being hard enough on russia on wednesday she got her redemption standing before parliament may and equivocally accuse the kremlin of attempting to murder a former russian double agent living in the u.k. what followed were a series of punitive measures against russia 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. with russia u.k. relations now soured london is rallying its allies for support. he used donald tusk has said he believes the attack was most likely quote inspired by moscow and will tabled the matter at an e.u. summit next week but it was at an emergency meeting of the u.n.

security council that britain got its strongest backing yet here the united states stands in absolute solidarity with great britain the united states believes that russia is responsible for the attack on two people and the united kingdom using a military grade nerve agent. russia though is sticking to its script denying any involvement in the poisoning the kremlin has now promised to hit back at britain but the response will follow i don't think it's necessary to look for a right word to describe it whether it's symmetrical or mirror it but there will be a response and it will be sufficient and corresponding to what we have heard from the british prime minister. while moscow contemplates its response police in the u.k. are working to establish the events which led to the attempted murder. so where is this headed let's go straight to moscow on our correspondent emily sherwin good

morning i'm sure you've been over at the foreign ministry today what are they saying this morning. well the foreign ministry spokesperson marty has the heart of a called this whole situation crazy and she also reminded people that this situation is dangerous as well she pointed out that britain is a nuclear power and also she she accused may of basically playing to the british audience here and of continuing her political show as she called it she said that this this whole thing is part of a russophobe account pain that is that is supposed to make may look strong to her own people she pointed out that britain is in somewhat of a crisis presumably she was referring to bracks that there and that perhaps the u.k. is is for that reason looking for an external enemy in russia that's what the foreign minister or the ministry spokesperson said this morning and she also again said

that russia is prepared to work with the u.k. on the investigation and called for information from the u.k. ok now the foreign ministry has also promised retaliation did you get a sense of the press presser there of any retaliatory moves shaping up. well as a lot of other spokesperson said that they're still working on their response we don't know yet what the measures will be yesterday a statement by the foreign ministry on their website specifically mentioned the expulsion the expulsion of twenty three russian diplomats from the u.k. and in the present in previous cases of expulsions of russian diplomats russia has responded in kind with the it for tat response so that could be likely but we'll have to wait and see what the russian foreign ministry decides in this case what about the people emily on the streets of moscow today what are they saying do they think that their country was behind this attack and what do they think about the

level scale of the british response. well the people that i've spoken to very much think this is part of an anti russian campaign that's going on they point out that there is no real evidence against russia and that the investigation is still ongoing which is absolutely true we haven't got any clear results yet at least not publicly and so that's not only the official position here in russia that this is part of an anti russian campaign from the west and from the u.k. emily sherwin for us from moscow thank you very much it's to slovakia now in prime minister robert feed so has offered to resign following sharp criticism of his handling of the investigation into the murder of an investigative journalist. is uncovered what he said were tied between top slovakian politicians and the italian mafia he and his fiance were shot dead as he

was preparing to publish his findings these killings sparked massive anti-government protests. and he's not sure he apartment complex in bratislava is the product of a massive from want susannah pentagon is one of the journalists who exposed it. this also happens to be the address of prime minister robert feet so. peckover discovered that his government had helped the building contract to daunce millions of euros in taxes and penalties. this is only one of many cases that reveal corruption at the highest levels. petrak of glancing around nervously the journalist researched this and other scandals together with her coworker jan could see ak and he was shot dead in mid february by a person still are known. since the murder of jan could siac seen here

at a journalism seminar in twenty seventeen things have started changing in slovakia on march the ninth tens of thousands of people demonstrated against the government and of rampant corruption in the country. to the prime minister robert feed so is doing his part to spread fear at a press conference he called the journalists dirty prostitutes. it came as no surprise to suzanne a pet cover she worries that the politicians rhetoric could encourage someone to attack reporters once again. just a few weeks earlier petka first car had mysteriously caught fire why she was driving. she pulled over thinking at first it was a mechanical problem. but then she met with an informant in a shopping mall. suddenly the parking garage called and told him his car was on fire. we ran down there and i saw his car was burning the same way mine had

. after that the informer never contacted me again. at the time i didn't think much of it and didn't go to the police but now i think it was meant as a warning to me. and they both. had given is determined to press on she feels she owes it to her friend and colleague john could siac and his fiance martino course not over. those men i was told after these murders i'm hoping things will finally change over those. the state has been stolen from us slovaks. the institutions are corrupt and dysfunctional. that's what led to these tragedies where we thought such things were no longer a can possible in twenty eighteen that is missing close enough. that. they happened in

a european union member state suzanne appetitive up points out the murder of journalist yan could see i.q. is not just of concern to slovak's we're talking all of europe. now to some of the other stories making the news today a suicide bomber has killed nine people wounded twenty seven others nearly who are acts then officials say the explosion occurred at a police checkpoint outside an annual religious gathering the pakistani taliban has claimed responsibility. the slovenian prime minister amir oser are has resigned after the country's priem court an older referendum that approved the one billion euro rail road project so are said he was frustrated by attempts to undermine his government's infrastructure projects is center left party trails and polls ahead of an election expected in june. in brazil unidentified attackers have shot and killed a leftist member of rio de janeiro city council mario franco and her driver were in

a car when men in another vehicle opened fire franco is an expert on police violence and known for her social work in rio slums well the united nations has released a study ranking the world's countries by happiness and surprise surprise the nordic countries dominate that list once again finland came in first as the world's happiest nation up from fifth place last time around a study looks at factors like life expectancy income social support and corruption the fens top neighbors norway and denmark who are also in the list top five germany was fifteenth on the list of one hundred fifty six countries in last place burundi . and we're joined now by the co-author of that report the us economist jeffrey de sacs thanks for being with us this morning jeffrey jeffrey what makes people happy . people are happy and their lives are

in order when the economy is ok when they're in good health when they have friends and social support when their governments are not run away corrupt and when people are expressing decency and values generosity actually it's a cliche but it happens to be true that giving is better than receive it and it shows up in why some countries are happier than others were generosity is more in evidence those countries are also reflecting higher life satisfaction with that spirit of generosity behind the nordic countries once again dominating the list yet the nordic countries are the heavyweight champions of the world it well being i think it is what germany you call the social market philosophy what it scandinavia they call the social democratic philosophy it is that everybody should have a decent law that there should be

a good good benefits they cation time leave time for for every worker that society should look after each other and i contrast that with the anglo american view which is you're on your own it's a competitive world it's a tough world and the united states it just keeps falling down in the rankings so scandinavia and the nordic countries more generally have really earned their position with the good to political social system as well as the good traits that their culture and society you mentioned the united states and its approach to life on the individual list approach the u.s. dropping fourteen's to eighteenth place this year what was behind that. we're in a full pledged social crisis in the united states that is last year i review the evidence that trust is falling that what we call social capital is coming apart

that americans don't believe in their government how could you frankly these days but at the same time this year i review three epidemics of public out there that are also signs of disaster americans that no one obesity country of the world that's an addiction to sugar and processed foods by our awful fast food industry second we have what we're calling the opioid addiction that's prescription drugs that are killing americans this crazy environment of ours where the drug companies advertise like commercial entities that have gotten people hooked on these opioid addictive drugs and third is we have an epidemic of it with massive depressive disorder or conventionally depression we're seeing more mental illness more depression more i try orders so we've got to get our act together i keep

telling americans look at scandinavia let's learn something ok thanks so much for a dental find those concrete areas that can be worked on jeffrey these sacks for us co-author of the happiness report thanks very much tougher. and thank you for being with us here at g.w. news so long for now. stories that people the world over information they provide the plans they want to express g.w. on facebook and twitter are up to date and in touch and follow us.