this is d.w. news live from berlin british russian relations in deep freeze moscow says it's to expel twenty three british diplomats as a round over the poisoning of a former spy and his daughter escalates further also coming up. another scalping in washington former deputy director of the f.b.i. andrew mccabe is fired the dismissal and doing the veteran officials to rear just before he was due to qualify work mention was his removal politically motivated we'll have full analysis.

by michelle henery thanks for joining us the dispute over the poisoning of a former russian spy in britain is deepening russia says it will expose twenty three british diplomats in a tit for tat response to measures the u.k. has taken against moscow over the case the british consulate in st petersburg and the british council cultural organization will also be closed britain says it will consider its response in the coming days today our ambassador in moscow was informed by the russian government of the action they are taking in response in lives of their previous behavior we anticipated a response of this kind and we will consider on the steps in the coming days alongside our allies and partners. but russia's response doesn't change the facts of the matter the attempted assassination of two people on british soil for

which there is no alternative conclusion other than that the russian state was culpable it is russia that is in flagrant breach of international law and the chemical weapons convention i repeat today that we have no disagreement with the russian people many russians have made this country their home and those who are by and by our laws and make a contribution to our society will always be welcome but we will never tolerate a threat to the life of british citizens and others on british soil from the russian government. i'm now joined by our correspondent drew chateau who's in moscow yury does this mark an end to the diplomatic of diplomatic relations between russia and the u.k. . oh yes michel absolutely i think so but the really bad thing about this scandal is that it's expanding more and more getting wider and wider look one

is the conflict between russia and the u.k. but the other is a conflict between russia the united kingdom with the united states france and the germany these are all countries which stand on the side of great britain so you can't really call it an international scandal and i think that in the kremlin here in moscow and in the russian foreign ministry they are very concerned about how to get out of it the fact that the kremlin hesitated before taking the counter measures obviously meant that moscow was simply not to prepare out there was a certain speechlessness about how quickly the west reacted as the degree of diplomatic confrontation is just a very high end that comes at a very wrong time for russia and for russian president putin just one day before the presidential election yuri thank you for your analysis and we'll come back to you as we stand russia when the country's eastern regions voting at the presidential elections is already underway although the round with the u.k. has threatened to overshadow the vote internationally it's unlikely to have any

effect on the outcome president vladimir putin is expected to win another six year term but the kremlin is concerned about the possibility of low voter turnout with tamar's result largely a foregone conclusion many russians don't see the need to cast their ballot. i wish it was one could say it's the end of an election campaign that hardly happened no one expects any surprises on sunday when up to one hundred nine million registered voters go to the polls. with. us every one of us cares about the destiny of our russian fatherland. that's why i'm asking you to cast your ballot on sunday just. make use of your right to make a choice about the future of our beloved russia but i see. worried that people choosing to stay away from the polls could weaken the legitimacy of his presidency the kremlin would like to see

a voter turnout of seventy percent with seventy percent of the ballots cast or put in. a lower voter turnout could strengthen the position of kremlin critic alexina even though he's not allowed to run in this election he could claim a moral victory from a low turnout where people were calling on people not to vote this procedure is no election it's only a race between putin and the candidates he's personally selected. since a victory for putin is all but a foregone conclusion some russians say they don't see any need to cast their ballots you have not photo of the decisions already been made by inverting by all means and with pleasure. and you know i don't think it's really necessary to for those. in the end pop music and glitzy ads may not be enough to persuade everyone to go to the polls.

our correspondent who was shot it was in moscow still with us here he as we just saw in the report some people can't be bothered to go to the polls what is the government doing to get people excited and motivated to vote. well michele many things have been taken out of the back of tricks let's call it that way to chase people to the world tomorrow pop stars like at the russian aggression . and all those from the so-called putting team cold russians to go tomorrow to the polls as we just saw in the report russian cosmonauts from space called for its local governments organized prize draws to where people could win a smart phone or another nice electronic device on the other hand students in the universities have been threatened to them that they wouldn't pass their exams if they didn't and didn't vote it finally there was an unspeakable homophobic end to resist commercial on state television in the beach the audience was threatened in

absolute to a funny way the message was if people in russia don't go to the polls and don't vote for the right president then dark skinned soldiers would serve in the russian army and gays who would infiltrate into private apartments so it sounds like the government is willing to go to great lengths to ensure that people go out to the polls and how great is it a risk for putin if he does indeed get a low voter turnout. well let me putin is expected to win this election the kremlin chief is less concerned concerned with the victory as such but with the participation seventy two seventy three the motor of the kremlin seventy percent turnout and seventy percent of the yes votes for putin i doubt very much of that seventy percent of russians go to the polls tomorrow the last local election here in moscow in september last year revealed only fifteen percent which is extremely long michel but putin needs

a high level of participation to legitimize his political might you're a chateau in moscow thank you very much. now to some of the other stories making news around the world at least two people have been killed and several more injured in a car bomb attack in the afghan capital kabul the taliban has claimed responsibility the bomber targeted a global security company official say all the victims were civilians is the fourth suicide attack in the city in three weeks. and iraqi teenager has been found guilty of attempted murder after detonating a homemade bomb on a train in london last september some thirty people were injured in the attack the device went off in a carriage in a busy commuter train but failed to fully explode the teenager ahmed hassan came to the u.k. as an asylum seeker and twenty fifteen at least eight people have been injured after a malfunctioning ski lift through people from their seats at

a ski resort in georgia scarcer snowboarders were forced to jump from the out of control chair lift as their seats hurtle backward down the mountain. another high level firing by the trumpet ministration former f.b.i. deputy director andrew mccabe has been dismissed the veteran official worked for the agency for over twenty years and questions are being raised over the timing of his removal will get full analysis in a few moments but first here's a look at what happened as you know senator as deputy director of the f.b.i. and room a k played a key role in the investigations into hillary clinton's female affair and alleged russian involvement in the twenty sixteen election he stepped down in january but remained on the f.b.i.'s payroll he was fired twenty six hours before he would have become eligible for retirement the justice department released a statement from attorney general jeff sessions saying mccabe had quote made an unauthorized disclosure to the news media and lacked candor including under oath on

multiple occasions. president on will trump immediately praised the move in a tweet he called it a great day for the hardworking men and women of the f.b.i. a great day for democracy but mccabe rejects the accusations against him in a statement he said this attack on my credibility is one part of a larger effort not just to slander me personally but to taint the f.b.i. law enforcement and intelligence professionals more generally. d.w. correspondent claire which is and joins us now from washington clear entry mccain had been only from the f.b.i. since january and he was fired just over a day before he was due to retire why get rid of the now well for the very reason you said the timing certainly looks like the point of firing him a day before he was meant to receive a full pension is meant to be

a callous act he stepped aside earlier this year and letting him go have an impact on whether he receives his pension now it's important to see this in the wider context of what's been going on in washington this week the city's been abuzz about who's going to be the next to go from trump's cabinet we've seen a string of high levels of partners most recently of course with secretary of state rex tillerson who was unceremoniously fired earlier this week by tweets and so everybody's been asking who is going to be the next one and it looks like it's an john mccain would you say that his firing was justified or as some people allege is it part of a strategy by donald trump to silence his critics. well trump certainly sees it as a good move to remove somebody who he says spoken appropriately to the media but engine mccain and many of his supporters see this as an attack on a career as the eye agent to try and slander not just his personal credibility but also to undermine the legitimacy of organizations like the f.b.i.

like the united states top law enforcement agencies and for them this is mentioned very much as a way to remove people who perhaps saw things about james coney's firing for example that maybe they should have seen and to make a release or rather extraordinary statement saying something just to that effect saying that it was because of what i said what i knew about james comey that i have been targeted in this way. and is there any buzz now about who whose head might be next on the chopping block well everybody's been talking about h.r. make master he's of course the national security adviser and the headlines all this week have been about him so the answer make a firing came a little bit out of left field clear richardson correspondent in washington thank you very much. roxana baker is an athlete like no other the british currently world kick boxing champion and the sports only female muslim title holder

known as the warrior princess she's now switching sports and preparing for her first boxing match another barrier broken dell and for a woman who's already overcome so much in order to chase her dream. those fish superior you belong to reach some a big i'm now a season fighter she once had to hide her passion from her traditional muslim family. and one day i noticed there was a sign saying kick boxing class off to school. and i completely fell in love with the sport it was fast and furious explained safe and he just took me away from my challenges in life at that point my prime didn't actually marry thousand typo same they'd just go i was going to no one shame for fitness pope says it didn't take rukhsana long to achieve accolades in the sport she fell in love with she soon became a british and european my thai champion and won the world kick boxing association

title. her success convinced others to put on the glow of. the fab five if they inspired so many females or backgrounds in particular people from my faith and ethnic minority backgrounds and i thought to myself this is what we need spies me to be the best that i can be and push myself and excel in a more mainstream sport to inspire the next generation hollywood script writers but her story right so she could be headed to the big screen soon but first she's looking to knock out her competition in her boxing day. what an inspiring story and here's a reminder of the top story we're following for you. russia says it will expel twenty three british diplomats at the dispute over the poisoning of an expiry and britain deepens the kremlin is furious after british foreign secretary boris

johnson directly implicated but only question in the case yesterday over. there watching do you feel the news from berlin more coming at the top of the hour and don't forget you can get all the latest news and headlines around the clock on the website that's dot com i'm still hanging in berlin thanks for watching. make your. or smaller to be even smaller worthless douglas mawson. watching what you want to. up to date. extraordinary. decide what's on. sunday at the w.