this is deja vu news live from berlin british russian relations deep breathes moscow says it's to expel twenty three british diplomats as a round for 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 ending the veteran official's career came just before he was due to qualify for a pension was his removal politically motivated we'll have a 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 expel 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 so today our ambassador in moscow was informed by the russian government of the action they are taking in response in the eyes of their previous behavior we anticipated a response of this kind and we will consider our next 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. and those who abide 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 yuri was chateau who's in moscow yury does this mark an end to the diplomatic diplomatic relations between russia and the u.k. or yes michel absolutely i think so but there's a really bad thing about of this scandal is that it's expanding more and more getting wider and wider look one is a conflict between russia and the u.k. but the other is

a conflict between russia and the united kingdom with the united states france and germany these are all countries which stand on the side of great britain so you can really call it an international scandal and i think that in the kremlin here in moscow and in the russian foreign ministry there 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 and there's a degree of diplomatic confrontation is just very high and 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 stay in russia when the country's eastern regions voting in the presidential elections is already under way although the route 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 tomorrow's results largely a foregone conclusion many russians don't see the need to cast their ballot. well 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 a privilege. it is not 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 kristie. 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 vonnie even though he's not allowed to run in this election he could claim a moral victory from a low turnout. we're 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 know i'm not photos of the decisions already been made by inverting by all means and with pleasure. i don't think it's really necessary devotion. in the end pop music and glitzy ads may not be enough to persuade everyone to go to the polls. our correspondent your chateau is in moscow still with us yuri 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 michel many things have been taken out of the back of trucks let's call it that way to chase people to the world tomorrow popstars like of the russian aggression. and all those from the so-called putin team called 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 smartphone 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 didn't vote but finally there was an unspeakable homophobic and arrested commercial on state television in a beach the old ians 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 the mill two of the kremlin seventy percent turnout and seventy percent of the a 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 again 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. thousands of people are still streaming out of the rebel held damascus suburb of eastern ghouta for the third day running syrian government forces have intensified artillery bombardments of the area and russian air strikes killed more than one hundred people on friday as civilians fled the besieged areas russia's military said some three thousand people and now we're leaving their home in humanitarian corridor or monitored by russian troops more than thirteen hundred civilians have been killed and thousands more wounded in weeks of an bombardment meanwhile syrian government forces supported by the russian airstrikes have stepped up their offensive on the rebel enclave. a search and rescue operation is underway after a boat carrying more than twenty people capsized and the aegean sea at least sixteen people including four children have been confirmed dead the migrants were trying to get to greece from turkey their bodies were recovered off the greek

island i got a nice scene at the turkish coastline several managed to swim to the coast and alert authorities. another high level firing by the time the 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 we'll 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 kid 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 onil 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 clear which is and joins us now from washington clear entry mccain had been on leave 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 him 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 so letting him go put have an impact on whether he received 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 trans cabinet we've seen a string of high levels of partners most recently of course and 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 and 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 enjoy making it and many of his supporters see this as an attack on a career 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 aids are mcmaster he's of course the national security advisor and the headlines all this week have been about him so the answer mckay firing came a little bit out of left field claire richardson correspondent in washington thank you very much. saturday's matters are under way in the bundesliga but on friday struggling freiburg hosts to

guard as the relegation battle hardened up the visitors haven't lost a game since new coach typhoon cork it came in and are going for an unlikely european spot mario gomez pitched to court after just four minutes. back after half time through a news pietersen one to strike a match was on hand again to clinch the points fifteen minutes from the end are now unbeaten tonight under corker and firmly in the group of league running. for president johnny infant tino has confirmed that video assistant referees will be used at this summer's world cup in russia despite opposition from fans he announced the decision after meeting a thief as ruling council the video assistant referee system was trial at last summer's confederations cup and is used in the german and italian leagues critics argue it slows the game down and leads to confusion for fans inside the stadium.

well it's st patrick's day the day commemorating the patron saint of ireland and the day when millions of people around the world whether they're irish or not so a break with food parades street parties and of course plenty of green and the u.s. city of chicago with its large irish community is no exception revelers along the banks of the chicago river were treated to a spectacle city authorities died the river green the color of the emerald isle it's estimated some seventy million people across the globe will raise a glass to the irish patron saint slawson. if you're watching. let's look at these stunning emerald green colors in chicago i've heard it takes forty pounds of dyed to get a color a secret recipe that they won't reveal to anyone. watching

the news from berlin more at the top of the hour thanks for watching. cut. the pain news on a school she's not suitable among some. of the so-called shake ups not through these kind. of. plane loads. of people have put big dreams on the big screen. in movie magazine on the.