this is news coming to you live from berlin german arms makers fueling the bloodshed in yemen legal loopholes allow subsidiaries of german defense contractors to serve directly supply munitions and entire weapons factories to the saudi led coalition fighting in the air by contributing to what has been described as the world's worst humanitarian crisis. plus russia hits back at the west by ordering sixteen u.s. envoys to leave the country and shutting the u.s. consulate in st petersburg the move comes amid controversy over

a poisoned former russian spy and his daughter or russia's relations with the west on a town where a spiral. also coming up the secrets for lifelong loans for couples talk about what kept their romance going for over five decades in a new german documentary just had its premiere on the big screen. hello i'm terry martin thanks for joining us arms produced by a german company are fueling the war in yemen the conflict has killed more than one hundred thousand people in displaced three million others the fighting is often described as a proxy war and many countries have become involved both directly and indirectly exploiting loopholes in export laws of german weapons maker has been supplying arms to members of the saudi led coalition fighting in yemen. south africa some fifty

kilometers east of cape town a huge tightly guarded compound. the watch towers carry the blue logo of tongue germany's biggest defense corporation but here in south africa it is called a high end matal dina munition or r.d.m. adi aim is mainly an export driven company and one of the most successful companies into africa they have got a turn of billions of bread every year they employ over two thousand people and they are all crying at. that the company doesn't just export bombs from here but also whole weapons factories thirty nine such facilities have been set up in countries including egypt saudi arabia and the united arab emirates they are all part of the military coalition fighting in yemen. which is currently facing the world's worst humanitarian crisis. is supplying arms to saudi

arabia for this war despite strict german export regulations. this plant on the vacation island of sardinia manufactures these bombs. germany plays a role through the export of weapons especially into regions that are unstable where there is conflict where there is repression most obviously today the middle east and plays a role in ensuring that those conflicts are remarkably bloody profits flowing to the german companies coffers. declined repeated interview requests it insists it follows the laws of the countries it operates in. the german government also refused to take a stance on the company's overseas subsidiaries for the green party that's an untenable position. please cynical of these defense companies to

complain about the. german regulations while they found ways to dodge the rules such as through overseas operations when i and then they continue to supply german weapons to cross areas that's unacceptable we urgently need to close these loopholes are still fresh almost monthly mentioning. government researchers have recently said that german politicians can lawfully limit the overseas activities of german companies but it's unlikely that will pass in parliament. for more let's bring in our d w political correspondent hans blunt and monica jones from d.w. business of course hans we'll start with you what is the german government's position on exporting german made weapons to conflict zones well obviously the government is not interested in fuel in conflicts and actually participating in conflicts and contributing to such conflicts continuing but it's obviously a very complex issue because some of the exports are made before a conflict arises for instance the exports to saudi arabia germany has been

exporting to that country for many many years long before the war in yemen started so you know if you export weapons to a country you have to expect that those weapons are going to be used at some stage and that is the case in saudi arabia i know and many of these are very long term deals too aren't they these are contracts made long ago in many cases absolutely you know if you order a frigate a few old a submarine or if you order a set of heavy call something like that these are contracts that ran for ten fifteen twenty years the approval may have been given ten or fifteen years ago and the effect of export only happens now so it's a very difficult business actually to predict and to control want to get just how important is the arms industry for germany well we always hear that germany is a major major exporter and you would expect really huge huge numbers there but when you look at them well yeah of course the people like you and me they might be impressive for example from twenty. fourteen to twenty seven thousand germans obs

exports amounted to a bit more than twenty five billion euros that is not peanuts that's about six billion a year so you look at a sizeable amount off a tax revenue for germany there but then again as as a sort of jobs engine as an engine for the overall economy it's not that impressive looking at about fifty thousand jobs that depend on the sec to compare that to the car industry with eight hundred thousand directly impacted if you include all the other sectors that are affected one point eight million that's a whole different kettle of fish they are ok so it's not it's not on a scale with the with germany's giant cloran at least their lives in certain parts certain pockets of the country are pretty definite on i guess hans exporting weapons is a huge political issue in germany it came up during the last election quite a bit the green party is currently furious about germany selling selling weapons to turkey that are then being used against kurds in syria where is this headed

politically well turkey's a especially difficult is coup because turkey is in nato as a member of nato and other political pressure from the greens from the left party from the public i think is likely to increase this new german government that we've just got is going to face a lot of pressure on that issue was all these parts in motion right now with the conflicts in syria and what's going on in turkey in also in yemen just briefly hons were what is the current status within the government regarding arms exports are they reviewing this are things on hold or is everything going forward they are reviewing it they have said that they will not specifically not explode any more new weapons to countries participating in the conflict in yemen so there is some sort of movement there but you have to say it's small ok thank you so much both of you has been from our political desk and course monica from d.w. business. now let's take

a look at some other stories making headlines around the world today u.s. president donald trump has said american forces should be coming out of syria quote very soon speaking to industrial workers in the state of ohio trump lamented what he said was washington's waste of trillions of dollars in middle eastern war but a pentagon spokesperson said she was unaware of any new privacy to withdraw u.s. forces you have one hundred percent honest indian officials say an israeli tank shell killed a farmer in the gaza strip early on friday but israel says soldiers opened fire on two men who approached a gaza israeli border fence and acted suspiciously the incident comes as palestinian militant group hamas launched six weeks of protests against the israeli blockade of gaza is order catholic christians in mexico gathered in the city of talks cope for the procession of the flatulence the annual event marks the highlight of the city's week long easter celebrations. russia has

announced it's expelling sixty american diplomats and shutting the u.s. consulate in st petersburg this comes after nations around the world kicked out russian officials in response to the poisoning of. his daughter in britain many western countries hold russia responsible for that moscow just annoy the allegations. hundreds of years since petersburg has held symbolic value for us russian ties it was here in seventy nine i see that the u.s. opened its first mission in russia but its diplomatic presence in the city will soon end moscow kicking out scores of western diplomats as a tit for tat retaliation for the poisoning of a former russian double i didn't in britain it means more than one hundred fifty diplomats from over two dozen countries will be out of russia. everything will also be reciprocal in terms of the number of people from the

diplomatic missions who will be leaving russia with people with the families and that is all for now. a reciprocal move it may be but it's one the u.s. says russia cannot justified because moscow's at fault russia is responsible for that horrific attack attack on the british citizen and his daughter once again they have broken the chemical weapons convention it was a banned substance that they have used no overt shock we take this matter very seriously former russian double agents surrogate scree pile and his daughter yulia were found slumped on a park bench in the city of salzburg an early march poisoned person believes moscow tried to kill the pair. remains in a critical condition in hospital though yulia is conscious and talking according to doctors russia vehemently denies any involvement in the case and it wants access to yulia. we are witnessing the engines of russian representatives accessing

injured russian citizens that's what i see is compressed. the question now is the way that the crisis will move beyond nations. well despite that crisis the twenty eighteen world cup in russia is kicking off in seventy six days and fans across the world are getting a sneak peek at the trophy the people world cup trophies world tour hit argentina in the run up to the tournament where it was reunited with some old friends that included nine hundred seventy eight golden boot winner mario campos and other ex players from the country's two world cup winning squads they said they hope to live in a messi and co would bring the trophy back to argentina for a third time this summer. swedish football star a slot on it broke him of it sure arrived to a rock shuras reception in los angeles late on thursday ahead of his move to l.a.

galaxy the new signing was greeted by x. i did fans at los angeles international airport the striker has played for several european heavyweights including eventis barcelona and most recently manchester united he's set to make his debut in the first ever derby between l.a. galaxy and l a f c which has been dubbed el tropico. now what's the secret of a lifelong romance a new german documentary film is trying to answer that very question did not then or the night of nights features four couples were around the world whose relationships have been derailed for more than five decades we went along to the premiere. it's a film about the secret to a lifetime of happiness in love featuring four couples who've been together for over fifty years the film puts big love experiences center stage. i've always been lucky just like with card games. the film reveals the strains and low

points of married life the japanese couple's marriage was arranged for them patience and understanding were the key. words used to talk a lot and often but grandpa here conscious so well in the more stew much of an effort for me to converse with him. yes we talk less but no i hear fewer of the bad things. the night of night says an intimate film about relationships stemming from another era its directors wanted to find out the secret to keeping relationships in life for over fifty years. i am fine with all of the couples seem to use humor to resolve conflicts. conflict that i meant news and on. the front. we squabble but at night we fall asleep together.

we can recognize ourselves in the nights of nights the message can overcome. you're watching the news coming to you from berlin we'll be back in about half an hour or so with more news there will be with you then for now we leave you with these images of people in japan boat enjoying this year's cherry blossoms which come to tokyo earlier than usual thanks to warm weather thanks watch for. the.

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