this is the to be a news live from berlin a fact finding team heads to the site alleged gas attack in syria and even as the u.s. deploys its warships washington puts off a decision to strike back for that suspect that attacked now this is russia says any u.s. military action will trigger war also coming up. protests in india as another rape case stirs the conscience of that nation wants the leading activist if anything has come of government promises to better protect women. and

a huge shake up at b.w. these takes over as c.e.o. and hopes a new man at the top in the reshuffling of some major brands can prepare the auto giants for the future. also on the show sometimes a picture can be worth a thousand words in the story behind this image the winner of the world press photo the. i'm brian thomas thanks so much for joining us international inspectors are on their way to the site of an alleged chemical weapons attack in syria right now now this is a marked shift in tone emerges from washington the white house says no final decision has been made on how to respond to this a speck that attack now fears of a confrontation between the west and syria's main ally russia have been growing

since president trumps comments that missiles will be coming. the destroyer u.s.s. donald cook and u.s.s. port have been positioned off the syrian coast but if and when they get the order to strike it's not yet clear after this bellicose tweet in which he threatens syria's ally russia that missiles will be coming u.s. president donald trump put off a final decision on military action but we're looking very very seriously very closely of that whole situation and. we'll see what happens folks we'll see what happens it's too bad that the world puts us in a position like that but you know as i said this morning we've done a great job with isis we have just absolutely decimated isis but now we have to make some further decision so they'll be made fairly soon thank you all very much. the president's more measured tone was echoed by the secretary of defense who said

the u.s. is still seeking evidence on the chemical attack there's a tactical concern. that innocent people we don't add any civilian deaths and do everything humanly possible to avoid that we're trying to stop the murder of innocent people but on a strategic level it's how do we keep this from escalating out of control at the u.n. russia's and voice said averting the danger of war is also moscow's priority but he refused to rule out the possibility of us russian conflict. we hope that the there will be no point of no return. that the us. will refrain from the military action against some of the states. you have studied that the danger over the escalation is to simply sit it because of the military.

and meanwhile russia says the syrian government is now in control of the site of the alleged attack and specters from the international chemical weapons watchdog are expected to begin their probe and duma on saturday it's not clear whether the u.s. and its allies will wait for the results before deciding on strikes. well two of america's closest allies in europe are also considering military action against syria president emmanuel macross says france has proof that the syria's government did launch chlorine gas attacks in recent days the british prime minister trees may has received the green light from her cabinet to work with the u.s. and france to coordinate an international response carrier and land based french jets would likely play a central role in any strike against syria coordinated by nato allies the u.s.

britain and france. for the french president emmanuel mccaw he could just be a question of when mccaw insists he has proof the acid regime used chemical weapons against its own citizens in the town of duma and he says france wants to remove syria's chemical weapons capabilities. france will not allow an escalation or anything that could damage the stability of the region but we cannot let regimes do anything they want especially not crimes against international law. on the streets of paris opinion is divided on whether france should take part in any strike on syria. what the syrian dictator is inflicting on his people is frightening as far as france is concerned an intervention is legitimate and he wants. the russians should say clearly to assad now you must stop and you should get out then we would avoid a conflict but if we strike the russians will be obliged to respond. there will

never be strikes. because france and europe are scared of russia. the russians provide us with gas. britain's royal air force would also likely join a strike on syria all the indications are that the syrian regime was responsible and we will be working with our places stylize on how we can ensure that those who are responsible are held to account how we can prevent and to tour the humanitarian catastrophe that comes with the use of chemical weapons in the future the continued use of chemical weapons cannot go unchallenged british ministers have been holding a special cabinet meeting to discuss joining possible military action against syria the prime minister would not need the approval of parliament to give the go ahead for strikes. of more of the story let's bring in the new york times long and correspondent stephen cass lee joins us now from the british capital good morning to you stephen can you fill us in on what came out of that special special cabinet

meeting on syria yes exactly the kind of image you met kevin met two hours yesterday along reaching out and trees made and had a phone call with president from the statement from the cabinet it talked about the need to take action to deter the use of chemical weapons and he did not leave that unchallenged and while it didn't specifically mention military action i think the reason they will see that as an interest and at least from the the higher reaches of our own party to join military strikes if they take place during the weekend specifically if there are and a more of a more limited and targeted nature ok now that that comment there was was fairly restrained after that cabinet meeting now taking that together with what we're hearing from from washington a dialing back of the rhetoric can we expect

a new emphasis on diplomacy. well i think let's. but because the attention where it is an assett in washington i think that the british are now in a position where they signed up affectedly to a limited military action if that's what the united states want wants to proceed with one important thing to remember is that we're in a context of some tension with russia here in britain after this cripple case and left for. britain received huge international support for that both from france but also from the united states which expelled sixty russian diplomats and therefore i think it's absolutely crucial for treason any political internationally to be able to join any military action if that's what the u.s. wants the political difficulty to her home is that that leaves her in the words of

the opposition leader jeremy called in waiting for instructions from donald trump ok that is a difficult position for her to be en including for the british public i would imagine where does the british public stand right now on a possible military strike that as moscow puts it would trigger a war between the u.s. and russia. well i think the british public is skeptical there was one recent poll that showed i think only about a fifth their voters really want to proceed and i think that's one reason why it's reason they probably would prefer a rather limited military strike something perhaps they're expecting here in the weekend as something that is completed by monday when paloma which is currently on its east a vacation when it will come back on monday and it won on sr some questions and i think at that point the government will have to address two critical issues one it one is whether there is a big risk of escalation with russia and the second is to ask the question about

whether these ministries strikes actually are effective now of course. if it's a done deal by monday then lack ace gets much easier to answer but if it isn't and this is an ongoing military strike then there will be some tough questions of parliament on monday and stephen thanks very much for that stephen cassell from the new york times in london for us now for some of those stories making news at this hour pakistan's supreme court has barred the former prime minister nawaz sharif from politics for life that ban stems from corruption allegations against sharif during his three stance as prime minister he resigned last july after the supreme court disqualified him from holding office for failing to disclose an income source former f.b.i. director james comey has blasted president trump as a liar and compared his leadership style to that of a mafia boss that's according to excerpts from his upcoming book the president

fired komi last name leading to the appointment of a special counsel to probe alleged russian meddling in the last election campaign. the head of the panel that awards the nobel literature prize has been fired after a sexual assault allegations against the husband of a former panel member. sara davis said she had been asked to leave her post at the swedish academy despite not being implicated newspaper printed accusations from eighteen. this is the every news still to come on the show protests in india as a child rape case exposes the country's deep sectarian divides a mysterious politics on getting in the way of justice. is here now and v.w. is heading into completely new territory yes you can go there brian looks at folks one is about to turn in side out the advisory board of the world's biggest carmaker was a day announced the biggest structural changes in the company's eighty year history

the automaker is planning several new brand groups the plan is to make the company more efficient let's have a closer look at the company's volume because those produced in high quantities will for one group and it's v.w. skoda and say then there's going to be the premium segment with just audi and then this super premium group featuring luxury brands like porsche bugatti bentley and lamborghini and finally they truck and bus unit which is currently also being prepared to go public but crucially if you w's six hundred thousand workers will also get a new boss. the vox has a new man at the top with immediate effect the w.'s new c.e.o. is have a d.c. he's been with the company for three years now he's been tapped to kickstart the next phase one that will see the company betting big on electric cars if it falls behind in the race it could lose ground in critical markets like in china and news

of d.c.'s new position has gone over well with many employees in others it's with up at the front stand happy i won't feel like soccer i was at the meeting and i'm sure they don't i can only say that he's done a great job at v.w. has so far said boy it's uber folks on this natal are. absurd and yet the company now plans a massive restructuring program in china and in six other business branches. the program to better structure the company and make v.w. more manageable. and what's to become of my sources say who remain with twenty twenty he had been earning ten million euros a year and both sides seem unwilling to break his contract. so investor reactions were crossing over to my colleague who's standing by in frankfurt there is daniel. viewing these these structural changes inside the v.w.

group. i well positive in fact also we are not seeing any a big jump so far with the start of the trading day v.w. shares went up between zero point eight and one percent traders are a little bit reluctant today the earning season in the united states is kicking off today and big banks like citibank and g.p. morgan will be opening their book and this could have an impact on the trading day here as well but let me tell you that investors after the first initial shocks that they're actually happy with the changes at germany's biggest carmaker harebell these is here considered among investors as man of actions they are thinking that with his new structure that you just mentioned their company could use synergies much better and could in general get more efficient and analysts of the lender not even stated that he feels that he is the best man to lead the company into this big transition so lots of premature praise at the moment he needs to deliver let's see

if he really does. then he mentioned earnings they had record earnings in twenty seventeen despite diesel gave more than eleven billion euros the company is financially healthy why the big fuss one of the restructuring yakitori that some investors you also don't really understand the timing was certainly not such an unlucky sea all when you compare this was daughter banksy or john cryan who also had to pack his things at his office this week but even though miller was a reformer he managed to get crisis well it seemed that behind closed doors they were lazy not any more that happy with him wary of office arguments with the supervisory board not really having a real visionary idea how to make volkswagen even stronger despite the record sales numbers that's how he was considered at the end and we have to remember the owner family and the state of lower saxony still have a tremendous influence inside of the company and they wanted somebody in. the open

front for thank you. french president says he's sticking to his and business plans to reform the french economy even in the face of crippling rail strikes and other protests in a television interview mccann said he was not deterred by the heavy resistance to his plans but asked people to remain calm and to be open for dialogue my own popularity has declined sharply since his election last spring after he initiated a series of tough labor reforms to create more jobs. donald trump has announced that he is considering to rejoin the transpacific partnership u.s. senate has revealed the president has assigned economic advisors to take a closer look at a possible entry despite leaving the agreement early last year on friday he tweeted that he would only rejoin the p.p. of a substantially better deal was off the japanese finance minister taro aso has since

such a pound will welcome area entry if it means trump recognizes the significance of the pact its back to brian and rape case making headlines in india certainly is your hardware in india now the brutal gang rape and murder of an eight year old muslim girl in january has reignited deep religious tensions eight hindu men including two police officers were arrested over that attack and now right wing hindu groups of marshy demand the release will counter protesters demand justice the girl and then a fight as a see for vanno belong to a nomadic muslim community in indian administered kashmir. police say the attack was an effort to force local muslims into leaving this incident has again focused attention on rape in india activists say little has changed for women and girls in the country in recent years that despite government promise. protestors on the

streets of the capital daily on thursday. hundreds of people gathered to denounce the killing and protest the lack of action by the authorities. i don't know what kind of fund reveal growing up in what kind of country we are taking this country in which direction i can explain what i'm feeling because i am angry but there are no words to explain the feelings . that is an attempt to use politics and use communalisation to protect those who have committed such crimes and a force that is infuriating and what i feel now is that there is an attempt what makes me angry knows that there's an attempted. kashmir after local members of indians governing party b j p barks the accused. anybody of the same to. be here in the us to be the supporters you know the support the pace and leave all the

support through and i don't think there will be action. also in kashmir hundreds of hindu lawyers but high as in support of the accused men and demanded their release . they say after they unsuccessfully tried to prevent the police from fighting their investigations of the killing of the girl earlier in the week. or more of the story i'm joined now by making a point from mumbai she's an award winning novelist a journalist and activist working to improve safety for women in the country thanks for being with us this morning. india's ruling b j p has condemned sexual violence in the past has it now abandoned that stance and is it giving in to religious hardliners. it's very difficult just to brian and thinking to you today as a hindu as a secular hindu and this is not my hinduism my hinduism respects goddesses it suspects them and it's a peaceful religion but what we saw in this particular case the entire premise of

the case was about a. religious agenda. and moderate in order to break out the most and try who lived in that region and that will in general and the fact is i don't know why is the g.o.p. has not responded is it because they don't want to further polarize the it gets just jump up and push it because they don't want to antagonize a majority hindu community because elections are coming i don't know what their reason is but the fact is what their reaction have been different if it was a hindu god who had been creeped out in a mosque and that's what the countries are asking why are we seeking the religion of this child instead of seeking justice that's in question but she didn't ok you know now whether the women or girls involved are hindu or or muslim what happens to women who report rape in india or the police and the justices from tilted against.

unfortunately brian you know despite all the progress that was seeing in india in the last few decades this is down for the dignity and safety of its women a woman who was raped to be if she lived to tell the tale and she walks into a police station she probably needed laughed out of the police station especially if she belongs to the lower strata of society. it's. probably given to her and of these are people and she can go back with that evidence they did not conduct the medical test so it's not surprising that the forty thousand cases of rape that are deported in india every year now this is not sound like much but the fact is that a breakdown of it means the thirteen minutes of afghan tea a woman is grieved hundred and tendin of eight in my country every single day and these are just a reported cases you can imagine how many cases under ported because women when they come out publicly in. the. chilled while in sexual assault they are met with shame the i doubt if they're question their families are dragged into the

whole front pass it's a terrible situation and the legal system is laborious it's complicated a woman to run the courts for several years afterwards this is still not in shorts the benefit of to doubt in a country still goes to the accused and a real case has to be proven without reasonable doubt for them to get this it's really a travesty it's a very diabolical way for the we've gotten off the boil to operate this way making a point for us from mumbai today we're going novelists journalists and activists. maybe thanks very much for being with us and all the best to you moving forward with your work. well our next story looks at a chinese couple struggle for democracy human rights lawyer one young was put behind bars about three years ago during a government crackdown and since then his wife lea when sue has had no contact with them and can't even be sure where he's being held this week police stopped her from

finishing a one hundred kilometer protest march in support of her husband you know you spoke to her in beijing. li wenzhou and her son kwan kwan have found safety in the apartment of friends and relief is palpable. yesterday i didn't think i'd be able to leave my home and come here i still feel tense. the wenzhou has a terrifying ordeal behind her on wednesday her apartment was besieged by an angry mob one of her friends was beaten up and those who wanted to come to her aid were prevented from doing so when she tried to leave she was threatened with violence the crowd was probably acting on orders from china's intelligence service believes that attempts to highlight her husband's plight have made her enemies in high places. was arrested in twenty fifteen along with over two hundred others. because allegedly no one

has been to visit him since he was arrested and no one has seen him we don't even know if he's dead or alive. most of the other detainees have now been released but nothing's been heard from the human rights lawyer in protest leader wenzhou set up to walk the one hundred kilometers from beijing to the prison where she believes he's being held but police cut the march short and she was forced to return home where more pressure was applied this rule of hard won her five year old son kwan recorded everything on video and even if he looks happy enough the day has clearly left its mark on him was that the one time he says he's not afraid and that he'd like to strike them down with his sword. that have not. been souders. down. but his mom explains to them that he's allowed to be angry and express his

fighting spirit but not to get a violent and if you have any of the family scenes that you moment to mention this . terrible four twenty five to house to do some chores he often asks me mom i think into a rescue to you and put you in prison. it's going to plan for the next few days wenzhou is going to focus your energies on her son but she's also determined not to give up her search for his father and you threw it out now it's t.v. news programs live on a steady diet of video material but it's often a photojournalist who can capture the heart of a story in a single image like this one burning man. if a photographer although she meet last night he received this year's world press photo award for what the jury called a powerful image that symbolizes a country burning shame need. took the picture in caracas during

a while of protests against veselin president nicolas maduro the man in the photos of fire after the gas tank of a motorbike exploded did survive but with serious burns. and there were many other powerful images captured over the past year by photojournalists around the world let's take a look at some of the finalists. if

you're a minor of our top stories at this hour international inspectors are headed to duma that's the syrian town that was a site of a suspected chemical gas attack white house says there's been no final decision on any possible military action against syria russia is warning that any u.s. strike could trigger war. the gang rape and murder of an eight year old muslim girl has reignited religious tensions in india eighteen new men of been arrested for the crime. but hard line conservative hindu groups have called for their release counted protesters are demanding stricter braith long. i'm brian thomas for the entire team thanks so much for being with us.

from. the. country international talk show four journalists discuss the topic of the week coming and will mark zuckerberg keep his promise to change facebook's ways or has the titan of tech become an anti social network that's our topic this week on quadriga joining us. quadriga next w. to do list there is gearing up.

business life and death out there with every soldier responsible for the next. german troops deploying the fold of. the federal government says this could happen . good but not germany's accomplice is up to the toughest. challenges of the job the nominees including. d.w. . earth a home for saving global ingenious tell stories of creative people and innovative projects around the world ideas to protect the climate and boost green energy solutions by global ideas seen by a new series of global three thousand on d w and online. d w true diversity. where the world of science is at home in many languages.

on top of programming go under you know me show you can you tell us that our innovations magazine for any. of us from every week and own way some. looking to the future. science and research. hello and welcome to quadriga it's been a very public come bling for a once triumphant titan of tech in less than a year facebook c.e.o. mark zuckerberg has gone from celebrating the milestone of two billion the monthly users to.