this is d. w. news coming to you live from berlin a secret meeting between a superpower and a pariah. and it's going very well the most you would have. us president all trying to confirm senior officials met north korean leader kim jong il a new u.s. media reporting that cia director mike pompei o travel to pyongyang what does this

mean for peace on the korean peninsula also coming up the wife of the former president and the mother of another barbara bush has died at the age of ninety two . and after days of delays a team of international chemical weapons inspectors is set to enter the syrian city of duma it's just it's tasks with finding the truth behind a suspected poison gas attack nearly two weeks ago. then by and continued their charge towards the coveted travel the bundesliga champions overcame labor cruising in the german compass seventy finals last night we have all eight goals coming up. and israel turns seventy today we'll meet an israeli who remembers the fight for a jewish homeland and a palestinian who marks this day as the day of catastrophe. hello

i'm terry martin good to have you with us. we begin in the u.s. where it's being reported that cia director mike pump aoe traveled to pyongyang and met north korean leader kim jong il and the secret meeting over easter was to lay the groundwork for the planned direct talks between u.s. president trump and kim trump who is currently hosting japanese prime minister shinzo that is mar a lago resort in florida said there had been talks at the highest level with north korea but he declined to confirm which u.s. ship is full you u.s. officials had ten of these talks. for more now let's cross over to reuters correspondent joss smith who's in seoul south korea josh if it is indeed mike pompei of who has met with kim jong un how significant would this be. well it certainly is quite significant he would be the highest ranking american

official to have ever met with kim jong un and it of course represents a major shift in tone from last year when both sides were issuing major threats towards each other this is perhaps the strongest sign yet that both trump and kim are serious about making some kind of meeting work. between the two leaders in the coming months what does this development suggest that it that that meeting between trump and the korean leader will indeed happen after all there's been so much speculation about. it doesn't be there obviously after trump kind of studly excepted the invitation from came there we mean a lot of unanswered questions most of what we understood about the invitation from kim and proposals for a summit came through third parties like the south koreans now were no it seems

clear that the united states and north korea are talking to each other at high levels directly and this does seem to indicate that they're quite serious about these talks and whether you know whether something can be worked out though remains to be seen as even trump. seemed to be quite cautious about their expectations now the leaders of north korea and south korea are due to meet later this month what can we expect to come out of that meeting well what we know of the agenda so far is that both the koreas will discuss the future of north korea's nuclear program this is been the major point of contention obviously for everyone but it's also been a condition for both the south koreans and the americans before they met with the north koreans said they would discuss the nuclear program each side will also likely discuss general into korean reconciliation ways that the two

koreas can lower tensions this might include. opening more lines of communication conducting more cultural events and other things like that what won't be on the table. as south korean officials have said are issues like human rights that's unlikely to come up as well as any kind of joint economic efforts that might fall afoul of continued sanctions on north korea josh thanks so much for talking with us reuters correspondent josh smith there in exile south korea. well in the united states former first lady barbara bush has died the ninety two year old has had refused further medical treatment for recurrent health problems she was one of only two women in american history to bear the title of first lady first mother wife to one president mother to another barbara bush

was the stoic silver haired matriarch behind an american political dynasty she rose to prominence in the nine hundred eighty s. when her husband george h.w. bush became vice president and later won the oval office the pearl necklace she wore to his inauguration briefly turned her into a fashion icon just eight years after leaving the white house barbara bush watched as her son george w. moved in. i had trouble when i was married to the president and now to see that same fellow that i used to drive around in little league car pools and i used to snow yell at to please pick up is wrong to say here mr president is truly amazing the bushes had six children across seventy three years of marriage another son jeb became governor of florida there never has self active in politics barbara bush raised millions of dollars for literacy programs. her ninety three year old

husband is suffering from his own health issues in recent years he has been hospitalized several times with pneumonia. russia's military ventures have caused a diplomatic backlash that is hurting russian companies get as terry russia's involvement in syria in the syrian conflict has led toll sorts of political condemnation including economic measures a first round of sanctions against russia over its support for syrian president bashar al assad cost says and some of the country's diggle companies to draw this is russia's blue chip index r.c.s. in early april you get access to the russian ruble also took a hit and those came of those sanctions came on top of sanctions already in place over russia's annexation of the crimean peninsula and those are already hitting not only russian ships but also some companies that weren't even targeted the u.s.

sanctions announced on april sixth affect fourteen russian businesses and seven oligarchs among them oleg theory pascal who's been accused of interfering in the twenty sixteen u.s. election his company roussel is the world's second largest producer of aluminum within a week of the announcement its stock fell by forty percent. but in that's not a one off market capitalization for many companies has falling even those not affected by the sanctions because. nerves are jittery moscow's stock market is under pressure american corporations have to sell their shares in russian companies by may seventh any business card helping another bypass the sanctions is in danger of being sink and itself. if the summer. investors are feeling unsettled and that instability is poison no one knows how things will progress with russia these

freshie. the sanctions have also had russia's or arms industry the u.s. has blacklisted rosso border an export which has a monopoly on the country's weapons exports tens of thousands of jobs depend on the sector and russian prime minister dmitry medvedev is promising to help affected companies but that will have a negative impact on state coffers russia is already contemplating countermeasures for example a halt on titanium exports to the us that would hit boeing especially hard russian supplies cover a third of the plane makers needs when it comes to the essential metal and delivery of russian engines for america's n tyreese rocket system could also be put on hold that last few major common projects the countries are involved in could soon grind to a halt experts are sounding the alarm a commission of receiving sensitivity as is so often the case with russia kremlin politics are damaging our own economy more than foreign powers counter sanctions

we're just deep in our crisis and make worse what's already bad no one is delivering key technologies anymore but we need them desperately and can't just replace them we don't have the specialists or good training facilities we're missing international cooperation. russia's lower house the duma had planned to pass counter sanctions this week but then unexpectedly backpedaled a decision has now been slated for the middle of may. a while has it all deteriorated so badly as former soviet leader mikhail gorbachev once folk of common european home of russia shares with its many neighbors to the west can that dream of. cooperation between europe and russia be revived i want to discuss that with frank said he's vice president of the association of raw. ssion banks and condi joins us from the w.'s most on studio mr franks in russia has been on the western sanctions since its disputed an extension of the crimean peninsula even more

sanctions have been discussed now larry kudlow the u.s. economic advisor said additional sanctions on the consideration but would not be implemented at least yet are you relieved. russia a bit pressurize under section for much longer time somebody has calculated russian clear that in the twentieth century there were more than one hundred seventy cases of sanction bushed international air. more than one hundred cases related like a stage the way the united states actions and i think in many cases they were against the soviet union or russia. to some extent the country is used to leave. under the sanction of a different period and the. this tranq or all of the measures that measures

taken. it is different but i will not actually. estimate the influence of those. on the economist speaking on the. sanctions are meant to increase pressure on moscow to find solutions to conference in ukraine and syria what are you hearing from the kremlin are these sanctions are having this effect. i cannot say i actually from the kremlin never been there or actually it's my opinion as to that bustle who is full of holes lives in international finance of course it's not the best time for international financial activities took. for their investment in the real economy but this is actually a very convenient for speculate of activities that we've seen not only

in this country about what ward why it's so you have a disciplined didn't crease of the interests of the normal players in the investment market in the real economy investment and more the more it is found on speculation it was see here because actually half this so-called comes to swings in russia so russia is varia convenience instrument tool and subject for speculation this happens when i have actually four within the week it can be a great going to go down to up to ten percent and then come back now actually by five percent and. so this is due to the. the floating exchange rate regime which is exposed by the central bank of the country and instead of coming at the market those big enough for their funds to the free funds i hear and what will see it is that on that destroyed there has been the

normal investment process all or person from this is not russian banks thank you very much. the international monetary fund is predicting a global slowdown in growth in the next few years that's due to aging populations lackluster for the tippity and for texas try policies in the short term things look pretty rosy lending agency predicts a worldwide growth of nearly four percent for this year and next that be the fastest pace since twenty eleven the u.s. economy is likely to benefit from president trumps tax cuts which are likely to boost the country's economy through to twenty twenty growth is predicted to move up to almost three percent however those tax cuts cuts combined with increased spending could be damaging in a few years time that's what the m.f. predicts the euro zone is expected to benefit from continued low interest rates the

i.m.f. for costs the growth of almost two and off the scent for twenty eighty which might however slow down the year after and that's what we have business news now back to terry chemical weapons inspectors and during duma today in syria that's the hope at least inspectors from the organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons or the o.p.c. w. are set to begin their investigation into an alleged chemical weapons attack in the syrian city of duma the probe will focus on establishing whether the attack took place and what chemicals were used but there are fears that with the area now under control of the syrian government and russian soldiers that could prove a hard thing to do. russian soldiers descend beneath the devastation of. state t.v. trucks them as they make an underground discovery that seems too good to be true a chemical weapons factory.

chemical agents banned by the organization for the prohibited of chemical weapons were discovered. among them nitrate console fury mustard gas. and a canister with chlorine was found. but there is no evidence this equipment was used in last week's suspected gas attack syria as much a war of propaganda and of weapons moscow has accused britain of directing it but earlier this week the foreign minister had this to say there is no proof that on the. chemical weapons were used in doom proof may lie within the four walls and a man who says he bore witness. the. women and children were in here and boys and men were in there all of a sudden there was a noise like the valve a gas bottle opening. after

a five year siege at may not look like much but this place is still home for thousands with the attack on their minds. that. the rebels were behind it they did it they destroyed the country and escaped. many then who agree there was an attack in duma that night just not the one who was responsible. journalist organised the foreign correspondent for t.v. for sweden he just returned from a trip to duma and described the situation that international weapons inspectors are likely to face in that city. eleven days since the attack happened which means that a lot of the evidence could be destroyed or may be removed of course and the longer you wait to hear witnesses that. you don't have the quality that you would have if you do it shortly after and. so it's really troublesome to i think of

a loss to know the good opportunity to good to do is a good job if they would have been there earlier well while chemical weapons inspectors prepared to begin their work in duma german chancellor angela merkel is launching a new initiative to reach out to moscow on tuesday machall spoke by telephone with russian president vladimir putin she said russia was going to be a factor in bringing peace to syria later she announced she might meet putin face to face in the near future. free trade was expected to top the agenda during the prime minister of new zealand's visit to berlin but the talks between just cinda ardan and the german chancellor have been sidelined by a recent incidents in syria. at the weekend france great britain and the united states attacked syrian military targets raising questions about the effectiveness of germany's policy in the region on tuesday chancellor angela merkel reached out

to russian president vladimir putin in a bid to mediate. benign if we could if we want to have a peaceful solution in syria we need to talk to russia russia is going to be a factor if we want to bring peace to this situation the german government sees itself as playing the role of intermediary between the western allies and russia foreign minister of us used harsh tones against russia at first now he's calling for a diplomatic offensive. for our goal is to make sure that germany is becoming a perceptible part of the peace process in syria but we also would like to discuss the same questions as we did today in other conflicts such as in ukraine. foreign audiences. you know you know all of your best germany wants to make sure that the tensions between the united states and russia don't escalate further using

diplomacy to diffuse the conflict over syria but experts are skeptical. the russian turkish and iranian presidents have met several times including just last week in ankara and they have made clear that americans and europeans no longer have any say in what is going on in syria i cannot see how u.s. or european diplomacy could be in any way successful munden he diplomatist. germany would like to see a fresh start in syria and chancellor merkel wants to convince the russian that this can only be done without syrian dictator assad but for now there is no date set for the meeting that was announced with the russian president. germany is on a diplomatic offensive with russia for more on this story let's bring in our correspondent thomas sparrow thomas clueless in here why does the german government

believe that russia would be interested in talking to him about the conflict in syria. essentially because according to the statements that were published after putin and merkel spoke on the phone both russia and germany want to focus on the political process in syria so at least officially there is some sort of indication that russia would like to sit at a table and discuss this conflict however it is obviously clear that there are different focus their different goals when it comes to two of those countries but at least from the german perspective it is important to understand that they want the conflict to be resolved politically and that they want the conflict to be resolved politically with russia so that's why the german government the german chancellor the german foreign minister have indicated on various occasions that they want to have a political dialogue with russia and with other partners and allies in order to resolve the crisis in syria. you know we all know that the syrian president bashar

assad has made massive gains on the battlefield already with russia's help many are talking about an end game in syria already has time for diplomacy past well according to a german government this is precisely the time to focus on diplomatic efforts when the situation gets more complicated when the conflict gets more complicated more complicated there is an even greater need to sit at a table and discuss these issues and try and find political solutions the german government has stressed that even though ok germans there might be a need for more military activities like the air strikes that we saw a few days ago the political solution has to be first and foremost the way of resolving this crisis. briefly thomas archer many in his western allies unified in their position about what a political solution to the conflict in syria would look like maybe not on every specific aspect but they are on the same page when it comes to two aspects one that

the solution has to be political and not a military solution and two that any political solution has to include russia so those two elements are certainly elements that germany and its allies share thomas thanks so much to be a political correspondent thomas sparrow there. now it's a look at some of the other stories making headlines around the world today french president manuel mccollum has warned that europe is fighting a civil war between liberal democracy and populist nationalism made the remarks in a speech to the e.u. parliament calling for democratic removal. the far right to win the french presidency in two thousand and seventeen. one person was killed and several were injured after an engine on a u.s. passenger plane exploded southwest airlines flight was on route from new york to dallas when an engine cover broke loose and shattered a window passenger spoke of

a woman being partially sucked out of the broken window. and british prime minister theresa may has apologized to caribbean leaders for recent harsh treatment of commonwealth citizens the dispute arrested after dozens of people from the wind rushed generation named after the first ship that took them to britain in the one nine hundred fifty s. were threatened with deportation critics say it's the result of a hostile immigration policy. it's worse now in the labor crews and hosted by in munich in a german cup football semifinal match on tuesday night it was the next step for buy in as they seek to win the coveted trouble once again but the bonus leah champs needed to keep their focus against labor coups and who have seen have been on a hot streak and have a fearsome attack. by and came out with all guns blazing thomas miller shot saved by grandly no but then how did my teen is hit the target and what do you know in the third minutes. six minutes later found to be at least cross found robert

lebowski who made it to new i was but they because i'm struck back a free kick from you liam bronson and captain last bender made it to one in the sixteenth minutes early in the second half by an dominated tiago with a great pass and thomas miller said thank you very much three won and against the hapless lee because in defense tiago added a fourth with just over an hour ago. ryan's attack was unstoppable. making it five one less than five minutes later i am bailey had a real eye catcher of a break here but it was too late for labor and then completed his hat trick six to the final score i well buy a minix rival in the german cup final on may nineteenth is up for grabs with the second semifinal taking place and guessing chicken tonight high flying shako will host last year's runners up frankfurt

a hard fought battle is expected between the two sides hungry for silverware. footballing highs don't come much higher than a long awaited win in the region. after four long years without a win over a sea of dortmund shock the boss the boys in black and yellow in the big game on sunday. but blasting past their bitter rivals in the bundesliga will only help so much and what lies ahead. this is not too shouldn't come on it's great when you win a darby then have another big game a cup semifinal against a very strong team should be looking norm's talking months off to have. will go into the game with more confidence and wealth will still have to concentrate on what it'll be tricky concentrate on tungsten and that's keeping their concentration has been tricky for frankfurt the german media have swarmed around coach nico cove arch ever since word broke last week that he set to take over byron

munich this summer. i'm trucked worth umps for one in the first game since the news came out about the coach's future i put kovach preferred a reminder of the past in his pre-match remarks. i think the situation is a lot like last year nobody thought we stood a chance of winning our semifinal i mentioned we were the ones who made it to the final we know how nice it is to be there and we know how hard it will be in goals and. lives on. frankford couldn't seal the deal in berlin last may falling in the final to dortmund going one better this year and lifting some silverware with frankfurt wouldn't be a bad dress rehearsal for coaches next. you're watching news still to come this diver is getting a peek at the tongues of plastic trash clogging the world's oceans but now

scientists have made his discovery that could help tackle the problem. and when he died of a. tank called become a druid take into of match day in britain's league of overweight. that have much more still to come here. the hips to the folks not contaminate. each other you keep. a young rival to the veterans of the unseen decent. the poser among crews of the new mustang convertible seated with the feet.

sixty minutes on the c.w. . the dangerous battle for images five women. five exceptional stories. one calling more photography dramatic pictures from the frontlines capturing feet full moments in time and even risking death she gave her life to hear how the stories of people who ended up. women or photographers starting the third on g.w. . hijacking the news. where i go wrong the news is being hijacked journalism itself has become a scripted reality show it's not just good versus evil us versus them that's why and why. in countries like russia china churchy people are told it's that simple

and if you're a journalist there and you try to get beyond that you are facing scare tactics intimidation. and i wonder is that where we're headed is well. my responsibility as a journalist is to get beyond the smoke and mirrors it's not just about the figure and balance or being neutral it's about being truthful. twenty was cordoned off and i work immediately. welcome back you with news i'm terry martin and these are the top stories this hour u.s. media reporting that cia director mike pompei o traveled to and met with north korean leader kim jong un last month a secret trip was reported to lay the groundwork for planned talks between the u.s. president. and the north korean leader. a team of international chemical weapons

inspectors are set to begin their investigation of the syrian town of it was the site of a suspected poison gas attack more than two weeks ago. israel is today celebrating seventy years of independence we're going to take a look now at some of the key events that led to its creation this man here. is considered the father of modern day zionism he increased recognition for the need of a jewish state and promoted jewish immigration to palestine in one nine hundred seventeen british ford from one nine hundred thirty three when the nazis came to power in germany more and more jews from europe moved to palestine in the aftermath of the holocaust many survivors followed them on november twenty ninth one thousand nine hundred seven the united nations proposed the partition of palestine into separate jewish and palestinian states and on april eighteenth one thousand nine hundred

forty eight david ben-gurion declared israel's independence to the joy of many jews around the world to palestinians however the occasion is known as the nakba the day of the catastrophe which symbolizes the displacement of hundreds of thousands of their people our correspondent tony kramer met with two people touched by the event in very different way. today. proclaimed the state of israel. it was just fourteen at the time his parents had fled nazi germany and come to palestine in the early one nine hundred thirty s. for him it was a moment to stay there was the vehicle ration at the television news room at the time. of the boulevard in tel aviv and everybody listened to the liberation and then we were all members of

a youth movement of. we broke out into the streets than singing and dancing and singing all night long. deliberation spoke out after the radio broadcast the was another fourteen year old was also listening to ben-gurion stickler ration palestinian sophie macaca she lived with her family in jerusalem where her father ran a photography studio their reaction was very different. my father was upset and they were just clean hearing the news general what's going to happen and it took very short time that they'd just. traveling the people feeling the people so we had to leave not. because we couldn't stay in our home. the violence quickly escalated after the declaration of independence

a military alliance of our country started a war against a new state of. the year of one nine hundred forty eight war three year of war really. what i remember. very lively is the bombardments from being of the egyptians who would love you. there was also have a fighting in to goose a limb and sophie's family had to leave their home and state with gravitas but soon they all had to flee to be jollier near bethlehem soofi still is today when mother was very upset live there well no. it's something difficult is facing us we didn't expect what happened because we were living safe where they do no problems at all. when moved to bethlehem it's good that we had people to accept us a very went to camps there was

a problem again though that if you're really just two weeks you'll be back but the family was never able to return home they became refugees like hundreds of thousands of other palestinians in the west bank gaza and other arab countries some those state in israel in one thousand nine hundred forty nine an armistice formally ended the war israel had gained edition of territory including west jerusalem. it started to build a nation a melting pot of nationalities cultures and languages many jewish refugees expelled from arab countries moved to the new state and so did survivors of the holocaust this was only three years after the holocaust my parents were on the. cloud or the time on the one hand on the other hand there was this quality of thing that here we were out of it we are safe we are now in our own state and

there was. a euphoria a feeling of. we have made it we've made it we have a state of our. first sophie macaca it wasn't a new beginning but in and she and her family had to put their past lives behind them and just a longing for a palestinian state of their own. and throughout the day here on d w news will be covering the seventieth anniversary celebrations in israel do also check out our website where we take a closer look back at seven decades of german israeli relations that's at d w dot com and if you want to join the discussion best place for that is our thanks. to the editor of that.

we're going to talking films now and pictures you're seeing here are scenes from the two thousand and sixteen movie baraka meets baraka it's been described as saudi arabia's first ever romantic comedy and only the second feature length film ever shot there it earned rave reviews around the world but in its home country the film was and has never been shown on the big screen that's because cinemas have been banned in saudi arabia for decades in keeping with the kingdom's strict religious. well all that could be about to change indeed change is coming to saudi arabia with the first cinema in thirty five years set to open in the capital riyadh rumor has it that the superhero movie black panther will be shown at the premiere of more on the story i'm now joined by the man who you just saw in that short film clip there

is one of the saudi arabia's most prominent actors producers and comedians he's in vienna at the moment and joins us from their high his show. riyadh finally gets a new cinema is that going to do the trick for a city of five million people how long are you going to have to stand in line to get a ticket. good morning yeah this is the first of many of course the soft opening are soft lined and of course that's part of the plan and it's meant in several publications they're opening hundreds of. i twenty thirty even so i mean you know i really think that this is a positive step and we're heading in the right direction and so can we expect to see saudi arabia develop a proper film industry in addition to building a bunch of cinemas yeah this is going to be either two separate conversations

honestly because having a lot goes in a month as far as consumption goes and having look listen i'm a foreign producing goes. to separate industries one has to do it peter like the other has to do it like proffer infrastructure creatively and culturally but i do believe that there will be i thought in demand for it because people are always interested in seeing themselves on the screen or people that they can relate to so i am again like you know find out i'm extremely optimistic. you're a comedienne you've been making fun of saudi arabia's religious rules for years let me show our audience just a short clip of one of your videos that went viral you rewrite a famous bob marley song to address the driving ban on women in your country let's listen.

no dr so. the driving ban is now being lifted from june on we'll see saudi women driving cars and other reforms are being implemented there as well from outside the country looks like saudi arabia is opening up doesn't look that way to people inside the country yeah i mean and. funny because when we think that women are going to be driving we're so used to it not being an option you know we're like try and let it all sink in but beyond that maybe other things haven't been getting as much publicity but we have a huge entertainment lots of event and we just had our second comic-con in. and these are things that i grew up never seeing i cannot help but you know it's

all these changes because they're real tangible changed all that change in your country has been triggered by saudi crown prince mohammed bin. what's your opinion on him you know i mean he's good he finally understands you know we have someone who comes from my generation is worldly like i said he's making tangible changes so i you know i cannot help but be extremely optimistic. getting back to that new cinema in riyadh. we heard rumors that it might actually open with the with the black panther you think that's really going to happen what film would you like to see on the big screen there. yeah it's going to happen i mean it's been publicized a million times over and and eyes they have and i don't doubt it be that they did it but i'm really upset about the local cinema i didn't like because for me going

to the u.a.e. here by her and her and i the movie you know i see arab people from my kind of you know neighboring country watching american movies and that's not so such a far fetched idea but for kids you think of people watching an image in local theater how that does a really cool so i'm mixed that i wanted the local cinema ok well we hope to see more of that too fudgy one of saudi arabia's most prominent actors producers and comedians thanks for talking with us thank you. and he was talking to us from vienna there you are watching the years still to come it's for a new british league that's all the rage it's called man vs fact we're losing. team. now

to a discovery that could help tackle one of the biggest problems facing our planet plastic pollution you can see it right here in this video filmed by free diver julia wheeler scientists in britain and the u.s. are now saying that they've engineered a plastic eating. them. and they actually made the discovery. the world is choking on mountains of plastic waste. one of the most popular plastics is p t used to make drinks bottles and synthetic fiber. it takes hundreds of years to degrade naturally. but now scientists have stumbled onto a mutant enzyme that's hungry for p.t. it's produced by bacteria discoveries enzymes amazing something that. normally takes four hundred years to create the bacteria are starting to eat this

in a matter of days we've done is in the same from that bacteria in grown up and i know we can actually digest petey within days much quicker in the environment research as fast found an enzyme that had naturally evolved to slowly digest plastic and the japanese two years ago. scientists called it p tastes. professor mckee had on his team set out to investigate the crystal structure of peter. when they tweaked it they realized they accidentally created a fall more powerful new version. we can actually see war capable of doing in terms of the breaking down of the plastic itself it's amazing this is a microscopic view of the enzyme eating away at

a piece of plastic researches hope it can one day be used on an industrial scale. the discovery is already a major step forward in dealing with a plastic bottle of littering the well it's land and ocean. well joining us for more on this discovery is from d.w. sciences eric williams a dart. how significant is this discovery do you really think it's going to make a big difference in the way we combat pollution well it is it is really quite significant we've been trying to do this with microorganisms for a long time and this is the first looks like it's it could really be done within the timeframes and with the with the amounts of energy that are involved like like we can actually accomplish it you have to you have to understand that recycling as we as we do it today isn't really recycling what happens is you get these sort of high value products like plastic packaging which is considered a high value product and you're turning it into something else you're liquefying it

at the end of its of its life and or maybe you're shredding it and you're turning it for example into a fleece jacket but what do you do what you do with a fleece jacket you don't really recycle a fleece jacket maybe you can turn it into a carpet but at some point you've reached the end of that of that particular materials sort of life and what they're talking about with this new technology is breaking down the plastics into their molecular components basically turning them into this kind of soup which is similar to that which is coming out of a petrochemical plant and so then you have really this closed loop situation where you can in theory just continue to use the same materials over and over and over again so it's really. ok sounds very promising give us an idea of how this ends zine which is at the heart of this process tell us how this enzyme actually does its job of going about breaking down plus well it's i mean enzymes they basically in general lower the amount of energy that you have to stick into a system in order to make a chemical. action occur so without an enzyme basically

attacks things at that at a level that a lot it's all a techno molecules and be able to break them apart without having to stick lots of energy into the system you can also break them apart by sticking lots of energy into this as an enzyme allows you to do that without lots of added cost basically and so what these enzymes are doing they've been a volved in these they've evolved actually in recycling plants to appear at least it's a natural phenomenon that they've evolved to begin to use these plastics as an energy source and now these scientists have gone and figured out which genes are producing the enzymes that break the plastics and they tweak them and made them even more effective ok so smart hens i'm says were how do you think it's going to take to actually harness this this process and apply it on an industrial scale this is still very early days what it is is proof of concept you have this you have you have these enzymes that are devouring this plastic within a period of days and or weeks and don't forget this is this is stuff that sticks

around in the environment for hundreds and hundreds of years so it's not easy to break it down but it's not yet as effective as it would need to be so in order to upscale something like this first of all you can have to genetically bio engineer the bacteria to produce even more effective forms of this enzyme and after that you're going to have to produce the bacteria on an industrial scale so i think that we're looking at minimum of if there are no speed bumps and there always are minimum ten to fifteen years before we start to really see pilot scale plants apparently doesn't work on. all plastics either so this doesn't really mean that we can can keep producing plastics with impunity does it no it doesn't i mean obviously we have to continue to use the recycling chains that we already have in place some of those are also very effective but as i said the proof of concept the idea behind it that this actually can work is a big big step forward and so in that sense it's

a very very significant discovery thanks so much for filling cent derek williams from d. w. science. well join the league were losers when that's the enticement for a football league in england where the players main aim is not score goals but to lose kilos for many shedding weight has been a losing battle now they might have met their match. it all starts with a recognition that it's time for a change the next step for these guys at least is joining man the fat football. team match ups could be the fat burners versus chappies dynamic against fat let me call madrid the players are all united by their love for soccer and their constant battle to lose weight just like adam goddard he's warming up his team is called run fatboy run and it's considered the underdog in its upcoming game nine young men

have been playing in the man the fat league in ipswich in eastern england since last summer back then they roughly wait a combined one and a half tons. but the real moment of truth is not on the playing field it's in the changing room that's where players with themselves before each game adams said that the first time still hurts he had weighed in at one hundred twenty two kilos now he's just below one hundred six and that's half a kilo less than last week you could say that the league's slogan is less is more you can be awarded up to three extra goals provided you lose weight but if you gain weight you're penalized with own goals it all gets calculated into the final score men who never used to talk about their weight now can't stop talking about it they can also joke about it just like down at the pub everyone here has the same problem

they help each other and they get outside help. healthy sustained gradual white loss and they do that through nutrition and which i can help if. they have access to the forms which they have loads of information on the community populate as well. they're accountable the social accountability they're there only to themselves supposed to me but also their teammates now it gets serious out of his fat lads versus the ham eaters they fight swear and laugh but no one gets laughed at for example if someone is just too puffed to continue adam says that's the big difference. a season membership cost about ninety euro is for fourteen games one per week players are devoted so everyone loses some weight instead of the usual ninety minutes games here only go for half an hour but even that can seem long and not just for the beginners.

it's not going to we're losing to one. but we're running around and we're getting. the potential for this league is huge after all two out of every three british men are overweight founder andrew shanahan was one of them two years ago he weighed more than one hundred kilos he then joined a weight watchers group where he was the only man that's when he got the idea lose weight with your mates by playing the national sport it's now grown to fifty leagues with seven thousand members and according to the man we've had website players have already lost a combined thirty four tonnes. it is eat less move more and you know make healthier choices however the real thing that misses is the fact that in the first place you have to be in a position where you can employ those simple bits of advice to your life and often

what that needs is it needs accountability and needs commune. it needs support and you need that sort of inspiration and that motivation. and that it shows in their daily lives adam lives not far from the stadium his story was much the same as for many of his footballing mates too little exercise as a public servant he spends the whole day sitting down he never learned healthy eating habits as the years went by the kilos piled on he never felt comfortable going to a gym but with mandy fat football it felt better. as a go i should. just get on with. just. having a group of course. i can share my concerns i. know . when i'm no one to.

give me support. together is better than alone losing weight can be so easy and yet it's so hard it's much easier for a man as a member of a football team with the added bonus of becoming a better footballer we won our first season so we had a few helping new prize but yeah. the first win without the weight loss bonus goals celebration time for the slimmer fat mates it's the only league in the world where the biggest loser is also the biggest winner. and just a reminder the top stories we're following for you here today on the news u.s. media are reporting that cia director mike pump aoe traveled to pyongyang and met with north korean leader kim jong un last month in a secret trip that was reportedly to lay the groundwork for talks between u.s. president called trump and camp. and

a team of international chemical weapons inspectors is set to begin their investigation of this in the syrian town of duma it was the sight of a suspected poison gas attack more than two weeks ago. and you can always get g.w. news on the go just download from google play or from the apple store ever give you access to all the latest news from around the world as well as push notifications for any breaking news you also use to send us any photos photos for videos you think you might be interested. if you are watching news from berlin we have more coming up for you at the top of the hour we'll be going live to syria we'll be talking to a journalist who was just in duma aware that chemical weapons attack is believed to taken place two weeks ago chemical weapons inspectors are arriving there today i'll also be talking to our political correspondent about raids by the german pub real police they've launched their largest raids ever we've got all the details for you

coming up in the next half hour here on news.

in the course modern family. to keep. a young rival into the interests of the assumed decent. the bowls are among cruising the the new ford mustang convertible since it has the being a top law a law thirty minutes. to the seventieth anniversary of israel's founding i'll talk on the d.w. news. featuring eyewitness accounts.

law contra ports the banding independence day ceremony in jerusalem. israel seventy eight today on. time for an upgrade. to. close. calls with. design highlights you can make yourself. comes to. tricks that will turn your home to do something special. a great yourself with d. w.'s interior design channel on you tube. just want a way to survive where it's knight rider i don't think. we are scared we are

very scared and we have to stay going to look me up to fight for his part to do some good or. bangladesh what does the true face of the country look like freedom independence a separation of state and church that used to be important but for decades political infighting here has hindered progress and islamist extremists gain more influence of democracy and the rule of law are on shaky ground you've just couldn't get in the. ground of the truth. anybody. can blow desh the dawn of islam as of an exclusive d.w. report starting april twenty first.

move. to. move. move move move move. business to w news coming to you live from berlin a secret meeting between a superpower and a pariah u.s. president don't trust confirms senior officials but the north korean leader kim jong il and the u.s. media say cia director michael payer travel to pyongyang what does this mean for peace on the korean peninsula also coming up. the wife of former president and the mother of another barbara bush has died at the age of ninety two. after days of delays a team of injured.