this is t w news coming to you live from berlin a secret meeting between a superpower and a pariah us president don't trust confirms senior officials met the north korean leader kim jong il in the u.s. media say cia director michael payor traveled 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 international chemical weapons inspectors is due to enter the syrian city

of duma it's tasked with finding the truth behind a suspected poison gas attack nearly two weeks ago. also on the program israel marks its seventieth birthday our correspondent heads to the middle east to meet an israeli who remembers the fight for a jewish homeland and a palestinian march 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 travel to pyongyang and met north korean leader kim jong un the secret meeting over easter was to lay the groundwork for the planned direct talks between u.s. president donald trump and kim trump who is currently hosting japanese prime minister shinzo abbate at his mar-a lago resort in florida said there had been

talks at the highest level with north korea he declined to confirm with u.s. officials but had these talks. for more now let's cross over to reuters correspondent joss smith who's in seoul south korea to join us if it is indeed mike pompei a who has met with kim jong un how significant would this be. well it certainly is quite significant he would be drinking 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 stunningly excepted the invitation from came there remain 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. you know seem 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 me. 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. inspectors from the organization for prohibition of chemical weapons or the o.p.c. w are due to begin their investigation into an alleged poison gas attack in the syrian city of duma syria's un ambassador says duma has been visited by united nations security team to make sure it is safe enough for the. inspectors they will focus on establishing whether the poison gas attack actually took place and what chemicals were used but there are fears that the evidence if there is any may have been compromised. or for more let's bring in journalists wark from t.v. for sweden he was just in duma and joins us now from damascus what are people in dumas saying about the alleged chemical attack one of those that i talked to some said that they didn't know anything about it others didn't want to talk about it

and those opinions. most of them that they thought the rebel side was also good although you have to bear in mind that in syria you cannot express what you actually thinks because there is always a risk that you might get into trouble so i wouldn't put too much. weight on people's. now western powers are saying that evidence concerning the attack may have been tampered with by syrian or russian soldiers do you think that is a real possibility given what you have seen in duma. well we went we entered the building it was in a sea of morphine anyway there was still people living in adults who survived and anybody could just walk in and out and do whatever they wanted to so the research risk that if it is has been destroyed or items it will go so what it is course it's much more difficult so so many days after the event. to find good

samples there's so much international scrutiny on this particular story what's the view in damascus the syrian regime itself where you are on this investigation is taking place by the o.p.c. did. they emphasize that they actually invited me to see. this investigation although. they were not allowed to go there before it's a date because of security concerns so it is going to be interesting to see what they can actually be slight there and what how much that evidence is is worth whatever they can cite there is another development going on now also this last night we saw and heard something of which is that the last that and late. thirty's consoled by rebels actually it's i sees the it's not the state that is in this area

and we can see an artillery being fired at that direction most so the conflict in syria is very much ongoing board there from t.v. for sweden talking to us from damascus thank you so much. thank you. now to some of the other stories making headlines around the world today french president amount of well mccaughan 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 renewal he fought off the far right to win the french presidency last year. one person was killed and several injured after an engine on a u.s. passenger plane exploded the 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 it's the largest operation of its kind ever carried out by germany's federal police in the early hours of this morning hundreds of officers raided more than sixty sites across the country in a crackdown on human trafficking and forced prostitution the raids also involve the elite german force the g.s.t. nine police say the properties targeted were brothels and private apartments. political correspondent thomas sparrow is covering this story for us this morning thomas what more can you tell us about the raids. well as you said terry they have been focusing on forced prostitution the focus area in germany has been the state over nor drying westphalia in the west and fog of the country although other states have also been affected by by these raids police did mention that around sixty

locations had been raided and they're also looking for evidence not only the people involved but also evidence regarding this network and the police also describe it as you yourself said is the biggest such operation of its type involving between one thousand and one thousand five hundred officers and it also includes the g.s.t. nine as you said and it's particularly important to stress this because it's one of the elite units of germany's federal police and according to the one german newspaper the fact that they were involved the g.s.t. nine was because they were expecting some sort of violent reaction from some of the places that they raided this morning ok to drop aeration the biggest in the history of the german federal police are focusing on human trafficking and forced prostitution understand what else are police telling us about what they were doing and what they were trying to achieve well in particular they're focusing on forced

prostitution regarding sex workers from from thailand they have been reactions from the police in particular on twitter stressing these elements that i mentioned highlighting that they're focusing on people smuggling on forced prostitution on exploitation and we've also had reaction from germany's interior minister calling this action unprecedented it is certainly terry a very big and a very important operation and one that will continue obviously throughout the day with political reactions as well thanks so much traumas d.w. political correspondent thomas sparrow there. in the united states former first lady barbara bush has died as the ninety two year old 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 and first mother. wife to one president mother to another barbara bush was

a stoic silver has matriarch behind in the american political dynasty she rose to prominence in the one nine hundred eighty s. when her husband george h.w. bush became vice president and later won the oval office the poll necklace she wore at his inauguration briefly turned 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 see him as president truly amazing the bushes had six children across seventy three years of marriage another son jeb became governor of florida. though never herself active in politics barbara bush raised millions of dollars for literacy programs president trump said one of her greatest achievements was recognizing the importance of literacy as a fundamental family value that requires nurturing and protection. you're watching

the news still to come for some a day to celebrate for others a day of bitterness we look at two very different viewpoints as israel marks seventy years but six sisters. new u.s. sanctions against russia seem to be off the table at least for now that's right terry at least that's what president trump's economic advisor larry kudlow said tuesday but be that as it may russia's involvement in the syria conflict his conflict has led to all sorts of political condemnation including economic sanctions a first round of sanctions imposed earlier this month against russia over its support for syrian president bashar al assad called chaz and some of the country's biggest companies to draw this year behind me is russia's blue chip index r.t.s. in so i think you get the picture the russian ruble also took a hit and those came on those sanctions came on top of those already in place over russia's annexation of the crimean peninsula and those are already hitting not only

of russian blue chips but also some companies that weren't even targeted by the. the u.s. sanctions announced on april sixth affect fourteen russian businesses and seven oligarchs among them oleg thierry pascoe 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 all 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 for issue. the sanctions have also had russia's urns 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 and tyreese rocket system could also be put on hold the last few major common projects the countries are involved in could soon grind to a halt experts are sounding the alarm

a commission of sensitivity as is so often the case with russia kremlin politics are damaging our own economy more than foreign powers counter sanctions will just deepen 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. the international monetary fund is predicting a global slowdown in growth in the next few years that's due to aging populations lackluster productivities and protectionist trade policies let's have a look at those projections in the short term things actually look pretty rosy the lending agency predicts a worldwide growth of nearly four percent for this year and next be the fastest

pace since twenty eleven look at the us a common economy that is likely to benefit from president trumps tax cuts which are likely to boost the country's economy through twenty twenty growth is predicted to move up to almost three percent those tax cuts combined with increased spending could be damaging in a few years time euro zone is expected to benefit from continued low interest rates the i.m.f. or consequence of almost two and a half percent for twenty eighteen which might however so down here after. coffee chain starbucks is closing down eight thousand stores in the united states for an afternoon on the end of may so its employees can attend training to prevent racial discrimination the company which operates thirty thousand stores worldwide is scrambling to prevent a boy cause after two black men were arrested at

a starbucks in philadelphia for trespassing. starbucks stores are regular features in the american urban landscape perhaps one of the reasons the company positioned itself as an enterprise that values social justice and promotes inclusion throughout its global empire no wonder that so many are shocked that the treatment of two black men at a starbucks store in philadelphia the two men were not customers but they were minding their own business last week when a starbucks employee called the place to throw them out. images of the arrest spread over social media like wildfire prompting starbucks c.e.o. to issue an unconditional apology and promised to make things right what happened in the way that incident escalated and the outcome was nothing but reprehensible and i'm sorry i want to apologize to the community in philadelphia and to all my starbucks harbors this is not who we are and it's not who we're going to be.

but starbucks overwhelming presence and aggressive growth in high traffic streets is part of the reason it has become the world's largest coffee company now protesters in philadelphia are demanding the company take action reminding the company that those streets belong to them. and that's all your business for now back to terry with a big anniversary in the middle east that. very much so israel's today celebrating seventy years of independence we'll take a look at some of the key events that led to its creation this pena nieto ahead 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 foreign secretary both arthur balfour made a declaration of the support for the creation of a jewish home in the middle east and the first world war saw the defeat of the ottoman empire in its partition between the european powers in one thousand twenty two the league of nations granted british the british mandate over palestine and trans jordan from nine hundred thirty three when the nazis came to power in germany more and more jews from europe moved to palestine and in the aftermath of the holocaust many survivors followed them on the twenty ninth nine hundred forty seven united nations then proposed the partition of palestine into separate jewish and palestinian states and on april eighteenth 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 tanya kramer met with two people touched by the event in very different ways. she knew it seems like it took fifty a day and proclaimed the state of israel in tennessee. 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 tele v.v. museum at the time. rock side of the boulevard in tel aviv and everybody listened to the collaboration and then we were all members of a youth movement of. we broke out into the streets than sing and then sing and singing all night long. deliberation spoke out after the radio broadcast in the in another

fourteen year old was also listening to ben-gurion state curation palestinian sophie macaca she lived with her family in jerusalem where her father ran a photo kofi studio their reaction was very different. my father was upset and they were just clean air hearing the news to know what's going to happen and if it took a 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 arab countries started a war against a new state of israel. the year of one nine hundred forty eight war three year of war really. what i remember very lively is the

bombardments from be aware of the egyptians who would love you. there was also have the fighting in to goose a limb and so fierce how many had to leave their home and state with predators but soon they all had to flee to be jollier near bethlehem this sophie still is today when mother was very upset life know. something difficult is facing us we didn't expect what happened because we were living safe with. no problems at all. let. alone move to bethlehem it's good that we had people to accept us a very went to camps there was a part of a gun there that if you're really just to 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 though state in israel in one thousand nine hundred forty nine an armistice formally ended the war israel had gained additional territory including west jerusalem. it started to build a nation a melting pot of nationalities coaches and languages many jewish refugees expelled from arab countries moved to the new state and so did survive this off the holocaust this was only three years of the holocaust my parents were on the this cloud or the time on the one hand on the other hand there was this quick to 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. you know we we've made it we've made it we have a state of our. first sophie macaca it wasn't

a new beginning button and she and her family had to put their past lives behind them and just in longing for a palestinian state of their own. throughout the day here on d.w. news will be covering the seventieth anniversary in israel you can also check out our website where we take a look back at seven decades of german israeli relations that's a t w dot com and if you want to join the discussion you're invited to visit thanks . to. some football news and by minnick are on track for the travel after battering labor because in six two in the german cuts i mean final on tuesday night despite the impressive scoreline but asleep at champs needed to keep their focus against labor cruising the hosts been on a hot streak blate and have a fearsome attack. irene came out with all guns blazing thomas malays shot saved by

band leno but then how did martinez hit the target. in the thirty minutes. six minutes later funky bellies cross found robert levin dusty to me. but they because i'm struck back a free kick from you liam bronson and captain bender made it to one in the sixteen minutes. in the second tower by an dominated giago with a great passenger must move that said thank you. one and against the hapless me because in defense tiago added a fourth with just over an hour of god. ryan's attack was unstoppable. making it five one less than 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 am just reminder of the top stories we're following for you here

today on the deputy news media reporting that cia director mike pump aoe traveled to pyongyang and met with north korean leader kim jong un last month the secret trip was reportedly to lay the groundwork for planned talks between u.s. president trump and the north korean leader. and a team of international chemical weapons inspectors is due to begin their investigation of in the syrian town of duma it was the size of a suspected poison gas attack more than two weeks ago. you are watching news from berlin we have more at the top of the next hour and all our stories online. let's watch.

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