this is news coming to you live from berlin all systems go german astronaut alexander guest and his crew are about to blast off for the international space station and carry out experiments to provide insights for people on earth and prepare for a future long term missions to mars also coming up in guatemala people fleeing new eruptions from the volcano well far the death toll is now seventy five hundreds are missing and the landscape is blanketed with hot ash in mind. and he's only been in

office for four weeks but the new u.s. ambassador to germany richard grenell is ruffling a lot sort of feathers solemn or calling for his expulsion. hello i'm terry martin good to have you with us a multinational crew of astronauts will blast off in a few hours time to spend six months on the international space station they'll lift off from the baikonur cosmodrome in kazakhstan the crew will conduct a host of experiments including some into the effects of stress on the human immune system that will be important for future missions to mars he. sent us this report from the law site. i mean by cornu we're at the world's largest spaceport cause more drama as it's called here in the middle of the.

nowhere in the world launches as many spacecraft as of this place thus even as the russian cosmonaut human regarding the first human in space to kick off from here. there are just a few hours left until the law which. has special training brinks of the soyuz spacecraft to the ram. security is tight especially i was told because there is a danger of espionage and here comes the rocket via long shot at seven o'clock in the morning. right up until takeoff technicians work in the rocket and recheck everything meticulously because of the actual launch is one of the most dangerous moments of

the whole flight obviously the launch is one of the more risky for uses but it's also something the crew is really looking forward to to experience these incredible forces that push the humans from the surface of this planet into orbit it's remarkable the g. loads it's pretty quick less than nine minutes from lift off until you reach the weightlessness and you are traveling with almost twenty eight thousand kilometers per hour it's something to look forward to on earth these flights to other astronauts are on board alongside of the german commander alexander garrisoned at the russian sergei prokofiev and the u.s. american syrian aidan chancellor i know this imagine you know this you guys is it's always been a pleasure. if you are always on the road in time. it's going. to introduce the most going to. be because i know these guys

are. from. the big moment is approaching and them all systems go everything is ready for space. joining us in the studio now is jennifer no one from the european space agency she's head of the isa's research office thanks for being with us this morning jennifer but you helped prepare some of the experiments that are going to be conducted up there what do you hoping to learn from these experiments that can help us here on earth human spaceflight is currently entering the next phase of space exploration we have been and we are utilizing the international space station to the maximum extent possible but we are already preparing for the next step we would like to go back to the moon we would like to go to mars with

a human crew and that is our daily work that is what we are preparing for it will probably not come as a surprise to you when i tell you that the space environment is not really an environment for which humans were made space is actually quite a hostile environment when you think about it space exposes to astronauts to massive radiation it exposes ten zero gravity conditions to which the human body adapts and the astronauts have to live in a very confined and very confining little tin can. very close to each other and all these factors have a direct impact on to physically ability off such long duration exploration missions and that is what we're preparing for ok with our pool of human research experiments on board the space station we address all of the. factor systematically and encompassing all income passing way. to be able to bring us

closer to human exploration off the solar system ok so there's a lot that you're expecting from this mission a whole lot that you're hoping to learn the mission is also carrying experiments understand that have been created by school kids in one of these experiments kids wrote some computer code as it's to be executed on board the s.s. why is this so important now space and exploration are inspiring young men and women to pursue careers in science technology and engineering and those disciplines are the key for economic wellbeing they are the drivers for and dances in energy and health care and they advance our understanding off the environment so that is why it's very important to her at the very beginning are any very early on to inspire young children now you're part of a support team working directly with the astronaut so i guess you've been working with those are her in the baikonur right now at the cosmodrome getting ready to

blast off into space so what do you find so it's most exciting working with astronauts yeah humans have long looked at the stars and have wondered what is out there it has always been part of our human nature to to explore the unknown to go beyond borders exploration investigation and scientific discoveries have always been part of our of our humanity off our history and they will continue to be a part of our drive and the exploration of space is an engine off innovation and inspiration and science is an important part of it and i hold both a medical doctor degree and a degree in neuroscience this and i feel so privileged to contribute to this endeavor with my expertise and with my knowledge to this fascinating endeavor rich . it is the exploration of space sure the astronauts are going to be on the space station it wouldn't work for this mission for six months just how difficult is it

to be up there for that long period of time briefly if you can it is very challenging but for the last fifty years we have shown that it is possible to have humans constantly in space we can keep them healthy we can keep the performance up there. so we have gained a lot of knowledge on how to make humans a spacefaring species there's still a lot of challenges that we need to address and that is what we do with our science program and that is what alexander is going to contribute to with his mission for the next six months jennifer thank you so much jennifer and no one from the european space agency's head of isa's research office thank you. well astronaut alexander guest will become the first german to command the i assess when he takes charge of the second half of the mission now guest is hugely popular here in germany he's inspired a generation with his activities on the space station many of which he relays in

real time via social media here's more on the space star. astro alex. the t.v. superstar at least in germany he has many fans here including at the chancellery in berlin. the two libyan your limits myself included will be following the news about astronautics very closely. everyone loves cares no wonder he's the first german astronaut to charm the public with his personality and with what he does his secret. hey guys astronaut alexander gets here from baikonur he's super cool but he's still got his feet on the ground and he shares everything including on twitter or astro alex has more than a million followers. they're all thrilled about his stay on the international space

station the horizon mission. second tour on the i assess this time around he's the mission commander the first german to fill the role. i'm very humbled by the trust of people having me to actually come to this. fantastic space station but of course it's comes with a big responsibility also already in training. he and his crew have been preparing for two years for the mission. cast underwent countless tests. with his fans always by his side. and he had to test a lot of food including. selections from the astronaut's menu. these menu. choices based on.

one of the new dishes spetzler noodles with cheese is even a specialty of gas home region. but it's not all fun and games you'll have to work hard. they're almost seventy scientific experiments for gaston the crew to perform in space more than half of them were designed in germany has was the mission's new sidekick simon high tech sphere with artificial intelligence. and just like on his last tour of board the u.s.s. he has a special school class project a time capsule with the future ambitions of some eight thousand german children will head into space to be opened up in fifty years. as fans won't have to wait that long for news from their hair. care says already planning his first press conference for the twelfth of june. direct from space.

of other stories making headlines around the world today ethiopia says it is ending the dispute over its shared border with eritrea after decades of tension infighting the government says it will fully accept the u.n. deal put forward in two thousand and two to divide up the contested territory between the two countries the move was initiated by his new prime minister. who was sworn in last month. tributes are being paid to fashion designer kate spade she was found dead in her new york apartment on tuesday in an apparent suicide she was fifty five she was best known for her kate spade and. bagh brand which she founded with her partner in the early one nine hundred ninety s. . and venezuela could be soon suspended from the organization of american states after its members passed

a resolution declaring that last month's reelection of nicolas maduro lacked legitimacy the resolution now goes to a vote on an extraordinary assembly of the group it needs a two thirds majority to pass. officials in guatemala say at least seventy five people have been killed since the country's four way go volcano began erupting at the weekend almost two hundred more are still missing more people fled the area around the volcano on tuesday after authorities issued new evacuation orders in six more communities fresh flows of lava on the southern flank of the volcano sparking panic among residents officials say given the nature of the weekend's eruption it's unlikely that many more survivors be found. let's bring in our correspondent of harms a routine she's in guatemala ophelia you're in the region of the wake of all kaino

how's the situation there are today. why the arm and look. like. they. didn't know you have. one you have. a feeling that you're afraid we're going to have to break it off there we've got a very bad law and we hope to come back to perhaps later that was a really harms a movie there in guatemala of course we'll keep you updated on what's happening with the volcano well here in germany the new u.s. ambassador to germany is due to pay his first official visit to germany's foreign ministry later today nothing unusual about that you might think but richard grinnell has already ruffled feathers by diplomatic remarks he made to the right wing website bright park news german politicians have warned him against interfering in domestic politics and the german government has asked for us clear to us for clarification of his remarks. this is richard

grinnell he's been trumps man in the lane for just shy of a month but the new u.s. ambassador has already been hitting the headlines with his own political opinion pieces he gave his first peek interview to bryant boss the new site that supported trump in the u.s. election campaign in it now explained how he wants to strengthen the conservatives in europe who he says are on the rise because of the failed policies of the left in the same interview he was also critical of german defense policy. the reaction from political parties in berlin was nothing short of amazement. we want to have good discussions with him but on the condition that he maintains an exchange with all parties and not just conservatives regime change from washington we don't need that here. but it didn't stop there on his first day in the job the new ambassador called on german companies to immediately withdraw from iran well it's not unusual

from bassett is to give their opinion they don't normally do it this way. this crosses the boundaries of what an ambassador should do not just in a partner country but it all meddling in internal phase is clearly not an ambassador's role. after turns out there may well be a grinnell led conservative clique in the making but parliamentary leaders are remaining pragmatic. from what i know of the us president and now the ambassador you could think that they have more reason to speak out in this way and it's just how they are used to it but you have to take it as it is the minute he sees colonel stands by his comments and says claims he supports certain political parties is nonsense he's due to visit the german foreign ministry for the first time they want to use the opportunity to seek clarification. well for more clarification let's bring in a political correspondent hala sparrow's covering this for us tell us before we

talk about what richard grinnell has done that so controversial tell us more about who he is how did he become u.s. ambassador to germany well he's someone who certainly seems to be very close to president trump but that's something that has been commented on various occasions in the united states is someone who has a direct line of communication to the president he's also seen as someone with very conservative views outspoken and very controversial that's something that you can clearly see on his twitter feed and that's also one of the reasons why he faced such a close. by the democrats in the united states he was trying to be confirmed as the new ambassador in fact the post of the day he had to to germany was vacant for fifteen months and although some people here in germany somewhat editions of nice see as a positive sign that there is now an ambassador here in germany that there's now a person with which they can directly talk it is obviously the case that some of

his comments right even the first comments when he arrived to germany have been very controversial and have been criticized a lot by german politicians so richard grinnell is a trump loyalist a conservative who speaks his mind he's a known quantity so to speak why are germans so shocked about the things he's been saying essentially because they expect our diplomats to be a bit more diplomatic if you will they believe that the comments that he has made for example in that bright interview have crossed a line and that is something that they want to seek clarification they want to make sure that those comments are in a way in a way met or in a way at least contextualize over there was obviously also reaction from the united states from the state department on his comments saying that even an ambassador has a right to express his opinion and that he was not in a way supporting specific political groups but rather supporting democracy well obviously here in germany but it is a view that differently thomas thank you so much for now i'm sure we'll be hearing

a lot more about richard grinnell as the days and weeks proceed toma sparrow from our political desk thanks. or business now with daniel and an attempted shareholder to tesla tell us more right but the boss did survive cause tesla basilan musk is still fully in charge of the company he helped found that's after a proposal by some shareholders to strip him of his role as chairman of the electric car maker was voted down the move would have left the mosque holding only the title c.e.o. but most shareholders voted against it after months said test those on track to meet production targets for his new mass market sedan the model three. and now germany runs the world's biggest trade surplus and a lot of that is due to its high tech machines and pots so it's especially worried about potential terrorists three quarters of german made machinery goes abroad but

that dependency could be the sectors achilles' heel in twenty seventeen its biggest export market the us brought german engineering products or worth almost eighteen billion euros but punitive tariffs on steel an alum an import act and the potential for wider sanctions are worrying engineering companies china is a close second when it comes to buying german engineering products scooping up over seventeen billion euros worth but beijing is also keen to build up its own engineering sector britain worth some seven point two billion euros is number five on the list but its impending departure from the e.u. is already causing some german machinery makers headaches russia is still a key market for engineering companies despite sanctions that imports more than five billion euros worth of machinery are reported dogmas in the went to visit one agricultural machine builder that's facing headwinds due to the tariffs. the jaguar is getting its final check. mechanic vladamir own rules make sure the vehicle is

ready for delivery then come the finishing touches the jaguars a ford charge a stir and the class company's best seller base in western germany the company depends heavily on exports which account for eighty percent of its sales with free trade coming under fire executive board spokesman him on low back is getting worried. export as a company with a high percentage of exports we can see that additional customs duties will make our products more expensive abroad a toy and that means demand will decrease and we will produce less. the result is a threat to our sales. as. the company's biggest market outside europe is the u.s. duties on farm machinery are currently being discussed but global trade disputes and the threat of sanctions are unsettling to executives here clos is staying away

from the iranian market even though pent up demand for farm machinery there is enormous. the company doesn't want any problems with u.s. authorities who are free impose sanctions on tehran and washington is threatening to punish those doing business with iran. or this. is business with iran has always been volatile and. might have put it on the embargo won't improve things if. it's missed. now as a company we face the challenge of deciding whether we want problems with the americans want to just get on with our business. russia is also an important growth market for closs the political situation hasn't made things easier there either. this combine harvester only has a short journey to northern germany so no political conflicts to worry about but clauses domestic market is still small the companies jobs depend for most global

trade. it's back to terry now and more on that ethiopia story we heard about that's right things are looking up as a worry here is ruling party has announced it will fully accept and implement a peace agreement with eritrea and then decades of tension between the two countries the horn of africa neighbors have been at all odds for nearly twenty years after a boundary dispute over the town of but me sparking one of africa's deadliest border wars the move to accept a peace deal signed in two thousand is a political shift for the east african nation and part of a wider reform package being implemented by ethiopia's new prime minister. when prime minister mariyam dustin leans stepped down in february there wasn't much reason for ethiopians to think he successive would be any better. though a democracy in name ethiopia's government is highly centralized we don't need the

ruling party and its allies in parliament for nearly two years the country has been in a station. militancy you know it is a crackdown on opposition journalists and routinely thrown in prison and dissenting voices crushed into this man of the year. that same ruling party he's picked for the top job at forty two he's one of africa's young this late is since taking office ahmed's of the scene a slew of reforms he's freed hundreds of political prisoners and met with opposition feet is. earlier this week he lifted the country state of emergency. now he's tackling the throughly issue on the border at his inauguration he promised to improve times are there a trial but few expected such a dramatic move. so force is now in soccer argentina have canceled saturday's world cup warm up against israel over fears of palestinian protests the

friendly was due to be played in haifa but was then switched to jerusalem angering palestinians in the wake of the city being recognized as israel's capital by the united states protesters had threatened to burn jerseys of argentina starlee n.l. messi argentina's coach had been unhappy about the scheduling of the match anyway cancellation is a blow to israel politically and to argentina's world cup preparations with the tournament in russia starting next thursday. and eight days the most watched sporting sed extravaganza on the planet kicks off in russia the football world cup but the host nation has long had a problem with racism in sports and campaigners fear that fan incidents could mar the tournament footballer bryant is heading to the world cup with the nigerian national team as a player in the russian football league is well known as well aware of the racist

taunts that some bought players have had to endure. as a player for senate st petersburg bryan remembers being abused by a fan well by a show called louis sam who told me there's no black in zen it's close that was it yeah but i was with friends from the team we were all wearing senates kids and the fans said what's going on why you were in that kid's thank you my friend got angrier than i did you know i just responded with a smile that was from a little you know from the yeah yeah yeahs soak up a profile case but not everyone can just laugh it off homophobia and racism are part of everyday life for some athletes in russia monkey chants against black footballers have been routinely heard over the years in russian stadiums. racism does exist in russian football there's nothing to argue over in this sense according to a survey by sports stars argue in two thousand and fourteen the seventy five percent of people responded yes to the question of whether racism exists in russian

football aleksei struck him head of the local organizing committee for the world cup has emphasized that the odd racist incident doesn't reflect the general mood in russian society. authorities recently sanctioned the russian football federation for fan racism at a russia game as well as several russian clubs for racist incidents. the football family hopes the world cup can pass off without racism dominating the headlines. so you news now i'll be back to the top of next hour with another full bore to you can get all the latest news information around the clock all at our website that's a d w dot com thanks for being with us.

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