but everyone has the right. to everyone has the right to say. this is d. w. news coming to you live from berlin all systems go german astronaut alexander gassed and his crew are about to blast off for the international space station will carry out experiments to provide insights for people on earth and prepare for future long term missions to mars also coming up he's only been in office for four weeks but the new u.s. ambassador to germany richard grinnell is ruffling

a lot of feathers some are calling for his expulsion. plus kim football's world cup hosts put a stop to embrace as we find out what this player from nigeria's national team has to put up with from some fans when he plays in the russian football league. oh i'm terry martin welcome to the program. 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 all 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 yuri was chateau sent us this report from the launch site. i mean by canoe or the world's largest

spaceport to 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 hume really got gary the first human in space to cough from here . there are just a few hours left until the launch. a 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 of a long shot at seven o'clock in the morning.

right up until takeoff technicians work in the rocket and recheck everything meticulously because the actual launch is one of the most dangerous moments of the whole flight obviously the launch is one of the more risky phases 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 siri not a non chancellor i know this you imagine oh this you guys is it's always been

a pleasure. yes we are. going. to go to. our. big moment 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 here in space flight 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 time to zero gravity conditions to which the human body adapts and yassar not have to live in a very confined 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 the astronauts are going to be on the space station if we're going to work for this mission for six mile. just how

difficult is it to be 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 are still a lot of challenges that we need to address and that is what we do with our science program and that is what is going to contribute to with his mission for the next six months jennifer thank you so much jennifer and no on from the european space agency head of isa's research office thank you. well as xander gast will become the first german to command the i assess when he takes charge of the second half of the mission just as hugely popular here in germany having achieved fame during his maiden voyage to space in two thousand and fourteen

he spent several months on the space station back then inspiring a generation with his activities many of which he relayed in real time by a social media just a few hours ago astro says he's known tweeted this on his way to the suit up building he says he got a great farewell from families and friends the crew is doing great looking at unimpressed camels by the side of the road he tweets well that's one way to start the space mission here's more on the soon to be i assessed commander. castro alex. the t.v. superstar at least in germany. he has many fans here including at the chancellery in berlin. the two legal limits here myself included will be following the news about astro alex very closely for. 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. very humbled by the trust of people having need to actually come on 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 new selections for the astronauts menu. this menu to trigger my mood. and now i can make choices based on i remember. if you want to between them i have to get. one of the new dishes besler noodles with cheese. there's even a specialty of gas home region. but it's not all fun and games and i have to work hard aboard the i assess their own most 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 i assess he has a special school class project a time capsule with the future ambitions of some eight thousand german children head into space that will be opened up in fifty years. his 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. from space. and you can be with us for the count we'll be bringing you the blast off live from the baikonur cosmodrome in kazakhstan just thirteen hundred s. t. that's one hundred g.m.t. make sure you can join us that. now officials in guatemala say at least seventy five people have been killed since the country's way go volcano began erupting at the weekend and also two hundred more are still missing officials say given the

nature of the eruption it's unlikely many more survivors will be found more people fled the area around the volcano on tuesday after authorities issued new evacuation orders for six communities flows of all the southern flank of the volcano sparked and among residents. 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. ruffle feathers by very undiplomatic remarks he made to the right wing website bright park news journal politicians have warned against interfering in domestic politics and the german government has asked the u.s. or clarification of the ambassador's remarks. this is richard grinnell he's been trumps man in berlin for just shy of a month but the new u.s.

ambassador has already been hitting the headlines with his own political opinion paces he gave his first big interview to bryant pass 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 affairs is clearly not an ambassador's role. there may well be a grinnell led conservative clique in the making but parliamentary leaders are remaining pragmatic. this will be only counted 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. but you have to take it as it is. grinnell stands by his comments and says claims he supports certain political parties is known since 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 political correspondent thomas sparrow who's covering this for us and 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 and 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 position by the democrats in the united states and he was trying to be 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 some but it isn't that nice to 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 i mean 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 are. that's the call means that he has made for example in that bright you 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 i was obviously also reaction from the united states from the state department on his comment saying that even an ambassador has the rights 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 isn't 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. now let's catch up on some other stories making

headlines around the world today in china's state media say more than twenty people have been rescued after a blast at an iron ore mine trapped underground eleven people were killed by the explosion. young province on tuesday afternoon. two more are still missing china's mines are some of the deadliest in the world. the opium says it's ending the dispute over its shared border with tria after decades of tension and pointing the government says it will fully accept a un deal put forward in two thousand and two to divide up the contested territory between the two countries the move was initiated by the o.p.'s 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 background

which she founded with her partner in the early ninety nine. you're watching news still to come will ferrell racism in russia more of the football world cup we hear from a nigeria international about taunts he's received while playing in the russian legal authorities say they are just isolated incidents. or to business now with daniel in tough times for one of germany's key exports sectors from the sun to recover after years of stagnation but the threats are still there germany runs the world's biggest trade surplus as we well know and a lot of that is due to its high tech machines and pots so the country is especially worried about potential tariffs three quarters of john made machinery goes abroad our ports are dogma's into went to visit one agricultural machine builder that's facing headwinds juta sanctions and protectionist threats. the jaguar is getting its final check. mechanic vladamir own room 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. in the field. 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 sales. but the water is. 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 have free impose sanctions on tehran washington is threatening to punish those doing business with iran. and this. is business with iran has always been volatile and. now might have put it on the embargo won't improve things i was it's least. now as a company we face the challenge of deciding whether we want problems with the americans want to just get on with business with. russia is also an important growth market for clos 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

classes domestic market is still small. the company's jobs to cram for most global trade. and german engineering is dependency on exports could be the sector's achilles heel and twenty seventeen its biggest export market the u.s. bought german engineering products are worth almost eighteen billion euros bonds as we've seen punitive tariffs on steel an element in products and the potential for why the sanctions are worrying engineering companies china is a close second when it comes to buying german machines and pot scooping up over seventeen billion euros worth but beijing is also keen to build up its own engineering sector with its made in china economic strategy a factor in russian and iranian sanctions and brax it in the threat of a trade war between the u.s. and china and germany's key industry is facing big problems well joining me from the body that represents german engineering firms the v d m a is its president col martin that thank you very much for joining us here today there are so many

headwinds facing our industry right now what's your biggest fear thank you for having me here but the biggest fear right now is that the work turns more and more into protectionism and we need free markets to offer our products we are worldwide . on the way we serve in pretty much every country in the world and therefore we need to open markets it's good for us it's good for the customers we deliver to a new it's good for the. countries we deliver in since we helped them to build up their infrastructure with our machines and yours is one of germany's top export industries yet the government has been a key advocate for continued sanctions against russia certain parts of the government as we've heard there's been a long debate over that that harms machine builds in engineering companies who export a lot and they look set to be pushing for

a tough stance on the bracks it even but just behind the scenes is the german government failing machine builders in germany. in reality the. politic has a first decision we have to follow we have to adopt to what the politics leaves the players in the market in this case our companies our members now they are leaving you much too to work when actually it's shrinking and we are very concerned about it and we have concern about that more and more. economic sides are not taken into consideration and it's the companies to pay the bill for if it is sanctions for political intentional whatever it is and we have to be careful that we are not that this it's not becoming overboard however. your statement is right it's becoming tougher and we wish that the politicians see that it's not

helpful neither for the companies nor for. the individuals in the different countries if we close the borders so bodes well i don't see protectionist stance that but you're expecting positive growth as you have to years of stagnation. but with all of these challenges that we've talked about all the glory days to german machine building and engineering over no not at all i mean the glory days do not come or go with protectionism the dollar days are the inventions we have far the the quality we produce and that is what makes german machine to build this which was what makes german engineering sector so leading in the world so there's still had to do think about industry four point zero or internet of things germany has

a leading position they are and we are winning more and more weight on this position innovation is the advantage what can german companies do. then to stay ahead of the competition all the potential protectionism is it just innovating further is as simple as that it's not that simple of that it needs a lot of infrastructural things think about the right workers the right education the right infrastructure when it comes to universities and so on all that needs to be supplied. but we also as companies have the necessity to go more and more abroad open companies abroad to also be more flexible when it comes to market situations like we face and today. thank you very much for joining us funds from the v d a it's great having you in the studio thank you for having me . and now tesla boss long musk is still fully in charge of the company that he helped found that's 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 musk holding only the title of c.e.o. but most shareholders voted against it after months said tester was on track to meet production targets for its new mass market saddam the model three. ok and now it's back over to terry with some more news that's right thanks so much in eight days from now i'm sure you know this already the most watched sporting extract again on the planet kicks off in russia the football world cup of course that's what we're talking about for the host nation has long had a problem with racism in sports and campaigners fear that incidents could more of 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 aware of the racist taunts some

black players have had to endure. as a player for senate st petersburg brian remembers being abused by a fan by a show. lewis fan who told me there's no black in zen it's polos that was it but i was with friends from the team we were all wearing and it's kids and the fans said what's going on why you with kids thank you my friend got angrier than i did you know i just responded with a smile and the same i would have your second post so we played 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. there's nothing to argue over in this sense according to a survey by sports start 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. and forgo just reminder of our top story an international team of astronauts including germany's of xander gassed are about to blast off to the international space station carry out dozens of experiments to provide insights for people on earth and to prepare for future long term missions to mars. so news from now i'll be back at the top of the next hour with more thanks for

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