this is d.w. news live from berlin the u.s. pulls the embassy staff out of iraq amid tensions with neighboring iran that is despite reassurances from secretary of state by pail he says the u.s. is not ready for war with iran but also coming up the u.s. state of alabama bans abortion in almost all circumstances including in cases of rape and incest lawmakers admit the crackdown as part of a bid to overturn women's constitutional rights. plus critics say it's

a song contest in name only this year's euro vision assessed to be one of the most political yet saturday's final takes place in tel aviv israel amid calls for performers and visitors to boycott the event in solidarity with the palestinians. i'm sumi so misconduct thank you for joining us. the u.s. state department is ordering all non-emergency government staff in iraq to leave the country the announcement comes as tensions with iran have been running high the order cover staff at the u.s. embassy in baghdad and the consulate in air bill normal visa processing at both posts will be temporarily suspended last week washington said it had detected urgent threats from iran and its proxy forces in the region targeting american and u.s. interests. now washington sent warships and bombers to the

gulf in response to those urgent but unspecified threats from a rainy and forces tehran for its part cost concern last week when it said it would withdraw from some of its commitments in the 2015 nuclear deal unless the other signatories provided quick we're leaf from u.s. sanctions now all of this has heightened tensions in an already fragile region in the last few days a number of incidents have been reported in which ships were targeted by unknown attackers fueling fears of further escalation and escalation that both sides say they do not wish to see let's hear what u.s. secretary of state mike pompei upset. we're looking for iran to be a book a normal country and that's our ask and we have applied pressure to the leadership of the islamic over republican iran to achieve that we we fundamentally do not see a war with iran now more neither nor are we seeking

a war nor is it to their benefit to go after a war we do not it was that they know that we never start a war and there is not going to be a war this is a confrontation of will and our will power is stronger than theirs we have the euro those who are more on the story we have done with us he's a foreign policy expert at the german institute for international and security affairs here in berlin such a thank you for joining us we hear both sides here saying we do not want war what do you make of that does that mean that there will be no war when i think that's true that nobody actually wants war and the question is is this process we're in or at least we're getting in is that controllable and the truth is it hardly is because both sides are operating increasingly on worst case sometimes and scenarios and they in this situation will not be able to kind of perceive signals being sent from either side as intended so for example a move or a step in a direction which is essentially intended to be defensive might be perceived on the

other side as offensive so in this kind of situation and absent official and official communications if we believe news reports it's really it's really hard to communicate and tensions and this increasingly has kind of the effect of creating a really controllable environment yet these tensions that have been escalating how do you parse the signals coming from the u.s. right now because in the white head that we know that the u.s. is taking a very hard line on iran but also as we just said doesn't want war what does the u.s. what does it want to redeem change a new negotiations with iran well i think as the president has said he waits for a phone call from iran. but the question is will he get this phone call or is he able to pick up the phone or maybe this is national security adviser john bolton going to prevent this phone call from happening so we don't really know because the recent postering of troop redeployment and deployment to the persian gulf has been

announced way before it was kind of linked to the current conflict with iran but now it kind of creates an additional military dimension in terms of pressuring iran to kind of fulfill the u.s. the moms so we don't really know where the u.s. is headed with this current line of policies what you're saying we did hear my pump aoe say we just want iran to act like a normal country what are we going to actually see from the arabian government here is it going to change its stance well my pump aoe has laid out a really big strategy the so-called maximum pressure broach and he also outlined 12 far reaching demands or goals for u.s. policy which kohl not only for a major behavioral change inside of the brain and leadership in terms of nuclear policy but also in terms of their domestic and regional policy but basically it's at least from an outside perspective but also for you know a more insider perspective really hard to believe that you bring in leadership is

able to actually fulfill these demands from the outside perspective it looks a lot like the build up to the war between the u.s. and iraq in 2003 doesn't this rhetoric that we're seeing i think that's the reason why especially the europeans as so carefully trying to deescalate and that's also why you see these recent moves of spain and specially great britain to actually cautioned against is a slippery slope of military escalation but also it's kind of indicating the united states is so so trying to be careful with regard to evidence of linking certain groups in the region to the iranian leadership because you have so many different. it's operating and you really have to be careful to actually connect to certain uranium policies which would then be a potential precondition for justifying more military response to possible attacks all right sasha loman an expert at the german institute for international and

security affairs thank you for sharing your analysis with us thank you for having me. and we're hearing germany has now joined the u.s. in suspending some activity in iraq it's put on hold its training mission of local troops bought the defense ministry in berlin says it is not responding to any specific threat. now lawmakers in the u.s. state of alabama have approved the country's toughest abortion law the state senate voted $25.00 to $6.00 to outlaw abortion at any stage of pregnancy even if that pregnancy resulted from incest or rape it would also send doctors who perform abortions to prison for life outside the legislature women's groups protested the bill it will now go to the state governor for her approval now the minority democrats denounce the law but the majority republican supported it and they say they want this bill to end up in the u.s. as talk ort so that it will rule on whether abortion is legal hopefully get to the supreme court and have them revisit the actual decision which was is the baby in

a womb a person why do i want to control our bodies. i would never ever no reporter peter dahl has been looking into this story for us and joins us in our studio thanks peter so we've seen that alabama alabama lawmakers have now passed this into law it will now land on the governor's desk what's going to happen next the governor has said that she will not sign anything before she's seen the full bill but she's known as a strongly religious and staunchly conservative republican in fact it was one of her central issues when she ran for governor at the time she said i believe every life is precious as a pro-life governor always fight to protect the unborn and she does have the backing of a majority of alabamans just last november boaters there voted overwhelmingly to amend their state constitution to recognize the rights of the unborn to ban funding

for abortion 59 percent voted in favor of the amendment rights of the majority of alabamans stand behind her but we should say this is still very controversial there was a very heated debate on the floor of the state legislature and alabama and on top of that we've seen a big backlash across the u.s. a controversy online as well tell us about that yeah that's right i mean this has been long been a hugely divisive issue and it's become increasingly along partisan lines democrats including several prominent presidential candidates busy lined up to denounce this bill saying don't not let this stand and it is all but certain to go to the courts just moments after the bill was passed the civil liberties organization the a.c.l.u. tweeted abortion is not a crime it's a constitutional right will sue to stop this law from ever taking effect and that would be the 1st time so you have battle alabama court 2016 the state had to pay the a.c.l.u. 1.7 $1000000.00 when it was challenge over another attempt to strict abortions

and that was struck down by federal courts peter put this into context for us because this is not just about alabama it is the latest in a series of states that up. legislation to restrict abortion so what are we looking at what's happening and where is this headed right i mean just last week georgia became the 4th state this year to pass a so-called heartbeat. that bans abortions after 6 weeks which is when doctors can generally detect the fetus as heartbeat up until now such bills have been successfully struck down and that's because abortion is a constitutional right that has to do with the landmark 1973 supreme court case robi wait which guarantees the right to abortion in the united states but republicans now believe that they have a chance to overturn that law that's because the balance on the supreme court has shifted since president donald trump became president he's had the rare opportunity

to appoint 2 judges gorsuch and brett kavanaugh both of whom have been known to come out and speak critically about roe v wade. so republicans calculus now is that they'll push as many of these anti abortion laws as possible hoping they'll get a challenger almost expecting they'll get a challenge that will then eventually end up in front of the supreme court where they then hope they now have the support to have abortions overturned you know right now reporter peter dollar following the story for us thank you so much peter thank you tony. now to some other stories making headlines around the world new zealand's prime minister just arden joined other world leaders and technology leaders in paris to explore ways to fight the spread of hateful and violent online content the initiative is called the christ church appeal had at the meeting facebook announced it would tighten access to its live streaming feature. british

prime minister theresa may says she will put her brags at deals of parliament in the 1st week of june it will be the 4th time that the house of commons has voted on the agreement with the e.u. lawmakers from the pro breaks a faction of her own conservative party have already said they will vote against it . and sudan's governing military council says it has agreed with the opposition alliance to a 3 year period for the country to change to civilian rule a spokesman for the military council said a final agreement on the balance of power would be reached within $24.00 hours. san francisco is banning facial recognition technology once signed into law it will be the 1st american city to make it illegal for local government agencies to obtain retain access or use their surveillance and the ban does not apply to federal facilities or to private companies. san francisco home to many of the world's tech . is blazing

a new path. it's restricting the use of facial recognition technology by the local government. psychologically unhealthy where people know they're being watched every aspect of the public realm on the streets in parks that's not the kind of city i will live of this as the differ whether the technology can still be used by the us federal government and private businesses in san francisco rapidly evolving recognition technology is already in use the world over at airports on social media and sporting events and even in smartphones. big players like amazon things broken i.b.m. making. billions helping both private companies and governments utilize their software the $4000000000.00 industry is expected to quadruple in size over the next decade. here in berlin the german government has started experimenting with the technology at public train stations after a terror attack at a christmas market in 2016. and companies maintain recognition software

can improve consumers' lives. like at this market in china where cameras automatically identify consumers and charge purchases to their account. things that a how is that critics of the technology say china's extensive use of facial identification software should serve as a cautionary tale the country's camera surveillance systems tracked millions of its citizens automatically. the government has even outfitted taxis with cameras that automatically identify passengers and log their trips in a central register officially to improve consumer safety however critics warn such uses are an invitation to government abuse. germany has managed to dodge recession official figures show the economy expanding by their 0.4 percent in the 1st quarter domestic consumption and a boom in the construction sector helped drive economy

a trade war and brags that had been putting the brakes on further growth the german government and leading economic institutes recently scale back their growth forecasts for the year as well. let's bring in our financial correspondent standing by in frankfurt so some good news for the german economy i should just tell us more . yes absolutely the news the figure of 0.4 percent definitely dispense concerns about a prolonged economic slowdown in the country as was been feared 2 quarters back now but having said that germany's not yet out of the woods because there is this specter of tads by president from on the auto industry or auto has been a major export for the german economy and it is almost a contraceptive percent of the total. or vehicles that are imported by the u.s. from the euro zone so that's going to be huge then the other concern is of course the escalating tensions between china and the u.s.

both of them are crucial markets for exports from germany so there are clouds on the horizon so is there a point 4 percent really something to get excited about than it is yes of course i mean most definitely investors are any day going to latch on to this number especially when you see where the german economy scumming from just 2 quarters back germany was looking staring into recession the german economy was in a contraction territory then the next quarter the 4th quarter of last year the german economy was flat so they don't want 4 percent is certainly a number to be excited about they're also for a possible green shoots that you see the unemployment is at record lows the wages are solid and that means that the household spending is going to remain solid. but there is a major caveat that it totally depends on how president drum and president xi are

going to act in the near future because that could totally did in this good aren't speaking to us from frankfurt good to talk to you. you're watching news still to come last year is your a vision song contest winner that have prizes like hell's d w she's excited that fans are visiting this year's host nation israel but the popular is even more political than usual. but 1st to ukraine where the country struggling economy and weak rule of law have led to a boo and women becoming paid for surrogate mothers the practice is being outlawed in an increasing number of countries ukraine however is among a shrinking group of nations were couples from abroad can hire women willing to carry implanted embryos but there are major ethical questions that come along with the process did over usenet connelly reports.

from over 2 years whenever the baby moves i speak to it at night when i read my children stories it's for the baby to be. because of. the talia is 8 months pregnant it's a girl but it's not hers natalia is the surrogate the baby's parents live in germany. such a happy moment when you hold your baby in your arms for the 1st time i'll be happy for them. to tell his own children with her for the day for the final months of the pregnancy she's moved to be closer to the clinic and how to. natalia took the decision to become a surrogate to help family finances so that her kids would have it better she tells us her partner earns just 200 euros a month working full time. this clinic on the outskirts of hard to attract childless couples from around the world among them the german couple whose daughter

natalia is carrying they were unwilling to be interviewed even anonymously the fear of being recognised is just too great. it's a different story with this woman from germany we're calling her and she's in her early forty's and has 6 failed attempts to get pregnant by idea behind her adoption wasn't something she has been willing to consider so so we could see an egg donation was the only option remaining a procedure that's illegal in germany ana says that is pure hypocrisy. surrogacy is illegal in germany but you see celebrities and those who can afford it doing it all the same it's when you get back to germany that social services treat you like a criminal. surrogacy is big business and one that's growing in this clinic in how to give couples pay upwards of 30000 euros for

a package i think ludes the surrogacy and egg donation there are no official statistics but insiders estimate that many hundreds of children are born to surrogates every year in ukraine. it's a month since we last met natalia now she's back with her partner and children the child she carried for the past 9 months has been with its new german family since it was born. there were the today it was a bit confusing emotionally after the baby was born on the one hand you understand that it's not your baby but you still want to know everything about it you've carried that child for 9 months but i wouldn't call it a maternal instinct you feel very clearly that it's not yours. the baby's new parents say they want to stay in touch with them talia but what does natalia take from it would she do it again for now she won't rule it out but one thing is clear

the demand is there and it's growing. now a top boxer who suddenly kissed a reporter on the lips during an interview has been suspended for fighting in california until july while gary and pull of attended a special hearing where further allegations were outlined against him. so this was the moment in march which shamed boxing hugh brett pull of had just won a fight and then did this. reporter jennifer rivaldo said she had not given consent 2 months later was all that before the california state athletic skill mission. revolver was there too and she detailed over allegations against the bulgarian boxer for you as well as i was grabbing my backpack he reached and grabbed both of my buttocks and laughed. and how did that make you feel humiliated described my stuff and laughed. it's really upsetting.

live so all love what would you i do not want him to kiss me from with his bulgarian pop star girlfriend watching on who lives punishment was handed down you suspended until late july and has to attend a sexual harassment prevention class a 2nd incident with will prompt a life in california he is sorry for any upset that he calls and he certainly acknowledges that he made a mistake but he never meant any harm and in the context of this very informal interview just minutes after a huge fight a very important victory as he said he was euphoric he didn't have his wits about him you know has to wait to see if he's been is extended worldwide. that's the euro vision song contest once again politics are overshadowing the tournament the final takes place on saturday in tel aviv among the finalists this year are the czech republic found marino iceland and australia which is represented

by classically trained soprano kate miller hype and her song 0 gravity of the 2nd round takes place on thursday before the big event this weekend activists have urged artists of visitors to boycott the eurovision in solidarity with the palestinian cause our israel correspondent tanya kramer went to tel aviv to gauge the mood. beach sun and music as the e s c as it's known to its legions of followers hits tel aviv on the beach a mix of tourists and fans with saturday's grand finale with anticipation to levy visit the city when it's it's always fun and when people from the whole europe coming here to see something i think it will become more fun then it's always. 6 to. go in the big stage here. i am happy to represent my counter banya and read this there they go.

israel is hosting this year's here edition song contest because of this single minute about silly one in lisp and last year she will perform her new single nana banana at the final on saturday. making people come here and see how amazing israel is giving us a chance to show how how how big of a party we can make and how amazing and genuine it can be energy wise. wow. 41 nations are competing to win europe's oldest song contest it's the 3rd time is violence hosted it security has been beefed up along the beach promenade but the ever glitzy event has not escaped control of the sea. the event has been highly politicized from the beginning there have been some calls to boycott the event because of israel's military occupation of the palestinian

territories. international palestinian and israeli artists signed petitions to urge others to stay way from the event now that it's arrived they still want to highlight what they see as the political reality. let's stop for a 2nd try to look at reality from a bit higher perspective not only this you know the speech is really beautiful and everybody is happy and smiling in the beer is the city. but just a few kilometers from here are really. crazy things are happening here at the eurovision press enter politics couldn't be further away the organizer of the contest the european broadcasting union has said strict rules spending politics from the stage among bloggers and journalists covering the event it's all about who is going to win this year's contest the dutch entry is one of the favorites lawrence duncan with kind of a cheesy nice ballad isn't 1st place but my favorite and my bad hopefully is

below for sony the french singer 19 years old muslim gay and he's now climbed up to 4th place in the odds hopefully a win sweden with john ludwick is 2nd place so it's within france holland that's the big battle fewer foreign visitors than expected have turned up at this pope i can madonna making a guest appearance the final on saturday is still sold out. reminder now of our top stories on d.w. the u.s. state department is pulling non-emergency staff out of iraq a lead rising tension with neighboring iran that is despite assurances from secretary of state michael pale that the u.s. is not seeking a war with iraq. and republican lawmakers in alabama have passed the u.s. the strictest abortion law advance a practice in almost all circumstances including in cases of rape and incest.

coming up on g.w. the zambian reporter fighting climate change that's in our show eco africa in just a few minutes don't go away.

go africa. moment. on a mission to save the environment. one of the yes no problems but rather new positions to get that beatrice period is a reporter in zambia she knows that nature is often pushed past its limits here because people simply don't know any better but she's determined to change the topic.

some time in the 26th. my great granddaughter people are. put with the world be like in your lifetime and around half a century. when i was there were 3 people you will share the planet with 9000000000. you were around true degrees moment. evidently sea level rise by at least one meter a century. we're going to have some climate impacts which are greater than the snow.

it's really frightening the trouble. why aren't people more concerned. through 1st. hello everyone and welcome to the latest edition of eco opic i'm now it's high in lagos nigeria and i'm very happy to welcome you today we have lots of new environmental topics and ideas and actually.