that defines overmatched. 970 the big creative teams since december 23rd. this is d w news live from berlin russia says it will retaliate after germany expels 2 of its diplomats german investigators believe russia is linked to the killing of this man in berlin a former chechen commander just a machall says shall discuss the killing with the russian president when the to meet next week also coming up. as the impeachment inquiry reaches

a climax in washington we visit a small town in virginia to find out what would an array of people there think one thing they all agree on americans are divided over this issue. and france sees its biggest strike in decades transportation networks schools hospitals all of back to today as public employees protest against pension reforms. i'm brian thomas great to have you with us moscow has warned of retaliation following the expulsion of 2 of its diplomats from germany on wednesday prosecutors here believe that russia is lying to the killing of a former chechen rebel commander identified as tongue. he was gunned down in a berlin park in broad daylight last. summer moscow is denying any involvement.

let's talk more about this with you political correspondent kate brady here in the studio with us and sure one in moscow good day to both of you keith this investigation is still ongoing but at this point what can you tell us about why you german prosecutors believe moscow was behind this killing well prosecutors have said so far that there is sufficient evidence to indicate that this killing could have been carried out by russia or chechnya so if we look 1st at just some of the circumstances even though the suspected perpetrator 49 year old russian national and he had actually already previously been wanted a different mode a case in russia also very similar to a case in which the victim was shot during a drive by shooting which was also carried out by a man on a bike that victim was also shot in the head and then if we look also that will closer as well to some of the circumstances around the victim in this case here in berlin german prosecutors have said that the victim was classified as

a terrorist by russian authorities and was persecuted as such so the victim would actually try to seek asylum here after several attempts on his life in georgia he actually spoke to his ex-wife earlier this year as well who said that we were warned that something like this would happen in the end so there are lots of indication is it the minute to suggest this but as you say the investigation is still ongoing ok and moscow's not going to cooperate fully in this investigation that says it's innocent in spite of all the indicators we've just been talking about that it hasn't rebutted and moscow says it's going to retaliate what form might that retaliation take. well of course we don't actually know yet but russia's strategy with these sort of diplomatic spots has been and with most things in fact has been a kind of tit for tat response and there has been of course a precedent for this kind of case in 2018 the attempted murder of

sergei skateball in the u.k. that was kind of a similar case the u.k. accused russia of being behind that as well and at the time the u.k. expelled 23 diplomats and russia responded by expelling 23 diplomats as well and we've heard from parliamentarians here in russia as well that they that they think that a tit for tat response and an expulsion of that same sort could be a reasonable response but i do think that we're seeing both sides and from the russian side certainly treading kind of carefully because russian german relations have been traditionally very close voices have been growing inside michael's own coalition especially within the part of the c.d.u. for a new approach to russia with this killing is any new initiative to restart relations with russia. on hold right now i wouldn't go so far as to say that they're on hold but certainly as emily mentioned the timing for these allegations couldn't be much

worse right now of course we've also just seen the tail end of the nato leaders meeting in london as well where the nato leaders were discussing how they as a group of 29 would move forward in the in how they deal with with russia and what kind of relationship nato could have with russia or in the future move closer we will have to see how this develops exactly how russia now will react so far we've heard that they will react with most likely to the tat sanctions so we are expecting to see another couple of german diplomats expelled from russia but for now it seems that thing that these talks at least about ukraine about the ukraine peace process plan for next week those will go ahead and merkel has already said however that she will be raising this issue about this killing with president putin once again. thanks very much for that and really sure women in moscow thanks so much to you as well thanks to both of you. let's get you

a brief down some of the other stories making the news at this hour polish authorities say at least 5 people have died after a gas explosion destroyed a house in the southern mountain resort children are to be among the dead rescuers are searching for a number of missing people. australia's most populous city is shrouded in an precedented pollution as severe bushfires surround us the hundreds of homes have been destroyed or people have died scientists say the fires are more intense than usual due to a prolonged drought fuelled by climate change. at least 58 people died when a boat carrying migrants capsized off the coast of more tanian us according to the international organization for migration it says the vessel departed from gambia in late november heading for europe group says more than 80 people did manage to survive the wreck. nepal is holding a mass animal sacrifice that despite criticism from rights groups and the supreme

court that it is cruel and outdated. the event is thought to be the world's biggest of its time it takes place every 5 years and attracts hindus from across the region . it's to the u.s. now where for legal experts have testified in a 2nd round of public hearings in the impeachment inquiry into president trump 3 of the 4 constitutional experts said that trump did commit an impeachable offense when he asked ukrainian president to investigate political rival joe biden. the group was called to testify before congress as top democrats lay the groundwork for formal charges the other law expert called by republicans defended from but said he did make some mistakes. so what are the people who will vote in the upcoming 2020 presidential election saying about the impeachment hearings to find out we visited a town in virginia that's a state president from failed to when in the 2016 election. blackstone is

about a 3 hour drive south of washington and the impeachment hearings going on there the residents here are proud to say that part of the south. mack osborne runs a wholesale beverage company in blackstone the trump supporter says he's doing his best to keep up to speed on what's happening in the capital and he's definitely not happy about the hearings. i don't think americans want this to go on for days and weeks and weeks and this witness and that witness and his just seems this millions of dollars being wasted and. we have so many issues national issues we need to solve this country and this system fatsis the family business man doesn't believe president trump did anything wrong with regard to ukraine. i think a lot of this is just good politics and good business you want to know where your

money should go or you want to make sure the things you're doing right before you help somebody. around 4000 people lived in blackstone roughly half a white hostler african-american the region is traditionally conservative but in the last congressional elections a democrat won the district. most african-americans were made on the street don't want to comment on the impeachment proceedings thomas tyler is an exception he says he'd rather see president trump's political fight decided at the ballot box next year you've got. to go 20 did this saddle even the people all over the place. if you replace you get rid of the man to go to the country i. mean the people who voted for. him in a local baba shop molly black occasionally chats with customers about the impeachment proceedings she says she doesn't personally follow the hearings she will remain a trump supporter regardless of what's said in washington. everybody has

their pros and cuts there's things that make a good president good and bad president bad but look at the economy now there's no reason no reason to kick it. that's no reason for the impeachment it's. going to show. how they did a great job with a figure of special counsel robert miller looking on the proprietors of a nearby bed and breakfast there hot as. the democrats and i believe the impeachment hearings are justified but i don't think the result will play a role in the upcoming elections. we go to work for clinton he says the economy stupid and basically it sounds like it's going to be they're going to look real hard and see how the economy is going that will be the advantage to you know to the current administration. republicans and democrats and blacks don't seem to agree on this point they also agree that the united states is currently deeply divided but

they differ on who's to blame. so much of france's ground to a halt as that country sees its biggest strike in decades over proposed pension reforms many people avoiding public transportation altogether this morning as rail lines schools hospitals also barely affected president mccall's plans to overhaul the retirement system would see workers retiring later or having their pensions reduced strikes open ended with some trade union leaders saying they'd continue their actions until the president abandons those plans. let's get the very latest on the strike with john laurenson a freelance correspondent joining us from paris morning john how much destruction are you expecting today and how long do you think it's going to last. well it's already started of course trance is just emerging from a dramatic rush out millions of people unable to get to work today the

railways pretty much pretty much closed down today 90 percent of rail workers are on strike and the metro systems in many cities including paris have been severely affected 11 lines in paris out of 16 completely closed buses. not really many areas ferries that are affected their airplanes and many flights canceled today just urge for that so 200 easyjet fines for example of of being canceled this morning so that's preventing a lot of french people from getting to work you've also got many public sector not just workers who are on strike today teachers for example more than half of french teachers a striking today many schools are closed down postal workers hospital staff police energy staff lawyers refuse collectors it's close to a general strike at least in the in the in the in the public sector today ok it's

the worst situation for much of this describe we've been hearing it in decades as far as strikes go and what is it about microns pension reforms that's generated so much public anger and this level of pushback. well it's very radical you can you can and you can see what he wants to do in france has a kind of the cutest system really when it comes to retirement pensions we've got 42 different sexual real pension schemes so depending on what you do if you're a real wage worker for example and then you get to retire at 55 that costs a lot of money that means that people working in other sectors for example in the private sphere they have to finance this early retirement and they have to retire later themselves because the the official return and station forces now are 60 to one so he wants to melt down all of these different systems into one universal system where there will be no is going to g.'s anymore for public sector workers

over private sector workers and this of course upsets many public sector workers because they are already not terribly well paid the yellow vests protests showed us that. they will have to work longer and receive probably lower pensions so they are saying about that mr talcott that's bringing it to a point doesn't address john thanks for that as from paris's much of france grinds to a halt today. let's stay in france that we're going to the city of leone where artists have found creative ways to bring light into the darkness. so spectacular installations on the sway of the annual festival of lights the star of the show these illuminated lanterns imaginary creatures harvard over a nature themed installation featuring $500.00 light trees

a total of 40 light installations on show with many projected on to the store architecture of leo. this is deja vue news live from berlin don't forget there's more on these and other stories at our website good of you dot com for now though for me brian thomas and the entire news team thanks so much for being here and rita will join us at the top of the. coming. of the adventures of the famous naturalist and explorer. to sing the bridge clicks on the phone while its 250th birthday we're embarking on a voyage of discovery. expedition voyage on t.w. .