this is d.w. news live from berlin heading for a showdown over a controversial gas pipeline german business leaders react with fury after u.s. lawmakers approved sanctions against north stream to the u.s. calls it a truly coersion for russia but companies in germany call for countermeasures against the u.s. . also coming up moscow expels to german diplomats the move is going to be apparent

assassination of a former chechen commander in a berlin part last summer germany order to russian diplomats to leave the country last week. and prime minister boris johnson the votes in the u.k. just general election his conservative party's lead over the opposition labor party narrowed in the final week of the campaign. i'm sumi so muskaan that's good to have you with us well it is an issue that has been causing friction between germany and the us for some years and now it has escalated the north stream to pipeline is being built to transport gas from russia to germany but the us says it is a national security risk because it increases europe's dependence on russia as a result the us has now approved sanctions on the pipeline a move that has angered many here. in germany the new sanctions target the

specialised ships that lay the massive parts. only a few companies in the world possess the technology to lay deep sea pipelines none of them is russian if they continue to work on north stream too they could find themselves cut off from doing business in the us their assets there might be frozen and people working on the ships would no longer be allowed to enter america the 1230 kilometer long pipeline is a wholly owned subsidiary of russia's gas problem and is meant to transport natural gas under the baltic sea from russia to germany directly circumventing ukraine the project is more than 80 percent completed and is supposed to start operating in mid 2020. nord stream to has the potential to double the amount of russian gas imported by germany the country needs more gas as a stable source of energy when it stops using coal and nuclear power. democrat and republican lawmakers in the u.s.

fear the pipeline could give moscow greater political leverage over germany and the entire european union which the u.s. senate is expected to approve the bill by the end of the week and president trump said on wednesday that he will sign it into law this soon as possible. our political correspondent simon young is covering this story for us and he joins us for more hi simon tell us more about some of the reactions that you've seen here in berlin this morning. yes i mean as you mentioned there's been some reaction from of german businesses the head of the german russian chamber of commerce's calling for retaliate 3 sanctions if the u.s. imposed these measures and there's also been supposed to call reaction we have the spokeswoman for peta out my he's the economics minister here this morning saying that they regret the decision of the u.s. house of representatives they reject any what they called extraterritorial sanctions and they're watching closely to see what the u.s.

senate does i believe there's going to be a vote on this measure in the u.s. senate the end of next week senate what exactly are these sanctions and what effect could they have on the pipeline project. yeah these sanctions on targeted against the companies that operate the specialist vessels that are laying the pipeline the north stream to pipeline in the baltic sea and in particular they're directed at. cher's primary shareholders and the executives of those companies. under this law the u.s. authorities would take 60 days to to determine which countries cunt companies are exactly involved and then they could proceed to impose measures like cancelling visas denying these these people entry into the u.s. and even could involve asset freezes or blocks on business activities in the u.s.

by these individuals personalized sanctions simon nordstrom to is not just a controversial project from the u.s. perspective we have to say it has opponents here in europe as well doesn't it. well that's true in particular poland is particularly unhappy about nordstrom too because it says it's being bypassed by is and it's also opposed to it on the same ground that the u.s. opposition namely that it says that europe is becoming too dependent on russian gas also i should mention ukraine which is not in the e.u. of course but it too opposes north stream too because it used to be the main transit country for russian energy exports to europe another point is that the european commission has also. been taking measures that could affect the outcome of this project. it's in posed the regulations saying that the same companies should

not be both operating the pipeline and selling the gas that flows through it that's important because it could massively affect the business viability of nord stream too and there is there are legal battles around that going on as well here in europe all right our political correspondent simon young covering the latest developments on that story for us thank you simon now russia is expelling 2 german diplomats in retaliation for the expulsion of 2 russian diplomats by berlin last week it's all linked to the killing of a former chechen commander in berlin last summer he was gunned down in a public park german prosecutors believe russia was behind the killing and the russian diplomats were expelled because berlin said moscow was not cooperating sufficiently in the investigation moscow has denied any involvement in the killing let's go to our correspondent in moscow emily sherwin is standing by for us hi

emily so we've seen russia now expel 2 german diplomats what do you make of this escalation. well sumi it is a bit of an escalation the german side has even reserved the right to take further many measures if necessary but in a way this this escalation was to be expected last week after the russian diplomats were expelled from germany the russian foreign ministry said that it would take reciprocal measures those reciprocal measures from the russian side usually take the form of a tit for tat response and that's what we're seeing now and even on monday vladimir putin the russian president said that there is what he called an unwritten law that if you expel our diplomats we will expel yours so i think in a way it is an excellent escalation but we're also kind of seeing both sides going through through the diplomatic motions as it were this is a link to the more murder of a former chechen rebel in berlin last august and prosecutors believe that there is

russian involvement there what is moscow saying about that allegation. well the kremlin has repeatedly denied any involvement in the murder they called the accusations groundless but as you already said sumi this accusation from the german side is actually that the russian side hasn't helped enough hasn't cooperated enough in the investigation of this murder and on monday again vladimir putin speaking to his german counterpart the chancellor angela merkel said that moscow is ready to help in the investigation he also said that he denied that this was a diplomatic crisis and i think we're seeing from the russian side especially that both sides are treading carefully german russian relations are traditionally very close we just heard about the north stream 2 pipeline which is supposed to connect the 2 countries directly and today we heard a statement from the kremlin spokesperson as well who said that these expulsions

today of german diplomats were necessary reciprocal measures and that he hoped that they wouldn't get in the way of further constructive ties with germany so i think both sides and especially the russian side are kind of trying to keep this scandal as small as possible and we just quickly have what we actually know we've seen from germany to the expulsion of 2 diplomats. well germany has called this measure unjustified and they also have threatened that they could take further measures going forward for it our correspondent in moscow and lee sure when reporting for us thank you. let's get a round of now some of the other stories making news around the world clashes have erupted in beirut after supporters of lebanon's 2 main shiite groups try to attack a group of anti-government demonstrators police fired tear gas to prevent supporters of hezbollah and amal from reaching the protesters the demonstrators have been calling for the 2 group's leaders to step down. and israel is heading for

an unprecedented 3rd election in 12 months on thursday the israeli parliament voted to dissolve itself after failing to form a government the country will hold new elections in march. hare's defense ministry has confirmed that suspected islamist militants killed $71.00 soldiers near the border with mali a nighttime ambush on a military camp in the inlets in the southwest also wounded 12 soldiers and left several more missing of the so-called islamic state has long been active in the area. and you have your reporter tommy on that people has been looking into this story for us he's with us here in studio hi toni what more can you tell us about this attack well reported from the defense ministry that they say hundreds of attackers came to this camp there was and she's day hundreds of them came with gunfire with mortar shells even

suicide car bombs a storm that ham the fighting went on for about 3 hours before the defense ministry says the attackers then fled across the nearby border to mali so this is this is believed to be the largest or the deadliest attack so far on asia area and troops we mentioned that the so-called islamic state is present in this area are they behind this attack what we don't know yet we'll find out soon this is the kind of attack especially one of the size that jihadi groups tend to treasure and we'll hear something from them you know soon whether in form of a statement or even sometimes a form of a recording they tend to record these attacks but the state has this growing presence in the hell not just in asia and when people look at for example syria and iraq of these human you know because the islamic state has had a decline they have and it's over that's not the case in this the hell this is a difficult place to govern and it's a place where they will feel like they can grow they can breed and they can attack

targets in that region so we're talking about a serious security risk for this the whole region can these nations cope. these are poor nations in the say hell they have vost as well the vast territory difficult to govern and they've been looking to the outside world for help because they've been struggling so we see in countries like france and the us and thousands of troops into the region to try to help france in particular has led the way it even lost a future 13 troops recently in an helicopter collision france then called a summit with some of these nations these hell nations and said let's find a new way forward but actually as a result of this latest attack francis canceled that so it's not just these poor nations that are struggling to deal with the threat but even the bigger nations france and the u.s. as well australia what can friends and also europe germany in this case do to help well friends of the of france in particular has been pressuring the rest of the world countries like germany and saying you need to do more this is not just

a local problem they say it's a global problem and they want the international community to get more involved but the moment the so much confusion so many interventions there isn't sort of global cohesive thought as to how to get the security situation to say hell sorted and that is i think the sticking point of the moment the right reporter told me a lot of bringing us this story thank you so much for joining us here in studio. now india has passed a new law that will make it easier for minorities from neighboring countries to gain indian citizenship as long as they're not muslim opposition to this law is especially strong and a state in india's northeast that borders bangladesh and has a large muslim population people there fear that undocumented the hindu migrants from bangladesh will now be granted citizenship and tip the political balance in the region. i a rupture of faith in this state. many here and

a some see the passage of the citizenship amendment bill as a clear message from the hindu nationalist government that they are 2nd class citizens. no men but if the other didn't get trying to make us minority in our own very spit in our own little religion by giving to did it the legacy of. the new law would allow non muslim religious minorities from neighboring countries like bangladesh to claim indian nationality a campaign promise delivered by prime minister modi's b j p government which denies the measure discriminates against any group here being brought up with this bill will not harm even a little bit in the minority especially our muslim brothers and sisters who live in this country because this will only give citizenship or not it doesn't take it away from anyone. but critics say the law undermines india's secular constitution and is

blatantly anti muslim in this bill they are targeting a community without being it it lives the basic structure of the constitution it is divisive and exclusive it really destabilized up polity and 18 to 20000000 people would not trust us in a tweet prime minister narendra modi hailed a landmark day for india and promised the bill would alleviate the suffering of many who faced persecution. but in a sum the bill is another reason to distrust modi's india a recent citizenship registry exercise excluded $2000000.00 people in assam who now have to prove their citizenship or be rendered stateless hindus left off the list now have protection but not muslims. who could face deportation.

2 more people have died from injuries they suffered in the eruption of new zealand's volcano that brings the confirmed death toll to 8 but that figure is expected to rise further another 8 people are still missing and more than 20 are in intensive care burn unit authorities say they will try to get on to the volcanic island on friday to recover the remains of the victims still there but the volcano is highly volatile and could put recovery teams at risk. earlier the deputy commissioner of new zealand's police gave details of the planned operation. shortly after a fierce lot tomorrow or indeed the if it suits people in capability will deploy to the armed assisted by specialist capabilities from across the seas including new zealand police. they will go onto the island and i will make every effort to recover all of the bodies from the oil and and return them to the

wanting to. and from the we will remove those bodies back to the mine mine. i have to imply that the risk has not gone the risk remains present. now to some more stories making news around the world the new york times is reporting that former hollywood movie producer harvey weinstein has reached a tentative settlement with dozens of women who accuse him of sexual misconduct the 20 $5000000.00 deal would end most civil lawsuits against weinstein but he still faces criminal charges of a sexual assault and rape in new york. and algerians are voting to elect a new president after months of political turmoil the north african nation has been in limbo for months in person since the protests helped oust longtime president a bill as his beautifully cut. voting is underway in britain's general election

conservative prime minister boris johnson is hoping to secure a majority so that he can push his brakes at plans through parliament he wants the u.k. out of the european union by the end of january johnson was ahead in the opinion polls but the opposition labor party gained ground in the final week of the campaign leaving the result wide open. and we know. how marrying his point home prime minister boris johnson canvassing for last minute votes in this brics it dominated election. and the conservative leader stayed on message throughout his final rally. well i think it's time for this country to come together and move on at the will of the people that we had. at his more low key affair labor leader jeremy corbin was keen to remind voters of the other issues. you also go down the road of investing in our country

investing to end austerity redistributing wealth and power in our society in a way that's never been seen before why the government and. it's a choice between carbon and johnson for prime minister so who do voters think it'll be. unfortunately boris to save their options. so you can be prime minister it's not. the worst thing can happen i think is for the conserve to skate in. hollywood and mining is chasing some leader of the democrats one party hoping that would happen the anti breaks that lead dams who are hoping to make gains but we've still got the chance to stop breaks that we can stop boris johnson getting a majority and what happens in the next few hours is going to be absolutely crucial to see whether that happens and then there's the scottish national party also prove to the s.n.p. is the 3rd largest party in the u.k. parliament and could hold the balance of power if there is new i right majority. we

have the prospect of another new deal cliffe age as we go through next year and i do think that get breaks it done slogan is the biggest corn in this election whatever happens at the polling station only one candidate will walk through the doors of number 10 downing street as prime minister after clearing up as many votes as they can on election day. but voting is under way let's go to london our correspondent back at nasa standing by for us there hi vericut breaks it has been an extremely a divisive issue in british politics how much have you seen that reflected in this election campaign. really it is a big issue for british society and it played out in the election campaign when very big parties accuse each other of dirty tricks for example the conservative party they changed social media their twitter handle to a fact checking and even though it was the official conservative party twitter

account but also generally in society i've spoken to very says who've always voted labor the whole life they are in a very safe labor seat or at least so far it was a very safe labor seat but they said they just can't bring themselves to vote for for jeremy corbyn they used a lot of colorful language to express describe him and equally i've spoken to ex conservative m.p.'s who described boris johnson the prime minister as a charlatan and a liar so it's a big issue and it's going to stick around i think in british society for some time to come and we've seen the polls are tightening in the run up to the election day bagot do we have any real indication of how the country will vote today. well sumi in the last weeks initially it was assumed that it would be. a landslide a majority of for boris johnson that he so desperately craves to get his

breakthrough deal over the line but now it's recently has been tightened up a little bit so there is still a chance that there could be a hung parliament which opens up the possibility for jeremy corbyn the labor opponent to to lead to lead the country however it's worth noting that both leaders are not very popular they have negative ratings and that passed in the opinion poll ratings so neither of them are really an asset to the party but you can you give us a rundown of what happens next depending on the outcome of course of the selection . well if corgan dusts form some form of most likely a minority government then we would most likely see a 2nd referendum a so-called people's vote on the original bricks and vote so that would happen at some point most likely next year if boris johnson gets his majority he has said

that he will then leave britain out of the you by the end of january however he then places that quite allergists house to negotiate again with the european union this time not to withdraw all the exit from the e.u. but the future relations so it's about trade deals it's about security partnership and he has said that he will get all that done by the end of next year and this is a message i think that went on quite well with a lot of very seasoned easy message making it seem like child's play many critics many experts here say that these negotiations cannot really be done in a few months that trade negotiations normally take years and well that this whole brics debate is going to hold the country not for months but probably for years to come right our correspondent very good last covering the u.k. election for us all there all day there from london thank you barry. but labor has gotten a boost from a high profile supporter in the u.k.

this man hip hop superstar storm z. the rapper who grew up in south london is now the king of the hip hop genre known as grime of the 26 year old's new album called heavy is the head drops on friday take a look. for just a. big man and an even bigger musician sometimes grime rapper storms he can hardly believe his luck with. the highlight of his career so far being the 1st black solo artist to headline glastonbury the u.k.'s most important music festival she. has been celebrated as the king of crime a form of rap originating from this neighborhood in la and. i put success comes responsibility for. all. who you are can take you know always starving for whatever i need to starve while i'll fight for war me to fight for but. sometimes our dresses are just some of us are human and sometimes it's for

peer. tara for. some modern day fairy tale storm seaborne michael mari grew up in south london. no one he's known was ever successful he says growing up here as a black kid let's just look. at storms he made it all the way to the top he's the king on the cover of his new album he's even wearing a crown the picture that's now on display at london's national portrait gallery. the 26 year old rapper experiments with soul and blues as well and he's worked with some big names like ed sheeran who features on storms his new album last out of the one of. those storms he also gets involved in his community every year he pays for 2 black students to study at cambridge university. they want.

the summer came from a sort of. a wizard to be the prime minister 1st. of. all 4 with new elections coming up strong as he hopes for a change and if that doesn't happen he can still celebrate the release of his new album heaviest the had comes out this friday. from. ok let's get a recap now of our top stories here on. the u.s. house of representatives has passed a bill imposing sanctions on projects intended to pipe russian gas to germany those sanctions affect construction of the north stream to pipeline the movie is expected to draw an angry response from germany and russia. and the russian foreign ministry is expelling 2 german diplomats in a dispute over the killing of

a former chechen commander in a poor lynn park last summer it's being seen as retaliation after berlin expelled 2 brush and diplomats last week. coming up next our show focus on your reports on the look the way us battle against cyber crime don't forget you can always get the latest news and information around the clock on our website dot com thank you for watching.

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on d w. into the conflict zone to sebastian. my guest this week yearly rome is the jesuit priest father hans solo who is a leading expert on such oil the use of a mobile kludgy those the bossa consume us about the real challenge for will continue to provide opportunity and cover the priests who commit these awful flamingos conflicts. in 60 minutes on g.w. . i subscribe to g.w. books you meet your favorite writer sometimes the story calls me and you have to respond to every box on you tube. i want to see if you when i arrived

here i slept with 6 people in a room for the night similar it was hard to shred. i even got white hairs that. benjamin language and not often this gives me and make up but uniquely took in truck loads of like you want to know their story my kids are fighting and reliable information for migrants. alone a very warm welcome indeed to focus on europe with me peter craven and we begin this week with the threat posed by russian cyber attacks on the west we're not just talking about data theft but also the spreading of what's described as industrial

scale dist information and computer experts loyal to the kremlin so-called trolls are accused of infiltrating so.