reporter: they were said to have fled in a taxi and are sought by malaysian police. there have been attempts on him in the past orchestrated by his brother and john yang, adding to the intrigue surrounding his death. brent: to navigate these murky korean waters, i am joined by our analyst. let's talk about what we know now. we are getting reports that the brother of the north korean leader may have been murdered i north korean agents. are we talking about fratricide? are we talking about a brother having his half brother killed? guest: this is only speculation. dealmaking we know is that his half brother is dead in malaysia.

they both announced the result of it. until then, we don't know what happened. even in case he was murdered, poisoned, or whatever. brent: poisoned, yeah. guest: rather strangely, on the way through the security at airport -- at the airport. by two ladies from the backside. had you not realize two ladies are behind you and sticking you with needles? and even in case it would be a murderer, why should kim jong un , the leader of north korea, let him be murdered? he was a colorful figure. brent: from what we know about kim yong no -- guest: he was a colorful figure.

he was stopped at the japanese airport in tokyo with a false passport. the reason why he wanted to go to japan is that he wanted to visit disneyland. brent: disneyland? guest: disneyland in japan. this was a figure that nobody could take seriously. and his brother was not in danger to be toppled by him. brent: his brother, of course, is someone we are all taking very seriously. particularly following this new missile test. what do you think is -- how serious is this? last night, we talked with the former u.s.he said a nuclear noa could now be just months away. guest: again, this is speculating. of course, north koreans are working very hard to develop a deployable nuclear bomb to be

mounted on a rocket. by having a nuclear device, that is one thing. the second thing is having small ties to -- [indiscernible] i think, rather far away from that. brent: the technology is improving. guest: indeed. month by month. they be if not this year, maybe next year they might you ready to have that kind of rocket with a nuclear device on top of it. brent: right. our very own each -- east asian analyst. we appreciate your insights. it is valentine's day, if you didn't know. it's a big occasion on the calendar for the world's romantics. it is named after saint valentine, the patron saint of lovers. he is said to be born in the third century in the italian city of tandy. dozens of lovebirds flocked to the city this weekend to make,

as you can imagine, a promise that is supposed to last forever. reporter: love is in the air. all of these couples are to be married in the coming year. they wanted to declare their love publicly in time for valentine's day. they wanted to do it at the san basilica where saint valentine was born. they were waiting in the cold, all 240 of them. couples came to tandy from all over italy. a collective promise of marriage in front of the bishop. >>[speaking italian] reporter: we are getting married in august. this seems to be the right place to promise our love. we arrived in saint valentine and live our love.

valentine's day isn't just for couples like these. in new york's times square, couples -- a segment in the heart represents the number of immigrants from a specific country now living in the city. the group behind the work said it was a reaction to last year's divisive u.s. election. >> we cemented our proposal to the piece a few days after donald trump was elected president. there is no doubt this was conceived as a reaction to that moment. a way for all of us to voice our alarm at the kinds of things we heard during the election. reporter: and the artists hope their message will resound beyond february 14. the sculpture will remain in place for another three weeks. brent: got to love love. you're watching dw news live from berlin. till to come, rumors in the auto sector. the french carmaker psa is in talks with the american giant general motors.

gm's opel brand could be up for sale. we will be her to tell you about that. stick around.

brent: welcome back. here with dw news live from berlin. the headlines. the white house has played down controversy surrounding the resignation of national security adviser michael flynn. the members of congress, including some republican senators, are calling for a full investigation into the trump administration's ties to russia. it comes after flynn stepped down amid accusations he discussed u.s. sanctions against russia with the russian ambassador before trump took office. police and militia have confirmed the astray's half-brother of north korean leader kim jong-il and has died. media reports allege that kim jong-nam was killed by two women believed to be north korean agents. no poisoning here. we will talk business.

volkswagen had to cough up over its dirty diesel scandal. it seems to be poisonous for the company, daniel. daniel: more and more fines racking up for the united states, france. swag and could pay $1.2 billion to fix or buyback nearly 80,000 polluting diesel vehicles in the united states. that is after a judge passed for luminary approval for the compensation deal on tuesday. it brings the sum total of volkswagen compensation payments to $24 billion. in a separate case, the supplier to the car company bosch was given approval to pay $230 million to u.s. volkswagen owners. general motors is meeting with french car manufacturer persia. gm could be selling its main brand in europe, opel. here is why. in 2012, opel posted an operating loss of close to $2 billion. in 2014, losses amounted to over

$1 billion. last year, opel promised to break even, but it couldn't. $300 million in losses reported. a lot of these loss on the balance setrehenc expes have pointed to the ntia for synergy between the two countries. for us, there is a strong existing cooperation that could be expanded. but that is not all. >> from the perspective of general motors, it is understandable that given opel's long history of lossmaking in europe, it would try to pull away from risk. from uncertainty. peugeot wants to build a big conglomerate. that is risky. daniel: the opel plant in the west german city of brussels, reactions were mixed. some are skeptical to deal with succeed while others expected both firms to put profit above all else, even at the worker's expense. >> i can't imagine it.

general motors has always been concerned with maximizing profits. with peugeot, it won't be any different. daniel: the marriage between these firms is not a done deal yet, but the prospect of job cuts has already landed. >> i find it unacceptable that such talks are taking place without the works council having been consulted. or without the knowledge of the metalworkers union. that cannot be done. i can only urgently request that the retention of jobs at the site be given priority, and that employees are included in the negotiations. daniel: opel has played a key role in the history of the german car industry. that it has not always been an easy ride. the firm has weathered one crisis after another. even if it's massive debt problem could prove to be a mere bump in the road, that is if gm's sale goes without a hitch.

a lot of livelihoods depend on it. >> in 1924, the tree frog was an innovative rake through. it was the first assembly line produced car in germany. the bright green two-seater pave the way for opel to become germany's biggest carmaker. that success held for a while, helped along by other models like the cadet and the record. but opel's star started to dim in the 1980's. the managers made for cost-cutting decisions and sheet metal caused the car to rust quickly. since then, opel has suffered an image problem. the financial crisis of 2008 saw a global demand for cars screeching to a halt. opel's american parent company, general motors, teetered on the brink of bankruptcy. threatening to take opel with it. jim considered selling opel but eventually shelled the idea. instead, savings measures were

meant to pull opel back into the black. but it was the workers who lost out. factories in antwerp and in vocal germany -- they were closed. gm promised to hold on to opel. >> with sales of more than one million vehicles last year, opel is clearly a vital part of our company. it is the third largest passenger car brand in europe. and it will be an exclusive mainstream brand in western europe for general motors. >> three years later, the mood has changed. a sale could be in the works. peugeot and opel have corroborated for years on family vans, for example. there ties could get closer. >> i could imagine a real synergy here with opel and peugeot with two were three platforms they could rely on. the could produce 600,000,

700,000, or 800,000 cars per platform. it sounds very democratic, but how much can we exercise a platform to keep costs down? reporter: opel provides 36,000 jobs in europe, more than half of them in germany. it is not just economically significant, but politically as well. >> for us, it is crucial to safeguard jobs and keep the location operating so that opel can stay competitive in a global market. reporter: the deal isn't signed and sealed yet. but in the very place that adam opel founded the company, faces have become a common site. daniel: that wraps up business. brent is rolling out the red carpet. brent: going back to the movies, daniel. the film festival is underway tonight, taking a look at a finnish film that finds the humanity and the humor behind the refugee crisis. the other side of hope tells the

story of a syrian refugee that makes it all to way to finland. it shows how fate can bring people together in difficult or's with touching and sometimes hilarious results. reporter: it is as warmhearted as it is disturbing. set in finland, the other side of hope tells the story of a syrian refugees struggling to start again. >> i live here. this is my bedroom. >> no way. this is my field. >> says who? >> say i. >> we will fight. >> i am bigger >> so what? reporter: a clemson to one man's tragedy. a use comedy to shine a light on the humanity behind the refugee crisis. tenderly shot, it is his own eccentric vision of how the world can be a better place. and it was those very ingredients that made for a

performance like no other. >>[singing] reporter: talk of crisis was broken up by an impromptu rendition of finnish tango. [applause] >> i was very modest. i did not want to change the audience. i wanted to change the world. first, i change europe. then we go to asia. [laughter] reporter: despite the humor, the message behind the film is not lost on its audience. nor, indeed, its cast. >> i have family members that have been refugees. from syria. being from syria, these stories are like families and friends. if not friends, it's your

neighbor. the stories -- it is unfortunate in our daily life. reporter: they are a regular at the berlin red carpet. this will be the first time one of his films is competing. and after its first screening, it is already being tipped as one to watch. brent: brent and our very own charlotte caught up with the man that plays the lead role in the other side of hope. the actor, writer, and filmmaker. reporter: do you have any personal connection to the stories we have seen in the film? any family that have been affected? >> in deed. i have family members that have been refugees. i am from syria. being from syria, it's like all the stories are like -- if not family, friends. if not friends, it's your neighbor. it is everywhere.

unfortunately, it is now our daily life. reporter: what do you hope the audience will take from this film? what do you hope it will achieve? >> it is beautiful that we got to berlin. it is a huge platform. we reach as many as possible. i think there is a very beautiful message in it. there is still hope. and hopefully, we can achieve it. reporter: i love the film, thank you so much. thank you. brent: here is a reminder of the top stories we are following for you. the white house has played down controversy surrounding the resignation of michael flynn. embers of congress including republican senators are calling for a full investigation into the trump administration's ties to russia. it comes amid flynn stepping

down after discussing sanctions with russia before trump took office. after a short break, i will be back to take you through the day. he will have an in-depth look at a white house, tonight, under leak lockdown. we will be right back. ♪

[captioning made possible by wvpt] >> it's about history, policy, and impact. a new perspective on current affairs, bringing experience, insight, civility, and scholarship to the urgent issues of today. it's about our past, present, and future. your host, pulitzer prize-winning author and journalist doug blackmon. from the university of virginia's miller center, this is "american forum." douglas blackmon: welcome back to "american forum." i'm doug blackmon. a year ago, dozens of ly