berlin. britain raises of the terror threat level to critical, meaning an attack is believed to be a minute. this after terrorists struck the british capital. a homemade bomb exploding on a commuter train, injuring 29. police have launched a massive manhunt for the suspect. also coming up, and outrageous provocation, north korea's latest missile launch drawing condemnation. that as the you and secure to counsel prepares for an emergency meeting, world powers are divided over how to respond to the growing threat.

and, who is going to buy air berlin. a pilot strike ended billion euros of debt not deterring would-be buyers. the deadline for bids closed earlier today. and mission complete. nasa's spacecraft takes a plunge into saturn's atmosphere. it marks a grand finale after 20 years exploring saturn. it was an emotional day for scientists at nasa and in the end of an era. ♪ host: i'm sarah harmon. welcome to the show. good to have you with us. britain has raised its terror alert level to critical, the highest possible level. that means a terror attack is expected imminently.

it comes after a homemade bomb exploded on a commuter train in london, injuring 29 people. prime minister theresa may made the announcement a few minutes ago. theresa may: i said earlier today that the national threat level was under review. the joint terrorism analysis center, the independent organization which is responsible for setting the threat level on the basis of available intelligence, has now decided to raise the national threat level from severe to critical. this means their assessment is that further attacks may be imminent. sarah: police have launched a major investigation following the attack today. so-called islamic state has claimed responsibility, the fifth terror attack to hit great britain this year. >> the bomb exploded on a train at green station in southwest london. correspondent: passengers said

loud noises, then a fireball erupted from a bucket near the back of the train. >> and suddenly i heard a big bang. i turned left and i saw the fireball. meanwhile, i heard a lot of ladies screaming and crying. people where panicking. at that time i realized what was going on. correspondent: a number of wires protruded from the bucket. police say it was an improvised explosive device, suggestions that it may have had a timer. some suffered burns, others were trampled in a stampede as people left the train. >> on the platform, people were trying to get out of the station. that is when people started falling over each other, hurting themselves. >> there were people sort of saying there was an assailant on the train and that make people more scared. maybe a weapon, it went to

everyone's heads, people were screaming and shouting it. it was chaos, like, it was every man for himself to get downstairs. and it is a very tight exit. correspondent: midmorning, scotland yard announced they were assessing the incident as a terrorist attack. >> and at this stage we are treating the matter as a terrorist related incident. and the metropolitan police command will take responsibility for the investigation. correspondent: investigations into who planned and carried out the attack are sarah: earlier i spoke with a sociologist in london that specializes in countering violent extremism. he is a visiting fellow at the london school of economics. i began by asking him what he made of the claim that the

islamic state made about the attack. >> they tend to make a claim after all incidents, whether there is a relationship or not,, so i think it is part of their strategy. you cannot quite dismiss it either, because any other clues as to who was behind the attack we will go with what we know best. and i think what we know is that these kinds of attacks seem to come from these groups. sarah: looking at the specifics of the attack, it was an improvised explosive device. does it fit the pattern of other attacks we have seen recently in europe and the u.k.? >> so we have had a lot of attacks over the last 24 months in europe and western europe in particular. it has been a particular type of attack where knives have been used, and motor vehicles, but this is not like that. it is an ied, similar to the concept used in the -- attacks.

we do not know how it was put together, how it was detonated. sarah: that was -- from the london school of economics. the unsecured council will hold an emergency meeting after the latest missile launch from north korea, which found a missile over japan for the second time in less than a month. they came days after this it could council imposed fresh sanctions on north korea for refusing to rein in its weapons program. correspondent: the sirens wailing again in japan's north, another missile alarm. it happened and now seeking safety, go to a building or a seller. -- cellar. >> the three of us ran to the bathtub. correspondent: north korea's dictator kim jong-un, saying an archive footage, has been provoking neighboring countries in the last few weeks.

at the end of august, a missile flew over japan. this time it went higher and further. >> north korea has trampled over the strong will of the united international community to find a peaceful solution. we cannot accept these provocations. correspondent: in washington, u.s. secretary of state rex tillerson made his stance clear. >> across the globe, democratic nations are under threat. in east asia, an isolated regime in north korea threatens democracies in south korea, japan, and more recently has expanded those threats to the united states, endangering the entire world. correspondent: the north korean launch may also have been a warning in the direction of the u.s. the american territory of guam lies within reach of north korean missiles. obviously they feel threatened,

so they decided to flex muscles with their own missile exercises. >> north korea should clearly realize it is facing downfall because of his diplomatic and economic isolation. correspondent: later on friday, the unsecured council was to hold an emergency meeting on the latest north korea launch at the request of the united states and japan. sarah: we are going to our correspondent in washington with more. we heard earlier today from donald trump's national security advisor who says sanctions are important, but there is a military option. how much space is left for diplomacy here? >> diplomacy will always be the first option, at least that is what ambassador nikki haley made clear hours ago. she said it is important to try all the diplomatic approaches at the u.s.'s disposal.

at the same time, the security advisor said that there is a military option. but this is not what he would prefer. he also tried to explain with a metaphor, saying they have been kicking the can down the road and now they are out of road. no one really understands these words as described in the military option. and the diplomatic options are limited. it is a vicious cycle of sanctions on north korea from the united nations, with new missile tests from north korea aside. all eyes looking at next week's general assembly in new york where north korea will be definitely one of the highest priorities. sarah: absolutely. all eyes on that meeting. what can the u.s. do besides sections to change the behavior of north korea --besides sanctions to change the behavior of north korea? >> the fact that they sent a

missile last night could be a sign that they are not really impressed at all with the sanctions. this is the second missile to fly over japan and less than a month, and there has been already about eight sanctions from the united nations on north korea since 2006, that is when they had the first nuclear test. the last sanctions this month have been the toughest ever, even though they were not as tough as donald trump wanted them to be. these were the toughest ever against north korea, so the sanctions are not really changing their behavior. not yet, maybe because the effect has not kicked in yet. they are understood as a provocation. and the north korea response to that is another missile test. sarah: thank you. we want to take a look at some other stories making news around the world. parliament of iraq's kurdish region has voted to hold a

referendum on independence, taking place on september 25. the central government opposes the plan, so the neighbors like iran and turkey who fear that independence with fuel separatist movements in their own populations. and anti-terror police in france searching an apartment believed to be linked to a man that attacked a soldier. nobody was injured in the attack and the assailant was arrested. and at least 33 people have drowned as an overloaded boat capsized in northern nigeria. emergency services say the accident took place in a remote area. some two dozen others are still missing. the death toll is expected to rise. the bidding war is over, but the future of air berlin is still very much in the air. for the latest i have kristof with us from our business desk. >> we will get to that in a

second. i understand you have personal grievances against this very same company? sarah: it was in the news they canceled hundreds of flights after a bunch of pilots called in sick and my flight was one of them. i was in los angeles trying to get back to berlin. >> this week? sarah: it was on tuesday. i had a shift to do on wednesday and, yeah, nothing. my flight was canceled, no information or help at the airport. it was a frustrating situation. >> made and not help you? sarah: no. the hot line was busy and in the end they rebooked me. i had a direct flight to berlin. then i ended up taking a three legged flight. i missed work. it left me feeling hopeless. as a consumer i felt like air berlin had given up, they are not trying to win the trust and respect of the passengers

anymore. i do not know, but i know you will tell us more about that. >> we are glad he made it back eventually. and the sale of the company is moving forward. there was lively interest by investors as the bidding for air berlin closed today. even as the bidders offered proposals, the fate of the airline remains unclear. correspondent: anyone waiting with baited breath for the close of bidding was disappointed. instead, a bland announcement that the decision on the future of air berlin will come on september 25, one day after the german federal election. the airline's faye is a political hot potato. >> the latest news of the deadline today, 2:00 p.m., is we have received numerous offers which we must evaluate in detail. it will take a number of days. the results will be presented on september toy five and that is when the final -- 25, and that is when the final decision will

be made. correspondent: most commentators expected air berlin's main rival to acquire large parts of the carrier, especially as valuable landing rights and fleet of aircraft, but germany's biggest carrier cannot take over air berlin entirely because of competition concerns. the deal is likely to leave lufthansa the elephant in the room. others who registered interest included a former racing driver and travel giant thomas cook. louda is interested in buying back in airline that he had founded, which was absorbed by air berlin in 2011. the ceo of air berlin says he has spoken with 10 investors, but ryan air is no longer interested as the boss has repeatedly stated. meanwhile, air berlin continues flying for now. a pilot sick out is over. the check-in counters are

running smoothly. >> the flights have been continuing normally in the last two days. earlier in the week we had a big problem due to an elevated number of employees calling in sick. that has improved substantially and at the moment we are able to offer smooth and a stable service. correspondent: but the destiny of air berlin is as before, up in the air. >> well, bankrupt air berlin trying to keep those airplanes in the air. ryan air is canceling up to 2100 flights in the coming weeks. the carrier claims it wants to let cabin crew and pilots go on annual leave so they can improve capacity and restore punch while the when the winter schedule -- punctuality when the winter schedule comes in to check. many passengers reacting with

fury they had not been informed sooner. and bitcoin under fire, losing 12% of its value in one day. china has ordered all bitcoin exchanges to stop trading. they must present a plan to return money back to traders, beijing tightening regulations around the digital currency in recent weeks fearing instability from speculation. in new york, trading bitcoin has recovered, slightly. now for more, we will go over to our wall street correspondent. china is shutting down all bitcoin exchanges. tell us about the ramifications of this move. >> i mean, we do not have hard figures but there are estimates that actually china is roughly looking at about 20% of the bitcoin activities from this move, that this actually could hurt. and we thought early on, in the

friday session when the bitcoins dropped by another 11%, dropping below the $3000 mark. just a reminder, two weeks ago bitcoin traded higher than $5,000. >> what is the word on wall street? will others follow suit? correspondent: china actually might be a special case. some of the bitcoin transactions are hard to track and this is probably something the chinese government does not necessarily appreciate. if you look at the moves in the friday session, during the day we saw quite a recovery of bitcoin from the lows, gaining about printer $50. up -- $350. up 11%. the worst fears are getting quieter. >> earlier this week, the jpmorgan ceo said that the coin is a fraud and will eventually

blow up -- the bitcoin is a fraud and will eventually blow up. is he right? jens: jamie dimon also said that they are risky and more troublesome than what we have seen with the two lip prices in the netherlands. on one side, he could be talking textbook as bitcoin and other crypto currencies are competitors to some of the banking business of the traditional banks. we should not forget, it is still a rather young industry. yes, there is a lot of wild stuff going on, not just with bitcoin, but with other crypto currencies. the so-called ico market that is the equivalent of ipo's here on the stock market. you and i could give out bitcoins, the question would be if anybody give us the money. so there is wild stuff going on, but the jury is still out and it is too early to release a that

bitcoin actually are blowing up, how jamie dimon put it. >> thank you. and from wall street to silicon valley, which has faced charges a treat men and women differently in terms of pay and career options. now three former google employees, women, suing the firm on claims of unfair pay. correspondent: google in the crosshairs. three former employees filing a class action suit in san francisco, claiming they were promoted less than male colleagues. it is a criticism that echoes across california. >> the issue of gender and diversity in silicon valley is a hot topic right now. a lot of companies are being criticized for not hiring enough women and minorities. google has about 31% women. when it comes to leadership positions, about 25%. it is similar to those other tech companies like facebook,

twitter and uber. correspondent: the u.s. labor department conducting an investigation of its own. thousands of employees at the cup and he could be affected. activists say gender inequality in tech firms is a worldwide problem. >> mission complete for the spacecraft. sarah: it is an incredible story. mission accomplished for the spacecraft that sent back one last image today before making a programmed plunge into the atmosphere of the planet, then this integrated. for scientists it was an emotional into an era. it had been exploring saturn for nearly 20 years and is sending data back to earth. during the journey, the probe orbited the planet nearly 300 times, making major discoveries along the way. and also gave us close ups of titan, one of the 60 moons of saturn. correspondent: titan looked like

a yellow dot when the mission began. the space probe peered through the atmosphere and photographed landscapes not unlike some on earth. planetary scientists could now explore distant worlds with 3-d models rendered with the data transmitted from the probe. this scientist working on the mission since 1990. >> we are writing science history. and we are all well aware of it. just being able to witness this is amazing. we will all be sad when there is no new data after september 15. correspondent: the mysterious moon was previously visited in 2005. built and operated by the european space agency, this probe was taken to saturn by cassini, which sent the data back to earth.

it was the first ever landing in the outer solar system and it put the esa on the map. >> doing something like that so far from earth was an immense achievement. the computers on the two probes had to work on their own, rather to collaborate. the signal transit time. is 90 minutes everything had to be programmed in advance. correspondent: scientists could observe how titan changed over the course of seasons. rivers and lakes evaporate. clouds form. there is even precipitation. the same cycles as on earth. except the rain does not consist of water, it is liquid methane. another one of saturn's moons yielded the biggest surprises. on its south pole, kissing you

revealed plumes of water shooting 500 kilometers high. it is a sign the men could have an ocean under its icy crust. the ocean floor could have hot springs and it might even support life. scientists believe that the first signs of life on earth emerged from such sources. their water is full of nutrients. the probe has been programmed to take its last plunge and burn up in the atmosphere of saturn. in the course of its mission, the probe gathered in valuable data about the second largest planet in the solar system. by the time kissing the' -- cassini's last signals came to mission control, there was nothing left of the probe itself. sarah: for more i am on the line with ralph, who you saw in the piece. he is on the phone from pasadena. the space probe is no more, a bittersweet day for scientists

like yourself. how do you feel? ralph: it is bittersweet. we have been this morning sitting with about 500 people, 300 scientists, and when the signal is lost there was -- it was very silent. and you could see the people had been really sad. on the other hand, we had one of the greatest missions mankind ever did, so it really is bittersweet. sarah: we have learned about saturn and its moons because of cassini. what stands out to you for its legacy? ralph: there are many things, but for most of my colleagues the eruptions on the moon and also, let's say the liquid methane on titan, that was really outstanding.

on the other hand, there is a lot about the rings. we thought we understood them, now we have so much information about them that we need many years to really understand them. sarah: scientists at nasa sent cassini crashing into saturn because they did not want damage to be cost to the moons -- caused to the moons. what is so special about them? ralf: both of them have water oceans beneath the crust. that is very special. we could mention it for titan and we really could see it on the other men, because the water was -- moon, because the water was coming outnd freezing in space. cassini has proof there is water in the outer solar system. so there are other places which also have oceans like earth, and

have these oceans today, so that is very interesting. and probably, i'm not a biologist, but the biologists are correct. oceans to the rocky core, those are regions where the nutrients are that can build life. sarah: potentially these moons could have the conditions necessary to support life. fascinating discovery. cassini is no more, so what comes next? ralf: i think we are going back and looking to be moons of jupiter. there are two of them. and europa, which also has oceans beneath the crust. i think that is the next up. nasa is doing the next step. after this, i am pretty sure we

will go to one of these moons and land and probably get to those places where we can look into the interior. i think we are not able to drill, but there could be some kind of cracks where we can see what is coming out of the interior. sarah: the future looks bright for space exploration. thank you for being with us. and that is your dw news at this hour. 'sara harmon in berlin. you can findhe latest on o website, dw.com. gobye for now. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

♪ host: hi everyone and welcome to our highlights show with the best picks of the week. here's a look at what's coming up. culinary champion, we'll meet the world's best female chef. beautiful balance, we'll find out what's behind the scandinavian lifestyle trend "lagom". and artificial artists, we'll look at how creative robots can be. we all know that first impressions are the most important. and this applies to album covers as well. musicians often spend just as much time picking out the right album cover as they do recording just the right song. and famous artists often take