berlin. on this international women's day, protests around the world for greater equality, including istanbul, where thousands have been marching to demand an and to violence and oppression against women. also coming up, germany's foreign minister is leaving his post after a bitter row with party leadership. it means he will be part of angela merkel's new coalition government. and u.s. president donald due to sign off on a controversial steel and aluminum import tariff shortly. will he deliver more clarity of what he has planned? ♪

sarah: i'm sarah kelly. welcome. thanks for joining us. on this international women's day, women around the world have staged protests against gender inequality. thousands have flooded spain's capital, madrid and women across the country are staging a 24-hour walkout to demand an end to unfair wages. and from this morning women have been gathering in solitary around the me too movement in various cities including new delhi and jerusalem. in turkey's capital, istanbul, thousands to to do street this evening calling for an end to violence against women. a short while ago our correspondent in istanbul talked to us from the center of the demonstration. >> we are at one of the major demonstrations in istanbul today. the atmosphere is full of

excitement. it is a cheerful atmosphere. the women are trying to make some noise, many are blowing whistles and drums. it is a day of celebrations but here in turkey is also a day of protests. women are shouting slogans like, freedom for all, we are stronger together, we are against male dominance. so, it is of course a show of self-respect here. they are celebrating themselves but they also have a lot of criticism for it the conservative, patriarchal, male-dominated society here in turkey. sarah: in other news, the german foreign minister has announced he will not be part of chancellor angela merkel's new coalition government. that is after rumors of a bitter row with leaders of his own social democratic party. gabriel's replacement is likely to be the outgoing justice minister.

this news made for a slightly uncomfortable minister by gabriel today at scheduled press conference with his counterpart from bosnia herzegovina. >> it was a routine appointment but for gabriel, things are anything but routine right now. the meeting with his bosnian counterpart was his last official international engagement. gabriel has been germany's foreign minister for just over a ar. during that time he became the country's most popular politician, even beating chancellor merkel in opinion polls. here and much respect for his work. for example, his handling of strained german-turkish relations. gabriel often met his turkish counterpart and invited him to his home as he worked to get german journalists and human rights activists released. he succeeded in part. some of the prisoners were freed. but there is another side to

sigma gabrielle. he is notoriously volatile. on the sidelines of the munich security conference he broke ranks and appealed for sanctions against russia to be lifted following a cease-fire in eastern ukraine. >> i am convinced that if we succeed at this, we must begin to gradually lift the sanctions. i know that the official position on this is different. >> more importantly, gabriel irritated members of his own party and attacked then-monte -- that-party leader monte schulz, which many found unforgivable. above all, his relationship with the future party leader is viewed as dysfunctional. now media reports say his successor will be the previous justice minister. sigma gabriel is playing down the loss of his position. when asked about why he was leaving he had positive words.

>> if it is true that he will be the new form minister, i have a really good feeling. he will do an excellent job. take care, bye. sara: a lighthearted departure, there. let's bring in political correspondent kate brady. kate, and unbelievably popular politician in the country and one of the best-known politicians as well, also internationally. but he has ruffled a lot of feathers, hasn't he? >> he has and he had one particular upset recently which really put the nail in his coffin for his career as the german foreign minister. you may remove or just a few weeks ago when the social democrats and conservatives first agreed on that grand coalition deal, and martin schulz, the spd leader at the time said he would be vying for the position of foreign minister. gabrielle responded by saying

this was schulz breaking promises. after the election in september schulz said in fact he would never serve as a minister in a divided government. but gabrielle one one step further to personally insult schulz and gabrielle quoted his daughter as saying she had told him, daddy, don't worry, now we can spend more time together and you won't have to spend as much time with the man with the hairy face. and it was actually this personal comments that meant that the spd disqualified gabrielle from serving again is foreign minister. so he will be returning to the german bund is dog -- german bundestag as a normal member of parliament. sarah: what is this likely to mean for german foreign policy? what do we know about his successor, haeckel maas. >> haeckel maas, for the last

four years has served as germany's justice minister, so i suppose he has absolutely no experience in foreign policy. so it will be interesting to see how he brings his own style to the table. he is not quite as direct as gabrielle, from what we have seen in the german parliament. he is more of a shy kind of character, but that could also be useful in diplomatic occasions. and of course this will be a challenge in time for germany, in terms of foreign policy. there is a lot of pressure coming from other european countries, particularly from france as emmanuel macron the french president tries to push through eu reforms. and outside the eu, many countries are looking to berlin to see what their clear stance is on several issues and want germany to step up their game on the world stage. sarah: they're looking for stability, that is for certain, kate.

but when we look at the spd we have seen this internal wrangling going on in the party, and it is about to assume three key ministries with its incoming coalition. as the party have its house in order? >> well, we will know for sure tomorrow exactly who is going to be taking over a total of six ministerial posts from the social democrats. and then it will be a little clearer. but it does seem the social democrats do have quite a clear agenda as to who they want to put forward into angela merkel's cabinet. three of the six ministerial posts given to the spd will be field by women, that we know already. the current family minister, she is currently tapped to take over maybe the labor ministry. so there is a real clear agenda here to get more women and also younger faces into the ministries.

sarah: kate brady in berlin, thank you. let's get a quick check of other stories making news around the world. the trial has opened in denmark of the man accused of killing swedish journalist kim wall. danish inventor peter madsen has denied murdering the journalist on his submarine, but he has admitted to dismembering and disposing of her body after what he says was a neck dental death. police in britain say 21 people had to receive medical treatment after the nerve agent attack on a russian double agent and his daughter. investigators are treating it as an attempted murder. lawmakers in the media have speculated moscow was behind the attack, sparking a row between the u.k. and russia. and u.s. president donald trump's former campaign minister -- former campaign manager all metaphor was in court today were he pleaded not guilty to a variety of charges. the charges were brought as part

of wide-ranging probe into russian interference in the 2016 election. to syria now, were a convoy bound for the deceased enclave of ghouta was postponed as fighting intensified. government forces have now taken half the territory held by rebels in the government suburb. >> these trucks carrying life-saving aid supplies are going nowhere. it is the second convoy bound for eastern ghouta to be halted. the eight trucks are meant to bring relief to war-wary civilians in the besieged enclave but the ongoing fighting has made any deliveries impossible. sources say syrian government forces have made huge advances in recent days. a top u.n. eight official appealed for the cessation of what he called the worst fighting ever seen in eastern ghouta. >> that kind of situation, you cannot deliver anything. it is impossible to cross into

the frontline and going to help desperate civilians, women, children, that we know. >> videos released by the opposition's volunteer rescue crew, also known as the white helmets, captured the inferno in eastern good to as government troops pressed on with their relentless air and ground assault. reports say hundreds of civilians have been killed in the past two weeks alone. doctors and residents also accused the government of using chlorine gas, charge the government denies. the syrian u.s. ambassador defended his government' is military operations. he insisted they were targeting terrorists and acting in line with international humanitarian law. >> although we have committed to a daily humanitarian truce, terrorists continue to indiscriminately shelled damascus. this has cost us to respond to a

situation no one can accept. at the same time we have opened a safe passage for civilians to leave. >> the fighting rages on, despite un security council demands for an immediate cease-fire, and civilians continue to bear the brunt. sara: a change of pace now, the latest on the business world and all eyes on the united states. >> and president donald trump. in only a few minutes u.s. president donald trump will make a final announcement on his plans to impose massive tariffs on aluminum and steel imports. at a meeting that wrapped up a short while ago he made a number of strong statements on the issue, lashing out at countries he accuses of trading unfairly, and praising those like australia, where the u.s. has a trade surplus. trump also implied that a renegotiated trade deal with canada and mexico could exclude the two countries from the tariffs. here's more.

>> with just hours to go before the white house was due to deliver its final announcement on steel and aluminum tariffs, it appeared donald trump was intent on keeping his options wide-open. >> we are sticking with 10% and 25% initially. we will have the right to go up or down, depending on the country. and i will have a right to dropout countries or add countries. i just want fairness. >> trump also your dreaded the possible -- also reiterated the possibility of canada and trump being exempt it from the levees, if he can renegotiate a trade deal. >> if we can reach a deal it's most likely we will be to arjun those two countries the tariffs. we have other countries that are very much involved with us on trade, but also our military and working together with the military. and we will be making a decision as to who they are. we have a very close relationship with australia. we have a trade surplus with australia.

great country, long-term partner. we will be doing something with them. we will do something with some other countries. we are going to be very flexible. at the same time we have some friends and some enemies where we have an tremendously taken advantage of over the years on trade. >> among the countries trump most criticizes for its trade rectus is is germany, and by extension the european union as a whole. but officials here say they are ready to retaliate against tariffs and are already mulling plans to tax u.s. goods including harley-davidson motorcycles and even some kinds of whiskey. >> while trump touts his unilateral import tariffs, his neighbors, canada and mexico, and nine other pacific rim are lowering trade barriers. they are opening their markets with a revamped, multilateral, free trade agreement which trump rejected after taking office.

representatives of the 11 countries met in sent on vote to sign the transpacific partnership, and the deal sees tariffs lowered or eliminated on a wide range of goods. the signatories have a combined population of half a billion people that account for nearly 14% of global economic output. the right to vote. equal opportunities. the same pay for the same work. women around the world have been fighting for these rights for well over a century. some milestones have been achieved by many have not. here is a look at germany. >> women in germany earn less than men, sometimes for the same job. but more often than not it is because the jobs they get are paying less. there are still not enough women in managerial positions, often because women are unwilling to working part-time jobs so they can take care of the family.

the situation for women is only worse in estonia, czech republic . in germany, women earn almost 22% of men. the average pay gap in the eu is 16% and statistically it is the smallest pay gap at 5.2% in the u.k.. less pay and part-time work has a devastating effect in many ways. the less money a woman arms in her career, the lower her pension is. the number of women who are in danger of reaching old age in poverty has risen in the last 10 years. >> french companies will have three years to erase their gender pay gap's or face possible fines. so says the prime minister. there was a special women's day message today, now we take action, lighting up the eiffel tower. the government says it is time to implement the french law requiring people pay for the

same work. it has been around for 45 years but the government says men are still paid an average 9% more. for the first time, a chinese company has applied for more patents in europe than any other country. the company filed almost 4000 applications. two german rivals are among the top 10 as well. >> the new notebook hides its camera in the keyboard. the feature is intended to protect users from malware. a chinese companies hoping innovations like these will help raise its profile. its upcoming smartphone, due for release later this month, is expected to feature artificial intelligence. no surprise then, that the company tops the list of applications received by the u.s. -- received by the european patent office last year. german technology company siemens came in second, rising

from sixth place the year before. and south korea's lg and samsung came in third and fourth, respectively. the only other german company on the list was automotive supplier bosch, though it only made it into ninth place. asian companies have got the pressure on the european counterparts when it comes to patent applications, as well as in everyday business. >> and more on international women's day, back to sarah. sarah: we are profiling women around the world who are working to bring about change, including five women who lived thousands of miles apart but are united by their drive to combat injustice. these are them. in this program we meet and environmental activist in kenya. phyllis onlmito lives in the

eastern portion of the country and is fighting a court case to get compensation for the victims of led poisoning. her activism has often meant risking her life. >> phyllis omido, a single mother of one, lives a cautious life. [don barking] . she has been hounded several times for the activist or she does in mumbai said. >> they came to my door, they threatened me. luckily i escaped before the shopping. before -- before they shot me. before that, in 2012, we were organizing massive demonstrations to push for the closure of the smelting refinery.

>> right next-door is the lead smelting plant. phyllis started working for the smelting company in 2009 but quit her job as soon as she realized the company was not following environmental regulations. in addition to the dangerous fumes that would billow out of the factory, the owner disposed of untreated wastewater, open drains running from the settlement into water sources nearby. records show that at least 20 factory workers have died as a result of lead poisoning, but worse still, at least 100 children have died of the same. the smelting company was finally shut down in 2014. >> we started pushing the port to him pound containers that were exporting led. and in that way we raised the

cost of business for the refinery and that is how we managed to shut down not only the refinery, but three other smelters and mumbai said -- in mumbassa. >> still, four years later, the dust, the walls and even the homes here still have high levels of lead. phyllis is now using the courts to push for compensation for victims of lead poisoning. the case begins march 19, 2018. >> we hope to win. we have done our research. what we are asking for is not a wild allegation. >> but it is not just pollution phyllis is fighting. she is also pushing for social justice. she is currently helping local residents of the kenya salt belt, where people are being evicted from their land unfairly as salt companies cut down trees

to expand operations. >> we are starting from a very basic level with this community but we want to take it up to a practical level where they are actually able to practice what we are teaching them today. we know that already, a lot of damage has been done in terms of the initial stages, the eis state. -- eis stage. >> phyllis is teaching us how to defend our rights and speak up to the government, and these assault companies. >> even though there have been more threats to her life, phyllis is determined to defend the environment, no matter what. sara: and now the theme for international women's day is # pressforprogress. here in dw, we have a little quiz about women's rights here in germany. have a look. [german speaker]

♪ [german speaker] ♪ [german speaker] >> since when is rape in a marriage punishable in germany? [german speaker] ♪

[german speaker] [laughter] sarah: well now, and all-girls

football team has given burundian refugees array of hope in the largest refugee camp in the dominican democratic republic of the congo. the squad has few resources t that has not dampened the enthusiasm of all the players. >> meet the morning stars. [cheers] these young girls were forced to flee burundi in 2015 and have found the love of football in their to much of a slice. now, in the democratic republic of the congo they have founded and all-girls football team in a refugee camp. >> we forget we are refugees when we are playing. we could be anywhere in the world. >> despite lacking football shoes or even their own ball, the girls are making the most of what they have. >> we are the best football team in this camp read everyone has their -- this camp.

everyone has their own style of playing and their own nicknames. this is lewis, this is ada. with a severe lack of funds, the girls rely on volunteers. >> i got to b see the girls encouraged to blame get the equipment they need to play sports. >> the refugees continue to face hardship in neighboring companies -- in neighboring countries. the morning stars provide hope and the girls have big ambitions as well. >> we hear that they are refugees playing in the olympics. that is our dream. >> burundi has never sent the football team to the olympics. with passion and dedication, these morning stars are determined to make history. sarah: a quick reminder now of the top stories where following for you here at dw.

women around the world have been staging protests to mark international women's day. in spain, thousands of people are taking part in evening marches, including here in madrid. they are demanding an end to wage inequality and sexual violence against women. you are up to date on dw news. i'm sarah kelly in berlin. thanks for watching. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] ♪ ♪ xnóx

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