♪ brent: this is "dw news," live from berlin. termination via tweet. u.s. president donald trump has fired secretary of state rex tillerson. >> my commission as cretary of state will terminate at midnight march 31. brent: president trump nominates cia director mike pompeo as his new secretary of state, saying he and pompeo are quote, on the same wavelength. also coming up, the case of the poisoned spy in a quiet english city. will russia respond to britain's

midlife -- midnight deadline to tell the truth? now police are investigating the unexplained death of yet another russian. ♪ brent: i'm brent goff. it's good to have you with us. even in the chaos of the trump administration, today's exit has shocked and stunned much of the world. u.s. president donald trump fired his secretary of state rex tillerson. the president broke the surprise news on twitter, announcing cia director mike pompeo as his new choice to be america's top diplomat. a short while ago, tillerson made a statement in which he warned of the challenges that his successor will face around the world, specifically from russia. >> much work remains to respond to the troubling behavioral actions on the part of the russian government. russia must assess carefully as

to how its actions are in the best interest of the russian people and the world more broadly. continuing on their current trajectory is likely to lead to greater isolation on their part. a situation which is not in anyone's interest. brent: he had found out he was fired on a tour of africa. but the washington insiders, this doesn't really come as a surprise. they have known about friction between trump and t secretary of state since day one. reporter: rex tillerson initially seemed an unusual pick for secretary of state. the former head of exxon mobil was an oil man from texas with no foreign-policy experience. but as a washington outsider, he also fit in with the unconventional nature of the new trump administration. at the start, trump appeared to have great confidence in him. >> rex will be a fierce advocate

for america's interests around the world and has the insights and talents necessary to help reverse years of foreign-policy blunders and disasters. reporter: but barely six months into the job, reports started to circulate that tillerson's relationship with the president had soured. >> [inaudible] >> i'm not going anywhere. >> how long will you stay for? >> as long as the president lets me. >> how is your relationship with the president right now? >> it's good. reporter: but the two men were known to be at odds over many issues, including the iran nuclear deal. trump said this was one reason for his dismissal. >> we disagree on things. when you look at the iran deal, i think it is terrible, i guess he thinks it's ok. i wanted to either break it or do something, and he felt a little bit differently. reporter: trump was also accused of publicly undermining tillerson on several occasions.

when tillerson talked about the possibility of direct dialogue with north korea last december, trump said he was quote, wasting his time. tillerson also appeared to be caught offguard about the recent talks about pyongyang in his trip to africa last week. perhaps the lowest point was when tillerson failed to deny outright reports that he had called trump a moron. even so, he said he had wanted to stay in the job. brent: we want to pull in our correspondent in washington, carsten von nahmen. we know that rumors had been rife last year that rex tillerson was probably on his way out. so why the firing now? carsten: good question. the white house said that president trump wants to restructure his foreign-policy and national security team ahead of a potential summit with north

korean dictator kim jong-un. so you could say that it makes sense if you want to make such a change and that rex tillerson should no longer be part of that team to make that change as soon as possible. of course there is a counter argument, especially if you have such an important meeting coming up, it might not be a very good idea to change horses midstream. it is also not a good idea to have -- rex tillerson on several occasions and topics disagreed with the president. that might be a very important corrective in the process leading to such a summit. but what really surprised me and makes this timing particularly odd is that trump announced the change just after rex tillerson came back from an important trip from africa after he tried to mend fences after many african

leaders felt insulted by remarks from president trump regarding african immigrants to the u.s. to fire rex tillerson just hours after he comes back, that looks pretty bad. many african leaders might think to themselves, why does spend time with a man who clearly had no leverage anymore. brent: that's a very good point. this is an international story. does a lot of reaction from around the world. what about from within washington? carsten: from the republican side, most people who have commented on this have concentrated on welcoming the decision to pick mike pompeo as the new secretary of state. there was very few mentioning rex tillerson. nikki haley, the u.s. ambassador to the united nations in a tweet also praised the decision to have mike pompeo as the next

secretary of state, but there was not one word of rex tillerson. on the opposition side, the democrats in congress said this is another element of the chaos in the white house, and they also hope that mike pompeo might indeed at least be a bit tougher on russia than rex tillerson had been. brent: our correspondent in washington on the story force tonight. -- for us tonight. there's a lot to unpack with the story, and to help us make sense of all of it am joined here at the big table. gentlemen, welcome. tillerson was fired, he is certainly not the first. if you look at all the number who have fired or quit, it's

around 39. why the big surprise? >> this is close to the midterm elections. after two years trump is now saying he is approaching a perfect candidate. after the midterm elections we speak of the president almost as a lame duck, so it is late in the game to do these things. rex tillerson himself was surprised. the method of doing it through tweet is also unorthodox. >> that's a nice way to put it. >> weather has been tensions all along. rex tillerson was the last man standing as a moderate in the cabinet. in net since we know that donald trump does not like to be contradicted, so maybe he was the only one who stated that. brent: what kind of reactions have we been getting here in germany? >> i was in parliament earlier today and a lot of people were

scratching their heads. the mood was, just when you thought it could not get worse. we have the deputy foreign minister of the german government saying this is not improve things. the leader of the liberal free democrats said this is a fresh sign of volatility. there is certainly a lot of worry. most of the reactions are pretty muted, but i think there is a tone of worry simply because rex tillerson was seen by german politics as a moderating influence in the trump administration. one of the adults you could talk to. brent: that's exactly right. when of the moderate voices is gone. we have mr. pompeo now. what can we expect from him? >> he is a west point graduate, he also went to harvard law school, he has all the credentials. he was sort of swept into office in 2011 with the tea party movement. he is a hardliner and he has

been from the start of his political career. he has contradicted tillerson on pretty much every issue about foreign policy. he is certainly seen as a hawkish kind of state secretary. so probably a rougher stance. brent: is the biggest difference on the state of the iran nuclear deal or north korea, or both of those? >> probably both. overall we are seeing is the beginning we had reince priebus and steve bannon as the d party -- deep party establishment. now they have entirely evaporated and what we're seeing is a series of ex-generals and hardliners. so the outlook has changed. brent: tomorrow a big day here in germany. the new german government is going to be sworn in and starting to get to work. angela merkel will be sworn in as chancellor before time.

day one, are they force -- for the 4th time. >> not a man with a long record of foreign-policy experience. he is a social democrat. how is he going to work with mike pompeo? that will be fascinating to watch. i think what is most is the -- d eeply worrying for german politicians at the moment is donald trump's in the words of one syllable today said the reason he got rid of tillerson was because he disagreed with him about iran and the iran nuclear deal. and german politics is very invested in securing and saving that iran nuclear deal. the signal coming out of washington is that the trump administration is going to ditch it. brent: it leaves us wondering if

there is anyone left in the inner circle who is going to say no, you have to keep that deal intact. i guess we will find out in the gentlemen, thank you very much. police in britain are investigating a mysterious death of a russian exile in london. counterterrorism police are looking into the incident, but they do not believe it is linked to last week's nerve agent attack on a former russian spy. the body was found in a suburb of southwest london. british media have identified the man as nikolai glushkov. he was a former associate of russian oligarch boris berezovsky, who himself died in mysterious circumstances at his home near london five years ago. joining us now from london is our correspondent tessa szyszkowitz. good evening to you. what do we know so far about the investigation into glushkov's

death? tessa: he was found yesterday night, probably by his daughter. but that has not been confirmed. there was a report he had traces of strangulation on his neck. but even the name has not been confirmed by police. so we have to wait a little longer. there are reports of neighbors saying he lived a quiet life and was nice. he came back to be to go from an operation on his leg with crutches -- came back two weeks ago from an operation on his leg with crutches. he wasn't in the easiest period right now. brent: tells about glushkov's background and white was important. tessa: he was a -- and why it was important. tessa: he was a friend of boris berezovsky, one of the most pronounced putin critics of the

past 18 years. glushkov, because he was in the circle, had lots of problems still today with russian authorities. when berezovsky moved to london in 2000, glushkov was put in jail for fraud for a few years in russia. after he was released, he moved to great britain, asked for political asylum, got it, and stayed here. until 2017, he had new cases coming up in russia against him. he was again committed for fraud in absence. and he was supposed to come to a court here in london on monday and did not do so. so there might be a connection with all of these cases, but we

do not know that at the moment. brent: all right, our correspondent tessa szyszkowitz on the story for tonight in london. thank you very much. in the case of the poisoned the russian spy and his daughter, britain has told moscow it has until the end of today to explain why a deadly nerve agent used only in russia was used in the apparent attempted murder. prime minister theresa may has threatened extensive retaliatory measures but moscow insists it will only cooperate if it receives a sample of the nerve agent in question, a substance called novichok. reporter: the kremlin has escalated a standoff with the u.k. over the poisoned ex-spy. the foreign minister said britain is not complying with moscow's request to see samples of the nerve agent, which he called a violation of the convention to ban chemical weapons.

>> russia is not guilty. russia is ready to cooperate in accordance with the chemical weapons convention only if the united kingdom will dain to fulfill its legal obligations to the same convention. reporter: but key british allies have cast doubt on claims that russia was not involved. >> it sounds to me like they believe it was russia, and i would certainly take that finding as fact. reporter: british police say they're not ready yet to name a specific suspect in the crime or even a person of interest. hundreds of officers are continuing their investigation in the english town of salisbury. the british government has vowed retaliatory measures if russia fails to allay suspicions that the kremlin was behind the attack. >> it's very important for people to understand the gravity of what has happened.

and the outrage that the british government feels about the use of nerve agents, of chemical weapons against the public, against an innocent police officer on u.k. soil. reporter: british prime minister theresa may is set to outline the government's further response on wednesday. brent: here are some of the other stories now making headlines around the world. turkey's army has surrounded the northern syrian city. the move marks a major advance in turkish efforts to oust kurdish fighters that they view as terrorists. some several hundred thousand civilians are now trapped. the unverified footage you're looking at purports to show a road black -- roadblock preventing residents from leaving. at least four have died and many are injured after a suicide car bombing in yemen. it targeted a military kitchen linked to government for pieces

-- government forces. the so-called islamic state has claimed responsibility. an explosion struck the convoy of the palestinian prime minister as he made a rare visit to the gaza strip. rami is understood to be safe and has attended an event as scheduled. the palestinian presidency has blamed hamas for the explosion. all right. u.s. president donald trump has block the deal which was set out to be the biggest takeover in the tech industry. but it is not going to happen to christoph:. -- not going to happen. christoph: that deal is now off the table after imposing tariffs on steel and aluminum. u.s. president donald trump has stopped the proposed mega acquisition of a chipmaker siding national security concerns. mr. trump's decision might come

in quite handy for qualcomm. they have been trying to fend off the takeover bid for months. reporter: qualcomm is the world's largest producer of chips. licensing its technology, which apple depends on for its iphones, is a real cash cow. they brought in $5 billion in 2017. this makes qualcomm and attractive target for its competitive broad, based in singapore. the deal would have been the technology industry's most costly takeover ever. he would have also created a new semiconductor heavyweight. samsung and intel have the most market share. qualcomm is the fifth largest. combined, the companies would have had the third-largest market share in the semi conductor industry. broadcom and china's potential

influence over the u.s. chipmaker immediately raised national security concerns when the bid was announced last year. broadcom hoped its decision to move its headquarters to the u.s. would dispel those concerns. christoph: let's hit the market's the on this with jens korte. president trump is rushing in to protect market shares of a u.s. tech company. is that good news for u.s. tech stocks? jens: not necessarily. it might be understandable to a certain degree that you do not want to sell achy neck -- sell a key technology to asia. but on the other side a lot of u.s. corporations rely on foreign investments. we have seen a lot of investment from china in the past couple of years, so there is a certain question mark what this decision might mean for the broader technology sector. we did by the way see technology shares among the biggest losers

here in the tuesday session. that is because of the qualcomm deal, it is hard to say. but it is not necessarily good news for u.s. tech companies. christoph: qualcomm was not really excited about the prospect of a takeover in general, right? jens: well, but be careful what you are wishing for. yes, to a certain degree members of qualcomm probably, at least that is what was speculated, actually called for was for the u.s. government to step in and try to block this deal. that said, the biggest market for qualcomm is not the u.s., it is actually china. theyake out two thirds of their revenue in china. we have to wait and see with this decision now means if china will for example block certain dealings of qualcomm over in china. so it is not necessarily an easy and good deal for qualcomm, and the stock actually sold off quite a bit. it lost a good 4% in value

probably because the deal is off. on the other side also, really it is the big question, what would it mean for qualcomm's business in china in the future? christoph:ensortethan yo edit european parliament debate tuesday,, eu officials urged the u.k. to speed up brexit negotiations. with just one year to go, prime minister theresa may have mainly just been repeating the red lines which have been known for years. germany's main industry association is urging politicians in berlin to have their voices heard in brussels. a hard brexit would cost german businesses millions of euros. reporter: brexit will change us back to germany's export trade. it will not only be more complicated, but also cost of two 9 million -- 9 billn euros more a year.

the extra costs will be due to terrorists, registration procedures -- due to tariffs, and more. they hope it deal can still be reached between the eu and great britain. >> we're calling on both sides to reach an agreement. we hope british leaders -- that would give companies to 2020 before they have to adjust their business models. reporter: the car industry will be hardest hit. according to a study, the industry will have to shoulder at least 3 billion euros in extra costs. cars are among germany's most important export products. last year, germany's exports to britain totaled around 84.4 billion euros. that made britain germany's fifth-largest export market. and a german imports from britain came to around 37.1 billion euros.

brexit will be especially hard on smaller german companies. up until now, many have had very little experience with trade outside the eu. but just how complicated the post-brexit trade rules will become is not yet clear. that is still being negotiated. christoph: it is mainly known for its vast oil reserves. but it's economy also benefits from its fish. in particular, sardines. they are popular at home and abroad, and fishing nets have hardly changed over the centuries. dwindling fish stocks now pose a threat to the sector. reporter: technical progress has been putting camels out of work here on the southern coast of oman. nowadays, they use -- in spite of all that motor power, work on the beach and in the floodwaters is hard, with not much to show for it.

>> all this equipment is expensive, and then there is the fuel. i hope the government will support us somehow, like with the nets, the rope, the machines or the votes. -- boats. we hope it will all work out, god willing. reporter: for hundreds of years, the sardine fishers have used the same fishing method. using two boats, they stretch a net around the entire school than bring it to land. 99% of fishing in oman's manual. given -- oman in manual. the fishermen say there is not enough fish out there. if the catch is meager, they just sell them at the beach to farmers. >> people sometimes take what we

bring them back it up to dry them out in order to feed cows and sheep. they buy it up. guys he with refrigerators are doing the same thing. reporter: the old-school style of fishing attracts many tourists but its contribution to the economy is only 0.7%. a study by the world bank shows this means the country should in the future get more return from its fisheries. but with dwindling fish stocks, can it be a viable alternative to the oil reserves? christoph: back to you, brent. brent: the return of serena williams to big-time tennis has been derailed for the time being by her sister venus. six months after the birth of her daughter, serena met her big sister in the third round of the indian wells tournament in california. venus continued her top 10 form, taking care of business in two stets.

it was their first matchup since the 2017 australian open. you're watching "dw news." after a short break i will be back to take you through the day. tonight, and extensive look at the fallout of the firing of rex tillerson. what will it mean for europe and for germany? ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] çñññññññññññññññññññññi'i'i'i'm.

we're bringing in çñññññññthe harvest fromi'i'i'm. some unusual locations on america's heartland this time and we'll sample some sweet and sticky honey from some very busy insects. do you get better vegetables when you're closer to the sun? one illinois chef is finding success by growing produce on his restaurant roof. folks in california and the carolinas step up efforts to help protect the habitat of bees. speaking of which, our sharon profis is in the kitchen with a farm to fork recipe that's all about honey. and you'll meet a south carolina woman who realized a brighter future for her small town by combining art and agriculture. it's all coming up on america's heartland.