♪ brent: this is "dw news," live from berlin. tonight, these a response to a -- the u.k. responds to a chemical weapons attack on its soil. the u.k. expels 23 russian diplomat in the fallout from a poisoning of a former double agent. prime minister theresa may gives them a week to leave. russia says it will retaliate, on the move an unprecedented and crude provocation. also coming up, students across the u.s. walk out of class: for tougher gun laws in remembering the 17 people killed at a florida high school exactly one month ago today.

and a new german government finally takes office nearly six months after the election. chancellor angela merkel is sworn in for a fourth term. ♪ brent: i'm brent goff. it's good to have you with us. tonight, the united nations security council is holding an emergency meeting on britain's fresh sanctions against russia in the poisoned spy affair. the u.s. ambassador nikki haley says that russia's prime -- crime is worthy of security council action. this is after russia failed to meet a deadline to explain the poisoning of the former spy and his daughter in the u.k. last week. among the sanctions, 23 diplomats will be expelled. moscow has reacted angrily. it has vowed to retaliate,

calling the move unprecedented and a crude provocation. reporter: may announced the measures after russia ignored a deadline to provide an explanation for the attack. she said moscow's failure to cooperate showed what she called their disdain for the gravity of the events. her conclusion when it came was unambiguous. >> mr. speaker, there is no alternative conclusion other than that the russian state was culpable for the attempted murder of mr. skripal and his daughter and for threatening the lives of other british citizens in salisbury, including the detective sergeant. reporter: she said against moscow include freezing of russian assets and suspension of high-level contacts. the headline move is what will be the largest expulsion of russian diplomats from the u.k. in more than 30 years. >> the united kingdom will now expel 23 russian diplomats who have been identified as undeclared intelligence officers.

they have just one week to leave. reporter: the russian embassy in london described the measures as unacceptable, unjustified, and shortsighted. the ambassador said moscow wanted to see samples of the nerve agent used in the attack and accused london of failing to stick to international rules on such matters. >> first, we want to see the samples. full-stop. without the samples, we doubt the official procedure of the organization -- i think that britain should follow thenternational law. reporter: as ties with russia now look set to enter a new deep-freeze, the u.k. is looking to its allies for support. the eu says they believe the attack was inspired by moscow and promised to discuss it at an eu summit next week. brent: earlier i spoke with anthony glees, he is director for the center of security and intelligence studies at the

diversity of buckingham and the u.k. i asked him who are the 23 people that prime minister may is kicking out and why were they selected. anthony: i think we can safely assume they were selected by britain's security service, the mi5. they were selected because of their titles. people need to know, there are basically two swords of intelligence officers who operate in foreign countries. those who are attached to an embassy legally, and those who are independent of the embassy, so-called illegals. of the legals in the embassy, some of those people will be normal diplomats doing their open-source diplomatic activity. but some will be secret intelligence officers. and mi5 will have a good idea of who they are. brent: so are you saying these 23 people, they might be listed as diplomats but they are actually doing espionage in the

u.k.? anthony: i think that's absolutely right. before they leave the united kingdom in a week we will have to be satisfied that none of them were in salisbury and involved in the attempted assassination of sergei skripal and his daughter because it is possible some of them may have been. brent: if we know so quickly that 23 people are suspected spies in the u.k., why weren't they kicked out a long time ago? why are they in the country right now? anthony: that's a very good question. in the real world of international politics, every single country houses intelligence officers in its embassy. we do it in the united kingdom, you do it in the federal republic, and the russians do it in russia. the question really is if they crossed the line and do things that are seriously damaging to the national security of the country that they are in. when that happens the decision has to be made to expel them.

i think we can expect the russians to start expelling it is diplomats any moment now. brent: so what we have got tonight is the u.k. expelling diplomats who are really spies, and we have also got a royal bowl cut -- boycott of the world cup in russia the summer. would you say that this punishment fits the crime? anthony: well, there are other things. there is expulsion, there is a seizure of russian assets in the u.k., which is a very important measure that checks on aircraft flying into the united kingdom from russia. and there is a suggestion that the royal family will not go to the world cup. of course it is up to fifa to decide whether the england team should go to the world cup, and indeed, whether any european team should go and play in the world cup in russia in june and july.

mylan feeling is that this is such a serious matter, the british prime minister has said with a probability that borders on certainty, the russian state is to blame for this attack. two people fighting for their lives, a british police officer seriously injured, 500 people in salisbury woke up yesterday morning feeling they, too, may have been contaminated by this bio nerve agents. this is in effect an invasion through chemical means of british soil, and that has to have very serious consequences. brent: that was anthony glees, director for the center of security intelligence studies at the university of buckingham joining us earlier from oxford. in the united states, high school students across the country have walked out of their schools to protest against gun violence, colin forster to gun laws.

in the u.s. capitol washington, students marched to the white house and staged a 17 minute silent protest, one minute for every victim of the mass shooting at marjory stoneman douglas high school, which happened last month today. student survivors have dedicated themselves for fighting for stronger laws and have been joined by others around the country. dw's washington bureau chief alexander von naaman is at the student walkout. i spoke to her a short time ago. >> we are here on capitol hill where the protest is still underway. and this is of course a very important part of the walkout today, because students want to press lawmakers for tighter gun control. i am joined by a student from maryland. thank you for being with us. why is this important for you to be here today? >> i think first and foremost it

is important for me to be here because i can. there are a lot of people either because there's too much on the line with their school and they don't support them, they cannot, or because they are too far away. but people across the country are speaking out today and i think it is really important for me to use my privilege as someone who is only in danger as much as every student is in danger and not targeted more because of my race or social economic status. to be able to use my relative safety and my voice to make this happen. i also think it is really important that we are here today, even know we have been out in addition to being out here to be sick out, -- two we eks ago and again next saturday. i think the consistency in student effort, especially in the wake of parkland, is something that we have needed for long time on this issue and we have not seen in the wake of other issues. alexandra: are you hopeful that

politicians are going to listen to you? this is not a first time there is a movement for stricter gun control laws. >> i am hopeful. like i was saying, i think the consistency is really crucial and i think it is building momentum that has not been able to been built for a long time because of the exposure fatigue and desensitization that people feel because it happened so often. but in the wake of parkland right now, we are out here continuing and bringing this consistent message, showing up every few weeks, not letting it go. both for parkland and for every other shooting of innocent people in this country. alexandra: thank you very much for being with us. as you have heard, as anna said, students here are determined to keep up the pressure on their lawmakers to tighten gun control in the u.s. brent: that was alexandra von nahmen reporting from washington. here is some of the other

stories now making headlines around the world. in the u.s., democrat conor lamb holds a razor thin lead in a closely watched congressional election in the state of pennsylvania with the result still too close to call. lamb made a surprise strong showing in a republican stronghold over republican candidate rick saccone. the vote is seen as a litmus test for donald trump's republican party ahead of midterm elections in november. slovakia's premise or robert fico has offered to resign to resolve a political crisis sparked by the killing of a journalist and his fiancee in february. slovakia was thrown into crisis after the murder, who wrote about fraud cases with political ties. human germany, champion -- here in germany, chancellor merkel was sworn in for the fourth time. they have once again formed a

coalition with the social democrats. so you could say more of the same. the german president frank-walter steinmeier spotted the danger. he went so far as to warn the goal is parties that they must now prove that there is something here new and different. reporter: after a nearly six-month long wait, germany's new government has finally been sworn in. a new cabinet with a well-known chancellor. on wednesday morning, angela merkel took her old on the german constitution. the official start of her fourth term. >> i swear that i will dedicate my efforts to the welfare of the german people, promote their benefits, protect them from harm, and do justice to all, so help me god. reporter: her election as chancellor was closer than expected. merkel's coalition of

conservatives and social democrats actually has a clear majority, but her marginal victory was only nine votes. >> i ask you, do you accept the result? >> yes mr. president, i do. reporter: the conservative bloc has now begun its third grand coalition with the social democrats who have long struggled to saying yes to this coalition. but in the end the junior profit -- partners offer their congratulations. >> the chancellor remains the chancellor and that is cause for happiness and relief. i think that is good news for the citizens of our country and good news for europe. reporter: relief for some, in spite of a close election result and months of negotiations are over. >> this means that two loser parties is struggled in order to

join forces to somehow govern the country. >> the real scandal is the content of the coalition agreement. with this, the government has earned a bumpy start. reporter: after the election, german president frank-walter steinmeier handed the chancellor her letter of appointment. then the same for her 15 cabinet ministers. he offered praise for the new government. >> welcome, federal government. it's about time. reporter: the president called for more than just a repeat from merkel and her new ministers. >> a mere re-issue of the old will not be enough to win back lost trust. this government must prove it is new and different. reporter: a gentle reminder that the chancellor chose not to take his criticism. >> he has supported the formation of a government within his mandate's framework and told

us what is necessary. i believe that is also reflected in what we have worked out. reporter: 171 days after the general election last september, germany finally has a new government. and angela merkel is once again back in charge. brent: i'm joined here at the big table by jackson james, director at johns hopkins university and he is an insider you could say, on both sides of the political atlantic. due to have you back on the show. angela merkel takes the oath of office today for a fourth term. does cd to take stock of light took so long to get to today? jackson: i think it was a definite problem of reaching a consensus. her own party be at little at odds with each other. don't underestimate the internal squabble with a think is still going to continue. she was putting in a lot of

different things together under one roof. brent: this third grand coalition has a long, long, long to do list. what we do say are the first things they need to tackle? jackson: trust. brent: from who? jackson: from the german public. they are going to have to figure out how to say this is 3.0, this is something new, it is not going to be more the same. that is a big cell and she has a hard and loud opposition party that are going to reminder of that everyday. number two i think is just to say she has new ideas about europe and about the society at large and she is to have to deal with these foreign policies. brent: do you know what these new ideas are? jackson: probably a long line of we're going to build a society that is readable of taking care of everybody, this social society, we are going to address that. the other problem is where is

your -- brent: the social democrats are very pro-europe. jackson: everybody was. the fact of the matter is what is going to be the optimal is asian of that? -- optimilization of that. brent: there is some criticism that what we are seeing with this is actually germany turning the clock back with the social democrats getting in with a lot of power, getting rid of the deregulation that we had seen under merkel. is that possible? because they economy is going very well. you have low unemployment, economically you have little reason to complain, you have the sense that something is not right. jackson: that's the thing, germany is not doing economically badly, but people are still depressed or unsure of themselves. one wonders where that comes from. i think a lot of it comes from,

who do you trust and who do you think can lead this country in a way that gives a sense of upward instead of just status quo. brent: i have to ask about what we are seeing tonight in the u.k. with this poisoning of a spy, basically a chemical weapons attack on british soil. today the prime minister said the russians are responsible for that. this could be a nato event. what about angela merkel? she has the russian president's ears if she wants to. do you think that the u.k. is going to need angela merkel? jackson: i do. i think the u.k. is going to need everybody and germany should be square in front of it. i think macron will be. i think everybody else should be. the question is will shoot -- she be able to sell that to the public in germany. i think she has to take a late. -- take the lead. brent: thank you, as always.

>> the yields have been huge. but many keep calling the likes of bitcoin a scam. the g20 even saying they could risk financial stability. now google says it is going to ban advertisements for crypto currencies and related content, including trading advice and crypto currency wallets. they aim to bring the new policies into force in june. the move follows a similar step by facebook earlier this year. they updated its ad policy in january 2 ban products often associated with deceptive practices, including those involved in crypto currencies like bitcoin. bitcoin and other crypto currencies have been some of the hottest assets on financial markets in recent months. jens korte in new york, how is this decision by google going down on wall street? jens: we have seen a lot of

pressure on crypto currencies, especially here on wednesday when bitcoin dropped by more than $700, down about 8%. that means that since january, the price of bitcoin has been cut in more than half. there's still a lot of highly unregulated movement when it comes to crypto currencies, and therefore the decision by google to actually protect the customers. there is also still a lot of talk if some governments actually might block some crypto trades. so the heat is certainly off crypto currencies at this point. christoph: we will come back to you in a moment. donald trump has chosen tv pundit gary kudlow to take over --

kudlow is known as a conservative business commentator on cnbc. the 70-year-old is no stranger to the white house, having previously served in the administration of ronald reagan. he has frequently spoken out in favor of small government and tax cuts, but he says he opposes donald trump's trade tariffs. back to jens korte on wall street. so he supports tax cuts but opposes restricting trade. is he the ideal candidate for wall street? jens: i just walked by him. he is here on wall street on a regular basis for being a tv personality, so he has something in common with the u.s. president. when it comes to wall street, the big question will be can larry kudlow influence the administration when it comes to trade policy and i'm not so certain about that.

he does agree with the u.s. president when it comes to a tax cut, when it comes to cutting regulation, and yes, in general he is in favor of not having tariffs. having said that, when it comes to china, larry kudlow also could have a bit of a hard position. it was interesting to see when news broke today that larry kudlow probably will get the job on thursday, we did not see a lot of movement in the market. actually, quite the contrary. all the companies that would suffer under a trade war were among the biggest losers here in the wednesday session. christoph: jens korte in new york, thank you. and in donald trump's brewing trade dispute with the world, another front is opening up. according to several reports, the u.s. government wants to impose tariffs on up to $60 billion of chinese imports in a new feature. beijing authorities have warned they would take appropriate action. >> if you introduce a product of

china you will be holding a copy of it two years later. china's has long faced criticism for its handling of intellectual property rights. technology firms copy western products and undercut prices. a practice that threatens western companies and jobs. u.s. president trump now plans to take action by slapping huge import duties on profits from the technology and telecommunications sectors. the foreign ministry in beijing is threatening to retaliate. >> china resolutely opposes any kind of unilateral protectionist trade measures. if uni and the u.s. takes actions that harm china's interests, china will have to take measures to firmly protect illegitimate -- our legitimate rights. reporter: the possibility of a trade war with europe is also on the rise.

but not because of intellectual property theft. instead, europe focuses on import duties from steel and aluminum that the u.s. plans to introduce next week. >> if the eu is noexcluded from the measures, there will have to be firm resolute but proportionate response. reporter: by donald is committed to his policy of america first. his trade policy has rubbed many people the wrong way. competitors as well as partners. christoph: science is not only a discipline of reason, but also one of romance and passion. not my words, but the words of renowned physicist stephen hawking, who will be missed. brent: that's right. he was once asked what was the one thing in the world that he understood the least. christoph: i know what you're going to say. brent: he said women. a very smart man. stephen hawking has died at the age of 76.

his family says that he passed away peacefully in his sleep in the early hours of wednesday. hawking will be remembered for his groundbreaking work on black holes and working on a theory that was close to einstein's theory of relativity. he also defied expectations, living for more than 50 years with a motor neuron disease. let's have a look back at his life. reporter: british theoretical physicist professor stephen hawking was known as much for his profound and witty comments as for his scientific discoveries. a brilliant mind which endlessly explored time, the universe and humanity's place within it, he keep indicated his theories through his famous voice synthesizer. >> emission from the black hole itself. reporter: diagnosed with a rare form of motor under on disease during his postgraduate studies at cambridge university, he was given just a few years to live.

instead, he defy the normally-fatal illness for more than 50 years. in his own words, my expectations were reduced to zero when i was 21. everything since then has been a bonus. social media platforms were flooded with affectionate treats, -- tributes, reflecting his gentle sense of humor. he once said the downside of his celebrity status is that it was not enough to wear dark glasses and a wig to avoid being recognized. the wheelchair gave him away. he made many cameo television appearances. the cast and crew of the american smash hit sitcom "the big bang theory" also patriot. -- also paid tribute. >> i met him when he was a fellow. a big rush to get dinner that night because everyone wanted to be an dinner if stephen hawking was there.

a huge impact in terms of having an academic who is actually publicly known. reporter: in an interview, professor stephen hawking said if you are lucky enough to find love, remember it is there and did not throw it away. wise words from a man who changed the way we perceive our place in the universe. brent: here here to that. after it break i will -- after a short break i will be back to take you through the day. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

(upbeat music) ♪ read all about it ♪ you want hot gossip ♪ why ain't you got it yet - [narrator] the u.s. has thrived on it's vibrant free press since the founding fathers first put the concept into law in the bill of rights. news organizations since then have served as an important, independent check on the power of elected officials. - i've seen the tweet about tapes. - he's a leaker. - where is the evidence? - [narrator] now social media is proving to be a double-edged sword. it's an important means of free expression around the world, but it also allows for the proliferation of misinformation. undermining the integrity of the free press. the media and foreign policy. next on great decisions. (dramatic music)