from berlin. tonight, france honoring a fallen hero. president emmanuel macron leads tribute to the police officer killed in last week's terrorist attack. he died after offering himself in exchange for a hostage. also coming up, pomp and pageantry for kim jong-un. it began as a secret meeting but we now know china gave north korea's leader a lavish welcome. kim reportedly stuart china's president xi he is committed to denuclearization. and a national day of mourning in russia. funerals have begun for some of the 64 victims of that deadly fire in a shopping mall. many of the dead were children. ♪

brent: i'm brent goff. it's good to have you with us. francis paying homage to the policeman killed in last week's terror attack. lieutenant colonel arnaud beltrame died of his wounds after offering himself in exchange for a female hostage. there were ceremonies across the nation today. in the capital paris, president emmanuel macron led attributes. -- led the tributes. reporter: a nation honors his hero. french president emmanuel macron awards the legion of honor to arnaud beltrame. it is france's highest honor but it can only be laid on the coffin of the police officer who has given his own life for that of a stranger. >> he stood up against islamist aggression. against hatred. and against the madness of

killing. by the bravery of a single man, he reminded us all of the very heart of our nation, the french spirit of resistance. reporter: beltrame was one of the first officers to respond to a deadly hostage situation. as events unfolded at the supermarket, beltrame traded places with a female hostage who was being used as a human shield by thettacker. it was not just his act of self-sacrifice that helped end the siege. beltrame cleverly left his cell phone on so police officers could hero is going on. then after hearing gunshots, reforcements went in and ended the ordeal. beltrame die for his country, and his memory -- died for his country and his memory will live on.

today, his country gave him a most distinguished sendoff. brent: also in paris, a memorial march was held for an 85-year-old holocaust survivor who was murdered in her home in the city. thousands marched through the french capital in memory of mireille knoll, and to protest against a wave of anti-semitic attacks against france. firefighters discovered knoll's partially burned body after being called to a fire in her apartment. she had been stabbed several times. police have arrested a neighbor and another suspect. lisa louis attended the memorial march today and she captured the mood in paris for us. lisa: thousands here have gathered to pay tribute to mireille knoll, an 85-year-old jewish lady who last friday was stabbed and burned in what authorities are calling and anti-semitic murder. jewish people here have been telling me they el

increangly threatened in france. the country earlier today paid tribute to arnaud beltrame, a policeman who last friday during a terror attack exchanged his own life for the life of a hostage. this is a day ofourninr france but also a day where many people feel they have to stand united in the face of danr, becae ging in is just not an option. brent: that was lisa louis here are some of the other stories now making headlines around the world. following a senate vote, the irish government has announced may 25 as the day for a referendum that could liberalize the cntry's aborti laws. abortion is illegal under current legislation unless it is a serious risk to the wife or the mother. women convictedfavingn unlawful termination face up to 14 years in prison. ecuador's government says it is

cutting off julianssgean's communications from his london embassy. the wikileaks founder has been the buiingce 201 he fears extradition to the u.s. if he leaves the present -- the premises. ecuador says it was taken to prevent just really and from interfering another country's affairs. the saudi arabian crown prince is in new york to discuss the ongoing war in yemen. the kingdom is now in its fourth year of involvement in the conflict between a saudi-led military coalition and rebels. during his visit, prince mohammed bin sultan pledged a $930 million in humanitarian aid. after days of rumors it has been confirmed that north korea's leader kim jong-un did visit china this week. his meeting with chinese president xi jinping was kept under wraps until after he left yesterday.

the hope is that this is the pre-lim -- this is the prelude to talks of nuclear disarmament. u.s. president donald trump said he had received a message from president xi saying the leader -- meeting had gone well and he was looking forward to meeting him. mr. trump went on to say until then, u.s. sanctions would remain in place and pressure must be maintained at all costs. here is more on kim jong-un's first foreign trip since he took power. reporter: heavy security for an unnamed visitor making their way through beijing. then, pomp and ceremony, as a mysterious individual is confirmed as none other than north korean leader kim jong-il. it's a historic moment as kim's first trip outside the rogue nation since he took power in 2011. rumors had been circulating for days that the mysterious armored

train crossing the river had came aboard. -- had kim aboard. but it was only confirmed after he and his wife were safely back home. xi pressed kim on north korea giving of nuclear weapons. kim apparently replied, it could be resolved as south korea and the u.s. respond to our efforts for good reason -- goodwill, and while taking progressive and synchronous measures for peace. but many are skeptical about whether kim jong-un would really scaled down the program after they have celebrated its development. >> i don't think he will officially declared denuclearization becausee has been emphasizing the importance of nuclear weapons a lot. he has particularly been stressing that the nuclear program makes the country strong and that the country can defeat the u.s. with it.

he cannot totally change that stance all at once. reporter: what others think kim -- but others think kim could use disarmament to his advantage. >> kim jong-un would seek to propagate the idea that he persuaded the u.s. and the international community to essentially surrender by having carefully mastered nuclear weapons. reporter: the china visit comes ahead of a historic summit between north and south korea scheduled for april. that meeting is expected to further focus on denuclearization. brent: i'm joined now by our correspondent in washington, clare richardson. we know that kim jong-un spent four days in china. that is a long time, plenty of time for talks. we also understand that u.s. president donald trump was

informed about this meeting by the chinese president. do we know what the chinese president told mr. trump about the talks? clare: trump says xi told him the meeting went well with kim. official reports we have seen from north korea and china seem to bear that out. they downplay tensions to emphasize a good working relationship between the countries. remember, china has traditionally been a major ally of north korea, but recent sanctions have really put a strain on their ties. the point of this meeting for china seems to be largely an effort to save face, to try and present itself as a relevant player in any north korean talks after south korea and the u.s. have been the ones making headlines. but this meeting with china is also likely to boost north korea's leverage in any possible meetings with trump. having beijing on their side will provide them wiggle room in terms of having a partner that can help soften trade restrictions.

brent: that's a very good point, especially that you make about the chinese president. when we look at the u.s. president, he is known for calling the north korean leader rocket man. today he tweeted that he believes that the north korean leader will do what is right for all of humanity. that is quite a change in his perception of the north korean leader. i mean, where do you think that is coming from? clare: that certainly is quite a turn from the kind of language we saw earlier on in trump's presidency. now he really wants to be seen as the president who finally got north korea to give up its nuclear weapons. so we have seen a complete scaling back of that language. we have seen trump say that it is his tough policies toward north korea is what finally brought it to the table, what he calls his maximum pressure policy. but it seems likely likelihood

that the north is going to give up its nuclear program in talks with trump is under -- is unrealistic. the north seas its program as central to its survival and the u.s. would have to make enormous concessions to even move forward, with denuclearization which would not fit into trump's narrative. brent: you are noting on the concessions that would have to come from the u.s. and north korea. that requires a lot of homework. do we know how the u.s. president is preparing for these talks with the north korean leader? clare: well, he seems to have prepared for it by shaking up the united states top officials who were in charge of foreign policy, to bring in people who were more ideologically aligned with president trump. we just saw john bolton, a super war hawk be named national security adviser. that will send a very alarming

message to the world and especially north korea. they will also be watching what he does in other areas of foreign policy, like when it comes to the iran deal. they will wait to see if the u.s. is good for its word when it comes to negotiating long-term international agreements. brent: clare richardson on the ory force tonight. thank you very much. -- story for us tonight. thank you very much. you're watching "dw news." still to come, stephen can draw detailed panoramic's entirely from memory. after only a brief glimpse of a cityscape. we take a look at this artist's extraordinary ability. daniel is here now. tax rumors have put amazon investors on alert. daniel: that's right, brent. it is the three letter curse word, tax. amazon last as much as 53 --

lost as much as $53 billion wednesday, full more than 7% after a website reported that president trump wants to go after amazon because he is worried about mainstream stores being put out of business. the white house denied any new pat -- policy change george amazon that its stock plunged anyway. on wall street is our market man, jens korte. u.s. tech stocks overall are under pressure. what is going on? jens: there is regulatory pressure all over the place. we had the privacy issues with facebook, we had some concerns about self driving cars and technology. now the heat might be on amazon. even as the white house is saying that no action is planned right now, what does right now mean? not within five minutes? five days? what we hear out of the white house is from different sources that u.s. president emil trump's

ups -- u.s. president donald trump is upset with amazon and he might look at how amazon and other online retailers are attacked. we should not forget that friends of donald trump are coming from the real estate industry, they had put pressure on brick-and-mortar stores. daniel: beautiful rainbow colors behind you. tesla, things have not been bright for them. on tuesday they reported on their sinking stock. but that is not the only thing on investor's minds. jens: it just another 8% almost wednesday and that was because a crit rating agency lowered the credit rating for tesla, mostly because there are some concerns in respect to the production of

the new model 3. we will get the new figures next week. recently, tesla promised to deliver 2500 of those vehicles we could now wall street thinks it will now be more like 1000 to 15000. . on top of that, tesla needs the credit market. daniel: we will have to wait and see. thank you very much. sticking with cars, daimler and bmw are teaming up. they said today they will merge their offerings in card sharing -- car sharing, and ride hailing apps. under one roof, the old guard hope today got a new breed of tech said he competitors. reporter: daimler and bmw are fierce competitors. and they are going to remain so. but when it comes to car sharing

divisions, they have become collaborators. card to go and drive now are set to merge, creating a combined base of 4 million drivers. the joint fleet will have around 20,000 cars in 30 cities across europe and north america and one city in china. cars to go have been operating in eight countries whi drive now has been in nine. they say the aim is to expand mobility services in electric transport, working closely with urban authorities. it is also a way for staving off competition from ability mavericks like uber. daniel: it looks beautiful but it is too popular. thai authorities have ordered the temporary closure of a beach. it is best known from leonardo dicaprio's movie "the beach" has been visited for millions -- by

millions. reporter: tourism is a major factor in the thai economy. almost 12% of the countries gdp last year. most tourists head to thailand's beaches. so the decision to close this beach for four months will leave many disappointed. environmental authorities say the move is essential. >> if you ask if it is too late to save our islands, the answer is no. but if we do not do something today it will be too late. reporter: thailand has restricted tourist sites before to protect its environment. for example in 2011, dozens of diving sites were close to protect coral reefs. but with the number of foreign visitors expected to grow, the governnt has a tricky job. it needs to find the right balance between protecting the environment and drawing tourists. daniel: that's all your business

news now. brent: funerals have taken place in siberia for victims of this weekend's shopping mall fire. russia is absorbing -- observing a day of mourning but the heartache is mixed with anger. many believe authorities are trying to cover up lax safety standards that they believe resulted in so many lives lost. reporter: the size of the coffins show the scale of this tragedy. most of the victims of the fire were children. these parents lost their daughter and son. they died alongside their grandmother. even those used to dealing with death find it hard to comprehend. >> we are all suffering from grief. there are no where to express the pain we feel. reporter: the personal tragedies have touched the country.

they have also provoked an outpouring of anger. people here are desperate for justice. they want to know whether all this could have been he voided -- avoided. those trying to escape the fall -- small found many emergency exits blocked. children were also reportedly left locked inside a cinema while staff fled. >> my daughter was found among the first victims. she tried to protect my granddaughter and her friend. she owed them and they lay underneath her. i do not understand why the staff did not open up the cinema. reporter: the authorities need to take measures, find the guilty, and punish them accordingly. reporter: seen from above, e damage is clear. what is not so clear is circumstances surrounding the fire.

five people responsible for fire safety have been detained, including the mall's director. >> i am a mother myself. i perfectly understand what people who are burying their children are experiencing. i know what they are going through. but i do not want to blame myself for this. i just don't. reporter: the government has promised those at fault will be harshly punished, but will relatives believe officials when they say justice has been done? brent: germany's defense minister has renamed in military barracks as part of a new approach to germany's militaristic past. the barracks, which were named after a veteran of world war i, are not dedicated to a soldier who was killed in afghanistan. a new code of conduct stipulates that german soldiers should concentrate on post-world war ii history when celebrating military tradition. reporter: tradition plays an important role in the military

by providing a degree of identity. that is no different for the german army. but how should the german modern military deal with its nazi pas t? that is such a tricky topic that the bundeswehr has issued a formal decree on the subject. >> we need a common understanding of our past. especially because challenges happened so quickly today. we need to know where we come from in order to go into the future with certainty. reporter: last year, soldiers and several barracks were caught with world war ii german army memorabilia. it sparked a discussion about how best to deal with the past. the decree makes it clear that nazi era memorabilia has no place in the modern bundeswehr. >> that's why it is valid to

place the more than 60-year-old rich history of the bundeswehr in the center of our collective memory. it will become a center of reference for our tradition. it is a history we can be proud of. reporter: to demonstrate his modernization, the bundeswehr renamed one of its barracks for my world war i general to that of a fallen german soldier in afghanistan. brent: how good is your memory? for examp if you looked at a photo of the manhattan skyline for a few seconds, could you remember the detail? you are about tmeet a man who can. not only that, you can also paid an accurate picture of what he has seen. -- he can also paint an accurate picture of what he has seen. ♪ reporter: extraordinary drawings

of buildings and cityscapes from around the world. artist stephen wiltshire is able to create from memory in incredible detail. ♪ >> i love doing the work and memorizing it. i love my job. reporter: the resort -- result is startlingly close to reality. >> i think the important stuff is concentrating and memorizing it by my mind. reporter: as a child, stephen was mute and at age three he was

diagnosed with autism. by 5, he started to draw and through his art he was able to communicate with the outside world. he went on to win numerous awards and studied at a london art school. his work is constantly evolving. >> i think it might get better during a drawing if i like to do it the best. i will never stop. reporter: his critically acclaimed art has taken him around the world. >> new york is my best place. about eight times, i think. i have been to dubai, singapore, hong kong. i have been to turkey, i think. reporter: his next stop is los angeles. another city to add to his extraordinary memory.

brent: don't you wish you could do that? the cheating scandal engulfing australian cricket -- among them is a true modern icon of the game in australia. in a sport that considers itself the essence of fair play and a country were top athletes become national heroes, the scandal threatens to ruin careers and destroy reputations. reporter: steve smith heading home in disgrace. the former australian cricket captain has been suspended from playing in or for australia for a year. the same goes for vice captain david warner. there worries do not end there. both where due to play in the lucrative indian premier league this season. now they might struggle to play any cricket at all in 2018. >> we decided these two players

cannot play. reporter: the scandal started in a match against south africa when he was caught scraping the ball as sandpaper. that can affect the way the ball moves in the air and could have given australia and advantage. smith later confessed that leading figures in the team were behind the plan. they admitted the saga has hurt the team's reputation. >> this has caused a huge amount of damage to the game of cricket as a whole and certainly australian cricket. a compromise the fan's confidence and faith in cricket. reporter: at home the players face more outrage. en the prime minister has strong words for the treo. -- the troi. >> -- the trio. >> it is a terrible disgrace. reporter: australians have immense pride for the cricket

team for the past 140 years. but now they need to rebuild the reputation from scratch. brent: after a short break i will be back to take you through the day. we will go live to sydney to dock about that ball tampering cricket crisis down under. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accura. visit ncicap.org]

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