berlin. russia hits back in the diplomatic war over a poisoned x spy. russia's foreign says his country is dispelling 60 russian diplomats enclosing the american consulate in st. petersburg. we have reaction for moscow and washington. tears of joy, on a return to pakistan. the nobel prize winner says it is a dream to come back for the first time since she was a by the taliban in 2012. >> absolute. it hurts. brent: australia's band cricket captain accepts the blame for a scandal that has shaken the

world of cricket. ♪ brent: i'm brent goff. it is good to have you with us. tonight, the long-awaited strike back from russia. moscow says iy is -- it is expelling 60 diplomats enclosing the u.s. consulate in saint petersburg. the move is a tit-for-tat response to washington's move to expel russian diplomats. it all follows the poisoning of a former russian spy on british soil. authorities in the u.k. say the victims were poisoned at their home using a nerve agent, and that moscow was behind the attack. the kremlin has strongly rejected any involvement. i want to go now to yuri, our

moscow bureau chief. good evening, yuri. why did moscow tuesday consulate in st. petersburg to close? yuri: st. petersburg is the second capital of russia. u.s. consulate there is big, and the fact that it now has to close is of great symbolic importance, bigger than the consulate in st. petersburg is only the consulate in moscow. but if you close the consulate in moscow you would really cut any diplomatic relation between the u.s. and moscow and it would reach the end of all. brent: the u.s. was not the only country to expel russian diplomats. so what can washington's allies now expect? yuri: according to sergey lavrov, the russian foreign minister, it will be countermeasures that russia is going to take.

first, diplomats from all countries that expelled russian diplomats will also be expelled from russia. but mr. lavrov said russia would not only provide a mirror response, but give more of an effect. that means the kremlin will continue finding the west under its own rules, so what measures could come next? the bbc bureau in moscow could be shut down. our rt bureau -- our deutsche welle bureau in london could be shut down. germany has expelled for russian diplomats as well. theoretically would also be possible to gut the german cultural institution which has several branches in russia, or the french cultural institution in russia. brent: there are so many options are enough of the russians. and at the heart of this are allegations of a chemical weapons attack on british soil that was conducted, or at least

known about by the kremlin. what is the kremlin doing to shed light on this affair and to prove that britain is wrong? yuri: russia wants to see facts. moscow says as long as there are no facts on the table that clearly show russian guild, nobody should accuse russia. but so far russia hasn't provided any evidence that it wasn't involved. usually the presumption of innocence provides -- applies. in this case however, many people speak of the guilty presumption. too many things indicate that russia may be involved in the poisoning. there has been published all list of cases a host of spies the russia has killed. the list begins in 1927. whatever the case, a few years ago in london was just one of many other cases in history. but once again, from the beginning moscow understood the whole thing as a diplomatic

declaration of war towards russia. russia insists the u.k. has no evidence. that is indeed the dilemma that london is in. brent: our moscow bureau chief, yuri, thank you very much. we want to take the story now to the u.s. capitol, washington, dc. our correspondent claire richardson is there. good evening, claire. was the u.s. government expecting what happened today? claire: it is hard to imagine they would not expect some sort of retaliation. as soon as the white house announced it was expelling russian diplomats, we heard from the russian foreign minister that there would be retaliation. what is interesting is that this is exactly tit-for-tat. we are seeing 60 diplomats expelled in exchange for the 60 the u.s. kicked out. they have also been given a week to pack their bags and get out of the country. and it makes sense that we are saying a tough response from

russia, because this is the toughest reaction we have seen from the trump administration to date, when it comes to a tough stance on russia. brent: that was claire richardson reporting from washington. here are other stories making headlines around the world. has officials in the u.k. say sergei xscripal's daughter is responding well to treatment. she and her father were poisoned earlier this month with a nerve agent. that poison sparked the current row between britain and russia. france's former president nicholas sarkozy will stand trial on corruption charges. he's accused of trying to influence an inquiry into irregularities in his 2007 presidential campaign. he is already facing charges related to millions of euros in funding he is alleged to have

excepted from the late libyan dictator moammar can adopt a. north and south korea will hold their first summit in more than a decade on april 27. south korean officials made the announcement after high-level talks with officials from north korea. the agenda will focus on denuclearization, and improving relations between the two countries on the peninsula. to pakistan now. the nobel peace prize winner, malala us has returned to pakistan for the first time since she was shot by the taliban and 2007. it was designed to punish malala for promoting education for girls. since then, malala has become an international icon for women's education and human rights. >> tears of sadness and moments of joy, upon a long-awaited return.

malalashe says she has dreamed f returning to pakistan and walking the streets in peacehead malala's don arrival in islamabad. the police convoy, proof of the threat malala still faces from the taliban. much of her visit has been kept secret. it included an audience with the prime minister. the schoolgirl turned poster girl for human rights, proud to be back home with her family. >> whenever i travel in a plane or car in london or new york, i was told, just imagine you are in pakistan, that you are traveling to islamabad, that you are in karachi. but it was never true. but now, today i'm very happy.

[applause] reporter: malala's motion -- emotion, easy to understand. six years ago her activism nearly killed her. taliban gunman boarded a bus and asked, who is malala? she was shot in the head for a diary she was writing for the bbc highlighting the misery of taliban women under taliban rule. she used the attention to keep fighting for her causes. the u.n. general assembly, showing appreciation on her 16th birthday. >> today is the day of every woman, every boy, and every guoe who has raised the voice for their rights. reporter: she went on to set up her own fund to promote girls' education. in 2014, a 17-year-old malala

became the eldest recipient of a nobel peace prize. the visit has attracted much attention in pakistan, where malala divides opinion. to some she is a mouthpiece for the west but to others she remains a national hero for standing up to the taliban. brent: joining us now is shamil from our asia desk. shamil, good to have you on the show. you have covered malala's story extensively. what is the real purpose of her visit to pakistan, six years after being the target of the taliban? shamil: i think malala always wanted to be back in pakistan, and she was desiring to go back to her home country. and finally she is back, although briefly. she is on a four-day visit to

pakistan, and under heavy security. the thing is, she always wanted to be in pakistan and she is now back. but she has come to pakistan at a point where pakistan is at a crossroads. pakistan is facing a fight between pro-democracy forces and anti-democracy forces. and we see that the former prime minister was deposed, on the pressure of the army, and now he is trying to assert his civilian authority. and malala, although she was absent from pakistan, contributed to the struggle for democracy in pakistan. and i think she has conveyed a message to the world that pakistan is a country where people could go and people could be safe, although it is very difficult to say at the moment. brent: but she is not safe there, right? for example, she can't go back

to her hometown because of the situation with the taliban right now. so, is pakistan really a place that malala will be able to call her home in the future? site he'll: -- shahil: i'm sure that she wants to go home but now that she has come back, she has become an ideologist. and the ideology is that pakistan should be progressive, pakistan should be secular, pakistan should have civilian authority and the military should go back to the barracks, because the military calls the shots in pakistan. and malala has expanded the narrative, and by coming back she has extended the narrative that pakistan should be ruled by the secular, progressive forces.

and i agree that she is not safe in pakistan. she has lots of threats from islamists, and obviously she will go back to the u.k. where she studies and where she lives. the pakistan needs people like malala, and the west must side with malala. the west must not side with the military. the generals and the west, the u.s. and other countries, they negotiate with the military. so malala has an important message. brent: we will have more time to talk about this later. semele, from our asia desk, we appreciate your insights. the british prime minister is on it was. tour of the u.k. because today marks one year until brexit means brexit. that's right, until britain at least the european union. theresa may is visiting england,

scotland, wales and northern ireland to drum up support for her brexit strategy. she says benefit that she says britain will benefit from leaving the eu and she has pledged to maintain the country's integrity. the economic situation is not the only worry in a post-brexit u.k.. trade unions in britain fear a significant decline in employment rights, once eu standards are no longer the law. our correspondent visited a concerned union leader. >> what do we want? living wage. >> what we want? living wage. >> the worst case and ari was the britain ends up as a kind of singapore on the edge of europe am a competing on the basis of deregulation. ♪ >> in 12 months, we reach brexit. >> the general secretary of the

tuc, the organization of trade unions in the u.k., for me brexit represents a real risk to workers' jobs, their livelihoods and their rights at work. >> let's be brave, let's think they'd come and let's organize. [applause] the prime minister is very keen on redline's. she has got lots of them. she has ruled out staying in the single markets, which would protect us. >> my argument is that working people across europe have an interest in a level playing field on worker's rights. but we don't want to see his firms using british workers to undercut german or french workers, and end up in a race to the bottom. i met mr. barnier today in

his message was clear, that if the prime minister of britain sticks to her red lines of coming out of the single market and the customs union, all we are left as the option of a free-trade deal, and that poses real threats to workers' rights, their livelihoods and their jobs. brexiteers, including those in the conservative party, seed is an opportunity to slash and burn rights the unionists have fought for, for decades. and our job is to stop them. these rights include maternity rights, equal pay for equal work, these are rights that really matter. i think we have to make compromises, and that is also because when i look at the alternatives, whose rules what i rather play by? i would rather play by the rules of the single market and the customs union, imperfect though

it may be, then be told by president trump what should happen to our steel industry. brent: there is so much at stake, what happens the year from today. british businesses are watching these brexit talks, aren't they? dave: that's right, brent. there will be a transition to soften the blow but in one year, britain will be out. investors are confused by brexit , economists con founded, business leaders frustrated. they point to data that is less-than-perfect. last year the eurozone economy expanded i more than 2% but in the u.k. gdp rose by 1.5%. this year, british economic growth is expected to slow from that figure. because of the weaker forecast, investors have switched cash out of the pound sterling with its value dropping 50% since the

brexit referendum. that is making imports more expensive and pushing up consumer prices at 3%, the highest point in five years. the brits have had to borrow to maintain their lifestyle expectations. u.k. households' debt amounts to 150% of their income, the second-highest rate among economies than -- economies, behind canada. senior economist michael houston told us earlier to look on the bright side of brexit. >> contrary to predictions of doom and gloom that came out before the brexit referendum, the growth hasn't been that bad. and let's not forget the u.k. economy has expanded for 20 consecutive quarters. it's been expanding since 2012. the economic recovery here is much more mature than the

economic recovery in europe, so i think we're slightly ahead of the eu and the economic cycle, which would reinforce the reasons why the european economy is growing at a faster rate. but i think there are negatives. inflation is slightly higher. it has pressed down on consumer spending, but overall the unemployment rate is at a 25 year low and wages do appear to be picking up. so there are silver linings. >> michael use there. time to head over the pond for the word on wall street. it's the end of the first quarter head of the easter break. what will investors be reflecting on over the holidays? >> we had some wild weeks behind us. we had a strong finish in an otherwise shaky month.

for the weak wall street is trading to the upside but for the month and the quarter we are down, and with it a nine quarter rally comes to an end. nine consecutive quarters that the dow jones industrial average saw increases. it was the longest rally of its kind since 1997. but now for the first quarter blue chips lost a good 2%. we had a correction in technology shares and now the big question will be how corporate earnings are doing. we anticipate the earnings report in the next couple of weeks, especially from technology companies. and it will depend on earnings season, if we can get back in a rally mode, or if there might be more pain to come for investors. >> i'd like to pick up on tech. amazon shares start of the session down almost 2% after donald trump criticized the company on twitter. but two hours before the close they swung back into positive

territory. what is going on? >> like a lot of technology shares the got hammered in the past couple of days, there was a bit of a recovery toward the end of the month. other than that, amazon has been under pressure this week, and especially now on thursday, donald trump we did that he is not happy with amazon when it comes to how they pay taxes, but also that amazon is killing thousands of retailers here in the united states. and nobody really knows if any action will follow up, but there is some regulatory pressure on amazon, and by the way, on to other technology companies as well. so little bit of her recovery for amazon toward the end of the session, but overall, donald trump and jeff bezos, the richest person on the planet, they probably won't become close friends anytime soon. >> have a great easter break. thank you very much, for that.

volkswagen has bought back almost 350,000 diesel cars fitted with emissions-teaching software from customers in the u.s.. but what to do with them all? the carmaker has leased 37 storage facilities across the nation. the lots included schaumburg -- include a shuttered stadium in michigan, and this field in california. the cars are waiting to be fixed but that takes time. volkswagen may need even more parking lots as its buybacks of emission-cheating cars continue into next year. i will hand you back over to brent read brent: thank you, daniel. going to egypt, early results from the election show no big surprise. president al sisi, cruising to a landslide victory for second term in office.

the turnout is just over 40%, lower than when he was elected four years ago. >> egyptian television announced the landslide election victory that had been widely expected. but voter turnout was poor at just 40%, despite extensive campaigning, threats to find nonvoters and bribes at polling stations. >> the participation rate has to be judged in accordance with the broader political environment of the country. and we don't see that environment having been particularly open. reporter: al sisi been numerous problems in his second term. the economy is at a low and inflation is devouring wages here. still, al sisi supporters are optimistic about the future. >> the future will be brilliant.

the entire world, financial institutions will attest to that. our were newly-build capital city and other megaprojects will be excellent. reporter: al sisi is expected to lift the two-term limit and the x general will then have unlimited power. brent: australia's disgraced cricket stars have made public apologies. former captain steve smith, an icon in australia, broke down in tears. he is one of three players given lengthy bans by cricket australia following an internal investigation into any illegal practice known as ball tampering. reporter: steve smith headed home in disgrace. the former australian captain's involvement in the ball tampering scandal resulted in a 12 month suspension from international cricket. australia's most talented cricketer expressed remorse as he faced media back home. >> i will do everything i can to

make up for my mistake, and the damage it has caused. if any good can come of this, if it can be a lesson to others, then i hope i can be a force for change. i am sorry and i am absolutely devastated. reporter: teammate cameron bancroft got a nine-month ban for his role. the rookie scrape the ball with sandpaper to affect its movement in the air, to gain an advantage for his molars -- his bowlers. >> it's my actions and i'm accountable for them. they don't reflect on the values and how i have grown up today. it is something that i am really ashamed of. reporter: former vice captain david warner, also banned for a

year has yet to speak publicly but he posted a short message on social media saying mistakes have been made. i apologize for my part and take responsibility for it. australia coach darren lehmann announced his investigation despite an investigation absolving him of blame. whoever takes over has a big job to restore australia's reputation. brent: no shame at our next destination, the london zoo, where zookeepers have marked the easter holidays by giving lemurs easter treats, a permission a eggs filled with snacks. the zoo says the easter-themed event encourages the animals to use skills they would need in the wild, like finding food in foliage. the egg experiment appears to have been a success. the treats went down egg- stremely well.

i avoided that pun by a hare. here are our top stories, as they laugh in the studio. russia has hit back at the diplomatic world over the poisoning of a former spy. the former minister is expelling 60 u.s. diplomats. 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] ♪

♪ this week on "wealthtrack," how not to run out of money in retirement. leading financial adviser mark cortazzo identifies the fatal mistakes retirees make and how to avoid them, next on "consuelo mack wealthtrack." >> new york life along with mainstay's family of mutual funds offers investment and retirement solutions so you can help your clients keep good going. >> additional funding provided by -- thornburg investment management. active management, flexible perspective. koo and patricia yuen through