>> you are watching dw news. live from berlin. russia accuses britain of station up with gas attack. sergey lavrov says last weekend attack was faked on orders from london. weapons inspectors have arrived in syria and will gin their investigation tomorrow. also, and untruthful slimeball. that is president trump talking about this man. his former fbi director james comey. his memoirs published next week. its le thacompy entry abt thpresent. we will bring you preview.

the rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in india has averaged the nation, there are prests on both sides of the issue. plus, big news -- they took just two years to work his magic some unit has high hopes. -- so munich has high hopes. i am phil gayle. welcome to the program. phil: russia says it has group that the poison gas attack was stage following orders from britain. they say that london told the rescue group in syria to fake the gas attack in the town of duma. britain describes the accusation as a pleasant life. inspectors from the organization

will begin their investigation in duma on saturday. >> it is a most a week since their cries shot for the web. suffocated syrian children gasping for air. among the hundreds of victims of a suspected poison gas attack allegedly carried out either government, backed by russia. now comes the explosive claim from moscow that the attack was the work of britain. >> today, the russian military authority released more evidence that proves great britain was involved in the organization of this provocative act in eastern europe. the face-off continued with

incrimination slime back and forth. the u.s. has scolded its russian counterpart. >> i am in of how you say what you say with a straight face. i really am. >> she told the syrian delegation that the u.s. was still considering a military response. britain's envoy claims that the russian envoy met the meeting. >> this is grotesque. it is a blatant lie. it is some of the worst pieces of fake as we have seen from the russian propaganda machine. quest chemical weapons inspectors have arrived in damascus in search of answers. this hasn't stopped families flocking to the city's theme parks. >> crazy trump has lost his mind. the syrian people do not get scared under the leadership of a sawed.

we are not afraid because when it is needed, we carry our weapons and fight with the army are. syria's government has turned up the heat, involved by his russian ally, it has issued a warning that it will defend itself but -- against any military strikes. >> let's get more from out sloan and moscow. welcome to dw. has moscow opera and improve to back this claim? >> they made -- has moscow provided any proof to back this claim? >> damp proof from sources on the ground. they later sent journalists and media which two men claimed to be presidents on april summit in duma at the hospital. they said the people were actually celebrating -- suffering from smoke inhalation from a fire when unknown people

came in and started pouring water and yelling about a chemical attack and filled this on video. none of this looks very convincing, it looks like russia is muddying the waters around this incident in an attempt to deflect flames from bashar al-assad to onto the west. phil: does he have any international backers or is he alone in this? >> you can sometimes count on china's support in the un security council. different states like you've and venezuela, syria of course and iran. of course, there are countries willing to support this. but this is a line that russia has been pushing in response to almost any international crisis in the past two years. we're seeing things said about the poisoning case in great britain, a former russian spy being poisoned there, russia has said is that same thing, they

suggested that that chemical attack was stage and western diplomats are growing more and more angry at this kind of rhetoric. there are more calls to unify against that. phil: the western world is winning for the united states and britain and asked to make up their minds about what they're going to do militarily. what is russia saying about that? what preparations are they making a mar? >> putin had a call to emmanuel macron where he warned macron against any sort of dangerous actions in syria. he said airstrikes could lead to unthinkable consequences. there's the threat of escalation as russian politicians have been falling in recent days for russia to try and shoot down any western missiles that might be sent in syria. there's been rumors that the

british basin could be targeted. but one small cause for both is that we know that you can put someone between russian and u.s. militaries is still being used according to both sides. they are talking about that to try to avoid any sort of loss of life or violent confrontation that could escalate out of control very quickly. phil: also playing up on western fears, play up the likelihood of a possible refugee influx of this happens. >> that is right, sergey lavrov said caution against syria becoming a repeat of iraq or libya according to the american invasion of iraq same as turmoil in syria when they join influx of refugees into europe.

his anger does not need that right now. your mice that they staged this chemical attack somehow, that is all being covered very heavily on russian state television. >> outlet in moscow. thank you so much. germany's debt has been a western response to the alleged was gas attack that will not get involved militarily. for germany's left party, angela merkel's response does not go far enough. they want no german involvement at all. >> germany's left party called on the public to join its peace march through berlin. the party is worried that the conflict in syria will only escalate in the event of a military strike. >> we have proposed a debate to make it totally clear that

germany will not take part in a military offensive. i believe our task is to ensure peace and mediation and not to further exacerbate the situation. the left party may welcome the chance. it also is to prevent germany offering other support. the chancellor will not have gained participation anyway. the social democrats will not have gone along. without parliament consent, no marching orders. but angela merkel agrees with the social democrat foreign minister that russia has played a decisive role in the escalation of the,. -- conflict. >> it cannot stay this way. it can keep going on like this. that is why we are maintaining the political pressure, wheel like to increase it to persuade russia to ask differently is one condition for solving the syrian

conflict. >> there has yet to be any criticism of trump. it is important to germans that the western alliance act with unity. >> almost 80% of germans don't want them to participate in any military action against syria. meanwhile, the government is attempting a balancing act, chancellor merkel has said germany's dandridge support its allies. at the same time she has ruled out any military involvement. phil: lisicki look at some of the other stories making news around the world. medical sources in gaza say israel he tripped shot and killed the police. many more were injured. this is the third consecutive friday of large-scale protest against the gossip bucket. clashes with israeli forces have claimed dozens of palestinian lives. >> ecuadorian president has

claimed that three newspaper boys were cap -- kidnapped. he made the announcement after they got to meet a deadline to demonstrate that the three journalists were still alive. a court in russia has blessed be messaging at telegraph after his developers refused to share encryption is with russian security services. they say they need the information to monitor potential terrorists. they're providing government with access to messages that violate privacy laws. donald trump has described his former director james comey as a truthful -- and untrue. after details emerged from a no holds barred memoir to be released next week. president trump by mr. comey last night, he was sent to be unhappy about the allegations of russian interference. mr. comey is scathing about the president on a professional and

personal level, deribing him as a man who twists facts to serve his purpose. donald trump's response has been characteristically blunt and delivered in the form of a tweet that james comey is a proven leader and liar. everyone in washington thought he would be fired for the terrible job he did until he was back -- in fact fired. he leaked classified information, elijah cummings under. he is a week and untruthful slimeball who was a terrible director of the the a's and it continues in similar vein. now the washington post reporter has been raining james comey's book ahead of publication on tuesday. he joins us now, welcome to dw. does donald trump have much to be worried about? >> it comes down to a he said, he said. when you see is probably a

little bit more tribalism. if you're inclined to believe the president, you will probably believe the president. if you're inclined to believe comey, you're probably going to side with him, religious polling shows that the general public side with coming more often than the president. that should be one cause of alarm for the president. she is holding onto his base, they believe whatever he says. the rest of the country is far more skeptical. >> bring us some of the biggest hits from this book. >> one of the big ones is whether james comey is going to weigh in on if the president obstructed justice by firing comey. the answer is no, coming does not weigh in. he doesn't clear the president of wrongdoing. he likens into a mob boss but he stops short of saying the president did anything illegal. what he seems to be doing is being very deferential to robert

mueller who is the special counsel conducting law enforcement investigation. >> why she going after his former boss? >> that is a good question. one is to protect his own reputation. the president was very critical of comey on the way out the door. i think another aspect to it if you believe going to be a man of integrity and i think many americans do, they believe he is probably doing what he sees as a public service which is saying i have a unique perspective on this administration and i have a story to tell and people ought to know the way this guy operated. it is a combination of those two things. there is a commercial element to this as what. james comey is not sell a lot of books and be on every tv channel in the next week and a half promoting the book as well. >> let's -- what is going to surprise people most about the revelations in this book? >> the

one thing that will stand out is the way james comey recounts conversations that he had with individuals who can corroborate or perhaps dispute the contents of those exchanges. i think in the coming days and weeks, the public will have more of an opportunity to where the credibility of calm his book. he recounts very specific conversations with president obama and loretta lynch. the current minority leader, charles schumer and even with john kelly. the john kelly exchange is one of the most interesting nuggets of the book. at the time of calm his firing, john kelly was the home yesterday secretary. he wasn't yet in the white house. john kelly trend to resign in protest. common sense he exits hot kelly out of stepping down and convinced him that good men like him need to be surrounding the president.

i can't imagine that kelly can confirm that now that he was for the president in the white house but if he doesn't come out and deny it i think it will be very telling. >> the comparison with the mob bosses is interesting because the book seems to say donald trump is all about loyalty and your loyalty is to me, not the constitution or the american people. >>, is describing is a pattern that most political observers can see in this president. it is the way he evaluates people, institutions, the media, whether they are favorable to him or not. there is no objective criteria. remember that at one time, this president used to praise james comey act the end of the campaign when is at you notify congress that it was reopening an investigation into hillary clinton gmail usage as secretary of state. trump was delighted by that development. he praised coming for redeeming

his prior decision not to rescind his indictment of the clinton. once he got into office and he got the feeling that james comey would be personally loyal to him but would just do the job when he saw fit and in particular, he was frustrated by his refusal to publicly say that the president was not under investigation. james comey fell out of favor with donald trump. phil: very interesting. thank you for joining dw. india is common for nationwide protests to -- eight men have been arrested in connection with this crime but many question whether they will ever face justice. >> anger over a butyl -- brutal rape case in india once again. they held an all-nigh vigil in new delhi demanding justice for

the girl's family. thousands responded to the call for protest. she was kidnapped in january, she was drugged and raped repeatedly over the hours of five days before being strangled. the incident has once again put a spotlight on the high number of rape cases in india. >> this is a national matter. this is about the women in this country. all political parties are standing here. >> many say the accused lopez justice. she belonged to a nomadic muslim community in the country's north. there have been protests, some in support of the accused. hindu groups in kashmir have turned the case into a sectarian issue because luger was a muslim and all the accused are hindu. even some members of india's

ruling bjp party have joined rallies supporting the accused. >> they support criminals, they support rapists. if that party supports you, i don't think it will be action. faced with growing protests both in kashmir and new delhi, the government is insisting that justice will be done. >> a journalist specializes in women's issues in mumbai, dw asked her how difficult it is for victims of rape to get justice in india. >> we think that women are actually responsible for getting raped and there is a consensus that rate is -- until my set changes, nothing will change for the girls or women in the streets. that is 30 minutes -- every 30

minutes every takes place every day. our legal system is rk, dated. we don't give any sort of strict punishments. it is a systemic earlier. that is the worst injustice that india's daughters, mothers and sisters don't deserve. phil: here are some uncomfortable truths with donald trump. >> he is getting some of those lately. it is the latest figures from china. the trade surplus keeps going. it serves almost 20% compared to the same. last year. ironically, the new tariffs imposed by have increased the trade deficit as exporters are rushing to deliver the goods before a possible trade would unfold.

the chinese economy is still believed -- prices of aluminum have risen to levels we haven't seen in six years. the main reason is a crisis. the second-largest aluminum company in russia. u.s. actions against russia might block the company from accessing the market. that is only one effect of the sanctions. another one is the quick follow russia's currency. it has shown how fragile the country's economy can be. >> policymakers in russia are scrambling to respond to the latest sanctions from washington. they are creating counter sanctions to hit america where it hurts. this bill includes a ban or a partial ban on agricultural goods, run materials and goods manufactured in the usa. it also concerns out alcohol and tobacco.

the list is longer and also includes high-tech addicts, the legislation is supported by lawmakers across the political spectrum including vladimir joint ascii -- vladimir. some americans, even highly skilled specialists will be prohibited from working in russia area these lists will be determined by the government. russia's parliament debates legislation next week. so far, the government has not yet commented. phil: we stay in russia. those were concerned with privacy on messaging and forms love the app telegram. it offers full encryption of your messages. the russian government doesn't really like that. it has one long-running dispute

with telegram. a court in moscow has ordered the blocking of the app until the company hand over the keys to its encryption system read the ruling is unprecedented for presenting the first time it widespread messaging service has been banned in russia. >> voice calls, instant messages and secret chats, all possible on telegram, and at which after only five years in business re: claims 200 million monthly users in russia, the middle east and the rest of the world. russia's communication regulator says telegram is also used a terrorist to plan attacks. but telegram refuses to cooperate with russia secret service which once free access to the messages. telegram testified that this is technically impossible. privacy groups say even if it was that it would put millions of users at risk of privacy invasion. legram said the short trial in

moscow was politically motivated and that it would not act on. some users are rethinking their ideas about privacy. >> i don't know, on the one hand maybe it is the right decision to have control. terrorists chat and his messengers, drugs are being sold. i think it might be right on the one hand. still, others see telegram campaigning in the best interest. >> i support telegram for not giving away our personal data to the authorities. i would be against seeing it bans. it is now unclear what will happen next but telegram appears to have exhausted its legal options. last month, russia's supreme court throughout the company's appeal. >> that is all for business, it is now time for sports, i will hand you back to fill area phil: real madrid --

the german side will be at home for the first leg in two weeks. they have been paid with roma. the second leg takes place in early may. they've already wrapped up this and have a german cup semi final next week. looking beyond that however, they have chosen the cocoa batch. -- niko kovac. he was teammates with the sporting director. despite doing good work in frank when bayern munich comes calling, most of it was no exception. >> bayern munich kept their promise and announced their future coach this month. it is a phase familiar to munich. enter niko kovac's.

. he turned to the club from everett -- relegation candidate to be on europe's doorstep the season. with only five games left, frank are chasing a european birth could hurt his club moviegoer. however, coaching at bayern munich is irresistible. >> i have had a good two years here. that is coming to an end. soon it will be a difficult time for me. but it is the case where one door closes and another door open somewhere else. to be honest, not many coaches are offered the opportunity to coach in munich. >> he thought bayern munich made a good decision making the -- new cocoa batch to successor, stating he is diligent and has

innovative qualities that all coaches possess. phil: russia has accused britain of staging the poison gas attack in syria. sergey lavrov says the attack orders from london. the team from the international chemical weapons washed his investigation tomorrow. that is it, you're up-to-date, i'll will have more for you at the top of the hour. have a good day.

meggin: hi everyone, and welcome to our highlights edition with the best picks of the week. i'm your host meggin leigh, and here's a look at what's coming up. light and supple -- aerial dancer katerina soldatou performs in breathtaking settings. patterns and colors -- the latest trends in spring fashion are out. memorable and unique -- at 75, architect mario botta's designs are still impressive. when it comes to extreme sports, perhaps skydiving or freestyle skiing come to mind. but acrobatics can also fit into this category, especially when katarina soldatou from greece