brent: this is "dw news," live from berlin. europe unites against donald trump by stunning up to the united states over the iran nuclear deal. european union leaders demanding total exemption from economic sanctions on iran. if washington says no, european law may be used to shield european buddies. we will get the latest from the summit in the bulgarian capital. also coming up, medical workers racing to contain an outbreak of ebola in the democratic republic of congo. that after reports that the highly contagious virus has spread to a city that is home to more than a million people. and a controversial referendum in burundi. people have been voting on whether to extend the president's term for up to 16 more years, as fears grow that

the whole spark -- the poll could spark bloodshed. plus, royal wedding fever as excitement builds ahead of this weekend's big day. the bride, meghan markle, confirming that her father will not be attending her wedding to prince harry. the big question, who will walk her down the aisle? brent: i'm brent goff. it is good to have you with us. it is an unprecedented show of european unity designed to block a controversial move by the united states today, european union leaders announced plans to protect their economies and save the nuclear deal with iran. just a week after u.s. president donald trump abandoned it. at an eu summit in voc area, the european commission president said that the eu would ban eu

companies from complying with american sections on iran. the so-called walking statute was used more than 20 years ago. let's have a listen to what the eu council president donald tusk said about these measures just a couple of hours ago. >> i think the real geopolitical problem is when you have an unpredictable opponent or enemy or partner. the problem is if your closest friend is unpredictable. it is not a joke now, because i think it -- this is the essence of our problem today with our friends on the other side of the atlantic, because i can agree with president trump went he says that unpredictability can be a useful tool in politics. brent: let's pull in our

correspondent in sofia, bulgaria, covering the summit for us this evening. eu leaders they appear united against trump. that is the picture we are seeing today for the candidate maintain this united front is the big question, and for how long? reporter: so far the eu seems to be determined to pick a fight with donald trump and tell him enough is enough and don't cross this line. france, germany, and also britain, the three big eu countries said here in sofia we have to stand up against trump and show him he cannot impose sanctions o against european countries on this iran deal and not impose sanctions on steel and aluminum companies as he wishes, so now is the time to show him we are united. how long this will last, we

don't know. if the americans can put a wedge between france, germany, and britain, maybe this will crumble . if trump chooses to punish single companies from france, germany, or britain, maybe he will be successful. but as of now, this front stance, but nobody knows for how long. brent: the european union wants to use of blocking statute to protect european companies. what does it mean, exactly? reporter: this is an audit l -- odd law in the books since 1996. it was designed to circumvent american sanctions against cuba, libya, and iran at the time. it was never connected because the political fight was over before the law came into action. no one knows what will happen. on friday this law will be invoked by the european

commission, and it says that companies may not follow u.s. sanctions. there will be punished if they do so, but they will be reimbursed if there is any cost they have to endure after that, but nobody knows exactly how. and it is applicable for large companies or trusts were only applicable for small companies, as for example, the german chancellor has said? we will have to see how this plays out, andcome into force ad then the united states has voted to impose sanctions on companies that trade with iran. this is uncharted waters, more a political sign in this fight. a new round of escalations with the americans. brent: very, very briefly, we know the eu wants a permanent exemption from you.s. tariffs on steel and aluminum. is it going to get that? bernd: the u.s. is also putting

an offer on the table. they say that if trump wants to negotiate on trade -- nontariff blocking of trade, we can do that. but first he has to give an exemption, and that we will to the negotiating table and it is unknown if trump would do that. brent: bernd, thank you very much. helen is here to talk about the eu's plans to talk about the death to -- ste the potential tide of businessesm. helen: the eu says it will take steps to protect european countries doing business in iran from the impact of the u.s. introducing that blocking statute, which means that the eu essentially cod make it illegal for european companies to comply with the u.s. sanctions against iran.

it is only the second time the eu has threatened to use the so-called blocking statute. the first back in 1996 as a response to u.s. sanctions in cuba. there was never introduced. now as a slew of global firms say they are pulling out of iran, leaders are scrambled to stop the firms from doing the same. reporter: the blocking statute is aimed at protecting small and medium-sized companies operating in the country. it would provide compensation for sanctions-related losses. although german politicians have said that can't be applied across the board. the picture is much more complex for bigger european corporations with close financial and corporate ties to the u.s. the prospect of severe penalties over sanctions violations as well as the loss of financing from u.s. banks and other potential consequences already has in some european businesses looking to exit iran. the world's biggest container

ship company says it will wind down operations. allianz says it is preparing to wrap up there, too. siemens says there will be no new deals with iran. and a french coveney says it will pull out of a multibillion-dollar gas project if it cannot get an exception. the departure would be especially painful for iran. the government hoped to the scale of the project would embolden other international companies to invest there. for many companies, the eu blocking statue poses a dilemma. they could either stay in iraq and risk u.s. operations and finance income or they could leave i met and face eu penalties under the blocking regulations. helena: on wall street, jens korte is standing by in new york. it seems that with this statute, europe is attempting to give trump the red card. will he be cowed by that whatsoever? jens: well, it really would

surprise me if the u.s. president would be to impress or even would reconsider -- you shouldn't forget why donald trump got out of the iran deal in the first place. it is driven by geology, and yes quite some test driven by ideology, and he has quite some backing in the united states by conservatives, evangelicals, the core voters for donald trump, by israel. it would be an interesting twist if those foreign companies would be compensated by the eu -- in the end, by european taxpayers, for those sanctions from the u.s. president. helena: is this dispute having an impact on the u.s. economy right now? jens: well, directly i do not necessarily see it. first of all, besides some exceptions like boeing, for

example, maybe comedies like general electric, there are not that many u.s. corporations doing business in iran. but then again, certainly the relations between the european union and the u.s. are pretty tense already. there is all the trade talks. if there is fighting going on about the iran deal, he definitely does not really help relations. to look at china, for example, for the u.s. agricultural industry, china is crucial. therefore, told us tension regarding the iran deal, even if it is not having a direct impact on the u.s. economy, certainly does not help in his overall really tense situation when it comes to the trade talk. helena: financial correspondent jens korte, thanks a lot. canadian prime minister justin trudeau says he feels positive about talks to rework the north american free trade agreement,

for nafta. his comments came as a thursday deadline passed without agreement. u.s. officials say the talks needed to back up a very soon to give the current congress time to vote on a final text for revamped nafta. mexico says the deal may not even be reached before the mexican presidential election on july 1. sometimes small businesses have to overcome unusual hurdles on their way to success, and one restauranteur in an australian city found that out from developing a novel solution to stop his business going to the birds, quite literally. waterfront diners were tired of being harassed by sweeping seagulls. the owner of the restaurant has given his customers water pistols to keep the birds at bay. the seagulls scavenged leftovers or wait for patterns to throw them a bite. it seems the water pistols are not only a tool to keep the diners unmolested, they are

attracting customers. it is back over to brent. concerning moment for public health in a drc. brent: we are going out to the democratic republic of congo come where the first urban case of the deadly ebola virus has been detected. the outbreak has entered a new phase according to the country's health minister after spreading. it has been found in the northwest -- a northwest city. the latest outbreak has claimed 23 lives. the fear is that it could spread rapidly in densely populated areas. reporter: the first batch of the ebola vaccine arrives in kinshasa, the capital of the democratic republic of congo. authorities are rushing to stop the latest outbreak him spiraling out of control. the vaccine itself is still unlicensed, but the world health organization says it has proved effective in human trials, and it is the only thing available that might help stop this deadly

virus. >> our first fire ready the vaccinations are the health workers, and also those who have been in contact with confirmed cases, not just alerts or suspected cases. reporter: this is the ninth time ebola has been recorded in the drc, and many hundreds of congolese have died. it was hoped that this latest outbreak could be contained to more rural areas. but with a case now confirmed in a city, there is concern it will become more difficult to control. the hope is that with the arrival of the trial vaccine, some protection will be provided for those most at risk. brent: our very own reporters monitoring this story for us tonight. he is in nigeria. how worried are authorities by the recent developments, how worried are they that ebola will spread to a major city? reporter: of course it is a very

worrisome development. the virus traveled quite far. it is more than 100 kilometers from where the first case was actually reported. that means it traveled very far, and that is indeed very worrisome. huge ebola outbreak we have seen in western africa in 2014 and 2015 come when more than 11,000 people were killed, actually reach that level because the virus went to the urban centers. it went to the capitals of liberia, sierra leone, ginny. does not need for pessimism. there is some reason and hope, of course,at it is not necessarily mean a catastrophe if a virus reaches a big city. we have the case right here in lagos, and i remember the day when the news broke that a man from liberia arrived in lagos and he had to the ebola virus will the people were panicked, they were really worried that the virus would spread fast.

but the authorities for the right measures in place and at the end of the day there were only 20 confirmed ebola cases here in lagos. this is the case that people in the drc are looking to now. brent: we have heard that this is the ninth time that ebola has been recorded in congo since the 1970's. what lessons have been learned from previous outbreaks? adrian: i mean, of course to the key lesson is that you have to react a very quick, and this is what has not happened in western africa before. it took way too long for an appropriate global response. this is the reason you virus could spread very fast. we understand from experts that this time around the reaction was quicker. experts are already on the ground, teams on the ground. we hear that 4000 doses of an experimental vaccine have arrived in the drc. it seems that this time around, the problem is taking much more serious. the key challenge right now will

be the tracing of the people who were possibly attached with ebola victims. this is very complicated. you need trained teams on the ground to follow up on everybody who has possibly been in any form of contact with one of these people, and you have to trace them, because we don't do it, the whole thing can spread very fast for some need to know that the symptoms of ebola

>> her mother says she could not stop her youngest daughter from going to the protests. she was one of the 58 killed on monday by israeli sniper fire.

the protests have called for now -- calmed for now. defenses become a tight restriction on the movement of people and goods that israel and egypt have imposed over a decade. she has spent most days new the frontier. the 17-year-old is not hide the slingshot he uses to launch stones over the fence. he has no fear. >> i want my rights. if there would only we work for the young people -- be work for the young people but there is none. i would have gotten married yesterday. but there is no money, no electricity, no water, nothing. the blockade is suffocating us. reporter: gaza city's biggest hospital, rooms are crowded with injured patients from the protests. nurses and doctors are working around the clock.

the stretched health center has reached its limits once again. ms. doctor is treating a patient with a gunshot wound to his leg. some of the injuries are so severe that have to be -- limbs have to be indicated. >> all of these patients will need long-term treatment, maybe a year or more. they need different surgeries, plastic surgery, orthopedic surgery. a lot of things are waiting for them. reporter: it is unclear whether the protests will continue. people in gaza wonder if they will actually bring change. at the very least, they drew the world's attention to gaza's misery for a few days. brent: here are some of the other stories making headlines around the world. images have emerged from the iranian city where at least one person has died in clashes between protesters and police. the violence erupted with protesters setting fire to a police station.

the people have been protesting decisions made by local government officials. there have been clashes in france as police again tried to remove environmental activists from a site formerly earmarked for an airport. activists have occupied the land near the western city for years. france's public broadcaster reported that some activists threw petrol bombs while police responded with tear gas and sound grenades. huge clouds of ash are spewing from hawaii's kilauea volcano after an explicit irruption. the client civil defense agency said that the ash plume would cover the entire surrounding area. some 200,000 people have been evacuated, and authorities have urged people to take shelter and avoid driving. it is official tonight, the u.s. actress meghan markle confirming her father will not be attending her wedding to britain's prince

harry. it follows reports that thomas markle has undergone heart surgery. the couple are due to marry at windsor castle on saturday, and his final preparations are underway, royal excitement is reaching fever pitch. reporter: with camping that already in place, this woman doesn't want to miss a thing, and she is not alone. among the police and security, ardent fans of the british royal family have been descending on the town of windsor outside london. >> get in the sleeping bag, put a blanket over your head. reporter: crowds gathered in windsor reddy had the chance to watch a military rehearsal of saturday's royal event. with the pomp and circumstance fit for a prince and princess, members of the army, navy

commando force have been processing through the town. while excitement is building ahead of the wedding between prince harry and meghan markle, things have not been so easy for the couple. the american actress has been forced to issue a statement confirming that her father will not be attending her big day because of his health. thomas markle was due to lock his daughter down the aisle, but is reported to have undergone heart treatment. despite the difficult circumstances, fans of the british royal family are still expecting saturday to be a fairytale wedding. brent: it was a reminder of the top story we're following for you. european union leaders are aiming to ban eu companies from complying with american sanctions against iran. it is part of the eu's attempt to salvage the iran nuclear deal after the united states pulled

out last week. after a short break, i will be back to take you through the day. stick around for that. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

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