brent: this is "dw news," live from berlin. tonight the united states is hitting russia with new sanctions over a nerve agent attack in britain. the u.s. state department accuses the kremlin of breaking an international chemical weapons ban with an assassination attempt on a former russian spy and his daughter in the u.k. we will go live for the latest in washington. also coming up, dire warnings about climate change as a record drought turns vast areas of

australia into a dustbowl. it is the country's worst dry spell in 50 years. and across the globe, raging wildfires and extreme heat have scientists raising the alarm. they warn that rising temperatures could irreversibly disrupt the earth's climate, turning our greenhouse into a hothouse. and lawmakers in argentina are voting on whether abortion should become legal. the issue has been highly controversial and divisive in the homeland of pope francncis. ♪ brent: i'm brent goff. it's good to have you with us. the united states says it will impose new sanctions on russia in connection with the poisoning of a former russian spy and his daughter in britain. the u.s. state department saying that moscow used a chemical weapon in violation of international law.

the former russian spy sergei skripal and his daughter are believed to have been exposed to novichok, a military grade or agent in the english town of salisbury back in march. they spent weeks recovering in the hospital. britain has accused russia of being behind the attack. the kremlin that humanly denies that. -- vehemently denies that. in july two others came across the poison and one died. for more on this i'm joined by our correspondent in washington. it is good to see you. tell me, what more do we know about these new sanctions. does the united states have new intelligence about this poison? >> well, i have to tell you, i just got a note. we just had a conference call with the state department in the background. what those sanctions are about,

it basically comes down to a ban on granting licenses to export sensitive national security goods to russia. so, that's the sanction in effect right now. the president, i do not think there is new intelligence. i think the trump administration, it looks like this is now following suit on what congress in march, when this attack actually happened, what the u.s. congress asked the trump administration to do, to determine if there is a detetermination russia v violatd international law. this determination has now been done and succeeded by secretary of state mike pompeo and that is why we have those sanctions. brent: the timing on this is certainly interesting. back in march congress asked the u.s. president to use the sanctions. now in august it is happening. is there any indication that there is domestic politics behind this? stefan: well, i don't know if

there is any indication to this, but as an observer and other observers here in washington are probably more likely to say, to give you a form -- a firm yes on this. of course the white house and the trump administration, as good as that is that they are doing this now, they are about 2.5 months late, over the deadline congress asked. it smacks a bit of a political gain or political advantage. as you also know, the president is close to being involved in the mueller investigation, the russia probe. if you remember, he stood next to russian president's vladimir putin and did not mention this

at all. shortly after he was asked by theresa may to expel diplomats and he did so. then for one month you heard nothing, and now this. so the timing is suspicious. brent: the timing certainly appears to be a factor. stefan, thank you. australia's most populous state, new south wales, is gripped by its worst drought in decades. wildfires are raging in portugal, in spain, and the united states, and a heat wave is scorching parts of asia and right here in europe. the impact of the blistering temperatures is visible from outer space. take a look at these images from the european space agency. they show the united kingdom turning from a familiar green, back in june, to a parched brown

in july. this was denmark in 2017. and this is the country just last month. desperately in need of water. the searing temperatures come as a new study warns the earth could be entering a period in which its ecosystems are irreversibly disrupted. reporter: it's been more than 50 years since the state e of new south wales inin australia has seen a drought like this. farmers pray for rain as their crops and livestock die. some are forced to shoot starving cattle, while others face the prospect of having to simply abandon their ld. on the other side of the world, a similar story. the french mountains are simply too dry. about half of this farmer's corn crop has already died. in the u.s., record temperatures are fueling the worst wildfire california's history. the twin blazes, dubbed the mendocino complex, have exploded to cover an area the size of los angeles in less than two weeks.

scenes like this are likely to become the new normal, according to an international research team's latest study. they call the trend hothouse earth. >> hothouse earth is when the earth, the climate, is much warmer than it is today. three to four degrees warmer than it already is, four to five degrees warmer than in the preindustrial climate. reporter: international climate targets aimed to limit the earth's warming to two degrees celsius. but scientists now think even that is too high, setting into motion processes which c could result in a domino effect such as glacial melting. researchers argue that without putting in place specific human-made climate protections, the seas could rise by up to 60 meters. so how to o curb greenhoususe gs emissions? scientists say we need to cut induststrial carbon, travel less by spy plane and car, and eat

less meat. they say already earth is on the brink of irreversible warming with severe effects like those in australia. the government there has announced a multimillion relief package for farmers, but with dry conditions forecast to continue, that may not be enough. brent: severe weather around the world. to talk about that i'm joined by a climate oig -- policy analyst with german watch. it is good to have you on the show. people around the world are asking, droughts, wildfires, heat waves. are all of these connected in some way, and are they all connected by climate change? >> it is hard to say that an individual event is connected to another individual event. it is also hard to say this was charged -- caused by climate change. but what they all have in common, droughts, extreme rain,

hurricanes, all of it is becoming more likely. the connection is man-made climate change is making these events happening more often, and often in more extreme ways. brent: what about this new study warning of a hothouse earth? i was reading the paper today and this is climate change, but it's like the real scary version of climate change. >> yes. what scientists look at is what happens if we do not stop global warming. at one point we get to a tipping point. global warming reinforces itself and gets warmer and warmer and it is harder to stop it did it could lead up to five degrees of global warming come up to 60 meters of sea rise. those would be catastrophic effects. brent: climate scientists are

not saying we have reached a tipping point now. they're saying there is still time to reduce co2 emissions and keep the temperature increase below two degreeees celsius. is that correct? martin: -- lutz: that is correct. once you tip over the first domino, you can get a spiraling effect. they say the first tipping point is between one and two degrees somewhere. so we have to reduce emissions now to make sure we avoid this. brent: is the paris climate agreement enough, considering what we're hearing now about the hothouse earth? lutz: the paris climate agreements as limit global warming well below two degrees and aim for 1.5. 1.5 would probablyy avoid tippig over these dominoes. the problem is not the goal of the paris agreement, the problem is governments are not doing enough to implement it. brent: so you're saying if everything we see in the paris agreement, if it were to be abided by, then we would not

have to worry about hothouse earth. lutz: then we could avoid catastrophe. brent: ok, so that's the long-term. in the short term, what can people do? if you are saying state actors should do more to keep their word, but what about nonstate actors and just people in general? what can they do? lutz: you can use energy more efficiently. you can save energy. you can use more efficient appliances. you can avoid taking your car or a plane. all that helps. at the end of the day we are also citizens in a democratic system. we have to demand our political decision-makers take action. because it requires some political decisions to reduce omissions. brent: that is very true. lutz, it is good to have you on the show. we appreciate your insights tonight. thank you. lawmakers in argentina are currently discussing a controversial bill to make abortion legal.

the debate comes ahead of a key vote on the draft legislation that is expected to stretch into the early hours of the morning. it is a controversial decision, with fiercely polarized campaigns for and against. thousands of demonstrators from both camps gathered outside the senate building today. pro-abortion campaigners have strong support among young people and opponents have the backing of the powerful catholic church. in june, congress's lower house passed the draft legislation by the narrowest margins. this time it is widely expected to fall short of the votes necessary to pass into law. our ethics and religigion correspondent martin gak is following the abortion debate and decision in argentina for us. it is good to have you here at the big table. so, what are we going to see when the debate is over? how'd you think this will pan out? martin: it is hard to say. the lower house debate started the same way. everything indicated that the no vote would win.

in the end, it imposed itself. so it could happen here, too. brent: in argentina, women have been struggling for decades for their right to legal abortion. what does this tell us about women's rights in the country right now? martin: i mean, argentina has a record of fairly progressive sexual morality, or sexual politics track record. including gay marriage, including things like selective gender assignments and so on and so forth. this particular case is one that does not cut quite cleanly through the lines that usually we have in debates about abortions. which is a woman with a certain set of rights and disposal of some sorts. it is very much across the board not only on the right, but also

on the left, the idea that abortion is really about the competition between two different sets of rights. the fetus, or the baby, and the woman. the issue here is that abortions are happening, and argentina is trying to decide how they are going to do with a reality already taking place. brent: what about poll numbers? is there a majority backing legalization? martin: we have a fairly even split country. also because the country itself is also divided geographically into some very conservative areas and very progressive areas. nonetheless, the problem is also is that it is in those states which are farther away from center where most of the cases and the lack of state infrastructure makes this case more and more severe. brent: yeah. we are out of time, and of course there's the factor of the pope being from argentina as well. our ethics and religion correspondent martin gak. as always, martin, thank you very much. here are some of the other

stories now that are making headlines around the world. belarus authorities have arrested several journalists, including a dw correspondent. his apartment in minsk was also searched. the reason for his arrest has not been officially confirmed. critics say the move is part of a crackdown on independent media. dw has launched a protest with the belarus ambassador in berlin and demanded his immediate release. the democratic republic of congo's long-standing president joseph kabila will not run in the upcoming e election. that i is according to a government spokesman. the announcement ends months of speculation. kabila's second term offificialy ded in 201016 but he refefused o step down. now he has chosen before and -- the former interior minister to represent the ruling amp coalition in the vote. as tensions grow in zimbabwe

after last week's disputed presidential election, police today briefly arrested a senior opposition leader as he tried to cross into neighboring zambia. the former finance mininister, a leading member of the opposition mdc, has since b been released. he is reported to be urgently seeking asylum in zambia. the mdc announcnced it will formally challenge the results of the election which they narrowly lost to the ruling zanu-pf party. the results were met with protests and deadly military force. concerns are now growing of a government crackdown. for more on this we go to our correspondent privilege joining us from harare. privilege, it is good to see you. what is the opposition hoping to achieve by challenging the election result in court?

privilege: they are seekeking te nullification of the election results that were announced last week. earlier in the day the legal team a addressed thehe news conference, saying thahat they e ready to file papers and they have got overwhelming evidence. they are saying it is enough to nullify the results that were announced last week. whatat they are praying for is that the courts would entertain them and nullify the results that were announunced last week. and this could have alalso a bearing on the inauguration, which isis planned for sunday. brent: and tell me a little bit more, or what do we know about this former finance minister. a leading member of the mdc, he was briefly arrested today. do we know why, and why is he trying to leave the country?

privilege: h he is -- the e pole are e interested in him becausee they allege thatat he broke e te law by announcing that the leading presidential canandidate for the opposition had w won the electitions before the official results wewere announcnced. so today eararlier on it was sad that h he was arrested i in the prprocess of crossing the border betweeeen zimbabwe and zambia, where he was trying to seeeek asyl. but word that we hear is that he has been denied that asylum, a d he i is being kept in zambia in prepararation probablyly for the zimbabwe authorities to depoport him back into the country. brent: privilege, very briefly, are you expecting a peaceful inauguration to take place?

privilege:e: inauguratioion coud come on sunday, if only the challenge ththat is being momoud by the opposition is not successful. but i think plananare already there becaususe the foreignn ministry, we saw the day beforoe yesterday, they y already issued out a letter to embassies that are in zimbabwe, inviting them to be part of f the inauguratio. brent: all right. our correspondent privilege reporting tonight from harare. thank you very much. >> chief executive elon musk wants to take the electric carmaker private. on wednesday, the board of directors says it is going to invite with the plan.

>> if musk can succeed in taking tesla private, it would be the largest leveraged buyout in history. he tweeted tuesday he was considering taking tesla private at $420 a share, saying he secured funding. a deal at that price would represent abo $72 billion. he d d not say when the fufundig was coming from. shortly after, he published a letter to tesla employees where he said that going private would be the best path forward and would allow tesla to operate at its best, free from distraction and short-term thinking. going private would also be one way to avoid close scrutiny by the public market. musk has public lee -- publicly feuded with many. the company is still trying to overcome production challenges whwhich have held d up its new l three sedan in which tesla's

profitability rests. that has not stopped musks from announcing major products. analysts have -- his statements about taking the company are facing similar doubts. if followthrough, this could be a make or break mode for the silicon valley company, as his competition for european models are faced to intensify. ben: the new times described him as the most successful and important entrepreneur in the world. musk became ceo in the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis. in 2011 he said he hoped to send humans to mars within 10 to 20 years. but who is elon musk and what does he really want? reporter: some have called him the architect of tomorrow.

others say he is a con man. either way, elon mususk i is a highly intelligent, german individual. he has achieved things many can only dream about. in 1994 he founded his first company at the age of 24. by the time he was 30, he will bebecome one of ththe cofounderf paypal. but musk is better known for his other headline-grabbing projects. tesla, spacex, and hyperloop. with tesla, he is building electric cars, a business for which he has come under pressure . the company has spent more than $10 billion without ever making a profit, but that has not stopped musk. he wants to change while distant -- long-distance travel with hyperloop. he wants to send -- his spacexx project is aimed at

spending the first -- sending the first people to mars. it seems not even the stars can limit elon musk. ben: china has fired back against new u.s. trade tariffs. it announced additional ones in $16 billion worth of u.s. goods. the announcement came hours after washington said it was imposing new tariffs chinese products. the chinese tariffs will apply to u.s. products like fuel, motorcycles and medical equipment. the u.s. s said it was targeting products like metals, chemicals and electronics. the trump administration slapped tariffs on chinese imports last month, but china has so far slug -- shrugged off the dispute. they showed surprising growth in july at more than 12% compared to last year. saudi arabia's government is not known for taking criticism. the current spat between them and canada is escalating into a

full-blown diplomatic crisis. they canceled medical treatment programs in canada and transferred saudi patients to other countries. media reports say the saudi government will relocate 15,000 saudi students from canada. the conflict arose after a tweet issued by canada's foreign minister criticizing the arrests of human rights activists in saudi arabia. brent: germany has wrapped up a deal that will send migrants who had been registered initially by spanish authorities back to spain. spain has become the main entry point for refugees crossing the mediterranean. the u.n. says more than 23,000 migrants have entered spain so far this yeaear, many mo t than italy or grereece. the e deal with spain allows german authorities starting on saturday to reject those refugees who have already been registered as asylum seekers in spain. german chancellor angela merkel

wants to reach similar agreements with austria, italy, and greece. to the european athletics championships underway in berlin. thursday, germany put its hopes in a discus thrower. hers is a story against fighting against the odds. she was born shortly after her parents came to germany seeking asylum. now she is ready to prove she is europe's best. reporter: she has medals in her sights. she has already thrown her personal best this year. now she heads into the qualifying round of the european championships in berlin ranked second. this is your moment. -- her moment. >> i was in the stands at the 2009 championships in berlin as a fan. now i can hardly wait to experience it on the field as a

napoli. -- an athlete. reporter: she was botrn in 1996 near the polish border. they were not easy times for the family. sports helped her to find her way in life and overcome plenty of obstacles, including racial discrimination. >> it does not matter what skin color you have. as long as you stay true to your roots and your country. i am so happy i can represent germany at these championships. reporter: she was already a force to be reckoned with and youth level. she grabbed a gold at under 20 and union level -- junior levels, despite rivals towering over. she's a good 10 centimeters shorter than the competition. >> i may be smaller than the others but i have very long

arms, which gives me a wider radius when i throw. i believe the smaller you are, the more nimble you are in the circle. reporter: she and her coach, a former olympic gold medal winner, make the perfect duo. ahead of the competition,, they are using every opportunity to make minor improvements. maybe that will be enough to help her bring home the european championship medal. brent: after a short break i'll 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]

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