has flared up and, for now, flamed out. i'm going to miss barcelona's neighborhoods, its celebrations, and in a way, its conflict--not the politics so much as the intense passion behind it. i'm leaving a place that's been turbulent, exhilarating and always unique-- a nation within a nation and a world of its own. [drumming continues]

brent: this is "dw news live from berlin. nato members ramp-up news with a show of unity. they agree china is now the new

major risk, but divisions within the military alliance remain and frustrations with president donald trump were laid bare for the world to see. also coming up tonight, germany expels russian diplomats over the killing of a former c chechn commmmander. he was gunned down in broad daylight and a park here in berlin. prosecutors suspect russian or chechen state involvement. moscow says it will retaliate. and fresh ammunition for u.s. democrats and their drive to impeach president trump. lawmakers tell scholars trunk committed impeachable offenses by pressuring ukraine's government for his own political gain.

i'm brent goff. to our viewers on pbs in the united states and all around the world, welcome. nato leaders meeting in london have wrapped up a contentious summit working 70 years since the founding of the military alliance. they adopted a joint statement today recognizing challenges posed by china, and they reached agreements on defense spending. despite this, proceedings have been marked this week by divisions and angry outbursts from the u.s. president. at times, frustrations with donald trump were painfully on full display. >> by then after meeting, the delegates were all smiles. >> we have had a tremendous two days. i think nato is stronger than it has ever been. a lot more money is being reduced by a lot more countries, and they are enthusiastic about it.

>> this is unprecedented. it is making nato stronger. nato remains t the onlnly platfm where north america and europe discuss, decide, and take actions today to protect almost one billion people. >> at first glance, the nato leaders seem to be indeed above -- among friends, but it was not all roses. one especially embarrassing moment was caught on camera. in the footage, canadian, british, and french leaders seem to be mocking u.s. president donald trump's long, unpredictable press conferences. the natato family is currently going through a rough patch, not unlike any regular family during the holiday season.

tensions have risen over financial contributions a and te alliance's core values. 70 years after its founding, the 29-member bloc is sure to have a future ahead, but as nato members depart, it seems internal conflicts will not be going away any time soon. brent: always remember -- if there's an open microphone, not to let down your guard. my colleague, our correspondent max hofmann, knows that as well. he joins us from london. the leaders of nato put on a unified front following what was a lot of drama with these open mics and cameras. was it a happy affair, or are the tensions still there on the surface? quick they managed to patch things up. the member, before the summit, many thought it would be a car

crash. you could be forgiven to believe that when you remember what the french president, emmanuel macron, said about the brain death of nato or when tyus battle one -- 10 jeep erdogan -- tayyip erdogan, the turkish president, set. given that, it went quite well, but the problems are still there under the surface. you could say everyone has sort of got it together because it was the 70th anniversary of nato, but worse, as you said, the problems under the surface are still there and need resolving. brent: this nato summit was the first time china was discussed formally as a challenge for the military alliance. what are nato's biggest worries? >> i would like to say this

before i answer on china. the country that is named most frequently in the declaration is china, but it shows nato is taking its responsibilities very seriously, also when it comes to cyberspace, and that is where china is perceived as a challenge. that is the way they put it. china of course is a huge trading partner for many of those nato countries, if not for all nato countries, but they are very aware that china could become a threat, especially when china could establish those 5g networks, as most industrial countries are trying to do because chinese companies are market leaders for some of that technology. huawei comes to mind, the company that has been heavily

discussed in parts of germany and the united states. before the meeting started, they urged partners not to get huawei into the boat. brent: as always, thank you. here are some of the other stories now that are making headlines around the world. the european union's new commission president says she expects a thorough independent investigation into the murder of multis journalist daphne delete the data daphne -- daphne galizia, who was killed in a car bomb following her investigation into the corruption in politics and multiperiod the president said protesters who used weapons

should be dealt with by the law. the u.s. house of representatives has passed legislation to impose sanctions on chinese officials for treatment of uighurs. the bill says keeping uighurs in what beijing calls reeducation camps violates their rights. beijing calling it a smear. the u.s. house of representatives is considering the evidence for possible impeachment of u.s. president donald trump. for impeachment and constitutional experts who testified on a second round of hearings, a day after the inquiry into the president's activities in ukraine came out.

dw has been following the hearings closely on capitol hill. our reporter talked with one of the experts and i asked what they have been saying. pablo: the legal expert called by the democrats obviously differing quite widely from the expert called by republicans. one expert said if you rush the impeachment,t, it is going to leave the country behind. he also said it is moving at a record fast-paced, talking about the ongoing impeachment inquiry, and he also said trump's actions toward ukraine do not represent a clear case of bribery. also, he had pretty strong

words. he said that it was -- that narrow, fast impeachment have failed. that was very different to what the democrats had to say, but democrats also focused on their experts, basically saying that there were grounds for an impeachment to take place. they even outlined exactly what the impeachment argument might be. it is important to note before we get onto that what their legal expert said. one of the three said that if what we are talking about is not impeachable, then nothing is, so strong words as well from him. brent: it's good that we are learning all of this from these witnesses, but are they not basically telling congress things that they should know if they are already proceeding with impeachment proceedings? pablo: yeah, basically they are trying to outline exactly what has happened already, the investigations that have taken place, with the witnesses have

said, and, like i said, democrats have outlined or at least hinted very obviously of what those potential impeachment articles might be, and they are very clear and very easy to understand for an american public which is pretty jaded in many respects with this ongoing impeachment inquiry. they said that abuse of power and bribery is one of them, obstruction of congress, and obstruction of justice might be those impeachment articles. it is going to be a busy day. there's several hours left of this taking place here in washington. brent: it remains to be seen if it will bridge the political divide in the united dates. thank. now to china and capital punishment. china hands down more death sentences than the rest of the world combined. that is at least what human rights organizations suspect.

the official numbers -- beijing keeps them secret. death sentences are a way for authorities to show their commitment to law and order. at least that is what beijing authorities say. oftentimes when a crime is violent, the public cries out for them to be punished, and that can lead to innocent people being put to death. we met with a group of men who had their death sentences overturned after a traumatic orordeal. >> the foreman did not expect anything when the police showed up at their homes. two years earlier, a gruesome murder had happened near their village. >> i think they suspected the culprits lived in our village. they came in and just arbitrarily took people from there. we were not even hanging out together at the time. >> they did not say much. they just said immediately, you

are the one who did it. >> they were found guilty of killing a young man and raping and killing a young woman. her body was found cut into pieces and wrapped in plastic. >> this is the place where it happened, inside this compound. this was a rice paddy at the time. > the double murder s scked manyny in the region. they were sentenced to death. they had confessed but under torture. china is thought to have the highest number of executions in the world, though the exact figure is a state secret. once police have identified a suspect, that person will nearly always be punished. the conviction rate in china is 9999.9%. >> we were prepared for everything. first, we wrote our will. then we told our relatives they should appeal the sentence.

we were hoping we could clearar our names, but all the time, i was scared that the communist party might suddenly take us to be executed. >> all of them were married and had young children. all were farmers. his p parents worked as rickshaw drivers to pay for his legalal expenses and his children's education. >> ordinary things were not possible for us.s. for other people, this wawas something normal, but to me, it seemed like the biggest luxury. i was so jealousus of my classmateses. >> it would be 14 years until she can eat with her father again. in 2016, the men's convictions were finally overturned. the story was widely reported in

china, one of a handful of cases where death sentences were revoked in recent years. they were compensated with 300,00000 euros each. when men use the money to build a house for his family. >> if we could have worked all these years, we might have been able to make the same amount of money. our reputation has been damaged, our psyche, our children and families have suffered. we have mental health problems. how can this money compensate this. -- how can this money compensate this? > it has been several years since their release, but they stilill struggle with getting through the day. the ordeal traumatized them. >> people used to talk lots with each other. there was a lively atmosphere of home. it's different now. we spend most of our time in silence. >> he says he has only one goal

for his future -- to live a life as ordinary as possible. brent: here are some o of the other stories now that are making headlines. a well-known japanese doctor has been killed in an attackk inn afghanistan. tensile nakamura -- tetso nakamura was killed. he was awarded honorary afghan citizenship in february. the founders of google are stepping down as heads of internet giant parent company alphabet. they will be replaced by the current google chief. google faces growing criticism in europe and the united states over its privacy policies. a murder investigation in berlin as a full-blown diplomatic storm between germany and russia. it began with the killing of

former chechen rebel command earlier this year, shot twice as he walked through a park on his way to a mosque. moscow denies any involvement and says it will retaliate. >> this decision could mark a new escalation and relations between russia and western countries. german chancellor angela defended the expulsion of diplomats after germany's federal prosecutor general said evidence points to russian state involvement. >> i will be meeting the russian president next week, and i will let you know if i have spoken with him and how that goes. we taken this measure mainly because we've seen russia is not supporting us in investigating this murder. and of course, i've spoken with allies about this.

>> a georgia n national was shot in berlin in broadad daylighghtn august. sosoon after the assassinanaon, sususpicion arose russisi intelligigence services were involved. the victim was a former rebel commander. in the early to thousands, he fought against russia in the second chechen war. the suspected killer is a 49-year-old russian currently in custody. moscow denies any involvement in the killing. >> the investigation is under way in germany. we don't have anything to say because we don't possess any information. what relation does this incident possess to russian authorities? these are groundless assumptions. >> germany's interior minister told reporters the investigation was ongoing. >> in germany, there was a criminal process that deals with this kind of thing, and in the case of a crime of this magnitude and with this

background, i can only thank the attorney general that he has taken it on. that says something about the significance of this crime, including its political background. >> with moscow still refusing to cooperate in the investigation, criticism with russia and the west is getting longer. brent: i am joined here by our correspondent, maximiliane koschyk. this former chechen commander was shot twice in the head, broad daylight, in a park. that almost never happens here. now, three months later, we have diplomats being expelled. why? maximilian on --maximilane: the reason given for these steps is the investigation had been taking a while and one of the reasons for the foreign office declaring the russian diplomat

persona non grata, which is diplomat speak for them being effectively expelled from the country, is that they've been saying that russian authorities have been repeatedly asked to cooperate in this investigation and have not done so. that's the reason the foreign office gives for expelling, but on the same side, the general federal prosecutor in germany was the highest investigative authority, have been taken on the investigation. they are calling it a murder investigation, and they've been saying there is russian forces may have an involved in this killing, and therefore, these cases are only being taken by the federal prosecutor if the security of the state is at risk. that's another reason why they have taken this strong measure. brent: it's a big deal when the police are told we are going to take over now. it is now a federal investigation. what is this going to do, do you think, to relations between

germany and russia? >> we have seen today already in their reaction from the kremlin that they did not take this diplomatic measure well. they have been calling it not having great faith in russian relations, but the relations with germany and russia have always been difficult. if you look back in 2014, the annexation of crimea by russia, germany has been leading the sanctions against russia at the time, but also in the same time when the ukraine crisis happened, germany was the country who took russia and ukraine back on the table to get back to the table with france and forge the minsk agreement, so germany knows how to kind of try to be both tough but at the same time be conciliatory, and i think this kind of tactic we will see also in this case, and

we hope that is going to work. brent: as always, we appreciate your reporting. thank you. the journalist who played a key role in revealing how this murder may have been a political hit job possibly ordered by russia joins me now. roman dobrokhotov joins me. vladimir putin's spokesperson says russia knows nothing about this case, had nothing to do with it. of course russia would say that. hass russia offeredd any evidene to support its innocence? >> not yet. the e only statetement we saw wa source from authorities saying that the killed persoson was a terrorist who participated in terror attacks in 2004, which

actually does not look like they claim not to be guilty. it looks like they want to explain why they did it. so this is not the best defensn. we have no such a lolot of evidenence that actutually russa wawas i involved as a state. his name is s deleted from all police d dabases, anand also, where toldld he was l let free r the previous audit in moscow. he w was n not in prison for soe reason. all of this proves 100% that russian authorities at l least help him and possibly were the main organizer of the assassination. brent: you helped establish the link between the murder suspect

andd pressure's military secret service, correct? are you saying he was possibly sent to berlin to commit this crime? is it that clear-cut? >> weust claim m that rusan authorities, russian secret services coverered him because o one except russian authorities could delete his name from all the databases. it was impossible. also, he got a fake passport and could travel abroad with it without problems, and the passport itself was issued by the russian governmnment, so it was s not really fake, , it wast a fakeke identity. that meansns it must be r russin authoritities. we d don' know w who, but we knw eyey helped d him.

hehe looks likike just a gangstr who was recruited by russian secret services. brent: joining us and helping us connect the dots in this case that has become a diplomatic ground. thank you. one of the contemporary art world's most prestigious awards, the turner prize, has been shared between the shortlisted artists. they will split the 47,000 euro prize between themselves. the artists formed a collective and ask thehe judge is not to choose just t one winner.r. their aimim was to show solidary at a time when there's plenty of division around the world. sports -- former basketball star

dirk nowitzki may have retired in april after 21 incredible years at the dallas mavericks, but he is still racking up awards. he received germany's highest civic honor tuesday at a ceremony here in berlin. >> dirk nowitzki's imposing skills and hard work helped catapult former basketball player into superstardom, but his impact has extended far past the sports world. he was awarded the german order of merit, the country's highest civic honor in berlin. the award celebrates his athletic career and commitment to community service. he has a unicef ambassador and launched a foundation supporting children dealing with poverty and illness in 2001. he's no stranger to accolades. he led the dallas mavericks to the 2011 nba title and was the first ever european to win the league mvp award in 2007. his larger-than-life play in the

u.s. helped elevate gameplay back home. >> he is a tall one. a reminder of the top story we are following for your detonator leaders adopted a joint statement that 60 played down fears of disunity within the military alliance. on the second day of summit talks, member states acknowledge the challenges posed by china's growing influence. the first day saw sharp influences between the american and french president. your watching "dw news." after a short break, i will be back to take you through "the day." stick around for that.

destination is about to expose corruption at the highest level . thank you very much for being with us donald trump story out before the end of the nato summit the us president branded a group of leaders is two faced. this after they were caught on camera poking fun at him the group included emanuel macro. justin trudeau- boris johnson and- federal sanchez princess on of the british royal family was part of the group. i in spie ofof this- anger trumpet content with the actual results of the summit boasting of h having convininced his european allies most defense