brent: this is dw news live from berlin. a contract killing here in n the german capital carried out on orders of the russian government. prosecutors say the kremlin ordered the murder of a georgian man in a berlin park. moscow threatens to retaliate. germany moves to punish russia for the murder. also coming up, angela merkel outlining ambitious goals for the upcoming german presidency of the european council, including a corona's coronavirus

-- coronavirus recovery package. plus, explosive allegations against donald trump. a new book by john bolton claims the u.s. president asked china to help him win reelection in november. and the coronavirus pandemic, crippling kenya's tourism industry. it is forcing people to find new ways to make ends meet. i'm brent goff. to our viewers, welcome. german federal prosecutors have filed murder charges against a russian man suspected of gunning down a former rebel fighter here in berlin last year. they say moscow ordered the killing. the alleged hit job strained

relations between berlin and moscow last year, prompting germany to expel two russian diplomats. russia's ambassador to germany says the murder charges are groundless and the kremlin will retaliate if berlin takes new actions against russia over the murder. reporter: it is an asssssination that has s shaken russian german relalations to the core. last year and late august, the former rebel was gunned down in the e heart of b blin, shot t ie in thehe head and bught -- in broad daylight. the suspect fled on a bicycle,, but wawas caught sooafterward.d. a r russian, according to his passport. soon after the murder, suspicions arose. the man wawas a commander in the war against russian troops until 2005. in the eyes of moscow, that made him m tererrorist. >> this man is s on or wanted

list. he is a fighghter. a cruel them bloodththirsty person. he killeled 98 people e in one attack. reporter: moscow has always denied any involvement in the killing. what relations us this have to the russian authorities?? these are ababsolutely groundles asassumptions. at least w wt temps hahave been madede on his life before he mod to germany and 2016, hiding from the russian secret service. his family followed, believing they were safe here. >> we were warned something can happen at some point, but i i never thought such a brutal attatack could t take place soso easily here e in germany, where the security serviceces, the police, and the lawaw are among the strorongest in the world. reporter: the contract killer is known as madame k, arriving in

germany shortly after the attack using a fake id. prosecutors have gathered enough evidence to charge him with murder, but the accused man was acting under orders from the russian government, they say. brent: for more, i am joined by the editor in chief of the investigative online newspaper "the insider." welcome to the program. your paper has played a key role in researching the alleged murder here named in the documents, vadim s. what evidence is there to link him to the russian state? > so, we analyzed cell phone data in this prosecution document, and we found that

actually, he visited a training basis of russian intelligence, russian secret service. so he was trained on this b bass days before he left for france, then too berlin. and we also found a lot of cell phphone data that links him with high-rananking officicers, both veterans and other officers. we found one of his murders in russia, he was guilty of two murders,s, of a russian businessman in 2007 and one in 2013.. the firs mururder was together with two other offfficers, soo o

many links. brent: too many links, and he had a record. the german federal prosecutor says he carried out the killing either because he was looking to make a lot of money or he shared the motive of his clients to kill a political adversary. is there any indication who may have contracted him to carry out this killing? >> i think both of this is wrong. what we see is that h he already wawasuspected d in the seconond murder, and i suggest that he was actually caught by police, so this was part of the deal so he could spend of his arrest that she could spend the rest tf his l life and pleasant, b but o this was part of the deal so he could spend part of his life in prison, the rest of his life in prison. a vevery nice choice, b because

even now in a german prison, it is much better than in accrual russian pririson. he would be much better than he would be in moscow. brent: that is an interesting pair of choices there. we have seen russia being accused and being linked to many attacks on alexander l., the russian hackers, angela merkel, the german chancellor, she was spied upon. does russia think that it can get away with these things? does it think that it can act with impunity?y? >> i i think it is [indiscscern] the think so, because he really gets out of all of this without anyy problems. there were some sanctions, especially after this, but i do

not think this is really bothering putin. because first t of all, h he mobibilized re p populitity inse the country while explainingg that russisia is surrounded byy enemies and eveverybody is t trg to sanctction us. hihis loyalty ininside the couny was growining after all of this. right now, opinion polls are prty bad of him, but not because of this. if the sanctions wouldld be very strong, if the p political cocorrection wilill be superstsg possiblyly that will p play some role,, but it must be much tougher than it us right now from germany. brent: roman, editor in chief of "the insider." we appreciate your insights and your time tonight. germany's chancellor, angela

merkel, has outlined the challenges she hopes to tackle when they take over the eu's rotating presidency beginning july 1. in a speech, merkel said the covid-19 crisis tops the list, calling it the you -- the eu's biggest challenge ever. the crisis has exposed the eu's fragility, calling for more solidarity, bigger budgets, and rescue funds to help speed europe's recovery out of the pandemic. >> a relaxed meeting quickly tuturned serious. chancellor merkel says the eu faces the greatest challenge in its history -- economic freefall, unemployment, industrial bankruptcies, and rising debt. all this, just weeks before germany takes over the rotating eu presidency. >> no country can overcome this crisis alone. we can only meet it if we work

with each other and for each other. our common goal has to be to overcome this crisis as a community, with long-term solutions. reporter: merkel defended a plan with 750 billion euros, saying this is a way to find populism and european division. at the far right party says this sum is too high, and these crises will not be solved by spending massive amounts to help companies out of debt. no to 9 million euros in liability risks. the business friendly fdp party once structural reforms. if i were to be malicious, i would say the support is not going to the people actually suffering from the pandemic, but to the country's competitive with the highest reform deficit. the german eu presidency will be one to focus on climate protection. merkel has said writing climate change tops her agenda, along

with digitization, so europe can become stronger and more independent. brent: we have just been hearing angela merkel's plan for moving the eu council forward. we discussed it further with the german foreign minister t today. >> i don't think germany has to sacrifice anything to save europe. europe is a huge benefit to us. a large export nation like germany profits from people prospering in europepe. that is why we want to make sure the countries that have been hit hard by the coronavirus, like italy and spain, will be helped to recover quickly from the crisis. that is not only good for the european countries, but also good for germany. >> the enormous financial assistance from germany has surprised many in europe. is this a new germany? what role are you taking on? >> we know you have a huge responsibility in europe -- we

have a huge response ability in europe. we have the council presidency the second half of the year and have decided to make a contribution to reining in the conflicts we have seen between the north and south. we want to find a solution to that. we have made a proposal with france. i believe it will be the basis for consensus within the eu. that is the direction we want to go during our presidency. >> it does nothing like europe can depend on the united states anymore after the announcement that it is pulling troops out of germany. what do you expect from donald trump before the u.s. elections? >> i think the u.s. election has its own wills. -- rules. regardless of who was in the white house, americans and europeans are united by the democracy and freedom values. that is not the case with other regions in the world, so there is still more that unites us

than divides us. even if relations are complicated at the moment. i can't imagine that the u.s. in the long term would be interested in us uncoupling our security arrangements. brent: that was the german foreign minister. here are some of the other stories that are making headlines around the world.. the european court of justice has rolled a law in hungary requiring ngos to disclose their foreign donors is illegal. the court says the law breaches the eu's fundamental rights. critics say the legislation aims to silence any opposition toto e governmentnt. evariste ndayishimiye has been inaugurated d as burundi's new president. he is takiking office two months earlier than planned after the sudden death of the former presidenent. the burundi constitutional couot

announced last friday the new president would take charge immediately. the work of a group of north korean defectors is raising tensions between north and south, with the land border closed, the defectors are turning to the air and sea to send messages and medicine to the north. supporters say their efforts are raising awareness about the plight of people, but critics say the group's plans are public eating efforts to promote dialogue between the two koreas. frank smith reports. reporter: north korean defector, sending medicine to north korea and blessed bottles using ocece currents or four yearsrs. now following pyongyang's recent complaints, south korean officials have fililed to stop such activity, but he is undeterred. >> i don't know why thehe government is trying to stop this now. they should say there is nothing they can do.

because this is a nongovernmental group activity. i think it would be wrong to suppress such organizations becaususe of what wawas said by north korea's leader. i am confused whether i live here in seoul or in pyongyang. reporter: his brother has been sending leaflets critical of the regigime by balloon ovever the border for more e than a dade.e. the two brothers fled north korea some 20 years ago and call for south kokoa to push h back against pyongyang. critics argue that actions like there's only provoke north korea. activists like those gathered here today outside the blue hohouse, south korea's presidential compound, show the startt division in public opinin over how to dedeal with nonorth korea. some advocate a hard-line approach, while others, like most of those gathered here totoday, favor renew efforts a t enengagement and peacecemaking.

this civic group is calling for the president to implement the deals he made into landmark summits with north korea's leader in 2018,8, including suspending cross-border propaganda. >> no matter what kind of non-governmental organization is invovolved, the south korean government can stop them. and the south h korean governmet should stop them f from sending flyers to north korea and implement the punishment declaration. reporter: after north korea tuday blew u up the jointt liaisonn office just inside norh korea, south korea offered to send an envoy, a move that was rejected by the nortrth. the defector is against any further attempts s at appeasemet and wants south korea to stand up to north korea. >> if we kneel, north korea will

continue to move in the sameme didirection. if w we stay strong, our 50 million people can be free from threats. we need to have the confidence of a sovereign state. reporter: as the e tension siers and dedespite warnings police wl interfere, he still plans to monitor the tide and send bottles of rice to north korea. brent: a book by donald trump's former security advisor is rattling washington and the right house. among several explosive claims made by john bolton is that president trump asked china to help him win reelection in november. the trump has been trying to prevent publication of the book, and that alone has made it a bestseller. excerpts of it have appeared already in today's u.s. newspapers. reporter: these pages contain claims which could rock u.s.

foreign relations and significantly affect the u.s. presidential election in november. they were written by john bolton, who said he saw donald trump engage in fundamentally unacceptable behavior that he wrote very legitimacy of the presidency -- eroded the very legitimacy of the residency, that president trump asked the chinese president to ensure hee would win ee electioion. trump also encouraged the presesident to push uighur peope into camps, it said -- the book said. he was ignorantf facts, s such as finlaland being a c country,d britain having nuclear weapons. bolton said -- >> when you're dealing with somebodydy like putin, who hasas

made his life undererstanding russia's strategic position n in the world against donald trump who does not enjoy reading about these issues are learning about them -- or learning about them, it is a very diffffult posititin for americica to be in. reporter: trump not only said the book was full of lies, he also found fox's news channel hannity to say this. >> terrible, terrible thing he did. he broke the law, very simple. as much as it is going to be broken, this is highly classified. that is highly classified information that he did not have approval to come up very loud and very strong. reporter: some are now waiting to see if the book might prompt further investigation into the prsident. it is also likely to be a factor in this november's presidential election. brent: for more now, i am joined by my colleague, peter r. let's talk about this book.

these are damning accounts. john bolton is not the most popular person in washington. he is a controversial figure himself. what is his motive here? >> that is a great question. bolton accepted this position well into trump's presidency. you kind of --he must have known what he got himself into. bolton is a hawk, a man that developed this reputation after decades in washington, he has a great appetite of blowing up stuff. he has been trying to push trump to attack iran, the direction that clearly trump did not want to go. that raised a lot of questions saying, why did you take the job in the first place? but he's also one that very much believes in the greatness of america. and i think that is something

that he clearly did not see trump and body -- embody. we heard accounts of cozying up to autocrats to carry political favor. who is bolton has said, trump, he saw him as someone who put his own political interest in getting reelected head of country, and i think that is something that -- ahead of country, and a think that is something that you can imagine rubbing bolton the runway. -- the wrong way. brent: what has been the reaction in washington? >> democrats, you would think they would welcome a book as explosive as this one, this close to the election, but what they have done instead is come out and accuse him of putting profit over country. bolton had a chance to speak at

the impeachment trial in the beginning of the year. he refefused to baback then andn threatened to sue if they asked him to testify or issue a subpoena. really, that rubbed adam schihiff the wrong way. he said bolton staff were asked to testify before the trump abuses, they had a chance to show real courage, they refused. instead, he saved it for a book. he may be an offer, but he is no patriot -- author, but he is no patriot. they are not hapappy with the timing of this book. the deputy comedic issues director pleaded there is nothing worse than an egotistical miserable warmonger that gets fired from their job and goes to write a book with classified information while being paid millions of dollars for it.

the problem with that line is come on the one hand, the white house is accusing bolton of lying -- is, on one hand, the white house is accusing bolton of lying, they are trying to stop the book from being published. but there is no such thing as a classified lie. suggesting there might be more to bolton's accusations, that -- and despite what you think of them, there may be more to it. brent: bolton is not afraid of action that could be coming from the president. thank you very much. we are out of time. peter, thank you. tourism provides a livelihood for more than 1.5 million people in kenya. the coronavirus pandemic and the lockdowns have been devastating for the communities living around kenya's national parks. some people are switching their focus away from tourism altogether. reporter: for these women, cleaning the river is the only

job they can do at the moment. due to the pandemic, there is no tour is a maman businesseses ar- no tourism, and businesses are at a standstill. this is a way to restore the ecosystem of the conservancy. >> this is the most important watershed in this part. the local communities relies on this water -- community relies on this water for cooking, cleaning, and also the wildlife. unfortunately, the river is heavily polluted because of the activities of the urban areas upstream, the tourists that come. reporter: they founded the conservancy. located right next to the famous national park, run by the local masi community. wildlife people and livestock exist here side-by-side, a

balance that is supposed to help the community preserve traditions, but also help protect wildlife and the environment. >> the biggest problem facing wildlife today in kenya is not actually pollution, it is a lack of space. that space is with communities. communities have to be centers of conservation. reporter: this area always belonged to the community. with the creation of the conservancy, the people pulled down the fences and worked to restore the land. after two years, wildlife was able to return. they rely on funding from donors to sustain this as well as tourism. this is supposed to be the peak season, but the arrival of the coronavirus crisis has made it clear relying on tourism only is not the answer. while they have managed to refocus on conservation activities, they have also had to provide aid to

communities in the region. many people here work as guides, rangers in hotels, or so local jewelry to tourists. the entire region's main source of income has been derailed. local markets have been closed disrupting trade in the area -- closed, disrupting trade in the area. >> getting food is a problem. there are diseases all around us. we are just locked down and home and cannot leave the village. reporter: for the people here, it is a lifeline. it could be another year before tourists actually start returning. >> we need a paradigm shift in the conservation movement to find out other alternatives to sustain the important work done in conservation. reporter: while the effect of the pandemic has devastated the region, they hope this change will also give people the chance to build more resilient communities. brent: let me introduce you to the newest star of the san diego

zoo in california, a two-month-old pygmy hippo. the youngster and his mother have just moved from the zoo's mamaternity area to the main pygmy-hippo hip habitat. it became the first of the spspecies to be born at the zoon more than 30 years in the yaruba language spoken in south africa, his name means "firstborn." we will be right back with "the day."" stay with us. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

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