me ask both of you have you heard from your sources today why pump a go canceled his visit to berlin melinda let me start with you what have you heard . yes we have been hearing through the course of the afternoon and now also are seeing some confirmations coming in on the wires that the secretary of state and those who are traveling with him went to iraq now apparently the journalists who work company in him were told in the afternoon after the meeting with chancellor merkel was cancelled that they would be going to a country that they could not name and that they could not report on the trip but as i said we are seeing some as yet unconfirmed reports that that country was in fact iraq and we can only speculate why that would be as you know the u.s. announced a couple of days ago that it is deploying an aircraft carrier to the straits of hormuz that in conjunction with tensions that are ratcheting ratcheting up with iran and the secretary of state said at that time that one of the reasons the u.s. was doing that is that it had credible threats that there could be an iranian attack on u.s. f

chief political correspondent belinda crane she is on the story for us tonight here in berlin to need to you melinda i mean what we sold there today we talked to me a little bit about that we had the u.k. and the u.s. trying to show a united front on iran when really there isn't one. no absolutely you heard some very diplomatic language there but it absolutely cannot hide the fact that the u.s. is charting a direct confrontation course not only against iran but against its closest allies in the world and i refer there not only to the u.k. but to germany and france who are also signatories to the iran agreement and who are on the exact same wavelength as the u.k. or what we're seeing is the u.s. taking a bet with some very very long odds the bet is that maximum pressure against iran will cause the regime to buckle in one of two ways either that it will concede on the points that the u.s. has been objecting to namely its missile program and also its support for groups that the u.s. labels as terrorist or that popular discontent in the face of increasing economic hardship due to the now blanket sanctio

chief political correspondent belinda crane she is on the story for us tonight here in berlin good evening to you melinda i mean what we sold there today we talked to me a little bit about that we had the u.k. and the u.s. trying to show a united front on iran when really there isn't one. no absolutely you heard some very diplomatic language there but it absolutely cannot hide the fact that the u.s. is charting a direct confrontation course not only against iran but against its closest allies in the world and i refer there not only to the u.k. but to germany and france who are also signatories to the iran agreement and who are on the exact same wavelength as the u.k. or what we're seeing is the u.s. taking a bet with some very very long odds the bet is that maximum pressure against iran will cause the regime to buckle in one of two ways either that it will concede on the points that the u.s. has been objecting to namely its missile program and also its support for groups that the u.s. labels as terrorist or that popular discontent in the face of increasing economic hardship due to the now blanket sanctio

chief political correspondent belinda crane she is on the story for us tonight here in berlin good evening to you melinda i mean what we sold there today we talked to me a little bit about that we had the u.k. and the u.s. trying to show a united front on iran when really there isn't one. no absolutely you heard some very diplomatic language there but it absolutely cannot hide the fact that the u.s. is charting a direct confrontation course not only against iran but against its closest allies in the world and i refer there not only to the u.k. but to germany and france who are also signatories to the iran agreement and who are on the exact same wavelength as the u.k. or what we're seeing is the u.s. taking a bet with some very very long odds the bet is that maximum pressure against iran will cause the regime to buckle in one of two ways either that it will concede on the points that the u.s. has been objecting to namely its missile program and also its support for groups that the u.s. labels as terrorist or that popular discontent in the face of increasing economic hardship due to the now blanket sanctio

it was also a time for people to literally get a taste of what planet berlin has to offer like the work of jennifer melinda schmidt the kenyan born swiss woman is an actress comedian and restaurant or the restaurant it's called spots a heidi which literally translates to black heidi boasts the best swiss fare berlin has to offer. but i wanted to bring a piece of switzerland to berlin that really knowing you're in here feels like you're in a swiss ski cabin and that's really nice for the soon. for those who love the more tactile the series also features the work of the kashmir sisters for the 1st 2 years sounds to events of danny has been selling clothing made of specially sourced pure mongolian kashmir. is a very stylish cool city it's so colorful a multicultural it has everything and that's why i also want to be here. planted in a story of diversity 50 international entrepreneurs and their insider tips the very best the city has to offer. the planet berlin book is in english and german so it's a great way to learn some german but also be reports on your remarks every week of course it's on facebook at d w

melinda crane thank you so much. you're watching news still to come this berlin based afflatus challenging a new law that bans competitors from being named german champions if they're from other e.u. countries it's a personal fight for the italian born sprinter. but first france and germany are moving forward with their plan to build a joint battery cell factory for electric vehicles the two countries are asking the european commission to approve state subsidies to jumpstart the project and the french and german economic ministers are meeting in paris today to discuss the alliance the amos to make europe less dependent on batteries from asia and suppliers. electric cars are still something of a rarity on the streets the same goes for charging stations last year just two million electric cars were sold worldwide but that's about to change all the major com makers have announced plans to develop electric models and that means batteries without which the vehicles simply can't budge battery production is concentrated in the hands of just a few mainly asian companies the heavyweights include china owned invision and see it su

melinda crane thank you so much. you're watching data view news still to come on the show this berlin base athlete is challenging a new law that bans competitors from being named german champions if they're from other e.u. countries it's a personal fight for the italian born sprinter born that in a moment. but first to thailand's king mahat what he has married his official bodyguard just days before his coronation the king is a three time divorcée he married his forty year old fourth wife in a surprise ceremony that was aired on all thai television channels the new queen will be called queen. yeah this was some weights one ounce a relationship the love was a rumor few years now it's official the king annoying seeing his queen with sacred water this elaborate ceremony was broadcast to the entire country and it was watched by leaders of the country's ruling military and other royal family members the couple finished the ceremony by signing their names in the marriage registry on the streets of bangkok somewhat shocked the queen city does rise from commoner to consulate. i mean people will accept the change but they migh