And the controversial american leader in modified crops. It is the biggest merger anywhere in the world this year. It is good to have you with us. Let him come home, mr. President. That is the message that human Rights Groups said the u. S. President barack obama today on behalf of Edward Snowden. This part of a campaign to pressure the white house to pardon the whistleblower. Politics in the bigscreen tonight, wasting no time merging. Director oliver stones new film snowden opens on friday. Today he said that his request for a pardon is about something much bigger than him. Heres what he had to say. This really is not about me. It is about us. It is about our right to dissent. It is about to have the country want to have, the kind of world we want to build. It is about the kind of tomorrow that we want to see. It tomorrow where the public has a say. Brent earlier we spoke to lewis clark, the president of the Government Accountability project, that is a washingtonbased group that pushes for greater whistleblower protections. We asked him how realistic is the prospect of president obama granting snowden a pardon before he leaves office . I think it is quite realistic, that is the power of the president. The president can do it. His former attorney general did think there should be a Public Interest defense on behalf of a person like snowden. He thinks there should be negotiations and discussions going forward. He might not support a pardon, but that is within the power of the president to do. As long as he has four more months coming can certainly take that action, and i hope he does. Brent the petition for a president ial pardon spread rapidly on twitter today. Lots of people weighing in. Here is just a sample of some of the reactions. Here, a young woman tweeted, come on president of the u. S. , pardon snowden. He is a good man who did a good thing. Lots of people are tagging potus and addressing barack obama with that. Potus stands for president of the united states. This user wrote, Edward Snowdens leaks reveal the u. S. Government breached its own constitution and International Law and he deserves a full pardon. Some shared their doubts. Here, someone wrote as i watch events unfold over the past few years i moved from probable traitor to certainly hero on snowden. And even though we have seen more positive reactions, not Everyone Wants to see Edward Snowden pardoned. Here, a woman tweeted, mr. President , do not pardon Edward Snowden. He is a traitor, he needs to stay in russia. He made his bed when he betrayed our country. The u. S. Plans to lift economic sanctions against myanmar and restore preferential trading conditions aimed at helping one of the worlds poorest countries. President barack obama announced the decision with myanmars leader. She is in watching in washington for the First Time Since taking power. Any sanctions would help me in mark his transition ending sanctions would help myanmar transition. Russia has announced they want to extend the ceasefire in syria. The truce, which was brokered by russia and the u. S. , has been enforced since monday. Russian monitors have reported numerous ceasefire violations but there have been no reports of civilian casualties since the ceasefire began. Reporter scenes like this and aleppo posted to a social media website were basically unthinkable just a few days ago. But now families are taking advantage of this low in the fighting to try and return to some type of normalcy. It is also the third day of the muslim holiday. We are happy that there are no warplanes. Because of the ceasefire, we can go to the swings and be happy. Reporter the ceasefire agreement allows for humanitarian aid deliveries and the resumption of talks that could and fiveyearold war. But supplies from turkey are having a hard time getting through. That is because the Syrian Government is angry is angry that turkey had units on its soil. The Syrian Government said it will only accept aid deliveries if it has a say in their distribution. At least 25 tons ofs the, rice and flour made it through. More than half a million syrians had been living under siege. As they enjoy this respect, reports suggest the ceasefire has already been violated at least 60 times, but so far with no loss of life. Brent tonight, germany has closed its embassy in turkey due to a Terror Threat. The countrys Foreign Ministry in berlin confirming that the Diplomatic Missions as well as german schools will be closed during a Public Holiday until friday. In march, germany shut its embassy following a terror attack that killed dozens and the turkish capital. All three syrians taken into custody by police in northern germany in tuesday have appeared in court and will remain in detention. Federal prosecutors are accusing the trio of being members of socalled Islamic State and coming to germany to carry out acts of terrorism. The three men arrived posing as refugees. They had been monitored by authorities for several months. German authorities believe they are part of the same Islamist Network that carried out last novembers paris attacks. Theres more tonight on germanys growing investigation of terror suspects. The interior authorities are now looking into some 60 suspects posing as asylumseekers. He stressed that germans should not be suspicious of all refugees, however. Reporter were the three syrians really committing planning to commit an active terrorism . One appeared in court yesterday while the other two were brought before the investigating judge today. The federal Prosecutor Says the three men came to germany by order of the Terror OrganizationIslamic State. The interior minister stress there is no uniform will file a potential attackers in germany. There are individual perpetrators who are controlled remotely. Others act on their own, perhaps they are inspired a terrorist structures outside of germany. Reporter authorities are now investigating the suspects links to i. S. Without concrete plans to attack, they will only be liable criminally if they can prove they are members of a terrorist organization. The president of germanys secret service emphasized the role of the internet and planning and carrying out terror attacks. We are concerned about a new type of perpetrator who only seems to be acting alone. These assailants are directed virtually abroad via instant messaging. This kind of scenario is especially challenging for security agencies, as is the deking sleeper cells. There are networks and social media such as facebook the target potential assailants. The internet is the main platform for jihadists. Brent the Terror Threat is not helping the state of the European Union. The Eu Commission chiefs warning of an excited to crisis and the need to take action and for lawmakers to reconnect with citizens. His message comes as the eu comes to struggle to redefine its future after britain voted to leave. While calling for structural reforms, he remained upbeat that the brexit will not kill the eu. Reporter no sign of his dry sense of humor today. The captain of the european project focused on hard facts as he tries to steady the ship after britains a shocking vote to leave. He made an effort to take the wind out of the sails of eurosceptics right from the start. The commission does not intend to get rid of the nationstate, although this is often claimed. We do not want to destroy, we do not want to undermine. We want to construct a better europe. Reporter he went on to explain how that could be accomplished. He unveiled a raft of economic proposals including a plane to raise the European Investment fund to a total of at least 500 billion euros by 2020. First of all, he took the commitment to dabble the investment plan. Second, because he he took the position to apply the flexibility inside the package. Reporter the creation of a common military force is another key proposal he put forward, but eurosceptics claim that shows to people are saying we asked for a better deal, you did not give it to us, so we voted to leave. My sense is across europe, people are saying, can we have a decentralization of hours . Of powers . Our responsibility is to make from brexit a success for europe , for all the citizens of europe. Reporter the most passionate speeches in favor of europe came from the mps themselves, a message they will carry back to their home countries. Brent European Parliament president said the eu cannot go on the way it has in the past. Our very own Brussels Bureau chief called up and asked him whether change is imminent. Is this the week when the European Union reinvents itself . That would be a nice event. Thed kingdomt the europe union. A dramatic situation for both United Kingdom and for us. To reinvent the European Union is unnecessary. If we explore the potential of the lisbon treaty, a consult a lot of problem spirit it c ould solve a lot of problems. Do you think the politicians, has what it takes to give them the signal that they need . Not all of them. I am fed up, also, with a lot of developments, their strategy to fight against populists by read nationalization. D of them concessions is wrong. What we need to give them concessions is wrong. Tax evasion, tax fraud, trade relations, security corporation. These are international questions where you need more cooperation, not less. Are those the topics to win the hearts and minds of the people of the eu . I want to regain trust of the citizens, then the hearts and minds. It probably is not the heart and mind, it is this dramatic loss of trust. Not only public or private institutions, newspapers, tv channels. Look to your mailboxes, to your websites, what people write to institutions, churches. The problem is an increasing number of citizens believe Public Institutions are unable to protect my interests. The first set is to regain trust. If you had to choose to topics, what would they be . Fight against tax evasion. They must pay taxes as ordinary citizens do. Secondly, thank you very much. Brent that was the European Parliament president talking to our correspondent earlier today. When we come back, javier will be here. Brent welcome back. Our top story, activists have kicked off a campaign to urge u. S. President barack obama to pardon the whistleblower Edward Snowden. They argue the former nsa contractor served the Public Interest by leaking state secrets and should not face charges for his actions. For u. S. Secretary of state colin powell has criticized both major american president ial candidates in emails obtained and leaked by unidentified hackers. Powell says the hackers stole a lot of his emails. Some of those emails criticized Hillary Clintons aid were trying to equate her use of a private email server with powells own email practices. He also referred to donald trump as a national disgrace. Brazils former president has been charged with corruption and money laundering. Brazilian prosecutors had been investigating whether he received kickbacks as part of a scandal involving the state run oil company. They say he received almost one Million Euros in describe in bribes. It is the first time brazils most popular politician has been formally charged in connection. Were going to stick with the world of business. Bayer finally saying yes to monsanto. Javier that is right. It was a struggle but bear finally got a yes. They are famous for their aspirin but they also make seeds and has a whole division for crop sites. They have sealed a deal to take over monsanto. The 66 billion deal make bayer s largest producer of seeds and testifies pesticides. The trust authorities will have to approve the deal, many environmental activists are already concerned. Reporter monsanto is possibly one of the most hated companies worldwide. Small farmers accuse it of driving farmers to ruin with their rigid business methods. It is also accused of destroying the environment with herbicides and genetically manipulated seeds. Monsanto laboratories are responsible for almost all the genetically manipulated crops today. The company is present around the world and delivers the matching chemicals needed to grow their plants. But engineered crops can be a threat to buyer diversity and the health risks of the new plants are unknown. Optimizing seeds by genetically manipulating them is the best way to make farming more productive. They say it is about a new approach to farming. We are entering a new era in agricultural, one in which growers are demanding new solutions and technologies to be more profitable and even more sustainable. Reporter bayer also thinks Genetic Technology will help feed the world and that it is one of the multibilliondollar companies of the future. That is why it was once his a such a high price. This is about Value Creation and growth. Our employees will be part of a leading innovation engine for the next generation of farming. For bayer, this will significantly strengthen our decision as a leading Life Science Company in the world. Reporter the entire industry is in flux. Chinas chem china has set its sights on another company, and dow chemicals are also busy negotiating a merger. A handful of giant corporations control almost all of the worlds seed stock. That doesnt of power alone is enough to make many nervous. Javier lets analyze this megadeal. Jens, good to see you. When bayer made its first and second offer, many critics said the price was too high. How risky is this deal for the company . Jens well, i mean the price is quite impressive, a total of about 66 billion. Obviously the offer was too good for monsanto to refuse. Yes, there is certainly some risk involved, especially if you look at the industry overall. The prices have been falling for quite some time. Monsanto itself just reported falling profits and revenue. There was a reason why monsanto is the seller and not the buyer. On the other side, there are also some chances for bayer just to name one. Monsanto is trying to get further into digital agriculture, so that could be also a chance for this big new corporation. Javier we just saw it, there are three megamergers in the making but none have been granted approval by antitrust authorities yet. What does this mean for the likelihood of my central and Bayer Monsanto and bayer merging . Jens it will not be easy to get the approval of regulators. We see some massive consolidation in the overall industry and consolidation usually means further down the line, higher prices for farmers but also eventually consumers. Regulators will have a close look. There is only a 5050 chance that this deal will eventually go through. Just look at the stock price. Bayer offers 128, but the stock of monsanto is only about 106. 17. Some skepticism that this will go through. Javier thank you very much for the latest. If the Bayer Monsanto deal goes through, it would be the biggest german deal in history. Youll discover a big merger can be a big mistake. If you do not believe me, maybe the name Dimon Chrysler brings about rings a bell . Reporter back in 1998, diamer bought chrysler for 40. 5 million. The deal did not deliver the promised synergies. The two companies were unable to integrate. In 2007, they sold chrysler for just 6 billion. In 2006, germanys linda fgr together they have become the World Largest industrial gaseous company. They subsequently sold all of its nongas activities to focus on two areas industrical and medical gases and engineering. Since the takeover, sales and almost doubled. Two years ago, bayer bought the pricetag, 14. 2 billion. The move made bayers secondlargest player and over the counter drugs worldwide. They produce medicines for flu, cold and allergies. Javier that is it from the business desk. Back to brent. Brent sports now, and european footballs governing body has elected slovenian Aleksander Ceferin as its new president after a painful period for the organization. Before her president banned over an ethics violation, also exfifa boss sep blatter. Reporter Aleksander Ceferin does have uefas top job. The road to success thanks to a coalition of smaller nations. He knows he has a tough task. Thank you for your Savannah State fantastic support. It is a great honor, but at the same time, great responsibly. Reporter he is not wellknown in football circles. The former european footballer of the year exited the uefa stage after given special dispensation from fifa. The new man in the hot seat was quick to distance himself from suggestions he only got the job because of the fifa chief. I think he was a good secretary of uefa, then Everything Else concerning those elections, which were happening today, was the imagination. Reporter part of his he will host brent heres a reminder of the top stories. Activists have kicked off a campaign to urge u. S. President barack obama to pardon whistleblower Edward Snowden. They argue the former nsa contractor served the Public Interest by late by leaking state secrets internet face charges for his actions. Bayer has a sealed a deal to take over the controversial u. S. At toro company monsanto. If a bruise, the 66 billion after a short break i will be back to take you through the day. I hope you can join us for that. See you in a few minutes. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] xx yangon, the capital of myanmar. One local civic group is known for its