They all agree on americans are deeply divided over this issue. And france phrases words biggest strike in decades Transportation Networks schools hospitals all will be affected as sector employees protest against proposed reforms. Plus a village in turkey with a melodic language of its own. But the villagers using this old style twitter well is finding it under threat as young people leave for the cities so you know sco has added to its list of protected preditions. Im dr thomas great to have you with us just days before the german chancellor. And the russian president are said to meet to discuss the conflict in ukraine a diplomatic dispute is causing tensions between these 2 countries it centers on the murder in berlin of a former Chechen Rebel commander allegedly by russian intelligence now germany has expelled 2 Russian Diplomats in response moscow denies any involvement. This decision could escalate tensions between russia and western countries german chancellor Angela Merkel has defended the expulsion of Russian Diplomats after germanys attorney general said evidence points to russian state involvement in. A meeting the russian president next week and then i will let you know whether i have spoken with him and how that goes and weve taken this measure as you know mainly because we have seen that russia is not supporting us in investigating this murder and of course ive spoken with allies about this through bilateral contacts. That. You know a Georgian National was shot dead in berlin in broad daylight soon after the assassination suspicions arose that the Russian Intelligence Services were involved the victim was a former rebel commander in the early 2040 against russia and the 2nd chechen war the suspected killer is a 49 year old russian currently in custody moscow denies any involvement in the killing. The investigation is underway in germany we dont have anything to say because we dont possess any information relation to this incident have to the russian authorities these are absolutely groundless assumptions. Germanys 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 anything to be attorney general that he has taken its whole noise that Say Something about the significance of this crime including his political background with the. With moscow still refusing to cooperate in the investigation criticism of russia and the west is getting louder. Lets talk more about this with you Political Correspondent kate brady here in the studio with us and. In moscow good day to both of you keith this investigation is still ongoing but at this point what can you tell us about why a german prosecutors believe moscow was behind this killing well prosecutors have said so far that there is sufficient evidence to indicate that this killing could have been carried out by russia or chechnya and so if we look at just some of the circumstances even though the suspected perpetrator 49 year old Russian National and he had actually already previously be wanted in a different mode a case in russia also very similar to a case in which the victim was shot during a drive by shooting which was also carried out by a man on a bike that victim was also shot in the head and then if we look also a little closer as well to some of the circumstances around the victim in this case here in berlin german prosecutors have said that the victim was classified as a terrorist by russian author states and was persecuted as such so the victim had actually tried to seek asylum here after several attempts on his life in georgia he fought as we had there in their reports as a separate in the 2nd chechen war in the early 2000 and we actually are actually spoke to his exwife earlier this year as well who said that we were warned that Something Like this would happen in the end so there are lots of indicators at the minute to suggest this but as you say the investigation is still going ok and moscows not going to cooperate in this investigation that says its innocent in spite of all the indicators weve just been talking about that it hasnt rebutted and moscow says its going to retaliate what form might that we tell you should take. Well of course we dont actually know yet but russias strategy with these sort of diplomatic spots has been and with most things in fact has been a kind of tit for tat response and there has been of course a precedent for this kind of case in 2018 the attempted murder of 6 gasquet in the u. K. That was kind of a similar case the u. K. Accused russia of being behind that as well and at the time the u. K. Expelled 23 diplomats and russia responded by expelling 23 diplomats as well and weve heard from parliamentarians here in russia as well that they that they think that a tit for tat response and an expulsion of that same sort could be a reasonable response but i do think that were seeing both sides and from the russian side certainly treading kind of carefully because russian german relations have been traditionally very close and they have been traditionally and diplomatically this come this comes a very bad time the german chancellor is due to meet with the russian president on monday to discuss ways to end the ongoing conflict in ukraine a big issue for both countries could these new diplomatic tensions undermine the push for peace in the region. Well i think that the russian side is certainly hoping that they wont undermine those talks on monday and i think were seeing signals of that for example im glad markel did did say that she would discuss the issue with putin putin yesterday at a press conference with his colleague with his. Serbian counterpart didnt mention this at all so there seems to be a sense that perhaps the russians arent even letting this issue get to the president ial level at all the timing is certainly inconvenient and we also heard from the head of the International Affairs committee in the parliament he said he also pointed out the timing of the normandy meeting on monday to discuss ukraine and he said that this whole diplomatic spat this whole murder would have no effect on that meeting. You know voices have been growing inside michaels own coalition especially within the part of the c. D. U. For a new approach to russia with this killing is any new initiative to restart relations with russia. On hold right now i wouldnt go so far as to say that theyre on hold but certainly as emily mentioned the timing for these allegations couldnt be much worse right now of course weve also just seen the tail end of the nato leaders meeting in london as well where the nato leaders were discussing how they a group of 29 would move forward in their in how they deal with with russia and what kind of relationship nato could have with russia or in the future and of course there are also calls not only within the government for a new relations and improved relations with russia but also from neighboring friends of president mccoy for example but of course as this case develops germany will be looking on its neighbors for support in the same way that the u. K. Did after the killing as are the poisoning should i say. The form. Double agent and his daughter in the u. K. Say germany will be looking for its neighbors to its neighbors for some support as well within the e. U. And also among. Nato allies a move closer we will have to see how this develops exactly how russia now will react so far weve had that they will react with most likely take for tat sanctions so we are expecting to see another couple of german diplomats expelled from russia but for now it seems that thing that these talks at least about ukraine about the ukraine Peace Process planned for next week those will go ahead and merkel has already said however that she will be raising this issue about this killing with president putin once again. Thanks very much for that and emily sure women in moscow thanks so much to you as well thanks to both of you lets get you briefed down some of the other stories making the news at this hour to customs agents have been charged after australias biggest ever seizure of methamphetamines policing the drug known as crystal meth had a street value of some 700000000 euros it was found smuggled in stereo speakers from thailand a 3rd person has also been arrested. At least 57 people have died after a boat carrying migrants capsized off the coast of mauritania this according to the International Organization for migration it says the vessel departed from gambia in late november headed for europe the group says some 80 people survived the wreck. 2 people have died one is injured after a shooting at the u. S. Military base in pearl harbor hawaii Officials Say a sailor opened fire on a number of people before killing himself the names of the victims and the shooter have not been made public. And staying in the u. S. For legal experts have testified in the 2nd round of public hearings in the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump 3 of the 4 constitutional experts said trump did commit an Impeachable Offense when he asked the ukrainian president to investigate a political rival joe biden. The group was called to testify before Congress SaysTop Democrats lay the groundwork for formal charges against the president the other law expert called by republicans defended trump and said he did make mistakes. So what are the people who will vote in the upcoming 2020 president ial us elections saying about the impeachment hearings to find out we visited a town in virginia now thats a state President Trump failed to win in the last election. Blackstone is about a 3 hour drive south of washington and the impeachment hearings going on there the residents here are proud to say that part of the south. Mack osborn runs a wholesale Beverage Company in blackstone the trump supporter says hes doing its best to keep up to speed on whats happening in the capital and hes definitely not happy about the hearings. I dont think americans want this to go on for days and weeks and weeks and this witness and that witness and his just seems this millions of dollars being wasted and. We have so many issues National Issues we need to solve as a country and this system fatsis the Family Business man doesnt believe President Trump did anything wrong with regard to ukraine. I think a lot of this is just good politics and Good Business you know where your money should go or you want to make sure the things youre doing right before you help somebody. Around 4000 people lived in blackstone roughly half a white the other half the africanamerican the region is traditionally conservative but in the last Congressional Elections a democrat won the district. Most africanamericans we meet on the street dont want to comment on the impeachment proceedings thomas tyler is an exception he says hed rather see President Trumps political fight decided at the ballot box next year weve got. To go 20 did this saddle so either the people will replace him. If you replace you get rid of the man to go to the country i. Mean the people who voted for. Him in a local baba shop molly black occasionally chats with customers about the impeachment proceedings she says she doesnt personally follow the hearings she will remain a trump supporter regardless of whats said in washington. Everybody has their pros and cuts theres things that make a good president good and bad president bad but look at the economy now theres no reason no reason to kick it. Its no reason for the impeachments this week they go to show. How they do a great job with a figure of special counsel robert looking on the proprietors of a nearby bed and breakfast their hot. Bed democrats and i believe the impeachment hearings are justified but i dont think the result will play a role in the upcoming elections. Are we going to look for clinton he says the economy stupid and basically it sounds like its going to be you know theyre going to take a look real hard and see how the economy is going that will be the advantage to you know to the current administration. Republicans and democrats and blacks dont seem to agree on this point they also agree that the United States is currently deeply divided but they differ on whos to blame. This is still to come on this show we meet 2 men who are fighting back saddam a sometimes giant scale and bringing a touch of yuma to britains Election Campaign. But 1st this of france that country is bracing for its biggest strike in decades over proposed Pension Reforms many people avoiding Public Transportation this morning israel lines schools hospitals all expected to be severely affected the president plans to overhaul the retirement system would force workers to retire later or see their pensions reduced the strike is open ended with some trade Union Leaders saying theyll continue their actions until the president abandons his plans. Lets get the very latest on the strike with John Laurenson a freelance correspondent joining us from paris morning john how much disruption are you expecting today and how long do you think its going to last. Well its already started of course france is just emerging from a dramatic rush out millions of people unable to get to work today the railways pretty much pretty much closed down today 90 percent of rail workers are on strike and the metro systems in many cities including paris have been severely affected 11 lines in paris out of 16 completely closed buses. And not really many areas ferries are affected their airplanes and many Flights Canceled today just straight that 200 easyjet flights for example or have been canceled this morning so thats preventing a lot of french people from getting to work youve also got many Public Sector not just workers who are on strike today teachers for example more than half of french teachers are striking today many schools have closed down postal workers hospital staff police energy staff lawyers refuse collectors its close to a general strike at least in the in the in the Public Sector today ok its the worst situation for much of does describe weve been hearing it in decades as far strikes go what is it about microns Pension Reforms thats generated so much public anger and this level of pushback. Well its very radical you can you can and you can see what he wants to do in france has a q. B. System really when it comes to retirement pensions weve got 42 different sexual real pension schemes so depending on what you do if youre a Railway Worker for example and then you get to return 55 that costs a lot of money that means that people working in other sectors from some. In the private sphere they have to finance this early retirement and they have to retire later themselves because the the official return in station france is now or 62 and so he wants to milk down all of these different systems into one universal system where there will be no it wont it isnt even for Public Sector workers people private Sector Workers and this is of course upsets many of the 16 workers because they are already not terribly well paid you do you know this protest. Showed us that. They will have to live longer and receive probably lower pensions so they are saying about that mr childcare thats bringing it to a point as an adult john thanks for that as from pariss much of france grinds to a halt today while there is just one week to go before voters in britain hit the polls for a general election aimed at ending the deadlock of. Prime minister Boris Johnson hopes to win a majority that can push through his bracks a divorce deal with you but opponents of black said well theyre not giving up and some are trying to win over voters by making them smile. Or these 2 chaps know a thing or 2 about billboards and this one in the north london district of Stoke Newington is particularly close to their hearts it was here that ben and began their posted campaign back then the ladder was too short and passers by laughed at them but now hundreds of thousands of people appreciate their political pranks especially those opposed to breaks it meet led by dont tease the Pressure Group tackling a few of the contradictions peddled by british politicians. Like on this post which points out how the money being spent on no deal breaks it plans could be used to fund 4000. 00 nurses. Now their messages arent just restricted to billboards following a crowd Funding Campaign they etched Michael Goves face the minister in charge of preparing for hardbacks it into the sand on a beach quoting what he said before his new job. You see in these quotes this is. This perfect coming together of sort of. An ideology and her british and i think against the reality these quotes you know they sort of speak sounds when we were sold back allies as with many things in life the idea for their project came to them in the pub and theyve stuck with it. You couldnt miss that message at a recent munch in london for a 2nd referendum. And this series of clips from interviews with Boris Johnson ends with a stark warning about how hes lied to th