Apparent assassination of a former chechen commander in a berlin park last summer germany ordered 2 Russian Diplomats to leave the country last week. Prime minister boris strongs and votes in the u. Case general election his conservative partys leader of the Opposition Labor Party narrowed in the final week of the campaign. Im sumi so lets go to thank you for joining us it is an issue that has been causing a friction between germany and the us for years and now it has escalated the north stream to pipeline is being built to transport gas from russia to germany but the u. S. Says it is a National Security risk because it increases europes dependence on russia as a result the u. S. House of representatives has now approved sanctions on the pipeline a move that has angered many here in germ. The sanctions target the specialised ships that lay the pipes. Only a few companies in the world possess the technology to lay deep sea pipelines none of them is russian if they continue to work on north stream too they could find themselves cut off from doing business in the us their assets there might be frozen and people working on the ships would no longer be allowed to enter america the 1230 kilometer long pipeline is a wholly owned subsidiary of russias gas problem and is meant to transport natural gas under the baltic sea from russia to germany directly circumventing ukraine the project is more than 80 percent completed and is supposed to start operating in mid 2020. Nord stream to has the potential to double the amount of russian gas imported by germany the country needs more gas as a stable source of energy when it stops using coal and nuclear power. Democrat and republican lawmakers in the u. S. Fear the pipeline could give moscow greater political leverage over germany and the entire european let me and which the u. S. Senate is expected to approve the bill by the end of the week and President Trump said on wednesday that he will sign it into law this soon as possible. Our Political Correspondent simon young is covering this story for us and he joins us for more hi simon tell us more about some of the reactions that youve seen here in berlin this morning. Heres to me as you mentioned theres been some reaction from german business is the head of the German Russian Chamber of commerce is calling for retaliate 3 sanctions if the u. S. Impose these measures and theres also been supposed to call reaction we have the spokeswoman for peta out my hes the economics minister here this morning saying that they regret the decision of the u. S. House of representatives they reject any what they called extraterritorial sanctions and theyre watching closely to see what the u. S. Senate does i believe theres going to be a vote on this measure in the u. S. Senate the end of next week sam and what exactly are these sanctions and what effect could they have on the pipeline project yeah these sanctions are targeted against the companies that operate the specialist vessels that are laying the pipeline in the north stream to pipeline in the baltic sea and in particular theyre directed at. Chers primary shareholders and the executives of those companies. Under this law the u. S. Authorities would take 60 days to to determine which Countries Companies are exactly involved and then they could proceed to impose measures like cancelling visas denying these these people entry into the u. S. And even could involve asset freezes or blocks on Business Activities in the u. S. By these individuals personalized sanctions Simon Nordstrom to is not just a controversial project from the u. S. Perspective we have to say it has opponents here in europe as well doesnt it. Well thats true in particular poland is particularly unhappy about nordstrom too because it says its being bypassed by it and its also opposed to it on the same ground of the u. S. Opposition namely that it says that europe is becoming too dependent on russian gas also i should mention ukraine which is not in the e. U. Of course but it to posies north stream too because it used to be the main transit country for Russian Energy exports to europe another point is that the European Commission has also. Been taking measures that could affect the outcome of this project. Its in posed the regulations saying that the same companies should not be both operating the pipeline and selling the gas that flows through it thats important because it could massively affect the business viability of nord stream too and there is there are legal battles around that going on as well here in europe all right our Political Correspondent simon young covering the latest developments on that story for us thank you simon russia is expelling 2 german diplomats in retaliation for the expulsion of 2 Russian Diplomats by berlin last week it is all linked to the killing of a former Chechen Rebel commander in berlin the summer she was gunned down in a public park german prosecutors believe russia was behind the killing and the Russian Diplomats were expelled because berlin said moscow was not cooperating sufficiently in the investigation now moscow has denied any involvement in the killing lets go to our correspondent in moscow emily show in is standing by for us hi emily so weve seen russia now expelled 2 german diplomats what do you make of this escalation. Well sumi it is a bit of an escalation the german side has even reserved the right to take further med measures if necessary but in a way this this escalation was to be expected last week after the Russian Diplomats were expelled from germany the Russian ForeignMinistry Said that it would take reciprocal measures those reciprocal measures from the russian side usually take the form of a tit for tat response and thats what were seeing now and even on monday Vladimir Putin the russian president said that there is what he called an unwritten law that if you expel our diplomats we will expel yours so i think in a way it is an excellent escalation but were also kind of seeing both sides going through through the diplomatic motions as it were this is a link to the more murder of a former Chechen Rebel in berlin last august and prosecutors believe that there is a russian involvement there what is moscow saying about that allegation. Well the kremlin has repeatedly denied any involvement in the murder they called the accusations groundless but as you already said to me this accusation from the german side is actually that the russian side hasnt helped enough hasnt cooperated enough in the investigation of this murder and on monday again Vladimir Putin speaking to his german counterpart the chancellor Angela Merkel said that moscow is ready to help in the investigation he also said that he denied that this was a diplomatic crisis and i think were seeing from the russian side especially that both sides are treading carefully german russian relations are traditionally very close we just heard about the nord stream to pipeline which is supposed to connect the 2 countries directly and today we heard a statement from the kremlin spokesperson as well who said that these expulsions today of german diplomats were necessary reciprocal measures and that he hoped that they wouldnt get in the way of further constructive ties with germany so i think both sides and especially the russian side are kind of trying to keep this scandal as small as possible and we just quickly have what we actually know weve seen from germany to the expulsion of 2 diplomats. Well germany has called this measure unjustified and they also have threatened that they could take further measure of Going Forward for it our correspondent in moscow and lee sure when reporting for us thank you. Lets catch up now on some of the other stories making news around the world algerians are voting to elect a new president after months of political turmoil the north african nation has been in limbo for months since protests helped oust longtime president updo as his beautifully cut in some towns crowds have disrupted voting they are pushing for a boycott of the elections and demanding sweeping political reforms. The New York Times is reporting that former hollywood movie producer Harvey Weinstein has reached a tentative settlement with dozens of women who accuse him of Sexual Misconduct the 25000000. 00 deal would and most civil lawsuits against weinstein but he still faces criminal charges of Sexual Assault and rape in new york. New zealand recovery teams near the fire carty volcano will head to the island at 1st light on friday to recover the remains of those killed in mondays sudden eruption the death toll from that eruption is now 88 others are still missing and some 21 people are in intensive care units. Defense ministry has confirmed that suspected islamist militants killed 71. 00 soldiers near the border with mali a nighttime ambush on a military camp and in one in the southwest also wounded 12 soldiers and left several more missing the socalled Islamic State has long been active in this area. And did every reporter tell me or not people has been looking into this story for us hes with us here in studio hi tony what more can you tell us about this attack well its reported from the Defense Ministry that they say hundreds of attackers came to this camp there was and shes day hundreds of them came with gunfire with mortar shells even suicide car bombs and storm that have the fighting went on for about 3 hours before the Defense Ministry says the attackers then fled across the nearby border to mali so this is this is believed to be the largest or the deadliest attack so far on asia arion troops we mentioned that the socalled Islamic State is present in this area are they behind this attack well we dont know yet well find out soon this is the kind of attack especially one of the size that you had a groups tend to treasure and well hear something from them you know soon whether in form of a statement or even sometimes a form of a recording they tend to record these attacks but these state has this growing presence in the city held not just in asia and when people look at for example syria and iraq and this you you know because the Islamic State has had a decline there that its over thats not the case in this the hell this is a difficult place to govern and its a place where they will feel like they can grow they can breed and they can attack targets in that region so were talking about a serious Security Risk for this the whole region can these nations cope these are poor nations in the say hell they have vost as well the vast territory difficult to govern and theyve been looking to the outside world for help because theyve been struggling so weve seen countries like france and the u. S. Send thousands of troops into the region to try to help france in particular has led the way it even lost a future of 13 troops recently in an helicopter collision france then called a summit with some of these nations these held nations and said lets find a new way forward but actually as a result of this later. Attack france has canceled that so its not just these poor nations that are struggling to deal with the threat but even the big a nations france and the u. S. As well australian what can france and also Europe Germany in this case do to help well friends of the france in particular has been pressuring the rest of the world countries like germany and saying you need to do more this is not just a local problem theyre saying its a global problem and they want the International Community to get more involved but the moment the so much confusion so many interventions there isnt a sort of global cohesive thought as to how to get the security situation this a hell sorted and that is i think the Sticking Point of the moment so right reporter tommy a lot of bringing us the story thank you so much for joining us here in studio feel now india has passed a new law that will make it easier for minorities from neighboring countries to gain indian citizenship as long as they are not muslim opposition to the law is especially strong in assam a state in indias northeast that borders bangladesh and has a large Muslim Population people there fear that undocumented hindu migrants from bangladesh will now be granted citizenship and to the political balance in the region. A rupture of faith in the state. Many here and a some see the passage of the citizenship Amendment Bill as a clear message from the hindu nationalist government that they are 2nd class citizens. The government but this the other day doing that trying to make us minority in our own very spit in our one little religion by giving to bangladesh is. The new law would allow non muslim religious minorities from neighboring countries like bangladesh to claim indian nationality. A Campaign Promise delivered by Prime Minister modis b j p government which denies the measure discriminates against any group here really bothers me this bill will not harm even a little bit any minority especially our muslim brothers and sisters who live in this country because this will only give citizenship it doesnt take it away from anybody. But critics say the law undermines indias secular constitution and is blatantly anti muslim in this bill they are targeting a Community Without being it it lives the basic structure of the constitution it is divisive and exclusive it will destabilize up polity and it into 20000000 people will not trust us. And tweet Prime MinisterNarendra Modi hailed a landmark day for india and promised the bill would alleviate the suffering of many who faced persecution. But in a sum the bill is another reason to distrust india a recent citizenship registry exercise excluded 2000000. 00 people in assam who now have to prove their citizenship or be rendered stateless hindus left off the list now have protection but not muslims. Who could face deportation. Voting is underway in britains 3rd at general election in 5 years conservative Prime Minister forced johnson cast his vote early on hes hoping to secure a majority so that he can get his breaks it plans through parliament the Opposition Labor Party leader Jeremy Corbyn also voted early his party gained ground in the final week of the campaign so despite initial predictions that johnson would win a majority the most recent polls suggest that the result is too close to call. That we know. How marrying his point home Prime MinisterBoris Johnson canvassing for last minute votes in this breaks it dominated election. And the conservative leader stayed on message throughout his final rally. Well i think its time for this country to come together and move on although the will of the people that we planned. At his more low key affair labor leader Jeremy Corbin was keen to remind voters of the other issues. Also go down the road of investing in our country investing to end austerity and redistributing wealth and power in our society and why thats never been seen before why the government and. Its a choice between carbon and johnson for Prime Minister so who do voters think itll be. Unfortunately boris to simply never there options are. So you can be Prime Minister its not. The worst thing that can happen i think is for the conserve to skate in. Hollywood and mining is chasing some leader of the democrats one party hoping that wont happen the anti breaks that lead dams who are hoping to make gains but weve still got the chance to stop breaks that we can stop Boris Johnson getting a majority and what happens in the next few hours is going to be absolutely crucial to see whether that happens and then theres the Scottish National party also proved to the s. N. P. Is the 3rd Largest Party in the u. K. Parliament and could hold the balance of power if theres a new white right majority. We have the prospect of another new deal cliffe age as we go through next year and i do think that get breaks it done slogan is the biggest corn in this election whatever happens at the polling station only one candidate will walk through the doors of number 10 downing street as Prime Minister after clearing up as many votes as they can on election day. But voting is under way lets go to london our correspondent back at nasa standing by for us there hi vericut breaks it has been an extremely a divisive issue in british politics how much have you seen that reflected in this Election Campaign. It really is a big issue for British Society and it played out in the Election Campaign when ve