four three two one. and blasted off from a blank on or cosmodrome to dig up the trio of cosmonauts and astronauts embarked on what will be a six month stay on the international space station alexander guest has been there before but this time he's writing history becoming the first german all the all u.s.s. with the title commander i'm burnt off in berlin and this is the day. for . i'm looking forward to kind of having this does very well the role of responsibility for the international space station. and lit up when you fly a second time to space the training actually gets much easier because of the

experience of my first flight i couldn't just cut out the other four and things and concentrate on the things that are really important yet in the order of two to three hundred in every expedition so i'm really looking forward to conducting these it's very important to see the science that we do on the space station not just as a one off experiment that we do in one mission like my expedition but it's a series of experiments that develop over time. also coming up with the right to give the heart a home the european court of justice rules that same sex married couples have the same rights to settle down in europe wherever they choose. you know i've been imagining this moment in every way possible but when it happens the reality is completely different as the co tells us that we were right all along. we begin the day on the launch pad today

a trio of stellar travelers one cosmonaut and two astronauts boarded a soyuz rocket in kazakhstan with a six month roundtrip ticket to the international space station then came the countdown. three to. feeding their hugo the crew blasted off from the baikonur cosmodrome copilot hit by german astronaut alexander guess this is his second mission to the i assess it will be his first time in charge when he takes over as commander later this year. alexander guest along with the americans arena chancellor and the russian sergei pro hope you have will spend the next half year together aboard the international space station a long time to be away from family and friends. corresponding filmed these

pictures of garish saying goodbye on his way to the launch pad crews are foreign team before takeoff to safeguard against illness and he had one last message through the lens for his mother before driving all. the good stuff. alexander gets will become the second european the first german to command the i s s when he takes charge this year and he has promised to be the nice ball and he says in addition to all the research and experiments it's important that he makes sure that his crew members have fun and that they enjoy the ride is hugely popular here on earth especially in germany he has sparked the imagination of young people by sharing his experiments in real time via social media here's more on the space star. castro alex.

the t.v. superstar at least in germany. he has many fans here including at the chancellery in berlin. the tunis the annual limits here myself included will be following the news about astro and exploring closely. everyone loves cares no wonder he's the first german astronaut to charm the public with his personality and with what he does his secret. hey guys astronaut alexander guest here from baikonur he's super cool but he's still got his feet on the ground and he shares everything including on twitter or astro alex has more than a million followers. they're all thrilled about his stay on the international space station the horizon mission. second tour on the i assess this time around he's the mission commander the first german to fill the

role. very humbled by the trust of people having need to actually come on this. fantastic space station but of course it's comes with a big responsibility also already in training. he and his crew have been preparing for two years for the mission. cast underwent countless tests. with his fans always by his side. and he had to test a lot of food including new selections from the astronauts menu. this menu to trigger. you know i can make choices based on i remember. when there's a few new ones in between. one of the new dishes besler noodles with cheese is. even a specialty of gas home region. but it's not all fun and

games he'll have to work hard aboard the assess their own most seventy scientific experiments for gas and the crew to perform in space more than half of them were designed in germany has was the mission's new sidekick simon high techs here with artificial intelligence. and just like on his last tour of the for the i assess he has a special school class project a time capsule with the future ambitions of some eight thousand german children will head into space it will be opened up in fifty years. as fans will have to wait that long for news from their hero. is already planning his first press conference for the twelfth of june. direct from space. and joining me tonight is mark he is the senior advisor for science and exploration

he's down here on terra firma with us tonight we appreciate you taking the time to be on the show my pleasure mark we know the flight to. takes two days we know that takeoff is probably one of if not the danger most dangerous point of the entire mission is there between now and the i guess the docking in two days are they still in the high risk for you know everything we do in space flight is kind of risky we've been doing this for a long time but everybody knows there's a chance that things could go wrong as you said it's the moment when you're like the sort of semi controlled exploding. where the tensions highest it's fairly slow take oath with soyuz you know the acceleration builds up so actually the takeoff itself the first few seconds are relatively light but as you get up in the acceleration kicks in you feel the g. forces build you know a lot of physical stuff there now. making their way there in zero gravity.

there is always a risk but the main part by now by a long way and we're going to be there for about six months. and kind of give us an idea of what the day to day experience is like on the i mean we know there are we don't expect to see them wearing an astronaut's elf it right well you know depends on what happens later on in the mission i'm not sure if there are any space will scheduled for that they will have to get into the full gear that is a long time it's not quite the same as you know sandra bullock jumping over what in ten seconds in or under way but it's it's a day to day life it's a you have to remember the international space station is fundamentally a big world class science laboratory it's a huge number of experiments going on on board which are some of the equipment of bins has been sent out from the ground on previous flights some on this flight crimmins on board and a lot of that's programmed in so it's a day to day routine you know they're working in the separate modules they meet up for lunch and dinner communicate with their family on the ground it's

a lot different perhaps there won't people expect where there's a constant tension about what's going on of course zero g. it's an interesting environment to work in and i thought it was interesting alexander just said that he he's going to be the commander and he said he wanted to be the nice ball. i guess it is important when you're there and you're in this very very confined space for six months it is important to be nice you know everything that we do is about teamwork whether that starts on the ground with the building of the missions we put into war bit whether it's revolting missions or human missions like this we have twenty two member states in the european space agency after overcome all of the language barriers and everything else but when you're on the space station you have a huge backup on the ground as well there are mission control is working with you all the time but of course on board that's where if you like the tensions. and all of our astronauts you know they're very nice people and they have to be to get on you don't. and these sort of alpha males out there beating each other up i mean and

it is truly international when you look at the crew and the research they're doing talk to me a little bit about how that been if it's us do we see tangible benefits here on earth or are we talking about things that those astronauts who will one day go to mars will will benefit from well there's a mix so there are experiments that alex will be doing which are directly related to bone loss for example osteoporosis is a huge problem as our population ages we have more and more people are above a certain age we can learn a lot of lessons about particular aspects in young people that are on the space station or osteoporosis kicks in very separate that out from many of the things that older people might have is in this is on the ground we can also do experiments they're looking at mentality we can actually find new ways of cost in metals in space take the gravity out and we can look at all the other physical process and then transform that back to the ground again but you're right that what we're really focusing on now having had the ice in operation for so many years is the next step can we now go all through back to the moon and then beyond some models

there are lots of lessons to be learned on the ice as about long duration space flight how do people actually how do their bodies adapt over long times when they get to the surface of mars for example off to six to nine months are they going to be ready are they actually capable of physically carrying out their mission that's a good question the idea itself is what about twenty years old to get right so i mean in terms of the i guess space age i mean it's it's getting up there in age right how does it have a much longer life in terms of being financed and also do we know the things we need to know to go to mars now or do we still need to do more research well the ice s. is it's got technical limitations ultimately there's a point at which you know the modules just won't be qualified to keep flying they are getting damaged slowly from the outside by by the environment of space financing is. kind of safe until in the twenty's but we have to now plan for the next things that go beyond so there is

a lot to be before we actually go to mars we're going to go off with the americans the japanese and the canadians we're going to now build a small little space station called the lunar orbital platform gateway big big acronym it'll come up with another name but it's going to be in orbit around the moon and by being a few days away from the earth can just come straight back to the ground again above the radiation shielding belts around the earth going to be different environments for humans then we can learn for the next steps going on to mars there's a huge amount still to be learned from the ais yeah alexander yes he's very good inspiring people i mean if you just look at his twitter feed today before he took off just the way he describes what he's feeling and what he's looking forward to it makes you want to be there so you've got that you know in your favor right now when you look at the future do you see a bishan to mars happening within the next ten to twenty years or is it something i mean we were talking about a mission to mars in the one nine hundred seventy s.

and then he nobody's well i think the first thing to remember is that when we talk about going to mars it's for exploration and it's for science but it's also for inspiration as you said you know alex and the other astronauts the young astronauts in an hour. they they are all very connected and they all say the same thing is that is the classic thing about looking down at the earth and seeing no borders and seeing the fragility of the as we head off to mars in the moon we shouldn't think about those as sort of plan b. as places where the human race is necessarily going to go off and colonize and crazy to rejoin the inspiration is critical to bringing kids and people into you know how can we solve the major problems we have on the earth like climate change when doing resources and that's through international collaboration rational thinking abang the laws of physics you know they do count so there's a lot to be done in space for exploration but connecting it back down to the ground again is something we're all very passionate about well it's been really good talking with you mark mccord with. the senior advisor for science and exploration

we appreciate your time and i thank you thank you very much. politics on the pit argentina have canceled saturday's soccer world cup in israel following palestinian protests over the games location the decision has upset political leaders in israel with some saying leave no messy his teammates and coaches are succumbing to terror threats. some poly was unhappy about playing a friendly in israel because of logistical reasons so close to the will. now the game is cancelled but for very different reasons. the match was originally switch from haifa to jerusalem angering palestinians the city has become the focus of controversy after u.s. president donald trump recognized it as israel's capital palestinians were further incensed because the jerusalem stadium is in the neighborhood of a former palestinian village having burned the argentinian flag protesters friend

to burn replica jerseys of argentina stagliano messi. he will not under any circumstances agree to this match going ahead we've started a campaign against the argentinian football association in which we will target messi. a tweet from the argentinian embassy in israel confirmed the cancellation of the game and said the threats against messi prompted the solidarity of his teammates and fia's of the playing the friendly israel prime minister binyamin netanyahu had hoped the game against one of the world cup favorites would be good publicity for israel he did not qualify for the finals in russia but moving the match to drew slim has backfired defense minister avigdor lieberman said argentina had given in to israeli hating agitates as a blow to israel politically but also a blow to argentina with the game due to have been the last warm up before the

world cup kicks off next thursday. just over a week the most watched sporting event on the planet kicks off as you heard the soccer world cup host this year's russia a country with a history of racism in sports football or brian is heading to the world cup with the nigerian national team as a player in the russian football the it is familiar with the racism that some black players have had to endure. as a player for senate st petersburg bryan remembers being abused by a fan by a show. there was this sam who told me there's no black in zen it's called those that was it and i was with friends from the team we were all wearing this and it's kids and the fans said what's going on why you with kids thank you my friend got angrier than i did you know i just responded with a smile that was from a little you know yeah yeah there's a couple of sleeping but not everyone can just laugh it off homophobia and racism

are part of everyday life for some athletes in russia monkey chants against black footballers have been routinely heard over the years in russian stadiums. racism does exist in russian football there's nothing to argue over in this sense according to a survey by sports start argue in two thousand and fourteen seventy five percent of people responded yes to the question of whether racism exists in russian football alex. head of the local organizing committee for the world cup has emphasized that the odd racist incident doesn't reflect a general mood in russian society. authorities recently sanctioned the russian football federation for fan racism at a russia game as well as several russian clubs for racist incidents. the football family hopes the world cup can pass off without racism dominating the headlines.

well for many of us that one special day is the day when two people commit their lives to each other and get married for many same sex couples not everyone sees their union as something worthy of celebration or even acknowledgement just ask claiborne hamilton and adrian coleman now the two men tied the knot in belgium and they wanted to move to adrian's home country romania. but rumania does not recognize same sex marriage which also means that authorities there refused to grant residency to gay partners who are not e.u. citizens way drian spouse kléber is a u.s. citizen so the couple took their case to the european court of justice in one take a listen to. human system and now i remember the moment when we went to the remaining consulate in brussels in two thousand and twelve. when they refused to

recognize a belgian marriage certificate you know they were the. today's decision means that finally i can look in the eyes of any remaining on a you clock with a set and say that we are a family and the state recognizes what we have been teach other for the last sixteen years he. or one of the two victorious men in that court case is joining us tonight i'm joined by adrian common in bucharest congratulations i would say are in order to you and your husband claiborne it's good to have you on the show tonight adrian you've had a little bit of time to have this court ruling see good how are you feeling now. i. am very happy actually i'm very content and upbeat really. well but it's a good place to be your husband claiborne now we understand he is at work right now

in new york but we have a message from to him so let's take a listen to that and that no it's been sixteen years that the and i have been together and it just so happens that our sixteen year anniversary is this friday so maybe i want to say happy anniversary happy anniversary i want to thank you so much for being by my side and for. going through this journey with me and supporting us on this journey together so this week i'll be channeling to bucharest to join you and all of our friends and family for bucharest and i am so excited to be there so thank you thank you very much and i look forward to seeing you. it's a lovely declaration of love right there. what does this court ruling this decision

mean what does it mean to you. well you know as i said in the press conference we feel that the relationship has you you know to remain in the government and across the e.u. and it is in the end a matter of human dignity. and do you think that shimon dignity is it recognized by the powers that be in in bucharest in your home country i mean do you feel that this court case is going to make a difference in the feeling on the street. well it obviously made a difference in the community here which for very long time has not seen any positive response from from the authorities you know and there is a great sense of civil partnership law that had been stuck in the parliament for

a decade now and at the same time we've seen measure that the thirty's have taken against us for instance the. amendment of the civil code to rule out same sex marriage and the recognition of the same sex marriages performed abroad that was the reason that the government gave when they refused to consider the residence for a play in romania and you know our kids. we you know it is june which is the typical pride month in many western european countries what is pride like in bucharest. it's a saturday and as you saw clear will be coming here and will be together it is a political protest it is small number compared to other countries i think it plain just between one in two thousand people. it includes.

you know many as three allies representatives of embassies what it lacks is romanian politicians. in it would you think it's fair to say that. their the politicians in romania when it comes to same sex marriage or do l.g.b. t. writes that their attitude remains hostile. yes. there are hostile statements and there are all styles legal measures as the one i mentioned before the amendment of the civil code and i think this happens because of public more out of date they perceive you know this is not the country where anybody who went to the city hall

to ask to be married you know today's day. so to amend a civil code to rule out same sex marriage when nobody actually asked for it in no shows a negative political intention against a group so that is discrimination brought up in politics. adrian tomine joining us tonight from bucharest adrian we certainly wish you and your spells clayborne all the best and we appreciate you sharing your story with us tonight thank you thank you to. well the day is nearly done but as ever the conversation continues online you'll find us on twitter either at g.w. news or you can write directly to me brant golf t.v. don't forget to use the hash tag the day and finally we want to get back to that that top story tonight alexander gear vienneau walk over here to give you a better view he is on his way to the international space station where he'll be

carrying out experiments to test how best we humans can survive interplanetary travel we're going to leave you with some stellar images tonight and remember no matter what happens between now and then on earth or in space tomorrow is another day we'll see that everybody. please close your eyes and concentrate with everything the i mean to you. love. the little boy. got a really. great read of the car around the cabin. center

of the conflict zone. my guess this week here in tel aviv is the former israeli prime minister who is the home of the wanted an invasion of gaza in two thousand and eight what do you suppose now about the recent violence along the border line of the first funny israeli prime minister who went to jail for corruption how is it

that he has no regrets complex. next on the. prophet began the brother of john f. kennedy is running for president. the nation. that has assassinated. bobby kennedy. the man he wanted change. your name. i. am not proud of him i will not succeed in dividing us about i will not succeed in taking the people off the streets because we're tired of his dictatorship. taking the stand global news that matters. made from minds

a school exercise book filled with stories of war atrocities written by. brings people who want justice. taken in donkey announcing it in an exercise book but i don't find many others fail. to rate me. one wanted children. were winning documentary starting june fourteenth on d. w. . my guest this week here in tel aviv is the former israeli prime minister ehud olmert he ordered an invasion of gaza in two thousand and eight what are his thoughts now about the recent violence along the border and a first for an israeli prime minister he went to jail for corruption how is it that he has no regrets.

that.