this is due w.'s coming to you live from berlin the german chancellor describes the killings of civilians in the syria as a massacre in address to parliament and the american accuses the syrian government of killing its own people and cause for an end to the bloodshed in the east an enclave close to damascus this is more people are killed in east i'm going to talk with no end in sight to the government's bombing campaign children are amongst the highest casualties we talk to the syria director of save the children. and it's

decision day for does it cause a german court to set to rule on whether to allow back use in major cities we'll go live to stuttgart which is being sued over its evolution. in a warm welcome to the thought she. within the past hour german chancellor merkel has delivered her first major policy speech to parliament since the general election she touched on a range of issues ahead of an e.u. summit tomorrow she spoke of the need for europe to have a stronger voice including in the ongoing conflict in syria during the address you condemn the syrian government's brutal bombing campaign of a rebel held on klav outside the capital damascus here's what she had to say. we're currently seeing terrible events in syria

a regime fighting not against terrorists but against its own people the killing of children the destruction of hospitals all of that is a massacre that deserves to be condemned and which must be opposed by us with a clear no but it also calls upon us to play a larger role so that we can stop massacres like this. so that was chancellor angela merkel speaking to the german parliament on the dire situation in syria the bundestag is due to debate the crisis later today and hundreds of civilians have been killed in syria's eaten quarter of enclave that the pro-government forces have been relentlessly shelling and bombing for days the region has been under siege for years the u.n. security council is due to vote on a humanitarian ceasefire for syria later today. this is a short while ago a member of the german parliament's foreign relations and defense committees or

meet new people of the green party spoke to d w he had this to say about the chancellor statement it's not enough just to say that are condemning it she said that germany gonna try a bigger role there no idea what she's talking about i want to see the consequences and the most important thing in these days is to know that there are three things that has been treated resolutions of the united nations security council being a food by the russians to talking about the besieged besieged locations being liberated and about humanitarian aid for those people there tell its about the russians to deliver in these days i what i would love to see my chance to talking about that. that was only a green party member off and on the jail and bottom is for relations and defense committees let's take a look at the situation on the ground in eastern guta the head of the united nations has described the death and devastation there as hell on earth independent

monitors say more than three hundred people have been killed since sunday most of them civilians among the pitches you're about to see some of the pitches could be just this testing and risk. for a war that's been raging for nearly seven years the images and they're less shocking and no less harrowing. this boy's parents face is unknown and want to become of him. in towns already reduced to shall see any hospital still standing is completely overwhelmed. since sunday the syrian government reportedly aided by russian forces has stepped up its bombardment of this rebel on place with little regard for those who inhabit it.

and still the fighter jets keep coming if what happened in homs in aleppo is anything to go by they want to stop until there's no one left those who survived their sabean stopped in their own homes. anything in the situation is getting worse and people are forced to stay on their grounds to avoid the shelling on able to go on to the streets or whatever's left of them to collect org. i feel. the world leaders condemned the syrian government but that comes as little consolation to the people of eastern. actions how far more facts than just words.

joining me now is sonia khush she's the syria director of save the children in amman jordan welcome to our program and a pictures we are seeing coming up from eastern guta on devastating give us a sense of the magnitude of the tragedy unfolding there. share well you know our partners that are currently working in essentially to describe the situation in which there is so much fear. families especially among children you know they've been living under siege since december twenty twelve so they already had very volatile situations in recent months we had seen levels of malnutrition rai's we had seen no medical supplies getting into the area and so now dismemberment is really compounding the suffering of the people there one of our partners said everyone in eastern goodtimes underground now and that means they're seeking shelter in basements in tunnels we even heard that people are digging holes with shovels in order to have somewhere to hide from the bombing. q.d.

council is music today on a humanitarian ceasefire for fighting in syria what do you have to say to the council especially the veto powers ahead of that vote. well you know we've been calling for cease fires inside syria for seven years now and we really hope that this time is different than their previous attempts because to a circle people three hundred fifty thousand civilians who are trapped and have nowhere to go it really is going to take a thing at a political level to make this stop and we need not only a cease fire but then the ability to get supplies in and in the area has been under siege for six years now and we need ways to get eighty in safely and securely to help the injured help them out nourished help protect people who have been living under these conditions so how difficult is it for aid organizations to get access to the area and what do you see as the most immediate priority is that. it's very

difficult to work in eastern looked at because it is under siege you know there have been some stuff piles of food that people managed to get in over the last several months but now the warehouses are being hit and whatever supplies are available it's hard to move them from one town and he's in good shape to another because the roads are being targeted this is nothing ambulances for example from the very ill indeed to every clinics are even left so not only is the cease fire important but the access really needs to be addressed and that can only be done via concerted effort at the political level sonia koussa the director of the organization save the children thank you very much for talking to us. let me now bring you up to date with some other stories making news around the world a memorial service has been held in the new zealand city of christchurch to mark the seventh anniversary of a deadly earthquake prime minister paid tribute to the families of the hundred and

eighty five victims she also announced new mental health funding affected by the earthquake increase and the first baucus than supreme court has banned for more prime minister nawaz sharif from his position as head of the ruling party sharif was barred from holding public office of a corruption allegations last july the decision has created political turmoil ahead of senator elections and could ensure real politics. donald trump says arming teachers could prevent school shootings like the one that left seventeen people dead in florida last week the u.s. president was speaking at an emotionally charged meeting in the white house attended by some forty students teachers and families affected by the february fourteenth massacre. in just a few hours a larger muse high's administrative court is set to hand down a landmark ruling that could lead to

a ban on diesel cars in major cities the kiss was started by an environmental group would say is the southern german city of stood guard has not done enough to limit the harm caused by design emissions dozens of german cities recorded and new levels of writer gene dioxide emissions above you try showed in the last twelve months toxic air pollution is linked to thousands of premature deaths every year the court's decision will dramatically impact the value of does it cause on germany's roads now our reporter christopher spring gate is in st god and sent us this report . it's the busiest time of day this family run bakery in stuttgart dozens of custom. throughout the city here waiting for their morning deliveries. like many small businesses in germany it's invested in diesel powered delivery vehicles which are cheaper to run due to years of tax breaks for diesel

a ban on day use would hit the company. if a ban on diesel powered vehicles covers the whole city then we have a problem in principle that we'd have to shut down. deliver our products by public transport so we'd have nowhere to go. zinah blames the sheer volume of traffic in german cities and has some of the country's worst it's in a city absorbs over four hundred thousand commuters every day this busy stretch of road in central stuttgart is called the neck of talk crossing and it's become something of a household name in germany that's because with an average of almost seventy thousand vehicles passing through in both directions every single day it's now one of the country's absolute hotspots for air pollution. last year the monitoring station at the nec atoll crossing measured an average of seventy three micrograms with nitrogen dioxide per cubic meter that's almost double the legal limit which is

why activists are calling for tough measures. a lot of people here suffer from respiratory diseases old people in particular and. people move out of this area as soon as they can afford to and that's why we urgently need a diesel ban here it would have an immediate effect. stuttgart is keen to avoid diesel bans so it's introduced traffic reduction schemes and public awareness campaigns encouraging people to cycle to work or use public transport policy makers are also progressively reducing the cost of public transport. and the city is also hosting this pioneering project using a wall of morse to suck color pollution out of the atmosphere the walls about one hundred metres long three metres high whether it works though isn't fully clear yet

. germany's powerful car makers are also firmly against driving bans but in the wake of the emissions cheating scandal that tightlipped at the moment. and that the pull of michael and christopher spring that he now joins me from god hi chris not everyone just reached this point at the country stop what sort of court. how to deal with this issue. well as you mentioned a leading environmental group here in germany environmental action germany is the name took stuttgart to court that's because some crossings like this one here the neck country crossing the legal limits for air pollution have been violated for years in particular nitrogen dioxide that's a fairly noxious substance produced mainly by diesel powered vehicles and to the levels here at this particular crossing are almost double the legal limit that's the average reading for the past year so this group it took to court today one that

court case last july the administrative court here in stuttgart force saw in that ruling the possibility of imposing diesel bans that's when the federal state of. stepped in it's worried about the legality of imposing diesel ban so it appealed the decision took it to the federal administrative court in like and they're ruling we're waiting for that today and chris you said in your report that the makers are against it. but what they're saying about this potentially. well it's very worrying for the german car industry because some a large part of their business model is built on diesel powered vehicles this time last year diesel cars had about forty five percent of the market in germany that's come come down in just over

a year to thirty three percent so that business model is going down the drain in a sense and the other source of worry is simply the resale value of diesel cars hundreds of thousands of secondhand diesel cars at the moment sitting around in car dealerships nobody's buying them so the boss isn't talking even about expropriation . a given all of this other indications what kind of a can we expect. there's no dispute about the substance of this case you know cities across germany are violating the legal limits for air pollution in particular nitrogen dioxide him from diesel vehicles the the argument is essentially whether diesel bans diesel driving bans are a proportionate response to that so that's really what's being discussed at the federal administrative court hearing like not here in like in like six where in stuttgart and it's

a little bit difficult to predict what their ruling is but there is a distinct possibility of perhaps limited diesel driving bans in some german cities dr christopher spring it in stock go up thank you very much you're welcome again on joins me now to take a look at some bright ideas to clean up the you hope this innovation on the table as a business opportunity is because we are talking of course amrita potentially about and all. you know nationwide impact here in germany and it should fuel the debate over how to improve quality in cities the e.u. commission has already called on germany and eight other european countries with high pollutions take action and many european cities are already taking steps to clean up their act. in london authorities are tackling pollution with a financial disincentive owners of the dirtiest vehicles now have to pay over ten pounds to drive in the city center based on top of the ready existing congestion

charge. that this is a part of a package of measures retrofitting the most basic bus routes of the buses so that cleaner was stopped by diesel buses only hard bridges electric and a hard and double decker buses and sit in the diesel taxis were encouraging them given the assistance to move from diesel to charges were increasing the amount of money was spent on public transport but also will create and cycling in spain's capital madrid today taking a different approach when pollution levels get too high half of car owners are forced to leave their vehicles of home whether or not you can go on the road depends on the number on your license place similar temporary fans have also been introduced in rome milan and paris. over in the boat gary and capitals of fia when levels of particulates master exceeded the legal limit for several days at the end of january the city responded by slashing the cost of day take it for public transport and in germany lawmakers are even mulling the possibility of free

public transport all the time. so let's check in with our financial correspondent connoted was in a frankfurt forest conrad good to see we are awaiting that court verdict on the diesel case where the traders there saying about it. for many of the drive diesel cars you can be sure that those people don't like the idea of prohibiting diesel traffic in terms of the in this industry well it's quite likely that these a driving ban would cause new little litigation or people who bought not very long ago a diesel where the comic us cheated the. about the diesel emissions will likely blame this diesel cheating on the diesel ban them and that means that they will demand money from the car makers money for the damage money that it costs to convert not

so wal diesels to the new higher standards the share prices of the car makers since last summer have been recovering quite significantly but it looks like the damper we've seen on the general stock market since the beginning of this year has weighed a bit more on the carmakers than on other industries and sure the uncertainty about diesel is playing a role here. and other big topic today of course is chancellor angela merkel's key policy speech in berlin house that's been going down. some of the things she had to say had a nice ring to the ears of you know economists and other investment decision makers make europe more competitive invest in broadband artificial intelligence etc other things she had to say sounds like trouble macko wants to link the regional development fund which is a fund where you know infrastructure is financed eurozone and european countries

to the way that those countries treat the refugee crisis and that sounds like conflict with countries like poland and hungary who did get and still get a lot of money from this regional development fund but who don't want to tackle the refugee crisis or financial correspondent had who's in in frankfurt thank you. here being commission says it is getting tough on it cartels and will no longer tolerate any companies working together to keep prices high and shut out the competition is just handed out fines topping half a billion euros and maritime car carriers sparkplug supplies of brake systems supplies all going to have to pay up. yes the people the e.u. competition commission emigrate of a stock or wanted to send a message that the european commission will not tolerate anticompetitive behavior. today the commission has decided to fine seven companies

a total of five hundred sixty four million euros for taking part in fort different cartels relating to carse. three other companies involved in these cartels well they excrete getting a fine because they came to us to reveal the cartels in the shipping industry the fines effect a chilean car shipping carrier three japanese carriers as well as a norwegian swedish carrier together they formed a deep sea vehicle transport cartel for almost six years. in the automotive parts industry germany's bhatia and to japanese companies ran a cartel supplying spark plugs to european car makers bosch was also involved in running another cartel fixing brake system prices. companies can escape fines through the e.u. commission's leniency policy which encourages companies to hand over inside

evidence of cartels a system which in the cases announced wednesday proved to be effective and exchange commission sensitive it out to our region for the latest on the bad that's right the bulletin international film festival and one of the contenders for the prestigious go didn't bet the iranian film crew known as pig in english is a black comedy about a blacklisted movie director it challenges studio time so what yvonne and iranian women the dub views on your call has this report. it wasn't seen in the seventy's nights to be out on the red carpet direct on money had he and his concert with their own reef need to be celebrating that from your office turbulent comedy pick at the berlin film festival. not just saying focus on director hassani who was by the government but that's not what's troubling him most and unknown kiddo's talks to be heading filmmakers. sly

toot why shouldn't he be rewarded as well. but given everything down through. opening. a billion dollar without an iranian movie and on think about a prospect in previous years iranian directors sometimes had to bypass ukrainian censors by smuggling their movies out of the country that was not the case with this pick was officially approved but you're a new no authority without any changes at all what's more the movie will be screened in the ring in cinemas despite its focus on the difficult situation often faced by filmmakers in the lead to for more last we heard on cousin was portrayed as a weak man trying to be in the center of attention with the women in his life was with brilliant minds no big deal to director who seemed slightly frustrated by the

question put to him during the press conference you seem to be asking me how come there are these strong women in your well because there are strong women in iraq and i chose to show them. as opposed to conforming to this usual image that. that is presented of iranian women as victims no. it is. comedy it's in the running for bear as long as the jury members and give us share responsiveness for you. for the first time we have a fondness for the snowboarding big big. that's the goal to get the winner with gas or she scored. take a look gosh if that's a teenager there. and you know she started this sport eight years ago she was introduced by her cousin she fell in love and she has an awesome philosophy she

wants everyone out there to sell their gold and video games and buy a snowboard instead because it's more fun than anything else. so you've got to give it up to the young austrian only twenty six of graduations to her for winning the first ever. even. if you look at a new thing it got its first ever gold medal in some time who was a hero for the keep it was in santa fe it was a sixteen year old zoe not sixteen years old and she won bronze is very nice and believe it or not she started when she was only nine years old that i guess is very young getting into the sport and her move was a double wildcat and you know she performed that it was as you mention new zealand's first olympic winter medal in twenty six years to be exact you know so as a six year old would say her comments it was crazy it was crazy congratulations to her that was nice and on the male side another youngster stepped up she was the youngest in new zealand history until hours later someone only two hundred sixty

two days younger on the male side nico her toys he's in the skiing halfpipe in the skiing have pike he also got a bronze and you know his quote was great after winning he said he's been working really hard on this one for the last four years so a young twelve year old really dedicated and it paid off and when you factor in that new zealand in its entirety has only won three medals in the winter olympics and two within hours their future looks mighty bright ok and finally a grudge match in women's ice hockey the u.s. took on canada who came out and of course the u.s. came out on top and this was a thriller you know the women defeated their neighbor canada they won the last four gold medals in this competition u.s. they struck first in canada in the second period rebounded they scored two goals hayley irwin marie filip twin power of the usa the day. sisters both took the game into an extra penalty shoot out in the penalty shoot out was won

by jocelyn liberal. and it's a great thing considering the u.s. men's were eliminated a day earlier so move forward with the u.s. they had won gold since one thousand nine hundred eight wow lots of drama yes. thank you very much for all the details on the olympics. that's it for me and kris hollington from us forces the forward to seeing you and.

nature another. kitchen an old. post. the cost structure is a business all three of us he has become famous really by bringing his exquisite cuisine into the company canteens. let others have come the steps if his guests the flumist gourmet food. the. european social democrats are in crisis in the next generation save them french socialists are looking for a new leader while germany's s.p.d. is facing a crucial decision to rejoin a conservative government or not. party members are speaking out can they help set

the course for the social democrats future. sixty minutes on. cars on the move. for god. for cities and. they have survived do they also have a future. i really understand people who say they don't want to stay here. but i also admire people who want to stay here and who decided to create something new in peace time what needs to happen if tolerance and reconciliation are to stand a chance of darkness cities to work starting march tenth on g.w.

. hi everyone and welcome to the show today when we had one of that month's most extraordinary. these topics are no menu as well.