this is news coming to you live from berlin the german chancellor describes the killings of civilians in syria as a massacre in an address to parliament on the american accuses the syrian government of killing its own people and calls for an end to the bloodshed in the eastern enclave close to damascus. this as more people are killed in eastern kuta with no end in sight to the government's bombing campaign children are among the highest casualties. and it's decision day for does it cause

a german court is set to rule on whether to allow bans in major cities we go to chicago which is being sued over its air pollution. cheema german chancellor angela 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 our address she condemned the syrian government's bombing campaign of a rebel held on klav outside the capital damascus here's what she had to say what we see. the horrifying events that come in syria this is the fight of one regime not against terrorists but against its own

population. killing children destroying all split us all these constitute a massacre which needs to be condemned we all say no to this but at the same time it requires us to play a larger role in this making sure we can end such a massacre and we as europeans need to strive for that. the german chancellor speaking a short while ago on the german parliament is due to debate the crisis in syria later today and also be on the agenda at the u.n. security council the un's syria envoy says he hopes the council agrees store resolution to end the death and destruction in eastern guta independent monitors say the shelling has killed more than three hundred people there since sunday most of them civilians warning you might find the images in our next report distressing . for

a war that's been raging for nearly seven years the images and their last shocking and no less harrowing. this boy's parents fate is unknown and watch will become of him. in towns already reduced to shelves 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 clay with little regard for those who inhabit it. i. i think. i.

am still the fighter jets keep coming if what happened in homs in aleppo is anything to go by they were installed until there's no one left those who survived being starved in their own homes. but the evolution of 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 or buy food. world leaders condemning the syrian government but that comes as little consolation to the people of eastern or actions how far more facts than just words will come on the journey now is sonia who she's the syria director of save the children in amman jordan welcome to our program so no pictures we're 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 on families especially on 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 you're behind eastern good times underground now and that means they're seeking shelter in basements in tunnels we've even heard that people are digging holes which. shuttles in order to have somewhere to hide from the bombing of the security council is news if you do it 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 surgical people all three hundred fifty thousand civilians who are trapped and have nowhere to go it really is going to take being at a political level to make this stop and we need not only a cease fire but then the ability to get supplies in 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 it 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 sound stockpiles 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 less so not only is the cease fire important but the access really needs to be addressed and that can only be done by a concerted effort at the political level sonia cousineau director of the organization save the children thank you very much for talking to us. listen to some other stories making news around the world donald trump says amin to just two events keep shooting is like the one that left seventeen and dead in florida last week the u.s. president was speaking at an emotionally charged meeting at the white house attended by about forty students teachers and family members affected by the massacre on february fourteenth. amnesty international has named the philippines president as one of the worst performing leaders and human rights for the second day running the n.g.o.s say is the

a widespread killing of alleged drug offenders in their diego details he has warned drugs may constitute crimes against humanity. congolese refugees in rwanda say soldiers shot at them and wounded at least two people this as around two thousand refugees try to march out of their camp in protest at a cut in food rations some seventeen thousand people live in the cab. service is being held in new zealand in the city of christchurch to mark the seventh anniversary of the deadly earthquake mr gysin the turn be a tribute to the families of the hundred eighty five victims she also announced new is mental health funding to help children respect its. support through germany's highest administrative court is set to hand down a landmark ruling that could lead to a ban on diesel cars in major cities the case was started by an environmental group

which is the southern german city of st god has not done enough to limit the harm caused by diesel emissions dozens of german cities recorded and new levels of nitrogen dioxide emissions above e.u. tresh o's net lease the last twelve months toxic air pollution is linked to thousands of tranche of deaths every year the court's decision would dramatically impact the value of diesel cars and roads. our reporter christopher springeth is in strict guard and sent us this report. it's the busiest time of day at this family run bakery in stuttgart dozens of customers throughout the city are waiting for their morning deliveries. like many small businesses in germany it's invested in diesel power delivery vehicles which are cheaper to run due to years of tax. as for diesel a ban on day use would hit the company hard as of interest. 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 and we can't deliver our products by public transport so we'd have nowhere to go. under this. design of blames the sheer volume of traffic in german cities and 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 metre 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 it and that's why we urgently need to diesel back here it would have an immediate effect. 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 cum pollution out of the atmosphere the walls about one hundred meters long three meters high whether it. works though isn't fully clear yet. germany's powerful comm 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 iconic christopher spring if he now joins me from was just gonna try chris not want to reach this point at the country's top i want to sort of course have to deal with this issue. well as you mentioned a leading environmental group here in germany environmental action germany is the name. to call that's because some crossings like this one here the next 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 the average reading for the past year so this group it took to court today one that called case last july at the administrative court here in stuttgart

four 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 potential. 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 down in just over a year to thirty three percent so that 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 the

hundreds of thousands of secondhand diesel cars at the moment sitting around in college dealerships nobody's buying them so the compass isn't talking even about expropriation well ok 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 g.'s all bans diesel driving bans a proportionate response to that so that's really what's being discussed at the federal administrative court hearing like say she's not here unlike say in like say where instead caught and it's a little bit difficult to predict what their ruling is but there is a distinct possibility of some perhaps limited diesel driving bans in some german

cities chrysippus fingal thank you very much and have more on that potential diesel ban with canada humpy from our business desk she's standing by and will be with you shortly. w.'s program guide. highlights. dot com highlights. dangers and why. there's a. finisher.