lou. this is g w news live from berlin a court in the uk margaret jackson appealed by two borders journalists sentenced to seven years in jail myanmar accuses the reporters of trying to undermine national security they say they are innocent and were framed by police but the judge says their punishment is quote suitable. also coming up no doubt under people in alpine regions in germany and austria struggling to clear record amounts of snow some villages are cut off and emergency workers warned us that danger from avalanches.

and emotional scenes as tennis star andy murray announces that he will retire this year saying the pain of injury is too much for him to take. i'm sorry kelly welcome to the program we begin this hour with some breaking news because courts in several german cities have been a vacuum waited after a series of bomb threats that were made in the last several hours our security correspondent thomas sparrow is on the story he joins us now from berlin thomas what more can you tell us. well we know so far as you said that several courts were evacuated that's something that was reported on earlier and particular we know that it's in cities like port stomach to book. key and that's the first element that has been reported on it was also reported on that the threats came by e-mail one aspect

that is not yet clear is whether in every case it was the same e-mail another aspect that is still not clear is who was behind that e-mail it was reported that the e-mail was anonymous however police is still trying to identify any more clues regarding this aspect then police reacted in some cases by evacuating the courts in other cases they have also been searching their respective buildings with dogs and something important that was also mentioned and i think this is relevant for this case is that this is not particularly new several courts received a similar threats in the past and after police searches they did not find any dangerous objects so that is why police is now specifically focusing on trying to identify whether the threats are real and whether in these particular courthouses there i've dangerous objects whether the threat is serious enough for them to act any further and we have some initial reports that at least the courts in magna

bergen and air force that they're being evacuated currently on tom sparrow i know you're on the story i'm going to hop off and do some reporting but again just to reiterate for our viewers breaking news here a series of bomb threats in several german cities at some courts and they are currently being evacuated thomas thanks for your reporting we'll talk to you again soon. but in the meantime would like to turn to some other news to me on mars now where a court has rejected an appeal by two journalists serving seven year prison terms while low and quasi were erected arrested in december twenty seventh teen after investigating the massacre of ten broking boys and men during the army's brutal crackdown on the muslim community the two borders journalists were later sentence for breaking the official secrets act by possessing classified documents their lawyers argue that they were entrapped. in a poorly stay. on the line now from singapore is

one of their colleagues roy does asia regional editor kevin kevin thank you so much for joining us this morning the correspondents we know they were arrested while reporting on the ethnic cleansing in the anwar how difficult is it today to get an accurate account of the situation for myanmar is for him to muslims. well the issues of trust are very much at stake. with this case. i mean maurice committed to the rule of law and democracy as you said the trial record makes it very clear. the charges against all of the shows to these reporters our colleagues are false. for the chronicle is very real and the government of myanmar has an opportunity and really a responsibility to do the right thing in the way that the courts have failed to do . and in fact we know that their conviction it has been essentially condemned by

various organizations also by various governments around the world given that what is your reaction to this verdict and how hopeful are you for your colleagues. well it's a hugely disappointing result. for us for their families their wives were in court they were not they were men. but you know they were their wives were there and. tell a court today would do the right thing and that they would be able to see them and see them released so that it's a missed opportunity as well government of myanmar. and until there are free. commitment to the rule of law is in question in the free press and in the market so that goes very much i think. thank you so much for joining us with your reaction

today kevin crawley biters asia regional editor we appreciate it. thank you. let's get a quick check now on some other stories that have been making news around the world german chancellor angela merkel has laid a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier on the second day of her visit to greeks she'd last visited athens for talks in two thousand and fourteen a key topic is neighboring macedonia's upcoming name change prime minister alexis tsipras may face a vote of no confidence over the issue of. the u.s. led coalition against the so-called islamic state has started the process of withdrawing from syria a spokesman for the u.s. military confirms the move but would not discuss specific timelines locations or troop movements out of concern of operational security president trump announced the planned withdrawal last month. the president trumps former lawyer michael cohen will testify publicly before

a congressional committee next month cohen is expected to face questions about his ties to russia and hush money payments he arranged on trump's behalf to keep extramarital affair allegations out of the news during the twenty sixteen presidential election. president trump has visited the u.s. border with mexico to press his case for a wall to prevent immigrants from entering the country illegally the president said he was considering bypassing congress and declaring a national emergency to secure funding for the barrier that alex hunter phenomenon has been at the border and sent us this report from macallan texas. well true. they backed off and wants him to build the border wall. they don't opponents and supporters of the u.s. president facing each other in mckellen while waiting for his arrival was going to reassess the valley and i think it's very important that we secure our borders is absolutely important and it's necessary for my children for their safety oh it's

just it's steep for all the problems of the u.s. has been but the support that all the exposure that starts just by its. true members of the same community but deeply divided a couple lost her temper the police had to be taking them up meanwhile president plum was given a tour along the rio grande day where he talked to border patrol agents using this trip to bolster his argument for his signature companion promise that what they need more than anything is the barrier the wall color whatever you want whether it's steel and concrete you don't care we need a barrier in macallan trump once again threatens to invoke emergency powers to build the wall without congressional approval but many in the rio grande a valley does agree they don't see a reason to declare a national emergency here most people we talked to at the protest told us that there is no crisis that they feel safe they accuse the president of stoking fear in

their community and even some of tom supporters say they do for tighten security but they don't believe that the world is going to fall from. brenda kennedy has lived in that alan for twelve years she says she's proud of her community. this is the safest place i've ever lived in life so this whole idea that there's. you know victims coming over illegally and drugs in the street and for a child it's ridiculous absolutely not. she says he president trump stayed long enough. mccallum to see that for himself maybe he'd change his mind. austria and germany are struggling to cope with the heaviest snowfall in two decades at least seven people have died in alpine regions in the past week authorities are warning the risk of avalanches in the mountains is extremely high some communities and bavaria have declared

a state of emergency and forecasters more more snow is on the way. you know. it's become a military operation german soldiers called in to help better garden where a state of emergency has been declared the bavarian town hasn't seen snow like this for years and the dangers are all too real. untreated we have many requests to help clear the roofs of buildings in the tunnel but if i can hold thirteen years ago fifteen people died many of them children when a roof collapsed it's important to keep a close eye on the roofs and secure any that pose a danger. heavy snow fall has completely caught off the southern german town of yacking now it may look like a perfect picture postcard but there are increasing concerns that food supplies are running low. in switzerland guests were lucky to survive an avalanche that

came crashing through their hotel photos on social media show the devastation as the three hundred metre avalanche swept into the building at this front go mountain pass injuring three people. in the mountains around innsbruck in austria they too are on avalanche standby there are concerns that if the weather improves people may take unnecessary risks. yes so people who told us some feel the fear is that people will say well there is a lot of snow the weather is better. and our experience from the last thirty years has shown that the first day of improved weather is really dangerous it's when most avalanche accidents happen. mostly for. more than four metres of snow has already fallen in this region for those living here the hard work looked set to last some time yet. i mean s.f.

is covering the story for us from out as a in austria which is struggling with extreme snowfall but it's not again last night and i wouldn't be exaggerating if i said that this city this town is completely buried when you go through the streets the gives the impression of walking through a tunnel i mean the walls of snow are literally twice as tall as i am. the headline this morning in the local newspaper was hope and truck edition hope would probably describe this side of the village and i'll say which has had some of the heaviest snowfall but the villagers are really dealing with it the bakeries open the hotels open people are walking through the streets there's not snow plows there on how snow plows here actually they have they have shovels steam shovels going through the streets literally carrying the snow because there's nowhere to put it they have to put it in giant piles down the street now trepidation would describe the other side of this village about a kilometer down the street there they have been evacuated it's completely closed

off no one's allowed to go there and that's because of the danger of avalanches austrian authorities have history highest avalanche warning for that area even the mayor had to evacuate his house i don't know if you can hear but there's a helicopter flying overhead and what those helicopters are doing are checking the situation to see if an avalanche is about to to go down and so people had to get out of that area very dangerous situation there in the alps well now how secure is your personal data here in germany people are increasingly worried about their personal data being stolen and misused and this survey shows that for more than sixty percent of people living here this issue is a kneejerk concern it follows revelations that a hacker stole personal information from about one thousand public figures the survey was conducted by him for tests to map for the public broadcaster and it gave just german opinion on a number of topics. the us twitter account cause the political storm in germany

the post all day top politicians and celebrities were sneaked over a number of days mobile phone numbers bank statements and intimate photos were posted online. it didn't take long to find the suspect. a twenty year old student was annoyed by the public statements made by his victims the political establishment is alarmed and so is the public. how concerned are germans about the misuse of data sixty one percent are worried or even very worried that their data will end up in the wrong hands. at the same time digital is asian in shaping more and more aspects of life so it is changing society the economy and daily life people in germany have mixed feelings about this development only twenty five percent believe that the benefits of digitalisation way the negative more than half the positives and negatives in equal measure the rest are skeptical germans are not

skeptical about the economy the booming economy and low unemployment reflecting their views on their own personal situation seventy eight percent say that their own economic situation is good or very good only twenty two percent say the opposite. all in all germans tend to be optimistic rather than pessimistic about the year ahead. when the u.s. authorities have requested a d.n.a. sample from football star chris channel rinaldo as part of an ongoing rape investigation involving the superstar were knowledge who is being sued for allegedly raping catherine majorca in las vegas back in two thousand and nine she has filed a lawsuit seeking to avoid a non-disclosure agreement that she says was pressured she was pressured into signing her knowledge has always maintained the encounter was consensual. tennis star andy murray has announced that he will retire this year saying that he

may even quit after the upcoming australian open murray along with roger federer rafael nadal and novak djokovic have dominated the men's game in recent years winning the lion's share of major titles and earning the name the big four but the quartet could become a trio in just a couple of weeks. head of this year's grand slam opener andy murray currently ranked two hundred thirty it addressed his lack of performance and dealing with chronic pain. i can still play it's it's a level lower level that i'm happy playing. but also. you know it's not just the pain is is. you know is just truly. in two thousand and thirteen murray became the first brit since nine hundred thirty six to win wimbledon bringing the title and tennis fever back to the u.k. but it was in twenty six team murray really took charge we need the a.t.p.

world tour finals gold at the rio olympics a masters one thousand title and a grand slam all in the same calendar was a historic achievement in the sport murray ascended to world number one eight years becoming the first brit to do so since one nine hundred seventy three sadly in two thousand and seventeen murray injured his right hip and was forced to cut his season short opting to have surgery rarely making tournaments over the last two seasons murray with drew from last year's australian open french open and wimbledon he had initially planned to quit after this year's wimbledon but now feels melbourne might be his final event. yeah i think i think that is because there's a chance of a sure. yeah there's a chance of that for sure because. like i said i'm not i'm not sure.

i'm not sure i'm able to. to play through the you know for another. four or five months with murray set to leave the court tennis will have to do without one of its corners. tones making way for the next generation of talent to breakthrough. a warm bad news for a former giant in the global auto industry has that story and more that's right there of course we're talking about carlos go on he's been in the news a lot lately japanese prosecutors filing two new charges against the former nissan chairman they're now accusing him of aggravated breach of trust the new filing comes days after go and made his first appearance in a tokyo court on the original charges which were financial misconduct that go on as the architect of reno's alliance with nissan and many see him as the glue that still keeps it together the french carmakers says it has no evidence of fraud on

the part of go on and go on has denied the charges linked to nissan because lawyers say that they will seek bell following the latest allegations. let's get more on this topic with our correspondent in frankfurt stock exchange and. annette goans the tension has been extended multiple times he's being held without bail and he's even been interrogated without a lawyer present now renaud meanwhile says it has nothing on him is this case against going splitting the two car giants. well actually i think this case against go in as rob. a showcase that those two companies never have any worth while to get there at the time and he was arrested reportedly at canning and clean to parties and then came the whistle blower who. made those charges properly against go and so what what's happening currently in japan is also a showcase of how the japanese juridical system actually works its in that this

will stay compared to jurisdictions we know in the west what happens next could be another six months go on in casa de because if he cannot get clear from those charges that would be the next step for in the japanese legal system. a device back in frankfurt we'll hear more from her in just a moment let's take a look a look at another story asian markets up today on efforts to resolve the u.s. china trade dispute western nations are meanwhile hoping that a resolution out of this dispute might lead to easier access to the lucrative chinese consumer market something that has remained frustratingly out of reach for many businesses and germany's influential b.d. industry association has now called on the european union to adopt a tougher policy towards china on just this issue. chinese market has long been a gold mine for many german companies with carmakers like audi and mercedes making an ever larger share of their profits here but the b.t.i.

federation for german industry claims the chinese market is far from a level playing field. the business lobby accuses beijing of using a combination of protectionism price dumping and state subsidies to bolster china's economy and cement the central government's control. in the development of a free market isn't on beijing's agenda these are the central government is trying to expand the communist party control of the economy and civil society. and that's become more apparent in the last three years that. there is also growing concern that china shopping tour of buying controlling shares of german high tech companies like robotics manufacturing kuka could soon lead to a strategic disadvantage for europe in the report is calling on berlin to take action to make the economies of germany and europe more resilient among the demands increased scrutiny of china's state support for firms that compete with european companies and more oversight of chinese acquisitions the d.d.i.

also says western countries must do more to defend their lead in technology. of course we need to do our own homework first and increase our own competitiveness by investing more in infrastructure and education including research by expand the research budget. but often. the reading i also believe you members must close ranks to ensure china does not eventual again a competitive edge in technology and let's go back to our frankfurt correspondent annette. annette we've seen how the u.s. has chosen to handle this issue of chinese competitiveness is the e.u. really in a place to get tough on china. well it could actually be a good timing because china is a has a lot of problems currently with its economy and they might actually be willing to compromise more than ever before what they're trying currently is to devaluate their currency and to sell their products even cheaper to the international markets

and that is why everybody's saying now wait on a minute this con be like sustainable we're seeing that with the solar and solar sector for example china was offering their pro dags at really low prices which then led to that it's traction that the minds of the solar industry in a way here in germany and that the same time there's also a widening current stern that china is just buying into technology in the vast with the sort of investors which have states backing so what currently politicians are discussing and what they are arguing is that there needs to be a level playing field it can be that the chinese state is supporting investors and yet kind of makes it possible to buy them so perhaps the window now is the chinese economy weakens and vice fock their force in frankfurt thank you and. thank you

meanwhile president trump has canceled his trip to the world economic forum in davos this comes amid the standoff with the democratic led house of representatives and the partial government shutdown that has left more than eight hundred thousand federal government workers unpaid for nearly three weeks and trump is refusing to sign the congressional spending bill because it does not include funding for a wall along the border with mexico it's unclear how much longer government ange agencies will be closed but the costs are beginning to. ah. several hundred government employees spray freezing temperatures in protest against the ongoing trump government shutdown for them this is not politics it's personal. i'm already on a pretty tight budget living in d.c. is very expensive affording an apartment in d.c. is pretty expensive and you know not knowing how long this is going to last i've really had to budget as much as i can and to say ok all right not spend anything

for weeks at a time because every day i don't know when the shutdown is going to have and i've talked to someone and i've asked them if i can get a loan for a mortgage if this doesn't i mean my mortgage payment if this doesn't end at the end of january so and if it continues longer on have to go into my retirement money to pay the bills the bills keep coming they don't stop. with employees across the country facing financial distress the economic costs of the shutdown is adding up estimates by rating agencies standard and poor's put the cost of the last government shutdown in twenty thirteen at twenty four billion dollars it decreased the gross domestic product growth rate from three to two point four percent this time around analysts put the cost of a full government shutdown at six point five billion dollars a week however the current situation affects only about a quarter of government spending and just under half of all federal employees only

a small fraction of those employees live in and around washington d.c. the rest of the country is affected too particularly communities with large government offices and those located near national parks. people can still come and hike in death valley national park however there are a lot of visitor services that are closed down and some areas of the park that are closed. with some operations closed tourists are spending their money elsewhere local businesses are missing out meaning the government shutdown is affecting not only federal employees but the private sector as well they're preparing for more losses because the resolution of the current crisis is not in sight. and let's see in the u.s. where all eyes are on the dollar following remarks by federal reserve chairman jerome powell that the central bank could be patient with plans to raise interest

rates powell had previously suggested the fed would raise interest rates at least twice this year despite concerns this could throw the u.s. into recession before hikes last year drew an unprecedented angry response from president trump who accuse the fed of threatening the country's economic boon powell says the fed won't be swayed by politics. and a reminder the top stories we're following for you. at least five german towns have been evacuated following a series of bomb threats police say the threats were received by e-mail among the town's affected were killed mocked a book and. you're watching the news we'll have more for you next hour i'm seeing bears in berlin thanks for watching.

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