did you ever notice that. this is d w news live from berlin tragedy in austria as the death toll caused by heavy snowfall rises the bodies of three german skiers killed by an avalanche are recovered while helicopter crews use a break in the weather to help clear the mountain sides with the risk of further avalanches remains high time also coming up the u.s. ambassador to germany issues a stark warning to german companies if they work on a controversial gas pipeline to russia they will face u.s.

sanctions we'll find out what this could mean. and the australian open starts on monday the first grand slam tennis tournament of the fear all the sports greats will be hoping to add another trophy to their collection at melbourne park. i'm married to evanston that's good to have you with us weather experts are warning of more storms heavy snow and avalanches across the alps last night an avalanche in the west austria buried at least three german skiers their bodies were recovered by rescue workers overall some twenty four people are believed to have died in weather related incidents across the region emergency services fear a brief respite of the downfall could only be temporary. mean as it has been

covering the snow chaos for us in the alps and he joins us now for the latest so i mean what can you tell us about those german skiers who were killed. that's right as you said there were three found dead one still missing they went missing after they went skiing off slope and their wife reported them missing and they were the three bodies were found just an hour later at eleven pm unfortunately they had to call off the search for the last one because of conditions up there they're in avalanche territory the snow is coming down on the rescue workers just couldn't put their own lives at risk to look for the last one now i am at a ski slope here in central austria and people are still skiing but i've talked to some people asked them if they feel safe and they've pointed out which is true that you are safe if you stay on slope and the people i've talked to said they would never think about going off slope in conditions like this well i mean you have been

traveling around for several days now speaking to rescue workers just how are they coping with the situation. that's right we're about twenty minutes away from a military base here they have three helicopters they go on missions whenever they can to to make sure the conditions are safe and they're really there overtaxed i mean they're they're working around the clock to make sure that snow is cleared off roofs around here. trees don't fall on power lines and when they do they have to get rid of them and they're also ready for any situation like we saw unless in western austria where if people go missing they're there to go out and find them fortunately hasn't happened in this area but as i said they're ready conditions don't seem to be getting any better but. they said they're on top of it and they're prepared for the worst but hoping for the best well we can see the snow falling all around you but what about the forecast for the next couple of days is there hope

that things are going to get easier for the people in the area. well there's another meter of snow forecast in some areas around here which is. just unbelievable it's been snowing for two weeks we've visited some places where there's almost three meters of snow but one thing people are really worried about is when the weather conditions do get warmer and there's a melt or there's rain that makes no much heavier on roofs but also on slopes and causes even more of a danger for avalanches so that's what the military and also civil services are are preparing for to make sure they can deal with that if that happens all right i mean as if reporting for us thank you so much for that update. now british prime minister theresa may has called on the u.k. lawmakers to support her european union divorce deal two days before a crunch vote in parliament she said failing to back her deal would be catastrophic for the country britain is set to leave the e.u.

on the twenty ninth of march but has yet to finalize the departure terms on saturday lawmakers and ordinary people joined forces on the streets of london to protest may's leadership and to call for fresh elections i've the rancor of pro and anti bragg's of protesters has become too much to contain demonstrators on both sides who are high visibility jackets and an imitation of the french yet of us movement their anger was directed at the british prime minister. blair. by. which choose days parliamentary vote looming to reason they pleaded with m.p.'s in britain's sunday express news paper to back her brags a deal she wrote it's time to forget the games and do what's right for our country . u.k. opposition labor leader jeremy corbyn said his party was determined to avoid the u.k. crashing out of the european union or would rather get negotiated deal now if we

can to stop the danger of a no deal from the on the twenty ninth of march which would be catastrophic for industry catastrophic for trade and the long term effects of that would be huge we will do everything we can to prevent and no deal exit and it's cities like sunderland where those possible catastrophic economic effects could have their most profound impact heavily dependent on the nissan carmaker plant a decision by the company to shift production to another country could be devastating for the city despite the majority of voters casting their ballot in favor of leaving the e.u. patience appears to be wearing thin. on the. boards if she wants to stay in it simply is also bought all just wanted to be over and done with sick. children.

but apart from. i just don't know what's going on leaving anyone. ifill you know all about the next thing next moment everything's changing. time is taking on britain's exit from the european union but many political hurdles have yet to be cleared. didn't they a correspondent here at mass has been following the story from london earlier i asked her what losing that parliamentary vote might mean for theresa may. well she herself hasn't really said anything about a possible plan b. what's going to happen if she does lose the vote even though for weeks and weeks and looks like she is not going to get three so we're really in unchartered territory it depends a little bit i think also on by how much she loses if there's a huge. huge number of a hundred that would put a lot of pressure on her on the other hand she has always been extremely resilient

even her opponents have had to admire her resilience and the steadfastness that she is going through this process and really tarmon to deliver and what she things it's best for the country she has said that she's not going to resign but we really don't know there is of course the possibility that the labor party will ask for a vote of no confidence but they've also said that they are only going to do it when they are sure they're winning it so we really don't know what's happening if she does lose. that was their good must be king earlier from london well now look at some of the other stories making news around the world and german police have launched a series of raids against criminal clans more than thirteen hundred police officers were deployed in coordinated raids against family crime syndicates in six cities across northwestern germany the raids were focused on shisha bars cafes and gambling venues one man has been detained the death toll from

a suspected gas explosion in a central paris bakery has risen to four after rescue workers found a woman's body in the rubble of the building two firefighters and a spanish tourist were also killed in saturday's blast. greece's right wing defense minister has resigned in protest at a deal and being a long running dispute with macedonia over its name panos cummin else whose independent greeks party props up the government of prime minister alexis tsipras has long opposed the accord with neighboring macedonia which was signed by both governments last year. washington's ambassador to berlin has issued a stark warning to german companies over a controversial pipeline that was supplying russian gas to germany while bypassing eastern european countries richard grinnell reportedly wrote to several companies involved in the construction of the nord stream to pipeline reminding them that he

was sanctioned on the russian energy sector grinnell also criticize the project on social media the u.s. has long opposed the project saying it undermines european security. all right let's get some more on all this and for that i'm joined by mark saunders from our news desk hello to you so exactly who did the u.s. ambassador write to and what was the content of his letters so u.s. ambassador. wrote to several businesses which were involved in the construction of the north stream two pipeline and the letter was addressed to a number of companies involved in the project among them was dr where the german firms of intel shell and unit per as well as the dutch british shell corporation now the united states opposed the project and will make clear to the companies that they their involvement could likely have them face suffer harsh consequences but

let's have a look at what exactly had to say in the letter coming up the quote so this is a part of the letter it says i therefore request on behalf of my government that your company consider the danger this project represents to european energy security as well as the reputational costs and sanctions risks associated with it. all right so it does sound kind of like a threat even though i guess they're trying to sell it as not really being a threat but explain to us why the u.s. would want to slap sanctions on germany over this project what makes it so controversial so he raised economical as well as security concerns connected to the pipeline to the construction and the pipeline is supposed to carry gas from russia to from the russian coast to germany bypassing third countries it is an addition to an already existing pipeline and this would allow russia to double the amount of gas sent to europe so now there are fears in washington but also here in europe

that this pipeline would give russia leverage over european countries and also do away with the need to transport gas overland through ukraine and this is important because ukraine and russia have been in a conflict for the last couple of years largely over the eastern part of ukraine and despite the city until now ukraine serves as a gateway for russian gas into europe and ukraine relies on the transit frees from russia that russia is paying and this also gives them some geo political leverage. all right now max this is not the first time they are now has far controversy as the u.s. ambassador what else has he talked about somebody who has been on the job for not not even a year and he has been hitting the headlines right from the start just to give you one example in the first day. on the job basically he called on german companies to pull out of iran and this was because this was after the united states pulled out

of the iran nuclear deal which was a highly controversial move itself and many agree that acting by acting like this he's overstepping his boundaries and the vienna convention on diplomatic relations to be very clear that as a diplomat you have the duty not to interfere in the internal affairs of the state and working. under from our news desk thank you so much. the australian open starts on monday and the first test grand slam tournament of the year will have special meaning for some of the big names roger federer is looking for a special milestone as he defends his men's title at the ripe old age of thirty seven germany's angela camber hopes another triumph in melbourne can secure her at the world number one spot. just federer boasts ninety nine korea titles a men's record twenty first grand slam success in a straight would make him the first man to reach a century in the a.t.p.

two era. yeah i mean look you know it was really incredible number i could live happily ever after the you know two but if you're so close to knowing that i'm going to be replaying the season you know i'll give it a go but the defending champion will face competition from a resurgent novak djokovic. rival rafa nadal. andy murray has also long been part of the big four. but he tearfully announced that injury means this might be his final tournament. german twenty one year old alexander span i have waits in the wings for his first grand slam title. among the women caroline wozniacki is defending the crown she won last january the dane believes she's well primed to add to her so grand slam trophy it's amazing i think you know it's something i've always hoped for and trap half and then be back here it just feels so great i feel like the first time i came in and ahead on the course

i think ok i feel at home i feel good i feel like these courts are suited for me serena williams is looking to equal the record of twenty four grand slam singles titles but needs to avoid the meltdown which caused the last year's u.s. open you're up to date now and. thanks for watching. closely. carefully. to be sure to do good.