this is do 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 but the risk of further avalanches remains high 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'll face u.s.

sanctions will find out what this could mean. and the australian open starts on monday the first grand slam tennis tournament of the year all of the sports greats will be hoping to add another trophy to their collection at melbourne park. welcome to the program american evanston. weather experts are warning of more storms heavy snow and avalanches across the alps at least twenty four people are believed to have died in weather related incidents across the region. after a short break in the weather the snowfall in southern bavaria has been relentless this mountain process was closed after an avalanche swept down from the austrian side of the port it with germany emergency services rescued a group of skiis who took refuge in

a mountain restaurant. scimitar back with me the mountain rescue team in the police escorted us down when the passes closed you can just make your own way down. most of the roads around the town of purchase garden have been cleared the biggest problem is the massive snow pressing down on buildings the thought followed by more rain or snow could destabilize some structures mystery in the thing we all eat around two hundred rubes a short while ago we could have said that's it we've done the job now we have to reassess and say we still got the third or even two thirds to go where the home of the four and two senior ministers have been to assess the situation for themselves . another five hundred firefighters have been brought in to reinforce the five thousand relief workers already battling the snow in the varian alps. austria two remains on critical avalanche alert

and one links including the albert pass above the renowned ski resort of st anton are shot an avalanche killed three german skiers on a route that was closed because of the danger from the huge piles of snow. and in the meantime austria authorities have called off the search for a fourth german national who still missing rescuers say the weather conditions make it impossible to reach certain areas of called it the large. because of the warm front sitting above us we've got a very low cloud base. visibility is very poor often obscured by snow or rain. but the weather situation means we can't fly to the areas which most need assistance. so if you comin over here in southfield and we're on standby. we keep checking the weather on the ready to respond to any requests.

for if it's possible for us to fly there. ended up in a safe is in southern austria where he says rescue workers are likely to face even more bad weather ahead 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 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 preparing for to make sure they can deal with that if that happens. and now look at some of the other stories making news around the world german police have launched a series of raids against criminal clans more than thirteen hundred police officers were deployed in courtenay did 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 of 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 ending a long running dispute with massive donia over its name panos communists independent greeks party of props of the government of prime minister alexis tsipras has long opposed the accord with neighboring macedonia which was signed by both governments last year. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has confirmed that israel has carried out air strikes on iranian weapons in damascus he said

quote the last attacks prove that we are more determined than ever to act against iran in syria exactly as promised he said tony natanya comments mark a rare public acknowledgement of his really activity in syria. 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 a 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 of terms saturday lawmakers and ordinary people joined forces in the streets of london to protest against may's leadership and to call for fresh elections. 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 imitation of the

french yellow vests movement their anger was directed at the british prime minister . which is days parliamentary vote looming to resume a pleaded with m.p.'s in britain's sunday express newspaper 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 corbin said his party was determined to avoid the u.k. crashing out of the european union i would rather get negotiated deal now if we can to stop the danger of a no deal exit from the on the twenty ninth of march which would be catastrophic for industry catastrophic for trade and for 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 ever stating 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 board votes votes if she wants to stay in it please also bought august wanted to be over and done with cause i'm sick of. my children. but apart from. i just don't know what's going on leave me anymore. we feel you know all about. that film and everything else changing. time is taking on britain's exit from the european union but many political hurdles have yet to be cleared. washington's ambassador to berlin has issued a stark warning to german companies over a controversial pipeline that would supply 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 sanctions 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 max so exactly who did the u.s. ambassador write to and what was the content of his letters so u.s. ambassador richard grinnell 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 to project and will make clear to the companies that . their involvement could likely have them faced suffer harsh consequences

but let's have a look at what exactly they have 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. 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 two 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 animosity until now ukraine serves as a gateway for russian gas into europe and ukraine relies on the transit for use from russia that russia is paying and this also gives him some geo political leverage all right now max this is not the first time that grinnell has fart controversy as he has ambassador what else has he talked about so britain 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 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 yes overstepping his boundaries and the vienna convention on diplomatic relations stayed very clear that as a diplomat you have the duty not to interfere in the internal affairs of the state you're working it back sander from our news desk thank you so much. some sports news now and the open starts monday and the first tennis grand slam tournaments 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 and germany's angela take care of our hopes and other triumph in melbourne can secure her the world number one spot roger federer boasts ninety nine career titles

a men's record twenty first grand slam success in astray would make him the first man to reach a century in the a.t.p. tour era yeah i mean look you know it was really incredible number i could live happily ever after you know but if you're so close and knowing that i'm going to be playing this season you know give it a go but the defending champion will face competition from a resurgent novak djokovic. and old 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've waits in the wings for his first grand slam title. among the women caroline wozniacki is defending the crown she would 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 always hoped for and from then back here it just feels so great i feel like the first time i came in on the court so 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 milk there in which costa last year's u.s. open world number one simona halep has a tough draw while germany's are julie kavner is looking to kick on after winning wimbledon last year. the bottle is on to stop was an iraqi sailing away with a no vote cycle. ten in the second round of games and soccer's asian cup in japan the snow test oman with a one zero victory and move into the last sixteen had over when she converted a penalty in that clash in other games qatar also advance after a six nil demolition of north korea and is back to stand crushed turkmenistan four

nil to put them through to the knockout stage you're up to date now on d. w. news america evanston from all of us in berlin thanks for watching. we may come over but we want to own up to the end of the tea party we are the civil service or. the want to see the continent's future. part of it and join youngsters as they share their stories their dreams and their job the seven percent platform for charter.