berglund metropolis of crime. starts january twenty ninth. on g.w. . this is newsnight from berlin austria and germany brace for more exist rain weather emergency crews are ready for as much as another meter of snow fall meanwhile the death toll keeps rising from the worst winter storms that hit the region in two decades also coming up the u.s. ambassador to germany issues a stark warning to german companies stop working on

a controversial gas pipeline linking russia to germany or face american sanctions. and for some they were dangerous revolutionaries but for people like these they were heroes one hundred years after karo they finished and rosa luxemburg were murdered we look at the legacy of the german communist leaders. and called aspen thanks for joining us for. more storms and heavy snow are forecast to strike across the alps in the coming days and avalanche warnings are still in effect as well 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 pass 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. this unit of equipment a mountain rescue team in the police is quoted as down when the past is closed you can't just make your own way down. most of the roads around the town of curtis 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 home on the floor and. another five hundred firefighters have been brought in to reinforce the five thousand relief workers already battling the snow in the varian outs. austria two remains on critical avalanche alert landmark links including the albert

pass above the renowned ski resort of sand and on our shot an avalanche killed three german skiers on a route that was closed because of the danger from the huge piles of snow now to some other stories making news around the world at least fourteen people have been detained following massive german police raids against criminal clans or than thirteen hundred officers searched storefronts linked to arab crime syndicates and six cities across northwestern germany the race where the region's largest ever and focused on shisha bars cafes and gambling venues. greek prime minister alexis the process he will call a confidence vote in parliament after his defense minister resigned it all stems from a deal to end a long running dispute with neighboring macedonia over its name a menace and his party are a key part of the services alliance which whose support is needed to approve the deal of. the far right alternative for germany party says it will campaign for

germany to leave the european union if the e.u. doesn't undertake drastic reforms germany's largest opposition party has been conferencing near the eastern city of dresden outside the venue police kept hundreds of left wing protesters at bay. 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 burr now reportedly wrote to several companies involved in the construction of the north stream two pipeline reminding them of u.s. sanctions on the russian energy sector the u.s. has long opposed the pipeline saying it undermines european security. well max and he's been following that story for us he joins me now in studio with more max there's really a lot of breakdown here first just lay out for us exactly who did the u.s. ambassador rights to and what was in the letters so us investor richard grinnell

wrote a letter to several businesses which are involved in the construction of the north stream to pipeline and among the among these companies were the german firms winter show and you know prison well as the dutch british shell corporation now the united states opposes the project and make clear to the companies involved that they could very likely suffer harsh consequences let's bring up a quote from the litter that he wrote here it says i therefore request on behalf of my government that your company consider the danger this product represents to european energy security as well as the reputational come. and sanctions risks associated with our i guess the key word there is sanctions right i mean why would the u.s. want to slap sanctions on germany over this one. the us ambassador raised economical as well as security concerns connected to the north stream to pipeline and this pipeline is actually supposed to carry gas from the russian coast to germany

bypassing third countries and it is in addition to an already existing pipeline north stream this would allow russia to double the amount of gas sent to europe 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 transfer gas via ukraine as it is doing now this is important because ukraine and russia have been in the conflict for the last couple of years largely over the eastern part of ukraine and despite the animosity until now russian gas still goes through ukraine recreant serves as a gateway for russian gas and ukraine relies on transit through some transit fees from russia and also has some political leverage by them so it's interesting though to hear those comments from the u.s. ambassador to germany how seriously are comments being taken so many have commented on the on the issue and say grinnell is overstepping his boundaries you're going hotz who is the foreign policy spokesman of medicals cd you can service and problem

and put it this way he wrote in a statement or he issued a statement which says that the us ambassador is now turning to german companies with direct threats is a new and unacceptable one sided tightening of the tone in the transatlantic relationship so there has been no official reaction from the german government yet however the german foreign ministry said the actions did not follow common diplomatic practice and berlin would address the issue directly with washington thanks for breaking that down max and a thanks very much. one hundred years ago this week two icons of german communism met a grisly end party leader carlin and firebrand rosa luxemburg died at the hands of paramilitary groups in the chaos that followed the end of world war one but for the communist movement the two became even more revered and death on the anniversary of their murder left wing activists have gathered in berlin to remember the revolutionaries. went to meet some of them.

for these marchers rosa luxemburg and karl liebknecht our real heroes thousands turned out to mark the one hundredth anniversary of the deaths of the communist leaders trudging fifteen kilometers in the rain to the couple's memorial. home is the way he. looks and book and. one hundred years ago the struggle still counts we can see that in the rise of militarism the problems that we have with racism in germany the swing to the far right those are all reasons why we're here. no doubt karl and throws up our the big ideals they believe they have to continue the struggle the socialists and communists started more than one hundred years ago. that's when the tradition began more than one hundred cyzon followers flanked the coffins of the two revelation really jurors luxemburg and leapt next were captured and shot by right wing paramilitaries encouraged by the

leader of the social democrats their day still divided left wing politics in germany. australian tecla says target is studying physics and better than he's active in leftwing student politics and an ardent admirers of rousseau luxemburg. rosa luxemburg she was important because she was a revolutionary she was also a very strong feminist and one of the first women to to find her voice and make make a powerful stand in a time where even revolutionary discussion was dominated by men the marchers make their way to bear than central say metry it's a place of pilgrimage for the left in what was once called meanest despair linen wreaths and carnations are laid. tecla finds it encouraging that these historical figures remain so significant. for us they represents

how our fights to to improve conditions for all workers around the world and this is cited that we live in we still face the same conditions work is students. families are still exploited in the same way we have to worry about our rents having our job or becoming homeless and this has impacts all over the world. across the way stands another memorial this one to the victims of communism it's often ignored but for this visitor it's important to lay flowers here. i think there's always a risk of the two of them being romanticized. it's important to remember the other side of the story. we want the whole truth to be told.

it's debatable whether karl liebknecht and rosa luxemburg were responsible for crimes committed later in the name of communism but there's no date that the one hundredth anniversary of their deaths is being used for political purposes. it's been nearly five years now since thailand's army took control of the country following a political crisis military leaders have been promising a return to civilian rule ever since but now they've pushed back the date for elections yet again just one month before they were to take place that's proper people out onto the streets of bangkok and the heartache was there to hear their demands. they've had enough enough of thailand's military rulers enough of seeing their rights curtailed enough of promised elections being pushed back time and time again. now these protesters in the heart of bangkok say they won't back down until the government makes good on its promise

to let the people have their say we're living with that i lament that has no opposition opposition by the last five years without any you know good governance are any no opposition working in the parliament so it is election is very important for thailand not only to go back to democracy but also to phone the country back again after five years and to get their rights as citizens back in the past five years the military government has used its powers to stop critics from speaking out . until recently protests like this one were prohibited. the strict assembly log file its military dictatorship put in place now that law it's been lifted but in spite of that demonstrators are still telling me they're being harassed by the authorities that if i can do that in my face and. if i can find. not but if they.

can just give up the title like. that put me in a coffee shop was the killer. if but these tactics aren't keeping the activists the way they were afraid the government could play for time until the election deadline set by tyrants constitution expires then there would be no telling when tide's would get to vote again. have you ever felt like smashing something after a stressful day of work well then an anger room might be just what you need it's a space designed to let people vent their frustrations by destroying everyday objects a new one recently opened in the chinese capital of beijing and it's proving to be a smashing success. if you are the kind of person who tends to both or not be over a then you may want to look at this. welcome

to the anger room in beijing. it's a place where people can go to let off steam by smashing up every day objects this custom explains why it's such a good crack. down to the legal pool so this place gives you the pleasure of breaking things in other places after you smash the item you might find the stuff still there or you get fined but it won't happen here here you only need to pay the money. so if you live. to beijing under him was set up by former p.r. executive john manning. customers sign a safety phone before being allowed to let trip. jinsei people visit the angering to many different reasons but mainly to reduce stress. for the daughter show that brave cordial the woman at all her wedding photos here and smash them all we encourage people to bring their own stuff to vent their anger because

we also see it as a place to say goodbye to a stage in life so excited over a show. jean says the new space is proving so popular with the chinese that she's already planning on opening up a second venue in the city. you're watching d.w. news from berlin there's more coming at the top of the hour and for the latest news and information around the clock check out our website that's the to me dot com thanks for watching. the live.