this is g.w. news live from berlin german politics rocked by a scandal involving the far right the premier of the eastern state of turin just steps down a day after being elected with the health of extremists. also coming up the fallout from the coronavirus in beijing a busy capitol that now looks like a ghost town this is usually the last school commercial street also souvenir shops mark shops tourists who visit beijing usually come to spend time here today i am the only one. and with wiki leaks founder julian assange is due to appear in court

today in connection with an extradition request by the u.s. the u.n. the proper tour on torture accuses western democracies of the depleting the evidence. i'm sumi so much got to thank you for joining us a german state premier is stepping down just a day after being controversially elected with the help of far right extremists thomas kemalist from the business friendly free democrats won the vote in the eastern state of turin jia with the backing of the far right alternative for germany and chancellor angela merkel's conservative c.d.u. the chancellor has described the election as on forgivable kemalist says his resignation was inevitable to remove the stain of the far right involvement and let's bring in our chief political editor michelle a coup for in berlin hi michelle

a tell us more about of these latest developments. yes well under malcolm was pretty much put on the spot she called what happened inexcusable a bad day for democracy something that must be reversed a breach with the values and the convictions of conservative c.d.u. party words of a chancellor who no longer is her party's leader and essentially what happened is that a red line has been crossed which was set not just by angela merkel's party but all other parties in german parliament not to cooperate with the far right. that's essentially what happened in the state parliament of the ring gear to help an outsider really whose own party only got 5 percent in those results actions to power whether tricked or not there were wont warnings from the party headquarters here in berlin not to go down that route and yet the c.d.u. wanted to prevent the left party from being in power once again this smacks with

historical reference and that's the big fear and that's what this whole earth quake here in germany is really about of the center ground of conservative and conservatism that helps essentially the nazis to power in germany opening that darkest chapter in german history now we've heard from the free democrats that their new state premier intends or they tend to resolve the regional parliament but the historical damage has been done here and by then what is the damage been michelle or to the governing party. well they cooperated with the far right if de who's leader in the state of virginia which is a stronghold region of the far right if tea party can call in to a court order legally be called a fascist and that's where we stand and this is something that machall didn't want

the party leadership here but lynn didn't want the free democrats who benefited from it say they didn't want either and yet so that caused the went ahead and let himself be elected with the help of the far right if t. it also hands the d. a success on the plate because they had declared and was to get the old parties as they call them to corporate with cool off rate with them whether they want to or not. the only viable political option and they achieved that this solves nothing at the regional level or with now a big question marks over what will happen next it looks more likely that there will be fresh regional elections but it uncovers an undercurrent of tension also within the anglo-american party between those in the eastern states particularly the ring gear who are more open to a cooperation with the if t. and the policy central headquarters here who has said absolutely against that and

what about for chancellor merkel's governing coalition could this be yet another factor that threatens the stability of their government the social democrats junior coalition partner demanding answers here. well it certainly doesn't help but what we have seen over the past hour or so is that this situation will be resolved that simply this government. isn't really up and running yet in the regional parliament that simply won't ever really come together it doesn't help but it would seem rather unlikely that the social democrats although they kind of enjoy that for once under michael's own party and has such serious troubles getting control of its own people. would really break this ground so-called grand coalition i very much doubt that's but talks have been held and more talks are to follow this weekend on that all right our chief political editor michelle there with the very latest there

thank you. as we heard there from michelle that this is been a hugely controversial story here in germany and jill dougherty has been looking into all of their reactions on social media for us hi jill tell us what you've been seeing well the reaction has been really stunned and surprised and sad that this could have happened at all and it's been resonating right across europe on online social media so the hash tag if d.p. was trending now that is a combination of the 2 party names. and f.t.p. we see the same in this merging of the party logos here there was a video a meme that really got quite a lot of popularity and that was all of the local left party leader susana handing congratulating the temporary state premier thomas kenniff by dumping flowers at his feet now she's being compared to nancy pelosi in the u.s. who's famous for her take downs of donald trump there were a few voices who were speaking out in defense of this election outcome now this one

was opposed from the f.t.p. federal member could be key saying what the constitution allows shouldn't be discredited he and a few others were pointing out that the result was achieved democratically even if tactically we heard as well joe that there are comparisons really being drawn here in the darkest chapter and german history tells more about that well it is the state where the nazis 1st came to power in any meaningful way they were given ministerial positions in 1930 as a result of a collaboration with liberal parties and so yesterday we started seeing images being shed comparing the photo taken here of the state leda kemet shaking hands with a if dealy to be on hookah and it was being compared with the picture from 1933 of adult hitler with then german president polls on him who is the man who appointed him chancellor in $133.00 even though the nazis were only

a minor party at the time there's also an image. you know these images of been doing the rounds and of course the situation has changed a bit now but we did see this image here of other then of the party leader kevin accused standing in front of his own election billboard saying a skinhead who hasn't ignored his history so back then he presumably meant that he's a good kind of skinhead but it took on a whole new meaning after this election because he was of course given the post of premier thanks to the votes of a party whose leader is now being called a nazi and what are some of the reactions that you've been seeing up beyond germany across europe well one of the people who shared these hitler images across europe was gave a hofstadter who was until recently the leader of what the european alliance that included the f.t.p. now tweeted this he said what happened in 3 is totally unacceptable my response not in our name to which

a green party spokesman responded that he can should could should consider expelling the f.t.p. from the european parliamentary group so of course the situation is now changing very quickly on the ground we're not sure what the outcome is going to be but whatever it is is really quite clear that serious damage has been done to multiple german political institutions is jill bringing us the debate online thank you very much now the world health organization is calling for almost $700000000.00 to help fight the coronavirus it says the money is needed to help countries that don't have systems in place to combat the virus meanwhile the death toll is approaching 600 and more than 28000 people have been infected china's capital beijing is not at the center of the outbreak but corresponded much as spending a found its streets and squares deserted as the government attempts to bring the disease under control. a rare sight in the dry winters of beijing the gate

to the forbidden city covered in snow a few people have come out to take in the spectacle but getting inside is out of the question just like almost all public facilities beijing's most famous historic site remains closed i think it's good that the government took these measures we support them we depreciate even strength to measure is your. business activity has largely come to a halt across much of the capital this is usually a bustling commercial street lots of souvenir shops snack shops tourists who visit beijing usually come to spend time here today i'm the only one. every day human interaction has become suspicious this shop asked its customers to stay outside and communicate their needs from the outside. some pharmacies take this same approach everyone is wary. because the younger it's a national emergency we stand together for one hour standing together should not be

taken literally residential complexes keep strangers out in this compound visitors have to register with their id the guards look for the place of birth who are overweight people can't get any even if they live here they'll be quarantined. people from who by a province where the virus originated are to be isolated in this hotel discrimination against them is now rampant. at the entrance to the subway system the mandatory temperature. at the same site as everywhere in the city lots of space. trains are running as usual it's the passengers who are on. this circle line that some of beijing's most patients shopping area as the railway station. my road to.

beijing has reported less than $300.00 cases so far but fear here has spread much faster than the virus ever could. let's check in now on some of the other stories making news around the world israeli police say they are investigating a car ramming in jerusalem as a terrorist attack 14 pedestrians mostly soldiers were injured when the car sped into that police say the driver fled the scene in the vehicle the incident came as 2 palestinians were killed in clashes with israeli forces. 3 people were killed and dozens injured when a plane skidded off the runway at istanbul 2nd biggest airport the boeing 737 caught fire and split into 3 pieces after landing in bad weather the flight was operated by the turkish low cost carrier pegasus. 7 police officers and she lay have been suspended after a video emerged showing an 18 year old being beaten by officers but the assault all

suffered fractured ribs and back injuries in the attack accusations about police brutality have been on the rise since protests over inequality began last october and we want to warn our viewers this report contains some upsetting images. a police officer pushes materia soto to the ground and not the hits him with the baton before 5 more joy name with the beatings the 18 year old is left with fractured ribs and injuries to his back but his family knows it could have been so much worse. but on going on we knew that they acted in a totally cowardly way their criminals to get out of a van 3 events to hit just one person they were merciless to kicks my son received could have killed him about a month and. my son was very lucky there was c.c.t.v. . cording at that house i think that would be part of our defense against the people chile cannot defend itself against. also. since last

october public protests and violence have plagued chile's capital santiago they began peacefully over a hike in metro fares but as frustrations about why did inequality emerged they soon escalated. and according to many so too has police brutality. just last week a football fan was hit and killed by a police truck. to see this together with thousands of other complaints we have received regarding serious human rights violations should not go unpunished there must be truth and justice these. 7 police officers have been suspended following the attack on matteo soto outside santiago. is look at all you need all those police were removed from their usual operational jobs at this time their managers are following the necessary regulatory legal

disciplinary and administrative measures. illegally so to always recovering from his injuries his supporters hope the release of this c.c.t.v. footage will prevent other attacks like hades. you're watching the news still to come on our show the man who was spartacus we look back on the life of movies of hollywood legend of the current douglas who has died at the age of 103. but 1st a group of celebrities and politicians in germany have launched an appeal to have wiki leaks founder julian assange released from jail in britain more than $130.00 public figures are urging the u.k. to follow the advice of the u.s. special repertoire on torture to release a songe on medical grounds former foreign minister sigma gabriele is among them the

founder of wiki leaks which publishes news leaks and classified material is in a high security british prison awaiting extradition to the u.s. on spying charges he previously evaded capture by taking diplomatic refuge. the 1st few months that julian assange spent in the ecuadorian embassy in london it was all defiant and optimistic gestures 7 years later he would emerge as a broken man. when british police tracked the wiki leaks founder out of the diplomatic mission in 2019 he looked confused and was almost unrecognizable by u.n. experts on torture said a son showed symptoms of psychological torture some fear this torture may still be happening today. so how did we get here and why. julian assange to grow fuge in the ecuadorian embassy and 2012 after sweden asked the u.k.

to extradite the wiki leaks founder to answer allegations of rape and that country . his son has always denied those allegations saying they were pretense to have him eventually extradited to the united states where he is wanted on espionage charges . as we can you expand under threat so does the freedom of expression and the health of all our society. his supporters share this view they say the swedish rape allegations were fabricated and an excuse to punish a sanch for the leaking of hundreds of thousands of confidential government documents and for exposing possible war crimes. one high profile leak was a video obtained from the u.s. military which wiki leaks says shows he was soldiers opening fire on people in baghdad and killing several civilians and 2 journalists.

a son just now in a maximum security prison in the u.k. and continues to fight against his extradition to the united states if he loses his fight and disk convicted in the u.s. the wiki leaks founder faces up to 175 years in jail the rape case and sweden has since been dropped and we're joined now by niels meltzer is a united nations special wrapper tour on torture who investigated this case mr meltzer thank you so much for joining us here on t.w. i want to start by asking you about the rape allegations against julian assange because you've been very critical of this case we just heard there that the allegations that the charges have been dropped are these assault allegations false were they fabricated. well i have to admit to you when i 1st got into this case i was a guru looked into look into this because i wasn't a supressed like everybody else in the public. interest somehow kilty turkeys and

nurses pack her rapists and so i was very lucky to get into the schools just as lawyers convinced me to look at just a few key pieces of evidence and they destroyed it as soon as you scratched the surface of the public narrative slightly it becomes a very contradictory and you could see those internal correspondence between police officers in the dictionary to the statements of the alleged victims and we can see the lives and the woman who was supposedly raped sends a text message to the friends out of the police and intuition saying little want to look it was a subject anything and just wanting to do with each i detest what the police wants to get their hands on here so we have all these pieces of evidence that the adult match with the public nearly fell to sweets and also the way the proceedings have been conducted. are riddled with grave due process while issues we should all match

in interest of getting justice here you said yourself that you know that during the founders lawyers approached you asking for you to look at this case you were a big un special rapporteur on torture was julian assange is torture. well that was the other reason i was reluctant to get into this because i didn't 1st see the link to my mandates but then it immediately became clear to me that there's actually 3 aspects that are important your 1st response disclosed and revealing information evidence for systematic torture of the us and its allies and none of these crimes have been prosecuted so clearly that's a violation of the convention against torture and thus already limited it and secondly i visited him to get it was to medical experts who specialize in examining torture victims and both of them came to conclusion that he showed typical signs for psychological torture so again this falls within my not to if the u.k.

government is like should investigate as to provider address will be done now thirdly he is threatened with extradition to the united states and real low security defendants in the united states if convicted it's are likely to be held in supermax conditions under the so-called sam special is measures which worldwide are considered to be in violation of the provisions of 2 treatments you've been very critical of a lot of the players in this case have the democratic governments of sweden u.k. the us also ecuador who are all involved here how they intentionally manipulated justice. this is my conclusion yes i was a bit reluctant to go out into public this statement because i thought no one will believe me but i have the pieces of evidence and i pushed the questions trudy's for states that i asked them to explain how their conduct is complaint with human

rights law and none of them were able or even willing to respond to me and to engage in an aisle which certainly is not all that sunk right a stark warning there from neil's mouth so united nations special properties or on torture thank you so much for joining us on day to day. now france's ice skating federation president da is refusing to resign and that a growing sexual assault scandal earlier this week french prosecutors opened an investigation into the sexual abuse a former former world championship bronze medalist sarah bowl she's accusing her old coach of sexually assaulting her when she was 15 president says he absolutely did not protect the coach everybody makes mistakes were the comments from d.d.a. gay head of the french ice skating federation when he was grilled at a press conference about sexual abuse allegations dating back to the early 1990 s. many including the country's sports minister were calling for his resignation but

instead the president refused to step down. it isn't gentleman there is no perfect federation because the society and the people on the perfect. were put in it in order to resign i would have had to be at fault and i don't think i am i certainly committed errors several of them but i am not at fault. if the. former french figure ice skaters published a book last week accusing her former coach of raping her from 1990 to 1902 when she was a teenager in a recent interview but both spoke with her long silence. why did they wait for so long to talk this inexplicably it's inside me inside my body inside my soul it was very difficult to talk because you seemed guilty i tried to talk to my ice

skating club the president the sports minister all the doors were closed. it made it to having inappropriate relations with that ball at the time and has since apologized and corey from 2001 showed that inappropriate behavior with under-age skaters yet he was still made team manager of a french juniors team in 2011. was in charge of the skating federation that france's top athlete signed a letter supporting ms abbott ball on wednesday saying they were disgusted but not surprised prosecutors in the country have opened an investigation to establish if anyone else had been abused. the legendary oscar winning actor kirk douglas has died at the age of $103.00 he's considered one of the last movie legends of hollywood's golden era he was famous both on screen and off the sun the actor michael douglas announced his death saying his life was well lived and he

leaves a legacy in film that will endure for generations. he was one of hollywood's greats and treated accordingly. douglas korean spend several decades and it was prolific with malta 90 credits to his name. in a statement announcing his death his son and fellow oscar winning actor michael douglas said to many my father was a legend but to me he was simply dad. born in 916 kirk douglas made his name in hollywood's golden age of movie making he was one of the biggest box office stars of the 19 fifties and sixties possibly he was most famous for his role in the 960 s. classic spartacus he was nominated for 3 oscars eventually winning the honorary award in 196 for his more than 50 years in filmmaking much and to marry me to march today that's no chance at all. a out in 2001 douglas was honored at germany's

biggest film festival the $1000000000.00 receiving adult bear the again for his lifetime achievement of the accepting the award he charmed the crowd by saying more than just a few words in german to about. is . spent a lot of time in front of cameras and crowds and his legacy is not going to fade any time soon. coming up next on the news asia the coronavirus victims targeted not by infection but by racist abuse we meet someone whose face is 1st hand. and the girls and young women paying the price of tradition in indonesia. fear is better she has those stories and more

coming right up on news a shot that's in just a few minutes for all of us here in berlin thank you for watching.

2 brothers in slovakia caught between corruption and change phone money and coach not a businessman accused of hiring a hit man i'm going to eat on caution are close a owner fighting for democracy. 2 brothers who couldn't be more different and they're torn country some under approved 60 minutes going to vote.

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beethoven is for cause. over is for the mind of. beethoven 202250th anniversary here on new. coming up a corona virus spreading infection and racism chinese people and those of chinese origin. all over the world we speak to someone who's experienced this 1st time plus. the young victims of a practice justified under the cover of religion and tradition. female genital mutilation widely practiced in indonesia.