money and friends all the. fish meijer it was hunted a season we. were here with. you if. someone remind you we're all in mr john we wish you happy home during christmas everyone in the very merry christmas and merry christmas and stacy happy holidays everyone happy holidays to you. everybody's even when it's. hello and welcome to focus on europe with me. it's something that a few years ago most europeans never thought would be possible but now brags it is really happening how we'll trade between the u.k.

and the work the uncertainty is palpable at the ferry ports and the channel tunnel connecting england and france. this could be a taste of things to come near the french city of color a trucks form kilometer long queues to cross the channel drivers wait for hours and there's no sign of things improving. and what are things like on the other side many people in southern england wanted to leave the e.u. for example in cannes known as the garden of england but now residents are afraid that their region will turn into a massive holding area for trucks near the town of ashford the hour reading some signs all that's happening. once upon a time there was a quaint 13th century church in a sleepy part of kent south eastern england. but ever since threats that the tranquility is gone. noisy construction work has begun on

a vast customs clearance center near ashford to the dismay of locals called the idea here is that the darrius would have to present their paperwork by going out and coming in from the opinion and. the government belatedly realised that 80 percent of the tip of the traffic with europe does come through. and because there is no space to set up a customs station in dover it is being created near. the plant's $25.00 hectares site will process up to $1700.00 lorries per day. liz right who is a green party city councillor in astro opposed to bret's it from the start. some people who voted for breakfast a problem probably regretting i said we weren't told anything like this would happen in fact it was completely denied wasn't it they would tell that would be taken less access to computers would deal with a toll but in reality countless customs declarations will have to be processed and

information booth at a nearby petrol station is supposed to offer help on what paperwork will be necessary but the stuff won't tell me much we're not really allowed to answer any questions and that's kind of thing i can tell you where we're just here to help and basically just to support just to make sure that the guards that. don't get stuck helpers don't actually know what the future holds in store which is why most of the truck drivers don't even bother asking them. your mom or your former has very little information. to form up the little we get is dished out bit by bit people nobody here knows which caused them forms we will need here the book with. a german lorry driver has had it with this uncertainty they'll do one more run to the u.k. and then never again. that's definitely it for me then i'm only open to meeting halfway and meeting an english truck and taking the trailer back and filling it up

again but heading over there in this situation of definitely not it's a bit sad isn't it is where parting ways it's a cut option my. pager does not want to experience the border chaos again. things are complicated by the fact that the region around ashford often floods as more ground is seals of the water flows elsewhere obstructing construction work. locals like the cults heads could have worn to the bricks administered but nobody asked for their advice. and no one had the foresight to all ask the local fish what happens with the watch where it goes what estate they've just gone and done what i think is roy and he's probably wrong right now start work on the sunday to do a catch up i still don't believe it returning time so when i. sit on the

votes i think if people don't vote i would fight to stay even. pushed to write. local conservative politician called bartlett agrees even though his party was in support of brecht's that now he is trying to find the silver lining in the project so little church. transporters spending about half a 1000000 pounds on improving the. that putting in the community cafe which will be a wonderful asset for local people she used a new car park so that it's more cesspool. even more parking spaces for kent county that the british once proudly call to the garden of england. if no post bricks a deal has been struck by january 1st authorities will have to improvise. and so the british departure brings destruction just like these noisy construction

vehicles. some people go to a church when they want to pray others go to a mosque in eastern turkey him all of these like cannon good to go to the source of a river in the mountains the elevated sect is not officially recognized as a religious community in turkey and is now one of its holy places is under threat in the months or vallium at the river where canon and others come for pilgrimage as their plans to build a huge recreational area. the moons of valley national park is an area of spectacular natural beauty and of great spiritual significance to all of ites like canada get but the landscape around the eastern anatolian city of 2 jelly could soon be radically transformed. what is happening here is making us all of these despair cannot accept this.

he shows us what he means at this construction site near moves or river. dozens of stalls have already been set up. for plans to build a kind of amusement park right here this valley with government backing. such a target attraction right here along the springs the seen as a threat by the l a v community. cannot get who heads the local alibi to cultural association is outraged by the project talk with order to get. to us water is something holy you want your stance for purity these construction works are meant to assimilate us if they want to make our spiritual sides disappear. you know shared with a lot myself the idea is to build parking lots restaurants and picnic areas here pilgrims wishing to visit their holy sites would have to pay entrance

a range of dams are planned as well which would cause large parts of the national park to float. for hundreds of years all avoidance of revere the springs and the untouched nature as holy pilgrimage sites. and as it has to this sick would be brought here to people who are convinced that there's an area would heal them that's what they'll do here shows us that they don't respect our religion the will my good will for months locals have been protesting against a construction project last summer thousands gathered in the valley and formed a human chain but the authorities refused to back down. asked for comment the regional governor refers to a statement he made in august. it claims the construction work will protect the region. and that social media is rife with misinformation.

he also shows his plans of the finished project without any mention of alibi to pogrom insights can i get and many others from turkey's elevate community distrust the turkish state. although one in 5 turks belongs to this religious community it is not officially recognized in the country. these days their places of worship are tolerated. the televisa are still not allowed to offer their own religious instruction in schools. resentment is growing . either way we pay taxes in this country. you know turkish religious authorities have built thousands of mosques with our money. so we're justified in demanding our constitutional rights yes well yes i can tell you not. unlike so many muslims out of ease focus on the prophet's early rather than

muhammad they see their faith as a mandate to work for equality among people including between men and women as illustrated by their communal dancing even alcohol is permitted. this makes them apostates in the eyes of radical sunni so again and again a levee is have been attacked or received death threats and their homes have been vandalized. so you could be goes. we were doing is we should be we are constantly worried about our security and. we know that it doesn't just stop at threats we've experienced it through all of these have already been killed in this country. are going to catch up with. the mayor of the town of 2 julie has also spoken out against the amusement park project. is turkey's only communist mayor and is under observation by the state. speaking to

a camera he formulates his criticism carefully. inside the distributing the entrance to the area will become a commercial design in principle the idea of renewal may not be bad but we don't like having such an emphasis on calm a little less mad going to be going to your boss not manage your own life. a living say that the soul moves or river is the soul of the people the turkish government's project would disagree and one of their homes 2 places. on the v.a.'s aren't ready to give up on the moves or valley yet. if you have ever been in a skill lift you know that it's pretty hard to keep one and a half meters this is between people but despite the coronavirus endemic the ski slopes in switzerland are open while some neighboring countries are more restrictive the swiss are determined to do things their way and the ski instructor

and many han in the tunnel given the valid is quite pleased about that. so i was a very new so if you go this way fast one point is going downhill that's where you shift your weight ok let's try a. little sienna is facing the challenges of the snow instead of being one of the crowd she's getting an individual lesson this is what the start of the season in going into valving and looks like the snow is perfect the slopes mt love bravo nicely forward leonie honda has been a skiing struck to pull 3 years she doesn't know if she'll have enough work this winter. north if you we're hoping for a lot of kids like sienna and i think it'll be fine. but it doesn't look that way at the moment this was government has told foreigners to cancel their ski plans and stay home the ski school has 90 percent fewer bookings than in previous years for

the most part guests from germany elsewhere in europe and asia i'm missing. all along he's everything ok with distancing. myself home bag-o. runs the ski school he make sure coronavirus safety measures are being observed on the slopes. when we. talk to people who will not count social distance when we take a break to get there and of course we pull the mask of. people scribble while ski lifts are at a standstill in germany france and italy things are expected to be booming here over the holidays and the protective measures are not all that strict inconnu as in all other swiss ski resorts masks and social distancing are compulsory gondolas can be up to 2 thirds full that's a cause for concern to some. it has i'm afraid of the gondolas when they're too

crowded i get concerned and there are lots of people around here. these were the crowds in some art at the beginning of the season also in sas vein 5 year no sign of social distancing railway operators say these were isolated incidents. this wasn't worth the money. you made a mistake and we're sorry and it won't happen again. throughout the can't on a valet so called slope angels and now ensuring that everything runs smoothly into the they're also rethinking how best to protect ski is with rule breakers facing harsh consequences. because we've been left on top and stop the lift and report to person. for so we're trying everything to make sure the corona safety measures are being implemented. there's no place ski socializing you need

a reservation to enter a mountain restaurant good picnicking spots are in high demand. the pandemic is having drastic effects on the industry. has never had so many job applications from schemes struct is especially from austria to the time being he can't hire anyone. we usually have $35.00 employees in peak season around christmas and new year. currently planning for 17 and of course we're hoping the whole season goes ahead whether one is or employees won't have work but if i thought the young for our ski region is relying on the appeal of its legendary i get a north face hopefully at least the swiss themselves will visit. for the holidays there will be a lot of swiss guests they definitely won't let us down. but infections mustn't be allowed to rise any further or swiss ski resorts could spend

the rest of winter in complete hibernation. the islands of the a.g.m. sea with their turquoise waters and beaches and bright white buildings are not just beloved by tourists investors have also set their sights on them greece aims to expand the wind energy production there the plan was of renewables sounds environmentally friendly but it has residents of the islands of tinos and carry out worried they fear that giant wind parks will destroy their natural and cultural heritage. it is said that the greek island of tinos says handmade because of its centuries old walls and paths and the architect you want to do is absolutely determined to protect this unique cultural asset so here we can see if it becomes food but for the most made out of dr stone walls the food that's used to give access to all be on their soups. and it's something that we are trying to take

a band that's now in order to develop working toward the windmills and the so-called pigeon houses built by her ancestors 300 years ago are now supposed to give way to wind turbines. they want to shows us the site where private investors have just completed the foundations for 3 large turbines with another 15 planned. you want to and many other islanders fear tino's could lose its typical character. ancillary. past of decide what to do who are going to preserve it is passed on to next generations are going through the mall use most of the for more than construction. it's like the wind turbines are the army not far from the plant turbines is home to sculptor and his family he fears for the future of

greece's cultural heritage. foundation's. used to always be the seat of the gods but now they have been supplanted by money and everything is about making money. pretty. he shows us videos of protests he helped to organize a special police unit beach demonstrators including him with nightsticks a shopping experience. i lived in a dictatorship for 7 years and i was in the army from 1972 to 74 and never did i experience anything like this story it was almost more democratic back then ok i'm exaggerating so dictatorship is a different kettle of fish of course. 2 hours away by ferry the island is best known for its unspoiled nature and its mountains include protected areas teeming with rare plant life. here to the village scene trade and.

the private. group is planning $110.00 wind turbines to supply electricity to athens and veyron mentalists are alarmed. it is all in. protected. areas in the. us that will be a disaster for the whole mountain is going to be leveled so it is really. transforming industrial zone although the plans are not yet final ileus yana is already informing the island's residents about their potential impact it has had its share of bad experiences with other large scale projects a once lush valley resembled a moonscape like this after a hybrid power plant was built. erosion on the island is already extreme again and again entire hillside slide off especially in areas where large roads are

constructed. the mountains are home not only to goats but to many big. keepers as well. if wind turbines are built here and gave this will have to move away with this piece. they may. be done for the big. i couldn't put their boxes near the wind turbines because of the electromagnetic radiation. which could make them lose their orientation. knock on the side of the mayor's office is aware of the concerns it met with farm investors 9 years ago to little avail the activities on neighboring islands worry the mayor a few small wind turbines might be tolerable but 110. would protest and that's not just my own personal opinion. it was in the municipal council and local administration agree that the 1st turbines are

standing and by 2025 he is meant to be connected to athens via an underwater cable now the investor is supposedly revising the plans to make them environmentally friendly but few believe that. they fear that landscapes like this could soon become a thing of the past when's the last time the saw someone this happy in a hospital bed well anasazi had the funk had a reason to smile that photo was taken after the surgery that changed her from a man to a woman what's also special about her story is that she's a commander in the german army of the. 4 years it was really difficult for openly gays or trans people to pursue a career as an army officer anasazi as coming out story as proof of how much has changed but filmed her path was far from easy we met her at work.

inspecting a truck is a routine task in the military and traditionally considered a man's job. and it may be honest. transgender that she's been living as a woman for some time and no longer identifies as a man. the reason. why from the ok before long is responsible for $700.00 soldiers in the boondocks there she took the major step of coming out after 20 years of military service. coming out as being transgender for me was very easy transgender was something in the early 9 of us i was going to school with a topic that was discussed and they were. you couldn't do anything yet it was something that was always connected to my own feelings with shame don't do that it's wrong i don't think there was very much acceptance in society in the ninety's

for transgender people at all. back when do you find lived as a man she was married to a woman and murder seemingly ordinary life but she felt tremendous emotional pain because her male body simply wasn't right for her. properly to look for flight into a typical male world the military probably helped in that sense as well to perform to male standards but my inner self was always. crying after that you know almost 20 years of struggling i was at a point in my life where my emotional stability my emotional wellbeing and wellbeing had a point where i said i don't want to live this way anymore to. be found underwent sex change surgery. she continued in her old job after coming out as a woman putting on makeup is now part of her everyday routine.

second life. samantha the match before undergoing surgery has supported her from the start. the. climate of the woman already. one come face she was the moon the penis actually the same person stated. i knew that she wanted to get rid of the paris and i think when you person who. you support the person. coming out as a transgender woman wasn't just stumbling block in her career even in the military . sergeant major dietmar schroeder met anastasio be found after her sex reassignment he says the initial novelty quickly wore off even as transgenderism became a hotly debated issue worldwide. just accept that people love the way they are on the coast beyond transgenderism

a few of the stay where both are more every day things like what party they vote for and her car they like to take a more one of the mill example so you just have to accept people the way they are to your business this is. now on as is climbing higher up the career ladder come the head of a division in the buddhist they have cyber in information domain services in parallel to her military career it is her mission to stand up for transgender people in the german armed forces promoting diversity and greater tolerance for what is an unusual path what i know from my experience is what is definitely certain if you are true to yourself and live the way you are open you will have a better life. seems to be finally happening. and isn't that what we all want to be happy well that's it for it today's show as

always you can see. find more information on our website and you can get in touch on twitter and by e-mail from me and the rest of the team thanks for watching and see your next time. to. play.

well you. can. enter the conflict zone with sarah kelley currin 2 years ago easy opium prime minister abi ahmed road to power with a wave of hope but now he's waged the military offensive on forces in the northern t.t.y. region my guest this week from addis ababa is the takeover of hockey the opium minister for john mark which is asia where is the peaceful future his prime

minister promised conflict zone. in 30 minutes on w. . the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. how has the rate of infection been developing. measures are being taken. what does the latest research say. information and context. the coronavirus update the code special monday to friday on w. sure to come to terms. one giant problem and manila in the limitless in

the pits here you. can't get it. how will climate change affect us and our children. w dot com slash water. why are people forced to hide in trucks. there are many reasons. and there are many answers. and there are many stories. make up your.

mother. made for minds. this is data of any news live from the french president emanuel mexico itself isolating after testing positive for covert 98 news spots concern among a new leaders about to back home it's recently come into contact with spain's prime minister sanchez is already in the current state also on the program critical days for germany's health care system with new infections at record high levels the

number of hospitals patients is also climbing rapidly we report from the front lines where young and previously healthy patients battling to stay alive. plus physically and emotionally abused place baked into a late german gymnast to reveal their experiences of cooling and mistreatment in just 4. and 10 years ago today to museum street vendor set himself on fire stalking a revolutionary wave across the region known as the arab spring about a decade on has really changed. i'm rebecca ritter's welcome to the program french president emmanuel might call is self isolating after he tested positive for covert 19 the office of spanish prime minister pedro sanchez says he too for a way coughed

a meeting with marco on in paris on monday the french president also came into contact with numerous other 18 laid isn't high level officials when he attended a summit in brussels a week ago. for more on this let's bring in an elizabeth metate she's a freelance journalist in paris and elizabeth what's the latest how is michael doing. soufan that paul has no symptoms he is self isolating at the year. he tested positive his wife today is one of tested negative the day before yesterday because she went to visit a hospital so she will be isolated from them until they see whether in the meantime she he might have passed it on to her but the chief of staff of the eighty's it is also supposed to isolate and as well as the chairman of the national assembly so a lot of people that he's met over the last the last few days he will you working

out of. the 1st floor of the easy for at least a week indeed as you mentioned he met with many many high profile people in the last days a year later as as well as during an e.u. summit in brussels at the end of last week do we know who else needs to quarantine . i think the portuguese president was in france yesterday and will have to quarantine. and. he has also talked with various negotiators in the team talking about a break since and that's also something that's also a bunch of people who will have to quarantine and the list is not finished yet there will be moral. now we're just looking at some pictures of emanuel michael at that summit and he's standing rather close to all the a year late is now he is somebody who's obviously been very strict and very vocal about the guidelines hazmat problem let down his guard what you say. i would

see yes it's not new because there have been often you know footage of him going in official visits going to to meet with people staying along. taking off and cutting back is not the same mask in the way that we would all of a last spring that we're not supposed to do it that's when you didn't have p.p.d. in france and therefore the advice from the government was that we didn't really need it in any way it was there was a technical just show you're not supposed to touch the mosque itself you're just supposed to touch the strings on either side and it was too difficult for us to to to use mass and then of course when we americans have enough p.p. e it became compulsory. he did inconsistent told us there have been moments when he gave interviews with a lot of us there have been moments when he made a point of wearing a mask it was not it was not a single sort of code of behavior he did various things at various times or analyser with us in paris thanks very much.

well germany's health minister says all 18 member states plan to rollout the covert 19 vaccine program on december 27th here in germany care home residents will be 1st in line to receive the shots but the vaccines won't come soon enough for many hospitals and leading german doctor fears that in the coming weeks a growing number of medics will be left to make decisions on who gets lifesaving treatment will look now if they already die a situation in one german hospital. a new kind of a patient has a drive by ambulance or tribe or do you know versity hospital he's traveling in a special isolation pod so none of the transport team gets infected the patient is only in his forty's he's transferred to viviane it's months intensive care unit with 5 members of her team she turns him on his stomach the prone position is an important therapy for seriously ill patients the team make sure the patient is well

padded as he will lie like this for several hours afterwards the inflammation sits at the back of the lungs and a lot of fluid collects there the lungs can heal if you lie on them the whole time by turning patients under their stomachs the lungs get and can heal. pretty soft and high and. once a day the team turns each patient on to their front and back again it's a big effort. but printing and being put on a ventilator is not sufficient for many critically ill patients some need to be connected to an artificial lung to keep them alive. it pumps the patient's blood into a machine where carbon dioxide is extracted and oxygen added. to the blood is then pumped back into the patient's body.

for patients who are this ill there aren't many options left this is the last trump card we've got. our therapeutic options a sobering we've got oxygen and the artificial lung but that only gives us more time the lungs have to heal by themselves. in the hospital pharmacy there's no wonder drug against the coronavirus rem jessa via one of the great hopes at the start of the pandemic has yielded disappointing results as have many other drugs medics of the virus for nearly a year now but the odds of surviving a severe case haven't improved much. every 2nd patient who's on a ventilator dies and behind each of those numbers is a human being in the 2nd wave many young and healthy people have also been infected but that's no guarantee for a milder cause of the illness. this is a young man 45 years old with a very severe case of coded is a prime example that

a young healthy person without any notable preexisting medical conditions can be brought to the brink of death by the virus. the intensive care units really are at their limit you have to be clear about that there may still be some spare beds but every day there's fewer and the patients lie here for a long time for weeks even months and that means that the beds don't free up again quickly. at the moment they can still fight every single patients life here but the time off to christmas could turn into the intensive care teams was nightmare. they have these hands on is covering the situation here in germany for us hands an alarming situation some doctors having to make very tough decisions about who to treat what more can you tell us about the situation in hospitals here well yes there's one hospital this morning that reported that there are more truly capacities have been exhausted and they're having to start storing bodies in

refrigerator containers and there's also been some alarming last 24 hours about reports from eastern sections saxony those in the far east of germany on the border between the checked with the czech republic and poland that's the region that has the highest incidence of infections at the moment it's fairly remote the hospitals are small their capacity is limited and there it is said that decisions about whether or not a patient gets life prolonging treatment store already need to be taken for instance in the case where people have to be transported to other hospitals hundreds of kilometers away sometimes they're too weak to be able to make such a journey so on paper the situation in germany still looks pretty good there's still about 400000 intensive care beds available and emergency reserve of 11000 emergency hospitals for instance an exhibition holes but in certain regions the

situation is dire already all eyes and hopes are of course on vaccines getting the go ahead from 8 year old thora teams and being rolled out how fast can hospitals expect to say relief from. well hospitals in fact are not the 1st to be able to get the vaccine and about a week's time the 1st people will be people in care homes aged people who are most threatened by the disease on the other hand these will be people that will then be not end up in hospital so that will be some relief for hospitals 2nd and care personnel including hospital staff so they can reckon on getting their shots pretty quickly they have been pushing for this to happen as quickly as possible because of the difficult situation they're facing now with germany being in a hot a lockdown now until the 10th of january and given the situation this die situation in the hospitals almost germans willing to accept these new tougher lockdown missions is indeed they are most recent polls show that about 3 quarters of the

people are in favor of the hall. and i think in the light of the reports that are coming out of hospitals and all that preparedness to follow the rules is actually increasing randi to be political correspondent thank you. let's turn now to some of the other stories making news russian president vladimir putin is facing hundreds of journalists at his annual press conference in moscow appearing via video link the president is expected to address questions about covert 9 tae russia's vaccine and the economy last year almost 2000 journalists attended the press conference which lasted more than 4 hours. fear pain court of justice says devices that we used to cheat diesel emission tests were illegal folks wagon and other comic has used so-called shut off devices to make their vehicles appear less polluting in lab tests the devices were at the center of the diesel gate scandal which is in gulf the little industry. but

a controversy in the world of sports now with the spotlight on german gymnastics a report by germany's dish beagle race at least shed light on serious allegations of bullying and mistreatment by a female coach at a national gymnastics center in the city of chemist's but now d.w. has spoken to to form a late gymnast's who trained there and elsewhere and they say the problems a much wider than previously reported. naomi and ruby vandyke are learning to love gymnastics all over again for many years their love for the sport hatch disappeared. aged 10 and primed for big things the twins moved to an elite training center near cologne but when their performances dipped they say they were called fat and lazy by their coach that's slim's the front is the worst thing was when he said he wouldn't come to competitions with us because we were embarrassing him when you're 14 or 15 you need

a coach who supports you no matter how badly he always let us down just before the competition saying you're so you have a. mess on one occasion during a balls exercise naomi said she was purposely dropped on her head to teach her a lesson before had he pushed me 2 or 3 times to go down lower but i knew he wasn't holding me properly that's why i didn't go and then i did under pressure but he let go of me and said there you see. in a statement to the local association the right nischelle turner said it was quite surprised by the allegations adding the r.c.b. takes the allegations raised very seriously and will clarify the facts as soon as possible. at the time naomi and ruby were given 3 options either put up with the coach quit the sport or if they ended up doing move to the olympic training center in pemex earlier this month problems there were uncovered by the sheiko magazine

a dozen other gymnasts accused the head coaching chemists gabrielle a fraser of bullying them and making them train through injury naomi and review say pain killers and injections were handed out freely without prescriptions and without the knowledge of athlete's parents but the twins felt they couldn't speak up because of the package they come with. the ads because. we were always told we were annoying a we were the problem we didn't want to be a nuisance we just wanted to show we were actually hardworking and so that's why we didn't mention a lot of things. went on at this big. fraser who's been suspended pending an investigation has called all the allegations baseless and says she never overstepped the mark it was her strong denials that prompted naomi and ruby to tell their story. stating that we can definitely confirm these baseless

allegations that the other girls have made. 2 or 3 of them or with us in candidates and we witnessed how badly they were treated. we can easily say it's not baseless. and they convince us that. these days the twins only compete in the national the no longer trimming of international success but at least now they can perform again with a smile on their faces. and joining me now is doug marsh hi todd who chairs the sports committee of the german bundestag. thanks for joining us what is your reaction to these allegations that have come out here in germany. well good morning i heard about the allegations a couple of weeks ago and i can say for me it sounds credible what the people say and i think it's worth. working with it and talking about it because you

know sports is a field with a very close relation between the staff and the athletes think of the coaches think of the medical doctors think of the physicians they all have a close contact to a very young people and they can make the young athletes strong self-confident. but to misuse of the power can destroy the souls of the young people and that's not acceptable it or not acceptable but i am surprised by the allegations. no not really we have learned the nesa case for instance we heard about the cases in the netherlands we had some cases in other parts of germany no i'm not really surprised but in the end i'm surprised about the handling of i was thought federation's of the so-called

stakeholders how they have handled it since 2918. i think there could have been done much more and that is why i hope my sports committee will deal with. the whole issue next year or what exactly can your sports committee the parliamentary sports committee do about this. well we can place the topic on the agenda of our sports committee who we can invite stakeholders that means we can invite the president of the gymnastics federation we could invite the boss of these so-called olympians to. insects. and of course we are in close contact with the sports ministry that of course has the power to to do something if they are not satisfied with the

handling by the federations. what do you think needs to change in gymnastics in germany. where you see so far we have a league ations but investigations are going on so it's too early to state what exactly has to happen but what is clear to me. it's not acceptable to have anything like pressure on very young athletes on talking about their weight for instance you can talk to athletes but you have to do it in a responsible way and that must be commonsense not only in gymnastics contact my fight chair of the sports committee of the german parliament thank you. thank you. 10 years ago today

a tuna xeon street vendor stood in front of his local government offices and set himself on fire it was a desperate act in protest at official corruption and it's part of a revolutionary wave across the region and became known as the arab spring while the protests led to the toppling of longtime dictators they also foreshadowed a number of civil wars that are still raging today. this man let the spark that left scorch marks across the entire hour bridgend on december 17th 2010 mohamed bouazizi says some cell phone fire to protest official corruption in chinese he died from his injuries a few weeks later but by then his story of desperation had inspired a nationwide outpouring of rage. and soon afterwards the arab spring protests took down their 1st high profile political target.

tunis is vasher an autocrat zenith. fled to saudi arabia with only a few family members and close aides into. the antigovernment protests multiplied rapidly be on china's ears borders with anger over repressive regimes economic hardship and political failure spilling onto the streets social media was used to spread the word on organize and few of our countries were left untouched by the vast some of the biggest upheaval was experienced in egypt for decades long ruler hosni mubarak was overthrown setting the stage for a power struggle eventually won by the military. and libya syria and yemen became embroiled in for trucks of conflicts which are still taking a huge humanitarian toll today. i'm joined now by. research

fellow with the global public policy institute focusing on democracy and human rights in the middle east and north africa mrs levy thanks for joining us the revolution in the arab spring the so-called arab spring was fueled by hopes of a better future and dave many ragingly as were toppled yet today many people in the arab spring countries say their lives a worse than before a big gap between rich and poor and the like was the arab spring therefore worth it thanks for having me back or well the hopes that europe's uprising start for more of the more prosy human rights justice and less repression corruption and so if you're going to make inequality has been smart as you have pointed out repressive government responses military coups and civil war and the underlying structures sectors actually still remain in place such as so if you could are going to quality widespread poverty the lack of job opportunities for the young people creating

corruption and repressive regime regime apparatuses so all in all although we know draw a rather negative picture i would say it's difficult to judge kind of someone risking there's their life going on the street demanding their rights 10 years ago by the suspects as they have been the result largely from government responses. so my next question was well what went wrong do you think it was really the government responses is that the raise and they weren't successful. well i would say that's the main reason the main reason is that but then again not every trajectory was the same but to a large extent the brutal crackdown that has actually follows followed the protest movements by the incumbent regimes in the region even leading in some cases as you mentioned to civil wars through the total collapse of state of libya yemen and then syria for example has actually triggered this result that we are seeing today to

a large extent another aspect might be that the regional corporation of autocratic regimes in order to support each other as also fuels this trajectory and we of course can't not mention the international community that former u.s. president barack obama famously drew a red line in the sand in syria and then failed to act when the syrian government crossed it just one example how much blame or responsibility does the international community carry for the fight is of the arab spring movement. well to blame the international community at large is a bit difficult but we should definitely look at the western democracies and how they have the development and since 2011 as they have often publicly claimed and stated that they support the end use of these rouge protest movements right and 1st and foremost that you know the european union and its member states and the united

states have actually put their interest in stability in the region over the protection of human rights and the demands of the protesters for the most part at least the basic assumption underlying this is that the autocrats of the region will provide stability and but that is fundamentally flawed in my opinion as long as citizens and most arab how trees experience this high levels of inequality the repression and injustice that has actually sparked protests 10 years ago. and these are actually the very basis of the author of carrying rulers in those countries they do not contribute to stability in the region quite the opposite much to be done and asked sally of a research fellow with the global public policy institute thanks very much for your unsigned. thanks for having me take a look at some of the other stories making news this hour fiji has declared a state of natural disaster cycle and yes the hits authorities say no part of the

pacific island nation is likely to escape the category 5 cyclon and have set a nationwide caffeine some experts warn the storm could be the southern hemisphere as most intense tropical storm on record. a major winter storm has hit much of the northeast coast of the u.s. delivering a disruptive blow to transportation systems and causing traffic mayhem 2 people have died after a major after my major highway pileup that involved 60 vehicles in the state of pennsylvania. next year's berlin film festival the berlin ali is said to have a very different look the us magazine variety reports of the 71st belinelli will take place virtually in march organizers are hoping to put on a scaled down version of the festival with some on site screenings in june. when chinese learn a probe has returned successfully to earth landing him in among gaulier after completing and historic mission china is only the 3rd country to have brought back

samples from the moon's surface a fate last achieved by both the soviet union and the u.s. in the 1970 s. . thermal imaging shows the capsule with its precious cargo touching down to earth. helicopters then spot the lunar probe in the icy wasteland support staff quickly move in to recover the spacecraft china hopes the contents will help scientists discover new information about the geology and history of the satellite. 5 was one of the most complicated and challenging missions in china's aerospace history. when the rocket was launched on november 23rd it was a source of national pride to prove was made up of 4 modules one was the land which has dug for rocks and soil the materials were then transferred into a return capsule for the journey back to earth. it's the 1st time in 4 decades that

material has been brought back from the moon. beijing now has its sights set on building a moon base cementing its role as a superpower in the news space race. you know watching it data news live from then up next sarah kelly interviews ethiopia's minister for democratize the nation more headlines for you at the top of the hour don't tell way.

to. enjoy the conflicts with sarah kelly more than 2 years ago ethiopian prime minister abi ahmed road to power with a wave of hope but now he's waged the military offensive on. forces in the northern

t.d.y. region my guest this week from addis ababa is the ticker bra's ethiopian minister for democratization where's the peaceful future his prime minister promised conflicts are. next on d w. i mean nothing out of the well because sometimes i am placed on nothing with the tell me that i have anything to think into the german culture of. you don't seem to get in this drama you know it's cold out there no time rachel joined me i mean the captivity gulf coast. i can retire. i. was the

sunshine for and monarch. fantasy. off. this one a tragic. secret because it starts december 25th. oh. i'll be your mom did a lot of it is get him out of the scope of things easy to write like how could you say this with 100 percent more than 2 years ago ethiopian prime minister abi ahmed wrote to power on a wave of hope for peace and democracy in the longer press of country but now he has waged a military offensive on forces in the northern tier of region sparking

a humanitarian crisis my guest this with. a from is about is i think abrupt minister for democratization where is the peaceful future as prime minister promised. ministers are to govern how welcome to conflict zone thank you very much so near last year prime minister abi ahmed was awarded the nobel peace prize and in his acceptance speech he said the following war is the epitome of hell i know because i have been there and back i've seen brothers slaughtering brothers older men and women children trembling in terror now fast forward one year later he's led a military offensive against the t.p.o. left group in the northern region of t. guy thousands are feared dead has he led ethiopia into the hells of war that he described one year ago not all of our worry is

a man of peace. you know you know as the conditions. piece you're supporting the to be able to some country because as you said he is going to search or do such difficult times so he says he's believes in peace he's in full with his own considerable experience from the get go. you know it is not always tourists who he swore we lived close to and i'm going to say it was a difference that we had was that he clearly the people lives chose to give each year so you know to their lives were a great writing force democracy is really our line element for different people that he's the used to so that exists but as a muslim look there is the ripple. so nama other half. of the people so don't

give. you their lives give you chores to. give for peace. if year end. and we will talk about how you got here and in fact but for now i would like to just focus on the situation on the ground because the un and n.g.o.s they say that there is an urgent need right now for independent monitoring of the human rights situation after the international n.g.o.s mysie international brought to the world's attention the massacre in my car drop they say the following that there are possibly hundreds of civilians stabbed hacked to death with knives machetes the un says that if a party to this conflict was involved it would constitute a war crime again this is an international ngo that brought this incident to the world's attention would it not be advisable to have an independent international investigation and monitoring of what is happening right now and to grow on the ground those of us were waiting for some words that. the government.

problem. is gone you know we have our. human human human rights commission but the forum or your mother it was written for africa is the resume me i was as good as any and all he has his years of abuse reports which means bloggers standards and he can consult the report . and i suspect that's this constant is coming from the deeply held convictions or it comes from northern ministers there are a multitude essentially ministers that are out of there. who impartially investigate human rights. i think that the issue that is is being brought up is not that that africans can't administer it it's that you are one of the parties to the

conflict in fact and your government's response in fact to those calls for international investigations has been and i'm quoting here we do not need a babysitter we will invite assistance only if the government feels that it had failed to investigate again you're one of the party is to the conflict that doesn't sound like transparency. in this edition it's not the us it is an independent human rights commission lead by don't even look at who was just 2 years down the line. at which what are you. he's resuming as good as any. so i don't think anyone for a moment is international or human it would be better to. look at this good to belittle him and his investigative part so you have every report you for asking any question i would like you to go and read his using this edition just in case you

have questions. in the city of bluffton to believing that we are but it is a horribly it's done in the book at him he few moderates commission. is going let's look at some of these allegations more deeply and i'd just like to take you through them. for example they claim that your forces have been party to the violence refugees who have made it to sudan they also echo those claims for example c.n.n. spent a number of days interviewing refugees who were crossing over the border and to sudan and they described the following if you will be an army entering into a town telling civilians they are safe then the soldiers leave and other armed groups such as the amara militia and the funnel aligned with the ethiopian army arrive. there are concerns that this is descending into an ethnic conflict the conflict in t. cry. is the final being brought in to finish the to gras and as one refugee described it. i'm homes. for thousands of years

wherever our army makes its way to get our people off to you know have been coming out in months in mass jumping in one coming. r m r r special. the senate is a detail of special apart from how to. cross seem that administrative elimination of that if you looked into degraded so damn hard what my heart special forces did it instead of themselves do you acknowledge the presence of the final because a spokesperson for example for your government at 1st denied the existence of the final militia but then confusingly acknowledged that the militia of the un horror region were engaged to be extent of securing border towns between the 2 regions and you have refugees describing this this fear of this force are they there are more and. one was

a use group but use group is not anywhere in europe. it is a modest speech and he just gives it away just on us without cut budget to be a. military establishment and then they were forced to do. with killing anyone in fact we had to rescue the good people. which was booked so they can also use them whatever even for more than 2 years so this is not a good company. there is no or what is going to be true since. this is not even a civil war but in just under let's look at another claim because you say that it's a law in order operation as you've just articulated right now but there is growing fear that the conflict in fact is drawing in regional actors for example eritrea and could impact regional stability of the us cites the following they say that they are aware of credible reports of the eritrean military involvement in te gras

and that they view this as a grave development as we mentioned earlier prime minister he made peace with eritrea that is part of what won him the nobel peace prize are they now an ally that has helped you fight your military offensive all in all our military. has been taken. in keeping you skipping missions. was a problem of healing was if you know so she's i'm so torn and those that say that. i didn't i can issue 100 percent terms in one of them one can sometimes get out of it im out of is open to being in what i'm wondering though how you can assure and 100 percent terms when the americans say that they have satellite images they say intercepted communications anecdotal reports from the region also add to that we

know eritrea for example just for contacts is a country that has long face accusations of large scale human rights abuses and there are about 100000 eritrean refugees that are located in tikrit so there's a lot at stake here the united nations says the following. over the last month we have received an overwhelming number of disturbing reports from eritrean refugees into grave being killed being abducted being forcibly returned to eritrea and if confirmed these actions would constitute a major of violations of international law these are horrifying reports can you not guarantee their safety and how could you say this with 100 percent we are the sum of the largest. global we are known for hosting the refugees with all due respect that is very loud in the room commission. here if you do sir. we will take your career there if there is no if you are an ardent or putting in

together so there is no way what is it implicit establishment coming up like. refugees if that was the case would have been the 1st to stand against it and then soon make sure that our bridges are safe that is very wrong that is there for submission you know we still believe go on one of our because we're better than ever you believe was one of the reason behind her i'm still with you of that. now it is being abused cemented into our leaders running for the levers or having our safe. mr minister i'd just like to bring it back to the actions of your government though because your government says that it's returning in fact eritrean refugees that had fled in the northern region up to grab a human rights watch says that it's unacceptable the u.n. calls those reports alarming. so you're essentially returning people that fled in

fear many of them fled went to the capital they're afraid of being exposed to eritrean violence how do you explain that to the world amid amid these reports amid these fierce from these refugees we can only really anything was a consultant of the refuse to get out is no safe they can. live with. you guys it's you you know so you should stay in the compound in the south in the limits. will be. singular and they are to save lives once they've been saved will come to me that's what it is and it's not being done for. the shipping government believes in consultation with. its beliefs. be respected and did your mother suspected so that's not all militia member of the member you say that it's a safe and stable situation about we have reports of 4 aide workers that have been killed a u.n.

security team seeking access near an eritrean camp for refugees was also shot at by here for since that doesn't look good how is it possible that a u.n. team could not be coordinated in the region are or are you afraid of where you are afraid of what they might see. if you're if you happen to read the assessment issued. if you look at this commission just to look at it or to who they say go they have a. holy. this is a technical problem. for starters we're not supposed to go a certain place we are building bridges roads. we have stubs their lives. we have established we can connectivity order to make it easy and out of these has limited the entire region from this joined up so i just said the

international community and mr minister is not convinced of that the u.n. says that we have reports that the fighting continues between federal forces and the t p l f and affiliated on the leisure goldeyes they describe the situation as worrying as volatile as spiraling out of control with an appalling impact on civilians ultimately i just like to bring a back to the fact that abi has he has pursued a military solution to this conflict ultimately while your international allies on the continent and beyond have expressed a lot of concern they've called for dialogue there was an african union delegation actually in the capital that was reportedly not even allowed to meet with the t.p.o. laugh by your government is that your understanding of more democracy blocking dialogue why not talk. one thing i'm talking to you from i this. whether i'm

a real he was in the eyes of the gong well what's happened before now but in public and i'm telling you you're a safe and i think it's good to. so they go. because because us troops you know these is just a lot you know cross active it's loud information that you are getting does not in any way explain what's going on on the ground. the idle can only happen between 2 reasonable parties. for the past 2 and half is robin beginning to believe to come to the table and settle out because that is not the assessment by the way of others who are following the situation because you came to power promising democracy promising peace after decades of repressive roar but in their transition chatham house says the following about the lack of inclusion has angered the opposition groups with whom the government has had little genuine dialogue could you have done

more to bring the country together for a more inclusive dialogue from the very beginning could all the bloodshed have been avoided this government was able to look at the least. and solve the problem which was a longstanding one who. we can with we can do it with our brothers. we don't have a problem this government you cannot. accuse this government of lacking the culture of yellow this government is all about democracy reform and doubt but even if it's not used to lease we're going to talk about it don't worry if you're not me i want to be used very important for us to believe killed our soldiers i seriously believe killed women in uniform i did a sleep which government will towards this will your government will u.s. government will get german government under which doug i don't know heaviest actions cannot occupy their minister. the international crisis group mr minister of

the international crisis group says the following that this conflict runs the risk of ripping the state asunder the t.p.o. left as a valley into fight on there are reports of clashes continuing on the ground experts say we're seeing the beginning of a drawn out insurgency and yet your government is declaring victory you're saying that you have the situation under control after the offensive on the kelly your prime minister even said that that no citizen was killed is in your declaration of victory premature amid all of those assessments look. the reports will look wrong we know what is happening out there we. know there's an. end up him some pretty much the war is over but mr minister it is not just the region of to grow that is

a concern ethnically motivated and intercommunal violence have been on the rise there have been reports of about $150.00 fatal clashes in the past year some of those instead it incidents have estimates of hundreds killed millions have been internally displaced and now the united nations is warning of a heightened risk of genocide war crimes ethnic cleansing crimes against humanity when you look more broadly at the rest of your country are you on the brink of a potential genocide does the state run the risk of breaking up are you the next you can slavia that's a very negative report you'll get which is also our games that look we have more than a century remark making you consider what if your p.r. is another or the hottest i mean just to. make it is so that it wants all the. the rest of it he'll be are is is more than ever you can you could last

a models of ice if housing's up the wind for you so go so you just don't deny we had a meeting internet persons know none of them out. but. they used me and living a 2nd life so this does not the president does not explain the ground that is not the situation that is described by international n.g.o.s amnesty international reports for example that your security forces are part of the mob and they say frontline 60 in the region is your only excuse in the region of a romeo for example this is obvious political base they quote the carrying out of extrajudicial executions arbitrary arrests of detention torture other forms of ill treatment forced evictions destruction of property human rights violations serious accusations they've called on your government to do more to stop it where's the action you know if you took.

100. and most of europe there is. some. sort of disease on the wisdom of who knows or submitted their reviews but if you number if you see the situation or years ago there were by far a thriving group now that humanity has rejected it is a community use of inciting organised people we can literally explode usually. means to leave for good use to and have use or go close a chapter of us i'd like to move on now to democracy because you're the minister for democratization as we mentioned in the beginning you've delayed the general election this was your 1st real shot at democracy after decades of oppressive rule now opposition political parties mainly from these ethnic erroneous strongholds they say they're being intimidated amnesty describes the following the crackdown on

dissenting political views ahead of general elections the leading opposition figure has even been jailed how legitimate and democratic can your election really be made what is being described as a crackdown. it is not our lives election is a national look. in the locals when you have the most. political person and. you know it is you to get 90 more than 50 countries. leads you to listen to tickle the 90 well i'm not an exception to what are you asking me mr minister i'm asking you this question because you have somebody who was detained and jailed because he has a critical view of your prime minister are the ahmed or at least reportedly that's why he says that he was detained in fact there seems to be little appetite to tolerate criticism even abroad i'd like to bring you to another case and this is one of the u.k. based academic who was among those who actually nominated abi for his peace prize

he learned through reports apparently on ethiopia state broadcaster that police had accused him of quote using international media to destroy the country in response to his critical interviews that he's done on international media is this what opponents of your government can a suspect expect in the country he says he fears going back to the country he thinks there's a significant risk of him being detained. you know as you said. the one based in what's the mood you're looking at you ever have we have you know more than that i mean people in groups out who were hoping to come to your we have lived exactly we have got to be to know exactly switches you know hitting. how you know just new york moving freely whereas just in order. to come together jalen just a solution we have for us winning or losing the selection is equally equally

significant lose this election will be the saddest party who accepts that atoms or 2 competitive election and hand over power mr minister how about press freedom and your country the international federation of journalists reports the following a wave of arrests against journalists covering the ongoing conflict in the t grab region they say that since november 7th at least 6 journalists have been arrested on unknown charges the ethiopian human rights commission has expressed concern there's also reports that the government has repeatedly cut off the internet journalists barred from traveling to teague right to cover this all this election that that the to gran's had back in september a new law criminalizing hate speech apparently has a provision that can be used as a lock up peaceful dissidents is that how you define democracy isn't freedom of the press the central pillar you know if you're going to have a reduce of. each you need your via. your analysis in reason

because if they're going to have sex. a journalist journalist can happen to commit a crime on his individual capacity more than once but he's not the classic you cannot believe someone from criminal prosecution just because you say you are not your journalism is not an immunity to run away from accountable just comes out of there as does france nationals a lot mr minister briefly before we go to your. book ask me if you typically have cats in the me there is a carrier security coming up with you released years ago showing you can little fishes well here's a minister. mr minister you've cut the internet before another region but briefly before i go i just like to ask you where is the spirit of madame or the spirit of coming together and synergy that abi described that he promised the country when he took office in this conversation we've talked about ethnic violence

a military offensive in the north concerns that you are backsliding on security and democracy is this the best that you can offer our offer ethiopia where's the synergy that was promised are we not when we're going to be talks about. is deeply it is easy if he has a deep connection and he took his support to the a peaceful country. as you know joseph. he didn't put it out and spoke like. we mean to go if europeans are united more than ever if europeans are happier more than ever we have a challenge caused by that even if that was that became an order block and it wanted us stock from marching it was a lot of democracy this is what was happening was deep if gone if your peers will be united more than europe if you'll be only because it gives of democracy principles of democracy more than ever in the g.o.p.'s will be able to help will be

able to hold the most peaceful the most democrat minister election. is an issue minister zydeco about how we have to leave it there thank you for joining us on conflicts around. thanks.

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the book. this is deja news live from berlin and the french president emmanuel mccall is self isolating after testing positive for covert 9 take a few leaders are concerned about black holes recent contacts spain's prime minister sanchez is already in quarantine and the leader of the island is to restrict his movements as well also coming out new delhi info.