up of having incited the capitol riots and say failing to hold him to account would be a dangerous precedent all of us should do some soul searching about 5 dead americans capitol police officer who's did it dozens of people wounded lots of our capital cops in the hospitals and a country on edge and inflamed right wing which thinks that we're on the verge of a civil war. the assault on the capital has eroded support for trump in congress several republican lawmakers say they're willing to back impeachment efforts they now include 5 members of the house of representatives notably liz cheney the number 3 republican in the chamber she's released a statement saying the storming of the capitol was trumps doing and that he did nothing to stop the violence she said there has never been a greater betrayal by a president of the united states of his office and his oath to the constitution

cheney's move lays bare a split among republicans over trump and the future of their party. and let's get more we are joined by peter peter what is the latest on the efforts to remove the president from office. right so today is said to be a historic day damo from best where in that report they're all but sure to become the 1st president in united states history to be impeached twice and we also heard in that report that 5 republicans now openly backing not efforts the final number according to reports could be closer to 10 even 20 republicans doing democrat to impeach and that's notable because just over a year ago during the 1st impeachment exactly 0 republicans voted to impeach and it does suggest that the interaction on january 6th was the final straw for a lot of republicans who long struggle with how to navigate from turbulent tenure

it really does signal a strong break with trump who is fighting felt increasingly isolated as he's about to leave the white house and that many republicans see their party ask for add an extension crossroads senate majority leader mitch mcconnell has apparently even indicated that he believes and teaching trump would make it easier to raise the republican party not just of the president but of trump isn't in general and i think you know the question right now is whether that translates into trump actually being removed from office you'd still need a 2 thirds majority for that in the senate and that is all they care to see what a strong thing about all of this. well completive or want to admit failure let alone mistakes in his 1st public appearance since the violence on capitol hill was really no different he went down to texas on tuesday and continued to deny any culpability in the violent riot that left several people dead threaten the lives of many members of congress even trump owned by scripted you know trump insisted that

his remarks to his supporters in washington that many took to be an encouragement to essentially storm the capitol the those remarks were quote totally appropriate in trump all to war that is impeachment to lead to more violence and that statement has left a lot of people really worried because they know that trump supporters are really hanging on to trent every word and that they could take those remarks to be essentially have that instruction to even more regret. his peter thank you. human rights watch has handed us president donald trump a scathing report card in its annual worldwide round up the campaign group says the trump was a disaster for human rights and that his term in office severely eroded the credibility of the u.s. government internationally it calls on incoming president joe biden to entrench human rights and u.s. policy and allow the prosecution of his predecessor for alleged crimes.

joining us now from geneva is kenneth roth he is the executive director of human rights watch and thanks so much for joining us always great to see you how much has human rights suffered under president donald trump. well trump completely abandon the cause of human rights say at home he promoted divisiveness racism attacked immigrants from abroad he you know cozied up to basically every friendly autocrat under the sun he did occasionally speak out about human rights but it was always a with respect to perceived adversaries like venezuela cuba iran in the end china but those you know protestations had no credibility because they were so completely on principle so you know that's the bad news the good news is that the rest of the world didn't have bad human rights just because they saw homeport they were and we saw many governments stepping forward and assuming leadership roles for the 1st time this happened through various lot american democracies they banded together

something called the lima group to address human rights violations in venezuela we saw the organization islamic cooperation which rarely addressed human rights coming forward and defending the rohingya muslims from persecution in myanmar i mean there is european governments you know foremost germany played a very important role germany helped your ground the governments to condemn china's repression and she's joining it helped press putin to stop the bombing of civilians and it will province in syria so there is this broader more global defense of human rights that we urge biden to join and not supplant to come in as a partner not pretend that the u.s. is suddenly going to be a leader especially given that you know historically the u.s. is liked to think of itself as a beacon of democracy as a promoter of human rights the so-called shining city on a hill that you know others could look to as an example. how much work does biden have to do in order to you know bring the reality more in line with that image.

well i think the big challenge for by ironically he has to start his term in president in the presidency by thinking about it's ant and he's got to worry about how does he avoided a new president coming in and reversing everything he did the way trump came into reversed everything that obama had done and the answer that i think is to try to find a way to better entrench a commitment to human rights in u.s. policy so that we don't find the double standard that so often is impacted the way the u.s. is treated szymon rights i mean so one thing we've asked biden to do is to in a sense find his jimmy carter moment that is to say jimmy carter broadly and human rights is an element of u.s. foreign policy buying should treat it as a guiding principle and then apply it even when it's hard you know cutting off. to places like saudi arabia or the united arab emirates or egypt when you look perhaps more broadly now at the world when we're looking at autocratic regimes leaders

leaders elsewhere in the world in your annual report where were the major points of concern which you say. well i mean i think the biggest threat to the global human rights system remains china it has intensified repression at home in a way we haven't seen since the murderous crackdown on the tiananmen square democracy movement in 1909 and it is attacking the global human rights system because it doesn't want anybody criticizing china now we've seen no significant pushback you know traditionally governments are or were reluctant to criticize china for fear of economic retaliation but we've seen safety in numbers and germany played an important leadership role in october rallying 40 governments together to condemn china's repression in shinji where they have detained over a 1000000 weaker in other turkey muslims basically to force them to abandon islam and their culture and we're seeing increasing pushback of the sort more governments are trying to ensure that their supply chains of the supply chains of their

companies are not infected by we are forced labor ensure jay and this kind of pressure matters to beijing they care about their global reputation and we're seeing them begin to react to this sort of pressure. can we have just 30 seconds but i just want to give you the opportunity to perhaps briefly tell us what gave you hope this year in your report you know one sign of hope was the outpouring of popular support for human rights and democracy in so many countries if you look at you know hong kong thailand ballo reuss poland even the united states people took to the streets to defend basic rights and that's a source of encouragement and frankly also a source of support for governments who want to defend human rights catherine executive director of human rights watch thank you so much for joining us to share that expertise you. let's take a look at some other stories making news around the world the u.s. has carried out the 1st federal execution of

a woman in nearly 7 decades lisa montgomery was put to death by lethal injection in an indiana prison shortly after the supreme court gave the go ahead in 2004 mongomery killed a pregnant woman and stole her baby. russian opposition leader alexina vali says he plans to return home to moscow this despite new efforts to jail him for allegedly violating his suspended sentence of all the has been recovering in germany after being poisoned with a nerve agent the kremlin denies responsibility. flooding has left more than $10000.00 homes in southern serbia without power days of heavy rain and snow in the balkans region has caused rivers to burst their banks inundating houses and fields and disrupting transport the largest mafia trial in over 3 decades has started in italy the defendants include more than $350.00 suspected

members of one of the world's most feared organized crime groups the enjoin ghetto they are accused of offensive dated back to the 1990 s. including murder drug trafficking extortion and money laundering. sander spoke to the lead prosecutor in the case and also a former mobster turned informant who now fears for his life. he has to move quickly the chief prosecutor of new connector t.n.t. has powerful enemies italy's number one mafia hunter is leading the fight against the notorious calabrian network then that i'm getting on a woman e. and then. there are men of the internet and get there within the public administration by attempt to manage it in whole or in pods trying to succeed in dominating not only on the economic level but also on the administrative and political level. teddy has been fighting them for

more than 30 years and he has been preparing a strong message to send to the calabrian families and the public. over the next 2 years more than $350.00 mafiosi and accomplices will take the stand in the biggest mafia trial in decades here in a specially built bunker courtroom set up to accommodate them together with hundreds of lawyers and witnesses the family's reach and influence go far beyond calabria over the years its business model has evolved from fighting bloody wars in the streets to more sophisticated financial crime. scene that i'm getting now operates in the shadows for example by importing tons of cocaine from latin america and quietly buying power and influence over europe this and their twisted but strong sense of family are the main reasons why it's so hard to fight the family clans we haven't who are tells us now working with prosecutors he was raised to become a powerful mafiosi equally adamant that if you start with guns as

a child but make you shoot. if you carry guns and you're a kid and it's all a game to you. the kids have toit guns but your guns are real you're not afraid of being beaten but of disappointing those who are training you when i went to the . smuggle drugs extorted people and even participated in murders but after the birth of his 2nd child he decided this life was no longer for him and turned against his own family. when it became known that ambushed me twice within 12 hours the 1st time i managed to escape the 2nd time i was armed and returned fire 3 people they tried to kill me several times and set fire to my wife's shop since then when i've been to has helped put hundreds of mafiosi behind bars he welcomes the efforts of prosecutors like but he is not the only one worried and i will fight back. if i understood that if they knock me down all this great work

and discreet team will stop there are thousands and thousands of people who believe in me and therefore i am the last hope. so this also gives me courage and helps we have to carry on what ever it takes if i pulled out today i would feel like a coward. but while this trial won't free calabria from the clutches of the mafia it is a real chance to bring attention to the cause of suffering for millions of people not just here in italy. now let's bring in correspondent max ender who you also saw there and that report max is standing by for us in limits yet tell me where the trial is taking place max what's expected. great this is a historic day not just for but also for italy this is

a very important trial that just is about to kick off. but to understand the magnitude of this process is it's important to understand how the end operates their core business is to import cocaine from latin america to europe they make a lot of money with it the control of the majority of the cocaine trafficking and selling it throw it throughout europe and they use this money to invest to buy power to buy influence to buy politicians and even for legitimate businesses and a lot of white called the crimes and the aim of this process is not to take out the input on get but more so to shine a light on their business shine a light tell the operates in the shadows. we've just heard from a witness from the prosecutor in your report and the trial is of course dangerous for them how do they handle that. but it's incredibly dangerous for xmas yosi who cooperate with the authorities that's why there are so

few actually but even for the chief prosecutor we tell it so he cannot get a theory he has he is from the region he is from collaborate he grew up with some of it and if you see that he's putting putting away putting it behind bars and in the process of this this is this this trial he tells us he played with soccer with them in the streets he knows their mentality and the as a kid had a very early age and when he would go to school he walked past bodies people shot dead by by the mafia so he decided in early point that he wanted to do something against that and he has been living. at a great risk for a very long time he's been under police protection for 30 years he told us yesterday that he sleeps in a bunker eats in his office doesn't have a life and he lives up with constant death threats but he also said it's worth it even having a target on his back because if you can take back the country from the mafia and give it back to law abiding citizens then it's worth living like that max sander in

limited time and where the trial is getting underway thank you. well germany is currently under lockdown until the end of january but it now looks like that might go on longer speaking in parliament health minister again confirmed reports that lockdown measures would be extended into next month but he said that germany had ordered enough vaccines to m. united everyone against cove at 19 this year the slow pace of vaccination so far was due to supply problems that would soon be overcome he said let's listen to some of what he said earlier. you're leaving yet still today in january 2021 we are experiencing a time of contrasts on the one hand we are in one of the hardest phases of the pandemic behind the daily figures there are people's fate families in mourning on the other hand never in history as a safe vaccine become available so quickly against a new virus that is

a great success and it german success. i'm joined now by political correspondent simon young who is at the german parliament so simon tell us a little bit more about this speech today because spawn as we mentioned as he mentioned efforts to develop a vaccine got applause but there's also been this criticism that the current vaccine rollout measures are not happening fast enough how did he defend himself. it was sara yes indeedy acknowledged criticisms but overall this was a pretty wide ranging defense of the government's corona policy in general and particularly addressing the question of vaccines the health minister said over 700000 germans have no received the bone take vaccine and he says that pace is going to step up in the coming weeks as the 2nd vaccine the medan. vaccine is rolled out and other vaccines come on stream he painted

a pretty optimistic picture there but he did say that this is the most serious phase of the pandemic and in the coming weeks he expects people to face more restrictions as you've said it's very likely lockdowns and other restrictions will continue into february and beyond but as far as vaccines go he said that the process of ordering the vaccines in concert with other e.u. countries was a good idea it made economic sense for germany because it means that all e.u. countries will get part of this pact pandemic more swiftly and the economy will be able to get going again but he also said that it is important for vaccination to be accepted by the public and that's why it's important to keep informing people and telling them the vaccines are safe he said indeed down there has been some vaccine skepticism in the country tell us simon chancellor merkel says that there are more

difficult weeks until easter. but she did that when she made those statements behind closed doors what more did we learn today from the health minister. well other than that direct statement that he strongly expects that rules and restrictions will continue at least into february they're currently to run up to the end of this month. he didn't address this point directly he did say that it was a difficult phase and the people are facing tough restrictions he knows how difficult it is for people and thanked her for instance all the care workers who are looking after people in old people's homes which is which is of course the sight of at the moment often more than a 1000 deaths every day that's very distressing for people he said but he urged people to stay with it it may well be that many germans hoped for an easing of restrictions on after the christmas and new year period but that doesn't look to be

coming simon young in berlin thank you. of the look at some other developments in the pandemic the japanese government says that it plans to expand the state of emergency that it declared for the tokyo area last week to 7 more regions the spread of co the 19 is casting new doubts about tokyo's ability to host the olympic games this summer after a delay china will allow a team from the world health organization to travel to the city of han on thursday to begin investigating how the pandemic started there and indonesia has begun its vaccination campaign president djoko we doto received the 1st covert 1000 jab as the world's 4th most populous country faces soaring infection rates. sports news now and the handball men's world championships starts today in egypt germany enters the tournament as underdogs the organizers initially planned for the

event to go ahead with spectators despite the pen demick but that changed after a number of players voiced concerns. horace the god of the pharaohs the mascot of this handball world championship he stands for strength power and in durance characteristics that matter in this mammoth trying to mint. but with the covert pandemic raging not everyone is on board. i'm definitely looking forward to the world championship i realised the situation isn't the best at the moment to host a world championship though. i just wouldn't feel right travelling there in january my priority is my family and i'm convinced that's right the controversial president of the world handball federation egypt's mostafa has insisted the tournament must go on it seems like a vanity project with one of the halls bearing his name the event was planned to be

held with spectators until the organizers nixed the idea after many athletes had spoken out against it so safety 1st i believe it's the right decision so i think. we'd all rather play in a packed hall but right now i think this is the way to go. the hosts have been working on a hygiene concept for months teams will live in so-called bubbles leaving their hotels for training or matches. no contact with the outside world. it certainly takes some getting used to. of course you also have to look after yourself and try to avoid cabin fever in a small group. the world championship is expected to boost handball in egypt where it's already the number 2 sport behind football the cairo club ali runs 3 youth academies with over $300.00 players even 6 year olds are taking up the sport

young girls and women also play here and a national women's team is being planned. nowadays in egypt the culture of limiting women to the home has changed a lot of women go out and take part in many areas obliged. germany are not one of the favorites at this world championship with important players missing due to withdrawals and injuries but maybe they'll still be able to soar. you're watching news coming up next in d.w. news asia indonesia is kicking off. indonesia is kicking off its mask in the program but how effective is the chinese vaccine and will indonesians trust it as a state of emergency in the laser is the prime minister reacting to the pandemic or

playing politics. don't forget there's always more on our website e.w. dot com you can also follow us on twitter and instagram. i'm in berlin thanks for watching take care and sissies.

the fight against the corona virus pandemic. has the rate of infection been developing. what measures are being taken. what does the latest research say. information and context. the coronavirus and the coalition seems functional monday to friday on t.w. . good cause we're all set. to go

beyond. the missile that. we're all about the stories that matter to the. country or. whatever it takes. to not run enough. to find the nut job you made for mines hijacking the news. where i go from the news being hijacked journalism itself has become a scripted reality show it's not just good versus evil us versus them black and white. in countries like russia china turkey people are told is that simple and if you're a journalist there and you try to get beyond that you are facing scare tactics intimidation. and i wonder is that where work at it is well. my responsibility as

a journalist is to get beyond the smoke and mirrors it's not just about being clear and balanced or being neutral it's about being truthful. when he was put off and i were. coming up today. in the wilds for most often this country. interview show begins caught on of vaccinations with the chinese vaccines but they have questions. and whether people do trust we look at all tissues. and unstable government saucepans follow them.