this is d.w. news live from berlin the crime that shocked germany a politician shot in the head in cold blood now a verdict is due in the trial of a neo nazi accused of assassinating boss had 2 years ago. also coming up a nationwide protest in poland as a near total ban on abortions comes into effect critics say the country's conservative government has gone too far. plus frustration grows here in germany as the country's efforts to vaccinate its population against cope with 19 run into

problems what is going wrong with the government's drive to get people inoculated. i'm sumi so much got to thank you for joining us of course here in germany is expected to deliver a verdict today in the trial of a neo nazi accused of assassinating conservative politician to look 2 years ago look at was a member of the michael c.d.u. party and had spoken out in support of refugees he was gunned down in cold blood at his home near the west german town of castle another alleged neo nazi is also want trial as an accomplice. defendant stephanie has been on trial for nearly 8 months accused of murdering the german politician val toluca has a legit motor of hatred of foreigners and rage at anglo-american refugee policies

the victim and this local politician who defended merkel's policies stephanie recorded and then uploaded this video at the time to. face far right heckle us. all. of her b.s. you have to stand up for certain values is anyone who doesn't agree with these values is free to leave the country that's a freedom every german enjoys. fresh. shot outside his home on the night of june 2nd 2019 stephanie confessed but later retracted he has a long history of hate crimes starting as a teenager he later began a family but stayed active on the right wing scene as well as killing luka he's also charged with the attempted murder of an iraqi refugee the prosecutors are calling for a life sentence. we need to recognize how serious this crime is because

in our legal system everyone including people sentenced to life has the prospects of release after 15 years except when the circumstances highlight the seriousness of the defendant's guilt this is determined from an overall assessment and where there is a large number of criminal offenses is so in the case of stephanie there's a spiral of violence that started when he was young it's all up. to the un. the involvement of a codefendant marcus h. is still unclear he's also been part of the radical right wing scene for years stephanie has named him as his accomplice but marcus h. denies this loop because killing is one of several high profile attacks linked to the far right in gemini in recent years casting a spotlight on the dangers of extremists opposed to democracy. and we can go now to g.w. correspondent pitta hilla he is at the frankfurt court where the verdict will be

announced this morning we heard there that prosecutors are pushing for a life sentence how likely are they to get it i think that everything but a life long prison sentence for stephanie you would be a surprise in frankfurt today because the evidence against him was quite overwhelming he confessed to having killed but looking on that night june 2nd 2019 his motive was pretty clear it was hatred against i'm going to america and to refuse refugee policy refugee policy that bars had to get defended and he led police to the murder weapon a revolver so evidence is quite overwhelming against him and that is why the prosecution has to ask for a life long sentence question is life long doesn't mean life long in germany normally get you can apply for parole after 15 years but the prosecution says since it was such an insidious crime a drool crime that he shouldn't be able to apply for parole after 15 years to defense on the other side they have pleading for manslaughter there was an

investigative report released recently that found that the defendant had dozens of contacts in the far right scene does that mean that there could be more accomplices still on the loose. that is possible i mean of course we know off h. who was suspected of be an accomplice who was charged with murder and we'll see how the verdict against him will come out today but as you're saying it's also possible that he had more context stephanie had more contacts in the now you know outside scene in the north of it is a very strong scene there so it is likely that there were people who supported what he was doing and that he had maybe finances or people helping him to get weapons but we didn't see that in his confessions in his confessions he only talked about marcus h. and so a parliamentary investigative committee. has and has since state parliament it's also that question trying to find out more about that because here it is only

marcus h. and stephanie who will get to work today there are a lot of eyes on this trial this was the 1st right wing terrorists killing of a politician here in decades how great is the danger of right wing extremism in germany today. i think it is a great danger that the interior minister is saying that is that it is the greatest danger for for security in germany and i think it is also a danger that has long been the collected by security authorities by the domestic intelligence agency and only recently after the killing of off the attack and how now and attack and khalid i think security forces domestic intelligence agencies are really trying to focus on that far right scene and they are saying that 13000 people in that scene. potentially violent so it is also a large scene that could pose a threat to security in germany so there might be more stephany's out there

new correspondent paid to head outside of that courthouse in frankfurt where a verdict is expected this morning thank you. now the european union and swedish british drug maker astra zeneca has failed to make a breakthrough in a dispute over supply shortages of the covered $1000.00 vaccine to the block now the company said in a statement that it had a constructive conversation with the e.u. about scaling up production astra zeneca had sparked anger by saying it would deliver 60 percent fewer doses of the vaccine than promised in the 1st quarter of this year the vaccination process has been slower than expected across the european union and here in germany frustration is growing. accessing this vaccination center in brandenburg in eastern germany is harder than it might look to get an appointment for a covert 19 job you need staying power only those determined enough to get past the

overloaded hotline will get an appointment like manfred in her to greenberg both are over 18 but known to germany's number one high risk group. dr my hopes are more our daughter got the appointment for us but it took a long time to get through and arrange the time. as in other vaccination centers in germany things are moving slowly many boots remain empty because there's not enough facts seen. only 70 people a day can be immunized instead of the planned 600. the situation is even worse in other regions this center in cologne is not even open appointments are being made for february but it's not an easy process. is calling them to be kept on hold for now is and then you don't even get an appointment that machine. in ff to me my appointment was made online by my son right on the 1st day in the

morning. the hotline in north america stadium is overwhelmed. other countries are moving faster israel for example has already vaccinated almost half its population about 4000000 people britain has immunized 10 percent the us 7 germany has vaccinated around 2000000 people 2 percent of the population in line with many other countries germany social democrats say that's not good enough it's the envy of the sinew say israel britain and the us are all making progress but there are a lot of problems in the european union and we need to address them quickly vaccine manufacturers contracted to supply e.u. member states are now reporting production delays not good news for this facility in brandenburg or others around germany filling these chairs is likely to take some time. let's take out to our political correspondent thomas sparrow

for more on this story good morning thomas as we saw there germany is way behind other countries when it comes to vaccinating is it clear at this point why that is . not entirely soon but it's important to understand how the process works how the delivery and distribution process actually works because it's sometimes easy to forget when we have all these controversies that the procurement of the vaccine is actually at an e.u. level so it's not up to each country to decide how many doses they will or they will not buy and once the e.u. has done that procurement it goes to the respective governments respective countries based on their population and then once it arrives in germany for example if then goes to all the federal state the 16 federal states that are in charge of carrying out those vaccinations of making those appointments as we saw for example in our report and in all 3 of those parts in all 3 of those processes there have

been certain issues when we look for example of the case in germany other distribution here in the country they have been logistical issues they have been individual oversights as well there's a lot of bureaucracy and red tape something that the german chancellor for example has also acknowledged so this explains at least in part why the process is so difficult but it's important to stress that it's not only in the hands of german states it's also something that goes well beyond and also affects the e.u. as a whole if you ask the german government they still say obviously that this is a very important process that this is the way out of the pandemic and they are defending also the way the vaccine was procured well you mentioned that that perfume it happens on the european level so how does that argument between the european union and astra zeneca a sec chairman. it will certainly affect germany but it will also affect other european countries as well because this has been seen obviously as that debate at an e.u. level so if you look for example of the discussions that are taking place this is not something between an individual country and

a pharmaceutical company but between the european commission and their respective pharmaceutical company but the e.u. put a lot into this astra zeneca vaccine in particular because it has been described as a vaccine that is cheaper that is easier to handle as well and it has been seen in the different countries as a possible way to ease some of those not just tickled problems some of that shortage that has been described not only here in germany but elsewhere as well so that's why this debate is particularly important not only here in germany but i would say for the you as a whole we know the german authorities do want to vaccinate more people so what are authorities doing to improve the situation this is being obviously discussed here in the country now we heard for example from the social democrats were sold i mean our report they are calling now for a vaccination plan to try and ease the process to things to make things easier to handle and to distribute to their calling for better communication as well between agencies and also between the federal level and the regional level those are all

things that are being discussed here in the country disc from the german government's perspective that they do want to make sure that vaccinations happen according to the structure of the plan that was in place because we also saw in a report so many for example that there are plenty of vaccination centers that are ready to distribute the vaccine the problem is they haven't got the doses so this is obviously something that is being discussed very very much here in the country in particular to try and understand how germany from its perspective can improve the situation when it comes to distribution of the vaccine are political correspondent thomas ferro thank you so much. now another country is suffering because of a shortage of vaccine in europe is serbia the country's president recently compare the situation to the sinking of the titanic as rich nations try to save themselves at the expense of poor ones even so serbia has managed to launch a mass vaccination drive for its people but it has done so not with the help of the e.u. but with the help of china. even during the pandemic customers still come in for

their coffee. georgevitch has run this cafe in belgrade for 3 years a topic often discussed by patrons is which vaccine is the best us company pfizer and russia have so far only delivered a few 1000 doses china has already sent a 1000000. what i choose to get the chinese vaccine chinese people have been getting it they wouldn't be harming their own people maybe i'll take pfizer's vaccine they are an economically strong company it's a bit of a dilemma for me. serbia's government has promised to buy various vaccines from providers all over the world it's then up to citizens to decide which one they want to get. to get the chinese or russian vaccine not the pfizer one it was not if i had to choose i'd take the russian one. or the russian one

i like russia i have russian friends i trust. who to trust there's a lack of detailed information about the various vaccines that's why many serbian doctors are hesitant with their advice. and is not as i get at least 10 calls a day people asking whether they should get maxon ated and if so using which vaccine he also because we only have information on the pfizer vaccine i just don't know enough about the other one is. known as. no one seems sure but plenty of people are driven by their fear of getting sick older citizens can receive the vaccine at a total of $200.00 special sites like at this exhibition center in belgrade serbia purchased 8000000 vaccines from western supplies from russia and china but only china can deliver millions of those of copied 19 vaccines in a short period of time. china for patience on the balkans is on the rise in the

meantime boy in georgia bitch has made his decision you know someone. who doesn't work through any of my customers who come here know more than i do about vaccines. are now i have to sided to get the chinese one wouldn't work you know but i know flies. like many serbians they take the pragmatic view that the best vaccine is the most available one and here china seems to have won the race. here's a look now some other developments in the pandemic portugal will suspend all flights to and from brazil beginning friday that's due to the new strain of the corona virus circulating there vietnam has reported its 1st community transmission of the virus in almost 8 weeks the country has outstripped quarantine measures throughout the pandemic and the con film festival has been moved from may to july in the hopes of being able to hold the event on the french riviera in person. in poland

a near total ban on abortion has come into force sparking nationwide protests that brought thousands into the streets the new restrictions mean that all abortions in poland will be banned except in cases of rape and incest or when the mother's life or health are thought to be at risk. because once again they took to the streets once again demanding their right to choose the new law only allows for an abortion if the life of the mother is in danger. now protesters say the government has gone too far. stop lying about abortion saying it's not taking place stop lying like the far right and the church do and nuff is a no that was a poll in is one of europe's most devout catholic countries it already has some of the strictest abortion laws in europe and the good steady at was them via the you

know top of the constitutional court decided to tighten the laws even further triggering weeks of massive protests across the country. abortion rights activists have announced more protests in the coming days they have no intention of keeping quiet about the fact is that we have to stop protesting again this is the only way we can prove to those who grew us that we are not tired we are not fed up we do not lack strength and we are all united but. critics of the new restrictions say this is not only about women's rights in poland . but also about the soul of a country that seems to be sliding further away from the basic values of the european union. let's get a look now at some other headlines from around the world at least 53 people have been killed in a collision between a passenger bus and

a fuel truck in western cameroon authorities say more than 20 others were injured in the crash near the town of jang officials say the truck was illegally transporting fuel and it was speeding. on the 3rd night of clashes between security forces and demonstrators has erupted in the lebanese city of tripoli crowds are protesting over lebanon's economic crisis which has been made worse by a coronavirus lockdown the protesters chanted feed me calling on the government to comp a compensate them during the lockdown. u.s. president joe biden says his country must leave the global response to the climate crisis biden made those remarks at the white house before signing a raft of executive orders aimed at curbing rising temperatures worldwide the orders establish climate change is a major national security and foreign policy issue for the u.s. biden says the climate crisis requires a national effort and like in the threat to the coronavirus pandemic just like we need a unified national response to cope with 19 we desperately need

a unified national response to the climate crisis because there is a climate crisis we must keep we must lead the global response because neither challenge can be met as secretary kerry has pointed out many times by the united states alone we know what to do we've just got to do it. well the biden administration has also breathe new life into the last remaining arms reduction pact between russia and the u.s. the new start treaty was due to expire next week the russian parliament unanimously ratified a 5 year extension after president vladimir putin spoke to biking on the phone for the 1st time on tuesday for 10 welcomed the extension of the pact with washington saying it will help reduce global tensions these raise your right hand with presidents biden and putin both advocating an extension of the new start treaty the move was widely expected but nonetheless welcome in the current tense climate think

both the united states and russian federation of tended to put weapons of mass destruction arms control into a separate basket no matter how bad the bilateral relationship is rose got to miller negotiated a new start for the u.s. more than a decade ago and says at the moment washington may have needed the deal more than moscow we are entering into a modernization of our nuclear arsenal in the united states the russians are pretty well completed their nuclear modernization and to my mind it's in our best interest to ensure predictability and stability for the next 5 years until 2026 so we can ensure we have a predictable environment for our nuclear modernization and european allies can now exhale to as they look ahead on the extension of the new start treaty is lucky and it should be the beginning of the new the efforts to strengthen international arms control. to how we can the call for more weapons systems and also include more

nations for instance on the nato chief is just one of those calling for a new start to really be the new start up why don't we go she actions particularly with beijing it's a burgeoning arsenals of global concern to trump administration tried to bring china to the table literally staging an empty seat once as pressure russian military expert. cashin says the u.s. should not expect moscow's help here at this point russia. is not going to me and to like use any pressure. to join the agreement because such pressure will be absolutely useless and will just spoil the russian chinese relations caution says it's too early to predict a future arms control cooperation based on this treaty both sides wanted to save now police in the russian capital moscow have raided several homes and offices

linked to jailed opposition leader alexina vonnie authorities targeted the headquarters of his anti-corruption foundation as well as in a ball nice apartment where they arrested his brother police say the searches are linked to alleged violations of covert 1000 worlds during mass protests last weekend on sunday tens of thousands rallied in cities across russia across russia to demand of all his release from prison. police also raided a rented flat or an of on his wife yulia has been living it up he spoke to her lawyer about the search. of the we can see that there are mass searches of the homes of the employees of the anticorruption funks today. they are clearly being treated in a biased way by authorities and their right to legal protection are being violated so. the lawyer i would say that at the moment eunice rights are being violated

and so the rights of others who are not being allowed to see their lawyers. will sit with me unfortunately at the moment this is a common practice to remove myself from. now the 2024 paris olympics are set to feature breakdancing as a sport for the very 1st time and that's given one young woman in afghanistan the motivation to work towards her dream despite the threats she is facing along the way. many shares have to be taken seriously as both a woman and an athlete the 18 year old started breakdancing 3 months ago as well as breaking down moves she's determined to break down stereotypes in full specific sions called all of us down not many girls in this profession i want my name to be known as a good athlete in afghanistan not for people to call me a dancer i want people to know that this is not a dance but

a sport you know before i know that after this you are going to stay alive. but that's a dangerous attitude in afghanistan where the ultra hard line taliban is gaining more influence many in the country believe sport should just be reserved for men. moment they say we are muslim and dancing in afghanistan is a sin because it is a muslim country. some people have even threatened and said if we find you we will cut you into pieces. despite your threats many cher and her team mates have high hopes great john single be outages in sports at the paris screams in 2024. what. we have 4 years to train more girls in afghanistan and introduce at least one or 2 of them as break dancing us leads to international competitions but if you look at. the training and routines c.z. for many share is hungry to learn and even more hungry for success.

what's not to like about fresh snow fall for the elephants at an arizona zoo not much employees captured these images of baby elephant tenzin and her family frolicking in the flurries most of the others do animals stayed warm inside their shelters but pennsy and her sister none they did some splashing in the enclosures pond then a little slip and slide in the mud is one. of the zookeepers say it was penzeys 1st ever snow fall so it is no wonder she enjoyed every single moment of it. all right let's get a recap now of our top story here and e.w. a court here in germany is expected to deliver a verdict today in the trial of a neo nazi accused of assassinating conservative politicians back to look at 2 years ago was shot in the head in cold blood at his home in the west german town of

kos. coming up next our show focus on europe takes us to russia for a closer look at how opposition figure alexa has managed to mobilize mass protests on the streets stage and for that.

lead. the sibling in jail all the time everywhere. they now call me a russian opposition leader is moslem mass protests. just by talking to police violence young people especially are protesting corruption and state despotism they're now taking to the streets everywhere across russia to goose my place talking about the. complex when china

imposed a national security law on hong kong last year it promised that the principle of one country 2 systems on the fisa crisis the british trials would be critics point to a rapid ocean of freedom said my guest this week is michael cole beijing member of hong kong's legislative council and deputy china's national people's congress. completes the for 60 minutes. life on earth one of a kind and. gigantic coincidence. that santa previously to earth was just in a messy chemistry lab taught me. what the impossible but.

the creation of our solar system with our planet is a bit like winning the lottery. one 1st. starts feb 11th on t.w. . welcome to focus on europe we're glad to have you with us there are dramatic scenes unfolding in of russia at the moment people across the country are taking to the streets protesting against president.