we're giving them. this is the w.'s live from berlin the crime that shocked germany a politician shot in the head in cold blood now a right wing extremist has been found guilty of murdering vita looked good and sentenced to life in prison is this a tragedy though that could have been avoided also coming up out of quarantine and into the field a w.h.o. team in one china starts its investigation into the origins of the coronavirus

crosses their hope is to prevent such a common stuff from happening again. and nationwide protests take place again in poland as a near total ban on abortion comes into effect critics say the country's conservative government has gone too far and is moving away from the values of the european union. and french sailor young make this stubborn winds their race to sail solo around the globe despite not crossing the finish line 1st it's plain. and go ahead of us welcome to the program it has been one of the most closely watched trials in decades and now a court here in germany has found a right wing extremist guilty of assassinating regional politician votes a look at 2 years ago and sentenced him to life in prison look who was

a member of uncle americal c.d.u. party and had spoken out in support of refugees he accused shot of in the head of his home near the west german town of causes. it was a trial which brought the specter of far right violence in germany into sharp focus once again defendant stefan ounce was charged with murdering an elected politician the to luka was a well liked local leader who defended angle americans policies on migration it turned him into a target for extremists and recorded this video at a meeting where val toluca faced far right hecklers. 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. pushing. 4 years later luka was assassinated outside his home in june 29th his body discovered by

his son weeks later special forces got their man stefan and over the course of the trial he confessed then retracted and later confessed again today the court has found him guilty of murder and sentenced him to life in prison. in the case of stefan and stop at yours a spiral of violence that started when he was young. and on despite today's guilty verdict many questions remain where are those involved and could the police have done more to protect. i'm sure nobody appeared to hill he's at the front of court where the verdict has been announced today so stephanie has been convicted for murder tell us more about the verdict.

yes this verdict didn't come as a surprise jeff financed and he had confessed to the murder the evidence against him was just overwhelming he had to let the police to the murder weapon to the crime weapon the revolver and this notice were quite clear it was hatred against by to look good and against someone who had been supporting angle america's refugee policy so the evidence against him was just overwhelming that is why a life long prison sentence didn't come as a surprise and judge also acknowledged and the severity of the guilt off and this means that he won't be able to apply for parole after 15 years it'll he'll spend probably at least 22 years in prison before he'll be able to apply for parole . but the recent report says that the defendant had dozens of contacts in the far right scene could still be accomplices on the loose. that is absolutely possible this trial focused mainly on just one man moccasin age and he

was seen as a possible so i thought offset financed and he was he didn't he was charged with accessory to murder in this case but he was acquitted today so there was not enough evidence for the judge today to convict him of accessory for murder but it is still possible that those 2 men were embedded in a network of neo nazis in the north of passive where this crime happened there's an especially strong scene of power right extremists and so and parliamentary inquiry committee will look further into that because this trial didn't focus on these networks. or the murder of all to look at was the 1st right wing terrorist killing of a politician since the 2nd world war. has the danger of right wing extremism in germany been underestimated both ortiz. many observers say so also here at the trial the look of family has been very vocal his widow and his 2

sons and they have made clear that they think that the state has failed to protect their father from right wing extremists and the security services the domestic intelligence agency in in germany has long been accused of having turned a blind eye on right wing extremists having focus instead rather on islamist extremism over the last years but now i would say that more resources have been put into fighting right wing extremism in germany and after several attacks that we had seen one of them being the look of murder and so there is hope that they will in the future succeed in preventing attacks like this and they are saying it's 13000 people are belonging to that scene that are potentially violent. people are there reporting from frankfurt thank you. a seam of experts from the world health organization have now left quarantine and to begin their research into the origins

of covert 19 is not yet clear when and where the investigation will start small what authorities will allow them to see the w.h.o. says the focus of the visit will be on how the virus jumped from the most to humans in the central chinese city where the 1st cluster of virus cases emerged. are trying to correspondent covering the story for as much here as can the w.h.o. officials now investigate freebie. well that's of course the big question so fine china is not showing a lot of willingness to open to accept an open investigation but this mission has been there have been a long diplomatic battle behind the seas in order to allow this mission and foreign governments all have demanded such an investigation at an earlier stage most notably the australian government have drawn the idea of

a cheat and. demand from the australian government for an open investigation into the origins how it's been met with an import ban on australian products the. w h o x put stay how to quarantine for 2 weeks and then are out of court and jean they plan to meet with people who have been working at the market where the outbreak has been registered 1st or where the 1st cluster you merged and what doctors medical personnel they will be able to see and how much these people will be allowed to tell them is not clear yet so what exactly is it that the hopes to achieve with this research. the idea is that if you go back to the 1st cases and if you find out maybe cases that have not been reported as covert cases yet cases that have emerged before. the end of december last year maybe when the

covert was identified when the virus was i identified or when it was identified that there is a corona virus that is causing these infections if you talk to these people where they have been you might get a clue how the virus jumped from animals most likely bats that's not least the most common i possibly i've a thesis. to humans. but there is very little hope that this will can be done quickly the w.h.o. itself has dampened expectations that they will come up with a solution or with a. fall to this inquiry knowing how the virus exactly emerged by the end of this mission this might take years it might never come out. as the chinese new year is upon us upon us and there's a lot of tough laetitia around. this occasion of course how will china prevent the spread of the virus then. there's going to be a lot less travel then in other years there's no country wide travel found but

there are a lot of restrictions in place in several places some villages some regions have sent that everybody who will arrive from from from outside of the region will have to quarantine companies have warned them please not to travel home and. if all the flight tickets and train tickets can be refunded if people council their trips so the expectations at the moment is that they will be made up to 2 thirds less trips then and usually years when his burning of their reporting from beijing thank you much yes. the european union and british swedish struck maker astra zeneca failed to make a breakthrough in a dispute over supply shortages of covert 19 vaccine 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 less than half of doses of the vaccine than it promised earlier the rollout

of the vaccine 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 groom bag both are over 80 and belong to germany's number one high risk group. dr. got the appointment for us but it took a long time to get through in the range that time. as in other vaccination centers in germany things are moving slowly many buds remain empty because there's not enough vaccine. 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 hours and then you don't even get an appointment i mean. we are now and in to me my appointment was made online i myself right on the 1st day in the morning. last hot line in north rhine-westphalia 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 in vegas and you 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. correspondent thomas sparrow thomas germany of all countries is way behind others when it comes to the vaccination vaccination rate why's that. there are different factors one has to do with the way the vaccine versus procured and that does not necessarily have to do with germany exclusively as you know cowhide the vaccine was procured through the e.u. commission for the $27.00 e.u. member states so not individually by each country and when we see for example that 5 announced earlier this month that it had to cut part of its production or the

current dispute between the e.u. and astra zeneca that obviously has a ripple question here in germany as it does in other european union countries at the same time it is important to stress that there are elements here in germany local elements that have been very problematic when it comes to the distribution of the vaccine the german federal government has handed the vaccine to the federal states who then have to carry out the whole process and some of the federal states have complained that the distribution has been too slow that they're not receiving enough doses they have also been problems when it comes to the way that has happened so certain glitches as well so this gives you an idea of a very difficult process a difficult process that is still seen with hope by many in the german government but which is also becoming a very big headache from a political perspective to talk about a whole part of the general corona situation here in germany at the moment. it's going in the right direction when you look for example at the 7 day incidence rate

which is now below $100.00 for the 1st time since october it is also going in the right direction when you look at for example the new daily cases but there are still matters of concern for example when you look at the number of deaths nearly a 1000 every day that's shockingly worrying and also when you look at those variance that is the main issue of concern for john officials that's one of the reasons why germany's locked down was extended until mid february that's also the main reason why for example the german government is now considering further restrictions to travel when it comes to inbound flout flights from places like the u.k. brazil portugal or south africa that's something by the way that the german interior minister a horse a horse i refer to and i would suggest we listen to what hossa had to say. listen to me you know you know who's who of the german federal government is currently coordinating between ministries season is to prepare travelers from entering our

country from areas affected by the mutations. there's always the question remains which exception should be allowed in the. ozone when i do not want to speculate here i'd rather wait until we've reached an agreement within the cabinet rooms here you can see flow from you know the bouzouki room. and his interior minister also for speaking to tell us how useful these travel restrictions . you saw the number of people arriving in the country but experts have said that they are only useful if they are done in coordination with other measures and with other countries as well so it's not only for example about reducing inbound flights there are other alternatives as well and they're also being discussed for example whether there should be more border controls or even border closures with region

that are particularly affected and that's also something that would have to be done in coordination with europe with germany's european partners so yes they can be effective yes they can help but they have to come hand in hand with other measures as well thomas for them thank you thomas. another country suffering because of a shortage of vaccine in europe is serbia the country's president recently compared the situation to the sinking of the titanic as rich nations trying to save themselves at the expense of poorer ones serbia has managed to launch a mass vaccination drive for its people albeit not with support from the e.u. but with the hope 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 u.s. 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 and 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. at the chinese or russian vaccines not by pfizer one was not missing then you see if i had to choose i'd take the russian one. on 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 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 this one thing that seems in a short period of time. so china for patience on the balkans is on the rise in the meantime boy in georgia which has made his decision you know someone. who doesn't want any of my customers who come here no more than i do about vaccines would be so now i have to sided to get the chinese one with

a book you know but i know. like many serbians they take the pragmatic view that the best vaccine is the most vailable one and here china seems to have won the race . look at some of the other stories making headlines around the world this hour u.s. president joe biden has signed a raft of executive orders aimed at curbing rising temperatures worldwide the measures of composing oil and gas leasing on federal territory and doubling the country's offshore wind energy he orders establish climate change as a major national and foreign policy issue. kyrgyzstan has a new president nationalist petitions power off was sworn in a ceremony in the capital bishkek he was released from prison in october after having a kidnapping verdict quashed the powerful one close to 80 percent of the vote in a presidential election held earlier this month. police in moscow have raided

properties links to jail the position leader alexander valley and arrested his brother authorities searched the headquarters of the valleys and the corruption foundation as well as his family apartment tens of thousands rallies across russia on sunday to demand of on his release from prison. poland's human rights commission says the country's newest defacto ban on abortion condemns women to quote torture. says the government's aim is to limit women's rights also 53 percent of the population opposes the new law which came into force yesterday thousands turned out to protest the restrictions and more demonstrations are planned for this evening on friday. once again they took to the streets once again demanding women's right to choose the new law only allows for an abortion if the life of the mother is in danger or in cases of rape or incest protesters say the government has gone too far. this time just stop lying about

abortion saying it is not taking place stop lying like the far right and the church does enough is enough we demand solidarity from your. poland is one of europe's most devout catholic countries it already had some of the strictest abortion laws in europe and up this high but the constitutional court decided to tighten the laws 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 whatever they are we have to stop protesting again this is the only way we can prove to those who rule us that we are not tired we are not giving up we do not lack strength and we are all united for something critics of the new restrictions say this is not our 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. and football english premier league club chelsea f.c. has a new coaches name is thomas to hold and he oversaw a nil nil draw with wolverhampton in his 1st game in charge 2 who is the latest german coach to try his hand in the world's richest league after a somewhat sluggish start to fall said his new team would struggle to rise up the league from 8th place despite the demands of billionaire russian owner roman abramovich a new sign for the expectation who challenged. you sign for the expectation to fight for. early term. subset of nuclear the same time you know who can be a realistic in the moment. between us and. the place now before.

french sailor yannick best of and has won the prestigious vendée globe round the world race he didn't cross the line 1st but was given a time bonus for helping another solo sailor whose boat at sunk race took 80 days and there was plenty of other dramas on route including for an unfortunate german competitor. around the world in 80 days with a bit of heroism thrown in. french say yannick best event came in support in western france is the winner of the von de globe around the world race despite not crossing the line 1st. the 48 year old finished in 80 days 13 hours 59 minutes and 46 seconds he was behind to compassion but received a time bonus of 10 hours and 15 minutes helping to rescue a novice sailor 2 months ago. it was on view i feel like i'm living

a dream hallucinating it's bizarre we go from total solitude to this. i thought you would think he was one of 4 skippers asked to find a scottish who was rescued in heavy seas off the cape of good hope he had waited more than 11 hours after his yacht broke into. there was also drama for boris helm on the 1st german to enter the prestigious event was happy after avoiding a crash with a containership earlier in the race but he then hit a fishing vessel while in 3rd place close to the finish ending his hopes of glory. about half an hour ago i need a fishing vessel to push forward i was. something else i woke up and i was in the car but nothing happened here. for

a. stab so. in his side's victory instead went to best event every winner in the 4 yearly race has so far been french. the fireworks mark the end of a remarkable race where carroll was in the rather than speed was the decisive factor. you're watching did up you know. here's a reminder of the top story we're following for you a court here in germany has found a new nazi guilty of assassinating a regional politicians 2 years ago and sentenced him to life in prison the victim. was a member of the c.d.u. posse and had spoken out in support refugee be of jews have been the head of his home near the west german town of cost. that's it from me and the new street fund all of an update for you at the top of the hour don't go away the conflicts is

up next sarah kelly sits down with a pro maging member of the legislature in hong kong so stay tuned for that and don't forget you can always visit our web site for all the news information wants. dot com.

complex when china imposed a national security law on hong kong last year in promised that the principle of one country 2 systems and the basic rights that in trials would be up pelts critics

points to a rapid or roshon of freedom sets fine guess this because michael seen code beijing member of hong kong's legislative council and deputy china's national people's congress. complex. are all set to go beyond the obvious. as we take on the world. we're all about the stories that matter to. whatever it takes policeman. actually. job it will be on fire made for mines. how does a virus spread. why do we panic and when will all of this and. just 3

of the topics that we've covered in the weekly radio show is called spectrum if you would like any information on the coronavirus or any other science topic you should really check out our podcast you can get it wherever you get your podcasts you can also find us and d.-w. dot com and slash science. goldwater's overreacted personally i don't think holding a primary as a lawful yes there's been the type to mean all you've done to express views when china imposed a national security law on hong kong last year it promised that the principle of one country 2 systems and the basic rights that it enshrines would be up helped but critics point to a rapid erosion of freedom since my guest this week is michael t.

probation member of hong kong's legislative council and deputy and china's national people's congress he says the log needs clarification so why does he still support it. i. michael tonight welcome to conflict zone thank you hong kong has started off this new year with mass arrests 53 pro-democracy politicians and activists detained on the grounds of subversion under the new national security law the move has been condemned by the world's leading democracy has rights groups law associations as being nothing more than a crackdown is hong kong witnessing a dismantling of its freedoms and its opposition well i don't think so 1st of all just like you were never deals in the world we are busy for you during

the pandemic. certainly the massive arrest of. earlier this year is about a primary being a last year we involved being 5060 people who participated in the primaries in preparation for last year's. ok so so far the basis of. the primaries involves a lot of candidates whose election platform. avali. article 22 of their national security law which is to paralyze the government to stop everything from functioning to basically opposed every single funding bill regard as of this nature come to a large scale let me ask you a little bit more about about about what has prompted these arrests because

actually this is what has shocked so many about these latest arrests. has been the offense which has been considered subversion as you've articulated last summer the pro-democracy opposition the united to decide who might stand for elections they essentially organize themselves on the organized a primary they were hoping to go for a majority in the legislative council they've been arrested yes here's how the international community is reacting to those arrests we have the incoming u.s. secretary of state saying the following the arrest warrant assaults on those bravely advocating for universal rights we have the office of the u.n. high commissioner for human rights saying these latest arrests indicates that as had been feared the offense of subversion under the national security law is indeed being used to detain individuals for exercising a legitimate rights to participate in political and public life so in other words in a democracy this would be seen as standard politics but in hong kong it gets you arrested

is that not disturbing to you. ok now you read you let me share with you the background of this now and then you have to give me some time the national security bill involves article 20 which relates to the session in other words going for in the independence in that particular law is written very clearly that anybody showing a motive to do that would be deemed to have violated the law however with regard to article $22.00 of the national security bill which is not a session going for independence or hong kong but merely to topple the government to paralyze the legislature to vote no to everything gaining control of legislation and all that there is an extra clause or condition to that which is that they have to do it through a lawful means no personally i don't think holding

a primary that's unlawful. so therefore if the primary in north people who's perform are going for home going to pendants yes that would violate 20 which would mean which would. primary it's so dangerous the close to volunteer national survey a bit however none of the candidates that ended up running really have hong kong independence as a powerful however a lot of them have performed basic to come in and vote no to everything and paralyze the government however there has to be coupled with a nor phone means not a question that i have been asking you this is the primary itself nor for now i don't think so right so little is it for the police making the arrests therefore

the police making arrests is really the 1st step and those things that i'm going to i mean all 4 practices so in other words mr keene you're calling for clarification essentially but you know i'd like to look at some of the concerns that have been had and for example this is coming from the european council they have actually said these arrests penalize political activity that should be entirely legitimate as as i've already highlighted they say the national security law is being used during a ceremony or people really aren't in hong kong and you may have the political pluralism in hong kong the european parliament at this point is calling on countries to consider same chance against targeted officials in hong kong the u.s. has already imposed targeted sanctions as a result of these arrests it doesn't get much more serious than that and what you are calling for is just a clarification you. know let me respond. they make all

these arrests and everybody is out on bail secondly the government the secretary for justice has not human stop prosecuting anyone let alone that it may end up going to a court order not to be convicted or acquitted so this is simply the very 1st step they are arrested on the pace of a special all violating article $22.00 of the national security wall people going to arrested and they are all released on bail on the basis of suspicion of. the national security law now let me assure. every country in the world the most democratic of the democracies police arrest people no arrest people and eventually they are all off to hawk and prostitution don't move don't move in their

government lose face or if the prosecutor comes in and they lose all these cases in court also the government would lose face this is simply the birth 1st step and the whole world is now jumping on hong kong saying well we don't have freedom we're going to hide in the crazy this and that the world i have a job you always heard represent down this road torn down or simply the 1st step they are all released on bail here is what human rights watch has said what remains to be seen what is important is that what specific charge do they know coming through and do they go according to. their new i should know security law mr t. in the world as has been warning that this is in fact the 1st step toward repression in fact there were warnings that this would happen for example from human rights watch you said that the hong kong authorities with china's backing are

imposing mainland style repression on a city long recognised for its freedoms they say hong kong's new security legislation is nothing more than a roadmap for repression so these latest arrests prove those warnings true ok so your view one might want to steal your whole world is over reacting and i'm supposed to be the more liberal of the pro give beijing camp. membership the whole world is over reacting they don't even know the details of these arrests or what it's all above. just like supporters of all no term in the u.s. but how about the hong kong government's promise that this law would be used to target only a minority of people mr vandeman kerry lamb she went on the airwaves she actually spoke before the united nations saying it would only target an extremely small minority of people who have breached the law while the life the property the basic

rights and freedoms of the overwhelming majority of hong kong residents will be protected that's a message that you amplified that that you echoed for various journalistic publications tell me mr team did you get it wrong the 2nd seem like just a small minority of people who have been targeted these are the leaders of the pro-democracy movement the main figures more than 50 people rounded up mass arrests why would you do not believe them because they've arrested only 50 people and most likely a lot of them were never be charged the key is. who will be charged and on what basis don't we all have the patience to listen and see anymore don't we are we all just getting super hyped and super sensitive these are people that join a primary that's the only common factor among them they are now looking into each

of them where in their. journey towards participating in the primaries where did the later and the section all of the national security or one of the key suspicion is foreign government funding to fund the primary now if they can prove that then it's a whole new different matter ok so you say let the process really is targeted towards foreign government funding loco opposition to right the national government i'm concerned that so you say let's not just lay out the baby with me about the merits of the national security law now that's a different issue i don't think that's the purpose of today's interview right sentencing of pro-democracy activists for example and politicians joshua long and agnes chao and ivan lamb back in december agassi calls it

a warning shot for anyone who dares to openly criticize the government that they could be next they say incitements which is what they were charged with and sentenced on refers to the use of a megaphone to shout slogans during a protest is hong kong really afraid of people with megaphones is is that what it's come to in any country the likes of trust or law will be charged with treason he is actually going to foreign government to ask them to sanction his own country you don't call that. i don't i don't know what you call that that's absolutely being totally non patriotic ok and it's. unthinkable. have you ever thought of that what have american go through china and china to censure the u.s.

or any german legislator going to china and then asking trying to censure in germany because they're not happy with what the german government is doing how would you react to let's just stay on track here i mean that is not what he was convicted of we have to say and also in order to say on track i'd also like to ask you because the national security law is not the only action we know that was recently handed down by beijing which essentially bypassed the hong kong legislature in november for opposition members were expelled from the legislature for in danger and national security the chinese parliament cleared the way for the disqualification but the other resolutions allowing hong kong recently celebrated its leaders deemed as a threat to security or not holding allegiance to hong kong was that a dark day for democracy and hong kong you said they experienced some legislators know their opposition quick to in their own. free will for

disqualified because they were disqualified before the last election so they're not sure if they're going to horace. they no longer serve in a legislative council mr team they no longer serve in the legislative council because they were kicked out they were disqualified. there were 4 incumbent legislator who entered the greys and were disqualified from the race for this term so their disqualification from entering the race carries through to this extended term this is the decision of the national people's congress to rest of the opposition this sign to retire and resign all of their own free will i keep asking them to stay in because actually i really enjoyed having them in there just danger because they were probably along more question announcers monitoring scrutiny in government those but they decided to give up and we were not certain

why they were just out of 5 mr team but you know critics what they are pointing to here and what is so concerning to so many is the lack of due process for these lawmakers the hong kong people who are the procedures for the mystery in the harkonnen garden of slicing basically of going to see every dollar and mr teen stripping the 4 legislators who have usually said i feel like there's really an interview with your wife dizzy until you were in office determined exclusively by the executive by the chief executive terry lam and without affording them an opportunity to be heard violates the basic principles of fairness and due process inheritance in the rule of law again this is coming from the hong kong bar association so no anyone can be dismissed simply at the whim of the chief executive isn't that a troubling sign for basic rights in hong kong where is the due process mr team for the 4 lawmakers before lawmakers there were disqualified were disqualified on the

basis of their involvement with foreign government but.