the coronavirus a. monday to friday morning w. . has. been for g.w. news live from berlin russia piles on the prosecutions against kremlin critic alexina vaulting this time he is charged with slandering and grows more to better and he has already been sentenced to 8 years in prison for violating parole in the fall he has been held in russian custody since returning from germany where does life a safe after being poisoned just disappearing up these violent scenes could happen

again that's the final word from prosecutors impeaching donald trump for at least voting to convict him they are urging a speedy conviction but now it is the turn of trump's lawyers to make their case for acquittal clocks ahead of tokyo's olympic organizing committee and resigns his sexist remarks calls an uproar and cast attention on japan's sluggish progress toward center of quality. i'm sorry kelly welcome to the program kremlin critic alexina vali is back in court this time on charges of defaming a world war 2 veteran who appeared in a government to video these are the latest pictures from the volley inside of a courtroom in moscow he was recently sentenced to say. well years in jail for

allegedly violating his probation in germany while he recovered from a poisoning attack of all news arrest sparked a street protest across russia even leaders have called for his release further straining ties between the european union and russia. and on the story for us as you know he is erin tilton standing by in moscow erin what's the latest. legal move here really about. well let's in evolving is looking actually answering to slander charges surrounding on statements he made online in the run up to last year's constitutional referendum here in russia that was a referendum which basically in effect allowed letter of putin to or could potentially allow him to stay in power well into the 20 thirty's now of course that's something and that alexina of all in the opposed and specifically regarding the comments he made he was focusing on a video released by russia today now that's russia's state broadcaster and in the

video members of russian society raised their support and voiced their support for this constitutional referendum now alexina vali labeled them as traitors which resulted in this landing slander charges that he's facing today now of course this trial was originally slated to take place last year but of all these poisoning with a soviet era nerve agent nobody shock and then his resulting recuperation in germany prevented the trial from taking place and of course he returned to the country earlier this year was arrested and that's part of the reason that prosecutors are now going ahead with this latter case aaron any indications of potential verdict. well no of course we don't know exactly how the court is likely to rule but it bears saying that the russian judiciary has never been very sympathetic to alexina volley in the past now if you were to be sentence he could be facing additional jail time or a fine or something akin to community service but at least here in moscow it's not expected that he will be facing additional jail time specifically because he is

already looking down the barrel of a 2 to 3 year sentence on a different fraud charge instead talk to people around a legacy of all these orbit they say that there's a little bit of a different motive is behind this slander charges right now they say that the kremlin is attempting to hurt alexy is standing in the court of public opinion you have to remember world war 2 veterans are held up to a very very high standard in high regard here in russia so by choosing him of slandering one of them it could be an attempt to harm his standing with everyday russians and at the same time his defense team is still looking at avenues that they could use to get him out of jail long term and this ties them up in court in a time when they could be using those resources elsewhere so of course the position of the russian government is that these are serious charges but if you ask people surrounding team of all me they say it's an attempt to basically harass them in the court of law ok and i want to talk about on the diplomatic level internationally because we have this very dramatic threat today from the foreign minister of russia sergei lavrov saying that moscow is ready to sever ties with the european union

just walk us through the back story here and what such a move could mean. well i mean on the face of it it's kind of hard to take these that threat seriously i mean you have to remember the european union is still the most important trading partner to the russian federation it's also the largest sort of a source rather of direct investment was in the country so it's hard to imagine a scenario where moscow and the e.u. could completely sever ties and perhaps the honest i mean. the the relationship has been live and loaded with sanctions since the crimea conflict and since the conflict in ukraine and they're still talking to each other they're still working with each other so it's kind of hard to imagine a scenario where they could completely break off ties and you also have to look at the context that these statements were made and it was made on a live stream of a russian journalist and there's a lot of you over who is often considered to be one of the kremlin's chief

propagandists he often gives the kremlin an avenue to help shape the conversation within the country so these statements it does seem because they were taken place in that live stream it seems they were more intended towards domestic consumption as opposed to being some type of message directly labeled at the european union so i would say well of course you have to take statements like this seriously i would say this is more a little bit of saber rattling intended for domestic consumption rather than a threat directly at the you erin telson in moscow thank you for that you. alexina vali is also the focus of a growing diplomatic crisis between the e.u. and russia that we've just been hearing about from aaron moscow says that it's ready to cut ties with brussels if the e.u. goes ahead with harsh economic sanctions one possible target is a nearly completed gas pipeline between russia and germany some people say that linking these projects to human rights concerns is a really bad idea have

a look. the north stream too is ready at least the german end of the nearly 2500 kilometer long pipeline it starts here in the baltic sea town of lukeman the receiving terminal with its thick pipes and heavy safety valves has been ready to go since the summer. goodmans mayor oxus forked is concerned that despite this the russian gas pipeline might never be operational. but. it would give us a very bad public image if we had an investment disaster of this magnitude and the political debate continued to be so heated i suspect that would also scare off investors we'd like to keep out of. this 150 kilometers of pipeline has become a hot topic. the section has yet to be completed on the bottom of the baltic sea. but calls for tougher sanctions against russia are getting louder. after the

reported poisoning of opposition politician alex enough ali many demanded a halt to the construction of the north stream to local authorities refused to believe that construction might be stopped. being finalized can you really link the case of an avanti to a project like north stream 2 above what would it be better to look at these 2 events separately especially when the facts at least according to my assessment are not yet clear enough to place the blame on russian government com. the mayor is voicing the opinion of the citizens of lukeman a seaside resort on the baltic sea because of the coronavirus there aren't enough tourists but there are also very few locals on the beach their opinion is almost unanimous. and people think everything the russians do is bad that's not right the volley is unimportant north stream is important. for news can we afford to waste millions billions compromises have to be made i think it must be completed in the

model dismissed because both yeah only one person dares to criticize russia even the longer they were historically a reliable partner as long as it benefited them for political reasons i would not continue this project. would be easiest for you mishra for folks all that matters is a consistent supply of energy after germany's nuclear phaseout gas will become essential he says even if it comes from russia we find russia including vladimir putin to be a reliable partner in social and economic life in the state of mecklenburg western problem arrhenius and especially here at our energy and business site i see no reason for putin or the russian government to be sidelined like that is going to. mean expects russian natural gas to flow through these pipes soon. so

as we've been hearing there are some in the region are very much pro nordstrom to let's hear from somebody who thinks that the project should be cancelled we're joined now by will grass she is a member of the german parliament for the opposition green party and she sits on the pundits tog's defense committee welcome to the program and thank you for joining us as we've been hearing there supporters of this project say it's an economic it's not a political project it should not be used as political leverage what is your view. i think building this pipeline was wrong all along and there are many reasons why this is so and it's never too late to fix some mistake and i think the most important reason is that we have to take our own climate goals seriously and this is why the green party has been a post from the beginning to an austrian to but there is of course a link to the attempted murder attack on because the german government should

send a very clear message to putin and to the crown land that we will not. that this answered and this would be the sitting that would hurt i want to get your opinion on a counter argument now and here's the german foreign minister speaking in parliament earlier this week let's have this very nordstrom's why are we one who fundamentally questions the north stream to pipeline and you can certainly have the cape that opinion must also consider least geo strategically what consequences that will have it will drive russia and china closer and closer together and it will create the largest economic military alliance there is and i don't think that should be the strategy of the west in this dispute and that's why i'm against burning all bridges to russia in this context after distances are so when you put

it in a broader geo strategic picture as we're seeing there does the foreign minister have a point. i don't think so because 1st we have to take our climate goals seriously and when we do that we see that the time of dismay gauhar fossil fuel project is over we have already overcapacity in our infrastructure so we really don't need it and it's bad for the climate but the other hand we see when the when a foreign minister says this is the only good. link we have words of president putin we have to cooperate in questions of energy we can cooperate on renewable energies and i think the time. for only concerned words we have to send a very clear message to the kremlin and not only take some political answers ok so

your position is clear so then let me ask you you know what the next step would be if that indeed was carried out because the back and forth about north stream to also of course has economic financial implications there are private companies involved here the project cost some 10000000000 euros who should answer for the losses if the project is indeed killed. it's not. really clear how to get out of this project we don't have the contracts and the german government does not answer many questions about it the 1st step would be to withdraw the political support of the coalition and i think it's the most important one if you want to stop the project and then you have to look for a good way out you have to look at the contracts and there are still some issues some legal issues about environmental impact assessments from the european side or

are. competition routes so there are maybe many ways which could lead to an to and after stroked and nest of member of the german parliament for the opposition green party thank you. prosecutors in the united states have wrapped up their case in a 2nd impeachment trial against donald trump they urged senators to convict the former president for inciting the violent man that storms the capitol building on january 6th the prosecutors say that convicting trump is necessary to ensure something similar cannot happen again later today trying to defense team will present its side of the story. so the jury a timely end to the day's hearings on the 3rd day of the impeachment trial of donald trump prosecutors made their closing pitch without using up their allotted

speaking time of 16 hours. i wanted to start simply by saying that in the history of humanity democracies an extremely rare and fragile and precarious and transitory thing this wasn't just an attack on the capitol building and the dedicated people inside it was an attack on what we were elected to preserve our democracy. for you. know you the prosecution made heavy use of video footage of the january 6th riots to prove that the former president had incited the violent insurrection. impeachment is not to punish but to prevent we are not here to punish donald trump we are here to prevent the seeds of hatred that he planted from bearing any more fruit republican lawmakers who are quick to dismiss the arguments but if you think

that the arguments today. i thought they were awfully repetitive. i'll be going to . trump's defense team will make its case on friday the way that the final vote is expected this week and the 2 thirds majority is needed to impeach a trumpery meaning 17 republican senators have to cross the aisle you know they have it and here are some war stories making headlines around the world and members of italy's populist 5 star movement have voted to support a government of national unity under mario draghi this clears the way for the next chief of the european central bank to become italy's next prime minister. china's broadcasting regulator says that it has banned b.b.c. world news it is a largely symbolic move as the channel was only freely accessible to foreigners the decision comes a week after britain revoked the u.k. broadcast license of china's c.t.m.

. it concluded that the network was controlled by china's communist party. facebook says that it will limit content and profiles run by myanmar's military saying that the army has continued to spread misinformation it comes as the 2 sides wrestle over information access in myanmar or facebook as a key source of news now nationwide protests continues across the country since the military overthrew the civilian government and detained most of the country's top elected leaders the military is hold on me on martin never really released despite a brief period of democracy today the hunt to free and some $1000.00 prisoners but that's unlikely to appease demonstrators many accuse the military of using lethal force against them and our next report takes a look at the events that have rocked the country. the biggest street demonstrations in miami mark in over

a decade protesters want the generals to step aside they're calling for elected leaders to be freed and that calling for a new constitution. that's because the army says an article in the current document allows the generals to take over. when the state of emergency is over we will hold a free and fair general election according to the 2008 comes to him and hand power to the when. it's a promise the people of my own ma don't believe. thank telecoms and social media blackout days after the coup did not stop people organizing mass demonstrations to raise international support. the police responded good morning. our good god the military said it didn't use

lethal weapons on demonstrators on tuesday. but amnesty international says police recklessly told it to protesters with no respect for their lives or safety. this video shows riot police trying to disperse a protest in the capital naypyidaw a protester wearing a red shirt and of made to bike helmet shelters with others or to bus stop where. were you know moments later she slumped on the ground and fellow protesters tried to help her. banners on the fly over capture that moment. doctors told reporters that a bullet penetrated has skull and her condition is critical demonstrators are holding photos of what they say are her injuries the. yami has banned large gatherings the authorities say this peaceful protest outside the chinese embassy is illegal. china supported my and muslim military

dictatorship for decades even as the international community xanga the country every human rights abuses. her was the army conceded some power to a civilian government in 2050 but they never truly left memories of brutal military rule is still fresh in people's minds. and let's bring in kelly long who research just me on march amnesty international she joins us now from london thank you so much for joining us on the program we're seeing these fresh protests and demands for release of aung sang suu kyi how do you see the situation developing and do you have any more information about 60 very dangerous situation in myanmar at moment and it deserves top billing in the international community in terms of our sons who she was delusional where she's being held as is

the case that many others there's been this pains and they've been sleeping or it's at least $220.00 and there were reports or overnight which was seeking to confirm at the moment so the number of people who have been detained is isn't very high and the situation there is very combustible as we've seen the use of intentionally lethal force against purchases and it's really just an example. tell us a little bit more about that because the military for its part it denies that lethal force is being used systematically but you know we we've heard in our piece that your organization amnesty says that police have targeted protesters with apparently no respect for life or safety do you have evidence of lethal force being used. incident in question in a video at the capitol was that we were able to hear live where the incident took place we saw that they were using a and louisiana local made a locally made clothing of it using a weapon and that is that the shells would indicate it was live ammunition and not

credible it's happened to so that is something that we've been following closely because that is the 1st as far as we can tell the 1st use of live ammunition against protesters we've also seen in the music which is an incident of a disproportionate force in trying to pull the protests there are other efforts underway to counter the military we know facebook is now getting involved we just heard about those initiatives they said the company says that it will restrict distribution of content and profiles run by myanmar's military to what extent do you think that this could have an impact on the course of events now going forward that the tone has been weaponized in the country by the military in the past for propaganda purposes but also it plays an important role for people in terms of freedom of expression and exits for information and in manner facebook has become for many people the internet so for it to be blocked band is really an infringement

on the rights of freedom of expression. the u.n. deputy human rights chief is saying the following are speaking out about this and the military presence on the streets is growing in fact an issue in quote draconian orders against a freedom of speech and i'd like to ask you now you know the military has promised elections in one year's time when you when you hear those promises from the military what do you think. this is a military with a long history vince unity and amnesty i am very concerned as always human rights and rather the medical systems we're trying to monitor the situation as best we can but we have huge concerns there are over 300000 people displaced becomes like nationwide is over 600000 are in just actively interned and refined state so this is a massive human rights issue for us came along at amnesty international thank you so much for joining us to share that perspective.

the president of the tokyo 2020 a limp dicks organizing committee has resigned a 3 year old mori caused a firestorm for sex as for marks that he made of the recent japanese olympic committee meeting moreas also a former prime minister of the outrage over his comments shows that japan slowly changing. your mori wanted to guide the coronavirus delayed tokyo summer games all the way through a closing ceremony but his tenure ended in controversy case a shoot 3 the important thing is for the olympic games to be held in july and in order to hold the olympics if my presence is a hindrance to the preparations this cannot be allowed to a lot of mental weakness more he was leading an olympic board meeting last week when he was quoted as saying women talk too much something he called annoying the

former japanese prime minister later apologized but it was too late his comments through sharp criticism in the parliament and on social media. and some $400.00 would be volunteers for the summer games quit in protest. says they are standing i think more he should have resigned when he apologized but he didn't crit so i thought he was tone deaf he should have thought about the impact of his comments being reported overseas i know people in other countries have a stricter view on issues of equality than the japanese. mores strongly supported the effort to bring the 2020 olympics to tokyo and some officials fear that his resignation could spell doom for the games now set for this july. still his downfall to some represents an opportunity. but i live in the i think this is a good chance to change japan's current mindset about gender equality as it marked

a kind of milestone since a person who makes such remarks has to resign so i think this has great significance. for you. there after the 83 year old morry the 84 year old former head of japanese football. is considered likely to take over the japanese olympic committee. on out has rung in the lunar new year kicking off a week long festival across the country colorful illuminations and red lanterns a symbol of good luck welcome to in the year of the ox it's the 2nd year in a row that covered 19 casts a shadow over the celebrations normally the lunar new year holiday sees the world's largest annual migration as people across china travel to visit family this year the government has urged people to stay put. for local into. a quick reminder of the top stories we're following for you here on news kremlin critic

alexina vonnie is back in court amid rising tension between russia and the e.u. accused of insulting in war veteran after recently being sentenced to 2 years in prison on another charge russia says that it's ready to break ties with the e.u. if brussels moves on sanctions it's threatened over the baltics face. up next it is business news with my colleague chris culliver i'm sara kelly in berlin thank you so much for watching take care and stay safe.

to the point. being a clear position against international perspective submit. a scope at night takes an ever harsher told me are coming their hopes on vaccines developed in record time yet in many places there rollout has been patchy the race for covert

vaccines british against for our topic going to. the point that the 60 minutes on t w. sure. to come to the 1st. one giant problem i mean you get in on it because you beat your you. by in a fuel economy. how will climate change affect us and our children was. born. dot com slash water. why are people forced to hide in trucks. place. there are many reasons. place there are many answers.

place. and there are many stories. make up your. sleeve. made for minds. trying to stop child labor far away from the dark and dusty sweat shops the german government has while today new laws requiring companies to meet social and environmental rules all along their production chains also comes to people in china and all the halls of the world are welcoming the lunar new year with the corona bars lighted the rot making way for hopefully more fish as time just

and the government of india and twitter are escalating their disputes over the.