oh. this is e w news live from berlin a historic verdict is due in the world's 1st court case over state sponsored torture in syria a former secret service agent is on trial for his role and representing and we're pressing excuse me auntie assad regime protest 10 years ago victims and their relatives hope that the trial will set a precedent and finally give them some justice. here for not just getting used to

the fact that you lost your dog in one second you know you cannot just use to this . is the fact that he just disappeared for north and. also coming up germany's health minister faces questions after the government grows back its promise to provide everyone with free rapid tests he's already under pressure over the slovaks seen roll out. i'm sorry kelly welcome to the program a german court is expected to deliver a verdict in the world's 1st trial for state torture in syria the codefendant who was named a admits that he was a member of the syrian secret service now he robbed in germany in 2018 seeking asylum. he has been charged with facilitating the torture of at least 30 opposition

activists in 2011 leaked photos from inside syria and prisons are being used as evidence in this case he claims that his life would have been in danger if he hadn't followed orders to detain the activists and bring them to the prison where they were tortured. among those testifying in court are syrians who say that they were victims of torture they hope the trial could set an international precedent d.w. spoke with one young syrian here in germany she hasn't seen her father since he disappeared 8 years ago witnesses say that he was used by armed men from his home in damascus. there are always fresh flowers next to alley mustafa's portrait he was forcibly disappeared in syria 8 years ago the few remaining photos of him i was daughter while father's most precious possessions just look at them a 1000 times trying to conjure up his presence the day it happened was i was away

her mother then living in northern syria had meant to visit her husband in the mask because they hadn't seen each other in months. 3 minutes before she arrived she called them and said i need 15 i'll be there in 15 so he said that i clean the house everything is perfect and i'm just waiting for you. see our christine minutes later she i've. she called him and he never wanted. i mean. of the day but i was so calling to neighbors armed men had come to take stuff away while father mother and sisters had to flee syria one week later and leave him behind they still don't know anything about what happened to him. the guy actually survived by leaving syria and not getting killed there maybe i

have physically survived somehow but you cannot just get used to the fact that you lost your job in one second you know you cannot just used to the. get used to the fact that he just disappeared for nor is a. worthless father is one of 130000 people gone missing in syria most of them were disappeared in bashar al assad's prisons where torture is systematic. now the 2 former syrian intelligence officers are going on trial for crimes against humanity there's a glimmer of hope for families like waffles when the trial started while far south amongst a portrait of $61.00 detainees and held a vigil in front of the courthouse i live in mind myself and i don't mind the whole word every day that my bad was political was against the eugene here only the man that freedom justice and the state of law and for that reason has been disappeared for almost 8 years now and this is not acceptable i'm not going to be silent about

that today while for feels at home in berlin she could see herself returning to syria and rebuilding the country eventually in the meantime it's important for her to be in germany at this moment. i think this is the hold up for many syrians in germany we are working our best to be accepted part of the decision making regarding syria because you cannot just discuss and decide anything about us without us. wafa hopes to reunite with her father one day until then should remind the world of the fate of syrian detainees. and reporter materials found hein is following in the trial for us and copeland walk us through the charges and what is expected in this 1st international trial of state torture conducted by the assad regime yet

a is accused of being a part of many parts of a much larger machine of torture and killing in syria he's accused of being one of those was out as. prosecution put it last week he's accused of being one of those without whom the syrian system of oppression could not have worked and he's accused therefore of a crime against humanity and that's why that's why the german prosecution is after him can be after him what we have seen here is in the last 60 days a lot of evidence gathered to prove this to show the system of oppression horrendous nature of the syrian regime and the way it's clinging to power and. syria is roland that was a minor role. originally he's accused only of betting

of getting saudi people into prison fully knowing full well that they would be tortured. what is this trial is about to talk yeah what is torture system at large in general ok the evidence against a basically is its own statements that he gave when he was interviewed for his asylum request it's was a request it was statements that he later repeated when he was interviewed by federal police again off the german asylum system for well that his statements to the police and why is the trial taking place in germany here comes the system of universal jurisdiction into place we're talking about crimes against humanity the international criminal code able to germany's cults and prosecutors to go after those crimes even if they haven't taken place in germany

and even if. he's a perpetrator has no victims in those cases. mathias one hind joining us from copeland's with the latest on this trial as we've mentioned getting underway today thank you so much. now another important trial connected to the war in syria is also nearing its conclusion here in germany a verdict is expected in the case of the notorious iraqi preacher known as la he's accused of radicalizing young people in germany and helping them travel to iraq and syria as part of the so-called islamic state. this is the main defendant seen in court last week he stayed silent as he has for the entire trial. known as abu allah he's accused of recruiting in germany for the so-called islamic state he's an alleged high ranking i as member part of

a complex case. authorities have put tight security measures in place for the trial which started 3 and a half years ago and. now it's coming to an end with the prosecution calling for 11 and a half years in prison. we are off to our songs we have credible statements from former members and police informants we have considerable evidence from searches as well as a monitoring of the telephone and internet activities of the accused and internet activity and i'm glad. this mosque in the city of hell this time on the site of a former drug store is where abu alaa preached he also put his tirades online to his face he's accused of radicalizing young muslims and helping some to travel to ayers controlled areas in syria and iraq. and his armory here later mounted a deadly terror attack on a christmas market in berlin also attended the mosque. i will i was arrested in

november 2016 investigators had him under surveillance for a long time. his lawyers say he's innocent he's on one don't volunteer to shuffle our client was not the head of any network he was simply a preacher he may have preached at salafist mosques leverage but there's no organization specialized in smuggling people abroad as the prosecution claims that it just doesn't exist at all it's all sorts of flaws it doesn't get to see. but one of a codefendant incriminated him and testified in support of the prosecution's argument that he is in fact a terrorist organizer. and a verdict in the trial is expected of a minute now we will bring it to you as soon as we get it but 1st let's turn to some other news around the world golf star tiger woods has undergone surgery for multiple leg injuries after being involved in a car accident in the u.s. city of los angeles 45 year old woods had to be pulled from his vehicle after the

crash the s.u.v. sustained major damage after rolling over it is understood that woods was the only person in the car at the time. iran has officially begun limiting international inspectors inspections excuse me of its nuclear facilities it will no longer share video footage of the sites with the u.n. nuclear watchdog and it will also restrict in person inspections of the facilities tehran is calling for the united states to lift economic sanctions imposed by former president donald trump. court in malta has handed a 15 year jail sentence to a man who pleaded guilty to murdering investigative journalist stephanie caro on a good lead c.-a she had been exposing corruption among multiple political and business elite when she was killed in a car bomb attack in 20173 other defendants are still awaiting trial.

or european union sources say that astra zeneca will deliver less than half of the vaccines that it promised to member states in the 2nd quarter of this year the drug maker is supposed to provide 180000000 doses by the end of june it has already missed its 1st quarter commitments to to production issues the more than 90000000 doses shortfall could hit the e.u.'s ability to meet its target a vaccination 70 percent of adults by summer. and earlier we spoke with correspondent barbara vessel in brussels and asked her for her take on the supply shortfall politically of course this is a disaster the european governments promised their citizens their population we will get these vaccinations to you there will be light at the end often so corona crisis tunnel and now this might come so much later maybe in the 3rd maybe even in the 4th quarter of the year so everything will be pushed way back because astra

zeneca is not the only company not delivering we're down to has mess of problems was a production obviously and finds a biotech too so politically for european governments this is bad news we're going to have a summit virtual summit on thursday and friday this week and the european leaders will be talking about this and they will cannot really makes things better they will just have to scale back their promises to european citizens. and meantime the german government is reversing its pledge to make rapid coronavirus testing available to anyone free from the 1st of march chancellor merkel wants to 1st discuss the measures with regional leaders mass testing was flagged as a key part of the government's strategy for easing germany's nationwide lockdown. whiting in line for a free quick test here and through there are available to anyone who wants one but

not nationwide despite german health minister yet last week suggesting that be available to all from the 1st of march spawn's critics say it isn't good enough. you can believe that in the federal states this is just not funny at all once again the federal minister has promised something that in one way or another has not come about. she will face questions in parliament on wednesday testing is expected to play a central role in the government's reopening strategy and chancellor angela merkel has warned of lifting the current lock down too quickly the new leader of the c.d.u. and lush it agrees that school board their student the message of the moment is to take care but at the same time we have to debate ways we can offer optimism to the business sector to the cultural sector and to freelancers stephen who is it going to get to be. a number of german states will soon start easing the lockdown

measures among members varia from monday hardway stores there will be allowed to reopen as insects any on hugged and in brandenburg and barton but book flower shops and garden stores will be allowed to open juta perishing stocks. during states has served to varia and i believe rhineland platen 8 are doing this too that way we can make sure we don't have people travelling across state borders just to buy flowers . because. the 16 german states a set to discuss further easing of lockdown measures along with worrying new coronavirus variance with the federal government next week and let's cross over now to debbie is chief political adviser mechanical. michelle why not wall out these tests as promised. well that will be the big question that you inspire the health minister has to face and i have more than a suspicion as he's asking himself that very question it seems to be that like the

mosque issue very much of beginning of this crisis when there was debate about getting enough mass but also like the vaccination rollout now this issue of mass testing seems to be a victim of distribution issues and also regional decision making which is led the leader of the medical c.d.u. party to think loudly about a reform of the federal state here in germany it appears that production is in full swing and the signal seems to been from the chancellor herself who wants all of those 16 state premiers on board and ready to deliver to avoid another disappointment within the wider public but no doubt the public is waiting and every day counts and there's going to be some pretty tough questions i would imagine presented before the health minister as he heads to the bundestag today and faces those questions just walk us through a little bit what's expected. absolutely and there's also more of a than

a hint of electioneering also going on with general elections here in september and again spawn will face questions from the opposition from all parties and he will have to map out what his plan is to deliver but once again it is down to each of those 16 federal states today actually set up those testing centers make sure that individual citizens can receive those tests and that's been already a hindrance in the past with the distribution of mass but also with the vaccine rollout and that next test really is very close as the minister and i'm sure he will stress this today in parliament will be able to present more than enough testing actually the actual vaccines in those weeks to come which will put the ability to deliver those vaccines under severe pressure here in germany which again is down to the federal state so a lot of internal politics over what is

a very very key issue to the very survival of people this moment and it's important to remember that the country has been an hour and a pretty strict a lockdown in the past couple of months just walk us through what the overall situation is right now in the here lou when it comes to caseload. well it only seems to be hovering around the current status of a round 60 and infection rate of current is just dropped slightly below that and we heard the german chancellor say herself yesterday that she believes we are in new pandemic you can call it the 3rd wave but experts are more and more calling it a new pandemic and this could potentially mean going back to square one also when it comes to potential vaccination and treatment in the future if there are more mutations although it appears the vaccines are working right now so germany expecting worse times to comment at the same time political pressure mounting in

those individual states to reopen because people are simply fed up people are worn out and businesses are worn out so when those state premiers meet in the coming week we might well see under the macro for the 1st time do something that she wanted to avoid doing which is opening up while numbers are increasing so just watch out for that next week it appears we're entering a phase of living with a pandemic rather than trying to fight it because time is running out and patience as well unchartered territory here our chief political editor mr carson are breaking it all down for us putting it into perspective thank you. and some other developments in the pandemic now thailand has received its 1st batch of that scene's 200000 doses of china sea nowak shot most have been reserved for frontline medical workers the world bank has threatened to suspend its multimillion dollar

financing of lebanon's vaccinations it comes after reports of lawmakers receiving jobs while people in priority groups were still waiting their turn and the presidents of mexico and argentina have called on the world's richest countries to improve poor nations access to vaccines they said current u.n. efforts to distribute facts equitably were totally inadequate. and elsewhere in the world news this hour authorities in ecuador say over 60 inmates have died in riots in 3 of the country's prisons the military was deployed to help police quell the uprisings which authorities blame on criminal organizations jails in ecuador are severely overcrowded and often see violence between rival gangs. thousands of anti-government protesters have rallied in the georgian capital tbilisi following the detention of the country's main opposition leader need was detained tuesday at his party's headquarters faces charges of inciting violence

during protests and 2019 he calls the charges politically motivated. french actor gerard depardieu is under investigation for allegedly raping and sexually assaulting a young actress and $28.00 team in the paris prosecutor's office of the day pardew was charged in december after authorities reopened a case the actor is among france's best known and most controversial stars. to israel now and then ecological disaster a massive oil spill has hit most of israel's mediterranean shoreline leaving black city tar it's also caused extensive damage to wildlife correspondent tanya kramer reports now on the cleanup which could take months even years. it's a meticulous task clumps of tar 9 descend on is was mediterranean coast volunteers and soldiers

a cleaning dippy just by having the all spill has been described as one of the worst environmental disasters in decades it has affected more than 170 kilometers of shoreline. get it does it give you tons of crude oil reach the beaches of israel from the south to the north and crucial ecological systems have going to affect and these are pictures where. the nature was animals and plants living in the water have been affected by something have died she high above my. knee from. the tar was detected after heavy winter storm last week the cause of the all spill most likely from a ship off the coast is currently being investigated but the case has been put under controversial media gag order. and viral mental activists have called the disaster a wake up call for the government to put better environmental protections in place

this group is out at sea to help with locating potential remnants and the water the overall effect on the real life assistance be assessed but for some it is too late like this turtle found over the weekend but it's not good time. and so we have a small brown turtle and you can see what the tide did today and look at the extent of this disaster that's like a small turtle most people are. dumb but i'm sure no one is monarch. authorities say the cleanup operation could take a long time the task takes to rock and pollutes the sand volunteers are determined to do their part in the cleanup effort and they got a lot closer to i. i think it is important that every israeli who usually injuries to the beach and they to it's important that we all come together and help with this mission it is

a part of france and. for now the affected beaches have been closed to the public for an indefinite time. champions league football and bundesliga side byron munich have beaten lots you know for one in the round of 16 byron storm just 2 a thrill 3 male half time they need thanks to goals from robert lavan dusky jamal a most ila and sunday after the break a lot's your own goal waited for before joaquin korea pulled one back for the italians also on tuesday chelsea snuck away with a one nil victory against athletico madrid all over roll netted the only goal of the match. now pundits they decide. marking their return to the knockout phase of the champions league on wednesday gladbach are up against premier league

leaders manchester city led by former byron coach pep guardiola city just recorded their 18th straight 53 over the weekend and clawed back meanwhile are without a win in their last 3 matches to take over 19 travel restrictions the match will take place in hungary instead of germany. well germany are one of the favorites for next summer's women's european championship in england and they are currently warming up with a friendly mini tournament they got off to a good start with the win over belgium on sunday and on wednesday they have a new one of the sport's fiercest rivalries against the netherlands. winter is finally drawing to an end and the german national team is starting to feel full of the joys of spring not all the squad can be here though 5 players based in the u.k. and in france but had to stay away because of pandemic restrictions.

he says that's why i'm very happy with how things have gone this week we've had a lot of fun and enjoyed being on the pitch i hope we'll take this with us into the game. after the victory against belgium a tougher opponent a week in the dutch but the coach isn't focused on short term results or local rivalries so it's nice. it's not about a rivalry quite the opposite. i think there's many tournament is a good sign for others but we can play football again. some countries have had to cancel their games we watch being on the nuts. in any case this is a germany team full of confidence after an unbeaten qualifying campaign for next year's european championship. you know. we have the highest expectations of ourselves. our goal is to compete for the title in england will give everything

this year to develop as a team. by the end. of the pandemic isn't making those preparations easy but friendly tournaments like this week's are providing something of a test and those tests would come much tougher in the netherlands. it is live from berlin coming up next it is eco india stay tuned for that if you can and there's more on our website. thanks for watching take care and.

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