very beginnings until this very day human tragedy has shaped the way. this is the journey back into the history of slavery. i think will truly be making progress when we all accept the use to have sleeves as all of our history. our documentary series slavery routes starts march 10th on d w. this is d w news and these are out top stories in a landmark case a german court has found a form a syrian secret service agent guilty of being involved in crimes against humanity he's been sentenced to 4 and a half years in prison in the 1st trial of its kind of was charged as an accomplice

in the torture of syrian opposition activists in 2011. gonna has received the world's 1st delivery of coronavirus vaccines from kovacs a global initiative and of ensuring poorer nations have fair access to vaccines 600000 doses of the astra zeneca shot have arrived in the capital accra kovacs aims to deliver a 2000000000 vaccine doses around the world. customs offices in the german port of humbug have seized 16 tons of cocaine reportedly the biggest single seizure ever in europe the drugs were hidden in tin can ship from paraguayan 7 tons of cocaine were also seized in a coordinated write in build and a suspect has been arrested this is d w news there's more on instagram and twitter at d w news or at t w dot com. in

the early days of syria's civil war he was a secret police officer whose job arrest protestors against president bashar al assad and send them to an interrogation center a place where questioning and torture went hand in hand today a german court sentenced. to 4 years in prison the 1st syrian convicted of crimes against humanity tonight justice has been delivered was it too little too late i'm bringing off in berlin this is the day. it's a message to offenders in syria and elsewhere you can use to the fact that. it's a story that the decision. for the. goofus you could

facilitate. the support. that would not. give him an excuse to impunity i considered it was a severe sentence and the defense will appeal. also coming up and he is known for winning tonight golf superstar tiger woods is recovering he underwent major surgery last night after a high speed crash since his car rolling and left his leg broken. i just hope he's ok you know i hope he's not permanently her i hope he can play again i'm sure that's what he's thinking and. for to our viewers on p.b.s. in the united states and to all of you around the world welcome we begin the day with a longer reach of justice that feels much. 2 short 10 years ago when the 1st protests

erupted against syrian president bashar al assad a secret police officer named a of al go deep was told what to do and he did it arresting those who dared to defy the president and bringing them in for questioning knowing that they could very well be tortured we know now that many were or today here in germany a court sentenced. to 4 years in prison for aiding and abetting crimes against humanity. left to syria and came to germany in 2800 seeking asylum and betting that his past and those who suffered because of it would never find him he lost that bit of fast forward to today's sentencing which is also a landmark legal victory the 1st syrian official to be convicted for carrying out the crimes which continue to keep the assad regime alive can this one single conviction really bring the people of syria closer to the justice they deserve we

have this report. justice a decade on prosecutors say at al garrett was a former member of syria's secret service who arrested anti-government protesters he took the demonstrators to a detention center where they were tortured a german court convicted algarve of being involved. is what's important is that we have a verdict that the assad government committed crimes against humanity in secret prisons this is the 1st such verdict weld wide and it sends an important message that if these crimes can be investigated in germany george lakoff god the. al gharib fled to germany and his crimes came to light when he applied for asylum the judges reduced his sentence to just over 4 years because he testified in another trial that still ongoing. torture victim was seem ok

helped bring the case to court he says this is only the beginning of. this is this is to this is the 1st step the road to justice is long and one of the goals is to bring back al assad and his in a circle before a court and it's the shuttle a soft ones and get cries for them get used to getting. the syrian government denies that it touches prisoners the rules of universal jurisdiction allow german courts to try allegations of serious crimes in other countries if victims or the accused are actually in germany foreign minister heiko mouse welcomed the verdict steve species trials taking place outside syria are a glimmer of hope and a clear signal to the victims that justice must be done for them. they should destroy it with their finds. out garrett's lawyer says he plans to appeal the

sentence. for more we're bringing in the middle east analyst daniel gary locke he is the editor in chief of zenith magazine he joins me tonight from here in berlin daniel it's good to see you again we have spoken many times about the atrocities that have taken place since the war in syria began a decade ago this verdict against a former syrian official how important is. it is a political message of course for the 1st time this has been like publicly and in a courtroom discussed what happens in syria and of course it is important for victims for relatives of victims that this happens however as you also reported accurately delivery of the the person that has been accused and convicted like still like the there is still no appeal going on is a very small figure in the whole system and he's a defect and sold the political message that i see is on the one hand yes some sort

of justice can be done in the jewish jurisdiction of another country like germany but on the other hand it also sends a message to those that remained loyal to the regime that. just is going after the defect has and not of course after those that are still in syria and that are also complicit but have no intention to leave. what has this court case revealed in terms of syrian officials committing murder and carrying out torture with impunity . well it has revealed as other cases and other investigations have revealed that of course a to systematic that is comes to no surprise for people that are dealing with syria for syrians for people that live in syria today of course that there's a systematic and i think even hiring king or high ranking officials wouldn't deny that that torture and mass atrocities happen in syria. so it's been documented and

that is important it's been this this this this that it has been substantiated. but other than that i think yes the political implications are more relevant look for those that have been brought forward this case those that initiated it those that convinced the general attorney in germany to take on this case and take it to trial this is a victory because they are interested in moving forward international law and for those that want to promote international law and universal your strict jurisdiction this is an important trial and this is an important case you've said that since a message to those defectors and to those who are not going to defect will this verdict though will it have anything more meaning other than symbolic meaning. look the german foreign minister said today it brings quote at least a little bit of justice to syrians. hopefully it does but i'm not so sure about

this i think we should be very careful of course these are 2 different files one is the legal one of the political file that we don't want. full of to torture the illusion that this case replaces some sort of a policy in syria yes justice is important and. the legal cases i'm porton but still europe doesn't have a policy how to deal with the syrian regime doesn't have a policy how to deal with the humanitarian situation in syria and with the ongoing violence and so i think it is for that for politicians and for the governments of europe it's important to come up with some sort of a policy on syria and not to just take believe that such court cases might somehow surrogate or somehow replace a policy i don't i don't say that this is what they are doing but of course the strong media attention on these cases also produces problem may produce this illusion you know that's an interesting point and also we have to remember that

germany has become home to hundreds of thousands of refugees from the war in syria what do you think that this verdict will mean to them. i've heard mixed messages i talked to talk a lot to syrians in syria and to syrians in the diaspora and to syrians in germany and abroad and of course there are those who believe that this is a is is is some sort of a bit like these a symbolic victory for them because it shows that wherever you live they whatever under whatever country's jurisdiction you live here regularly if the law is in place as it is in germany you can be tried you can be punished for your crimes but other than that i think there is very there's very little hope that justice is going to be done and that those responsible for mass atrocities are going to be held accountable the situation in syria the war but it hasn't been on the world's radar for quite some time now the plight of syrians of course has not improved i

want you to take a listen to what the u.n. spokesman lyrica said about this we're back at the same high levels of need that we saw in 20162017. segments of the population that were previously less affected have been pushed into the ranks of people requiring humanitarian aid and for those who already needed it the situation has gotten worse since then you know if we say bashar al assad has won the war in syria is the economic situation there is that a bigger threat to him then the rebel groups are. look i think the regime can survive the situation as it's been surviving a lot of different difficult situations in the last 10 years or even before. i think the regime is probably to go in the last one to call up to collapse under the economic plight and the dreadful humanitarian situation sanctions international

sanctions are one element in it but they are not the only element in it and it's also important not to blame all the humanitarian plight of syrians and now we're talking also about syrians and government held areas on international sanctions but they're if they play a role and i want to come back to what i said before i see absolutely no consistent or can he could hear and western syria policy that addresses these issues i see the logic. according to which we see like our relationship with the regime and then we prioritize the relationship or the non relationship with the regime over the relationship with the syrian society but this is a difficult and i think also a wrong policy because we need to prioritize syrian population and syrian society all of our relation with the regime and like see then we're based on this analysis how to politically deal with the regime and i see that the that the europeans at the moment are hoping that the new u.s. administration is going to come up with some sort of

a plan on syria but i think that's not really on the priority list of the by now mr asian at the moment as we have heard today and also yesterday from his representatives and i think the europeans are not left off the hook they need to come up with a plan themselves even if they have to fear that this plan is not going to implemented or for oil but we need to have a european policy on syria and that's not what i see at the moment arrives of the europeans they have their homework to do that's for sure what about the situation inside syria how desperate is that they are it has been reported in that president bashar assad has suggested banning cooking shows on television so that people will not be able to see the food that they don't pay off. you know this is and interesting of course anecdote but i think that the reality in government held syria let alone. provinces like it live which are not under

government control but under insurgent control the situation is so dire that people that in certain parts of syria people suffer from malnutrition. and this is a situation that. people have had even in the most difficult times when people in damascus for example in other government held cities felt that the fall of the city is close that the church is a insurgents are going to take over the humanitarian situation in terms of economic . livelihood was not this bad and yes i think it illustrates very well the situation that many feet of syrians are in at the moment and the more dramatic point is live at the i see that there is also petty crime and also violence which is not political which is not related to the rebellion to the insurgency but to everyday livelihood and in fighting for resources is happening and flaring up in syria and this is a situation that syrians haven't felt and haven't had it before you know as my

producer was saying earlier tonight you can't eat bullets you can fight a war with bullets but you can't feed of people with bullets then you hear like editor in chief of zenith magazine as always it's good to talk with you and get your insights thank you. thank you and. in the 1st months of this pandemic germany was a role model in managing the virus as we enter the pandemic 2nd year germany is struggling to move forward the vaccination role well remains and while other countries approve rapid at home months ago germans still have to see a doctor to be tested and some officials say home testing could be a big help in using for example the national walk till today germany's health minister was criticized yet again for his lackluster national testing stretch. people here in germany are longing for a return to the normality they knew a year ago before the pandemic began before the lockdowns health minister

is under pressure to show the way forward but yes to reconcile the risk posed by the new variance with the freedom people want isn't any country looking for a balance between the best possible protection from infections but also life and freedom no matter as much as is possible already to survive this few widespread rep attesting will be at the heart of the government's reopening strategy soon germany is lagging behind neighbors like austria where they are already making frequent tests available for all. germany's vaccine will out as also and go slow some federal states are reacting with a patchwork of strategies for vaccinations how and when to return to school even the reopening affair some. in parliament pointed to germany's federal

structure as poppy responsible for the problems. and i don't know how each of the 16 regions is going to allow the head dresses to reopen. the twin responsibility of the federal and the regional governments for the pandemic response has proved complicated and the next hurdle is coming up next week when the state leaders and chancellor merkel have to agree on a further easing off lockdown measures we're now in light to bring in dr young dahlman he's a medical doctor and a member of the green party in the german parliament t.l.c. sits on parliament health committee and until november of last year when he entered parliament he played a leading role in the response of berlin's emergency and ambulance services to this pandemic dr tom it's good to have you on the program i want to start if i can with the vaccination rolled out here in germany and compare it we've got 13 percent of americans that have already been vaccinated less than 5 percent of germans have been vaccinated we get e-mails from viewers all around the world every day and they

are stunned that germany is so far behind here how do you explain it. well we do it for huge problems when it's come to our vaccination campaign and it is far too centralized and we have a very technical approach on how we yeah want to souls and want to roll out our vaccination campaign over here in germany my power to you. criticize is that we are focusing on those facts a nation centers and i are not able to bring you vaccines like the vaccine from a stress anika more to drive the practices and to the primary through the sions like other countries like france is doing it now to bring it more easily to older people who are not able to come to a vaccine center for example yeah i don't talk about politics too much but you have

to mention that you know we have a national election i'm coming up here in germany in september if the summer comes and goes and we have not reached 70 percent of the population being vaccinated what do you think that is going to mean for the country and its politics come election day. well mr sharon the health minister is sunday huge pressure people are suffering we lost about 30000 lives we didn't last 3 months and people are demanding to get their life's bag here. and you know from a position off a champion we were in the 1st wave last year we really are behind now and i think it is not only about politics but it's about serious crisis management people are now saying there must be measures which are more effective there must be some saying don to fight this make and when we look to our european neighbors we see

that there are some good examples for example when it comes to do a record testing and also a safe measurement when it comes for medical mosque for example just you do to the whole population and. within the with within more strength strategies. in the at home rapid tests for covert 19 that you're talking about you know they have been approved and they should be available here in germany soon but again germany is at least a month behind other countries that are offering these at home is that is that also the responsibility or the we put the blame with the the government here. well it's again it's too late and it's too diddle and when you look at those tests they are available all over europe now and when we all know that we have

a debate going on now that it's not only a very late point where we implement selous tests it's also that we didn't get the capacity self tests we would need to have like. a yeah broad strategy and implements a list test in our daily life that would be a really necessary safety net to get our lives back and open up things and that's really what makes people angry you know earlier this week the u.k. prime minister boris johnson he announced a plan to gradually lift the lockdown in england and to get rid of all social contact restrictions by the start of the summer and how does this impact plan here in germany i mean it has to be impossible to ignore this ambitious british plan yeah i mean it's when people are talking about the situation in great britain it's too saying say we're on the one hand side they were really stretched and by the end

of last year but now they're really really had when it comes to the implementation off the vaccination campaign and that's really a problem for germany we had quite steady state numbers within the last weeks and now looking at the last days as a medical doctor i'm very concerned because numbers are rising again and if we are not faster with vaccination and also the safety of others like medical mosque and also as well as rep attest we are really facing a huge 3rd wave which could even a cost more lives to be lost in our country dr young installment dr donna we appreciate your time in your insights tonight thank you. well the mass testing plan for germany has already been rolled out in austria u.w. funding for char reports tonight from vienna where rapid antigen tests are freely available and even compulsory for students the opera house is one of the us

landmarks but unfortunately for the own going down the locals are no longer coming here to enjoy a performance what they want is a rapid and teaching test and this is the example of the spruce over there which by the way used to be a traditional viennese food stand. i need to get tested to. thank you very much money to say this was very uncomfortable but very quick to within minutes i will have my result this cost me sooty 9 euros but there are hundreds of pharmacy and all 3 are tested for free but there you will need to wait a bit longer for the result and there are a lot of people here who are willing to get tested to get the squeak and tests done in order to go to the hairdresser or to go to school because there are schools here

in austria it's required twice a week to present such a test a negative called the test result of course to be able to participate at school currently $1000000.00 tests carried out each week in austria one of the highest rates in the world has the government and the government hoops to more acceptable to be called to get tested the sooner the economy will be able to get back and to reopen. golfing star tiger woods has undergone surgery for multiple leg injuries after a car accident in the u.s. city of los angeles yesterday it woods had to be pulled from his s.u.v. . this is how tiger woods' car was found on tuesday morning after rolling over several times in everyone is hoping the best for the golfing great. tiger woods turned professional in 1996 and took golf by storm considered the

greatest golfer of his generation tiger spent more weeks ranked as the world's number one than anyone else and he's the only pro to win all 4 major goal titles in a row from the u.s. open to the masters title in 2001 with 14 major championship titles tiger redefined the sport but a series of injuries and personal issues the railed his career. i was unfaithful i had affairs i cheated. woods made a comeback in 2019 and won the masters for the 5th time today aged 45 he needs to win 3 more majors to become joint leader only all time list. could this car accident bring his career to an end. tiger's undergone a long surgical procedure he is currently awake responsive and recovering in his

hospital room says a statement from the tiger foundation. tigers fans are hoping for a speedy recovery. i just hope he's ok you know i hope he's not going to i hope he can play again i'm sure that's what he's thinking right now. he's had some fabulous years and now he's just you know he has his slumps but he's had a surgery too so yeah you just hate to see anything like that happen. you have a big impact on the community really would the sport all together in 2017 woods was charged with driving under the influence emergency workers say there was no evidence of driver impairment when woods was assessed at the scene on tuesday morning and no blood samples were drawn. almost on the conversation continues online on twitter you can follow me off t.v. i remember whatever happens between now and. another to see you then everybody.

conflicts opposition parties in pakistan and i think the pressure on prime minister imraan khan in a series of recent mass protests they say that he is a puppet of the military and has mismanaged the. ana me as inflation's fire my guest with me from islamabad is fall one choudhary pakistani minister for science and technology what has this army it's achieved who's calling the shots in pakistan

a conflict the fed's next fought deal. article 5 of the universal declaration of seeming right. no one shall be subjected to torture. despite this the cia's still dedicated time and effort into researching torture methods. and the results led to one of the darkest chapters in u.s. history. admits on d.w. . different. minds of. the new. year women

are in charge. the archipelago has had a matriarchal system for centuries and. the rare form of society. women differently than men. what do they do it with their power. and how sustainable is this culture. of the leaders of the rango starts march 8th on t.w. . this tool and call for years of prime minister non-con has actually done the fight for buck a song you know the public's not buying off for a very long time and by this thought this is more corruption scandal in the fall put out if you have to go into a parallel justice system in your country in men. 6 months you would see the number of missing person. you think it's except a bill to intimidate the press. with the freedom of expression opposition parties

in pakistan have been upping the pressure on prime minister emraan khan in a series of recent mass protests.