this is g.w. news live from berlin tonight the european union placing its bets on vaccine passports the leaders today agreed on the need for digital coronavirus vaccination certificates german chancellor angela merkel says the documents could be ready in time for europeans to take their summer vacations also coming up thousands of armenians take to the streets after their prime minister accuses the military of attempting a coup some rallying in his defense but many others demanding the prime minister. and syrian kurds appealing for international support as they face

a revival of so-called islamic state in northeast syria with no u.s. troops helping them the kurds say they're being overwhelmed by the therapist. i'm off to our viewers on p.b.s. in the united states and to all of you around the world welcome how to get some semblance of a normal life back even in the midst of this pandemic today european union leaders met to discuss how to better manage the coronavirus crisis there's agreement on one controversial proposal vaccine passports the digital certificates could even be ready in time to allow for summer travel discussions today also focused on the need to speed up vaccinations new infection numbers remain stubbornly high in many european countries this map here gives. an overview of the infections per 100000

inhabitants over the past 7 days in yellow are countries with fewer then 50 such as finland the darker the orange here the higher the infection rate germany currently has an incidence rate of $61.00 sweden and the czech republic very high more than $200.00 we have this look now at the corona virus challenges the e.u. continues to face that seems variance and freedom of movement about a year into the pen demick the block is struggling to keep up with recent developments as e.u. council president michel made clear in his invitation letter to this today leaders conference it remains challenging due to the emergence of new variants and the need to strike the right balance between restrictions and the smooth flow of goods and services in the single market. the block has failed to coordinate its anti

coronavirus measures with traffic piling up at some of its internal borders like here between germany and the czech republic joins us now to discuss and chided us but for us it is essential to make sure keeping the safety of her citizens in mind that the variance of the virus do not make it says germany even least enough to come with member states acting on their own brussels has reacted with a slap on the wrist. the commission sent specific letters raising our concerns to 6 member states which are. denmark finland germany hungary and sweden who are currently applying stricter measures than what is provided for in the recommendation in particular bans on entering or leaving the country while targeted restrictive measures on non-essential travel are necessary in the eyes of the e.u. commission blanket bans like those applied here in belgium do not serve this purpose the virus taught us that closing borders does not stop it but

we see that disruption with spring on its way another fight among european leaders is waiting to break out greece in an attempt to save its holiday season had suggested an e.u. wide vaccination certificate other member states like denmark and sweden have already begun developing their own passports with a bloc as a whole risking fragmentation on the matter but the biggest challenge of all is the rather slow rollout of the e.u. wide vaccination program production shortfalls and other stumbling blocks have left the e.u. trailing behind countries like the united kingdom and lead to growing impatience among its leaders. couple of enough because the european commission should exploit the economic power of the e.u. to put pressure on the much huge corporations to point out here from ramping up vaccine production to closer coordination a lot is on the table we have team coverage tonight i want to bring in our

correspondent gear boxes he is covering the e.u. summit in brussels force and our chief political correspondent and machine is here in berlin to both of you good evening georg let me start with you where do we see all e.u. member states in agreement when it comes to managing this pandemic. runs everybody on one page when it comes to the fact that it was the e.u. together that ordered all these vaccines are going to greece that was a good idea or the 2nd thing them is that everybody agrees that they now need to get ready for a huge amount of vaccines coming in the 2nd quarter of the year so that the national rollout is more smoothly that it has been so far and certainly as you have mentioned the digital of vaccination passports that have been basically agreed on however the french president for instance made clear in his press conference after the summit that there will be no special rights connected and then it was the head of the european commission was it off on the line who specified that this is

a political question and it's not clear it is clear that the passes will come but it's not clear what they will actually be used for so another debate on the sky on the horizon or the skids of you here then from berlin because you've been listening to the president as with the german chancellor angela merkel what were the key points that she lived well she was clearly on the defensive on that key issue of vaccines she once again pointing out that while the united states wasn't allowing any vaccines out it was the e.u. companies based in the european union that were providing vaccines for much of the world now here this kind of exit strategy the kind of opening up through something like this vaccine passport is the big agreement of the day she said that should be available within 3 months and then i got the chance to ask her whether that means that everybody will get the go ahead in time for the summer holidays to actually make use of this as have a listen and. as the about that we expect to have vaccinations are difficult ready

by the sum of hearing it but i'm not a programmer and i can't guarantee it any more than i can guarantee that vaccines will be delivered on time but as politicians we've settled science not target for the coming months i spoke of 3 months and i believe that all e.u. member states are working to achieve it within a limited timeframe. shot from. so you get a sense that the e.u. is still a lot more shy to apply pressure to those companies into really set down some clear rules there at the same time as some kind of silver lining on the horizon she ducked the question i also asked her when there would be sufficient vaccinations here in germany to also think about easing those restrictions for those people who had been vaccinated and i think that's what was a lot of fun that line means that it's up to every individual state what they do with such a passport once it's actually there at least

a promise it is in the pipeline it's certain that by the summer it will be interesting to see if you have the summer people with vaccination passports going on vacation other people who are still waiting to be vaccinated what does that mean in terms of the pharmaceutical companies who have told the european union that they will be late in delivering the back scenes that they have promised. well we got a lot as already mentioned an export the export ban and how that will come into effect and it was enough on the line the head of the commission who made one thing clear everybody agrees that we do not in europe want to see an export ban as we have it in the united states or the u.k. for instance as she made clear but instead we want to export transparency you know and here she had an interesting fact 95 percent of the vaccines that are being produced in europe leaving europe to the rest of the world are coming from pfizer biotech and she said that this company in particular is played by the rules fulfilling its contract and that is why they're not so much concerned other

companies like astra zeneca they're more concerned and they're keeping a close eye on them that it will see what happens between now and the start of the summer that will be key i think to both our correspondents here with months in brussels and our chief political editor mckayla governor here in berlin thank you well here's some of the other developments in the pandemic today a large study from israel indicates the bio intake finds are vaccine works as well in the real world as it did in clinical trials the study published in the new england journal of medicine shows the vaccine offers very high protection against team india has reported its highest number of cases in nearly a month more than half are recorded in much of her state home to the financial capital mumbai and the world health organization says we need more understanding of long term coded symptoms it says listening to patients affected by long coded

should be a priority for every public health authority. our here's a look now at some of the other stories that are making headlines this hour former u.s. president double trump's tax records are now in the hands of a new york prosecutor they are part of a criminal investigation into whether trump wind to get favorable loan terms and tax benefits the information will not be made public trump has been fighting to block the sharing of his records the u.s. supreme court ruled against him earlier this week a german man has been charged with spying for russia and the german parliament prosecutors say the suspect worked for a company contracted to check electrical equipment for the bundestag he allegedly provided information on the buildings and floor plans to the russian secret service the case is likely to heighten existing tensions between berlin and moscow hundreds of police officers conducted early morning raids in the german capital and surrounding regions targeting a banned islamist group officers raided apartments allegedly linked to members of

the group which berlin's interior ministry says advocates attacks on civilians and promote so-called islamic state. thousands of protesters supporting the military regime have been out on the streets of me in more there have been a number of reports of clashes with anti demonstrators the u.k. has announced further sanctions against the military regime as police continue to forcibly break up anti regime protests. in armenia months of political tensions are reaching a tipping point today thousands attended rallies in the capital year of on after the prime minister accused of the military of an attempted coup many turned out to support the prime minister but many others are calling for his resignation the prime minister has been a divisive figure following armenia's defeat in a conflict with their by john last year. an impact leader holding on to power

for now. armenia's top generals called on prime minister nicole pushing on to resign on thursday following months of protests but this time his supporters of come out in force stepping in front of the crowd in the capital of on pushing and denounce the army's move as an attempted coup. to keep god all the army must do its job the army cannot look back the army cannot interfere in political processes the army must of by only the people and the political power chosen by the people. here feel that he can just kind of. put the opposition also took to the streets and numbers. they pressed home the generals demand. that was a war that we lost shamefully and the prime minister he was responsible for that has not left his post and since that day the public has been demanding his

resignation. he was lovely. troubles stem from last year's war without over the region of nagorno-karabakh. in weeks of fighting armenia lost control of large parts of the disputed region and of as a beige on the territory linking of the exclave to armenia thousands of armenians had to flee their homes and the army suffered heavy casualties. crushing defeat seals the anger on the streets of europe where the protesters have set up for the long haul. all came for more on the situation i'm joined now by lawrence bros the caucasus program director at chatham house in london lawrence's good to have you on the program this is a volatile situation right now what's your take on the situation in armenia tonight . well this is been described as an attempted coup i think this is an

exaggeration when you think of a coup you think of the army taking control of the media incarcerating elected leaders that's not what's happening in armenia this is more of an intrusion or an intervention by the military calling for nicol flashing on to resign after a kind of fierce exchange of criticism around the conduct of the war so i think this is that's the context for this and every country that goes through a devastating defeat needs to have a reckoning with that experience and a learning process how much support does the prime minister have tonight. well i think this is one of the dynamics is that snicko question has of course lost a great deal of his popularity and his legitimacy due to the defeat last november but he is still the least unpopular political figure in armenia so there is a majority i think who are in favor of snap elections but by all accounts nichol

passion would still win in that event i think there are 2 key issues that are playing out here that the 2 problems the 1st is that this domestic reckoning around the conflict is playing out as the civil military confrontation the army was very carefully guarded and neutral in $2800.00 velvet revolution so that's a regressive step and the other concern is that it's playing out on the streets of the arab and nichol passing on has reverted to to type as it were very much the street democrats evoking you know a powerful language about the return of the all still regime the previous regime rather than solving problems through institutions and i think this is very emblematic of the weakness and fragility of armenia's democratic transition. to big streams to describe the situation as an attempted coup do you foresee it escalating to the point where we see the army trying to forcibly remove the prime minister

from office. i don't see that as a likely outcome there is of course the risk but the armenian military has actually been very careful in recent years to preserve its neutrality in political affairs and i think there is a will across the broader population actually to see this result through snap elections and a new dispensation in the country rather than 300 patients on the streets i think are not the essential element is a formal inquiry into his failings in the war last autumn so that that reckoning plays out in the form of an authoritative inquiry rather than street battles lawrence broods the caucasus program director at chatham house joining us tonight from the u.k. you very much lawrence thank you thank you female islamic state militants are seeking to mount a comeback in northeast syria the areas kurdish dominated ministration is

struggling to hold them off syria's critics forces you may remember were instrumental in taking back control of all u.s. held territories now the militia fighters are regrouping in the region especially around the town of there is a war and in the hour who prison camp the kurds say they have been left to fend for themselves. when abdel-hamid sets off for dinner as or fear travels with him. the 43 year old father depends on his job as a bus driver to support his family but he risks his life on every journey. every day they find 2 or 3 dead bodies here people being kidnapped killed and tossed aside. islamic state militants have been spreading fear with increasingly frequent attacks on the main road through northeastern syria they strike villages and towns especially at night. money from residents set off bombs

and behead people. that. has already attacked us in the village killing residents driving them away they are causing us so much suffering we need help to stop this disaster. but the leaders of the kurdish autonomous region are hopelessly overwhelmed thousands of fighters are said to have taken up residence in the vast desert the kurds lack aircraft and special equipment to track them down. allies such as the us have withdrawn. the kurdish units are the only ones still fighting ah yes that's what we're experiencing here right now and we're suffering because of it. tens of thousands of supporters mostly women and children remain in. 250 kilometers to the north. after the terror groups defeat in 21000 they were captured by kurdish fighters since then many have become further

radicalized. coming back hopefully you hope it will come back yes where where exactly what makes you think it will come back. victory is near. is now pulling the strings behind the scenes of the camp smuggling in weapons arming its followers kurdish control of the camp is in danger of slipping away. and islamic state in miniature has practically emerged here the religious police patrol the camp these men have non-permitted relationships with women cooperate with the security forces they are executed. in the villages of the province memories of the i.a.s. reign of terror fresh in people's minds in heena women with whips and residents

terrorized but even after liberation in 2017 militants struck again and again. suliman darwish was targeted for cooperating with the kurds in the local council one night he heard gunshots and. my wife was arguing with an armed man in uniform another was 2 meters behind her in between my son was lying dead on the ground they killed him with 5 shots. in january alone the so-called islamic state carried out more than 100 attacks in northeastern syria 40 commuters died recently in an attack on a bus people in the crisis torn region once again fear for their lives. or more no i'm joined by journalist and middle east expert christian healthcare christian it's good to see you again. tell me what do we know about the state of islamic state in north eastern syria as it stands tonight. well we're

talking about a very rough area you know all the area eastern syria and western iraq maybe consists of desert it's difficult to control because the border on both sides of the border you have tribal networks so it's the perfect ground actually for jihadi activism and i says all the i s. islamic state has never really disappeared from the region they have just went they just went underground whatever survived the attacks by the international coalition or ever escaped kurdish imprisonment went into hiding it's about $10000.00 fighters and they continuously attack not only the population but as well the regime forces in syria they are allied militias though there are about $100.00 attacks commands in syria and as well the same number in iraq we understand there's one prison camp where these jihadi is have been able to set the rules there even executing people inside the camp for people of on the outside listening can you explain how is that possible on the kurds supposed to be guarding the kurds supposed to be in control.

well see a hole is like a small city it's 60000 people who live there and the living conditions are unbearable you know there's a lack of food there's a lack of medical care special specially the border crossing to iraq was closed last year due to a russian veto in the security council so there is no direct humanitarian aid coming to not eastern syria this makes the living conditions inside alone very bet they're out syrians inside the iraqis and foreign nationals and the most radicals the most radical ones are the foreigners so these other women were trying to reestablish sharia courts religious police they are a brainwashing the children some of the currents what they want to do is actually a 3 step plan 1st of all they want to let the syrians go the ones that have turned their back on isis ideology the ones who just joined them because they maybe didn't have a choice so they can register and camp the 2nd step would be to convince the iraqi

government to take back their nationals and then in that step they want to start to kind of rehabilitate and indeed radicalize the foreign population there which is obviously a very huge task and this is something where the kurds really would need the international community to help you have and we will see if they get that help from the international community to what has to still be done journalist a middle east expert kristen help because as always we appreciate your insights thank you thank you scientists are war morning that the gulf stream current in the atlantic ocean which brings warmth to europe and north america is under threat it's weaker than it anytime in the last 1000 years a consequence of global warming and a new study researchers say that could bring about an increase in disasters such as hurricanes in a moment we'll speak with one of the study's authors but 1st a look at what is happening. it's not been known that the coast stream is changing

but scientists are still examining how that affects the world's climate also known as the convection current the gulf stream acts as a giant heating system one water from the gulf of mexico flows north where it loses its heat and sinks to the seabed flowing back south the circular flow ensures generally miles by either in north america and northern europe but researchers are concerned that the gulf stream is slowing down and becoming weaker. climate models suggest that such a weakening could also change the winter storm tracks over north atlantic and actually cause more severe winter storms in the nova breast and part of. the slower weaker currents could also alter the environment under water as the gulf stream may no longer be warm enough to accommodate certain cruel species for example scientists say this is the result of manmade climate change. we know that there is

a direct link between increased c o 2 emissions global warming and how global warming through increased freshwater fluxes into the top what i know but then take actually inhibit the drive off the course from system which if the sinking of water met. all of the changes can lead to more destructive weather events and rising sea levels but a letter from libel taga means the long term consequences are still unclear. and the ethics committee of football's world governing body has dropped a broader reach against france beckon by were into other german football officials the committee said the statute of limitations time to pursue the case has run out if investigation found that beck and bauer along with tailed spawn's ago and horst smith broke rules on bribery and corruption during germany's successful bid to host the 2006 world cup all 3 have denied. anyone doing that can buy our won a world cup with west germany as

a player and another as head coach. in los angeles today lady gaga has a dog walker was shot at and her 2 prized french bulldogs have been kidnapped police say the man the dog walker who was walking near los angeles is they met at sunset boulevard is expected to survive his gunshot wounds lady ga ga he was known to be extremely protective of her little pooches is offering half a $1000000.00 to anyone who can return the dogs the singer is currently in rome shooting a film and understandably distressed. here's a reminder of the top story that we're following for you european union leaders have agreed on the need for digital backs nations are chickens enabling people to travel in europe despite the coronavirus pandemic german chancellor angela merkel says the documents could be available for summer vacation thousands of acres in the streets of the armenian capital in support of the prime minister after he warned of

an attempted coup by military leaders but just blocks away his opponents also get out the prime minister has faced months of protests since armenia's defeat by eyes or by sean in the conflict over nagorno-karabakh last year. you're watching b.w. news wife of from the berlin after a short break i'll be back to take you through the day stick around we will be right back.

they killed many civilians. including my father. i was a student i wanted to build a life for myself. but suddenly life became alice. providing

insights global news that matters v.w. made for mines. closely. carefully. to. discover. subscribe. documentary on. the coronavirus pandemic. as the rate of infection.

measures or. the latest research. the biden ministration is releasing a cia report on the 2018 murder of saudi dissident and journalist jamal khashoggi it's expected to blame the saudi crown prince for ordering the murder another country would be facing possible sanctions from the u.s. and demand for better human rights but saudi arabia is the biggest buyer of u.s. weapons in the world u.s. president joe biden is expected to call the saudis to discuss this report we understand the crown prince will not be on the line instead his father the king will take the.