so that we can. but it's not just the animals little suffering it's the environment we will encounter journey to find ways. if you want to know how old were you clicked on the creek which was changed as we think there is listen to our podcast on the green. this is g w news and these are our top stories f.b.i. director chris ray has told us lawmakers there's no evidence to support a right wing conspiracy theory that the siege on the capitol building was carried out by leftist extremist posing as trump supporters he described the events of january 6th as domestic terrorism and vowed to hold the rioters accountable. the european union and the united states have imposed sanctions on russian officials and companies connected with the poisoning and jailing of kremlin critic

alexei navalny washington says its intelligence found moscow was behind these poisoning last august russia's foreign minister says his country will respond in kind to any new sanctions. gunmen in afghanistan have killed 3 women who worked for a broadcaster in the city of jalalabad officials said the women were shot separately on their way home from work these are the latest in a series of attacks targeting journalists and other professionals in recent weeks. this is d.w. news from berlin you can follow us on instagram and twitter d w news and visit our website dot com. she is one of the most revered catholic icons in poland known as the black madonna

and 2 years ago 3 rights activists replaced her 14th century halo with a modern day rainbow and suddenly the virgin mary was caught in a legal tug of war freedom of speech and respect for others versus respect for the church in a conservative society today a polish court ruled in favor of the activists with the message the rainbow was not offensive trying to ban the rainbow is i'm burnt off in berlin this is the day. of the culture of the prosecution failed to prove that the defendants were intentionally insulting towards their religious beliefs of catholics not without that it would probably. be the church is formidable in parliament still

that yeah yeah i know all of that they carried out the alleged acts of desecration and all because people feel comfortable for them to the same as it is with church be a force that encourages fascist east on a diety and empathy total meaning at the time that the defendants found innocent of the acts they are charged with. also coming up he was responsible for the video that brought down the government in austria 2 years ago now he's fighting to stop his own extradition from germany to austria is the man behind a set up now the target of a set up. meets may have quotas but if all you need to lock someone up is 2 people with questionable reputations and strange statements and you can lock up anyone you want to absolutely anyone and that's in austria which already has autocratic tendencies and danes. said in a visit he pictured having a system like or buns hungry for being honest austria isn't so far away from that

anymore. or 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 21st century battle between homophobia and religious conservatism that can really only be understood by starting in 14th century poland it was more than half a millennium ago when the icon known as the black madonna took its place among roman catholicism is most revered symbols 2 years ago this religious icon became a symbol of a modern day social struggle in 20193 women were arrested after they distributed images of the madonna not with a halo but with a rainbow a symbol for the community a symbol for tolerance and acceptance of others the conservative life and family foundation accuse the women of desecration and offending religious beliefs a charge that carried with it a 2 year prison sentence if convicted where today

a polish court acquitted the 3 women the ruling is being seen as a victory for freedom of speech in a european country that has made headlines recently more for restricting not extending freedoms. the relief to be acquitted after nearly 2 years of uncertainty. poland's criminal code prohibits offending religious sentiment violators face up to 2 years in prison but the judge ruled the activists had aimed only to fight for equal rights for poland's l g b t community and even that now the prosecution failed to prove that the actions of the defendants were intentionally insulting towards the religious beliefs of catholics or that they desecrated the icon of the virgin mary of sense to hold for the case centered on one of poland's most revered catholic icons sporting

a rainbow halo in april 2903 activists put up a poster in the central town of ports in response to a church exhibition that equated the acronym l g b t with lies and hatred. the catholic church is extremely influential in poland all the more so since the conservative lauren justice party took office church leaders oppose gay rights. moneta her post so i was stunned that the prosecutor called for us to be sentenced to 6 months in jail where affiliate kusa representing the catholic church called for a year and a half and that shows a certain imbalance of negatives i have just put up or that's more for me is what matters here is that homophobia is not characteristic of all polish catholics we need to differentiate between the bishops and the people especially young people who don't find our activities offensive. it's

a victory i think he writes in poland but the activists legal battle is on t.v. yet prosecutors say they will appeal the decision. or one of the 3 women acquitted today was. no you just saw in that report and she joins me tonight from warsaw good to have you on the program today's ruling we know we could have gone either way what went through your mind when the court announced that it was ruling in your favor. i'm yes it is repeated frequently i felt. really 1st of all. basically i'm i speak to you from quotes from the city i decided to stay here for tonight because there is so much interest of international media that driving that car it wouldn't be possible to answer your questions and i and i appreciate it really very much because i think that international coverage and support and interest and

that helped us a lot. and we really have had this had this feeling that we are not alone in this battle sometimes when you yet just when i ask you i may ask you about what happened here with this case if you want polish society to tolerate except to respect. gays and lesbians why did you alter an image that you know is revered in a very catholic society i mean some people could say to you that 2 wrongs don't make a right. oh. yes i can say dad but i would like to look. at the lines that like madonna does not belong to anybody that does not belong to catholics this is all to russian icon of a jewish woman. which was found in poland one day

and she loves as a current sheryl of just a bit. equally to me to my friends and still to be shops. and for me it just and then must read to people and the most sensitive at the same time of unconditional love that so it was not just the aim of using this symbol which is same for somebody because i think the care of mother over their kids is something which can be understood in every religion and should be respected what we wanted still show it was a sort of acceptance no instead of rejection so many of course you know wonder. if i could apologize for the delay in the sound here but let me ask you from the outside the image of poland has been very positive i'm

thinking about all the way to when the end of communism joining the european union there's always been the sense of positive energy surrounding poll and yet the recent headlines paint a picture of an ultra conservative homophobic government can you explain to our viewers what happened in pope. justice begins nothing happens now because sir poland has different faces and this face which the west of europe wanted to see was the face of the toll around peaceful country successful in economic transformation why the same times for the nation left a lot of people that ana turned. poor and helpless and it's

very easy to manipulate with. well sounding strong sanogo it's. 2 such people and so. as far as the church is concerned in poland it's important. because the solidarity was against communism and why all the companies and it in poland. was innocent paid back by huge privilege as in poland and attention but it was never progress if it was always fall big and. most and greedy. so. some people next to it. to the church will see it yesterday there was another trial of 3 brains man decided to pull down as

a monument of the. priest who was proved to be pedophile and a collaborator of communist and this year and to send it is and she said you never really maintain a public space and you restrained man decided to do it with own hands and they are in danger to present to 80 years and people who accuse them and who feel. incurred by the act also the members of the verity movement this one used respected so much as i expected them as well as unfortunately we're out of time but i'm one of the thank you for taking the time to share your experiences with us tonight or less not joining us tonight from poland thank you thank you.

the united states is facing criticism over a decision not to target saudi crown prince mohammed bin selman with sanctions last week the u.s. released an intelligence report showing that the prince had approved the murder of saudi dissident and journalist jamal because show even though the prince is not on the same list the white house is insisting that the relationship with saudi arabia is being recalibrate. these are the last images of washington post journalist jamal khashoggi walking into the saudi consulate in istanbul turkey in october of 2018. according to a u.s. intelligence report declassified on friday he was shortly afterwards brutally murdered there by a team linked directly to saudi crown prince mohammed bin solomon washington says the prince gave the green light to the capture or the killing of kids shows she calls prince mohammed vehemently denies having any role in the murder and rejects

the report. fiance on the other hand says the report demands the prince be held to account. in a statement published on twitter she says it's essential that the crown prince who ordered the brutal murder of a blameless an innocent person should be punished without delay. and she's not alone in criticizing what's perceived as a lack of firm white house action experts in the united nations have followed suit saying sanctions on those individuals involved and she's murder but not prince mohammed himself are not enough. the state department's response is to say the biden administration's goal is not to end but recalibrate the u.s. relationship with the saudis we have me crystal clear and will continue to do so that the brutal killing of democracy 28 months ago remains an acceptable conduct. at the same time our relationship with saudi arabia is important it's important to us interests and it requires continued progress and reforms still the white house

press secretary added the u.s. was not limiting its options. coarsely reserve the right to take any action at a time and manner of our choosing the biden administration says it now wants to focus on the future conduct of saudi arabia to see if it improves its human rights record. well where the u.s. has held back others have nots the press watchdog reporters without borders has filed a criminal complaint with the german public prosecutor against the saudi crown prince over can show he's killing the complaint is seeking an inquiry under germany's international jurisdiction laws it accuses saudi arabia of persecuting because shogi as well as dozens of other journalists as you heard his show he was a u.s. based contributor to the washington post he was murdered at the saudi consulate in istanbul it's believed on the orders of the soul the crown prince. are for more now we want to bring in rebecca vincent she's director of international campaigns with

reporters without borders she joins me from london rebecca it's good to have you on the program even if the courts were to convict the crown prince what effect do you think it would have been mean what do you hope to achieve with this lawsuit. we hope to achieve accountability i think it would certainly be a significant factor for any of the officials named especially the study crown prince to find a court decision against them in any jurisdiction they have gambled with the fact that they can get away with these horrific crimes and so far they have and that gamble has been pretty safe so far because what we've seen is an international situation of impunity for the vast majority of crimes against journalists in the past decade there have been nearly a 1000 journalists killed around the world nearly all with full or partial impunity and at any given point there's nearly 400 journalists imprisoned around the world

so our reporters without borders we're trying to now impose costs for this we're looking at saudi arabia which is have long held one of the world's worst press freedom records the murder of jamal is one of the most horrific examples of a crime against journalists in modern history and the cold feet cuti with which it was committed make it especially necessary to achieve some form of justice here but not just for jim all but the 34 journalists that we've named as well that have suffered arbitrary detention and a range of other systematic and widespread crimes in saudi arabia but if you could tell us more about the significance of this german law which allows prosecution of individuals who committed certain crimes outside of germany. well you know at universal jurisdiction exists in other states as well we chose to bring this suit in germany for a number of reasons why we think that the judiciary is likely to be favorable to it and political conditions are right as well but there are other countries where this sort of lawsuit would in theory be possible however it's

a fairly creative stat i don't know of another n.g.o.s who has taken an action quite like this arguing crimes against humanity have committed had it have been committed in these acts against journalists is part of our justice for journalist task force within our isaf where we are trying to to find creative solutions to impose concrete costs for crimes against journalists where justice within their own countries is not possible i mean you know you say that you choose germany because the political conditions are right you're in london was the u.k. considered a country where this may not be looked upon so favorably. the u.k. also has universal jurisdiction but we didn't look particularly here for a number of reasons not just politically but i have to say the u.k. government's position on saudi arabia has been really disappointing that clearly there are other interests in the bilateral relationship it is very rare for our foreign office here to take a strong position hardly ever publicly on any case you know related to human rights in saudi arabia with few exceptions and when other areas of the relationship

continue such as arms sales it sends a clear signal to saudi arabia that other countries are willing to engage in business as usual but for these $33.00 of the $34.00 journalists named for arbitrated tension 33 are currently in prison for these 33 people and their families i mean and off is enough we can't continue to enable this repression as you know in our democratic states so we're hoping to help find other ways to address this to impose concrete costs where our own states are failing so far or because it's a director of international campaigns of reporters without borders rebecca we appreciate your time and all the work that you're doing thank you thank you. first . he was responsible for a secretly filmed video that brought down austria's government in 2019 the video appeared to show the leader of austria's far right freedom party offering government contracts to russia in exchange for political funding when now that man

behind the video is trying to avoid extradition from germany to austria on drug charges he's afraid of what will happen to him if he returns home. spoke to him in the berlin prison where he is being held. it was this covert recording that brought down austria's governing coalition or the man on the couch soon to be vice chancellor heinz. discuss his plans with a wealthy russian to buy out a major austrian newspaper for political advantage or. when the video was published by german media in 2019 who was forced to resign and the chancellor called new elections it was a political earthquake. and the video had been a set up the russian had been an actress and the man who arranged the sting remained unnamed. in december however the alleged

producer of the video was arrested in berlin and is being held in this jail a whistleblower to some a conspirator to others yulian age faces extradition charges that appear to be unrelated to the so-called abuse if air cocaine trafficking an allegation based on the testimony of 2 witnesses. speaking to d w in most of the prison mr h. said the case against him is politically motivated. if all you need to lock someone up is 2 people with questionable reputations and strange statements and you can lock up anyone you want to absolute. the anyone and that's in austria which already has autocratic tendencies and danes. said in a visa he pictured having a system like or bonds hungry for being honest austria isn't so far away from that anymore and he says that he doesn't like mr h.

was also charged with making an illegal recording but a berlin court ruled that the video did not break the law mr h. believes the separate cocaine charge is being used to punish him for making the video while only appearing to be unrelated. the berlin justice department says it has no authority to get involved in an extradition case. left wing member of the german parliament believes germany should take a stronger position though you look at what they're there to show and i think we ought to look very very closely at the motives for this extradition request and whether we want to comply with it. or whether that would set a totally wrong tone in terms of intimidating those who expose wrongdoing. i believe exposing wrongdoing like this is extremely important and that should be kept in mind in this case. without an exceptional

intervention from german authorities really an age might soon face a judge in vienna a city where his name is political dynamite. you know this has all the makings of a political thriller let's bring in my colleague i mean yes if you just filed that report leading to you i mean since you spoke with julian h. there have been new developments in this case right. that's right the berlin court of appeals announced today that they've approved his extradition but before he goes he will be a witness in a separate case a separate corruption case that involves some of the same far right austrian politicians that he and grey shaded himself to when he was setting allegedly setting up the sting in 2017 so this this case keeps getting more complicated but what you need to know is that his extradition has been approved but he won't be extradited immediately although the proceedings are supposedly under way now and he

went to the prison here in berlin where he is being held he says that the cocaine trafficking charge is part of a set up is there any evidence to support that claim well he says this is speculation he admits that but what he and his lawyers have been saying is that it seems that prosecutors in austria have been throwing charges at the wall to see which ones stick so the original charge which is that he made an illegal recording was dismissed both in an austrian court enter berlin court they said that that was not illegal then comes the cocaine charge which is based on testimony not on the presence of any cocaine or any video so there's no hard evidence in that so that supports you in ages argument that they're throwing these charges that him just to get him back to austria what remains though is the charge of blackmail that during this 2 year period between when he filmed the video and when he sent the video to

german media he was allegedly trying to get someone to pay him for the recording do we know what was this man julian ages what was his motivation for making the beats a video that brought down the government in austria. well yulian age was a private detective and this is also where the story gets complicated he was hired by a lawyer he was hired by a lawyer to essentially dig up dirt. based on the accounts of of a former employee so that's somewhat unrelated but really an age says that once he got involved in looking at what he was up to he decided he took it upon himself to take the risk to expose corruption and apparently when he could not expose the corruption based on just things that she said you decided to push it a little you could say and set up. this meeting and visa you know when we talk

about this person julian h. we're not trying to paint a portrait of a saint here me there are some very unsavory things about him but we know there's been a debate about whether or not he's a whistleblower or a conspirator explain that for we got about a minute left well look his lawyers say this is the case with all whistleblowers with all people who expose the government corruption it's not the currents not the exposure of the corruption that democracy like austria will go after it's something else so they have compared him or have drawn parallels at least to julian a songe who was pursued by the u.s. government for leaking top secret documents but then was arrested on charges of sexual assault but there is a difference between a whistleblower and a journalist like yulian julian a songe and these affair which was not stumbling upon a conversation but setting one up so that's where politicians in germany has the

tate to step in and say he's a whistleblower he needs to be defended yes right it looks like entrapment for sure there i mean yes if excellent reporting a fascinating story i thank you. and finally we. see the famous british street artist has been back at work a new painting has reappeared on one of the walls of a former prison in reading england campaigners have been trying to turn the former jail into an art center for several years now its most famous in me was 1903 poet and playwright oscar wilde he was sentenced to prison there after being convicted for. having loved another make. well the days almost done the conversation continues online you'll find us on twitter you can follow me of t.v. and remember whatever happens between now and then tomorrow is another day.

clean drinking water for everyone. close to rica has made protecting its springs a top priority. the secret to their success. and efficient waste management program that requires everyone to do their part. and its. 3000. d.w. . africa. from

the national parks in congo fyi and his family would love nothing more than to live in peace. but poachers and farmers are hunting them and threatening this species. what's being done to protect them for. in 60 minutes w. . they were forced into an aimless mess. their bodies their tools. the history of the slave trade isn't africa's history. just good for power

and profit plummeted and entire continent into chaos and violence. this is the journey back into the history of slavery. our documentary series slavery routes starts march 10th on g.w. . welcome to q. labels 3 thousands. of costa rica is blessed with water in abundance and with people who are determined to conserve this precious commodity. eco tourism in mexico will conservation what be the main focus of all holiday in future. is no money heaving with tourists but the pandemic has changed all of that and

that's being dissolved stress from many locals. of course something is it was a bit too much may your biggest island. beautiful but utterly overcrowded the streets jammed the bars overflowing party go is everywhere. for local people though mainly german and british tourists were simply too many too loud too inconsiderate . in 201913 point 7000000 foreign visitors descended on the barrack islands. then the coronavirus hit on the brakes were slammed on tourists travel everywhere in 2020 just 1700000 people came here a drop of 87 percent yes most local people depend on tourism to survive in just 12 months unemployment rose by 37 percent.

things are now gradually starting up again but it's not clear when normality might return and that's leaving many local people deeply concerned. palmas sunny winter is normally attract plenty of tourists but right now there's just a handful of people on the beach. the pandemic has turned life on the island upside down. many locals are despairing and the some the mood is rubbing off on the few visitors that are here. it's like a ghost town at least here in town the day my orca some of the guy in. the big hotels are nearly empty tourism has come to a standstill. and. people are angry and there are demonstrations on the streets unemployment is at a record high many are on the brink of ruin and say the government has abandoned

them. at every step of it and we need something to eat we have to pay our bills but no $1.00 is helping us we're fed up tired of being humiliated and lied to. i seems like this have become commonplace in palma lines of people waiting patiently at a food bank like this one run by the taliban or an aid organization. before the coronavirus crisis tardo distributed about 200 meals a day now it's about 2000 the government subsidy for people who've had their allis cut or lost their jobs is really enough to keep people in flight. it is going to say to and help out there also here she lost her job working in a hotel. that's just how we got out there i'm not ashamed to be here so many of us have to stand in lines like this i just find it sad to have to ask for food he but

i mean it priest or minister when you have very communal let them tell you about runs the tardo aid organization it's financed solely by private donations he says that the crisis threatens to stretch the social fabric on the island to breaking point. and for many entrepreneurs we used to mainly serve people who'd been living on the edge of society for a long time and. now we're seeing families with children who've been out of work since last summer when we got. the aid organization also runs shelters one of them is just a few blocks away which has beds for up to 80 people. more and more locals find themselves trapped in a downward spiral 1st they lose their jobs and then their homes new yorker has a population of 1000000 a 3rd are now living in poverty. daniel

travis is a originally from argentina he's now sharing a single room with his wife and 3 children before the crisis they had an apartment and he and his wife worked in a hotel. we both had jobs and would doing really well. but suddenly the virus came and things began to go downhill in because. the people of new york have been hit hard. by. activists she won money where's a good is heading in demonstration in front of an apartment building they want to prevent an eviction the landlord is trying to force mohammed and the hoofy who is from morocco to move around because he's behind on the rent. despite the pandemic there are about 10 evictions in palma every week the demonstrations only manage to

hold and handful of evictions and usually it's just a temporary reprieve. and if the momentum come of that we're seeing more and more victims in rental apartments their families who are squatting in apartments out of sheer desperation also being thrown out the i mean. mohammed el if he is lucky the demonstration was large enough to attract attention . action has been halted at least we know. the anger is growing here locals say state aid has been too little too late many are demanding that the regional government step down. it's not a month i mean it's no surprise that people are protesting because we understand that but at the same time our main priority is to improve the health situation we need to relieve the pressure on our hospitals people's lives are at stake is it as i said about to be that as the crisis deepens many people on the island are showing

solidarity restaurant owners are donating meals for people in need. jose maryon of burgers is also helping even though his restaurant is also on the brink. so far he's only received 1500 euro zone subsidies just a drop in the bucket compared to what he needs. but i don't want to help the people who are even worse off than we are this is going to be our worst year ever who knows if the government is all talk or if they're finally going to take action the situation here is really terrible marky. mark told them when the market the one. that midday the meals already hot chocolate it took tia and a sandwich the mood is dede people here know that another tough year lies ahead for me york that right now there's no telling when the tourists will return.

and when will we see such images again will we ever in fact there are increasing demands for travel to be rethought for an end to mass tourism and a shift towards more climate and environmentally sound holidaying eco tourism for example involves being up close to nature. and also directly benefiting it but how does it work it's certainly a growing sector and $2900.00 its market size was valued at $180000000000.00 u.s. dollars we headed to mexico's baja california coast an area rich in sea life to find out. mexico's baja california is wild and beautiful the pacific here is full of creatures hunting and being hunted marlin like to eat sardines but overfishing is depleted marlen populations.

conservationists are worried and are keen to protect them. marlin may be native here but they're hard to find nowadays. at 5 in the morning ben is wide awake and raring to go he's from the united states and has come here to magdalena bay to see wildlife. it's absolutely excitement so it's a wake up alarm goes off it's like let's get up let's carry it let's go really excited to suit the day is going to bring. for the people living here fishing has been the major source of income. ben is joining the scientific expedition led by marine biologist valentino caulk around. you. had 1st things are very quiet. and then some birds show up looking like they've spotted something. they find several

sea lions hunting for breakfast. they're on their. crazy looking. dolphins are curious as to what's going on and accompany the boat. there have to be some marlins out there somewhere they should be hunting right now but this season they haven't been seen very much. valentino corcoran works with the next cali project a nonprofit that backs research into marine life and promotes eco tourism as an alternative source of income to fishing for local communities. she wants to see if there are any traces of mormon eggs. but.

if they spawn here that means this area is of great importance it would be an important argument in favor of declaring it a conservation zone. is helping than a cali project to promote citizen science that's when members of the public help conduct research little waves well and tina retrieves a sample of water thick with jelly like plankton. i'm going to put it on the cool one still take some sample to drink this research is financed with the money citizen scientists pay to take part in such expeditions about 2000 euros each that's about twice the price of a regular tourist expedition. i think it's really cool to be a major and to be actually contributing to this beautiful bay that there's conservation efforts and help and understand the population the fish populations and you need to protect it it's better than just going on

a vacation. back on land they study their samples under the microscope the ocean is packed with chinese creatures. overfishing means that the striped marlin could soon be declared an endangered species. still no. we have to start protecting them right now so they don't go the way of tuna or sharks. the next morning a party of tourists sets off on a catch and release fishing competition this kind of tourism is gaining ground in baja california it's considered less destructive than commercial regular recreational fishing. but catch and release can still be fatal as we later see for ourselves. molesey 0 is skipper on ben's boat

he's lived from fishing for most of his life but no longer he says commercial trawlers catch way too many marlin as bycatch. bunnell game plays that way over time you can drive a species to extinction that way if no restrictions are enforced it's very tempting to catch more than your permitted to look at me. he says the ocean may be teeming with life but we should only take what we absolutely need he's now a fan of eco tourism and says it provides him with a good living and helps conserve local biodiversity. the expeditions soon chances upon more action in the ocean. seals and dolphins are busy hunting. then some whales show up as animals so much larger than you but at the same time it's allowing space and search that beauty and actually you know watch them in their

natural habitat. and know marlon makes a brief appearance. on . the boats with the tourists are heading back to harbor they caught a fish a marlin they had spent an hour hunting it then it died by mistake they say they swallowed the hook and hurt itself they were going to catch and release it but then we couldn't get nothing. but in china asks for its entrails so its death wasn't entirely in vain they could help her research she hopes to present her 1st findings in 2 years' time and we've put on the cause and we have to protect. but you know that that 1 may have some value but a living one has so much more and more to. ben says he's grateful for the part he can play in researching the marlin and the

efforts to protect the species. ghana is one of africa's popular tourist destinations and that's where this week's global snack comes from. with 2000000 inhabitants ghana's capital accra on the west african atlantic coast is the biggest city in the country. is the joyce it has a snack bar on mile 7 where she's been selling grilled corn on the cold since 2009 . the each morning conus to live it that she picked out any at the markets. says that let's go back over to the. wife if the corn is brought fresh from the farm it's really tasty.