targeted in this crackdown so what is your assessment of the situation and yeah i mean i don't think the military is being honest. they've been trying to claim that they're only using very soft methods and that other countries would crackdown much harder i mean we're seeing on our peaceful protests often teenagers often young women being shot in the head on a you know weekly basis so i think that played by the military just simply not true we saw that the u.n. security council is demanding the restoration of democratic control and man maher and the military has said the hunter will hold elections soon so do you think that is a sign that these protests are indeed having an impact no i don't think so the military has said since they see is power that they were going to hold elections they've been claiming the reason they seized power was because the last election was bring they haven't offered any evidence of that i think if

the military you can follows through with its promise to hold elections we can expect those elections to actually be rigged and we can expect and all day to probably be banned from participating do you see any any avenue for a peaceful resolution to this crisis it's getting increasingly hard to see an off ramp any type of diplomatic solution the military is really digging their heels in and yet it's hard it's hard to see if this will resolution right now journalist andrew neck and joining us from yangon in ne in mar thank you very much thank you. now china's parliament has backed the communist party's plan to tighten control of hong kong by overhauling the city's electoral system the national people's congress overwhelmingly passed a resolution that grants beijing veto powers over candidates to ensure that the city is governed by patriots now critics say that these changes will effectively

eliminate all remaining opposition and they're calling it a final nail in the coffin of hong kong democracy movement. and let's go right to hong kong our correspondent standing by for us there hi fi v tell us about this new electoral system and what it will mean for the people of hong kong so what is changing here. beijing has taken a controversial power to push there actually phone for hong kong by bypassing hong kong slow costantini so a new macand a new factoring organization will be set up to screen all candidacy of the major local election in hong kong. and beijing's proposal also gives greater power to the actual commentary which is largely stacked 3 po beijing papers so that electoral comedies was originally only responsible for paying for picking the except maybe in hong kong but in the future more beijing loyalist will be added to that committee and they will also be in charge for the side to the side of candidates and also

some of the winners of hong kong locals are just h. or so although they thought he said that the size and composition of the electoral committee and home calls me parliaments will be expanded but it actually is. more difficult threshold for the opposition time to become canada's and not to mention the run for to do win the election in the future what we mentioned that beijing says that it wants to ensure that only quote patriots run hong kong in the future so how will that actually be judged. well that is indeed the cross of. the problems of patriotism under the current context in hong kong in beijing is a vague and clear concept which is not legally defined so. the authority says he she ought to politicians must not endanger national security but again the definition of national security can be broadly interpreted that over

the past few days we have heard senior officials in hong kong and also that occurred to the beijing legislature claiming that patriotic as holistic love to china in other words also support for the ruling communist party and no opposition to incumbents government critics say this one of the final nails in the coffin of democracy in hong kong isn't. well many opposition fakers there are deeply concerned about the new the push for the actual reform this could be this could spell the end of their political career in hong kong but the hong kong has never enjoyed for democracy has we have a direct democracy over the past 2 decades but now it means that the remaining room for the opposition within the political institution could be the end under the new

actually phone and also interestingly in some of the political analyst in hong kong based think that the actual systems could also be a challenge to the probation came that they were in the future they will have to compete with each other in terms of the loyalty to beijing our correspondent peavy kong reporting there thank you so much. now to some other stories making news around the world japan is marking the 10th anniversary of the massive earthquake and tsunami that destroyed towns and triggered the fukushima nuclear disaster a minute's silence was observed across the country in tokyo and bird to lead an official ceremony to pay tribute to the more than $18000.00 people lost their lives . the high court in pakistan has ordered the government to ban the social media. it is the country's 2nd bid to outlaw the platform over claims that it is spreading indecent content a previous band was revoked last october following assurances from the chinese that

content would be moderated. prince william has denied allegations of racism in buckingham palace stating we are very much not a racist family he made that comment during a visit to a london school it follows an explosive television interview in which is younger brother harry and his wife meghan said an unnamed member of the family had asked how dark their son archie's skin might be. now today marks one year since the world health organization officially declared covert 19 to be a pandemic the 1st coronavirus cases appeared in the chinese city of han officials there claimed a seafood market was the source of the outbreak the virus quickly spread across the world with europe becoming the new epicenter lockdowns and border closures didn't stop it moving and before long almost every part of the world became affected by the pandemic so how are countries across the globe coping one year since coburn $1000.00 was officially declared a pandemic we asked our correspondents in israel south africa and india to share

the view where they are. one year on israel is one of the leading nations when it comes to vaccination campaigns against cove it 19 over 50 percent of israelis have received at least one dose of the vaccine but health officials are still concerned about the new variants and with over 5900 people losing their lives to cope with 19 and this past year the government has often been harshly criticized for mishandling the crisis but after 3 hard lock downs people are now looking forward to going back to some kind of normality despite the problems of the. people here are trying to remain optimistic and they are reasons for that the 2nd wave was not as bad as predicted especially considering the new mutation of the virus that woods was discovered in south africa for the 1st time also vaccination programs have stopped it and epidemiologists believe that up to 40 percent of the population contract

it's covert before which gives some hope for the next waves to come. you know to go in the i was just beginning to talk about the coronavirus and many of the people to let skeptical about just how serious it is over the next c.e.o. india experienced one of the strictest down from the world and the highest ever case there would have close 210-0000 daily cases now however average cases every day are under $20000.00 and the vaccination drive is in full swing with markets airports and even some offices almost returning to normal many are once again wondering just how seriously they still need to take the crew on a virus. he was initially praise for the way that it handled a pandemic case numbers and death rates were kept low when testing was rolled out but the country's approach has started to falter restrictions are being lifted despite signs the country is already in a 3rd wave and bureaucracy is slowing down efforts to save lives through

vaccination. what seemed far away suddenly became a painful reality here at the stock company in late january 1 of them play us was the 1st german to contract covert 19 from a colleague who had travelled from china the german health minister remained optimistic there is no cause for concern. a few weeks later things look quite different infections were spreading throughout germany in mid march the chancellor took the unusual step of addressing the nation on t.v. . as if it is serious please take it seriously to say that there has not been any such challenge to our country since german unity not since world war 2 that has demanded such great joined solidarity based anxiousness 100 and called germany's 1st lockdown started the streets of berlin were virtually deserted museums and theatres had to close and the economy came to an almost complete

standstill. schools and nurseries also closed the living room became the new classroom but online teaching was difficult as laptops and software was scott's. meanwhile supplies of protective clothing in hospitals providing no doctors food to keep people infected alive early may nearly 7000 of them diet the high number was relatively low in comparison with other countries infection numbers started to for the lock down what that reduce the burden on hospitals who. finally some a time restrictions were eased people return to the streets but the easing of measures brought new infections. by november the numbers was so high that people were told to stay at home again what became known as lock down like began. the months parts of the population have been protesting against the restrictions oh

. but lockdown light wasn't enough shortly before christmas infection numbers reached such a high that public life was entirely shut down again with alcohol bans in public and even nightly curfews in some places at the end of the year germany's vaccination campaign had kicked off politicians promise that those who wanted the job would be vaccinated by the end of summer but many vaccination centers remain empty due to a shortage of doses but the fast rays of sunshine many are now longing for more freedom one year after the outbreak restrictions are being lifted bit by bit but in the meantime you taishan zone infection numbers are rising again. let's bring in our chief political editor michelle accused. so where does germany stand right now . well according to law who is the chief medic of the whole world

call institute the chief advisor to the government there who's been seen alongside the health minister under german chancellor throughout the crisis we are heading here in germany right into a 3rd wave he says we're in the midst of it and this is only a couple of days after the germans saw those long almost 3 months of a lockdown partially lifted some shops allowed to open some schools across the country and the government left that line of always responding with a lockdown to increasing numbers the incidence rate is rising sharply just over the past 24 hours and the big question mark now is after those partial listings where the journey might have to go in to get tighter docks down once again that decision though went be made before the 22nd of march went under machall meets her state premiers again at the same time if we look at vaccinations that there were plans to have family doctors of primary care physicians are start providing vaccinations in

their practices that is now being pushed back i mean why has this rollout been still so slow. well the short answer is because this simply not enough vaccine to go around this has to do with the fact that the e.u. and germany along with it was late 3 weeks later than britain for instance in licensing that 1st vaccine from biotech and that the e.u. is exporting almost half of what it produces in terms of vaccine towards the rest of the world where the united states for instance won't let anything out until every american has been vaccinated we also have the german chancellor criticized this at the same time germany is quite clearly very busy with its own federal structures when a speeding up of the process is needed and there's still those question marks over the astra zeneca vaccine was a lot of german still reluctant to actually have that particular shot so still

germany lagging behind here we've also heard the chancellor say there are still a few tough months ahead for the country and critics are saying her government of now essentially failed to handle the pandemic effectively is that a fair assessment. well the german government has certainly failed in having a very fast vaccine rollout it's easy to compare with britain where almost a 3rd of people have had their 1st shot whereas in germany it's about about 6 percent but if you look at overall deaths if you still compare those 2 countries germany's seen some 73000 deaths britain today to see 125000 so the big question is how will society how will voters actually measure the see in the end come election time but for now there is increasing a lack of patience with the government actually to get going particularly on the issue of vaccines and testing our chief political editor michelle thank you.

u.s. president joe biden is preparing to address the nation today to deliver what he is calling a message of hope it comes after congress passed a major relief package worth nearly 2 trillion dollars to try to defeat the pandemic and help the economy recover the american rescue plan as it's being called includes one off payments to most americans and also increases funds for $1000.00 a nation's. a standing ovation for one of the biggest financial aid packages in u.s. history. promising to bring relief for millions of americans hit hard by the pandemic help is on the way half of america's children who are in poverty will not be in poverty because of this bill help is are on the way back then when you go back. house speaker nancy pelosi couldn't quite hide her excitement as the bill kate its final hurdle of the motion is adopted.

it passed congress 22220911 despite republicans unanimously opposing the bell south carolina. this was the 1st major victory for joe biden 7 reaks into his presidency i want to thank speaker pelosi the house of representatives today for passing the bill and i will be signed into law surely this bill represents historic historic victory for the american people. this we ping relief packages and aimed at defeating the pandemic and messing the economy back to health $65000000000.00 will be spent on expanding testing and contact tracing and on speeding up the vaccine program. at the same time hundreds of billions will be allocated to state and local governments and to schools to help get children back into plastering safely. businesses will get support. weekly

unemployment benefits of $300.00 will be extended into september. and the measure that will be felt most immediately a one off payment of $1400.00 will be received by most americans. it will benefit slightly but i think it needs to be more done i think research a monthly payment which will help out the economy a lot better that is a lot of people that are back up in bills from months prior and me i want to the people that never got any stimulus yet so. it's beneficial but it's a tease and amid all the crisis right now. polls show that a majority of americans support the bill yet republicans have criticized it for burdening the country with far too much debt and some economists of warned it could spur economic growth that might lead to debilitating inflation.

ok let's take a look now at some other developments in the pandemic denmark and norway have temporarily suspended the vaccine produced by astra zeneca after several cases of blood clotting among vaccinated people the european medicines agency has recommended approving johnson and johnson one dose of vaccine this gives the european union a 4th licensed vaccine and richer members of the world trade organization have blocked a push by more than 80 developing countries to waive patent rights in an effort to boost production of vaccines for poor nations. now mexico's lower house of congress has voted in favor of legalizing recreational marijuana use the legislation which still needs final approval by the upper house is partly aimed at curbing drug related violence that claims thousands of lives every year in mexico. mexico's marijuana smokers have every reason to be high their long running campaign

to legalize the plant is almost a reality after lawmakers inside the lower house of congress approved a bill that permits recreational use and introduces farming licenses campaigners say the legislation is a step in the right direction. if the. law will allow cultivation both self cultivation of a number of plants pear peris an unpaired property and also associates of cultivation community cultivation through cooperatives associations and finally the national production. last year mexican police seized more than 200000000 tons of the plant supporters hope the changes will alleviate the plague of violence wrought by the illegal drug trade though on a list just skeptical among those pushing for a change is a former president turned cannabis lobbyist and.

i'm driving the group of the market to take it away from criminals and not is fundamental it will reduce violence. there is no doubt that what this plant produces benefits people patients and those who are willing to buy these medicines. the bill is expected to sail through the upper house of congress before the end of april making mexico the largest legal pot market in the world. sports now in germany football culture has held its 1st press conference sets and now think this week that he will leave the job after the european championship in june and july let's have a quick listen now to how he came to reach his decision. last year him politically independently of the 6 nil defeat to spain in november and indeed

before that. i had a little more time to think. especially in the time of the pandemic. and i decided that in february and march this year i would think a little more. all right we have mark meadows from sportswear that's why mark tell us more about what has been saying this press conference yes i mean as you saw there he's adamant it wasn't the signal defeat to spain although that was his last match in charge also said 15 years is a long time to be a national team coach nowadays and that is true he called it an eternity. and he also said he kind of wanted to give his successor more time to build up to euro 2024 which will be held in germany and he said how much you remember how wonderful 2006 was the world cup in germany when he was the assistant coach and so he felt that if you wait until the qatar will cup in 2022 it's getting

a bit tight then to 2024 so he's made this decision to go in july he also said the 2019 mini revolution that he had where he got rid of players like thomas and mats hummels he said that was right there's been a lot of speculation in the papers that homos another might be back for the coming up in march and he said the new players lack experience make up for it in potential so whether more there is going about we don't know at this oh well that the head of the german football association was also at this press conference so do we learn anything more about the possible successor to well he said they now have all the time in the world to choose someone there was no real hints although all of the big hole through is the national team director said there are good coaches in germany and there are good german coaches abroad that definitely suggests they want a german speaker almost certainly a german was a few good swiss and austrian coaches out there as well so i'm pretty sure we're

going to get him a coach and everyone's to really is who used to be the boss of them was also the sporting director. being the buddhist trainer as they call him is a lot more than just being a normal football coach so rough around it think is learn all that stuff and everyone else is available you have got some available knowledge was not available was not available so run it's the man i think all right mark meadows from sports thank you for that update. ok before we go we have some images for you of the world's largest religious gathering taking place in india hindu pilgrims from across the country have taken a dip in the holy river ganges to mark the most auspicious day of the festival at dawn hundreds of thousands gathered by the riverbank in how did the war to take the plunge and one of the several days of the next month authorities are expecting 2500000 people to gather for the festival because of a pandemic though the government asked can curtail the festivities and negative test certificates are in theory compulsory. coming up next on news

asia we look back at the fukushima catastrophe and find out why an official inquiry called it a disaster made in japan. and solace for the disasters of survivors now they have a line for their lost loved ones. will have those stories and more coming right up next on news asia stay tuned.

but 2050 more than half the world will be living with limited water resources we haven't had to think about our war or worry about. i think that era is over this is the crisis of our time it's a financial product like any other financial we move in a competitive wall was just cold it's cool it's been cold water used to be free but

the world is changing to the most important commodity and. all the streets live from modes of water cities or commodity stores march 22nd on d w. where the real power resides. when i come from there are lots of people in fact not an opinion it is or was not just democracy give me that's one reason why i'm passionate about people and aspirations and they can sense. the truth and the mission report is right here in berlin after the 4th of the berlin in 1 am remember thinking at the time if the blood in the can for what happened is people come together and unite for a call. but i do the news that often confronts difficult situations more conflicts being discussed else i see despite my job to confront floods leaders on policies

and development put the spotlight on issues that matter most hunger food security oppression nationalization. not has been achieved so much more needs to be jobs and i think people have to be at the heart of solutions my name is on the top she and i work at g.w. . this is. a triple disaster that's. a moment of silence marks the 10th anniversary of the deadly earthquake and tsunami . disaster with thousands still displaced and memories of the dead.

lessons has. been leaving.