the chinese embassy in myanmar issued a statement saying china urges me and mark to take further effective measures to stop all acts of violence punish the perpetrators in accordance with the law and ensure the safety of life and property of chinese companies and personnel in myanmar. me and mars military shows no signs of easing the crackdown the military declared martial law and several large districts of yangon and mandalay the country's 2 largest cities but protesters are not relenting in mandalay hundreds return to the streets on monday morning to call for the release of aung sun suu kyi and other civilian leaders arrested at the start of the coup to be a court hearing was scheduled for sujit today but her lawyer reported it was postponed me and maurice deposed leader is now expecting her next hearing on march 24th. 6 in the security forces are using lethal force more frequently now around 40 people reported killed in the latest crackdown. is

so we definitely seen an escalation in terms of the frequency of crackdowns initially we would have some days where a lot of protesters were killed and some days where security forces but kind of backed off for a little bit in the last few days we've seen protesters killed every single day which definitely marks an escalation by the military and what impact. on the protest movement. we're seeing definitely the protests getting a bit smaller getting a bit. kind of concentrated to to really hardcore protesters we're also hearing and seeing things that indicate that the protests could get increasingly violent in terms of protesters fighting back for the 1st month these protests were

completely peaceful but now that the military has started killing people in the streets i think increasingly we're going to see people defending themselves. and that's what our poll that hearing all the allston civilian and all saw that was supposed to happen today has been john. we've been told that it was delayed due to technical difficulties seems to be difficulties that has caused itself by blacking out most vital data across the country why if i is still functioning so we're not sure why it couldn't have just been done that way but i also think this trial is it is a bit of a sideshow because. it's just going to decide the outcome itself it's not going to be decided by any type of objective judge or 'd or legitimate court hearing. so many big name but china does play an important role in this conflict what influence does china actually have. so there are

a lot of protesters who believe that that china might be secretly supporting the food so or literally even helped organize the coup i think that's unlikely because china values political stability and its business interests more than anything else and obviously this coup has been very bad for political stability and its business interests are now under threat but i do think the protesters have a valid complaint and that china has not used the huge level of influence that it has in the country to to support the protests to support the return of democracy to put more pressure on them which it definitely could be doing that. journalist andrew comes in reporting from young on for us thank you thank you here in germany the governing conservative party is in crisis mode today the public is increasingly unhappy with how the c.d.u. is handling the pandemic plus the party is also involved in

a corruption scandal over facemasks that's all lead to a big dressing down from voters over the weekend the c.d.u. scored its worst ever election results in the southwestern states of barton but. the results are seen by some as an indicator for september's federal elections when chancellor angela merkel will step down after almost 16 years of leadership for more now let's bring in the w.'s chief political editor. what were your main takeaways from what the city you had to say about their election losses today. well i mean last it the new cd party leader and state premier of north rhine-westphalia he doesn't really see any lessons to be learned any implication for the general elections in september which is a bit of a surprise when you look at the assessment from. the bavarian state premier those 2 are seen as being in the race to become the chancellor can do that and sees this as

a serious blow to conservative politics to the c.d.u. c.s.u. union and sees didn't need for action both do agree on that but i mean last it would prefer to look into the future he's adamant that those september elections will be about post pandemic germany only germany the whole world is still firmly stuck within this pandemic and you already mentioned that there is this scandal over several m.p.'s who stepped down since who took money for arranging mosques deals with the health ministry and that raised a lot of question marks over the c.d.u. and it's a big cloud to fight when you going into an election campaign that's a look at the other parties as well especially the greens they were among the big winners all of inside. well they are absolute delight it's because in the back which traditionally was

a conservative state it's the home of the cedars and poor. they proved with winfrey of cash money that they not just have the caris money but also the ability to link up with the conservative c.d.u. in government and the co-leader and i only know of babcock says that what works there which is now the greens being able to pick who they want to go into a coalition with could work at the federal level as well so that the belief that the current polling we're seeing which still indicates that the most likely outcome of september elections could be the conservative c.d.u. in the lead and the greens as junior coalition partner well from where the greens stand right now they don't feel very doña tall at this moment in time and they're hoping to be able to build on that so we. can really read that much into these regional elections being representative of germany on the whole.

yes and no written elections are always a oratory for what is potentially possible at the federal level but the big lesson to be learnt is that the candidates matter in both states we saw victories against the national trend in the case of the greens it's more along the trend of the greens getting stronger but in the case of. of the other states that went to the polls the s.p.d. actually coming out top is far from reality here it's been no longer even is considered a big big tent party so what we have learned is that those key decisions were waiting for now will be who the greens send into the race is there's a chance they can do it and most of all who the conservative c.d.u. will send into the race whether it's in loss or to stance americal style continuity or mock the more charismatic more abrasive candidate from bavaria and that

will be sometime after easter we're told it's interesting times ahead in german politics today chief political editor michelle thank you. a growing number of countries have suspended the rollout of the astra zeneca covered 19 vaccine over safety fears bog area denmark arlan the netherlands and norway have stopped giving the shots following reports of an increased risk of blood clots but astra zeneca the world health organization insists there is no wrist a leading german lawmaker has called on german authorities to give guidance on whether the vaccine is quote good or bad. with time to have a look at some of the other developments in the pandemic i.c.u. doctors here in germany are urging an immediate return to a partial lockdown because of covert 19 mutations germany has seen a rise in infections since gradually easing measures late last month half of italy's regions have gone into a strict lockdown again it's because of

a new spike in corona virus infections authorities say hospital admissions are beyond manageable and the developers of russia's sputnik vivax in say companies in germany france italy and spain have agreed to help produce that job it hasn't officially been approved in the e.u. yet now let's take a look at some other stories making headlines around the world this hour people in the netherlands are voting in 3 days of general elections which are seen as a test of the country's coronavirus policies the nation is under tight restrictions which are fueling public anger police broke up and he locked down protests in the hague on the weekend prime minister marcos' tips to win another term. afghan officials have overturned a local ban imposed on girls singing in public in the capital kabul there was a furious backlash on social media when the ban was announced last week schoolgirl choirs are a regular feature of vishal events in afghanistan. thousands of people are rallying

australian cities calling for an end to violence against women the march for justice movement is demanding a public investigation into sexual misconduct within australia's parliament it follows a series of rape allegations against politicians and stouffer's. buildings have been disappearing from science in beijing after the chinese capital was hit by the worst sandstorm in a decade the massive storm blew in from the gobi desert combined with near record air pollution levels choking everyday life in the city hundreds of flights have been canceled and commuters made their way to work through what some described as an epochal liptak landscape. take clouds of sand and yellow small get enveloping downtown beijing. the landmark headquarters of the state broadcaster c.c.t.v. trowed it in the gloom. residents of the chinese capital were hoping that

sandstorms were a thing of the past thanks to extensive planting of protective trees and pushes but atmospheric pollution from the biggest sand clouds in 10 years has now reached hazardous levels. right now and it looks like the end of the world in this weather i don't really want to be outside. it feels like a science fiction movie. that this is nature in the face of nature human beings are truly tiny and powerless that we must do what we can to protect the environment. the sand has blown in from remerge areas of china's neighbor mongolia where several people have been killed by the storm china has managed to cut some pollution levels and the government says it aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060 but greenpeace says an upsurge in industrial production

as the pandemic subsides is adding to the fallout from the sandstorm. 10 years ago today the arab spring erupted in syria and the city of the iraq people took to the streets with high hopes for greater human rights and democracy their protest was triggered by the imprisonment of 15 children who had spray painted the government's slogans the regime of bashar al assad was sponsored with a brutal crackdown in the area triggering a war that has cost thousands of lives and course the masters placement of the syrian people. it started with a glimmer of hope in spring 2011 the people took to the streets of syria after watching the arab spring in other countries they decided to demonstrate for political reforms and democracy in their own country. but their story ended differently. president assad's

regime brutally struck down the protesters. but they fought back a rebel army formed just peaceful protesters joined forces with army does a battle lines were drawn. up one of the bloodiest conflicts of the 21st century began in syria. other world powers used the conflict for their advantage to spread their influence in the region. moscow and tehran supported a silent while the united states and turkey gave their support to the rebel troops . the assad government regained control of syria but their victory was blunted. the country lay in ruins. and it's the civilians who have suffered most since the beginning of the war at least half a 1000000 syrians have been killed more than 6000000 syrians have left the country

another 6200000 still displaced within syria more than half of the. children 10 years later for the people of syria peace is still a long way away. and today you want to shine a light on one of the most prominent figures of syria's pro-democracy movement human rights lawyer and activist. she was kidnapped by armed men in 2013 and her fate remains unresolved w.'s investigative unit has been retracing her steps to learn more about events at that the start of syria's bitter civil war my name is. you are from the us this. when protests erupted across syria on march 28th less rights activists streisand said to me i was on the frontline she was key to a national effort across the country beside her also close friends from us and we

should. we meet the human rights lawyer in paris is. for me the most important aspect of president's personality is a rejection of injustice and her willingness to do anything to fight injustice be in her pulls along. when the assad regime responded with a bloody crackdown arresting thousands of activists resume chewer the world would know. she became a key stores she had this sort of softness almost frailty to her when you met her at the beginning and you like how she doing this very dangerous job. and then as soon as you spoke to her you immediately discovered the sort of steely courage and principles. in 2013 rezan fledge regime had to mask for duma a town that would later be dominated by the hardline militant group jaish and islam . present launched women's initiatives for for the rule of law and documented human

rights abuses including those committed by our troubles. all that made her and petted her for jaish al islam to its control to its ideology and its desire to establish an emirate a caliphate. rather than was targeted several times the bullet left at her doorstep and none of this letter by d.w. threatening her life the words i will kill you repeated 5 times a trusted confidant not even who are asked to leave tomorrow she responded the next day saying i am not going to move we did not do a revolution i lose thousands of souls so that such monsters can come and repeat the same in just history. these people need to be held to a coward just like the regime on december 9th 20 so teen armed men stormed her

office there abducted rather than together with her husband and 2 fellow activists after years of investigation human rights lawyer and his team are confident that jaish al islam are responsible they gave us exclusive access to their findings. over the dish of the witness statements we collected in syria and turkey corroborate that reson was held by the islamists before the trail goes cold. we've confronted high ranking members of jaish al islam but they strongly denied any involvement in the attacked however the judicial investigation. is underway by the french war crimes unit here in paris and a former top official of the group has already been arrested in connection with the case mazar wish hopes that the investigation of the finally bring clarity for him residents absence is reminiscent of the pro-democracy movement in syria.

the fate of rozanne and her colleagues resembles that of the civil peaceful movement they're trying to create a moral eternity for syria. they were crushed between the regime and these islamist groups in tibet in the end terry and as well as. the. 8 years after ramadan and her colleagues disappeared their fate remains one of the great mysteries of the revolution but friends and relatives have not given up hope that one day they will know the truth. well joining me now from boston is us from investigative units who have filed this report louis it's been more than 7 years nearly 8 years since. disappeared in your view is there any charles or finding them after all this time. that is a tough questioning there are credible indications that she was

alive for a number of years after she was abducted after the abduction of her and her husband and colleagues and part of the work that we're doing right now is following up on some of those leads and corroborating some of this information but of course you know there are challenges along the way as there are also false leads so part of our process is being able to parse through that information now you know what is important to note though is that you know was such a prolific figure she was so instrumental to the death you know establishing democratic structures early on in syria and so understanding what happened to her and her colleagues is absolutely key to understanding what happened to the pro-democracy movement in syria and so it is our hope that our investigation will shed light on what happened to them and hopefully solve one of the greatest mysteries of the syrian revolution. we had an annual report that was up against

a group called jaish. tell us more about that. well it's worth noting that we have been in contact with jaish al islam and they continue to deny their involvement in the abduction now what's interesting about this group is that they were you know it's largely comprised of salafist who were targeted before the revolution by the us start regime and when the revolution comes they take the opportunity to take up arms and fight and so you know you have this revolutionary islamist militant group that on the one hand is fighting the assad regime but on the other they have also been accused of very serious international crimes we're talking about crimes against humanity you know we're talking about torturing of civilian detainees and so you know you have this happening over the past decade now just a couple years ago the political leader of the group was the head of the opposition

delegation to peace talks in geneva in us donna so what's quite interesting of this group is that you know they have somehow their actions have somehow managed to fly under the radar of the international community while remaining one of the strongest armed opposition groups in syria today misandrous thank you very much for this up that. of course continues to investigate the disappearance of 2 colleagues if you happen to any information regarding whereabouts all the circumstances of the abduction you can contact securely. tips proton mail dot com. to the bonus league now where like say he is the only club with a chance of denying by munich a 9th consecutive title win lots he was hoping for a win at home against frankfurt but they only managed to draw it was the 2nd set

back in recent days. after they were dumped out of the champions league by liverpool in midweek leipzig were hoping to avoid the dreaded european hangover and rack up yet another been does legal win to keep their title challenge on track after a goalless 1st half the hosts got off to a flyer in the 2nd annual forsberg meeting one mil. the swedes 6 the season made him the club's joint top scorer of a strangely modest campaign in front of goal. late 6 title push has been built on defense that ship the fewest goals of any bindis league a say going into this one but frankfurt phoned away through japanese international daiichi come out a meeting 11 just after the hour mark. then had the best chance to win the match on 67 minutes but if an indy car showed that frankfurt also knew a thing or 2 about defending much the use of cool sums dismay. $11.00 it finished 6 winning run is over coach. will hope that their championship chances haven't

disappeared with it. and now a yellow trigger warning for viewers sensitive to cute pictures koala is celebrating a milestone birthday a spot in guinness world records as the oldest of her species in captivity. midori turns 24 years old on sunday that's the equivalent of 110 human years. birthday was marked in a zoo in japan where dory has lived for most 2 decades despite her age it henri can still climb trees and as a healthy appetite for you've guessed it eucalyptus leaves. you're watching the news coming up next indeed have you news asia the united states begins to reengage with allies in the end of pacific where is the partnership headed next. on the form of id professional feeding delis hungry for just one

set. coming up i've been responded to with all those stories in the news a job of course you'll find a lot more news on our web site s d w dot com punk out office for me of the team that's from. the book. the complete.

the book. the fight against the corona virus pandemic. has the rate of infection been developing. what measures are being taken. what does the latest research say. information and context.

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discover. subscribe to the documentary to. come. this is the wus a show coming up today of philip to us in gage went with. a meeting of the so-called quartet nations decides to provide coronavirus vaccines to countries in the into preserve it what does this initiative from the united states japan australia and india mean for the region and how does it tie in with high level u.s. visits to japan.