we live in a competitive world there's a colt it's cold it's been cold water used to be free but it was changing too much important to mother to. be free fair. city for commodity starts march 22nd on t w. this is d w news and these are our top stories gemini france italy and spain have become the latest countries to suspend the rollout of the astra zeneca coated 1000 vaccine over safety fear is the move follows reports of an increased risk of blood clots but astra zeneca and the w.h.o. insist there is no risk. mean maher security forces have again fired on pro-democracy protesters killing several people the fatalities come a day off the dozens of activists were killed in the largest city yank on the state

for costa says the military has imposed martial law and 6 townships in the city. and british police have arrested several protesters during a 3rd night of demonstrations in london people gathered to demonstrate against the breaking up of a vigil over the weekend for mudda work for murder victims are ever odd the gathering led to confrontations between police and mainly female born as the metropolitan police says it acted to protect the public as a vigil breached coronavirus restrictions well this is d w news from berlin you can find much more news on our website as well as analysis on. board. one year ago italy became the 1st european country to impose

a coronavirus lockdown today italy started shutting down yet again new cases are climbing hospitals are filling up a 3rd wave is hitting europe and the timing could not be worse with vaccination rollouts across europe already stubbornly slow today more each new countries suspended use of the astra zeneca vaccine over blood clot worries europeans have an abundance of caution tonight what they need more and abundance of shots in the arms i'm broke off in berlin this is the day. with germany suspending vaccination with the astra zeneca vaccine as a precautionary measure we continue to be very cool about the program it's great to keep being rolled out in such a such speed across 3 across the u.k. that sanction against a country 19 doesn't refuse to answer many of course there's any loss of trust in

the fact that it's leading to. less uptake will undoubtedly more deaths than once is ensured that we did not speak 1st decision lightly it's always been clear to me that this is a decision for specialists not for politicians but it's. also coming up the war in syria 10 years of fighting have left a nation in ruin a people uprooted and a future so dark it already haunts the present now we have with us in tempe it will the 'd biggest of the military grade this is the 2nd world war the many losses many . the hunt. for truth i have to say that there is no life until the time. to our viewers on p.b.s. in the united states into all of you around the world welcome we begin the day with

a question for europe when you find yourself in the grips of the pandemics 3rd wave what is the best way forward increasing the number of banks in nations or decreasing the number of vaccines well tonight much of the european union is fighting the coronavirus minus one major vaccine today germany france italy and spain joined the list of e.u. countries suspending use of the astra zeneca coronavirus vaccine on worries of possible blood clots and astra zeneca responded by. saying that 17000000 people have already been inoculated here in europe with no evidence of a heightened risk of blood clots the world health organization also saying there is no leak and adding that countries should not stop using the bank c that's advice that the german health minister is not taking us for towing and stuff to keep up confidence in this spec scene we now have to give our experts in germany and the

european union time to review this recent cases they must also clarify the question of whether the benefits of effects in nations continue to outweigh possible risks because one thing is clear non-blacks a nation also has serious health implications and that review process is what we're waiting on now but you see it's so i that was the german health minister speaking there let's take this now to professor paul hunter professor hundreds going to have you on the day as it stands tonight there is no evidence of a link between the astra zeneca bank scene and increased risks of blood clots career is that correct. number of cases this is being followed as any particularly something called. venous bemis side strabo's which is pretty uncommon but when you thinking

about how many people that right across europe. you would certainly expect to see some cases surely not shots people following that sedation so dr how do you explain that if there is no causal link here how do you explain what is happening here in germany in france spain italy in other european union countries. well i think not but the issues is that want something like this is being right people to get nurse and both. members of the public and indeed also medical doctors as well and i don't think there is a i hate fear that he had to. to allow that thing to go ahead when when these sorts of concerns are being right the problem is that not going to happen that seniors associated with a very clear risk of increased risk of infection death many times greater than what

is being suggested by this association which may actually probably weapons turn out to be causal now want to take a listen to a possible explanation that was given earlier today take a listen the. virus the sun has come virus appears to affect the blood in a very characteristic way and clan course both this clotting and the bleeding we know that very well so. i would say the 1st thing before starting to pour the vaccine is to be absolutely sure that none of the cases were at least the majority of the cases don't have undiagnosed code that dr do you agree with this i mean could this all come down to people already being infected and not knowing it and then receiving the vaccine. that's certainly

entirely plausible yes i mean we do know we know from the experience in israel least i found to a certain extent in the u.k. there are people tend to get an increased risk of fit around the time of their nations largely because either they have gone it's got their infection as they've been going to and from the last clinic or indeed because since they have the facts and i sort of tend to relax and or eat when they think they are no that is all that coming up they tend to relax thing in that following that it was fictions and that's been well described so it's quite plausible that such around the time of the vaccine people the traits what was being basing the infection and indeed god doesn't need to be investigated as a matter of priority if it hasn't already been done. it's fancy naming that what

you bring up there in terms of public health policy you know we're hearing that this is spin should is being carried out as a precaution but it is without a doubt it's damaging the public perception of this vaccine people could refuse to get this shot and they could die as a result right yeah oh absolutely and i think that there are the statistics of that are actually very convincing and we know. but. the cases that have been occurring seem to be people who are forty's. all thereabouts and the risk of dying if you get a an infection from the code at that age is ratting out one fire was so violent deaths that a 1000000 people infected and that compares to what we all accent suggest today at the risk of an association of about 4000000 doses that the

statistics are very much. towards actually carrying on with billy the vaccine especially if as as many people suspect this is cessation turns out to not be real we understand that the european medicines agency plans to hold an extraordinary meeting to discuss this but it's not tonight not tomorrow on thursday does that seem problematic to you. well i think when you when you call one of these meetings they a lot of the people there got other things that they can get out of things that maybe just as important for the public balance that their countries and also by the time you meet you need to shed a lot of the information that you've got so that so that by the time people have started in the meeting that they're actually fully aware of what the information is not yet check things out gets the information that they have got say or. see

meeting an hour or so sounds like a good idea but in reality what happens is that people aren't able to prepare adequately for that they need very important discussions that they will be hosting yeah definitely be an important meeting this coming thursday that is for sure professor paul hunter of the university of east anglia in the u.k. professor as always we appreciate your time in your insights tonight thanks michael . it is this vaccination policy and the public's dismay and disappointment over policy you know when you combine the 2 the result can be devastating for the political party in power just ask the conservatives of german chancellor angela merkel on sunday her c.d.u. party was handed stinging defeats in 2 regional elections it is safe to say tonight that the c.d.u. has every right to panic national elections will take place in september and uncle

america will step down after 16 years as chancellor it will be a major political change in germany and the voters looks set to punish those in power if the country's pandemic policy remains disaster number one germany super election before chancellor merkel's conservatives into regional elections they significantly lost support among voters the c.d.u. is in crisis one day later the frustration was crystal clear among the party leadership is i'm going to clearly say that the regional election results are disappointing because a t.v. used. in. an election result is always a wake up call for anyone who doesn't take note of election results who simply overlooks them simply not understood the meaning of an election. the c.d.u. was probably punished by voters for the painfully slow coronavirus vaccine rollout nationwide. a facemask procurement scandal involving conservative lawmakers only

made things worse. but one party's loss is another party's gain after winning the election in the wealthy state of butler to back the greens were in triumphant mode on monday in. overall we see that momentum for the greens continues we have started the super election year strongly the trend of recent years is confirmed in 2021. photos and i know it's fun to watch similarly the social democrats were eager to highlight their victory in the state of ryan and it doesn't this comes as long as the election result especially right now. to the social democratic party as a whole and. we want to use the upswing to help ensure that we can lead a future federal government to provide a german chancellor on the subject are trying to stand there to regional votes and not necessarily a preview of what will happen in september when all germans go to the polls but

they do provide clues about what voters throughout the country want what problems they see what parties they like and about what correlations might be possible at a federal level for the c.d.u. and particular they are also a stark warning they have 6 months to recover before their biggest challenge whether they can hold on to power without time 11 o'clock. or let's look at this now with our chief political editor the killer cafe here in berlin good evening to you so am i reading this right with these 2 regional elections the voters have put americans party on notice either find a solution fast or find your way out of power come september. it's not quite as drastic as that but at the same time these elections on to role model for the whole country but then again they are too big to ignore those countries together they're krauts the equivalent of the size of belgium and the

size of croatia so but what they have proven is that the greens aren't just have a thing a very good ride with the vote is that they are getting increasingly emboldened and thinking big and also thinking potentially other combinations than what we're seeing in the current polls which suggested for months that the likely outcome of the next elections for the angolan that will see you continuing in the lead and the greens being the junior coalition partner while the greens are coming across not more senior at this moment in time and then america will see you is on the defensive over corona but also on that in a scandal of some m.p.'s having had to resign because they took cash for a brain jing trade in those surgical masks so they set me on the defensive and they don't even have the top cans at the chance account is it taking them into these elections yet yeah that's right these elections they've started the countdown to

september when uncle americal plans to step down after 16 years in power and there really is no clear no definite successor to her is there. well her favorite and she does protest to marks over that is just the cane and the leader of the c.d.u. posse very recently but then he isn't that terribly popular across the board and something this defeat is the 1st thing that happened while he was in office and he's up against the most likely mouth of sudan as he still blanks come out of the closet with really wants to enter the race but he is the more popular of the 2 although he too has been hit over corona recently and that decision we're told will be sometime after easter still quite a while off with the seaview party still in limbo on which course it will take all right our chief political as a mechanic of the north on what is going to be an exciting election year here in

germany mikhail thank you. it began as one of the arab spring xb oldest uprisings it became one of humanity's biggest crime scenes 10 years ago today in the blossoming of the arab spring people in syria began protesting against the rule of president bashar al assad in the city of durai 15 children were arrested for spring anti-government slogans and that sent people into the streets demanding greater human rights and democracy and the regime of bashar al assad responded with a brutal crackdown that would morph into an all out war where than half a 1000000 people have died more than 5 and a half 1000000 syrians have become refugees 6000000 were displaced within syria losing their home with nowhere to go. 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 this 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. 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 a still displaced within syria more than half of them children 10 years later for the people of syria peace is still a long way away. when the list of program ocracy 5 years in syria is long and bloody tonight we want to focus on one of the most prominent human rights lawyer an activist. she was kidnapped by armed men in 2013. her whereabouts and her fate remain a mystery news investigative unit has been retracing her steps and this is what they discovered. mining. you heard this from the oscars

thanks thanks when protests erupted across syria in march 20th levon rights activist rosin said to me i was on the frontline she was key to revolutionary efforts across the country beside her also close friend martin del wish. we need the human rights lawyer in paris is. because. for me the most important aspect of president's personality is a rejection of injustice and willingness to do anything to fight injustice. when the s.x. 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 matter of 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 resin sledge regime had to mask this for duma a town that would later be dominated by the hardline militant group jaish and islam . present launched women's initiatives forth 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 a bullet left at her doorstep and none of this letter obtained by the w. threatening your life the words i will kill you repeated 5 times i trusted confidante not him who are asked to leave too much she responded the next day

saying i am not going to move we did not do a revolution lose thousands of source so that such monsters can come and repeat the same in just history. these people need to be held to account just like the regime . on december 9th 20 search when armed men stormed her office they abducted rather than together with her husband and 2 fellow activists after years of investigation human rights lawyer wishing to steam are confident that jaish al islam are responsible they gave us exclusive access to their findings with a little additional 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 after but they strongly denied any involvement in the abduction however it's additional 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 martin the wish hopes that the investigation of the finally bring clarity for him presence or absence is reminiscent of the pro-democracy movement in syria. the fate of rozanne and her colleagues resembles that of the civil peaceful movement that tried to create a moral eternity for syria. they were crushed between the regime and these islamist groups and that is the end of terry and as well as. the. 8 years after iran 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. and with me now is my colleague from investigative unit because of that story fascinating but when you look at the

time it's been 7 years since what result of her colleagues disappeared in your opinion is there any chance of finding them after all this time. finding them along . it is a tough question and it's very tough to answer. we there are credible indication that she was held alive some years after their protection of her her husband and her her fellow activists and we have evidence we have reviewed evidence that she was held in a prison often. do we know if she's still alive no we don't right now we have to really follow up some some more leads. we have to corroborate information and this is sometimes really challenging because actually there are

a lot of wrong leads out there and we're trying to find more witnesses and investigate to really at the end shed a little bit more light on the fate of. the beginning of this segment the list of pro-democracy activists is long and it's a bloody war in syria why did you choose to focus on results toward i mean she is one of the most prolific figures of the sort of revolution she helped to build democratic structures she tried to document human rights violations and to understand her story. helps a little bit to understand. the fate of the democratic movement of syria and to see how it was in a way crushed between the us had regime on one side and these radical islamist forces on the other side who in a way kidnapped the revolution and followed their own islamist agenda we heard in

your report that reason was against a group called. this right. tell us more about. just as some has been one. if the most powerful armed opposition groups and they are still operational in syria in 2013 when. was abducted said they had their main bases and say 40 a satirist even later they also fought the islamic so-called islamic state but they also forward other rebel groups because they really wanted to gain more control and by doing that they reportedly committed grave human rights violations we're talking about torture we're talking talking about false disappearance we're talking about massacres and what we know it's not that much because these violations haven't been documented. on the contrary you the

islamist groups they were part of the international peace talks and this coincidence really is also our attention and we really wanted to look further into it. because it's excellent reporting thank you very much and as you heard d.w. is continuing to investigate the disappearance of resign and her colleagues if you know anything about their whereabouts or the circumstances of their abduction or if you have any information you can contact us at the tips at proton dot com the day is almost done the conversation continues online you find us on twitter or you can follow me of t.v. and remember whatever happens between now and the. another day we'll see you then everybody.

it. can cause. relief for some a setback for others the relegation battle is enough to get a leg up in the face disappointment and the fall hopelessly behind its magic at the bottom of the. next on t w. hunting in the arctic circle who has the right to do so

in the land of the main. sweden supreme court has ruled that exclusive game hunting and fishing rights would be restored to one of the oldest communities. it was a historic moment for the sami and a source of aggravation for swedish hunters the. close up. in 60 minutes on t w. goal. more than a 1000 years ago europe witnesses a huge construction boom. chris genevieve firmly established itself. both religious and secular leaders or to display their power.

to trace began to. create the tallest biggest and the most beautiful structures this is how massive churches are created. conscious to be drawn. starts april 12th on d. w. . the countdown is on with 10 match days to go in this book is a good season it's time to ask the big question.