well president putin kind of took the high road today 1st he wished joe biden health and then he said that essentially you know it's common * that other people see things in their counterpart that they actually have in themselves so essentially he reflected that accusation that we heard from joe biden back at him and said that joe biden was essentially the pot calling the kettle black. he also though said that russia would be willing to work with the u.s. as far as that relationship going forward benefits russia's interests what i believe is these accusations of election interference that we saw in that u.s. intelligence report has been addressed. well what a mere putin it seems didn't address those accusations he only addressed the

personal insult that was leveled at him and the relations over all but yesterday we heard a denial from the kremlin spokesperson to be his quote he said that the report that the u.s. had released was baseless and wrong and unsubstantiated he questioned the quality of that report but really here in russia the big news has been that statement by biden calling putin a killer various politicians have been coming out calling it hysterical unpresidential we saw the foreign minister recalling the russian ambassador to the u.s. for consultations on the future of relations between the 2 countries one politician said that this really is a red line and the next step would be a diplomatic. severing of diplomatic ties so despite the fact that we saw the president the president himself today putin kind of laughing this off taking the high road i think this is a red line for the kremlin this personal insults particularly because this is

a country where essentially putin is almost untouchable on the political landscape usually even his critics kind of insult the kremlin more generally or the government more generally criticize that but don't criticize putin himself so only if this is a red line what do you think this means for the ties between the u.s. and russia going forward. well look i think the expectations on the russian side of this new biden administration were already pretty low from the beginning but i do think that they did expect some sort of bare minimum you know bare bones relations on the key issues for example on nuclear arms control on the iran nuclear deal and it does see. that putin today has expressed some readiness to go forward with that to keep relations going as far as as he said

russian interests that is in russia's interest but i do think this personal insult is certainly a bad basis especially for a president who really values i think personal relations between the leaders that he is meeting with and when it comes to deploy not diplomatic relationships between russia and other countries. sure when reporting for us from moscow thank you and richard walker has been speaking to german foreign minister heikal moss today and he asked him what he made of president biden's comments about the russian leader. it is not my task to comment on or to evaluate statements by the u.s. president. because i have seen that the us is using very clear language with a view to russian activities such as in syria or efforts to influence elections in foreign countries in the vibe and quickly and not so by influence and now it was

the you also see that a few days after taking office joe biden was capable of extending the new start treaty with russia. so from then on i will so when it is necessary one can assume that the us will use very clear language to address things that are not acceptable with regard to russia or russian activities. by the arc to be taped and you will see it fully in areas of international interest like nuclear disarmament it will ensure that it's ready for dialogue and to come to an understanding. or just one off and on for example that there won't be more stockpiling of nuclear weapons. this is nice to bear all of them but instead that disarmament treaties will be extended because i think it's an important signal that u.s. foreign policy will be very clear when it comes to freedom and human rights but on the other hand it will remain open for dialogue with moscow when it comes to

serious challenges like disarmament and climate change. let's get a round up of some other headlines now several allies of jailed russian opposition figure alexian of all the war on trial today including his press secretary and the head of us moscow office as well as 2 members of the band pussy riot several of his allies were detained in january after an authorized anti kremlin protests according to russian media their house arrest has been extended by 3 months. turkey's pro kurdish h d p party is fighting for its political survival after a prosecutor asked the top court to shut it down the party is accused of having ties to the outlawed p k k militants with the h.d. peace as the case is part of a long campaign to stifle opposition the president are the ones government. resistance to the military government in 1000000 mark continues on the streets of yangon despite a deadly army crackdown residents burned barricades to block riot police the army

is sealed off parts of the city and imposed an information blackout. germany has recorded its largest rise of daily coronavirus cases in 2 months more than 17000 new infections have been confirmed in the last 24 hour period the rise comes after an easing of restrictions in recent weeks and the spread of more transmissible variance. and our political correspondent thomas sparrow is following the latest developments on this story for us hi thomas what more can you tell us about these the crown of our stickers here in germany essentially so we've got very worrying experts are warning not only that there's exponential growth again here in germany but also that if the situation continues as it is the numbers could be even worse at easter down there were in december christmas and at christmas the situation was really really bad here in germany it's not only the infection numbers that are growing rapidly it's also basically every indicator of the coronavirus situation

here in germany if you look at the 7 day incidence rate which is very important to determine what steps germany is going to take it's also growing it's around 19 now if you look at the number of hotspots in the country they're also growing the only caveat the only good news in all of this is the fact that death numbers are declining steadily which is also with us a very good news story here but in general we can clearly say that the situation is very difficult in the country and that it's also a big challenge for authorities who now have to determine what are the next steps to follow now what are authorities going to do thomas does that mean that we're going to see a return to a stricter lockdown no. well you may remember that germany and german leaders in particular in the last few weeks actually were planning to reopen gradually parts of public life is actually a plan in place to do so to that gradual reopening but obviously the dilemma that authorities are now facing is on the one hand how to cope with that desire for

reopening that coronavirus fatigue that is absolutely evident in parts of german society with the reality on the ground which is these increasing numbers of infections the 7 day rate and the hot spots across the country so it is likely that to further restrictions will be added when leaders both at the federal level and at the regional level meet next week to decide the next steps there is a lot of expectation as to what will happen next week when german leaders meet that's also has to do with the fact that vaccination numbers here are still progressing very slowly and the situation does not seem to improve when it comes to the overall coronavirus situation our political correspondent thomas sparrow with the very latest thomas good to talk to you. now to some other developments in the pandemic europe's medical regulator is set to give its verdict today on the safety of the astra zeneca vaccine that comes after several nations suspended its use over blood clot in concerns

a study published in the lancet medical journal shows that the majority of people who have had copd 19 are protected from getting it again for at least 6 months france reported its biggest one day jump in cases since its 2nd lockdown in november the government is set to announce further restrictions and japan will not extend a state of emergency in the tokyo area when it expires on sunday but officials are warning against complacency. an independent report published by the catholic church today has uncovered hundreds of allegations of child sexual abuse in germany's largest diocese in cologne the study presented by the church mandated lawyer found more than 300 victims between 107521000 more than half for children under the age of 14 the investigation cleared colognes archbishop find among the other key of breach of duty he's been under pressure to resign amid accusations that he hushed up the allegations and over his refusal to publish and this will report that he

himself commissions we'll get more details on that in a moment but 1st we need a victim who has spent years seeking justice if you can measure. and measure i remember sitting and so in the bathroom area next to the sleeping quarters overlooking the courtyard bleak of dream of being close to who i was crying to myself and calling from my mother or i was just 11. months if you i kept crying i can anyone him me. mr garner who was a boarder at a catholic school where a priest abused him for years still haunted by terrible memories several years ago he felt so overwhelmed that he tried to kill himself. it was only later that he realized that he wasn't alone what had happened to him had happened to others but

the church state silent. in 3 to 2 on. the list of the 2 don't start on i am sick church is an institution that speaks and acts from a highly moral standpoint. so at meeting wrongdoing like this is very difficult anyone can see that. but our accusation is that the burden of the church silence or falls on the victims. these are fresh of course in there but often a good time not just for your for over a full. how could and other survivors to cope earlier this year when the cologne archdiocese announced that it would publish a report naming those responsible for abuse but things turned out differently the archdiocese changed its mind it told the victims that the report was unreliable and poorly done survivors felt browbeaten into accepting that the findings stay secret

door and. they needed us as a kind of seal of approval to justify this decision to suppress the results these especially those who are still don't work for no g.p.s. and no one from the archdiocese wanted to go on camera to comment meanwhile feel stronger ties to all over again the suffering both physically and emotionally but often avoid annoyed or notice mention the victims have been exploited once again people who were damaged in the past by priests have been damaged gan to protect the institution or when i finally understood what was going on all the crimes that happened thank then came back to me going. to fort. see and much focus says that he's lost his faith and the church once and for all and we can speak to our religious affairs correspondent martin gawked for more on

the story hi martin what more was revealed in this new report. well there were a couple of striking facts i mean the brunt of the accusations fall in about 300 terri or 300 perpetrators but actually about one 3rd of those who are not clergy perpetrators they're people that were associated with the church and were in the care of children but were not actually clergy so the reason ways interesting is because it actually extends you know with the essentially the cover of these conspiracy i mean quite clearly this what we are actually dealing with beyond sort of his media space of a clergy and people that actually have authority within the institution and are fact that he's important to keep in mind is. this thing actually did not really stop around the time of when the scandal began or would in became public but in fact up until 2018 you know the rate of the rate of things since actually

kept creeping up what about the archbishop cardinal vokey here because we know he's been under fire for the way he handled this affair in the past so what does this report say about his involvement and how is he reacting. well the report does not really believing him so that's not placed there rick blame on him but to some degree this opens more question studied closes because obviously they should know is particularly in relation to the fact that he did so bristow 1st reported what he 6 i believe that was being that was being you know held one of the bigger questions say thing on the table is what happens with the 1st report and i think it's in everybody's interest particularly as we continue to read and see what comes out of this report to actually gain access to the 1st report to understand exactly what the full range of like you say chanson what the full range of

investigations who are coming back to does that mean that he is innocent. well you think that you know it's not something that we can say it's quite certain that according to this investigation he's not guilty of sexual abuse and he's not guilty of having covered up or being you know of the religion of duty that he said he did not take charge of he was supposed to do that i think that this is such a broad sort of set of scituate of events and it actually includes so many layers of political responsibility beyond you know the specific actions the question is essentially possible impossible to answer from a moral point of view from a from my greenall point of view it's quite clear that there are no reasons immediately going to hear him guilty right now if we take a step back here what is a scandal mean for the catholic church on a whole. i think that you know there are 2 things that are

really quite obvious the 1st one is that the church cannot police itself. and i think that the most remarkable part of this of this report and both things are really just absolutely horrid horrific that the one that really strikes me is that there was a spike in cases that began around 2004 and went on until 2018 and this is right in the middle of time the media and public attention is directly focused on the church and its handling not only of sexual abuse but the way that he's actually treating children under its 2 tillage as these thing it's moving on it's quite clear that the church did absolutely nothing at least the church in gone and this thing continued to move on as if nothing were happening so to the extent that case is going to new to grow and this is absolutely inexcusable the 2nd part of this is that we are no longer talking about justice for the victims they think this is clearly a very important part but what we're talking about now is protecting citizens ok

from a church in some degree was in quite quite a bit of the story our religious affairs correspondent martin thank you very much you're welcome. tanzania's president john mughal foley has died at the age of 61 his aides say he died of heart failure but tanzania's main opposition later as said his death was a result of the coronavirus model fully hadn't been seen in public for several weeks he had repeatedly played down the risk of the virus and warned against taking vaccines. many had been speculating that tense and he is president john mega fully was in bad health because he'd been absent from public life and nearly 3 weeks. it was vice president sami a salute to the woman who will replace him who confirmed to make a fully would not return. to moti. futile arrangements are being made. and you will be notified and. our

country shall be you know mourning period of 14 days. when the flags fly at half mast and. yet mega fully suffered heart complications for over 10 years the popular leader was elected in 2015 and made a name for himself as a corruption busting man of the people he support as expressed dismay at the state . i feel very sad and i am suffering because we had our leader our president we loved him and he loved us. hit us hard the whole of tanzania as a nation has been hit hard but for me personally i am deeply affected. it was only last year that magath really was reelected after the polls opposition figures accused him of cracking down on the sending voices most recent criticism was

focused on his handling of the corona virus pandemic he dressed downplayed the effects of the virus calling on people to use prayer instead of masks. in government no one wears a mask including me. proves there is no coronavirus god loves this nation nothing is impossible for god. through these defined one more political wishes will be granted that the media salute tanzania's 1st female vice president will become the nation's 1st female president. we have told me. africa with us for more on the story he told me let's talk about these conflicting narratives because the official line is that that he passed away due to heart failure or heart disease and yet there are these rumors that he had covered 1000 so what is actually true here is difficult to say because the president's been

out of the public eye for nearly 3 weeks now he's known to have this history of the of the heart problems you know the government is saying that that's the case but considering the secrecy around his well being the fact that we don't know exactly his condition when he died where he died and all of that. you know we still can't say exactly what the circumstances were if indeed as the opposition say that he caught the coronavirus so it's difficult to say at the moment let's take a look at who he was as president because when he came into office he said he's going to stamp out corruption at the same time as we saw in our report we know that he consistently downplayed the risk of the pandemic so what do you think his legacy is well as you say you know when he came into. came in as a no nonsense kind of guy you know stamping out corruption fixing infrastructure. he did a lot. to rally up the country rally of people behind you know his government in

terms of him fighting for example to secure or renegotiate mining deals that he felt the country was not gaining enough from and renegotiated some of those deals you know work to also you know as i said stamp out corruption bring free education so there was a lot that a lot of the rural population would have thought he did well. for them but at the same time you have this man who was intolerant to criticism and was heavy handed towards the press and civil society the last elections there were cases of violence and. questions of irregularities as well so you have these 2 sides of a man who you know really split people a lot of people in the country complaining saying he did well but you have for example the opposition parties complaining that this man was heavy handedly even call him an authoritarian. so even when he when he disappeared these past few weeks

there were arrests of certain people who was said to have been spreading rumors so that says a lot that even when the man was not present his own legacy was still operating let's talk about the vice president she will now become the country's 1st woman president tell us more about her she's 61 she comes from the semi autonomous island of zanzibar she's the 1st president from tanzania from zanzibar she's a muslim she is going to be the 2nd female head of state from east africa one of the few from africa i guess it mirrors the rest of the world are not many female heads of state she will serve the remaining 4 terms of margolese presidency and then she's a legible to be reelected for one there are mixed feelings about her in the ruling party if she told the line and carries on with michael felice policies she might be fine but if she tries to be a bit radical i think she will face a lot of internal party politics from the hardliners but it will be interesting to

see whether she's been able to create a scenario where there is more transparency and we don't see a repeat for example of what we see in the bible fully where the president's well being is not open and there's a sick secrecy around the government so i think it's an open slate for the moment but you know that time will tell how she goes along and i tell me a lot about from africa thank you so much thank you. so we just have a one sports item for you from champions league football defending champs byron munich are through to the quarterfinals of this season's event thanks to a 2 legged victory over tally and team locke seal robert love and scored 1st and biron went on to win 21 wednesday night and 62 over the 2 matches in london chelsea advanced as well by defeating as i took on madrid to know and 3 nil on aggregate. coming up next on d.w. news asia the u.s. and south korea insisting they will stop the north's nuclear weapons program but

refuses to talk. and a senior organizer of the tokyo olympics quits after making off offensive remarks about a woman the 2nd major resignation in 2 months. they responded she has both stories and more coming right up on to that new news asia state of. the book.

by 2050 more than half the world will be leaving 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 who live in

a competitive world is there's a cold it's cold it's too cold for more peace to be free but the world is changing the most important for most young person on the street. most of all her decision for commodity starts march 22nd on d w. the fight against the corona virus pandemic. how has the rate of infection been developing. what measures are being taken. what does the latest research say. information and context. the coronavirus of data the code of special monday to friday on w. little guides this is the 77 percent is the platform for africa suits are these big issues and sure i've.

noticed so i don't really know what happened today. africa's population is moving. along people clearly have the phoenicians the job. has 77 percent now. on d.w.m. . this is the doctors use a shot coming up today north korea's nuclear weapons program in focus. the u.s. and south korea say they want to result north korea's nuclear and ballistic missile issues but with no 3 other through them to talk of did you guys asian. plus. another missile to mystics comments followed by another high profile

resignation this will cure the fix created chief resigns after making derogatory comments about a female comedian he's the 2nd official to resign from the think the 1st.