as soon as possible. but at the same time i'm well aware that this entire situation is causing added uncertainty. but all i deeply regret is and i ask all citizens to forgive me. german chancellor angela merkel speaking there now let's bring in our chief political editor who's following this story for us michelle of the head of government claiming her own decision was a mistake even asking for forgiveness that's highly unusual is it not. you know we don't hear that often do we this is a remarkable policy turn around and it's a remarkable personal statement from german chancellor merkel who stressed throughout that the blame was safely with her that the buck stops with her despite the fact of course that this was an agreement that was about to be signed by her and her 16 state premiers that was the roadmap ahead it was supposed to be the wave

break her heart locked down over those holidays that were supposed to be extended to at least try and stop this that way which is already underway so it created the damages her leadership damages the whole concept of state premiers and anger machall sitting down together and here where i'm standing in parliament she did face some tough questioning by parliamentarians who in the past have felt too left out by that very format throwing it into doubt and asking the german chancellor to work more closely with parliament in efforts to find a common. so what else what kind of criticism did she receive in parliament earlier than. well there was also a question of so what is going to replace this she answered by saying that part of the room and gave the regional leaders now the possibility to implement curfews to basically lay down their own contact restrictions and that this emergency break

that was defined by the previous meeting once the incidence rate hits 100 infections 410-0000 people within the space of 7 days and this is happening all across germany one by one and that roll back of the previous easing some shops were open here in germany schools opening in many places but essentially what has happened is that all sorts of for this process is now firmly with the regional state leaders who have digressed from common agreements in the past still quite a bit of confusion and no testing strategy that's also kristen she faced where are those tests she says that the individual states have enough tests but people on the ground to be on seeing any test strategies in place in schools or other places where we've heard a short clip from the press conference that i gave earlier. besides this apology.

course you praise that many people those health authorities that are working with her but she clearly is on the defensive she says that the central government can't do everything and she is resisting pressure to change the setup of her very own cabinet which of course health minister spawn having come into increasing criticism increasing fire but it doesn't and the uncertainty also when it comes to travel restrictions here in germany germans can still travel abroad into low risk areas like new york and yet it will now be left up to individual states and reasons to define how much room for maneuver the germans will have within their own regions so if anything this is created more confusion rather than signalling that there was a common line and that the central government is actually in charge of this our chief political. reporter. i mean. that's speak now to

dr johnson's he's the head of the german association of critical emergency medicine dr johnson looks like these the shutdown is going to be this isn't going to be a strict as we expected what do you make of this u. turn now what does it mean for you. so the german intended as a sation know after the candidates and then merge the mess and we said weeks ago before the last meeting of chancellor merkel with prime minister of the 16 states that we. set to go on with the lockdown until and of march the decision 3 weeks ago was to open so we acknowledge that the infection rates rises daily and now we are above 200 incidents of 400007 days so. it was clear that they had to stuck to their decisions free weeks ago we also sat that is was quite

a good decision to do away with break lock down as she your correspondent just named it over these 2 days but on the other hand we have to acknowledge that the decisions seem to be not very popular and many people politicians and as well the inhabitants of germany they are not quite satisfied with this decision so i was quite astonished to just hear this and new decisions and that will mean and that was quite good formulated by correspondent byrne in the the ups and downs in the decision and had this moment i think everybody is doesn't and . we are we are looking in the next days our obligation as physicians is to heal people to safe from 19 we are not

political decisions. to be made they should secure the people from getting the infection and can i just interrupt you there without these strict lockdown measures in place what are you seeing coming for german hospitals and how far away are they from breaking point especially the intensive care units. so we we see that the last 7 to 10 days the numbers of kobe 19 patients is rising not as the number is rising so if you don't start to lock down there you let the people go without. stopping and go to shops we will see that the infection rates will rise so. professor wheeler from the robert costa institute stated 2 weeks ago that he fears that the number of infections per day will be

above $30000.00 a day around the world is that it would be quite much at the moment 2.5 to 3 percent of these numbers will need intense appear therapy so this would be number true true well for 40 days after easter so in the intensive care mattson we always see the developments and 10 to 14 days later we see what happens with and then the limits and so we set at the moment we have rising figures and we must state that the british the patient the the 117 is quite much more infectious and it seems to be mobbed recit so we have. a lot of old people vaccinate at this moment but the people between 60 and 80 years they are not x. and so they are at risk and we fear that they get the infection of the b. 117 and that will take a bad cause when they get cold with 19. dr we on since thank you very much for take

the time to talk to us. thank you. and here's some other stories making headlines around the world the chinese cities of hong kong and macau have suspended use of the biotech pfizer covert 19 vaccine defective packaging was reported in one batch of the drug authorities say they have acted as a precautionary measure the vaccines manufacturers say there's no reason to believe safety is at risk. an erupting volcano has forced guatemala to close its international airport ashes from the mountains coated the runway and aircraft and. the volcano south of the city's one the world's most active it's been spewing out in violent explosions for several weeks. that's when hollywood actor george segal has died he was $87.00 it was nominated for an oscar for the movie in which he 1st

found fame who's afraid of virginia woolf siegel went on to become a comedy so what he made audiences laugh well into the eighty's and t.v. series including the goldberg. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu insists there will be no need for a new vote despite the country's indecisive election outcome he's claiming victory for his likud party but with ballots still being counted opposition parties also insist they can form a coalition now this you know his former ally turned critic could decide who governs. family netanyahu supporters declaring there is only one man for them. but this is not the decisive victory that netanyahu and his left could party had been hoping for with counting still underway this polarizing politician doesn't appear to have enough seats to

form a coalition government even with the support of his ultra orthodox and nationalists right wing allies he's appealing from all parties to back him you know the state needs a stable government. not a government of bits and pieces based on personal disqualifications on ambitions a stable government for the state of israel that's what the our demands that's what the challenges in front of us demand. and we must not under any circumstances drag the state of israel to new elections to a 5th election we must form a stable government now you see both of us up. yet left pete has been netanyahu smain rival in this election. but despite his push his centrist party yes shotty is still at distant 2nd.

this man and his nationalist right wing mean a paci could now play a key role in deciding who forms a government enough tali bennett used to be an ally of netanyahu but he's become a firm critic and has refused to say who he'll supporting coalition talks. if. look i will act only under one guiding principle settles least what is good for israel. much of what is good for all the citizens of israel. binyamin netanyahu is still facing corruption charges which he denies. but he's also one support for the country's successful coronavirus facts a nation program. not enough though to know if this veteran politician who remain israel's controversial prime minister. who protesters in myanmar try

a new tactic they've dubbed a silent strike calling on people to stay at home and for businesses to remain closed for the day streets are deserted and markets are shot activists at the silent protest as to all of those who lost their lives during weeks of demonstrations against military rule the strike comes day after a 7 year old girl was shot dead in her home by soldiers who had been aiming at her father she's the youngest victim yet of the military's crackdown on protesters. and i'm now joined by one of those protesters in me a mom who we are just calling son to protect his identity sam a 7 year old girl was apparently killed in her home last night by the military understand the shooting happened in your neighborhood what more can you tell us yes they came in with any warnings. all wanting to inside her house

and to search some things and then when they are a bunch of reeds short they punish order and only if there are. also shown how to look or travel to syria nearby. one of the ways are what started also and he is now in critical condition. we're also hearing that the junta is releasing hundreds of prisoners now does that suggest the regime is bending to the protests yes there is some points to make to do strike. seems hardly you know they once you called were from there were. news media that. it's on a strike it's not happening because you're going on to the you know. the people there at least. i've had reports you know that. one of the

one of the an elite money member was arrested in angola just just now. so how are you personally bearing the strain of these constant raids by security forces how is your morale and the morale feel fellow protesters. you know where we hope we have very hard morrow. yesterday we were you know trying to fold pull the street so that we can come into our neighborhood and start shooting everyone that are what happened was we can explain some boats and they started shooting like rocks. stars our caller was our song grenade one of the killers. when i have spent a large extent of meat or not a critter here this is the meat we had to run various not so far away from that. it was very lucky don't no one can hear that in a same day at least 12 people was shot directly mentally. i'm

a real. thank you very much some one of the protest has for democracy in them off thanks a lot for the time you're watching t w news still to come. central american migrants hope for a better life in the u.s. under a new president the journey remains treacherous studio. from the u.s. mexico. but 1st large parts of eastern australia remain on the water after a week of relentless rain emergency services which last year battled on president bush fires and now rescuing residents from florida homes as it's includes dangerous debris lurking in the floodwaters. to venture rains have been unstoppable in australia's east bridges roads. cars and buildings are surrounded by water. the flooding has forced tens of thousands of

people from their homes the rescue efforts underway to assist those left behind. a lovely danny body. days of heavy rain have caused rivers to burst their banks and water levels to rise the day priests making recovery efforts over more difficult. quite dangerous in regards to coming up about one of the mine problems we've been encountering is large logs t.v. screens couches car x. things like that scott the waterways are quite dangerous at this point on and it seems that boats are the only option to save those stranded in the terrain we're going to go to move some residents have decided to stay home and to weather the storm people around us not so lucky as in the extreme of last fall implores going under and maybe the loss of front yards so far i'm lucky several areas have been declared disaster zones with floods and severe weather warnings issued from south

east queensland to the border of victoria and the cost of the damage is already being felt. lose a fair bit closer if the water started only too much too early for it will just drop. the. funds for the displaced residents to be on high and. unfortunately. many communities. and we have.

lost rebuilding the harms and businesses destroyed in this disaster. at the highest cost. u.s. president joe biden said ministration has been facing criticism for parents secrecy of the detention center conditions on the southern u.s. border pictures have emerged showing immigrant children huddled together in crowded rooms the number of migrants arriving at the us mexico border this year is on pace to be the highest 20 years our correspondents. went to meet some of the volunteers trying to help asylum seekers that start a new life. they just crossed the border between mexico and the united states and they have been caught by the authorities a group of 57 immigrants most of them from central america once on u.s. soil they are looking for the border patrol not only because they are tired thirsty

tango but also because they want to start the asylum process as soon as possible this is a famous and it marks the border between the united states and mexico for many crossing this river from the side of mexico and central america to the united states means a difference between life and that. a short distance from the natural border the river comes the unfinished fence that makes up one 3rd of the over 3100 kilometers tell the border the construction has stopped under the biden administration. and tossing weise our friends they both grappa near the border her grandmother came from mexico his father as well in a time off no barriers between mexico and the united states. we want to make sure that they treat them well and we have kids we have grandkids some still babies so this is why it hurts to see them crossing them. you saw they

were 7 or 8 years old this is why we're here. the bus arrives. to carry the young parents and their kids to the closest detention center in the world in the uk i know that most and especially on at least 150000 asylum seekers with children have been caught in the past weeks and are being held under custody a big challenge for the current administration we'll see and get at that i feel that biden wants to move forward and solve the problem because there are so many that have to be processed and at the same time make sure that they finally arrive in a safe place so little. because safety is one of the main reasons such forced them to escape from places where criminal activity is part of their every day. cameras are not allowed inside the detention center even basic information about

the number of immigrants and how long they're being detained is not released but pictures taken by a democratic congressman show that the conditions inside are terrible especially for kids the republican party is using this as a political tool against biden on ministration and his party they're also portraying immigrants as a national security threat. once released it's volunteers like rachel who guide that something on asylum seekers are being held in custody over the legal limit of 72 hours all this after an epic journey. it was an r.t.c. suffering from hunger thirst i hope the sacrifice was worth it and so good research out of delta quickly comes a smile since their new life is already started kids in. check in are right. some sports news or the most successful football players of recent times is returning to international soccer at the grand old age of 30 not the brit hume of

last played for sweden almost 5 years ago his performances on the pitch as strong as ever one of the game's most controversial figures is back. he's happy to be back slaton abraham of it has returned to international d.t. he last played for sweden at euro 2016 quitting after making his 116th international appearance but his recent form a club side milan prompted the player to rethink leading to a spectacular comeback to play in the national team is the biggest thing you can and you can do as a football player. and as i was following them inside me i was feeling i think i can hold them i think i can do something they bring him of it would become the oldest player to ever turn out for sweden if he takes part in the world cup qualifier against georgia on thursday and while he still has the required

quality the team will have to take his aging legs into account reduce a few 6 it's not easy to to run that much for a night the night the minutes we have to. helping to clear in on this quality is. to serve him a lot of balls in the box a finger when the games for us with the world cup less than 2 years away zlatan abraham of it is not yet ready to leave football behind. a year since the tokyo olympics were delayed by the pandemic the torch relay is finally set to restart the olympic flame began its journey of the beginning of last march at mount olympus in greece the torch arrived in japan a week later flamma since being kept right and will now travel through those nations starting near the nuclear disaster site of fukushima around $10000.00 will be involved in the games begin in july. coming up next news asia india raises the alarm over

a new double newtons variant also coronavirus while case counts rise. other top u.n. human rights gets the green light green light to investigate alleged war crimes in sri lanka. and all those stories a lot more coming up next on news asia with us fallacy this is live from berlin we'll have an update for you at the top of the. hour.

people in trucks injured when trying to flee the city center and more refugees are being turned away on the more families plane bomb attacks in syria is critical to misleading against demonstrators people seeing extremist groups of roughly 7 people has sunk to a g.m.c. . more than 300000000 people are seeking refuge.

we ask block because no one should have to flip flop make up your own mind. d.w. . the minds. more than 1000 years ago europe witnesses a huge construction boom. with christianity firmly established there is a greater demand for houses of worship. and both religious and secular leaders are eager to display their power so churches become palaces. the race begins who can create the tallest biggest and most beautiful structure. stone masons builders of kandahar get to compete with each other to build even the

projects. this is how massive churches with towers that pierce the clouds like skyscrapers are created. contest of the cathedral starts april 12th on d w. this is the w.c. shock coming up today one year since india's 1st called off i just walked out. of the conference reports of the new trouble and a rise in cases vaccines are available to contain increasing infections plus. the un's human rights for the jets to go ahead to collect evidence of human rights violations in sri lanka but with the government against it all with active dean.

comes the german archaeologist who spent his life to talk to stop trying to crack.