this is g.w. newsline from berlin tonight the mayor culpa from uncle americal germany's chancellor apologizes over easter lockdown plans today reversed a decision to send the country into a 5 day coronavirus pandemic shutdown saying the plans were not feasible and that they were a mistake also coming up the vaccine that was out of sight italian inspectors find

almost 30000000 bent seem to exist inside an astra zeneca fact the company insisting it wasn't hiding and the gentle eruption that is how locals in iceland describe this volcano after 900 years it is actively again and hikers can stay away from the rivers of welcome. to our viewers joining us on p.b.s. in the united states and to all of you around the world welcome we begin tonight with a change of plans and an apology today german chancellor angela merkel canceled a controversial shutdown scheduled over the easter holiday the chancellor saying the hastily drawn up plans were impractical and a mistake just one day ago maryland state leaders agreed on a 5 day strict lockdown schedule to begin april 1st but following criticism and

confusion merkel offered an unexpected apology. the idea of a strict easter lockdown had many here in germany up in arms and the chancellor herself acknowledged the measure was a mistake in an extraordinary address to people. here was an easter shutdown was proposed is the best of intentions because we urgently need to slow down and reverse the 3rd wave of the pandemic nevertheless this proposal was a mistake and feel and feel a mistake 1st be acknowledged as a search and above all must be corrected as soon as possible to see him. at the same time i am well aware that the sentai a situation is causing added uncertainty but already i deeply regret this and i ask all citizens to forgive me for trial. they said a rollback of the measure i did feel to the fire especially for

a position parties at the podium and. discuss our suspects details his paraphrase yesterday today's live spats nobody knows what their roots are anymore and that knowledge meant a faded from the chance of those she takes responsibility that nobody really knows what the submission. to the chancellor's decision they served respects however it also means a deepening crisis trust when it comes to the fight against the pandemic just because government has failed in its way to fight just hand them a call and now we need caution and common sense to be able to overcome the 3rd way . they titian's aren't the only ones being left with more questions than answers germans are increasingly the why is that by the government's handling of the crisis . the country how can it be that people who have means can fly to new york

but nobody's allowed to travel to who can island where their perspective all measures to curb infections and. that kind of really just clarity so people get such clear deadlines is a clear schedule on how to go forward with definitions but i'm not really impressed that they've changed the rules and in fact we had wanted to travel but unfortunately now we must stay at home. and it's good on the one side but i don't think it's enough. it is the 1st time that the chancellor has admitted so openly that there was a glitch in her decision making but why some see to move as a lot of others see it as part of the chairman's government's hit and miss approach to the pandemic. are let's cross over now to our political correspondent she's been following the story for us today good evening to you you know we rarely hear a political leader admit to a mistake and then say i'm sorry what do you make of all americans used.

well decided to report on the one hand it's a lot of about someone the canonic is a mistake but on the other hand this will not necessarily go down particularly well with opposition parties in the amount or with the population the government had a whole year to think of i think of an effective to t.d. and the results haven't really met their expectations and expectations of people now typically a chance i get america is being pragmatic there she acknowledges in this they say acknowledges her mistake in decision making but at the same time she doesn't quite see the opportunity to state what could have been done instead i mean the cynical in all of this could say that merkel offered the apology to today because she's not running for reelection and that maybe she was doing this to protect her party knowing that national elections are scheduled for later this year what do you say.

well it's kind of that the handing of the pandemic by the government and by the conservatives of angle america well really will play a role in the acceptance of political of the citizens and the trust has penetrations ease affected by the pandemic oh so by the have hesitancy and by the lack of good results of that government when it comes to being the number of infections now today we've seen again more than 15 paos a new infectious over a 200 new best quotes a coalition governing as a country which means the conservatives together was a social democrat has been on losing trust and as you say you know we've still got a high number of new cases being reported every day the country is in a 3rd wave of inspections is germany doing enough to stop the spread of this virus . there's been a lot of criticism about the handling of the pandemic for example because the government hasn't decided on the travel ban especially as easter holidays are about

to start but these is actually being discussed by the government as a criticism on the reopening of schools or the closure again all schools there's criticism about the vaccination rollout which is too slow and projections so that even if vaccine daisy's would double by a play they would still not be sufficient to tackle the 3rd wave because we mainly see the variants as spreading which are more lethal and more infectious ok our political correspondent man which sounds a little story for us tonight here in berlin and i thank you for the european union has toughened its vaccine export rule shipments can now be blocked if importing nations are ahead in their inoculation campaigns the european union also wants vaccine producing countries descend as well as received vaccines the new rules come as italian inspectors today discovered a stockpile of millions of doses of astra zeneca shots the company insisting it was

not trying to hide the. there was great excitement when italian authorities found 29000000 doses of vaccine in this astra zeneca bottling plant near rome italian press had reported they were destined for the u.k. . astra zeneca has so far failed to meet its easy to liberty targets according to the european commission a delivery of 120000000 doses was originally a grade for the 1st quarter of 2020 but after huge shortages the number was reduced to 30000000 by mid march only 21000000 vaccines had been to live it it's not clear exactly where the truth slice astra zeneca states that 13000000 at the texas were intended for export to low income countries and 16000000 to the e.u. the company also said it was incorrect to cool with a stockpile because the vaccine doses needed to wait for quality control once the vials had been felled. and the ongoing right now of a vaccine distribution in the e.u. the e.u.

commission maintains the block is being disadvantaged some $10000000.00 is being exported from the u. k. from e.u. to you ok and 0 dollars is going to be in exporters from u.k. to peel and that's why e.u. only wants to allow exports to a 3rd country a fact country also supplies vaccines to the e.u. heads of state and government will decide on this proposal at thursday's summit. brazil's carbonite gene outbreak is worsening by the day the country has recorded its highest number of daily deaths from the virus some 3000 victims the milestone came as president also noro installed his 4th health minister since the pandemic began brazilians are increasingly angry but also in ours as vaccines are all the way. brazil's grave diggers have never been busier with reports of overflowing marks the cannot bury the dead fast enough families given little time

to process their grief so we are in a situation that affects the whole world and no one has so far been able to contain it. only the united states has paid a higher price under fire president yarrow ball snarled try to soothe public anger in a t.v. address. that i'm going to throw a ball i want to count down the brazilian people and to assure you that the vaccines are guaranteed by the end of the year we will have more than 500000000 doses to inoculate all the population very soon we will return to normal life my sympathy goes out to all of you who have losses in your families i mean. but as he spoke to the people they pounded their pots and pans in protest. from the windows empowered conies of rio de janeiro sao paolo and beyond they made their feelings had some chanting balsa now roll out.

even amongst the vaccinated the frustration at the government's handling of the pandemic runs deep. i really believe that we are as we are because everything was very badly managed since the beginning i never imagined living in a country where the president of the republic is in denial so that made everything difficult for everyone. to see and he says i'm i have action nation has to be faster faster a lot of people are dying they are very sick. meanwhile pan-american leaders are warning that exploding case numbers in brazil are causing the virus to spread faster in neighboring countries. it's a dire situation in brazil i'm joined now by much he is a brit he's a correspondent based in rio de janeiro good evening to you but he has the story we just saw hints that public opinion is turning against president. is that happening

. we see that scenario is suffering more more critics see in brazil yes a day that partaking protests were heard everywhere in this neighborhoods he and rio de janeiro and sao paulo so the critics are a lot about on the other hand i have to say that one 3rd of the population still is supporting board so naro surveys show that these 30 percent or little bit more they also agree with both scenarios policy towards corona so they do this in spite of the high death toll i mean we've seen this play out before in the united states i'm wondering is it likely that both sonora will rethink his anti-science response to the corona barton's. yesterday in a television speech he already had a much more moderate tone and he showed much more compassion with the victims and

the families for the 1st time in this crisis as i remember and he wants to speed up as well the vaccination process and the campaign and this is also. a change which had happened in the last 2 weeks so he's trying to get more control over the crisis but this comes late both health ministry recently had to admit that they are not able to provide millions of facts and haitian doses as they wished and as they promised in april. we're going to let our viewers know you live in rio de janeiro you live in a country where the pandemic is raging it could become worse than it is in the united states so what's it like right now living in brazil. i think there are 2 realities here who are we differ from each other on the one

hand the hospitals the vaccination centers as i'm here standing in front of they you can see the crisis is going on in the hospitals people are sometimes dying in front of the emergency room so it's a really tough situation the worst in this crisis but on the other hand many brazilians are tired of this crisis which is already. lasting for one year so they want to be and to go back to normal life they want to have work and jobs again and this is the other reality they go to the beaches and they have they do live as if it would be business as usual these are the 2 realities here in brazil in these days. reporting tonight from rio de janeiro much as we appreciate your reporting stay safe thank you. that aren't here's a round up now of other stories that are making headlines around the world israel's 4th election in 2 years appears to have produced yet another stalemate between

prime minister benjamin netanyahu is claiming his right we cood party victors but with the most votes counted his bloc looks to have fallen short of an outright majority and will need to enter coalition talks with rivals a large cargo ship has turned sideways and run aground in egypt's suez canal blocking traffic in one of the world's most important waterways the ever given is 400 meters long it weighs 200000 tons and several tug boats are trying to dislodge the freighter mian maher has freed more than 600 arrested protesters following new outrage over the regime's brutal crackdown nearly 300 people have been killed in protests against me in mars' military rulers since they came to power in a military coup on february 1st among those released was a photographer for the associated press an erupting volcano has forced water mala to close its international airport ash from the

a kaya melt and has coded the runway and aircraft at airport the volcano south of what a mile a city is one of the world's most active it's been spewing out ash in violent explosions now for several weeks. after 4 years of strained a transatlantic times under donald trump u.s. secretary of state anthony blinken has traveled to europe to reset and repair relations with america's allies washington's top diplomat visited the headquarters of nato and the european union in brussels today his 1st visits there since taking office speaking at a summit of nato members blinken cold for the alliance to come together and present a common united front against china here's what he had to say. the united states won't force our allies into a us or them choice with china there's no question that beijing's course of behavior threatens our collective security and prosperity and that it is actively

working to undercut the rules of the international system and the values we in our allies share but that doesn't mean that countries can't work with china where possible for example is like climate change and health security we know that our allies have complex relationships with china that won't always align perfectly but we need to navigate these challenges together. she stand by she's been covering the story for us today getting need to you. we've got a diplomatic call to action there against china is europe willing to mount a joint pushback against beijing. well brant i think europe is becoming more and more willing to see the u.s. side of things and that's not all due to the u.s. as you heard secretary blinken took a very understanding view of europe's complex as he called them commercial

relationships with china knowing this european governments have been reluctant to completely shun beijing but in fact this past week there have been some developments that may aid the u.s. in pulling the europeans over to its way of thinking and that's because after the e.u. in imposed some human rights sanctions on china for its treatment of the weaker us china saying some e.u. lawmakers and that has really angered some of these european parliamentarians who now say they will not be willing to ratify the e.u. china trade agreement there were over it there was already a lot of concern about 5 that agreement and now these moves by beijing have have increased that sentiment you know we got used to the combative rhetoric the release we tried to get used to that type of rhetoric during the trump years blink and he struck quite a different tone today in brussels. well let's be honest the bar wasn't that high to strike a different tone a more positive tone about nato and the european union which trump of course said

was set up specifically to destroy the united states but secretary blinken is known to be a trance atlanticist you know everybody in europe already already knew him from his years in service in the united states but when you listen to his speech today and caps all of his statements that he said since he since he got to brussels they were specifically designed to reverse that way of thinking without ever mentioning the trumpet ministration by name he specifically reinforced article 5 metres collective defense of the fundamental tenet he also in his language on china was clearly designed to you know sort of go against the secretary pompei way of talking about china that absolutely warned europeans they better cut off while way from their 5 g. systems for example or they would be cut off of intelligence so secretary blinken. thought of his words very carefully and knew the kind of impact they would have on

european partners and what do you think i mean you know you know. the leaders how did you speech go down did it work. i think it worse i mean i think that ever since the vitamin ministration came in you have really sensed this relief among european officials both on nato and the european union side but this was the 1st time there's been an end person eating with a high level official from the by the administration and everyone was really looking forward to it and i asked somebody after the meeting at nato today and i said it can't really have been that rosy was it you know this this is got to be a some some you know sort of over polishing and he said no it really was so clearly everybody is ready to turn a new page you know there's definitely a sense of relief that gee that's almost palpable teri schultz who brought us gerri thank you as always. but with growing numbers of migrants arriving at the us

mexico border president joe biden has put vice president come a harris in charge of managing the developing crisis areas admits the u.s. needs to take better care of migrants while processing their claims pictures released this week show immigrant children huddled together in crowded facilities our correspondent sara lee major mori went to meet some of the volunteers trying to help asylum seekers 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 and they are looking for the border patrol not only because they are tired thirsty untangled 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 needs 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 and they're the biden administration. greece our friends they both grabbed 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 are here you know. if i missed.

the bus arrives to carry the young parents on their kids to the closest detention center in the middle of india i know that most and especially and 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 and you'll see it at the 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 not to force 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 some young asylum seekers are being held in custody over the legal limit of 72 hours all this after an epic journey well no these it was an odyssey suffering from hunger thirst i hope the sacrifice was worth it and so good to be still out of delta quickly becomes a smile since their new life is already started in. jake and all right. i was carling that's why they're reporting visitors have been flocking to see where so i interrupted book you know in southwest iceland while the has been flowing since the volcano 1st started the writing last friday following a series of thousands of earthquakes but hikers trying to get a closer being warned they could lose their want. to

love a bubble's spits and paws out of the credo of this folk. and began are opting here on iceland's greatness peninsula last friday the 1st time in around 900 years. so perhaps it's no surprise that thousands of people have been flocking here to witness this rare event. trying to get as close as they dare. for that perfect picture. i mean he's only just so close right you. haven't seen anything really. high kids getting hungry some of he's the lava as a giant grill but this does come with a warning. 2 days ago the guy that tried to cook eggs and bacon on it

and love ate. so stay away from it. there have also been warnings of a comic gasoline. before the eruption there were more than 50000 thanks to you in just 3 weeks. they were caused by a large body of molten rock known as magma which has pushed its way to the south this. it's unclear for how much longer this volcano will continue to erupt for now the icelanders are enjoying its hypnotic display it's. a year since the tokyo lympics were delayed by the pandemic the torch relay is finally set to restart the olympic flame began its journey at the beginning of last march at mount olympus in greece the torch arrived in japan one week later the flame has been kept alive since then and will now travel through the host nation starting near the nuclear disaster site of. around 10000 runners will

be involved the games are scheduled to begin in july. you're watching news here's a reminder of the top story this hour german chancellor angela merkel has unexpectedly killed so plans for a stricter lockdown over easter held a crisis meeting the state leaders following criticism over the plans for a 5 day shutdown she now says the plans were not practical and that they were a mistake. you're watching news after a short break. i'll be back to take you through the day tonight the leader who says i'm sorry will direct them.

for almost 48 hours people in germany thought easter would be a repeat of christmas another casualty of the pandemic no travel no easter egg hunts no families coming together that was the plan until this morning america told the country the decision to shut down over easter was a mistake her mistake and she asked for forgiveness tonight a mayor culpa from europe's most respected head of state the most powerful woman in

the world says i'm sorry i broke off in berlin this is the day.