bialik guest at frankfurt airport city managed by for. this is the w. news live from berlin germany's chancellor faces lawmakers to explain a troubled pandemic policy i'm going to call defense the european union's decision to procure vaccines jointly despite growing frustration over germany's slow roll ups in the 1st wave of infection also coming up being you wants to ramp up vaccine supplies and export bans on the table now blocks leaders seek solutions other

virtual something. and another provocation from north korea japan says john young fired 2 ballistic missiles into the sea the 1st such test since u.s. president joe biden took office. one of the world's most critical shipping arteries remains blogs as low tides hamper efforts to dislodge dislodge a tanker stuck in the suez canal. the hotly anticipated eruption and icelandic volcano roars back to life off the 900 years of lying dormant locals flock to the rivers of lava but they've been warned do not get too close.

come to the program german chancellor angela merkel has defended her handling of the pandemic in a speech in germany's parliament she said that her locked all measures would have been effective but new variants of the coronavirus mean infection numbers are rising across europe germany just recorded over 22000 new infections in 24 hours the highest daily rate since january and been growing over the slow vaccine rollout of knuckle said it was right at the e.u. decided to acquire and authorize vaccines jointly. dish to be combined it was right to focus on the joint procurement and approval of vaccines by the european union anyone who sees that even with small differences in distributions there's a great deal of discussion i don't want to imagine that if some member states had vaccines and others did not that would shake the foundations of the internal market and that's why i'm believe that we've laid the foundation to pass this greatest test of the european union or would. speak in the end only now in the studio so

while this is our chief political correspondent linda cramer merkel defended leaving procurement of the vaccines of the vaccines to the e.u. was a convincing for you i think yes i think she is correct when she says that if germany had gone it alone on procurement it absolutely would have shaken the confidence of other easy member states germany being the most powerful economy in the european union would have got plenty of vaccine but possibly others would have been left high and dry that said the multilateral procurement process proceeded to some degree very bureaucratically brussels didn't move into full crisis mode priorities were questionable looking at liability and the cost rather than timing and i think frankly some of the plane must rest in germany because germany at the time was e.u. council president. and did not fully put all of its expertise all of its

economic weight at brussels disposal in those negotiations i think there is more the job because if you think that anyone could call this failure of the you tube you know enough vaccine. we want to see it of the german food. only to some degree clearly there was inadequate crisis management in brussels and most of the responsibility must lie with the approach taken by the european union commission nonetheless as i say i do think that germany also bear some share of responsibility there well yesterday we had our apologize for monday's decision to go into an extended lockdown over easter did she give any indication today will what else we're going to do not exactly she said testing is now the bridge that we have to go over until we have adequate supplies of vaccine but then she essentially handed

responsibility back to the federal states and municipalities saying look the federal government can't do everything you have to be the ones to essentially set up adequate testing procedures for shopping in the inner cities for schools for workplaces so to some degree i think. the sense of many citizens where is the federal leadership here is still going unanswered and there is definitely declining trust in the government's ability to manage this crisis people are still willing to comply with the rules but they ask where's the leadership chief political correspondent linda crane thank you very much melissa. amazing virtually on thursday to thrash out the blocks vaccine supply problems europe is struggling with a 3rd wave of the growing of us but less than 10 percent of e.u. residents have had at least one shot that's far behind the u.k.

where the vaccination campaign is speeding. rapid fire jabs are the order of the day in the u.k. even churches like the renowned westminster abbey have been commandeered in the battle against the virus the strategies seen some 30000000 u.k. residents vaccinated so far just under 50 percent of the population all e.u. member countries put together have only managed 57000000 the e.u. had ordered adequate supplies from produces but pharma firms have failed to keep up . cure vakil supply of 405000000 shots but it's vaccine hasn't been licensed yet for distribution roughly the same quantities are on order from astra zeneca along with the recently approved johnson and johnson jap the e.u. wants 300000000 doses from sun aufidius soon as the european medicines agency gives the go ahead the same number from buy on tech modern a is expected to supply 160000000 shots all those pharma companies have

production lines in the e.u. their most important locations are in germany france spain belgium italy and austria and production is being ramped up over the coming months the european commission has been angered by the sight of vaccines from e.u. production being export it was there in short supply here this year between the beginning of february to mid march of 41500000 covert 1000 shots were exported from the e.u. to the u.k. the americas asia south africa and australia. the u.k. alone got $10000000.00 of those doses at the european commission says british swedish producer astra zeneca has barely supplied the e.u. with 30 percent of the quantities agreed for europe's vaccination program needs now is a short and beyond. process bergy for some of the now we'll be following that e.u. summit for us today and she joins me now for more on some of the aim is clear more

vaccines for you countries but. well that sticky question here and we can expect e.u. leaders to stress once again how essential it is to accelerate the production delivery and deployment of that since there is some good news for example that scene produce a biotech has started for the action at a new plant in germany and that it could lose the use of axion supplies there is still bad news there are problems with some pharmaceutical companies that are not living up to their promises and here in particular we are talking about astra zeneca and that is why i think that the european commission's decision and to imply it to apply stricter export rules will be very high on their leaders' agenda today some member states say that's the right way to go because we cannot explain

to our citizens why they need to wait for vaccination while we are still exporting vaccines outside of the block others are more cautious saying that this could backfire well do all you countries agree on how to act in response to the obvious confrontation with the u.k. and astra zeneca. well i think it's fair to say that all of them are very upset with astra zeneca and that's actually their reason for considering stricter export rules but of course there are member states who say we shouldn't conflict with the u.k. and there is a lot of pressure and that may be a reason why both sides the and the u.k. now have started talking they issued a statement yesterday saying that they will try to create a win win situation so there is some progress there and that is something that you

leaders are going to talk about today as well on a separate issue briefly u.s. president biden will be addressing the some advice video message later our european companies hoping to hear from him. while they hope for a signal to for a new start in relations with the united states however this is going to be a robber brief exchange about pos potential cooperation to take on their pen demick how to combat climate change other issues such as russia and china but everyone here is excited that joe biden is going to join this video conference barak obama was the last president in 2009 to address the as a group so everyone here is very excited that this is going to happen again today to the views of the some of brussels thank you very much lets on. a

more contagious variant of the corona virus 1st farms in britain last year is now fueling outbreaks in many european countries just across the english channel and the french city of dunkirk hospitals auspice old stuff are breaking points to use with ports. did you know what is finally feeling better the 62 year old was hospitalized with a severe case of covert 193 weeks ago told me it is hard to be confined you don't see the sun nothing but you just have to deal with a ship or a doctor come ology up tells us his patient's condition was serious when he 1st came to this hospital in dunkirk in the north of france with covert 1000 cases rising in the region the hospital has ramped up its capacity working in pandemic mode for one year has left its mark on d.s. and his team because he just physically it's hard mentally it's hard it's

a marathon the end is nigh it incites but he must persevere we are in a war and now we have to find the ammunition and we have to fight it's of earth so this is you know. doctors and nurses here at this hospital and dunkirk so you think said difference in comparison to last year they flirt from mistakes and the better equipped but patients are often also younger now and that is mainly due to the spread of the more contagious u.k. virus here in dunkirk which is only a short boatwright away from britain. and don't currently have a real wait and see terminal that connected dunkirk and great britain and that's why we had a rapid increase of the virus in our region from where it then spread and what happened here was simply a 4 runner and what happened later in the rest of france. will. covered 19

cases guy rocketing the coastal city of dunkirk was one of the 1st places in france to impose a near complete lockdown again a couple of weeks ago now numbers going up all over the country france is known to be a vaccine skeptic nation still many here are now waiting impatiently for an interaction but as in many other parts of europe the rollout has been slow this retired doctor roxas a volunteer at a dunker vaccination center his shop supervising the in accumulations for people are really impatient they all want to be vaccinated but it is the vaccine production itself which is difficult for you his 6 year old peer at ku cell says she's very happy it's finally her turn. but put i'm not a baby anymore i will be fine. and will she go out more

now that she has been vaccinated i think so yes i really think i will have a more carrots now but for far over chris i will soon come back for a 2nd shot she hopes the vaccine is the beginning of the end of this crisis. turning to north korea now which is launched 2 ballistic missiles according to south korea and japan it's believed the 2 short range missiles flew 450 kilometers before landing in the sea and i will say the country has a history of testing new u.s. administrations with missile launches and other provocations to force the americans back to the negotiating table. i'm now joined by frank smithies a correspondent based in so frank what are we to make of these launches other just a message to to the biden ministration. well they are message to the button ministration perhaps a little bit more than that their message of the biden ministration seemed to

ignore on sunday when north korea launched 2 cruise missiles the launch of those cruise missiles but was played down by the u.s. president who said it was you know nothing had changed and in south korea the launch of those cruise missiles on sunday was completely hidden from the public for several days until it surfaced in the american news you know if you talk to analysts here in south korea such as anchor hand author of can jump in and the boss he points out that well north korea is a defacto nuclear power there are lots of the dances that it can make in terms of strategic nuclear weapons and the delivery systems of these weapons so today's launch which violated united nations security council resolutions were ballistic missiles that flew 60 kilometers in altitude it's

a stronger message to them i've been ministration of the status quo continued united nations security council sanctions is not going to hold and it more korea will continue to escalate this type of behavior until u.s. comes to the negotiating table which has something to offer to pyongyang. for how people in south korea dealing with this ongoing and repeated threat. well we look at this in the international community has especially the u.s. nuclear weapons and nuclear tests they get a lot of play especially in the media in seoul korea south korea has been dealing with it or 'd 3 threat almost since the end of the korean war actually the korean war didn't end. the hostilities were ceased with an armistice but just north of the d.m.z. are. thousands of or tillery that are trained on stall and they've been there for

decades and decades if there was any conflict so all would be targeted by very difficult to defend artillery pieces so the level of threat just isn't the same percent koreans you know this launch really doesn't affect their daily lives it doesn't increase their level of stress like it might for the american administration in particular with the u.s. president joseph biden facing the media for his 1st news conference on thursday morning. frank smith in seoul that for us thank you frank. and his quick round up of some of the stories making headlines around the well the u.s. senate has voted to approve president joe biden's choice choice of rights levine to become assistant u.s. health secretary she's the 1st openly transgender person to be confirmed by the chamber despite strong opposition from republicans levine was confirmed on

a vote of 52 to 48. greece is celebrating 200 years since the start of its struggle for independence from the autumn and. of us or is being mocked with parades and ceremonies attended by foreign dignitaries including britain's prince charles but the events were scaled back because of the pandemic with no spectators allowed to attend the parade. europe's largest active volcano erupted overnight for the 10th time since february the southeast crater of mount etna send lava rocks flying up to 900 meters into the air is the largest of italy's 3 active volcanoes. and sightseers have also been flocking to another more spectacular volcano eruption in iceland has been flowing since the mountain 1st started spewing fire a week ago but hikers trying for the perfect selfie are being warned to not get too

close. to love above spirits and paws out of the crater of this. it began erupting here on iceland's rake most poignant 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. to that perfect picture. i mean the love of the week just so closely right you. haven't seen anything really. high kids getting hungry some of you used a lot as a giant grill but this does come with a warning. 2 days ago this guy that tried to cook eggs and bacon on it

and love ate. to stay away from it. there have also been warnings of a chemical gas pollution. before the eruption there were more than 50000 lakes here in just 3 weeks. they were caused by a large body of molten rock known as magma which has pushed its way to the surface . it's unclear for how much longer this volcano will continue to erupt for now the icelanders are enjoying its hypnotic display it's. another have not exist plays the world's largest shipping low tide overnight has slowed efforts to dislocate. one of the largest container ships in the world currently stuck in the suez canal where it's blocking dozens of cargo vessels and time because efforts are ongoing to dislodge the ever given. transport for

evergreen before it further disrupts the global shipping system the source code now is a choke point for world trade it connects asia and europe and sees 30 percent of the global container shipping volume every day it's also an important transit point for oil and natural gas one reason why all prizes surged by 6 percent on wednesday the question for ship is now is how long will this still stay in their. more than $100.00 ships are stuck on both sides of the canal after the every give and wedged itself between the eastern and western banks the ship's owner evergreens that's a 50 kilometer an hour gust of wind shove the ship into the canal walls the 200000 ton vessel which stretches 400 meters is believed to have partially run aground much smaller attack boats are now trying to evade free realistically there's no quick fix here if the ship can be can be freed up and moved moved around we can

then get good good flowing again the only real long realistic long term solution if this does turn to be something long term really is to go around the cape and again that's going to add a significant delay to the to the good flowing the current conditions have only added to the walls low tide means the efforts to dislodge the ship will be delayed a couple of days so the world's biggest shipping jam could even get longer. to the united states now which is seeing a c. bra is in the number of people trying to cross into the country from mexico many of them families with young children or unaccompanied minors hoping to claim asylum in the u.s. 1000 stock camped out since quality conditions waiting for chance to slip through a gap in the unfinished border wall. for fear you know and nanda is has lived in tijuana near the u.s. border for more than 20 years and you even higher wall was being built here by the last u.s. administration but was never completed and opening there has been attracting people

who want to cross over seas the bus and now even more people are coming many are from 100 us what the modern mexico they're coming from lots of countries. other than. its early morning heavy fog and the surveillance cameras. for fear you know notices that a small group is approaching they've gone along the wall but will they then take the final step. migrant pressure on the u.s. mexican border has noticeably increased in the past month a rumor has been circulating that american president joe biden will open up the border for migrants many want to take advantage of that. but the border hasn't opened nevertheless to spar from one douras didn't want to wait any longer since president biden did announce that whoever asks for asylum in the u.s. can remain in the country until their application has been decided on that's why he

jumped the wall. and it was my best chance to get asylum in the u.s. but they told me no too many people are already in the camps jim and. now he's stuck in mexico and struggles just to eat what he gets are from donations because the mexican government doesn't provide. gladys and her 3 children just crossed the border yesterday but they too were sent back they told me that they can't help me but that i could leave the children there but i won't let them separate me from my children. like almost everyone else here she also talks about the violence extortion and death threats in her homeland blood it shows a letter she received. in this is no game have the protection money ready you've been warned no police don't be stupid or your daughters will pay for it. which i was scared and fled. people flee because of crime but often enough land in

the hands of criminals who take advantage of people's distress explains gloria who sometimes works for people smugglers because. they have to pay a lot and they get poor service you get lured into it with the american dream in some cases they only bring you to the airport here and tell you that that is the border people then jump the fence and think they're in the usa but they're not you . know. back at the real border that small group has indeed crossed over in an area with additional dangers like snakes and scorpions and then there's the border police. thinks they'll probably all be back soon in mexico both had to poor devils they must have suffered. in just a few minutes later another group is about to make a run for it they 1st hide in the bushes while another group still quickly runs down the hill and crosses the border not knowing what or who lies ahead.

some sports news now germany's world world cup qualifying match against iceland will go ahead despite an unnamed player in the testing positive for covert it will be germany's 1st match since your home live announced he's quitting as coach after this year's european championships germany are due to play to further qualifiers during this international break the german football association consulted with local health authorities as to whether today's match injuries for should be cancelled 2 german players are now in quarantine. news here's a reminder of all the top story this hour german chancellor angela merkel has defended her handling of off the pandemic in parliament she said the e.u. was right to procure vaccines jointly despite growing frustration over the slow roll ups germany is currently battling a 3rd way off corona virus infections and has a vaccination range of less than 10 percent. even leaders meet today to

discuss how to ramp up the supply of vaccines export bans are on the table after drug maker astra zeneca failed to meet delivery talks but not all member states are in favor of the proposed. that's it from me and the news team here in berlin more world news the top of the hour don't go away the next is conflict zone for our guest this week is afghanistan's ambassador to the e.u. and nato galveston berlin and so forth.

to. ensure the conflict zone he's also back on between afghanistan's government and the taliban with a new the urgency as the u.s. increases pressure on reaching a political solution before

a may 1st troop withdrawal does bob my guess this week is afghanistan's ambassador to the e.u. and nato the last time is the government strong enough to deliver on human rights. another. conflict zone. to talk show. strong to a clear positions from an international perspective. every week we get to the point on our current topic. going to implement a controversial commitment. to point. out on t w a. i was

a few when i arrived here i slept with 6 people in a room. it was hard i was free. i even got white hair is the. thing that just my language then no not this to keep me and little bunch maybe to interact with the thing you want to do their story. finding a reliable information for margaret. peace process is that lengthy process is what will you sacrifice for a political solution there is a strong goodwill on the part of the world leadership to promote women who are you powerless to protect your civilians i wouldn't say that there might not be in the interim the peace talks are back on between afghanistan's government and the taliban with were new the urgency as the u.s. increases pressure on reaching a political solution before a may 1st troop withdrawal deadline amid

a surge in violence there is concern over what a power sharing arrangement with the taliban could mean for human rights especially for women and girls my guest this week is afghanistan's ambassador to the e.u. and nato not before those alarms are is this government strong enough to deliver on human rights or will it be another unfulfilled promise. ambassador solarz i welcome to conflict zone thank you thank you for having me the government of afghanistan is at the negotiating table with the taliban to find a political solution to decades of war your leaders have promised the compromises would not include basic rights how credible is that guarantee when at last week's conference in moscow your delegation included 2 warlords who themselves are accused of grave human rights abuses. thank you sarah the question here is

about how to make sure the hard wound gains of the last 20 years are preserved protected and to the best possible case they are. promoted i think that's where we are focused today and that's what our people want from us that's the monday that our people give us so i think go with that in mind we will go ahead and in gauging in a meaningful discussion to bring about a sustainable peace to be clear mr ambassador you expect to warlords at the table one of whom is known as the butcher of kabul accused of shelling civilians assassinating intellectuals torture to advocate for human rights for your country see i think the see the. peace process is a lengthy process and that includes. let's say

a number of events to come together so that we can come to a conclusion of the peace process and i think those sitting around that table the reality of afghanistan and let the people of afghanistan decide on that who they want to see around the table and who do they trust to deliver them the peace that they have been this light again or almost 40 years but again what will you sacrifice for political solution this is the symbol that you are sending and i'd like to mention i mentioned one of the laura laura more lourdes the other martial dostum is accused of rape and murder in a deal to shore up support for your unity government he was awarded the highest possible honor in your military the honor of martial what signal does that send not only about how weak your government is but also how principled. see i think when it

comes to the question of sacrificing for peace in afghanistan i think we have already sacrificed a lot and we have endured. the most difficult time that one can imagine but when it comes to as i indicated earlier to the hard won gains of the last 20 years i think we are standing firm tall to defend those rights and i think that's going to be the case i'm not going to engage the in that who was there who was not there i think i can speak for the. delegation of the government of the islamic republic off afghanistan that include in that included a woman who is let's talk about strong defender and a champion of women right let's talk about that because a lot of people are looking at who was there and who wasn't there and you mentioned

difficult times women paid very much so the highest price under the taliban's rule the delegation of $12.00 in these moscow talks that we have been discussing included just one woman as you haven't mentioned one woman to represent the interests of half of your population is that the right proportion to reflect your vision for peace for the new afghanistan. well i think if we're talking about numbers i think of the 4 people that have been invited from priya to pre-approve prison the government of this law because of on the sunday edition one of them was women 25 percent of women did presentation there but i think that doesn't mean that yes we have to be complacent with. how we were represented there but important is that she was there she is and she was there to present the best possible way that what the women of afghanistan expect from those negotiations human rights side says it is ridiculous to expect a single woman in

a room full of not just men but in many cases men with long track records of abusive attitudes and conduct toward women to carry all the rights of women on her shoulders the head of your independent human rights commission goes one step further calling the move on acceptable saying it is a worrying sign for the future it's setting the tone for things to come in terms of inclusive they were afraid. well. i think i will again. reiterated the fact that it's a it's a pity that we don't have many women sitting there and frankly speaking we are very much for. to see money woman from from different parties or from different delegations attending. those those talks. but i think again i think what happened what happened in moscow but let's look at what

what came out of that i think what came out of that was a strong signal in the same direction that we all wanted to see which was that none of the. participants wanted to see. an embrace or they didn't agree or they reiterated on the 2513 the dissolution of the u.n. security council so invested and that's i think important that's what should come mr ambassador how about what is going on in your country right now there was recently an attempt to partially ban schoolgirls over the age of 12 from reciting poems or singing a coed gatherings your government eventually said the move quote did not reflect the policies of the ministry of education but it reportedly took days to issue that statement. how does this move breed confidence that you are serious about women's rights. well i think the seriousness of woman of this government i think speaks for

itself i think that was a. simple. misunderstanding between the leadership of a small educational district and the ministry i think it was clear that they. and everything is back to. normal i think it was just a small thing on paper so we shouldn't we shouldn't generalize that single incident that was again misunderstood your trying to frame it as a small thing but the bottom line is that somebody in a position power of the power sent out this directive it has sparked outrage one human rights activist calls it the taliban talibanization from inside of the republic. it's a worrying sign isn't it of how quickly the rights of women and girls could be under threat could be taken away. i don't agree with what you

said i think the situation is when it comes to the issue of. women and human rights in afghanistan i think it is a difficult situation and some of those what you see is unfortunately some have roots in the. social norms and behaviors in codes that are unsupportive of women in political life but i think i would again tell you about this this single incident let's do not to generalize it then let's look at the again the track record of this. the last 20 years that what we have done right for women and unprecedented and we did not have these fox that if you somehow if you look at them they are sitting in the parliament in the politics in business i think in every aspect of life you can see

that it's it's a growing. trend and i think we have to look at that from a ball is defined as you say you want to look at it from a positive angle not to generalize however there are other conservative moves that have been introduced by your government on these are some proposals to amend some laws the 1st and i'd like to walk through them was a change to the education system that would have children study in setting in mosques for the 1st 3 years of school the 2nd a proposed change to the family law that would allow under age marriage with the consent of male relatives and the approval of a court so you have people in power who don't want teenage girls to say but want them to marry. well again if you look at in the last 5 years we. were 480 laws and regulation passed and i think if you go after

one or 2 single incidents which were which have not been implemented they were just there they were doing are good and the bottom line is these are standing out there what do you want to do being put forward by your government these are the policies being put forward it's not your government is how could it was proposed by your education ministry how could that bode well for women's rights when you are sitting across the table from the taliban who among other things want to decide when girls can and cannot go to school who are known for their violent practices. well i think again it's not our government policy again let's not generalise single incidents order these here and there one or 2 you i think i'm not saying that you will not see them in the future there no not be the last there will be. again attempts. to silence the wives of women or or somehow impede the empowerment of women but i think what you need to look at is think the bigger picture the bigger picture

states that there is a strong goodwill on the part of the leadership to promote women to protect the rights to preserve their rights and to promote their rights and again if i if i get you through the numbers of women's that today we have in in the position of authorities in the government in where they are equally sitting with men on the other side of the table whether it's the cabinet whether it's the. ambassadors like mr ambassador these are the deputy ministers so much i just like to briefly ask you you know some analysts they are looking at this move they're seeing it as as a bid by the government to get support from conservatives who think that the taliban potentially might win here and this is what the international crisis group one of their analysts has said he says that it looks like you're saying to these conservatives look you don't need to go over to the taliban to get what you want is

your government right now so weak that you have to play politics with the future of women and girls in the country. i think if it's about that everyone has the right to look the way they want things but the way we look at it is i think it's not the question about that the taliban are coming back i think if you talk to anyone. in afghanistan to women to girls to men to their lead to anyone. i think nobody likes follow on to return and it's not only us i think if it's about the question of a unified democratic and peaceful afghanistan this is what we want the people of afghanistan this is what our international partners one i think there is no question of that well i think again if people go out and to just express their wheels on certain things in social on social media i think they

can do that but that shouldn't be the benchmark for our judgment about the entire let's say that those critical and vital process is that we are leading in the go other groups are under threat in your country as well there's been a recent surge in killings especially of journalists human rights activists the traditional workers doctors clerics the u.n. reports $700.00 people were murdered in targeted killings last year an increase of 45 percent over the previous year are you powerless to protect your civilians. no i think that's a reality that we we know that they exist but we also know that who is doing that. and i think. i was disappointed to see. there was a scot of mixed feeling about the u.n. security council statement that a few days ago was issued on exactly the same thing and condemning these these acts

but the statement failed to name who were behind that and i think if the states did the statement needed then obvious they can easily go to the to the unanimous report clearly mention who are behind that and getting to. it when it comes to our know when it comes when it comes to our commitment to protecting them i think every every action of small or big action of our security forces are to protect. the citizens of afghanistan the afghans and i think those good though those those journalists those doctors those 7 society activists they are part of n.g.o.s rights groups they're looking at the situation and the approach of your government and saying that it appears that investigations are either not happening or the government is sharing very little information that there has been you know very little support to help mitigate the risks the afghan journalist safety committee

calls the failure to offer meaningful information on the killings reprehensible on the part of your government is this a lack of will or lack of.