contest of the cathedrals. on g.w. . this is g.w. news a live shot from berlin and a call for a harder longer groan a virus locked down in germany the head of germany's conservative c.d.u. party and a possible chancellor candidate says tougher restrictions would slow the 3rd wave of the pandemic and work as a bridge until more people are vaccinated also coming up on the show the minneapolis police chief testifies that former officer derek schopenhauer broke

police rules and acted against the department's ethics by kneeling on george floyd's neck for 9 minutes. thanks to tensions mount in eastern ukraine after russia just sends its military movements near the border the ukrainian president accuses moscow for posing a serious correct. hello i'm claire richardson welcome to the show despite having spent almost half a year in some form of walk down germany may be headed for a longer tougher coronavirus restrictions infections are high across the country and the vaccination rollout still sluggish in response to the crisis more leaders are calling for a harder lockdown one of them is arming lashed the head of germany's most populous states and the leader of chancellor angela merkel's. servia party until now he had

opposed to stricter lockdown measures. army national touring a visit to a vaccination center last week the approach of him and other state premiers to the pandemic took up broadside from the chancellor. his salvo in return a call for more talks and tougher measures. to stop lobbying. and that's why i think we need to bridge lockdown. we have to build to preach to the point in time where a lot of people of action a tilt in my own eyes i know there's a lot of people are tired of the pandemic and put also because a lot are ready to go a step further i mean shit in. that it wants more people working from home and stricter curfews but there's few restrictions as possible for schools and kindergartens he says he has allies including the chancellor but not everyone is on board. a lot of what mr lasher says is unclear bridge lock down the temporary

with what measures are not supposed to go on until many people have been facts native what does all that mean i don't think lisa russia has thought things through so i can't see any point in calling the state premiers back for talks earlier than planned so in a minister position conferences and. this i for problem is simply the time we've lost one for a month we've known that the numbers are going up so it's clear that we need decisive measures now. and she's. the man next to lash it is a leading german intensive care doctor and he warns. the measles where for the next fortnight or so we expect the number of infections will continue to grow we'll have 5 or more 1000 cope with 1000 patients in intensive care the situation really is very dramatic you know august as. the out. of the health minister says vaccinations will not break the 3rd wave only about $10000000.00 germans have had their 1st job so far. and earlier i talked to his

chief international editor richard walker and we asked him what has changed between now and 3 weeks ago when chancellor merkel announced a strict easter lockdown and then reversed the decision and apologized the reality here in germany is not just about the pandemic it's about the politics and of what we have what we've been witnessing of things last couple of weeks is really a power struggle happening on 2 separate levels in the very heart of german policy on the one hand you have a kind of power struggle between the federal government led by angela merkel and the individual states which all have their own leaders like common lash it in north rhine-westphalia angela merkel has generally been pushing for tougher national line to deal with this 3rd wave the individual states who have different views but what unites many of them is that they want to defend their own turf it's up to us to decide what goes on here. it is that the head is at the center of that struggle and

has even been openly bickering with his party clearly angela merkel so that's the one power struggle the other one is about who leads uncle americans. into the national elections coming up this september and america has said that after 16 years in power she's not going to stand again last it is the new leader of a party with this cd you have been plunging in the polls amid the you know the slow pace of the vaccination campaign corruption scandals and many other things and he has a more popular lytle emerging into the limelight marco souter who is the leader in the state of the various so all of these politics all of these power struggles going on at the same time as this relentless wave is moving up maybe it's it's no wonder that germany is in such a muddle elliptically over what to do but what's interesting is that the public don't seem to be in such a muddle so and this was referred to as well that

a majority of the public do seem open to taking a tougher line they see those numbers they see those people in intensive care so that the public seems to support this is partly that the politics has to catch up with that. to richard walker there now let's take a look at some more stories making headlines around the world the united nations says at least 40 people have been killed in sudan's western darfur region during clashes between 2 tribes the fighting poses a challenge to sudan's tragic transitional government that's seeking to end decades of on rest and tribal violence in darfur earlier this year displaced over $120000.00 people. jordan's a prince hamza has pledged his loyalty to the king and an apparent resolution to an unprecedented public feud within the royal family homes or who is the half brother of jordan's king abdullah had been under house arrest for allegedly plotting to destabilize the country the king's uncle reported the mediated solution. in

mozambique's military says it has regained full control over the coastal town of palma jihadists from a group linked to al qaeda attacked it late last month on the is located near natural gas projects worth some 60000000000 dollars in aid groups say tens of thousands had fled the fighting. and in the trial of derek chauffeur and the former police officer accused of murdering george floyd the minneapolis police chief has testified that chauvinist kneeling on floyd's neck violated department policy the police chief said there was an initial reasonableness in trying to get floyd under control but he testified that later actions of former police officer shogun seen here on the right were not part of police training he added that the accused did not use light or moderate force while pinning floyd down. let's take a listen to part of that testimony. when mr floyd was no longer responsive and even

motionless to continue to apply. that level of force. to a person. handcuffed behind their back. that that is no way shape or form is anything that. is by policy it's not her training and it is certainly not part of our ethics are about us. and we're joined now by our washington correspondent stephanie simons who has been a following in this trial for us definitely welcome back and we just heard there from the minneapolis police chief what is the significance of his testimony. or use the 4th senior police officer testifying on behalf of the prosecution remember the prosecution is still making the case here and he is the most senior executive of course the police chief are down though say it's 2 days after what

happened 2 days after that happened to george floyd's may 26th 27th he is quoted as saying exactly what he said now so he's consistent. with his analysis from a year ago and of course remember this is the prosecution's turn to build their case and they have to proof that their children is guilty of. killing george floyd's the it's not the job of the defense they have to just poke holes in it but this is not where we are yet we are at the at the stage of prosecution piling on and with this of course is a very strong statement from the police chief of minneapolis so how does this then exactly fit into the prosecution prosecution's strategy overall. you know overall it's like imagine a you would to create a wedding cake layer by layer by layer and the prosecution does exactly that step in showing what happened here the facts showing the video over and over again

different body cam footage from all the different perspectives and then bringing in senior police officer officers senior leadership saying and stating that. derrick shelvin did to basically everything wrong when he had his need for 9 minutes and 29 seconds on george floor it's neck bringing in a doctors medical experts is that right who can establish that the cause of the death of george floyd was actually that need on his neck and not some alleged or proven minimal drug substances in his bloodstream so the prosecution is building and what we'll have next coming up is the defense team gets a turn of throwing in experts and witnesses into this process into this trial and to the process within the trial to poke holes in the case of the prosecution i did correspondent jeff and simon in washington d.c.

thank you very much here quite an. well ukrainian president volodymyr zaleski has expressed alarm about russian troop movements near his country's eastern border and a tweet he called moscow's actions a serious challenge to the security of ukraine the kremlin has denied its troop movements near the frontier pose a threat the u.s. has asked moscow to explain what the state department is calling provocations on the border. ukrainian troops that are russian backed separatists in the eastern donbass region both accuse each other of committing deadly attacks rising tensions after a long quiet phase. which was just a few days ago kiev accused moscow of moving large numbers of russian troops to the a cranium border. this has awakened grim memories of 2014 when russian troops also amassed at the border. moscow should cease military escalation and

immediately and unconditionally reaffirm its commitment to a political and diplomatic settlement and a cease fire regime. the kremlin sees no cause for concern saying russia is free to move its troops within its own territory presidential spokesman dmitri peskov has instead warned the u.s. and nato against stationing their troops in ukraine or near the russian border. such a development would lead to heightened tensions near russia's borders and of course this would require additional steps by russia to ensure its security. since 2014 more than 13000 people have been killed in the conflict over eastern ukraine a peace deal of rate in 2015 has not been implemented both sides in the conflict agreed to a cease fire in july of last year. some sports news now and manchester city manager pep guardiola says he thinks it's possible that his club could mount a bid to sign dortmund superstar ellie holland for his comments came as

a surprise as he previously said the club. could not meet the enormous asking price and timing is also interesting as gargle aside they dortmund in the 1st leg of a champions league quarter final on tuesday for. we already knew to be all of want to the champions league title as much as anyone but we didn't know it was that beyond victory against dortmund on tuesday night he also like so many others wants the german sides most prized position. and if he's trained seriously jol of the season. they just core does amount to what is not easy to find in the past honestly so i think 20 years old with the numbers to speak for speaks for himself and i think everybody knows it's a blank guy who realise that we're the striker. and that's why some say the price could be as high as 150000000 euros and maybe that's why pick guardiola was

not just papering price on holland but trying to gently persuade the clubs in harare ownership to spain's like they've never spent before so far the club have decided not to spend. not close 100000000 or more than 100000000 for blaine maybe in the future is going to happen when the club is necessary for improved the to the clothes team for the next 510 years for many reasons how to months left to run on the current season and every of a suit i will have to white to now it seems not so much if people leave brasier dortmund but rather from where exactly were you know each. and of the modern olympic games are turning 125 years olds the greek capital athens was home to the 1st modern games back in 8996 i was the largest international sporting event with 14 countries participating in 43 different events so of course the number of

countries has grown up to over 200 this year's at tokyo olympics are set to go ahead for now but without overseas fans to prevent the spread of the crowd of artist pandemic. which is your news update at this hour don't forget you can always stay up to date with all the latest on our web site www dot com or to follow us on social media at the top be invaded and play richardson in berlin or for me in the entire team here thanks so much for joining us. i have to say matters to us. that's why i listen to their stories. reporter every

weekend on d w. staying informed. and all. hot and language courses. do you or. any touring. w. . is the time to talks more u.s. president joe biden certainly thinks so he defended his proposal to hike the corporate tax rate against critics who say it will ultimately make the united states and an attractive place to do business. also on the show called 1st victory pandemic restrictions in germany are getting louder as europe battles

a 3rd wave country after country is imposing tougher measures to buy time until widespread immunization is achieved. and how the old ward awaiting that flick series the queen's gambit boosts business for a small company making veneers for chess boards. this is the w. there's this i'm happy you can join us we begin in the united states where president joe biden defended plans to raise the corporate tax rate saying there's no evidence corporations will move abroad to avoid having to pay more biden made the remarks after returning to the white house from a weekend at camp david the proposed legislation was a hike the tax rate to 28 percent the minimum for multinationals would be 21 percent being crease tax revenue is meant to fund the white house is a bishop's $2.00 trillion dollars infrastructure proposal. our

financial correspondent joins us from new york he ends we know this is a politically divisive proposal republicans say that if the scent of ises disincentive ises companies to stay in the u.s. democrats say well money for infrastructure spending has to come somewhere where do you land. well i mean that money has to come from somewhere and we don't just have this infrastructure program but we also have to this is the lightest of aid package in the amount of $1.00 trillion dollars that somehow has to be paid for joe biden would need every single democratic vote and they had spin already some concern for example from a senator from mr ginia saying that he believes the corporate tax rate of 28 percent is too much so who knows if we might meet them somewhere in the middle and then also there is a lot of debate if you look at the situation in the united states actually the economy seems to be on fire just here on monday we had

a fresh figures from the service industry and we've got the best data since 1997 so there is the question mark if this money if this 2 trillion dollar infrastructure package might be too big. now some people saying there why fix it if it's not broken i guess but stay there younes because there's more i'd like to discuss now as a response to that much feared exodus of companies from the u.s. and janet yellen and her 1st major speech as treasury secretary has urged the adoption of a minimum global corporate income tax which could move which could make moving away from the u.s. less of an option here's what she had to say look the consequence of an interconnected world has been a 30 year rules to the bottom on corporate tax rates competitive is about more than how u.s. headquarters headquartered comparables fare against other company rules or global merger and acquisition. it's about making sure the governments have stable

systems that raise sufficient revenue to invest in essential public goods and respond to crises and that all citizens fairly share the burden of financing government. and it's back to court to in new york yes sounds very ambitious what more can you tell us about this plan well i would say that janet yellen so the head of the treasury those words acknowledge that it would be a problem for the united states if the country goes it all along and then we could see this race to bottom attenuating saw as she did clearly or the united states clearly needs the support from let's say some other g 20 countries we do not know where those countries stand at this point and even if there would be agreement among the british it's the industrial states in the world that could mean that

maybe some emerging countries might try to sneak in as i mentioned the u.s. economy is pretty strong not just what it said about the service industry we also just on friday got a very strong a jobs report later lately we've got the latest numbers on the many effect during industry in the u.s. so the best figures there since $1803.00 so some other countries could get jealous and might be less eager to really go it all the way which the united states sold that's going to be a long debate i guess in the next couple of weeks and months nothing that we will figure out soon international cooperation versus international competition it's a never ending story thank you again scored that there in new york for us. many countries here in europe have been celebrating easter monday but few are feeling festive as covert 19 cases continue to draw east german leaders are calling for tougher restrictions france has just implemented its 3rd strike lock down for the

next 4 weeks the economic life is yet again coming to a standstill all in a bid to keep case numbers down. shops all over france have been closed since the start of the weekends like here in paris strict rules were already in place in 19 of france's $101.00 departing mo now the whole country is heading the same way the government will strictly cut tail freedom of movement for the next 4 weeks journeys combi longer than 10 kilometers a curfew is in place from 7 pm to 6 am mosques are mandatory outside of the home even if not everyone sticks to the rules many oppose the measures and worry what the lockdown will mean economically. for the. on a photographer we're talking about significant losses at campaigns have stopped the event sector which is significant to us is at 0 i know some people who've declared bankruptcy for their businesses which had good earnings but now stopped working it's serious. in germany the city of cologne has called off places where crowds

would normally gather such as on the banks of the rhine restaurants and hotels are closed business associations are raging against the closures instead the federation of german industry wants to see what it calls creative solutions like here in the small saxon town of augustus book and he one who tested negative for the virus gets a q r code allowing them to visit all restaurants and hotels for 3 days but the government in germany is considering the opposite further tightening just like in france. london's heathrow airport has expressed disappointment after the british government refused to unveil a timeline for when international holidays can resume the government said it was too soon to decide when to reopen international travel and suggested it could be pushed back beyond the planned date of may 17th prime minister boris johnson said his country would test a contentious vaccine passport system as a tool to enable safe travel and large events to return to britain has seen

a sharp drop in 1000 cases and deaths in recent weeks. from. now to some of the other global business stories making news. shares in tesco surged more than 4 percent after the electric vehicle maker posted record quarterly deliveries strong demand in china helped offset the effects of a global shortage in auto parts in the 1st quarter of this year a test of the liver of nearly 185000 vehicles. the head of the italian central bank has added his voice of the growing concern over the pace of vaccinations biscoe spoke ahead of the virtual g. 20 meeting of finance and economy ministers this week in an interview with the financial times at biscoe said international cooperation on vaccinations was essential to stimulate economic recovery. now it just may go back 1500 years but the award winning netflix series the queen's gambit has caused

a more recent surge of interest in the game worldwide the lock down from the board game gained millions of new fans and chess sets are in huge demands huge demand one small would be your company in spain is profiting from the new hype. a park in barcelona city center carmelo and raul meet here almost every day to play chess. the 2 have always been diehard chess fans but since the coronavirus lockdown many spaniards have rediscovered the game of kings. you know what's on your mind just keep going up it isn't chess as a hobby is regaining popular how you do to the pandemic i think it's unstoppable because once you've found your enthusiasm for chess it won't let you go it's a level that's you. know all the award winning netflix series the queen's gambit has also known as lane chess a new trend the queen's gambit is the story of beth harman an orphan girl who

becomes a champion in the men's world of chess during a legend and thinking alike say and the netflix series sparked a boom for the family owned a rich i pod those fair companies and at 16 employees. join fair a 3rd generation head of the company is inundated with new orders. he's currently trying to double annual production from the usual 20000 chessboards 240000. that's because the cattle and chessboards appeared in the netflix series without the manufacturers prior knowledge to get rid of. the series caused chaos in our company. suddenly a whole avalanche of orders came crashing down on us it drove us a bit crazy. it was the final scene in the netflix drama that made the small

company so popular the us champion beth harman plays against russian world champion vasili borg off on a chessboard produced by richard pablo's fair. the board design is distinctly baroque according to the company boss. despite his newfound success he has no plans to expand it just wouldn't be practical. if someone to me doesn't and we are limited by the fact that this is a hand crafted product it doesn't work by clicking a button on a machine and producing a whale of a lot of it is done by hand board by board. and so each one of our chess boards is unique i don't know i know you go see a lot of him and one of. the companies not feeling any more new orders this year

even though many stores have already sold out of the chessboards until next year customers will have to cultivate something needed for chess anyway a lot of patience. and that's it for me and the business team for more you can always go to our web site that is the w dot com slash business we're also on facebook and on twitter i'm joined now the milan in berlin thank you very much for watching. the outbreak a little civil war hundreds of thousands of syrian christians. more want to live here is. one of the oldest religious communities in the world is on the verge of extinction. christians around the world are inches lee watching the development

courage in despair help for serious christian. oh. kick off. ghost town atmosphere. listless clay stuff from the. looks of guns and the mentalist $0.05 of. nonstop excitement to the final match to. 60 minutes on d w. the

forums are good for the viewing. your marriage doesn't do. drugs. cause. the industry is controlling yours. thoughts of the great books of the 20th century. the present day hoaxes. manufacturing ignorance starts may 3rd on. a growing number of christians from the middle east now live in germany columns kirk has been here for decades he was born in southeastern turkey. but in recent years many have come from syria where christianity is fast disappearing this it is

not the 1st time this has happened in the middle east it might be that there are always wars and in the end if the christians lose the freedom to lose kurt is seeking to help. he's come to syria to find out what he can do to alleviate the situation and to encourage the last remaining christians not to leave. well his journey succeeded. his 1st destination a clinic in the town of sadhana in western syria he hasn't come empty handed this ambulance is as good as new one final check. e.c.g. monitor is there ever so i found that you. know that us it is get it in a few minutes paolo skirt and heinz nath will hand over the vehicle. it was

transported from germany by ship. the ambulance has been completely renewed thanks to 30000 euros in donations. volunteers worked on it for 2 years members of a catholic association in germany also helped heinz net is one of. a qualified paramedic he goes through the equipment on board with one of the doctors at the clinic. the hospital's own ambulance was destroyed by islamist militants. many of those who donated to the new vehicle were initially concerned about giving money to a country ruled by a dictator but in the end the desire to help in the face of human need prevailed you mention here for people here have suffered a lot stolen from them you know you can see the state of the previous hour. it was shot to pieces by almost from militants and court. orders important for us is to help people. whether there's an autocratic governments in power or

a freely elected parliament or whatever would have. the ambulances ready to go staff at the clinic are delighted. they say it will help save lives. to move them it's very much needed because the next town spittal is 45 kilometers away and we have no specialist doctors here every time we need to transfer patient we need a vehicle but there just aren't any often you can't even order a private car the end violence will serve more than 15000 people not just here inside out but also the surrounding villages. the ambulance is the 1st major project for polio skirts small aid organizations he knows what it is to flee fighting he was a refugee himself when he came to germany in 1980 this is a big moment for him. this is a cup when i see that bust up ambulance. i can't put into words how happy and

proud i am that these people now have this samuel and this. year that. used to be home to many christians the same as quickly shared with other syrians back in germany hi carrie am. always there in x. full. freedom in germany where. rania fled syria 4 years ago and now lives in germany she works for the aid organization which is why she was given special permission by the german immigration authorities to return here just for a few days. time for another quick photo for friends and donors back in germany. and then. suddenly a man comes by on a moped the group knows him or her newman was previously

a refugee in germany to. how you know you well. know it was russia the honeymoon invites his old friends back to his house. because he. fled syria to escape the islamic state group rather than the assad regime he and his family faced no problems when they return. now he works as a self-employed car mechanic. he and his wife and children are living here sharing with another family. they hope it's just a temporary solution. rania wants to know if shanti and his family need any help the she can't understand why they return voluntarily i think less are for me what made you leave germany and come back here when. i came back because i wasn't doing well mentally. ill that i had no work and nothing to do i just spent

24 hours a day thinking about everything. i need work to distract me and pass the time while i was in germany but my thoughts were here in a sudden thought of my mom forget it i'm not planning to return there's nothing here for me that here my son says mom i'm not going back i'm studying i'm working i don't want to lose my future my daughter is doing her high school diploma aren't you worried about your family and children if the ins return fire is you guys mother thought. no it's completely safe here. with worship my mother they were both attacks yesterday loved the homes is completely safe syria is completely safe right through to iraq is the father would you go back if the militants returned. a lot to germany probably. if rania asks his daughter lane if she wants to go to germany that yes she does she tells us she loves going to school in germany lane shows us around the home and this is the living room she says.

the this is the bedroom for the entire family. this is and this is the kitchen where they all cooked together. the whom is not typical most christians aren't keen to return to syria. the assad dynasty has ruled the country since 1971 the personality cult surrounding the president is all too evident and so are the scars of war. there are roadblocks everywhere. journalists are not allowed to move freely in syria. at least one person from the information ministry escorted us whenever we felt for security reasons we were told.

the capital damascus is still a bustling center of life all appears calm here and relatively normal. but appearances can be deceiving. the old city which remains largely intact has numerous control posts and a host of security officials who we are not allowed to film. the fear of terrorist attacks is very real and there is also rampant inflation in the war and international sanctions have driven crisis through the roof the syrian pound is constantly losing value. even the man selling sweets deals with huge bundles of money. to some of our sanctions the problem i asked him if yes they're driving up the prices says this trader. it's a crisis with no end in sight for syria's war weary population. not far from the market is the official residence of the head of the syriac

orthodox church. paulose and members of his a group international society of oriental christians are here to talk to the patriarch about new projects you know. the ambulance for saddam was just a start. they've waited weeks for this appointment with the patriarch. not c s i from the 2nd meets them in person. with. the patriarch is the spiritual leader of millions of syriac orthodox christians all over the world. he has no illusions about the future of christians in syria as he tells us in a rare interview. if i have to look at it as a christian situation in syria i would say that i would numbers have almost.

been reduced by half unfortunately. those who are still here some of them are still looking forward to leaving syria. invest in such situation we believe that it's important for us to strengthen our presence and i would contribution to syria because of that. the decrease in numbers we have to double 0 if worse and to be stronger in our situations in order to. prove ourselves as citizens and also to be able to help the rest of the syrian brothers us is that really with what many centuries all over. the. odds at the cathedral of st george in damascus the psalms are sung in aramaic the language spoken by jesus christ the syriac orthodox the nomination sees itself in

the tradition of the early church the 1st christians came to damascus 2000 years ago. patriarchic not he was africa has been in office since 2014. even at the height of the syrian civil war he stayed mostly in damascus. he rejects criticism from the west that he and his church have sold out to the assad regime. we have the name could act with many politicians and leaders in the west and i'm sorry to say that they have failed to understand our situation they have followed the main line politics of the west. they look at christians in particular as collaborators as people supporting this regime or that and this is not the case of course it hurts us to see people in the west accusing us of 1st standing on the

side while we think they are on the wrong side of history. so why does the patriarch believe the west is on the wrong side of history on syria for more insight with. a german expert on eastern christianity he spent years living in the middle east and knows many of the church leaders personally. who look under c. in the fuselage at this patriarch is just taking care of his flock. and it's quite simply the case that all the christians in syria believe that the conditions they've experienced on the bashar al assad and his father before. good as it gets in a state like syria. into the abyss to move in there's always the fear that if things change fundamentally then the situation for the christians could look very differences for example if radical islamists like the muslim brotherhood came to power. so preventing their top priority. goes too far in the news

that the cure the street. prefers to stay out of politics he just wants to help his fellow christians in their time of need. when the people talk a lot but they don't actually do anything to help it as someone who has been through these things i see it as my duty and my calling to help and support people in a situation like this. ronnie as focus is elsewhere right now she's longing to see her parents again and is planning a visit her family lives quite a distance from damascus. so i haven't seen them for 4 years. i feel like my heart has stopped beating a bit of. our. we

had north to visit rania's parents. while some areas have been reduced to rubble others remain untouched protected by checkpoints. our destination is an area known as the valley of christians in the province of homs where ronnie is mother and the entire family are waiting expectantly the war torn rania's family apart her parents village hasn't been destroyed but it was behind the front line meaning rania was cut off from her family. because the amount of the it's incredible to think she's on her way here. you know what i'm so happy. because . there's just nothing much sympathy i'm very happy about that any mother in my position would be happy to see her daughter again it's been 5 years since we've

seen her that she had to flee we were very worried about her she left on her own and has been through a lot. for the past week they've been waiting impatiently for rania to reach them. that. for years the only contact they've had with their daughter has been on the phone. and my darling.

we're so happy that she came back gotta take you and your children. i'm so happy to see my mother and father among all my uncles and and all my friends there i'm going i'm very happy. about it your ma. only just got out of homs in time. she lived near here in the city of homs together with her husband and children along with many other christians she never wants to come back here again. this neighborhood can only be accessed with a special permit from syria's military intelligence service palms was a center of the uprising against assad. the city came under

rebel control the christians suffered greatly and during the long government siege to retake the city conditions were desperate. since 2017 the whole of homs has been back under government control. nature is gradually taking over. most residents were able to escape many now live in germany. but a few have returned and are now living in the ruins. it's mainly the older generation that have come back to their former neighborhood like swat and her husband she says homs was like hell on earth. out of it when i came back i didn't recognize our apartment ever. thing was burned up destroyed or had collapsed so it makes me sad at 1st i fainted at the sight i

was as white as a sheet looking at all this houses apartments everything gone they left nothing that. will or what my little. sioux want witnessed terrible things but still she's hoping that her neighbors will return and things will be as they were before. there was a woman who just wanted to cross the street with her children they attacked them and shot them all dead they shot the woman her husband and the children what can i say seeing the bodies lying on the street was terrifying just awful i doubt they have is that it. can she ever forgive the murderers. that none of them know i'm not forgiving them it's impossible i would somehow that he forgive everything but what happened here i wasn't normal with that

we saw things with her own eyes that we could never have believed. has just not been their board event many birds even the birds fled from those gunmen i don't feel i'm so lucky. a few minutes drive away is the manzanar church and important syriac orthodox cathedral this site is said to have been a place of christian worship for 2000 years. the building was severely damaged in the fighting but has since been restored. the church is seen as an anchor by many oriental orthodox christians skirt included . this is my identity. throughout history we

oriental orthodox christians have never had a state that represented us politically or practically so the church was always the highest authority that has always represented us and so it's my identity. that. very often it's the churches that have been rebuilt 1st in syria without a church many see no hope of returning. palos continues his journey to the column on mountains near the lebanese border. the road passes through terrain that has remained unchanged for centuries. eventually we reach a small mountain village. home to an ancient christian community. the war came here to.

in september 2013 are not big militants of the al qaeda affiliated al nusra front invaded the village days of fighting ensued between the militants and the government troops. buildings and artifacts dating back to antiquity were badly damaged some were directly targeted by the militants. right now things in manila are quiet. for sure. you know how those has arranged to meet professor needs are zob or he's a well known artist who has studied the history of syria encoding this special place called. ok. he says that even during those terrible weeks back in 2013 there were courageous

people who helped their neighbors. when the militants and the muslim residents from the village of. help the christians of mali. for some even hit the christians in their homes a few minutes of. this relatively peaceful coexistence between diverse cultural groups set syria apart before the war that is the 4th could you imagine syria without this diversity these different religion it's really the shortie if you want clash. syria has 18 different religious denominations and ethnic groups. in the midst of adversity is one of its most outstanding characteristics. of the dimensionality of looked around damascus and. things how you expect them to be. if. i thought i would only see images with because.

everything we saw in europe was dark and hopeless. but what i've noticed here now is that there is hope. inhofe and but i do see that some people are fearful and this is an angst. and when i stand here i see the monastery on the one side that has been repaired. but on the other the hotel that still stands in ruins. this is why so there are 2 different pictures this is for me and it's not easy for me to imagine that all this will stop at some point. though i sincerely hope it will. be. but i would like europe to come and see where their own oil is how life here is and to newark despite everything despite the sanctions passed by cultivated europe with all

respect come and see how alive syria is. looking at the destruction and the still relatively tense situation it's hard to imagine that this was once a popular tourist destination. footage from a german broadcaster dating back to 2001 shows the hotel in the village as it was a lively and beautiful place. visitors would come from all over the world to see them our sark it's the one of syria's oldest surviving monasteries with its famous icons and ancient altar. the old school is one of the last remaining villages where aramaic is still spoken the language of jesus christ this is the lord's prayer in aramaic of warner. he took it the sh'ma he shared him all came just going you know. it's many smores headed out

of. the holy omaha hopefully that was 20 years ago what happened to the young woman did she survive the war. after months of research we find she's still here when the islamist militants came she hid in a cave now she's happy to show us around the monastery and church. of them at the missy this is one of the oldest altars in christian. what the one about had just broken that you can still see the cracks. but i stuck it back together because when we came back after my little i was liberated we found it in 3 or 4 pieces that at about. order has been restored in the church and the dome rebuilt.

who. i. really. no walk oh mother home. all i. know. home. all elite. just. another sizable christian community is located in northern syria right near the turkish border. this footage was filmed in

july 2900 before turkey invaded the area. it's a predominantly kurdish region the kurds have long strived for political autonomy and traditionally oppose the assad regime. the footage shows many images of. the jailed founder of the kurdistan workers' party or p k k both turkey and the west see the p.k. k. as a terrorist group the turkish government views the local kurdish administration and all kurdish fighters as terrorists. in october 21000 turkish troops and allied militias invaded northern syria among them turkish back to jihadists. in the chaos there were many reports of islamic state militants escaping from kurdish jails. the

local christians found themselves with nowhere to turn. caught up in the fighting targeted by the islamists but not natural allies of the kurds either i escape route to europe via turkey was blocked by the walled off border. muslims or from gibson you've got there's no hope of escaping from this area whilst using beats the turkey has been closed for a number of years it's a cosmetic resealed and so the christians are forced to stay where they are because it gets women though it's a blood was isn't. but what will the christians do if the situation in northern syria escalates. it's women's if they're forced to flee with an open city they will somebody else a bit and savvy that could happen in the next few years. to

kick off. ghost town atmosphere meetings listless play stuff from the. looks of guns and the mentalist flights of sensible. non-stop excitement to the final match to. come to see just. 30 minutes on d w. is it time again. next crash is definitely on its mind. this raises the question. can this system even the same. are we ready for the next crisis.

rash. in 75 minutes on d w. what secrets lie behind the scenes will. discover new adventures in the 360 degree. and explore fascinating world heritage sites. d.w. world heritage 360 to get enough now. on the. business g.w. news and these are our top stories german leaders are calling for a return to a harder lockdown as coronavirus cases remain high and the vaccine rollout remains slow ahead of uncle americal c.d.u. party says tougher restrictions are needed until the inauguration campaign reaches critical mass.