it's not easy to spot i mean you say one thing and history is saying another. of the great books of the 20th century. the present day hoaxes this is fixing and who's behind the. news business and the behavior is unacceptable and will not be the last minute fracturing ignorance starts making on t w. the u.s. expelled 10 russian diplomats today and slapped some of the harshest sanctions yet on dozens of companies and individuals the list includes people close to president putin and a businessman with times 2 the trump campaign washington is blaming the russian secret service for election medley and for the solar winds hack a cyber security breach inside the u.s.

government tonight president biden taking a hard line with russia doing what a former president refused to even talk about in berlin this is the day. i took this aggressive behavior will be firmly resisted. for our objective here is not to escalate the response of the sanctions is inadmissible. our objective here is to impose costs. something to me is to understand that there will be a price to pay for to brazing by. which we can't predict what the impact will be but we still believe that when there is unacceptable behavior which is the consequences in place. also coming up the last week the corona virus infected a 160 people every minute here in europe vaccination numbers were predicted to be

much higher by now and that was before scientific fears remove some key vaccines from the equation or know the risk of suffering enough plots is much higher for some of this over 19 and for someone who has taken the us does it have a. it being the oldest us doesn't give up scene is effective in reducing over 1000 hospitalization and preventing deaths. it's you our viewers on p.b.s. in the united states and to all of you around the world welcome we begin the day with washington's carrot and stick approach to moscow this week began with u.s. president biden calling russian president putin and suggesting the 2 leaders meet in a summit to talk about where they can work together that was monday today the white house told russian diplomats suspected of being spies to leave the country and it's

left new sanctions on companies as well as people inside the inner orbit of lead amir putin the u.s. says the russian secret service was behind interference in november's national election and it is blaming the kremlin for a cyber security breach inside the u.s. government known as the solar winds hack here's how the white house press secretary summed it up earlier today our objective here is not to escalate our objective here is to impose costs for what we feel are. unacceptable actions by the russian government some of these are done in court nation with our european partners and allies in the past and our view is that when there are actions that are taken that are unacceptable that are not aligned with our interests that we feel. go beyond what should be acceptable from any country you have a partner of relationship with then there should be consequences we can't predict what the impact will be but we still believe that when there is unacceptable

behavior we should put consequences in place to be administration still it's bad to have a summit with. the invitation remains open and we believe it would be a good step forward and continuing to move forward on a stable that the development of a stable and predictable relationship. well as we just heard the by the administration says today's sweeping measures are meant to punish russia and to hold it accountable the russian government wasted no time in responding today telling the u.s. ambassador that a russian response will soon follow. a decision that but this aggressive behavior will be firmly resistant for a congress monster of the sanctions is inevitable. washington needs to understand that there will be a price to pay for degrading bilateral relations like you think i'm the responsibility not fully with the united states. i mean. well the

european union and nato both issued statements today in solidarity with washington saying she was against russia but the transatlantic united front it may have some holes in it the bind administration's tough stance with russia could possibly hurt u.s. times with germany the white house and the u.s. congress claim that a new natural gas pipeline connecting russia with germany known as nord stream to poses a security threat to europe the u.s. wants the project killed germany and russia do not today noticeably absent among the countries targeted by the new sanctions was nord stream to this was the response when a reporter asked did german chancellor merkel seek to keep north stream 2 off of the same sions list. i don't have any more detail on that i understand the question i would just convey that obviously if there's additional actions taken we certainly preserve the option of putting additional actions and place and it doesn't mean

that we don't have more but i don't have any more detail to prove to project to you about any considerations about what sanctions were not were not finalized for more i'm joined now from washington by our correspondent carolina jim moret good evening to you carlino when donald trump was president he refused to even criticize russia or president putin is president biden is he making a point with his tough stance on russia in other words trump let the kremlin get away with lots but i couldn't is holding the kremlin accountable for everything that it has done. well brant let's not forget that russia alleged interference in the 2020 election was in support of donald trump so there has been obviously a personal interest from former president trying to keep good relations with russia the u.s. is now taken as expected

a much more aggressive stance towards russia for its election interference by and said these sanctions are in response to russia attempting to undermine the democratic process in the united sates but the sanctions are also for the cyber attacks on solar winds which gave it the ability to spy on more than $1600.00 computer systems worldwide according to the white house and you know brant in washington there is always a political division everyone is divided but this is a policy move that most lawmakers are in favor of even during the term but ministration republicans and democrats criticize donald trump for his russian policies so be young a few this will probably be met with with praise. yeah and it's this this carrot and stick approach that we're seeing and president biden he spoke with president putin of russia just

a few days ago proposed summit talks and now we've got washington punishing russian companies and individuals close to putin i mean can we say is there a single body administration white house stance towards moscow. the national security advisor mr sullivan said today that president biden is aiming to strike a balance and provide a significant and credible response to russia's back not escalate the situation so according to the white house biden does want to get the ability in the u.s. russia relationship and they believe that if president putin is prepared to do that as well there could be a way that would not lead to a cycle of confrontation this is why biden apparently proposed a summit between the united states and russia in that phone call you mentioned and at the same time these sanctions are going after the russian economy and there are

sanctions against 6 russian technical companies that support the russian intelligence services their sanctions against $32.00 entities and individuals for carrying out russian government directed attempts to influence the election last year there are also sanctions against another 8 individuals and entities that are being sanctioned for russia's own going acute pace and repression in crimea and of course the 10 russian diplomats who are being expelled and who are based in washington d.c. and new york and will have only 30 days to leave the country so this is a very fine line that president biden seems to be drawing between keeping a dialogue a diplomatic dialogue with russia and at the same time pushing with these sanctions and most how as we already heard has already announced that their reaction will follow soon yeah exactly muscular does not like the stick but maybe the cure early

to morrow in washington tonight is always go alina thank you. last night u.s. president joe biden's historic decision to wind down the u.s. troop presence in afghanistan after 2 decades today his secretary of state. surprise visit to the afghan capital kabul with many worried about the country's future security after international forces leave. afghans that washington is not abandoning them the u.s. secretary of state pledged washington would continue to offer strong support to afghanistan after years of saying that we would leave militarily at some point that time has come but even when our troops come home. our partnership with afghanistan will continue there is no military solution to the conflict that

remains here. the only path forward to a durable lasting and just end of a conflict is through negotiation we are doing everything we can now to advance diplomacy to bring in regional and international partners. so that everyone is using their influence and their leverage to advance a peaceful end to the conflict. france today became the latest country to surpass 100000 deaths from covert 19 here in germany 30000 new infections reported in just the last 24 hours the highest daily rise that we've seen in 3 months a more contagious variant is fuelling the 3rd wave of infections here tomorrow german chancellor angela merkel is due to get her 1st vaccination shot with the astra zeneca jail and the astra zeneca vaccine as well as the johnson and johnson

vaccine have been halted or restricted in a number of countries due to concerns about rare blood clots denmark has stopped using the astra zeneca vaccine all together and is way what to do with its vaccine supplies the disruption to national vaccination plans threatens to further set back europe's slow roll well prompting a warning from the world health organization last week we should passed 1000000 confirmed over 1000 deaths in the region the situation in the region is serious and to be milled out of all these the us doesn't give oxy is effective in reducing over $1000.00 hospitalization and preventing that's done if you were to commence all in each of the adults who gain protection from the subsequently do letters as quickly as possible. ari for more let's go now to the united states dr william schaffner joins me from nashville tennessee dr schaffner is a professor of preventive medicine at vanderbilt university school of medicine

doctors after it's good to see you again when you look at the situation here in europe what do you see happening i mean we are now in a 3rd wave and we do not have to keep vaccines that we hope to have in our arsenal any more well i'm obviously very concerned for my friends in europe and indeed my son who lives in perlin because this virus is spreading and it seems not to be at all invaded or hampered by the current interventions mess querrey social distancing avoiding groups there are a lot of people who are still not doing that and the virus is spreading we need to vaccinate more people not only in the united states but in europe and the astra zeneca vaccine the one that's available is certainly an effective vaccine for the populations for which it's indicated. you've heard the news that denmark has taken

the astra zeneca vaccine out of its arsenal completely is that a wise thing to do at this point. well they will have their wisdom in making their decisions but the way i look at it is the risk from covert is very high the risk from the vaccine is very low we're in the middle of a pandemic and we're all adults we know that there is no free lunch there are every drug every doxie has certain ear affects side effects associated with it in a crisis you have to use the any initial new ever they will and the vaccine we have available now is the astra zeneca vecsey i would use it because the risk from coated is so high yet we know that the german chancellor she's going to get that vaccine tomorrow her 1st shot that's the picture here in europe now let's

compare that with how dr fallon she sees the situation at the moment where you are in the u.s. take a listen we are in a race between vaccinating as many people as quickly and as expeditiously as we possibly can and the threat of the resurgence of viruses in our country because as we know we're at a precarious situation with many states having increases in the daily number of cases and doctors have to we can hear the worry in his voice and yet at the same time the united states is vaccinating what is it around 3000000 people every day so what is the situation. well as tony says it is indeed a race a race between how quickly we can vaccinate and how quickly this virus can spread at the moment the virus is ed and here in the united states throughout most of the country you know the eager beavers the people who were early except there's this

come into the vaccinated we're now running into vaccine hesitancy and even concern that people won't get the vaccine at all so we're going to have to work harder and harder to bring more people in comfortable and reassured that vaccination is important for the end their families and their communities but in the united states you're still a long way from being close to what would be considered herd immunity in my right that's absolutely correct herd immunity will require about 80 percent of the population to be vaccinated that's what the calculations indicate and we're nowhere near that yet that's why the mess querent social distancing overloading groups is so important but at the same time so many people are starting to behave carelessly and ignoring those very important interventions that are 7 before we run out of

time and i want to ask you tonight about brazil it's being called a humanitarian catastrophe made worse by political mismanagement does brazil because i mean it does have so in many cases now it's the virus is spreading like wildfire does it pose a health threat now to the entire world. of course it can't just fires can spread locally but as people visit personal or as brazilians go outside in the immediate neighbor neighborhood in south america but even beyond these viruses can spread further and really inoculate other parts of the world setting up new outbreaks so where ever the virus is it threatens us and everybody else at home yeah it's definitely not a good situation in brazil we certainly wish the folks there all the best stocked weems chef there in nashville tennessee as always like to shepherd talking with you

we appreciate your insights tonight thank you thank you duncan. finding of fordable housing is a problem familiar to big city dwellers around the world germany's capital used to be known for its relatively low and cheap rents but in recent years as the city attracted people from all over the world those rents here in berlin they have soared last year a lot went into foreigners that aimed to deal with this problem he kept rents at a low level for most apartments in berlin and it even forced landlords to reduce rince in many cases but today that wall was overturned by the german constitutional court which found that the city's government did not have the power to introduce it the judges said only the federal government could bring in such legislation the ruling sparked a protest march by angry demonstrators. in central berlin. today's

ruling here in germany has even attracted attention from the united nations balakrishna budget gopal there's the you and special robert scheer on the right to housing and joins us from near washington it's good to have you on the program you tweeted today that the german government has international obligations on housing right explain for our viewers what those obligations are. thanks for having me. first of all let me say that. the german constitutional court ruling. is. very important and they go in constitutional court of course is known for many progressive rulings and that's way comes as a concern that the impact of this ruling even though the ruling it's so it was actually based on another legal grounds in back of the room and could be quite

sylvia on in boden and elsewhere now and those of the international obligations of germany germany has of course become a party to many international agreements among them is the international covenant on economic social and cultural rights as well as. the convention of the rights of that side and these impose obligations and among those obligations obligations by thinking only when it comes to housing is the obligation to make housing and keep it affordable and that is my main concern is that this particular ruling could affect the ability of the budding government as well as the federal government to ensure that housing and means affordable what was it about the berlin rint cap struggle what was it that attracted your attention to the case.

well as i said the german constitutional court has been a very progressive court in many ways and germany and its. influence to deal with the mental crisis has for less i mean other social issues as attracted the attention of many for good reasons because often it has done quite well in kind to address some of these issues and so you can see that that is our general interest in trying to understand how economy does on this front and the influence that germany's record will have on other countries that are also facing similar crisis one of the lady in other life global cities like but not on the world how we love think they had ability to control the problem or one of the levy they had actually beginning with and finally i would say that the german government of course has been a very. robust and constructive. sort of. partner

meaning gaging with human rights issues at the u.n. what makes council so of course you know. it's always important to follow the. track record of many of these countries who are strong supporters on parades in your youth when you talk about human rights that is in stark contrast to what we hear here that this has been an issue basically of capitalism and of property owners version is renters what message do you think that the german court decision since the politicians and other cities who are trying to find ways to ensure affordable housing. well i think 1st of all the german constants of course ruling as i understand might be based on a basically an issue of german constitutional law that has to do with the division of powers between the lender in burma and the federal government whatever the legal

grounds might be made sense unfortunately the message. that has been witnessing increasing problem of court ability i think in ending the last 10 years or so and this is being better documented in the trigger on linen and on policy discussions of large quantity. the influence by the voting government have been discouraged by and shut down by this is the point today and that sends a negative message around the world unfortunately and that is why i'm quite kind of sun ok un special rapporteur balakrishnan roger gopal we appreciate your time in your insights tonight i'm sure there will be a reason to talk about this again in the near future thank you thank you very much

. a giant cloud of sand is darkening the skies over the chinese capital beijing and showering residents with muddy rain the city suffers from several dust storms each year but this one is being called the worst in a decade flights are being canceled and people urged to stay indoors take a look. sick and opaque pollution counts the atmosphere and shrouds beijing skyscrapers and dust and sand. but it was bright earlier this afternoon but after a little while it suddenly went dark and then there was stunned and rain with many raindrops. i don't feel good we've had several dust storms this year the air quality is much worse than in previous years and. the areas so dirty in the chinese capital that people cannot only see it but feel it to this finance workers forced

to wiped out his motorcycle before heading to the office. it's climate change there's nothing we can do about it. meteorologist say the particles just get from and the chinese region of enter mongolia high winds are expected to propel more polluted air to central and eastern parts of the country by friday. finally 2 years ago today one of europe's most famous landmarks the notre dame cathedral in paris partially in flames. the city's residents along with the rest of the world watched in horror as the iconic speier gave way firefighters fault with their lives risking their lives and prevented the complete collapse of the building 2 years on and the work to restore the cathedral is well underway for president emanuel visited the site this week to

mark the anniversary and he thinks everyone who's involved in the effort to open notre dame again for worshippers by the year 2024. well the day is almost done but the conversation continues online you'll find us on twitter either in the w. news or you can follow me at when golf t.v. every member whatever happens between now and then tomorrow is another day we'll see that everyone.

gets their story their very own personal trauma. the people who survived the catastrophe remember. and they share private footage trust that has never been seen before the 1st 6 to chernobyl stuart's april 28th on t.w.

. the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. how has the rate of information. the developing. measures are being taken. what does the latest research say. information and context. the coronavirus of data the cause of special monday to friday on w a. n u you may know years yes we can hear you and how last year's german chancellor will bring you an angle our man caught as you've never heard her before the surprise yourself with what is possible who is medical really what moves back and part of somebody who talks to people who follows her along the way admirers and critics alike how is the world's most powerful woman shaking her legacy diagnose the metals

last stops. much. much. all we can be the generation that ends it for good malaria must go on so

millions can live. this is the news live from the u.s. secretary of state makes an unannounced visit to afghanistan and to the lincoln was in kabul today to brief afghan officials on plans to withdraw all u.s. troops by september the surprise stop came just hours after u.s. president by plans to end america's longest war also coming up tonight germany reports its highest number of new coke at 900 cases in 3 months doctors are warning

that hospitals are filling up will people soon be asked to accept new limits on their freedoms in order to stop the ball and worse and thousands of images to tell the story of the pandemic but this. captures what has been a dramatic year. of the winner of the world press photo contest. i'm good to have you with us u.s. secretary of state anthony blinken has made an unannounced visit to afghanistan just hours after president biden confirmed that all american troops will leave by september 11th lincoln said that his visit was to demonstrate america's ongoing commitment to the country he told the afghan president. that their partnership was

changing but also enduring he said that he respects the decision and he expressed gratitude for the sacrifices made by u.s. troops. as the u.s. and nato troops prepare to exit afghanistan there is concern about a possible security breakdown and a resurgence of the taliban many afghan women are especially worried about what could happen next. parvana samana is a teacher at a private school and the afghan capital kabul this is her dream job but now she fears her career and indeed her entire life are under threat. that he. said today they told us not to go too far from our homes what will happen when the foreign troops leave our country it will be especially hard for women we won't be safe even within our own 4 walls. i don't see things. from the outside nothing much about life in kabul appears to have changed but is people

digest the news that u.s. and other nato troops will finally leave afghanistan there is growing concern. that if that worrying situation and people believe that if the foreign troops leave the country there will be a civil war that some of. the mob. much of the anger here is directed at the taliban which nato forces had hoped to beat into submission. instead the islamist group now controls large areas of the country. and in our demand to the taliban is to come and make peace with the afghans and government. but many here are also pointing the finger at nato troops who've been on afghan soil for almost 20 years. before troops came here we

didn't have any problems for their lives if the u.s. military pulls out people will be able to unite again and see peace restored. peace looks alone way off afghanistan's security situation is dire many like teacher parvana samani now fear things will only get worse. chorley we spoke to post on the durani she works for lauren an afghan nonprofit dedicated to the rights of children and women and we asked her if young women such as herself feel abandoned by the withdrawal of international troops women are more educated trent now women are moved believe right now and in the past the men didn't give up the anguish many evolutionary women back in their evil started to look for to find a faction that would to getting more than 900 people and now all of a sudden the international community wants to pull out without any assurance that the people who are left behind will even get education when the girls in my community become headquarters in the future are we i'm going to die because of

those my damn heritage are going to die because of because women cannot go out and seek magento not measure the kid like it's something that i feel abandoned and it seemed i don't know if i'm going to be excepted and i'm going to be fit in that new afghanistan that is in the making right now. on the drawing speaking with this earlier this evening among the natives troops who will leave afghanistan by september or more than a 1000 german soldiers germany provides the 2nd highest number of troops on the ground after the united states they offer training and support to the afghan security forces earlier this year germany agreed to extend its military deployment because of the worsening security situation in afghanistan but when the u.s. led forces when they pull out so will the german contingent. earlier d.w. spoke with thomas moore and he's stayed secretary in the german defense ministry and a member of parliament for german chancellor merkel's conservatives we asked him if

germany's mission in afghanistan has been accomplished. or 1st of all of the core military go to deploy troops if ganesan was to avoid future threats for us from afghan soil this core military goal has been accomplished but the political goes beyond this military perspective of course have not been fully achieved and it's remains that the question of for the political leaders for all actors in afghanistan how to find to reconsideration to a peaceful development to new elections and to stabilization in this society which is suffering for 4 decades already from civil war. was born there from the german defense ministry germany's coronavirus vaccination program is picking up pace on thursday the country saw a record number of daily vaccinations but it's also seeing the biggest rise in new infections in 3 months new national level controls have been approved by the

country's cabinet but it could take another week to be passed by parliament and with hospitals filling up quickly doctors are warning that time is running. on germany's intensive care ward this is what the 3rd wave looks like more than 29000 new coded 19 cases were reported on thursday the highest number since early january doctors a warning that in parts of the country only 10 percent of intensive care beds around failed the head of germany's public health institute is a long. list the reason yet stood is clear that we need to act now on all levels above all the decision makers need to take action we need to reduce contacts now break the infection chain now and save lives in the health of many people feeling that. but not all decision makers share that sense of urgency in particular

some regional leaders have been reluctant to implement tough restrictions now chancellor merkel is introducing a change in the law to grant the central government temporary powers to enforce lock downs in areas with high infections. but even for the health minister this could be too little too late. i already said a week ago that we needed extra measures and that we needed to take firm action time is not on our side and everyone already has the option to be taking measures they need not wait for the law to be finalized but. the new nationwide regime mandates school closures and contact restrictions when infection rates hit defined levels much of the public support staff action but critics say the focus is too much on limiting personal freedoms for instance with the proposed introduction of night turn curfews. a lot of people of my age will just meet at home in

secret curfews won't get this under control people will meet privately this dimension i think. that's my guess and i don't like it you can't do that with people marking that's a lot. i also like to be outside and meet people but i think we just need to shut things down for 4 weeks and. those who didn't follow the rules before won't listen to these new laws but those who did a very feel they're being treated like foals restrictions in some parts of germany have been light for much of the pandemic but as laws are tight and people here having to face the fact that coronavirus not only costs lives it corrodes liberty as well. our let's say you look now at some of the other stories that are making headlines around the world u.s. president biden's administration has announced a new round of sanctions against russia including the expulsion of 10 russian diplomats this is in response to alleged interference in last year's presidential

election and the hacking of u.s. government agencies russia's foreign ministry has condemned this ancient saying that a response is inevitable derek chauvet the former minneapolis police officer accused of the murder of george floyd will not testify at his own trial joven told the judge that he is invoking his 5th amendment right not to take the witness stand closing arguments in the case are scheduled to begin on monday which demonstrators have paid tribute to the hundreds of people killed during unrest following me in mars' military takeover back in february this comes after security forces arrested one of the main leaders of the campaign against military rule and after the army opened fire on protesting health care workers in mandalay are how to answer this question how can you camp sure a year's worth of emotion and drama of the anxieties the losses how do you can't share all of that when the year in question was 2020 judges of the world press

photo contest have selected the one image they say tells the story of an unforgettable year it was taken by a danish photographer and it portrays the power of the human touch. the many aspects of the coronavirus pandemic top photographers around the world captured their impressions of exhausted caregivers people dying alone social distancing and loneliness. the winning photograph shows an 85 year old woman receiving her 1st hug after 5 months isolation and her son apollo nursing home through a plastic curtain which happens to resemble an angel's wings. she had to speed the jury viewed this photograph as one of the pandemics few positive images this picture suggests vulnerability loss grief and death but above all of survival

and of believe him brazil has been especially hard hit by the pandemic 350000 people have already died their nursing homes were closed down for months to protect residents. and the split of a 2nd that we see the images we feel. how it must be to be that other person get a sense of. what unites us the jury looks through nearly 75000 images a disposable surgical mask even made its way into the winning photo in the nature category. it has been 2 years since a fire ripped through the most famous cathedral in paris and shocked the world many are wondering when notre dame will open the get for its president emanuel my grand visited the building site this week to offer some hope and to show that french heritage has not been forgotten amid the coronavirus crisis.

moments from april 15th 2019 etched forever in the minds of prescience. of all the french. of anyone who's visited the city of light. or wants to some day. but from the dramatic scenes turning the beautiful monument ugly to the dramatic felling of an enormous oak tree in western france the 1st of a 1000 hand selected to rebuild the spire and roof of the cathedral. and make it beautiful again. the wood from the trees is being dried some of it on site part of a 5 year reconstruction plan that has 3 years and many miles to go. in fact the work so far has mostly been to secure what was left after the fire look at i mean.

there we are all gather and. to restock at all and to give the. french architect of god he got to take their back. the french president toured parts of the restoration site on this anniversary of the fire telling workers. each and every one of us remembers where we were 2 years ago. the emotion that was the motivation of all the catholics watching and of all of us in paris and all of france the people in it and i believe that we can see here the immensity of the work he accomplished in 2 years and. 2 years of work on a massive stunningly detailed paris institution dating to the 12th century with 3 years to go to resurrect the french national treasure. and here's a reminder of the top story we're following for you this hour u.s.

secretary of state into the blanket has made an unannounced visit to afghanistan it comes after the u.s. confirmed that it will pull out all of its troops in the longest war in u.s. history by september other nato countries including germany will also withdraw from the country. you're watching the news live from berlin my colleague wants will have business news right after this. my 1st boss was a sewing machine. icon for all women are bound by this ocean for. something as simple as learning how to write them by side isn't. since i recently got i want to have a bicycle off my home and it took me as them and. finally they gave up and went on

by me on my side and 3 times the sewing machine sewing i suppose was more apropos into fun goes than writing about.