and they share private footage with us that has never been seen before. back to turn over all sorts of people 20 minutes on d w. this is news and these are top stories. u.s. secretary of state anthony blinken has made an unannounced visit to afghanistan after president biden confirmed that all american troops will leave by september 11th lincoln said his visit was to demonstrate america's ongoing commitment to the country. u.s. president biden has announced a new round of sanctions against russia including the expulsion of 10 russian diplomats it's 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 the sanctions saying a response is quote inevitable. germany's coronavirus vaccination program is picking up pace thursday thursday saw a record number of daily vaccinations with nearly 740000 people receiving a 1st or 2nd dose but the country is also seeing the biggest rise in new infections since january health officials are warning of a dramatic situation in hospitals as intensive care ward fill up this is the news from berlin you can find more headlines on our web site that's dot com and also on our social media channels. 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 they businessman with times to 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 birds off in berlin this is the day. i took this aggressive behavior will be firmly resisted that our objective here is not to escalate the response of the sanctions is inevitable yes i think you know our job to fear is to impose costs. on into next to understand that there will be

a price to pay for degrading by. special 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 for no risk of suffering blood clots is much higher for someone this over 19 than for someone who has thinking the us doesn't have a. it being old out of all these the us doesn't evoke scene it's effective in reducing over 1000 hospitalization and preventing this. to 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 whether mir putin the u.s. says the russian secret service was behind interference in november is 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 and coordination 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 the 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 what at the response of the sanctions is inevitable.

russian washington needs to understand that there will be a price to pay for degrading bilateral relations with them on the responsibility not fully with the united states i mean. well the european union and nato both issued statements today in solidarity with washington sanctions 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 2 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 nord stream 2 off of the same sions list. i don't have any more to tell him 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 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 trouble at the kremlin get away with lots but i didn'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 takin 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 states 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 beyond a few this will probably be met with with praise. yeah and there'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 bad not escalate the situation so according to the white house biden want to get the civility 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 moscato as we already heard has already announced that their reaction will follow soon yeah exactly must go does not like the stick but maybe the cure early morning 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. 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 the 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 coburg 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 his way what to do with its vaccine supplies the disruptions of national vaccination plans threatens to further set back europe's slow role well prompting a warning from the world health organization last week the senate passed one didn't confirm over 1000 deaths in the directly to the region the situation in the region is serious it would be milled out of all the us doesn't it it's effective in

reducing over $1000.00 hospitalization and preventing that's. it to all and each of us to gain protection from the sun. 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 dr schaffner 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 born now in a 3rd wave and we do not have 2 key 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 where the social

distancing of voting 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 code that is very high risk from the vaccine is very low we're in the middle of a pandemic and we're all adults we know that there's no free lunch there every drug every doxie has certain severe affects side effects associated with it in

a crisis you have to use the end unishe anew ever the elbow and the vaccine we have available now is the extra zeneca vecsey i would use it because the risk from coated is so high you know we know that the german chancellor she's going to get the 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 of 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 that does have a 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 there's 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 and 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 ovoid in 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 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 this virus can spread locally but as people visit brazil or is it resilience go outside in the media 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 all yeah it's definitely not a good situation in brazil we certainly wish the folks there all the best stocked we in chef there in nashville tennessee is always out to shaft a good talking with you we appreciate your insights tonight thank you thank you duncan. finding affordable 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 it kept rents at a low level for most apartments in berlin and it even forced landlords to reduce writs 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. well today's ruling here in germany has even attracted attention from the united nations balakrishna budget gopal is the un's special robert scheer on the right to hell's ing 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 progress the rulings and that's way comes as a concern that impact of this ruling even though the ruling it's so it was actually based on their legal grounds the impact of the running could be quite sylvia on us in bowdon 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 that eye to 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 as bad this particular ruling go about

things the ability of the budding government as well as the federal government to ensure that housing amends a horrible what was it about the berlin rint cap struggle what was it that attracted your attention to the cape. 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 generally interest in trying to understand how economy does on this front and the influence that so many record without 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 it will affect they had ability to control the problem or one of the lady they have actually been dealing with and finally i would say that the german government of course has been a very. robust and constructive. partner meaning gaging with human rights issues at the u.n. with the banks council so of course you know. it's always important to follow the. the track record of many of these countries who are strong supporters on trades in your you 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 verses renters what message do you think that the german court decision since to 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. basically an issue of german constitutional law that it has to do with the division of powers between the lander in burma and the federal government whatever the legal grounds might be made sense unfortunately the message that it. is that has been witnessing creasing problem of court ability i think in living the last 10 years or so and this is been well documented in the critter on both lynn and on policy discussions a lot of the point of the lady that. the influence by the voting government have been discovered by and checked out by there's some of the court today and that sends

a negative message around the world unfortunately and that is why i am quite close on ok un special rapporteur balakrishnan rusher 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. and opaque pollution counts the atmosphere and shrouds beijing skyscrapers and dust and sand. well it was bright earlier this afternoon but after a little while it suddenly went dark and then there was stunned and rain with muddy

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 can not 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 drifted from one 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 in 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 begin to worshipers by the year 2024. well the day is almost done but the conversation continues online you'll find us on twitter is ready to be a news or you can follow me at went. every member whatever happens between now and then tomorrow is another day we'll see that everyone.

in. the 1st. list story of 2 sisters who were actually lucid blames. the story of 2 women in search of their origin. the story of an adoption scandal that rocked the netherlands. the focus on europe. d.w. . the oceans which just think how are we going to

make products to some plastic and together we can make the little bit better. hold on to. cycling as an advertising strategy. behind this or is it just greenwashing. the closer look. 16. w. david and this is climate change brags that sex. happiness 3 books. for you. to get smarter for free to go where you go.

what secrets lie behind. discover new adventures in 360 degree. and explore the mating world heritage sites. w world heritage 316 get kidnapped now. hello and welcome to this week's focus on europe liz show adopting a baby is often the last means for childless couples to fulfill their dream of starting a family but waiting lists are long and that's why many europeans decide to adopt children from other countries they want to have a child and to give the home to those whose parents gave them up for adoption out

of poverty or hardship but such adoptions bad the danger of turning the young ones into commodities. authorities in the netherlands have currently suspended all international adoptions even from indonesia the move comes after an official inquiry uncovered adoption abuse like forged birth certificates the report also shows that some children were bought or even stolen from their birth parents media boy a better man and a better man have fought to reveal the scandal and the role of the dutch state but it's difficult for the 2 women to live with the truth about their past. to belong i think it's important for everybody to know where they come from. everyone has a basic right to know their roots. it defines your existence taking you to stand.

up north i always have the feeling miriam and i were not biological sisters that we didn't have the same parents who always. it's very strange to have people tell you that your biological sisters when somehow you know it's not true indonesia september 979 it's adoption day and 2 little girls are being picked up from a children's home by a dutch couple. they're given new names miriam and do it supposedly their sisters but 41 years later a d.n.a. test would prove this was not true. i have done so when you have the information in black and white it really hits you hard because i didn't expect that it really affected me according to the test the 2 are not even distant relatives just as do it bear human had always suspected for years she poor and over her doctrine papers

desperately searching for information about her true identity but instead she found forgeries irregularities and lies on a another file i see another signator also from her father meant he can see they don't totally don't match at all i showed it to everyone else you can see it yourself and they say but at the earth's church looked at it then it is all right even my mother said i showed it to her but she didn't want the over the years has met many other of t.'s in the netherlands most have similar discrepancies in their adoption paperwork among them is lawyer davey dale you. she helped convince the dutch government to set up a commission to investigate the commission's report has now been published and reveal shocking abuse this in cases of international doctrine from brazil colombia

indonesia sri lanka and bangladesh before 9 $198.00 it lists cases of baby farms human trafficking and forged documents they confirmed what we are saying for years now and perhaps i also was hoping that they would say well it wasn't so bad but now it's actually a confirmation that it is very bad day every day you now represents a group of out of t.'s who demanded that the dutch state funds their research for their biological parents so for now the government has admitted its mistakes turning a blind eye for too long over it if the state did not do what was expected of it. he should have been more active in preventing this abuse. this is the painful truth the apologies are nieces and therefore today on behalf of the cabinet i apologize to those impacted. the report warns today's adoption system is

still vulnerable to dubious practices and proved so damning it prompted the government to suspend international doctrines davey de years adoptive mother welcomes the decision she trusts that the dutch authorities when she adopted her daughter missing. maybe her biological mother is still searching for her we never knew what was going on. excuse me. it makes me really sad to know there might be someone out there still looking for their child. place it's a terrible thought. imagine you take your daughter to daycare and when you come to pick her up they say they've given her away to someone who can take better care of her on the basis for sure the. show.

since the 1970 s. a around 40000 children have been adopted from abroad into dutch families this investigative report shows how private into media organizations profited from the adoptions and per took in abuse several of these organizations refused our interview requests for those affected this comes as no surprise. in africa especially in the big periods let's say his ninety's there were approximately $2500000000.00 a year was turning or over into a country that and that's in the street right. are you going to tell me that we could not have used percent of this money to help the families in this country i don't believe so i think we could have held them all to date doritos and miriam are both happily married and have children of their old but the idea that they may have been kidnapped or sold still haunts them their adoptive parents had to pay several

$1000.00 euros in placement fees to make the adoption happen don't read and miriam grew up believing that their biological parents were poor sick and i'm able to feed their children they say looking for the truth can be a painful process are you ready to know that you won't find them that also your papers are false if you are ready for that then i would say go if you are not ready don't do it because it will it's only painful for you and well we're we are 40 years old and in you need people won't get really or so maybe there are or already death maybe so and if you're happy now you can choose for it to stay happy . or it and miriam have given up their search for their relatives in indonesia. those fundamental questions about their heritage origins and ancestors may never be

answered but what remains is a common history their life in the netherlands and their promise to always support each other as sisters. when we talk about 1000 victims we mainly mean those who have died from the disease or those who have fallen severely ill yet one group often gets forgotten people like sheba who didn't get infected with the coronavirus then officially recovered but was still experiencing effects even months later experts call this condition long coping now one common symptom is that patients find it difficult to breathe a clinic in the u.k. even is now working with opera singers who are teaching patients how to breathe properly the project has become so successful that it will be rolled out in all clinics across the u.k. . to combat.

susie's and is a trained singer and for some of them it's a bit too hard work at the moment but what it does is it just allows your voice a little bit of a chance to unpressed. she's developed special breathing exercises for patients. thanks to suzy she has once again healthy and can pursue new hobbies a year or 2 she contracts to severe case of course at 19 i was put on oxygen 3 months on i remember feeling so fatigued breathless. i mean literally from my bed to the bathroom i would just get breathless her g.p. didn't know how to help her it's a dilemma that many other patients suffering from long that are faced with by chance she even heard about

a scientific study involving different therapy methods. the but she never dreamed that singers with the english national opera of all people would be able to help her. i was totally skeptical i was like ok how does singing how i do i didn't know the science behind it and also my trepidation was that i'm not a single or i'm not even a native english speaker so how my going to sing these lyrics and sing in front of people who i don't know but it was such a nonjudgmental environment that everyone was put at ease. and they're living is easy to see today her breathing strong enough for a spontaneous and good performance. she trains for this once

a week. arms down to shoulder height. the sessions focus on better posture relaxation and above all conscious breathing and just hold that for a moment we think a lot about loing breathing down because if you're breathing you're taking in lots of air and actually tend not to be expelling the air so just giving people tools to slow things down and get them in the moment is really helpful. to write your name with your voice fabulous and that sound that energy sound allows our vocal folds to just stretch a little bit without the full impact of singing. or. earth. it's not really that we're teaching people lots of new techniques it's rather trying to strip away things that were coping mechanisms

during a time that was a terribly anxious time and get back to what sort of breath feels like. singing together during the sessions also creates a sense of community. i could have never imagined coming out of that darkness all by myself so it's been a huge support system for me it's like my family now we had i guess you can say a common purpose to get better and more beautiful way to think. out and heal them at the same time the. dream is to perform in a real and pristine to see others. and her dream come true as soon as the condemn it subsides. because then the english national opera teacher very

special production. i am. the turkish government is aiming to have the majority of the population vaccinated against the corona virus by june but there is still a long way to go and infection rates have been rising dramatically for weeks reaching remote regions like the village of close to the iranian border is a challenge for health workers it's her dedication that keeps doctors say never growing her goal is to convince people of the benefits of a vaccination and to fight some common misconceptions. it's not often that strangest undertake the ology is journey into the mound. that's why there is always a little sensation here and now today. for the worse when the medical team

comes from town but through. the open is responsible for corona virus vaccinations in the area people know her now because everything she says that it was more difficult when she 1st came here sure and then how many more people always think on the nose they believe that only men can be docked his women cannot but by now they have gotten used to me and they trust me on the. feast in turkish village of the tin that is located nearly 2000 meters high a few 100 people live here most of them are ethnic kurds. it's been months since any coronavirus cases have been reported in alt and that's one of the reasons why some residents don't understand the importance of being vaccinated. zaineb arab and her team have gotten used to the skepticism and to the climbing

they do before him. every home visit. they are convinced that their mission is important. people in the villages lives close together if there is an infection here it will spread very quickly and many don't like coming to the hospitals in nearby towns so we have to come to them. or are. getting his 2nd dose today when the doctors 1st came here a few weeks ago he almost kicked them out. i was afraid at 1st here in the village a set the doctors were coming to kill the old people. i heard the elderly die from the vaccination and that scared us a lot just.