they invade our private lives through surveillance. hidden peak secretive work through was big. it doesn't matter. the only criteria is worked. we'll hook people. we shed light on the opaque worlds who's behind the benefits. and why are they a threat to us? all opaque worlds starts january 5th on dw ah, ah, this is dw news, and these are our top stories. leaders around the world have been paying tribute to south africa's archbishop desmond tutu who died on sunday at the age of 90. 2 to you was a key figure in ending south africa's apartheid system. the human rights activist

received the nobel peace prize in 1994 former us president barack obama described to, to as a moral compass. his funeral will be held on january the 1st in cape town. the un is calling for a thorough investigation into what its calling our barbaric attack by me and mas army are killed at least 30 civilians. all of them from the ethnic carry. minority witnesses said they were killed while trying to flee. fighting between the army and resistance groups to add workers are also missing. afghanistan's taliban authorities have said that women wanting to travel long distances should be accompanied by a close male relative. this guidance follows the taliban decision to bar many women from public sector roles. activists have strongly criticized these moves. this is dw news from berlin. you can find lots more on our website, d,

w dot com. ah, ah ah, ah, ah, welcome to a special edition of check in this time where showing you germany's most popular travel destinations, bavaria, berlin, saxony, all the zoloft which german state draws the most visitors. germany's geographical diversity as reflected in the number of its federal states. from the coastal regions of lower saxony slays make holstein and mecklenburg western

pomeranian to the mountains and lakes of bavaria, and bought invert, and back from the small estate of palaemon to the most populous one. north rind. westphalia, germany has 16 states, in total. most of them were established after the 2nd world war, with the founding of the federal republic of germany in 1949. after german reunification in 1990, they were joined by 5 new states, paul, of which had belong to the former east germany, mecklenburg, western pomeranian brandon bog. saxony on halt for india and saxony. each german state has its own characteristics, 3 of them. berlin, hamburg, and bremen, our city states. the others are geographically defined,

states yet differ according to their size, population density, and cultural and landscape features. so while destinations do, travelers had fall when visiting germany the varia with its state capital munich, continues to be the number one choice, the visitors to germany, even if their numbers, if orland due to the corona virus pandemic. before cove at 19 struck, bavaria welcomed almost 21000000 people. in 2020 the states still accommodated some 7100000 foreign visitors. ah ah. the reason why people are drawn to bavaria are pretty clear. let's start with a breathtaking beauty of the alps. but various home to that. so spitzer

2962 meters tall. it's germany's highest mountain peak since 2017. a new gondola has whisked travelers up to the top in just minutes from here. visitors are treated to fabulous alpine panorama weather permitting on the plateau under the summit that such pizza has just the thing for winter sports enthusiasts. the highest ski area in germany ah, meaning the swan king ludwig. the 2nd also contributed to the various attractiveness with his extravagant castles. the most famous being newish lunchtime, one of the top tourists draws in all of germany. ah ah,

with the mountains and lakes bavarian regions like the algoy or the pre apps of a plenty of possibilities for long tracks and tours. ah ah oh, and the various cities are characterized by the clearly visible history in urine berg, the states, 2nd biggest city. many buildings in the old town were destroyed during world war 2 and lay to rebuilt. for instance, the flower, kotia, or church of our lady on the main market square 515000 inhabitants live in urine of the city is especially popular with tourists from the usa. however,

in 2020 overnight stays by foreign guests have dropped by almost 70 percent due to travel restrictions outs book is the various 3rd largest city and one of the oldest in germany. originally a roman settlement, many meetings of the imperial diet of the holy roman empire were held here. one of our exposed special features is its water management system developed over many centuries. it includes old hydro electric power stations, canals and fountains that have been unesco. well, heritage sites since 2019 with the various 4th largest city vegans book escape largely unscathed during the 2nd world war. since 2006,

it's old town with its 12th century stonebridge and reagans book cathedral has been on unesco, swelled cultural heritage list. along with cologne, cathedral reagan's book federal is among the most impressive gothic cathedrals in germany with but the attraction that visitors from the broad associate most closely with the various is surely mune except her. the fast, though, due to the pandemic, the world's largest folk festival has been cancelled for the 2nd year in a row. locals and tourists are hoping that the popular be a festival with its over 200 years of tradition, will be back in 2022. you

bartonville and burg rank 2nd with foreign visitors racking up 4900000 overnight stays in 2020 it state. capital is stuttgart with a population of 630000. it's also barton burton burges largest city bush loss plot square, and kern exparza or king street can be found in a city center still got lies in a basin and is surrounded by vineyards. ah, many famous ca brands, including mercedes and portia, have their headquarters here. and show off automotive history, and that company owned museums among barton burton bags,

most well known cities internationally is heidelberg on the neck. our river. this old university towns, landmark, is heidelberg castle, a ruin which was never fully rebuilt after suffering damage in wars and fires. the castle is among europe's most visited tourist attractions. with its university which was founded in the 14th century, heidelberg is all a world famous center for research and close to 40000 of the cities, 160000 residents. our students also in barton burton bag on a mountain top at the edge of the sway, beehan, jura, or sway be an alps, sits corns allan castle, a monument to german romanticism. it's an idealized version of a medieval castle built in the mid 19th century. the castle was erected by the prussian and sway been lines of the horns all on family.

the travellers have long visited this region can be seen in bowden, bowden. in the 19th century. prominent europeans met here to take the waters at the thermal box or try that knock in the casino. in july 2021 unesco conferred weld heritage status on the great spa towns of europe, including bowden, bowden with the black forest and the southwest at the state is one of the most popular travel destinations in bottom that and back these forest it mountain range stretches from

bowden, bowden in the north to fi bog in the south. its landmark the fly buckminster towers over germany's southern most major city. on weekdays, a market is held at the foot of this gothic masterpiece. ah, ah. the university of high bog is considered a pioneer when it comes to ecological oven development. fi bugs, new city, whole is the world's 1st net 0 public building. one that generates more energy than it consumes. though the heliotrope a revolving solar powered house set the standard back in 1994 right in

a south west of germany where it's warm east lies. lake constance. it's located where germany, austria, and switzerland mate. constance is the biggest city on the lake. even the pope was once elected here at the council of constance to day the city and it's roughly $85000.00 residents live, mainly from tourism on and around. germany's largest lake ah, coming in at number 3 with foreign visitors is north ryan westphalia. it's also germany's most popular state. it's capital. dusseldorf alone has

a population of 620000. the city on the rhine is an important economic center. dusseldorf is also known for its aunt school and its been renewal project. mike, here at the landmark, macon hampton. ah, north ryan vest failures, largest city cologne is also located on the rhine. around 1100000 people live in the shadow of cologne cathedral, the gothic cathedral, which took over 600 years to build has long been awarded unesco world heritage status. it's also one of the most visited attractions in germany. for centuries, the cathedral has also been a place of pilgrimage. the faithful

flock here to see the shrine of the 3 kings, a relic where he thought to contain the bones of the biblical magi. an archbishop brought the shrine to cologne in the 12th century. ah, cologne has also undergone a facelift in recent years, especially the areas right on the rhine, with striking convoys which resemble cranes on the one side of the river and a new promenade on the other. a few kilometers further west is germany's very 1st unesco world heritage site. ah, cathedral emperor, charlemagne ordered its construction in the 8th century over its 1200 year history . the cathedral has undergone many extensions and reconstructions. 31.