more life started february 16th on d, w. ah ah ah, this is dw slide from berlin. the german government calls rushes decision to ban this network go to a valid unacceptable. russia has also closed down t w's moscow bureau and revoke to accreditations for our reporters. there it follows germany's decision to ban german language programming off russia state broadcast r t plus russia and china signal closer ties. vladimir putin

arrives in bay jane for the start of the winter olympics and for talks, which is in pain as their countries increasingly aligned on foreign policy. it's with hours to go until the beijing games begin the mid concern of china's attitude to room human rights for the organizers pledge to stay out of politics as left. some athletes? uneasy? ah, i'm gab off as welcome to the program. the german government has condemned moscow's decision to shut down the russian operations of this channel. dutch avella, germany is foreign ministry, said the decision would put a renewed strain on german. russian relations. authorities have closed down the ws office in moscow revoked the accreditations for all our journalists that and ban d w broadcasts in russia. as of today, it's being seen as

a tit for tat move. because german media regulators have banned the german language programming of russia state broadcast a r t the day before because it doesn't have the broadcasting license for germany. deutsch velez moscow office has to close by order of the russian government. the decision came after germany's media regulators banned german language programming of russia's state media broadcaster r t for operating without a german broadcasting license. d w's director general, pita limburger called the russian government's decision, a disappointment, and a total over reaction. this is another sign that russia is not interested in. the russian government is not interested in press freedom and freedom of opinion, but i can only say um, even if we have to leave the country, we will intensify reporting on the country. so i think this must be also clear to

the russian side that we will not just ignore what's happening. russia, we will report and we will do more and more for the team at d. w's moscow studio. losing their press accreditation in russia takes a more personal toll. yup. that effect correspondence produces camera, men, editors, and so on. according to russian law, they are now no longer allowed to work for the traveler. and let me say, when a personal note for me personally and for people who support our coverage from russia, this is a big shock. i have been at the bureau chief and correspondent for dutch of ela, he in moscow for 7 years. and like all my colleagues, i have loved to reporting from russia even more. we all wore our and we will stay passing that passionate fans of rush marashi i dont necessarily mean russian politics but the people of this great country for now d, w is weighing its options and considering possible legal avenues and it

authorial note here, we'd like to stress that the statement from moscow bureau chief uri rosetta in that report was recorded yesterday. february 3. now rushes ban of the w comes as german chance that all of shows prepare the trip to moscow for talks about the crisis in ukraine shoals called the build up of russian troops on ukraine's border . very serious and said an invasion would come with comes consequence. german chancellor has been under pressure from other natal members to take a harder line on russia. now let's get more from our chief political correspondent, melinda cray. melinda b is another issue there, added to chancellors a chance, a shelters agenda. what is the government been saying? so far, where bo sat, germany's federal commissioner for culture and media and germany's foreign ministry have roundly criticized this decision. and in the words of the culture, commissioner claudio, it is wholly unacceptable. and both she and the foreign ministry said that russia

has drawn false equivalence between russia today in germany and deutsch avella. and in the words of the culture, commissioner, she, she said, germany a d. w is an independent organization, meaning that, unlike russia today, the german state does not exert any influence on programming. and germany's foreign ministry. likewise said these new measures, the band has no basis whatsoever adds to the strains on german russian relations. and as you know, deutsch avella is a public interest broadcaster finance by taxpayer funds, but in no way answerable to the german government. and in fact, foreign minister burbock already conveyed that message to her russian counterpart to russian foreign mister sergey love. rough when she visited in moscow in january, she pointed out that because of the central role that the state media played in the nazi era, no state broadcast or can attain a license under german law. law shorts is a pretty difficult position. a b. b,

foyer goes to moscow, german, russian relations already pretty tense and you christ and of has put chancellor shoals in a difficult position with germany's allies as well as in it. absolutely, it has relations have been fraught since the russian annexation of crimea. and after that, we saw in 2015 a major cyber attack on the bonus tag, which was coordinated by russian hackers saw repeated cyber attacks on leading german politicians and also mis information in the run up to the german election. also sponsored by russian groups and then there was the murder in cold blood in berlin park of a chechen national, a coordinated by russian security services that took place in 2019 and the slap in the face treatment of alex, in of, on the following. his release from a german hospital after poisoning, he was arrested immediately upon his return to russia. so all of that indeed

putting tensions on this relation ship and then the west. germany has maintained close commercial ties with russia, including constructing a new pipeline north stream. 2 german government insisting that is a private project, but it clearly makes germany more vulnerable to russian pressure. and therefore, germany's allies have been calling for the country to clearly put north stream to on the table as part of any package of sanctions. should russia invade? now, chancellor schultz did equivocate on that, but it looks like he's moving toward a stronger position, saying that there must be a high price paid for any russian aggression. and he will be traveling to washington as well as moscow melinda crying that for us, thank you. our sanction tensions grow between moscow in the west, over the crisis in eastern europe, russia's president vladimir putin is headed to friendly ground in china,

put in his in beijing for talks with his chinese counterpart. she didn't ping with the chinese presence 1st face to face meeting with a world leader in 2 years. the parable later attend the opening ceremony of the winter olympics. i was just an hour away from the opening ceremony of the olympic sparts. the corona virus pandemic isn't the only issue looming over the games. china's human rights abuses also in the spotlight. ah, ah, with less than 24 hours until the games officially open the political clubs over beijing showed no signs of clearing. despite the repeated efforts of, i'll see president thomas back to resist what he views as the instrumental ization of the olympics. cctv danger greeks, you with that the if for the

games would be used for good would come in between those that the political tensions which were higher the time between his father and her things and, and, and others if her there the games would not be considered to be neutral, they would not have her survived. therefore, 1000 years australian open spectators were accused last month by china of politicizing sport. after tennis fans handed out whereas pangs whitey shirts back to confirm that he will meet the chinese tennis star who disappeared from public life in november after she accused a high ranking communist party official of sexual assault. thanks, wiley to retract to that allegation, that there are concerns she may have done so under duress it's a necessity to, to respect her and then to listen to her and how she sees her, the situation,

how she wants to to live her life. china's treatment of weaker muslims here, and she's young province, has prompted countries like the u. s. and the u. k. to stage a diplomatic boycott of the beijing games asked for comment back cited his no politics pledge their position or for the the i you see her must be given the or political or utility of that we are not her commenting on her political or her issues as the curtain rises on a beating olympics, surrounded by political intrigue backs, insistence that they be kept out of the games remains unwavering. well, it's only me now from beijing is our correspondent jonathan crane from the w's bowls. jonathan, i go see president thomas bach lab was asked some pretty tough questions at that press conference. what did you make of his answers

were charged back was clearly a pains to reiterate the icy star that is a politically neutral organization. indeed, the question of whether a sports and politics should mix with a central theme of the press conference. so the, i see the answer is clearly no. but when bach was asked specifically about the weakest and their oppression that no comment felt especially jarring. now human rights groups have urged athletes to use that platform at these games to speak up on such issues. i asked bock whether he could guarantee athletes safety for them to do this. here in china, he avoided answering that instead made some bizarre comparison about athlete protests and an actor playing hamlet on stage. but athletes are actually allowed to express themselves at certain times in the places at the olympics, just not during their events or during mental ceremonies. though whether any of them will for you feel brave enough to des say, given the climate here, remains to be seen the muzzle the chinese tennis player pangs. why was also disgust

what did bob have to say about that? yeah, lots of questions about puncture. why another issue, any casting a shadow off to these over these games? now let's remember that the i see is already hell. several discussions with palms ry bach was involved in one of them. the i see is pushing lisa quiet diplomacy tactic. they've been criticized to that when you compare how from some of the women's tennis. tor reacted by putting tournaments out of china and demanding an investigation. bach was asked whether the i a c would all say seek an investigation . and he said, if he wants to have an inquiry, we would support her in this. are they perhaps another question for the i see is given her position to they feel she would be able to demand that herself. don't have you on your way into the opening ceremony in a short while. what can we look forward to when that goes on the way?

well, i think it's really an interesting opening ceremony, but the issues surrounding the games aren't going to go away anytime soon. and it's not just about human rights, and it's not just about punish why we've got environmental concerns. we've got the corona virus, and questions over whether the game should actually be taking place a tool from human rights groups of called this the genocide gains. in fact, the united states government refers to genocide when they talk about the weakest in shang province, is for that reason that the u. s. and some other western countries occurring to boy called the opening ceremony. as we've already heard though, russia's vladimir putin is here on thursday or a virus now had been silent. china will want to use the opening ceremony to show off its culture and its history. and i quote, its willingness to pursue world peace. now this opening ceremony is going to be directed by the same person who directed the spectacular ceremony in 2000 and 8th

at the summer olympics. so we can expect something perhaps, equally spectacular to night least something to look forward to. john grey, there in bay. jane. thank you jonathan. i'm before we go a quick round up off some of the other stories making headlines today. you, as president joe biden says the leader of the so called islamic state, how g a build up blew himself up as us special forces approached during arrayed in northwest syria, 13 others including women and children, were killed the operation. but it is not yet fully clear under what circumstances. british prime minister boris johnson has reportedly lost, assists keith as his popularity plummets over lockdown party was johnson's chief stock, his private secretary, and company communications dark deb, or resigned and policy unit chief money i'm is. i quit over johnson's controversial comments on monday when he attacked a physician labor, anita kia, stop,

and that's it from here, the new scheme of fun. now up next, we have a documentary film looking at a new generation of concept drugs. and rebecca written, we'll have a world news update for you at the top of the hour. and of course there's always a website d, w dot com. i'm gabrielle f, as in berlin, thanks for much we're all set to go beyond the obvious citizenship and then we're all in. as we take on the we're all about the stories that matter to you. whatever it takes, policemen follow with w. fire made.